Chapter 107: Family (Part 2)

  Thanks to Xu Lingyi's help, Tianzhuang was able to get things done. When he returned at night, Shiying carefully told him about her conversation with Bai Zongguan and thanked him.

  Xu Lingyi nodded calmly and went to bed.

  The 11th girl couldn't help but slightly curve up the corners of her mouth.

  I don't know if he considers himself another burden. But his burdens are already numerous, probably doesn't care about having one more anyway!

  Thinking of these, I blew out the lamp and went to bed with a pleasant mood.

  Xu Lingyi suddenly said: "Why don't you read books anymore?"

  The eleventh girl was somewhat surprised and smiled: "Afraid of disturbing you!"

  "It's nothing." Xu Lingyi said calmly, "If you want to see it, then go ahead and look!"

  How did he suddenly bring up reading?

  Is it because you can't sleep and want to talk to yourself?

  Eleventh Sister had a habit of reading books before bed anyway, and now that he thought it was acceptable, she naturally went with the flow.

  She lit the lamp while smiling and said: "How did Master Hou know that I like to read two pages of a book before going to sleep?"

  Xu Lingyi didn't know she had a habit of reading before bed, he just wasn't in a good mood today.

  Someone accused General Fan Weigong's brother of forcibly taking a civilian woman, the Emperor was enraged and ordered an imperial edict to be sent urgently to Xuan Tong.

  Is it that Fan Wei's household is not strict and has lost the emperor's dignity? Or is it a sign of "the birds are gone, the good bows are hidden"?

  He has sent someone to investigate and believes there will be results soon.

  But don't know why, feel very depressed.

  A thousand-mile dike collapses because of an ant hole.

  Fan Weigang was a servant by the emperor's side since he was young. Those powerful officials who could cover the sky with one hand, which one of them didn't fall because of those seemingly insignificant small things? Now he is also a third-grade military officer, can't he see through the reasoning behind this?

  Xu Lingyi listened to the people around her getting into bed with a rustling sound, forcing herself to focus on trivial matters: "What book is that?"

  "The Grand Nine Regions Gazette!"

  "Haven't you finished reading yet?"

  The eleventh girl smiled and said: "I only brought this one book."

  Xu Lingyi only then realized that Eleventh Young Mistress had never made any demands of him!

  He was silent for a moment before saying, "There are hidden books in the east wing!"

  Only mentioning the books stored in the east wing, but not saying that there are books at home... Suddenly, Eleventh Sister had an urge to go to Banyue Pond and take a look.

  "May I borrow it?"

  Xu Lingyi murmured in agreement.

  "I love reading illustrated novels. I think they're very interesting." The eleventh daughter smiled and said, "What kind of books does the young master like to read?"

  "Read Historical Records."

  According to historical records, men like him usually have great ambitions...

  The eleventh girl smiled slightly and flipped through the book with a rustling sound.

  "What place have you seen?" Xu Lingyi asked somewhat absent-mindedly.

  "Xiangyang." Eleventh Sister smiled and said, "Speaking of the east, there is Luo Xiang Mountain. The water source of Luo Xiang Mountain originates from here and divides into two branches. The eastern branch is Yu Xi Water, which flows down to become Xiujing River, bordering Yichun County." As she spoke, she turned her head to look at Xu Lingyi, "Fifth Brother-in-law is a native of Yichun, but it's the Yichun in Sichuan Province."

  "There are many places with the same name and surname." Xu Lingyi closed his eyes, "Originally, there was a person named Wan Chun in the Ministry of Rites, who was from Xinyu, Guangxi. There was also a chief clerk named Wan Chun in the Imperial Stables, who was from Xinyu, Jiangxi. One year, the Ministry of Officials had an opening for the position of magistrate of Gaozhou County. The Wan Chun from the Ministry of Rites found someone to ask for the position and finally managed to get it assigned to him after much difficulty. However, he waited for half a year without any news, so he ran to the Ministry of Officials to inquire about it. The person in charge said that Wan Chun had already taken office. He shouted loudly right there. The person in charge looked at him suspiciously and called over the clerk to check, only to find out that the one who took office was actually the Wan Chun from the Imperial Stables."

  The eleventh girl laughed: "You deceived me! He has found someone, and he must have handed in a note with his place of origin and age clearly written. How could they mistake the person!"

  That pleasant voice struck his heart.

  Xu Lingyi opened her eyes and saw a delicate face resting on the large red brocade pillow.

  A pair of eyes shining with a soft light.

  His heart suddenly skipped a beat, and his voice became somewhat stiff. "I didn't deceive you. It was Wanchun from the Taibao Temple who inadvertently got the news and exchanged it with a small official. The Ministry of Justice people didn't examine it carefully, and as a result, it was stolen."

  The eleventh girl found it very interesting, her eyes curved into a crescent moon: "What happened afterwards?"

  Xu Lingyi's eyes flashed.

  Her face slightly raised, a slanting opening in her garment revealed skin as white as porcelain.

  He suddenly thought of the marks he had left on her that day. The pink flower-like impressions on her skin, and how weak and powerless she looked when her eyebrows were furrowed... His body suddenly felt hot.

  "All that can be done is to mend the pen after the sheep has escaped!" Xu Lingyi gazed at her, his eyes burning with intensity. "The Minister and Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Justice were both shocked, and after discussing it for half a day, they promised that as soon as there was a vacancy, they would let Wan Chun from the Ministry of Rites fill it."

  His hand lightly brushed against her face.

  The girl's face suddenly turned red like a dawn cloud.

  She's not a silly little girl, of course she knows what he means... but thinking that the person in front of her has only known him for over ten days, it feels awkward!

  "That's, that's fine!" she muttered, covering up her own unease.

  Xu Lingyi looked at her flustered expression, and in his mind appeared her dignified demeanor and bright smile, the unease that had been suppressed in his heart suddenly vanished.

  His robust arm effortlessly lifted her out of the quilt and wrapped her in his own embrace.

  Although she had mentally prepared herself, her body still let out a small cry of surprise as it suddenly fell into a scorching embrace.

  "Later, Jinhua Prefecture was short of a prefect," his voice went down all the way, like a scorching hand stroking on the shoulder, sliding down... "Let's let that Wan Chun from the Ministry of Rites go."

  She felt like she had fallen into a hot pot, and wherever she touched was scalding, so she continued to mutter: "...the county magistrate is better than the original..."

  "Ah!" Xu Lingyi looked at her, feeling a bit uncertain and hesitant, with a delicate yet slightly stiff body, somewhat indecisive. He absent-mindedly responded to Shi Yiniang's words, "Moreover, after becoming the Magistrate of Jinhua, he was still quite diligent, getting an 'Excellent' rating in the evaluations for three consecutive years."

  His palm was wide and warm, gently stroking her, with infinite patience... She felt her whole body heat up, so she could only focus on the conversation between the two.

  "That's great!"

  "Hmm!" Xu Lingyi felt the person in her arms slowly softening, gently nibbling on her earlobe, and murmured vaguely, "The one in Gaizhou is not bad either. After pacifying the Miao rebellion, he was promoted to Jinzhou Prefecture, and after another three years, he was promoted to advisor..."

  The hot air hit her neck and Eleventh Sister couldn't help but shudder slightly.

  Xu Lingyi immediately felt a change and had a few smiles in his eyes: "After two years, he was promoted to Gansu's Governor due to his achievements in supervising grain supplies..."

  The person in his arms was trembling slightly, and his face was scorching hot against his.

  He smiled faintly and gently turned over, covering the person under his own body.

  Xu Lingyi held Eleven in her arms, gently stroking her wet hair.

  It's okay, he didn't reject me like last time.

  Thinking of this, Xu Lingyi couldn't help but sigh in her heart.

  After all, I was still young, and in the end, it became endurance...

  "I'll call Yatou to serve you." Xu Lingyi asked softly.

  "Hmm!" The eleventh girl was quietly held by him and felt that even moving her fingers was tiring.

  Xu Lingyi got up and called for her maid, then went to the bathroom herself.

  Dong Qing helped Shiyi Niang get up, her clothes slightly open, and saw a purplish-red mark on her shoulder like the first snow.

  Her face turned red, she hastily looked down, her eyes cast downward, and her head lowered.

  Eleventh girl felt she had just fallen asleep when she was woken up by Xu Lingyi beside her.

  "Is it already the hour of the Ox?" Her voice was husky and carried a lazy charm.

  Xu Lingyi smiled and patted her head, whispering in her ear: "Sleep a bit longer, we'll go pay our respects to Mother later."

  The eleventh girl was really tired and feared that she would not be able to hold on at the old lady's place later, so she murmured "uh-huh" and went to sleep by herself.

  Xu Lingyi called in Xia Yijin to help him change his clothes.

  Dong Qing didn't dare to be rash, so he pulled on Shi Yi Niang's sleeve.

  The eleventh girl turned over and fell fast asleep.

  Xu Lingyi had finished his breakfast when Xiangling arrived with several servants carrying lanterns to escort him.

  He hesitated for a moment and went to see Eleventh Sister.

  She was wrapped in slumber, her long eyelashes quietly falling on her snow-white skin like white jade, exuding a few parts of peace and tranquility.

  No worries then!

  He rarely loses control; this time, it was his own fault for being too reckless.

  Xu Lingyi let out a long sigh!

  In the morning, Qin Yiniang and Wen Yiniang came to pay their respects to her, but did not see Qiao Yiniang.

  The aunt immediately smiled and said: "It's true that I got up early and caught a cold, feeling a bit uncomfortable."

  The eleventh girl ordered Amber to go and invite a doctor for her: "...... so as not to drag it into a serious illness!"

  "Sister is truly a Bodhisattva with a kind heart." Madam Wen flattered Eleventh Lady.

  The eleventh girl's expression was light and faint, and after exchanging a few pleasantries with the two of them, she went to see Madame Tai.

  The third lady, who had arrived earlier, was drinking tea in the hall and saw her, immediately came up to greet: "Fourth sister has just arrived!"

  The eleventh girl smiled and curtsied to her.

  The third madam handed her the menu: "This is yours in the house, sister take a look and see if there's anything else to change."

  Is she short of money like me? Otherwise, why would she be in such a hurry.

  Eleventh girl smiled and took over the menu.

  Breakfast was very rich, with five kinds of porridge and eight kinds of pastries, and over ten small dishes. Lunch was simple, hers was five dishes and one soup, the three aunts' were three dishes and one soup. Dinner was also very rich, hers was eight dishes and one soup, the three aunts' were four dishes and one soup. The menu for thirty days was all planned out, with no repetition each day, balancing meat and vegetarian options, and even including some desserts and fruit.

  Xu Lingyi would have breakfast and dinner at home... What a big brain move!

  The eleventh girl smiled and handed the menu to Third Madam: "Third Aunt is so considerate. Even if I ordered myself, it wouldn't be this thoughtful."

  The third lady smiled all over her face. Then she started talking about another matter: "Old Lady is urging everyone in the house who has a cow to hurry up and leave the house!"

  It wasn't that she didn't want to send Dong Qing away from the mansion earlier, but rather that she had sent someone to Jin Yu Xiang and found out that the houses there were somewhat old-fashioned. Not only did they need to be replastered, but new furniture also needed to be purchased, so one thing led to another and it was delayed.

  "Tomorrow is the day to leave the mansion." Eleventh Lady smiled and said, "Third Sister also knows that I have some young maids here, so I want her to help train them for a few days, so I kept her for a few more days."

  She certainly wouldn't tell Third Madam that there was a problem with her dowry house.

  The three madams saw that she had agreed, and couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief, exchanging a few pleasantries with her. The fifth madam came in surrounded by a large group of maidservants.

  She went forward and showed the menu of Mrs. Wu's house to Mrs. Wu.