"In your heart, am I ranked after Mother, Shushu, Pan'er, An'an, and Pingping?"

It's not a question of who comes after whom now.

Our wedding is off.

I disagree.

Jiang Mingzhe walked to the desk, opened the drawer, and took out a thick, folded piece of paper.

Jiang Mingzhe handed the paper to Ye Yunniang, gesturing for her to open it.

Ye Yunniang opened the paper, looked at the paper, and then looked at Jiang Mingzhe.

"This is?"

"This is our future home," Jiang Mingzhe said, pointing to the blueprints and introducing their future home to Ye Yunniang.

The drawings depict a large courtyard with five sections.

The courtyard is where guests are received and welcomed.

The second and third courtyards were the residences of Li Pan, Li An, and Li Ping, and there was also a garden next to the garden, as well as a martial arts training ground.

The fourth courtyard was where Ye Yunniang and Jiang Mingzhe lived. Cai Damei and Bao Shuyi lived in two connected courtyards, one large and one small, located between the third and fourth courtyards.

The fifth courtyard was where the servants lived.

"The yard is too big." The children live a bit far from her, which Ye Yunniang doesn't like.

“The child is growing up and needs to learn to be independent.” Jiang Mingzhe wouldn’t admit that he did this on purpose.

“Pan’er is not even 10 years old yet.” Ye Yunniang was reluctant to part with her.

He was no longer a child; Jiang Mingzhe moved to the front yard at the age of three, separating himself from the women.

"I can't bear to part with them." Ye Yunniang didn't want to be separated from her children.

At Ye Yunniang's insistence, Jiang Mingzhe agreed.

Li Pan and his two friends could live in the same courtyard with them until they turned 13, after which they would have to move to a separate courtyard.

If the children want to move out early, neither parent should try to stop them.

Looking at the blueprints, Ye Yunniang remembered something.

"What did your parents say?" Jiang Mingzhe's plans did not include those of Grandpa Jiang and his wife.

The children have taken all of Grandpa Jiang's treasure. They don't have much money left.

“Jiang Mingde has been pardoned. They will live with him.” Jiang Mingzhe also didn’t want to live with the Jiang family.

"Reinstated to his original position?"

"No." The emperor only restored Jiang Mingde's family's freedom; he could forget about official positions for the rest of his life.

"Don't worry, Jiang family, I'll handle it." Jiang Mingzhe understood that Ye Yunniang felt unconsciously inferior to the Jiang family because she had been Jiang Tingjun's wet nurse.

She didn't show up in front of Zhuang Meixue and Jiang Mingrui because those two had hurt her son.

Ye Yunniang told Cai Damei the result.

Cai Damei was satisfied with Jiang Mingzhe's actions. However, she would not allow Jiang Mingzhe to support her and Shushu.

Her little food stall will continue to operate.

After Cai Damei recovered from her injuries, the group set off back to Jiangcheng.

With nothing urgent to do, we strolled along, enjoying the scenery at a leisurely pace.

During this time, Ye Yunniang and Jiang Mingzhe gradually became familiar with each other and learned a lot about each other's lifestyle habits.

The children also became familiar with Jiang Mingzhe, and Li Pan and Li An both changed their way of addressing him, calling him "Dad".

Only Li Ping, the stubborn kid, insisted on calling Jiang Mingzhe "father" and silently vowed every day to defeat him.

Jiang Mingzhe was delighted with this, and sometimes when Li Ping was calm, he would deliberately provoke him.

Ye Yunniang initially tried to persuade both sides. Later, tired of trying, she started to persuade herself, explaining that this was simply how her father and son interacted.

Ye Yunniang stopped interfering and let the father and son do whatever they wanted.

As the weather turned from hot to cool, Ye Yunniang and her group arrived in Jiangcheng.

"Grandma, I'll be waiting for you at the city gate, Master Bao." Li Pan, sitting on the carriage frame, spotted Bao Min immediately and called out into the carriage.

Cai Damei didn't even lift her eyelids, continuing to savor the pickled vegetables on her plate.

In order to make Xiaocaiji bigger and stronger, Cai Damei asked around in every place she went, asking whose family made the best pickled vegetables.

They not only buy pickled vegetables from them, but also spend money to buy their pickling methods.

Li Pan recorded and organized all the methods for future reference.

Cai Damei tasted them one by one, pondering and trying different pickling methods to improve them.

She was too busy to think about Bao Min.

"Grandma," Li Pan called out again.

"Hmm, what's wrong?" Cai Damei asked Ye Yunniang.

Ye Yunniang repeated Li Pan's words.

Cai Damei said "oh" and continued to enjoy the side dishes in front of her.

Seeing this, Ye Yunniang shook her head at Li Pan.

Li Pan understood and waved for the carriage to continue.

Bao Min watched the carriage walk past him, and the smile on his face vanished.

"Sir, it's my fault for not doing my job well," Luo Xin apologized. They had been searching for Cai Damei but hadn't found her. They only learned of the near-accident Cai Damei had almost met with an accident on the way after receiving a message from Jiang Mingzhe.

"It was my fault." Bao Min realized that he had done something wrong and made Cai Damei unhappy.

The carriage arrived at Sunset Lane. Ye Yunniang and Jiang Mingzhe were not yet married and could not live together.

Evening Glow Lane has been renovated, and the ground is paved with new bluestone slabs.

The moss along the courtyard wall was cleaned up very thoroughly.

I arrived at my front door. The door was locked, and the surroundings were clean, without a speck of dirt.

Ye Yunniang took the key from Cai Damei, unlocked the door, and pushed it open.

The courtyard wasn't the filthy, overgrown place Ye Yunniang had imagined. It was spotless, without a single fallen leaf.

Ye Yunniang turned to look at Jiang Mingzhe, her eyes asking if he had cleaned it.

Jiang Mingzhe replied, "No."

It's not Jiang Mingzhe, it's Bao Min.

Considering Cai Damei's decision, Ye Yunniang didn't say much.

"Mom, we're home."

Cai Damei hummed in agreement, picked up the sleeping Bao Shuyi, and walked towards the backyard.

"Yunniang, you're back." Chunyao strode over and saw Jiang Mingzhe standing by the carriage.

Chunyao's expression changed, and she bowed, "Second Master."

“You are no longer a servant of the Jiang family, so there’s no need for formalities.” Jiang Mingzhe recognized Chunyao as Chef Jin’s wife.

"Second Master, my master Da Chuan said that once a servant of the Jiang family, always a servant."

Chunyao insisted on bowing. At the same time, she couldn't help but feel relieved that she had believed Chef Jin's words and had always been kind to Ye Yunniang.

Jiang Mingzhe withdrew his gaze and looked at Ye Yunniang, "I'm going to stay in the small courtyard."

They didn't tell anyone about their affair, as it wasn't appropriate for Jiang Mingzhe to stay at the Li family's house any longer.

Ye Yunniang saw Jiang Mingzhe off.

Chunyao enthusiastically offered to help Ye Yunniang tidy up.

Ye Yunniang politely declined, saying she would invite her to come and talk another day.

Chunyao realized that she had been too enthusiastic and had almost backfired. She withdrew her hand, said goodbye, and left.

Back home, Chunyao grabbed Chef Jin and told him about meeting Jiang Mingzhe.

Upon hearing this, Chef Jin immediately went to find Jiang Mingzhe.

"Second Master has already left." Chunyao stopped Jin Dachuan.

"Where did Second Master go?"

"Where did Second Master go? How would I know?" Chunyao rolled her eyes at Jin Dachuan. Was it any of her business to ask about Jiang Mingzhe's whereabouts?

"Let's wait for Second Master to summon us." Jin Dachuan calmed down, thought of something, and instructed Chunyao.

"You must not reveal a word of the Second Master's return, nor the matter of the Madam and the young master to your family."

Why can't I say?