Chapter 752: Guarding and Waiting (Part 2)

  Among the laughter, Mrs. Xu led everyone to their seats, Grandma directed the maids to serve dishes, Sixth Aunt stood beside Old Master helping to arrange the dishes, and Brother Rong had his wet nurse holding him sitting at another table, so around the round table there were only Old Master, Eldest Mistress, Luo Zhenxing, Fifth Wife, and Eleventh Wife, with three embroidered stools left over.

  。

  The old master waved his hand and said, "There are no outsiders here either, let's all sit down and have dinner!"

  Everyone in the house was stunned and then looked at the lady of the house.

  One is her own daughter-in-law, and the other is someone she relies on. The old lady naturally wouldn't oppose at this time, and smiled: "The master is right. Since there are no outsiders here, let's all sit down and have dinner!"

  The old lady smiled and sat down beside Luo Zhenxing, while Liu Yiniang bowed to the master and mistress before half-sitting on a stool. Xu Mama, however, insisted on not sitting: "You are all masters, where is there a place for slaves like us?"

  The old master listened with a bland expression, not forcing the issue. The old mistress saw the old master's blandness and insisted that Mrs. Xu sit down, even going so far as to personally get up and persuade her: "Yuan Niang, Xing Ge are both people you've helped raise since they were young, if you don't sit, who else has the qualifications to sit?"

  Sixth Aunt was getting restless after hearing this.

  Mrs. Xu saw it wasn't good and didn't sit down, so she smiled and half sat on the embroidered stool: "Then I'll just take a liberty."

  The old master smiled and ordered the maid Xinglin "Serve the dishes".

  This apricot forest is the personal maid of Dà Nǎi Nai, since they moved into this mansion, she has been helping Dà Nǎi Nai manage the household.

  Upon hearing Master's order, she immediately responded with a "yes" and ordered the young maids to serve the dishes.

  Snow vegetable yellow fish, West Lake vinegar fish, silver sprout chicken silk, crystal elbow, beauty liver, clear stew crab powder lion head...... are all familiar Jiangnan dishes, filled a whole table. Just when everyone thought the dishes were all served, Xinglin brought a bowl of red and white porridge to Madame: "Madame, this is specially ordered by Master for you."

  The lady was taken aback.

  The old master said, "This is a famous wonton soup in Yanjing. The red one is tomato, a rare thing from Guangdong. The white one is noodles, sour and sweet, very different from what we have on our side. Appetizing, try some."

  The lady said "oh" and took a spoonful of the dish with a somewhat dazed expression.

  The old man smiled and asked her: "How is it? Is it still to your taste?"

  The lady listened with a solemn expression and smiled: "Just as the old master said, this soup is sour and sweet, very appetizing. Thank you, sir!"

  The old master smiled and picked up his chopsticks, picking a piece of yellow fish from the snow mustard greens with yellow fish. Only then did everyone else start using their chopsticks.

  Everyone was elegant in their demeanor, savoring each bite slowly, and on the table, apart from the faint sound of clinking porcelain, there were no other sounds.

  After dinner, the maids brought tea. The mistress suddenly said to Wu Niang and Shiyi Niang: "Tomorrow you two will come with me to see your elder sister!"

  Both of them were shocked, but they both restrained their emotions and smiled in response with a "yes".

  It's getting late, and Brother Huan usually sleeps early. At this time, he rubbed his eyes and was a bit noisy.

  The old lady ordered the old nun: "Move Brother Heng to my room... My room has a fire wall and a warm pavilion, unlike your place, where you still need to light a brazier."

  "Daughter!" Luo Zhenxing's tone seemed somewhat disapproving.

  The wife rushed ahead of her husband and said: "What you said is also true, then I'll let the mothers move Brother Yang's things over."

  The lady smiled and nodded.

  A glimmer of helplessness flashed across Luo Zhenxing's eyes.

  The old lady just smiled and said, "Don't worry, your mother is not yet senile. I spoil Rong Ge, but if he does something wrong, I won't tolerate it either. I won't teach bad things to your son."

  At this point, Luo Zhenxing had no choice but to get up and thank Mrs. Dai.

  The lady covered her mouth and smiled, saying: "It's late today, you all go down and rest!"

  Luo Zhenxing and his wife, as well as Wu Niang and Shiyi Niang, bid farewell. Luo Zhenxing and his wife returned to the inverted seat house, while Wu Niang and Shiyi Niang returned to the rear pavilion.

  On the way, Wu Niang smiled and said: "Tomorrow at Eldest Sister's place, you must dress up nicely, don't lose face in front of Eldest Sister."

  The eleventh girl smiled and said: "I don't know what to wear tomorrow either, why don't you help me take a look, sister?"

  The fifth daughter sneered: "How dare I? Some people have a lot of ideas!" After finishing speaking, she lifted her face and left.

  The eleventh girl couldn't help but let out a sigh.

  I didn't expect Wu Niang's reaction to be so big... However, she is already 19 years old this year, and the number of suitable people for marriage is very limited. This anxiety can be understood. But if Luo Yuanni just wants to find someone from her sisters to be a concubine or give birth to a child? Even if Luo Yuanni's body is not good and she wants to find someone to replace herself to take care of her young and weak son, shouldn't that wait until after she passes away?! If Luo Yuanni delays for one year, won't she have to wait for one year? If she delays for two years, won't she have to wait for two years... Using a future that is completely beyond her control and full of variables to gamble on luck, isn't that too reckless?

  At this thought, Eleventh Sister was stunned.

  Could it be that Mrs. Lai brought them here with this intention all along!

  If Yuanniang can wait, then it's her... If Yuanniang cannot wait, then it's Wuniang.

  She felt her thoughts were a bit disordered!

  What about Xu Shi, the other party in the marriage?

  They are more prominent than the Luo family and have more power, can't they just let the Luo family dominate like this?

  Or can Yuan Niang persuade Xu's family?

  The eleventh girl's heart was a mess, she didn't sleep well all night, and when she got up in the morning, there were obvious dark circles under her eyes.

  Dong Qing boiled an egg for her to apply to her eyelids: "It can at least reduce the swelling a bit. Otherwise, when Madam sees it, she'll ask again. You can't just say you bumped into the bed, can you?"

  Eleventh Young Lady burst out laughing: "You've even helped me come up with an excuse."

  Dong Qing resented Tie for not becoming steel: "Miss has this leisure mind, or think about this afternoon's matter!"

  "We don't even know what their true intentions are, and no matter how much we guard against it, it's useless." As the situation came to a head, Eleventh Mother unexpectedly calmed down, "Now all we can do is quietly observe." She also instructed Amber: "You go out for a walk later. Although most of the people here are from the First Madam's side, there must be people from the Eldest Madam's side around Master, and also from Concubine's side. See if you can find out how Master and Young Master are doing in Yanjing? I noticed yesterday that when the eldest sister-in-law suddenly came to pay respects to the First Madam, Master and Young Master were very surprised. You should also ask whether the eldest sister-in-law usually interacts with people from this side frequently or not?"

  Amber's expression was serious: "Miss, don't worry, I know what to do!"

  "Just let Dong Qing and Bin Ju accompany me, that's all - later I still need to dress up a bit, otherwise, the madam will think I don't take going to Yongping Hou Fu seriously. As for Qiu Ju and Zhu Xiang, if they can help you with your errands, that would be best. Just let them run some legs for you. And there's also the things Wu Mama asked us to bring. We are guests at Xu's house after all, unfamiliar with the place, it's not good to trouble others, so, Jade, ask around and see if there's anyone on our side who knows someone from Xu's household, if they can help get this thing done, that would be even better."

  Several maids stood respectfully listening to Shiyi Niang's instructions, and Xu Mama arrived.

  Eleventh Girl suppressed the surprise in her heart and welcomed Mrs. Xu: "Mother, what are your orders?"

  Mrs. Xu smiled and said: "I wouldn't dare to order you around. I was just sent by the madam to see what clothes Miss Eleven is planning to wear to the Yongping Marquis's residence."

  It's actually being taken this seriously...

  The eleventh girl was secretly shocked.

  She had originally wanted to wear a silver-red jacket... this way, it would make her look not only thin but also frail. If Yuan Niang asked, she could then hint at Yuan Niang that her body was in poor condition due to seasickness... besides, seasickness was a fact, even the first wife couldn't find fault with it.

  No matter what purpose Yuanniang and the others had in coming to Yanjing, under the important premise of "there are three unfilial acts, and having no descendants is the greatest", a girl with poor health means that it will be difficult for her to have children, so her chances of being selected would decrease greatly... Otherwise, Old Lady Xu wouldn't have stopped giving Yuanniang medicine after she gave birth prematurely, and even taken in a concubine for her son!

  Thinking of this, Shiyi's heart calmed down a bit.

  It turns out that this idea was inspired by Shining - she can "wheeze" whenever she wants...

  But now this idea has been abandoned at least half way.

  Women in the boudoir have a lot of time, most of which is spent on dressing themselves up. Not to mention the madams, even the humble Mrs. Xi has some refined tastes. Moreover, their sewing teacher, Master Jian, had also painstakingly taught them various complex color combinations, both for embroidery and for dressing elegantly... The eleventh daughter could pretend to show off by wearing silver red, but she couldn't continue wearing it after trying out its effect.

  These thoughts had barely flashed through her mind when she smiled and asked Dong Qing to help her bring out the yellow plain jacket with four auspicious patterns, and handed over the hairpins and pearl flowers that Lady Wang had given her: "How do you think I should wear this?"

  Mrs. Xu smiled and nodded, with deep approval in her eyes: "Miss Eleven's appearance is delicate and tender, wearing these simple colors and wearing these elegant accessories is the most suitable...it's no wonder she learned embroidery from Master Jian."

  The eleventh girl secretly sighed in her heart.

  As soon as her mother left, she ate all the eggs that were used to apply to her eyelids, and almost choked, so Bin Hua laughed at her: "Miss, are you starving on the boat? Now everything looks delicious!"

  Eleventh Sister ignored her and went to Big Granny's place.

  The main house has seven rooms, but the east wing was converted into a warm room for the night watchman, and the west wing was turned into a flower door. The east wing was also divided into a small garden, leaving only three rooms on the west side, which is smaller than the back house where the fifth daughter-in-law and eleventh daughter-in-law live by one-third.

  When Eleventh Sister entered, there were five or six women standing beside the flowerbed in front of the垂花门, surrounding Xing Lin and saying something. Xing Lin's face showed some impatience, but when she saw Eleventh Sister, she greeted her from afar: "Eleventh Miss, you've arrived!" As she spoke, she pushed away the women surrounding her and walked over to greet her.

  "I just came to see sister-in-law," said Eleventh Sister with a smile. "You're busy, don't let me delay you."

  Xinglin let out a sigh of relief and smiled, saying: "Thanks to you, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to escape, what's the point of lingering?"

  The eleventh girl smiled and didn't ask her what was wrong, but said: "Is the big madam in the house?"

  (Blackout, flooded, spent half an hour, found a still operating internet cafe, amidst the sound of dripping water from my pants... so even I don't know if there will be a second update...)

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