The wind is gentle and the fun is endless

The next day, Huan Huan got up not too late, but still did not see Xu Qu.

While combing her hair, Xiaoyu told her that Xu Qu got up very early today and it was just dawn when he came back from sword practice. Then after breakfast, he went to Madam Xie's Jingyuan to discuss matters with her.

"He was already drunk yesterday, how could he get up so early? Even in this state, he still insisted on practicing sword?" Huanhuan exclaimed in disbelief.

"That's right, miss. Your uncle is really amazing! You must learn from him." Xiaoyu slowly combed her hair and inserted a pearl hairpin into the bun.

"Yeah," she slowly lowered her eyes and nodded, but she soon sighed and murmured to herself, "I wonder if he has a headache after his hangover."

At the dinner table, Huanhuan began to ponder: Was Xu Qu's words last night drunken or true? What do indifference and chaos mean? From what he said, he doesn't like green, right? So is it like what Xie Jin said, he likes red? But what does he mean by liking green from now on? In short, it feels like he is biased towards me, right? Thinking of this, Huanhuan's heart was happy again.

Xiaoyu couldn't stand it anymore and said, "Miss, why are you talking to yourself, frowning and grinning? The food is getting cold."

She slowly came back to her senses from her thoughts. Before she could even take a few bites of food, Daping ran over breathlessly and said, "Madam, the Duke of Dingguo - the eldest sister-in-law is here. Madam wants you to go to her as soon as possible."

"What, what? Are you talking about my great uncle?" Xiaoyu asked Daping excitedly.

Daping was also very excited and nodded repeatedly, saying: "Yes, yes, he is probably here to pick up my aunt, hehe, hahaha..." Daping seemed to be in a very good mood.

He quickly ate two mouthfuls of rice, told Xiaoyu to go to the shop, and then set off for Jingyuan with Daping.

As soon as I entered the main hall of Jingyuan, I slowly saw a slightly plump, dignified, gorgeously dressed, and quite noble man, about fifty years old, sitting in the main seat.

Before Huanhuan could react, she heard Madam Xie's voice: "Xuanhuan, this is your uncle, Duke Dingguo." As she spoke, Madam Xie stood up from the side seat and came to Huanhuan's side. She said to the person in the main seat: "Brother-in-law, this is Qu'er's wife, Feng Huanhuan."

Huanhuan quickly saluted the person on the main seat, who responded, "No need for formalities." The voice was very loud and confident, but the emotion was so deep that it was hard to tell whether it was sad or happy.

He slowly stood up, and then heard Duke Dingguo say, "Qu'er's wedding was very urgent, and his aunt was ill, so we didn't come."

Mrs. Xie explained: "It's mainly our fault, but we were also in a hurry to choose the most suitable day."

"Well, where is this witless lady from? Her family..." Duke Dingguo hadn't finished speaking when he was interrupted by his aunt: "Huan Huan is from Heyang, not far away. His father was an official in the court, his brother is a Jinshi in the court, and his sister-in-law is the legitimate daughter of the Pei family in Zhuoyang."

Anyone could tell that the eldest aunt's "evasive" words were meant to elevate Huanhuan's status in front of her uncle. Huanhuan couldn't help but be surprised when she heard the eldest aunt's words: Why did the eldest aunt suddenly become so nice to her?

With doubts in his heart, he slowly looked at his aunt, and found that the look in the aunt's eyes was the same as before, so he confirmed that he was overthinking. No matter what, now that his uncle is here, the day when his aunt leaves the Xu Mansion is not far away. Thinking of this, he became more calm and leisurely, and slowly sat down in the seat between Xu Qu and Xiangyue.

As soon as Huanhuan sat down, she heard her eldest uncle say to Madam Xie, "Madam, you have been bothering the Xu Mansion for too long and causing trouble to your sister-in-law. There are many affairs in the Duke's Mansion now, and we really need you to go back and take charge of the situation. Why don't you pack up and leave for Beijing tomorrow?" The Duke Ding said the latter part to his eldest aunt, but his eldest aunt had a cold expression and did not respond.

"Pfft!" At this time, the little maid who was pouring tea couldn't help laughing, which attracted everyone's attention. Madam Xie looked at her with a scolding look and scolded her, "If you are thinking about your own business, please get someone else to come over. Don't be so rude in front of the distinguished guests."

After scolding the maid, Madam Xie politely said to Duke Dingguo, "Last time I heard someone from the Duke's Mansion came, but before I could meet him, I heard that he had gone back. Sister, your return to the Xu Mansion cannot be said to be a nuisance, but please don't think we didn't entertain you well enough."

The eldest aunt said disdainfully, "The last time they came, they were just a few servants. They are not worthy of being entertained by you, so you don't have to be polite. The Xu family is my mother's family. Since it is my mother's family, there is no such thing as entertainment. I naturally live a leisurely and comfortable life at my mother's family. It can be said that I am happy there and don't want to leave."

The eldest aunt's words were a bit puzzling. She was responding to Madam Xie's request for not entertaining Zhou Yi, but it also seemed like she was responding to Duke Dingguo's request to return to Beijing.

Duke Dingguo stroked his beard and looked at his aunt calmly. In the end, he said nothing. He picked up the teacup, but did not drink it. He just looked at it and put it down. Then Duke Dingguo said, "Madam was homesick that day and did not bring any entourage with her when she came to Shanghuai. Now it is better to leave a few servants to accompany Madam. When Madam wants to go back in a few days, let the servants help pack and take care of her on the way, so as to avoid the hardship of traveling."

The eldest aunt snorted coldly and said, "The servants in our Xu Mansion are the best. Unlike those outside who have ulterior motives and seek to curry favor with others, the servants in our Xu Mansion are all loyal to their masters. With such servants around, the masters will naturally feel at ease and there is no need to add unnecessary trouble."

The words of the eldest aunt and the Duke of Dingguo became increasingly unfriendly. Seeing this, Madam Xie said hurriedly, "My eldest brother-in-law must be tired after coming so far. Why don't you go to my sister's yard and rest first? We can discuss anything tomorrow."

Duke Dingguo responded, "What my sister-in-law said makes sense. We can talk about it tomorrow. Let the children go back first."

Mrs. Xie then hurriedly asked Huanhuan, Xu Qu, Xiangyue and the others to bow and say goodbye to Duke Dingguo. After Xu Qu and the others had said goodbye and stepped out of the door, Duke Dingguo called out, "Qu'er, I forgot to give you the wedding gift I brought for you."

Upon hearing this, Huanhuan quickly grabbed Xu Qu who was walking forward and repeated Duke Dingguo's words to him. Xu Qu then went back to get the gift, bowed to thank Duke Dingguo, and then reunited with Huanhuan at the door and left together.

As soon as Xu Qu, Huan Huan and Xiang Yue left, Madam Xie whispered a few words to Nanny Zhang, who then left the main hall of Jingyuan and caught up with Xu Qu and the other two. She first told Xiang Yue that she would arrange for Xie Jin to live in Xiang Yue's courtyard, and now that Duke Dingguo was here, Xiang Yue naturally agreed to such a reasonable arrangement.

Then Nanny Zhang smiled and said to Huan Huan, "Young Master and Young Madam, Madam has ordered people to prepare a feast. Please come to Jingyuan for lunch at noon."

Xu Qu and Huanhuan nodded in agreement. Nanny Zhang smiled at Huanhuan and said, "Also, Madam, Duke Dingguo doesn't know about the young master's ear disease. Please be careful to keep this secret in front of him." These words really surprised Huanhuan. As Xu Qu's eldest uncle, he didn't even know about Xu Qu's ear disease?

He slowly thought about how Duke Dingguo called Xu Qu after Xu Qu turned around, and it seemed that this was indeed the case. Then he thought about how he had just repeated Duke Dingguo's words to Xu Qu. Although he was some distance away from Duke Dingguo at that time, if he was more careful, he would definitely be suspicious, which was really thrilling.

Thinking of this, Huan Huan quickly said to Aunt Zhang: "I understand, Aunt Zhang, please rest assured."

Upon hearing this, Nanny Zhang smiled, then quickly said goodbye to Xu Qu and the others, saying that she was going to arrange for Xie Jin to move to Xiangyue's place.

After Aunt Zhang left, she slowly asked Xiangyue, "Even a close relative like your eldest uncle doesn't know about your brother's ear disease?"

Xiangyue responded, "My eldest uncle lives in the capital. Apart from the few times he came to pick up my eldest aunt, he has never been to Shanghuai. It is easy for my eldest aunt to conceal something on purpose."

Huanhuan still didn't understand, so she asked again, "Why did you hide such a big thing from your dearest uncle?"

Xiangyue said, "At the beginning, my aunt said that my brother's ear disease could be cured and the cause was not glorious. The fewer people who knew about it, the better. We didn't want outsiders to talk about it and we were not allowed to spread the news. So we only asked the best doctors to treat my brother's ear disease, and we paid a lot of money to all the doctors who treated my brother's ear disease and asked them to keep it secret. Later, it couldn't be cured. My aunt said that my brother was the only legitimate heir of the Xu family, so we didn't want to make trouble and didn't need to tell people who didn't know. Therefore, my uncle who lived far away didn't know about my brother's ear disease from beginning to end. Those doctors that my aunt found were all found by her secretly."

He frowned slowly and said, "It sounds like it makes sense, but is the eldest uncle considered an outsider?"

Xiangyue curled her lips and lowered her voice to Huanhuan, "Look at how they acted just now. Do you think your eldest uncle doesn't look like an outsider? I've seen it a long time ago. Your eldest aunt has been trying to use her natal family as a bargaining chip to improve her status in her husband's family. How could she let her husband's family see her natal family's weaknesses?"

"Oh, I see." After hearing this, Huanhuan seemed to understand why her aunt had been rushing to introduce Huanhuan's family in front of her uncle, because at this time, even Huanhuan had become her aunt's bargaining chip in her husband's family.

Huanhuan couldn't help but sigh in her heart. It seemed that her aunt also had a lot of unspeakable secrets.