As soon as Seventh Miss returned to the Xu household, she went directly to Qingping Garden to tell Madam Xu the news that the Emperor intended to bring down Grand Secretary Jiao.
Madam Xu listened carelessly. When Seventh Miss finished, she simply said directly, “From now on, tell the Heir Apparent about such matters. If it’s something major, send word to Menghua Pavilion and tell your father-in-law… I’ll just focus on recuperating and holding a few more grandchildren. I don’t want to bother with outside affairs anymore.”
When it came to relinquishing authority, Madam Xu truly did so with ease.
Seventh Miss was somewhat speechless and could only mumble her acknowledgment. “I suppose Shengluan has returned. Then Little Qi will have him relay the message to Father-in-law.”
She then requested permission from Madam Xu. “Speaking of which, it’s been some time since I visited my natal family…”
Seventh Miss’s last visit to her natal family had actually been at the end of the third month—barely a month ago.
A new bride’s first year of marriage didn’t permit frequent visits to her natal family. Even Second Miss, despite being a marquis’s wife wielding great power in her manor, only visited her natal family once every two or three months.
Yet Madam Xu agreed without hesitation. “Since you learned this news from the Imperial Consort, you should naturally make a visit home.”
She pondered for a moment, then offered Seventh Miss guidance.
“For this kind of matter, since even the Imperial Consort already knows, it probably can’t be concealed much longer. You needn’t immediately tell the Duke. Our family doesn’t have much contact with the Jiao family anyway—this time we’re just watching the fire from across the river. However, you should still discuss with the Heir Apparent and judge the timing yourself to give all your brothers and sisters-in-law a heads-up—after all, we’re one family. No matter how fiercely we compete internally, externally we must still look after each other. Take your eldest sister-in-law, for instance—the Han family has produced one or two students of Grand Secretary Jiao!”
Seventh Miss nodded knowingly.
As the first information source, she would naturally share this matter with both her marital and natal families at the first opportunity. In modern times with information explosion, news had become cheap, but in Great Qin, many times an accurate piece of news was even more precious than gold, silver, and jewels.
Having information meant having favors to trade, and how to trade those favors required careful consideration.
Madam Xu’s words reminded Seventh Miss that she could use this news to win over First Young Madam.
Seventh Miss walked back to Mingde Hall deep in thought, carefully considering First Young Madam as a person.
As the eldest daughter-in-law from a concubine, whether the family divided assets or not, she would naturally receive her due share of property. First Young Master was also capable. As long as she showed Seventh Miss slight goodwill, preventing the two sides from becoming hostile, she could maintain a stable life. Such a person without desires or demands was actually the hardest to deal with.
Of course, if she hadn’t been implicated in Fifth Miss’s death, Seventh Miss wouldn’t need to “deal with” her at all—both sides living peacefully would have been fine. But since Lady Min’s maternal family excelled in medicine, Seventh Miss couldn’t help but consider more carefully and think about First Young Madam’s weaknesses.
With matters on her mind, her steps slowed. By the time she entered Mingde Hall’s courtyard, the sky had already darkened. Inside Mingde Hall, lamps had already been lit.
Just entering the main hall, she heard childish laughter from the corridor, along with Fifth Son’s shrill cry, “Give me, give me!”
Immediately after, Fourth Son came running out of the corridor at a trot, followed in hot pursuit by Fifth Son, Guyu, and Chunfen.
Seeing Seventh Miss, Fourth Son changed direction and threw himself at Seventh Miss’s legs, hugging her knees and giggling.
These two children had no other playmates from birth and grew up together, so they loved teasing each other. Fighting over things was a daily occurrence. Now over two years old and steady on their feet, they had begun running wildly all over Mingde Hall.
Seventh Miss bent down to stop the pursuing Fifth Son, smiling as she admonished, “Outside the room, the ground is hard. If you fall, it will hurt. Don’t run around outside anymore, all right?”
She felt something bumping against the back of her knee, so she reached behind to feel for it. Unexpectedly, Fourth Son instead pressed the object into Seventh Miss’s palm. He released Seventh Miss, turned to face Fifth Son, spread his arms wide, and said while laughing.
“All gone!”
Fifth Son still didn’t believe it. He circled around Fourth Son in confusion, saying as he turned, “Where is it? Brother is lying, where is it!” By the end, he looked ready to cry.
Seventh Miss didn’t dare take out the small toy the two were fighting over—she squeezed it and found it was just a building block—lest it spark another contest. She could only exchange glances with Chunfen and Guyu. The two maids bent down and each picked up one young master, saying with grins, “Time to eat! Want some pine nut candy?”
Though Fifth Son’s eyes held tears, hearing about pine nut candy, he cheered up again. Fourth Son, seeing him walking ahead, turned back to reach toward Seventh Miss. Seventh Miss also spread her hands to him and smiled. “All gone!”
Fourth Son was somewhat more mature. He didn’t cry, just blinked his large eyes, studying Seventh Miss as if disbelieving. After thinking, he turned his head away and leaned against Guyu’s shoulder, seemingly unconcerned about where the block had actually gone.
This child was truly much cleverer than Fifth Son.
Seventh Miss thought for a moment, then smiled and followed behind the two children, instead waving off Shangyuan who had come out to greet her.
Just turning into the corridor, she froze.
Xu Fengjia was leaning in the shadows at the turn, arms crossed, grinning as he watched Seventh Miss. Though he stood right at the corridor’s bend, because of the candlelight shadows, Seventh Miss and the two children had played for quite a while without noticing him.
“Why so late coming back? I’ve been waiting for you forever.”
Seeing Seventh Miss enter, he straightened and walked alongside her into the nursery.
“I arrived early, but I first went to Qingping Garden to say a few words to Mother.” Seventh Miss looked at Xu Fengjia curiously. “How long were you standing there? I didn’t see you at all.”
“Such poor eyesight.” Xu Fengjia tsked as he criticized her. “I came out when I heard you entering. Otherwise, how do you think these two little monkeys got out of the room?”
Not expecting that Xu Fengjia would actually be in the nursery playing with the two sons, Seventh Miss couldn’t help but laugh. “Rare, rare! The general is in such fine spirits today, serving as an ox for children.”
Seeing Fourth Son and Fifth Son had already entered the washroom to wash their hands, she slipped the building block from her sleeve and placed it in the pile of blocks in the corner of the nursery. She turned to beckon Xu Fengjia. “I returned late today. Hurry and eat. You eat first—I’ll come after changing clothes.”
Young Master Xu had a large appetite and could often eat three or four bowls of rice in one sitting. He’d get terribly hungry if he was even slightly late. They’d already missed mealtime for a while now. Seventh Miss felt somewhat regretful, blaming herself for walking too slowly on the road.
Xu Fengjia grumbled a few times and accompanied her into the west wing. Maids naturally came forward to remove her ornaments and change her clothes, undoing her elaborate coiffure and rebraiding it into a simple cloud bun. After hastily washing up, she entered the western side room. But Xu Fengjia hadn’t touched his chopsticks yet—he was just propping his face, looking utterly bored as he waited for her at the table.
Seventh Miss realized for the first time that having someone wait for you to eat was a very happy thing. This feeling could even strike sharply at her heart, making her breathing momentarily difficult.
She took a deep breath before waving at Zhongyuan with a smile. “Go on. There’s no need to serve here anymore.”
The maids all understood Xu Fengjia’s habits. After arranging the bowls and dishes, they silently withdrew from the room.
Seventh Miss didn’t sit down either. She stood waiting for the two maids to close the door, bit her lip, then walked to Xu Fengjia’s side and tapped his shoulder.
Xu Fengjia looked up in surprise.
Seventh Miss leaned down and placed a kiss on his lips before quickly turning and hurrying back to her seat.
“Let’s eat.” She tried to keep a straight face but couldn’t hide the rampant blush flooding her cheeks.
Xu Fengjia didn’t respond for a long time. The young general’s face rarely showed bewilderment. He raised his hand to press his lips, hesitated for a moment, then asked.
“Why, why so suddenly…”