Do you know: I am Xu Jiazi

Chapter 358 Naming and Old Stories [Thank you for your support! Goodbye! ]

Hearing Xu Zaijing's words, Xu Xingdai put his head on Xu Zaijing's shoulder with some disappointment and whispered, "Uncle, can we play while grandma is not around?"

Xu Zaijing glanced at his mother, and after letting out a breath that sounded like a cough or a hum, Xu Xingdai in his arms' eyes lit up and he laughed.

In the hall, Gu Tingye, who had just sat on a chair nearby, looked at the interaction between Xu Zaijing and his nephew with some envy. Then he stood up and walked to Xu Zaijing and said, "Dai, come here, let your uncle hold you!"

After Xu Xingdai glanced at Xu Zaijing's encouraging eyes, he extended his hand to Gu Tingye.

Holding the little guy, Gu Tingye said:

"Brother Dai is still the most lovable one! He is not like my nephew Gu Shixing, who rolls his eyes around when he looks at people. I wonder what bad ideas he has in mind!"

Xu Zaijing sat on a chair beside him and ignored Gu Tingye. He looked at Mrs. Bai who was looking at him with a smile and said, "Aunt, have you decided on the name of my niece?"

Mrs. Bai smiled and said, "Brother Jing, it's decided! The name was given by the Marquis himself in the letter."

Xu Zaijing smiled and looked at Mrs. Bai inquiringly.

"The children of the Gu family were named after the Shi generation, with the boys having the character 彳 (chi) and the girls having the character 女 (nu), so they were given the character '妍'."

Xu Zaijing nodded and smiled, "The clever and intelligent one is called Yan, Sister Yan."

After saying this, I thought to myself: "This is right."

Mrs. Bai smiled and nodded, but there was a hint of sadness in her eyes. Nanny Chang behind her also had a smile on her lips.

Seeing this scene, Xu Zaijing guessed what was going on, but didn't say much.

Xie, the eldest daughter-in-law of the Xu family, who was sitting at the lower table, also saw Mrs. Bai's expression, but she did not say much. She lowered her head and drank a sip of nourishing tea.

Gu Tingye, who was standing by, put Xu Xingdai down from his arms and said, "Mother, why did you want to visit relatives today?"

Gu Tingyi opened his arms, hugged Xu Xingdai again, and said, "Brother, mother knew that the farmer in the eldest lady's family raised a good thing for treating external injuries, so she came to ask for advice."

Gu Erlang nodded: "Then, sister, can our family learn it?"

Gu Tingyi looked at the two silent ladies and continued, "Of course you can. The lady said that we can teach together with the people sent by the Chai family."

"The Chai family?"

Gu Tingyi nodded: "Brother, the Chai family sent someone to learn last month."

At this time, the maid's voice came from outside the hall.
"The second lady is here."

Then, Hua Lan, wearing a silver-white silk dress with light green patterns, came in holding a handkerchief and accompanied Cui Chan. After bowing, she said, "Hello, Madam! Hello, brothers and sisters."

Xu Zaijing and Gu Tingye, brother and sister, quickly stood up and returned the greeting.

The lady at the top, Bai Da, asked with amazement in her eyes, "Brother, are you not crying anymore?"

Hua Lan smiled slightly: "With his father, they all went to bed!"

Mrs. Bai said, "Zai Zhang also gets up early every day to go to school, so he should be sleepy in the afternoon."

Sun said, "Sit down quickly."

After hearing her mother-in-law's words, Hualan smiled and nodded, then sat down below her sister-in-law Xie.

After sitting down, Hualan looked at Mrs. Bai's smiling eyes as she gazed at her. She glanced at her mother-in-law and sister-in-law in confusion, then touched her hairpins and rings uncomfortably.

Sun, who was sitting at the head of the table with Mrs. Bai, asked, "Sister, why are you looking at my Hua'er like that?"

Mrs. Bai retracted her gaze and said, "Sister, I also saw Hualan before in Yangzhou! I have also seen her several times after coming to Beijing, but when I saw her again today, why do I feel that Hualan is like a different person?"

"The skin looks whiter and more elegant!"

Xie, who was standing next to Hualan, looked at her sister-in-law with a smile in her eyes.

Gu Tingyi nodded with bright eyes and said, "Mother is right! Sister Hualan, do you have any secret recipe for whitening your skin?"

Hua Lan felt a little embarrassed when being stared at by everyone in the hall. She touched her face and said, "It turned white? Has it?"

Everyone nodded.

Xu Xingdai even squeezed out from Gu Tingyi's armband, and after Gu Tingyi let him go, he walked towards Hua Lan who had just entered.

"Aunt, hug me!"

Hua Lan hugged Xu Xingdai, smiling, and said shyly: "Maybe I've been staying in the house for too long!"

He looked at his clothes again and said, "Maybe it's because of the clothes."

Mrs. Bai glanced at the eldest daughter-in-law of the Xu family, who habitually protected her belly, and said, "Look at you two, your complexion is good when you are pregnant!"

Hualan and her sister-in-law Xie looked at each other and smiled.

After everyone talked for a while, Mrs. Bai looked outside the hall, stood up and said, "Sister, it's getting late, I'll take my leave now!"

After some persuasion, everyone walked out of the house.

The two ladies walked in the front, while Hualan and Xie accompanied Tingyi in the middle.

Xu Zaijing held Xu Xingdai in his arms, and followed behind with Gu Tingye.

Listening to Xu Xingdai's cheerful laughter, Gu Tingyi looked back curiously and said to Hualan beside him, "Sister Hualan, don't you have any secret recipe?"

Hualan and Xie looked at each other again, and then said a few words in Gu Tingyi's ear. Seeing Gu Tingyi's face turning red quickly, Xie smiled and whispered:
"We are just talking about getting married, why are you blushing, sister Tingyi?"

"Your sister-in-law Pingmei also has the booklet on diet and body adjustment."

"You can also follow the instructions in the booklet to supplement your diet on a daily basis. This was written by Madam He!"

Gu Tingyi asked curiously, "The old lady He who specializes in gynecology?"

Hualan and her sister-in-law nodded.

At the second gate,

After watching the Gu family's carriage leave the Xu family's gate, Sun brought her family back to the mistress's courtyard.

After sitting down again,

Xie glanced at her mother-in-law, then looked at the maid in the marquis's mansion beside her, seeming to want to say something but stopping herself.

Hualan noticed this and looked at her sister-in-law curiously.

Sun understood and waved at Mother Zhu.

Soon, all the maids in the hall left the room and went outside.

Sun looked at the eldest daughter-in-law and asked, "What happened?"

Xie looked at Xu Zaijing who was still sitting there and said, "Mother-in-law, why did I see that Mrs. Bai seemed a little unhappy when she was talking about Sister Ping's daughter?"

Hualan was not here just now. She looked at her sister-in-law with surprise, then looked at her frowning mother-in-law Sun, and finally glanced at Xu Zaijing who was drinking tea calmly.

Hua Lan asked, "Sister-in-law, was there anything just now?"

Xie nodded.

Hua Lan continued, "From what I see, Mrs. Bai doesn't seem to favor boys over girls."

Xie nodded in approval, with some confusion in her eyes.

Mrs. Sun glanced at her youngest son, curious as to why he hadn't jumped up yet.

Xu Zaijing held the teacup and looked at the three ladies in the hall in confusion, and said, "Mother, sister-in-law, what's wrong?" Madam Sun said in a deep voice, "It's not that my sister from the Bai family favors boys over girls, there is really another reason."

Xie asked hesitantly, "Mother-in-law, can you tell me?"

Madam Sun pondered for a moment, then shook her head and said, "There's nothing to hide. If you want to find out, you can find out."

Madam Sun looked at Mrs. Xie and said:

"At that time, when Pingmei got married, you had already married into the Xu family. Do you remember the day when Zai Zhang and he went to the Gu family and made a scene?"

When she said 'he', Mrs. Sun even raised her chin towards her youngest son.

Listening to her mother-in-law's words, Hua Lan, who was standing by, looked around with her eyes wide open, much like her mother Wang Ruofu.
Her face was full of an expression that said, 'Mother-in-law, you and Madam Bai are so close, yet something like this happened to you?'

Looking at Hualan's expression, Madam Sun knew that her son had not told Hualan those things.

Madam Sun raised her chin again. Xie, who had been her daughter-in-law for many years, understood what she meant. After looking at Xu Zaijing, she said to Hualan:
"Hualan, when our father-in-law was promoted to the commander of the Tianwu Army, our family held a banquet. Gu Tingyang from the fifth branch of the Gu family fell in love with Qingzhi, a little maid who followed Pingmei, and wanted to do something bad, but was taught a lesson by Jing'er."

Hualan had a look of disgust on her face. She had heard of Gu Tingyang's reputation after living in Bian Jing for a few years.

Mrs. Xie continued, "Ping Jie'er married Gu Dalang, and the little maid also went with them."

Seeing Hua Lan's puzzled look, Xie explained, "At that time, Jing'er and his mother-in-law invited the cousin from the Zhu family and found four sisters-in-law from the Zhu family who practiced martial arts to serve as guards and dowry. The little girl had to take them with her whenever she went in and out."

Hualan nodded with great satisfaction in her eyes.

"Later, Ningyuan Hou returned to Bianjing from the north. Gu Hou fell in love with a girl named Mei and brought her to Ningyuan Hou's mansion, intending to make her his concubine."

Hualan opened her eyes wide and nodded repeatedly.

At the same time, under his frown, there was some confusion in his eyes, and he also looked like he was hoping his sister-in-law would continue talking.

"Later, the woman surnamed Mei wanted to kidnap the maid Qing Zhi to please the fifth branch of the Gu family, but was discovered by the sister-in-law of the Zhu family and rescued her. However, someone died the next day after the rescue, and the Gu family wanted to make her pay with her life!"

"The servant who accompanied us to the Gu family came back with the news riding on our dowry horse."

"Brother Jing and Zai Zhang left."

"I heard that Zhang and Jing acted quite recklessly in Gu's house."

Hua Lan looked at Xu Zai Jing, who had a disdainful expression on his face, and then looked at her mother-in-law, who had a stern face, and turned to ask, "Sister-in-law, what happened next?"

Mrs. Xie smiled and said, "What happened later? Later, the situation got serious, so Mrs. Bai took Tingye and Tingyi and moved to the Bai family's house outside."

Hua Lan asked in confusion: "But since I came to Bian Jing, I have never heard that Marquis Gu has a concubine."

Xie said, "It's right that he didn't have a concubine, because later when Mr. Bai returned to Yangzhou, he fell into the water, and Mrs. Bai took Pingmei and Tingye to Yangzhou."

"That was also when I met you in Yangzhou."

Hua Lan nodded and said hesitantly, "It was also after that that my brother-in-law passed the imperial examination?"

Xie smiled and nodded, "Mother-in-law, how about you tell me?"

Madam Sun sighed and said, "Great! Yu'er has won the first place in the second list. After he is appointed as an official, Marquis Gu will be asked to choose between him, Bai's sister, Ye'er's brother and sister, and the woman surnamed Mei."

Hua Lan widened her eyes and said in surprise: "My brother-in-law looks quite gentle, but he is so... Marquis Gu must not have chosen that woman!"

Madam Sun nodded and said, "That's right! Hualan, do you know that the reason Marquis Gu chose that woman is because she looks very much like someone!"

Hualan: "Mother, yes?"

Madam Sun sighed and said, "She looks very much like Yu'er's biological mother, Madam Qin."

Mrs. Xie said, "Mother, you should have met that Madam Qin, right?"

Madam Sun nodded and said, "I have seen you!"

Hearing his mother's words, Xu Zaijing put down his teacup and looked over with the same curiosity.

Xu Zaijing had never asked his mother Sun about Madam Qin before. After all, when he was old enough to understand, Madam Qin had been dead for seven or eight years.

Mrs. Xie said, "Mother, is Madam Qin really as pretty as my mother said she was?"

Madam Sun nodded.

Hua Lan asked in confusion: "Mother, so, what does this have to do with Mrs. Bai's bad complexion?"

Madam Sun sighed and said, "That's because you don't know some of the old things that happened back then."

The two daughters-in-law of Madam Sun in the hall looked at her with curiosity.

Then, Sun looked at her little son, whose ears were pricked up, and said with a look of nostalgia:

"When I was still a girl in the boudoir, there was a very famous tutoring nanny from the palace in Bianjing, who was similar to today's Nanny Kong."

"At that time, I was invited by the Duke of Dongchang to teach Miss Qin at home for a long time."

"After leaving the Dongchang Marquis's Mansion and going to another family, Miss Qin's reputation spread."

The two daughters-in-law of the Xu family nodded together, looking forward to what would happen next.

"Among them, Miss Qin is famous for her ability to compose poetry, play verses, and write idioms. She is proficient in all aspects of music, chess, calligraphy, and painting."

Xu Zaijing pretended to be curious and asked, "Mother, this doesn't sound like anything!"

Madam Sun shook her head and said, "The reason why my sister from the Bai family was unhappy was because of the second half of what I said about Miss Qin's appearance."

"It is said that Miss Qin is as beautiful as an autumn lotus, and she is extremely beautiful when she is still."

Xie and Hua Lan looked at each other in surprise.

Hualan: “This”

Mrs. Xie: "Mother, this, this is just asking for trouble!"

Madam Sun nodded.

Giving him such a name means that Marquis Gu Yankai has not completely forgotten Madam Qin!

Xu Zaijing nodded as if he had just learned something and said, "So mother said that Aunt Bai's face wasn't so bad because my sister gave birth to a girl."

Madam Sun nodded and said, "Although Madam Bai is a grandmother and a lady of honor, she has a straightforward and strong character and she doesn't try to hide anything in front of you."

Xu Zaijing continued: "Mother, my brother-in-law didn't say anything? That shouldn't be the case."

Sun said: "After receiving the letter, your brother-in-law went to ask for instructions from my sister from the Bai family."

"My sister from the Bai family nodded and said that Lord Gu was guarding the border for the country in the north and it would be a shame to reject Lord Gu's good intention."

"Besides, it is related to Yu'er's biological mother after all."

Xu Zaijing nodded. This was right. Given Gu Tingyu's personality, he would be able to understand what Ning Yuanhou meant.

"Okay, it's good enough for you to know about these old things! If others bring them up, don't get involved."

"Yes, mother."

Turn around,

Several noble ladies in Bian Jing went to the Chai family's shop with Chai Zhengzheng as invited by him.

(End of this chapter)