Chapter 116: Past Events (Below) (Pink Tickets 1080)

  Amber smiled and said, "Later, Big Aunt sent Autumn Luo to 'Half Moon Slope' to serve Master Hou, which was considered a concession. The two of them gradually made up." As she spoke, her eyebrows revealed a hint of hesitation.

  "Let you ask questions, but it's not letting you say half and leave half!" Shíyīniáng looked at him with a frown.

  Amber hastily explained: "I just heard it from the old woman, I don't know if it's true or not, and I feel that this matter is a bit suspicious, so I didn't know whether to say it or not." Her voice lowered as she continued, "The old woman said that Autumn Dew looks 50-60% similar to the late Lady Tong. She also said that at the time, everyone in the manor was saying that Eldest Sister-in-law had harmed Lady Tong to death, and now they've found an Autumn Dew who looks somewhat like Lady Tong, only then did Master Hou calm down."

  Xu Lingyi would get angry for a concubine and a legitimate wife?

  Eleventh Sister thought of his cold expression and couldn't help but laugh: "Can you believe this?"

  Amber said with a sigh: "I don't believe it."

  If you don't believe it, why bother being so hesitant and indecisive?

  Even someone as transparent as amber would think that Lord Hou values the Tong family highly, let alone others?

  The eleventh girl smiled slightly and changed the subject: "After Aunt Tong died, what did the old lady say?"

  "Old Lady didn't say anything," said Amber. "But Second Lady had Qin Ayi serve in Old Lady's quarters. According to Nanny Xiang, before Second Young Master was born, Qin Ayi and Second Lady were inseparable, eating, sleeping, going out together. Even Big Sister found fault with Second Lady over this, but who knows what Second Lady said, Qin Ayi ended up serving in Old Lady's quarters."

  No wonder people in the mansion would say that Madame Yu was killed by Consort Tong...

  "Did you know how Autumn Luo died?"

  "I had a hemorrhage when I was giving birth!"

  "How did the child die?"

  "Speaking of that child, he was born not quite right. The eldest aunt invited the three most skilled pediatricians from the hospital to come and live at home to diagnose and treat him, but still couldn't save his life."

  "Isn't Madame and Master Hou very heartbroken?"

  The Great Zhou Dynasty had the practice of "removing titles without sons", and if a successor was to be adopted, an imperial edict was required. Therefore, descendants were not just simple heirs for ducal families...

  "It's said that Master Hou didn't sleep all night," Amber said. "Not only was Master Hou heartbroken, but Eldest Madam was also heartbroken - she had originally planned to raise Autumn Dew under her name. Because of this matter, the two of them lived together again."

  Eleventh Sister listened with a slightly distracted expression.

  Isn't it suffering that makes people more tolerant!

  Amber saw that Eleventh Sister's mood was somewhat low and smiled: "Madam, I also heard something else, you'll definitely be happy when you hear it!"

  "Oh!" Eleventh Sister no longer thought about those depressing past events, and smiled, "What good news did you hear?"

  "Ah, Madam," Amber smiled and said, "When the family divided their assets in the past, each household took what they were entitled to. Since Fifth Master was young at the time, his share was managed by Old Lady. Later on, when the family needed money, Second Mistress and Fifth Master both contributed their shares. Therefore, when Fifth Master got married, His Lordship not only gave him his original share but also gifted him with 70,000 to 80,000 taels of silver worth of land, fields, and shops. In recent years, Eldest Sister-in-law and His Lordship had a dispute over Second Mistress's assets, so Second Mistress let her secondary wife take over the management of His Lordship's assets. His Lordship still managed the household expenses as he did when Old Master was alive. So, in reality, the money for the public hall is actually His Lordship's money, and it's up to the manager of the public hall to arrange the gifts according to custom. We just need to write a letter and send it over, and Manager Zhao will take care of the rest. We can choose whether or not to attend based on our relationship with them. What do you think, Madam? Is this good news?"

  This coincides with what Tao's mother said.

  Eleventh Sister sighed and said, "But last time Father returned to Yu Hang, the gifts for Fourth Brother from each house, including the gift from Duke, were all handed over to me to bring over. I thought that each house was in charge of their own relationships with guests... At the time, I was thinking, why are things at home so chaotic, without any rules or regulations? It turns out, it was just my misunderstanding!"

  Amber covered her mouth and smiled: "Thanks to Director Wang for helping us tidy up the house!"

  The eleventh girl also burst out laughing.

  "We can write a notice and send it to the authorities once we get that fifty taels of silver from Fifth Aunt..."

  "That fifty taels of silver was my private gift to Fifth Aunt, it's not a matter for the public ledger. Can't write a note to respond to the matter." Eleventh Lady shook her head, "Moreover, these social interactions and gift-giving all have established precedents. Some require gifts, some don't. You still need to go ask around to find out. If Fifth Sister opens a shop, Xu Manor can send a congratulatory gift, and if they encounter someone from the Five Cities Garrison or the Shuntian Prefectural Magistrate's office, they will also look at us with more respect."

  Amber smiled and said: "I'll go and find out right away." She also said, "Although the fifth aunt's place still has to be visited, shouldn't Seventh Miss be following the rules?"

  "That's also just a gift for Third Uncle. As for Seventh Sister's dowry, we'll have to come up with it ourselves!" Eleventh Mother said with a smile, "At the time, we can choose a few pieces of valuable jewelry."

  Just then, a little maid came running over: "Milady, the young master has returned!"

  The eleventh daughter got up and went to welcome her.

  Xu Lingyi had already lifted the curtain and entered.

  Xiayang helped with changing clothes, and Shiyi Niang personally went to brew tea.

  Xu Lingyi sat down on the kang and took a sip, saying: "Zichun wants to open a dried fruit shop on West Avenue, do you know?"

  "Last time I came back, Fifth Sister mentioned it to me once." Eleventh Young Lady saw that his tone was very calm and smiled, "At the time, she invited me to join in, but I declined with a polite excuse through Eldest Sister-in-law. After that, there was no further news. I didn't expect Fifth Sister and the others to move so quickly, they've already started contacting people about opening a shop." She also asked him, "How did Master Hou find out?"

  Xu Lingyi said: "Why did you decline politely?"

  "Doing business together, it's inevitable that we'll have differing opinions at times. We're all relatives, why create discord over this? So I tactfully declined."

  Xu Lingyi nodded slightly and said: "Zichun wants to rent Shunwang's shop, Shunwang specially told me about this matter, that's how I knew."

  It should be like this after all.

  Qian Ming does things in a utilitarian way, but he also has his own style and won't casually go to ask Xu Lingyi for help. Or rather, it's not necessary for him to personally ask Xu Lingyi for help, as long as he is related to Xu Lingyi by marriage, others will naturally show him three points of courtesy. And Shun Wang's treatment of Qian Ming is entirely based on Xu Lingyi's face, and he must have said something to Xu Lingyi about it.

  "Shun Wang has already agreed with you, he must have promised to rent the shop to Wu Jiafu." 11th Niang smiled and said, "Let's wait for someone to find out when Wu Jiafu's dry goods store will open. At that time, we'll have to congratulate him!"

  "You're clever." Xu Lingyi heard this and smiled, "I know that Shun Wang agreed to rent the shop to Qian Ming."

  The eleventh girl smiled and said: "Master Hou has given me such a big hint, how could I not hear it!"

  "Oh?" Xu Lingyi raised an eyebrow, "What did I let slip to you that even I don't know myself?"

  "If Shun Wang hadn't agreed, you would have said to me 'especially explained this matter to me', and since you said 'especially told me about this matter', it must be that he agreed."

  Xu Lingyi gazed at her faintly smiling face and smiled too.

  Why am I in such a good mood today?

  Eleventh girl looked at him and muttered secretly in her heart.

  What happened in the temple that made him so happy?

  Xu Lingyi was indeed very happy.

  Fan Weigang's case was ultimately proved to be an instance of the emperor hating iron for not becoming steel.

  "Opening a shop is not usually accompanied by gifts, according to old customs." He had a hint of delight in his expression, which made his face look warm and bright. "However, since we are sisters, it's also not suitable to go empty-handed. I think this way, we'll contribute forty taels as a gift, then you secretly give them another hundred taels of silver as our congratulations."

  There's no need to ask around anymore, Xu Lingyi has already made it clear that there is no precedent for giving gifts when opening a shop!

  If you take a hundred taels of silver and go, won't it make it difficult for your elder sister?

  The eleventh daughter smiled and said, "Two days ago, my elder sister came to discuss this with me. She said that if the fifth sister opens a dry goods store, we will each contribute fifty taels, which is a token of our sisterly affection."

  "It's good that you know!" Xu Lingyi smiled and said, "Then it's fifty taels!" Then she went with Shier Niang to Tai Furen's place, without mentioning where the ninety taels of silver came from.

  The eleventh girl thought that she still had one hundred and two silver coins in her hand, so she decided to temporarily get over this difficulty first.

  Amber whispered to Eleven: "Should we tell Big Sister... let's turn it over for a month first."

  "It's unnecessary," said the eleventh daughter, "Fifth sister's marriage was arranged by her, and Tenth sister's marriage was also arranged by her. If she had a mind to, she would have asked long ago."

  Amber's eyes dimmed slightly after hearing this.

  "What did Qiu Ting say?" Eleventh Sister had been educated that a woman who wants spiritual independence must have economic independence. Although the problem of betrothal gifts had now been resolved, she still wanted to start her own business.

  "Back then," said Amber, "if you want to grow that kind of plant, you need a greenhouse that's at least that big."

  This involves cost issues!

  "Tell Jiang Bingzheng to go out onto the streets and take a look at what price the flowers are being sold for."

  Amber left at the sound, and Bai Zongguan came to see her with a thousand taels of silver: "...The young master said that it would be useful in private, so I took it out from the accounting house and handed it over to you."

  Eleventh Girl didn't know what Xu Lingyi meant, and she couldn't say "I don't know" in front of Director Bai, so she smiled and accepted it. When Xu Lingyi returned, she handed him a thousand taels of silver: "It's said that you wanted to use it privately, so I had it sent to me first."

  Xu Lingyi didn't even glance at those silver notes and said calmly, "In the future, if there's anything like what happened with Zi Chun, just settle it through this account!"

  When Bai Zongguan gave her the silver ticket, Shiyi Niang had a premonition, now the premonition has come true, and she is in a complicated mood.

  Xu Lingyi was quiet and taciturn, but tall and handsome, with a meticulous mind and a warm and considerate heart... He was exactly the kind of boy she admired. Unfortunately, they had received different educations and were destined to have their own persistence, so it was impossible for them to become lovers forever.

  The faint regret in her heart was faithfully reflected on her body - when he entered her, she broke out in cold sweat all over, feeling even more uncomfortable than the first time.

  Xu Lingyi whispered softly in her ear and gently caressed her.

  She just felt that the process was too long and hoped it would end soon...