Bao Ning waited until midnight that night, but Pei Yuan still didn't come back.

While waiting for him, Bao Ning picked up the wood carving of his back figure that she had thrown out of the window during the day, and carved his face. She spent a lot of time carving it vividly, like a miniature version of Pei Yuan.

Although Bao Ning felt a little uncomfortable and disappointed about Pei Yuan's busyness during this period, she still supported him. Pei Yuan had his own pursuits, and as a wife, she should encourage him.

So Bao Ning kept waiting for him and preparing little surprises for him, hoping that he would be happier when he returned home and feel that he was not fighting alone.

She had a good idea.

But Pei Yuan didn't come back.

He didn't come home all night without even telling her.

It would be a lie to say that she didn't care or feel sad. Baoning was thinking about it all night, and when she woke up the next morning, her head was still dizzy.

Nanny Liu brought her some water for washing. Seeing that she looked not very well, she asked with concern, "Did Madam not sleep well last night?"

Baoning touched the quilt on Pei Yuan's side. It was cold and without a wrinkle. Although she was sure that he had not come back, she still had a glimmer of hope in her heart, "Did the Fourth Prince go out early today?"

"No." Nanny Liu shook her head blankly, "I didn't see the Fourth Prince this morning."

Baoning's heart sank.

She took a deep breath, stopped thinking about it, loosened her hair, got dressed and got up.

When she passed by the dressing table, she saw the small wooden sculpture she had carved for Pei Yuan last night. Bao Ning pursed her lips, grabbed it, threw it at the bottom of the dressing table, and locked it.

She lived a routine life. She first checked the condition of the little leeches and fed them some food. A lot of leeches had already hatched. Although many died, the living ones were in good spirits.

Bao Ning counted them one by one and found only twenty-six, which was much less than she expected.

After breakfast, Qiu Lingyan came to Bao Ning early to play. She had few friends in the mansion, and Bao Ning happened to be lonely, so they kept each other company.

The bracelet has been melted. The mold was bought by Aunt Liu from an iron shop. It is made of two simple pieces of iron, leaving a gap as wide as the bracelet in the middle. The melted gold is poured into it and it becomes a long column.

Bao Ning used a small hammer to knock it into a rounder and more delicate shape, then wet the paper with patterns on it and covered it, and slowly carved it with a carving knife.

This craft is not very difficult for her. The patterns are repetitive. It was a little unfamiliar at the beginning, but it became easier and easier. Qiu Lingyan chatted with her on the side.

"Sister, is your husband good to you?"

Bao Ning smiled and said, "Very good."

"Is he very busy during the day? I really want to meet him. Sister is so beautiful and dexterous, your husband must be very handsome and gentle."

Bao Ning paused the work in her hands: "Well, he is very good-looking."

Maybe it was because of what happened last night, Bao Ning didn't want to mention Pei Yuan now. When she thought of him, she felt a little panic and resistance in her heart. What

she minded was not that Pei Yuan didn't come back at night, he might be busy, or for other reasons, Bao Ning could understand. But he didn't even tell her, which showed that he didn't care, and he didn't have her in his heart.

This was what made Bao Ning sad the most.

Qiu Lingyan saw that Baoning was unwilling to continue the topic, so she plucked her nails and changed the subject: "Sister, do you know how many children my father has?"

Baoning asked: "How many?"

Qiu Lingyan said: "Sixteen. I am my father's youngest child. I don't know why, but after me, my father never had any children again."

Baoning was surprised. She knew that General Qiu was a passionate man, but she didn't expect him to be so passionate.

Qiu Lingyan continued, "I heard that it was because my father's favorite woman died on my birthday. After that, he never set foot in the backyard again, not even in my mother's room. My mother and father quarreled for a long time because of this."

She added, "I heard it from the maid in my mother's courtyard. I'm telling you this in secret. Sister, please keep it a secret."

Baoning was still in shock, nodded, and said ok.

Rationally, Baoning knew that she shouldn't continue asking. This was Qiu Mingshan's family affair. She couldn't get involved, and it was better not to know, but curiosity still won over her.

Baoning asked tentatively: "Does Yanzi know who that woman is?"

Qiu Lingyan shook her head and said: "I don't know, it's a secret, and none of us young people know it. I just heard that there is a portrait of that aunt hidden in my father's study. He treasures it very much and never shows it to others. But every time he comes back from Northern Xinjiang, he will stay in the study all night, take out the portrait to look at it, and cry."

Baoning said "ah" and didn't ask any more.

She just felt it was strange. What kind of mentality does General Qiu have? Since he likes that woman so much, he still has so many concubines and gives birth to so many children. When she is gone, he keeps his innocence.

But this is unfair to that woman, and to those concubines too? What a strange thing.

Baoning suddenly thought of Pei Yuan again. When he became successful, would he do the same thing? This kind of man has a bad nature.

Baoning didn't want to think about it anymore.

She collected her thoughts and focused on the bracelet in her hand. After more than an hour, after noon, she finally finished carving.

She took a round wood of appropriate thickness, bent the cylindrical gold bar with carved patterns, and carefully hammered the joints a few times, and it took shape. It was

almost the same as Qiu Lingyan's original bracelet. She was so happy that she ran back to her yard, gave Baoning all the candies she couldn't bear to eat, and kept thanking him.

Baoning had lunch with her.

Pei Yuan still didn't come back.

Baoning was no longer disappointed, and felt a little numb.

Qiu Lingyan told her that the servants in the backyard kitchen raised a group of lambs.

"Sister, I went to see them secretly a few days ago. Those lambs are so cute. The kitchen said they are raised for food. When the lambs grow fat during the Chinese New Year, they will be killed."

Qiu Lingyan wrinkled her nose and said, "What a pity. One of them was born half a month ago. Its eyes are very beautiful, but it is not full-term and looks droopy. The kitchen nanny said it is going to die."

Hearing this, Baoning became interested and asked, "Where is it?"

"It's in the backyard of the kitchen." Qiu Lingyan invited her, "Sister, we can go and see it together after dinner."

Bao Ning agreed with a smile, but before she had finished her meal, a maid came to look for her.

"Seventh Miss, Sixth Miss has returned from the temple. She couldn't find you and is angry. She wants you to go back."

Qiu Lingyan's shoulders shrank and she put down her chopsticks nervously: "Can I stay a little longer?"

The maid spoke in a gentle but firm tone: "Seventh Miss, you know Sixth Miss's temper. If you are late, she will come to find you in person. Do you want this?"

Qiu Lingyan stood up immediately.

"Sister, I have to go first..." She apologized to Baoning, looking timid, "Can I come again tomorrow?"

Baoning also stood up, sent her out, and said with a smile: "Of course you can."

Qiu Lingyan breathed a sigh of relief, turned around and waved goodbye to Baoning, and left with the maid. Baoning leaned against the door and watched their backs disappear around the corner.

When she returned to the table, the dishes on the table were already cold. Baoning couldn't eat them, so she gave up.

She went to wash her face, took a nap, and took Ah Huang to see the lamb Qiu Lingyan mentioned.

It really looked fragile, only about one foot tall. Baoning picked it up. It was soft and fluffy, with its head resting on Baoning's shoulder and breathing heavily. Its joints were swollen and its calves were shaking and twitching.

"It's lameness, a deficiency brought from the womb." The kitchen nanny introduced it to Baoning enthusiastically, "It's estimated that it won't live for a few days, and it can't eat. No one has the energy to take care of it, which is a pity."

The nanny added: "And it's too thin. Even if you kill it now, it won't taste good. It's all bones."

Ah Huang put his front paws on Baoning's knees, raised his neck high, and tried to sniff the lamb's butt.

The lamb shook its short tail at it, and it was unclear whether it was itchy or greeting it.

The nanny saw it and smiled: "This lamb has no other problems except being weak. It is very smart, as smart as a dog, and very lively."

Baoning touched the lamb's ears. Its ears were long, soft, and furry, like a donkey.

"Mammy, how much is this sheep? I want to buy it and take it home to raise it." Baoning asked Mammy Liu to take the money.

The nanny in the kitchen was very surprised and waved her hands quickly: "It's just a lamb, why do you want to pay? If the young lady likes it, just take it away. Even if you want to eat it now, it's no problem. The general has instructed us to take good care of you."

"You still have to pay. Let's settle the money. From now on, no matter whether the lamb is dead or alive, you can't ask me for money again." Baoning paid the money stubbornly as if jokingly, "But I still have to ask the nanny to send us some goat milk in the future."

The nanny was very happy and responded repeatedly: "Of course, we will send it to you every morning in the future. It will be guaranteed to be the freshest!"

Baoning smiled and thanked her, then carried the lamb back to the yard.

Bao Ning spent the whole afternoon with the sheep and the dog. The sheep was really gentle and smart, which brought her a lot of freshness, and even made her forget the unpleasantness brought by Pei Yuan.

The bed in the room was a step-out bed, like an independent small room, with hollow wooden boards on all four sides, and a small wooden door on the side used for getting into the bed.

There were curtains and gauze hanging around, so the outside could not see the scene inside, and the wooden door could be locked.

It was a bed that made people feel very safe, and Bao Ning liked it very much.

After dinner, Bao Ning gave Ah Huang a bath, wiped him dry with a dry cloth, wiped the sheep's hooves, and held them on the bed to play.

Lameness is usually caused by the bones not growing well. Bao Ning gave some money, dragged the kitchen to get some bone meal, mixed it in the milk of the lamb, and fed it to the lamb spoonful by spoonful.

The goat milk tasted very fragrant, and Ah Huang also wanted to drink it. Bao Ning was reluctant to let him drink it, so he just dipped his finger in it and put a drop on his lips.

Ah Huang choked angrily, Bao Ning pushed him aside and focused on feeding the lamb. It drank most of the bowl of milk, felt sleepy when it was full, and fell asleep in Bao Ning's arms.

Even though she said in her heart that she would not wait, when the night really came, Bao Ning still missed Pei Yuan in her heart.

The door of the bed was wide open. She sat at the head of the bed and could see the candle on the table.

The candle was half-burned, and it was probably past midnight outside. Baoning was so sleepy that her eyelids were glued together, and Ah Huang had already woken up from his third sleep.

"I won't wait for him anymore!" Baoning pursed her lips, slammed the door of the bed, pulled the quilt up to the tip of her nose, and closed her eyes to sleep.

When Pei Yuan came back, Baoning was still in a daze, and vaguely heard rustling sounds. She suddenly opened her eyes and saw Pei Yuan sitting next to her taking off his shoes.

She didn't react for a moment, thinking that she had met a thief. She was so scared that her heart was pounding, and she kicked Pei Yuan down with one foot, and locked the door with a bang.

The lamb was also awakened and bleated.

Baoning had just used all his strength, and Pei Yuan was not prepared. With such a push, he fell directly off the bed and lay on the ground with his arms and legs spread out.

Looking at the ceiling, Pei Yuan was completely dazed. It took him a long time to sit up with difficulty. He gritted his teeth and said, "Ji Baoning, what are you crazy about!"

He had never been pushed so hard by anyone in his life.

Both his body and his self-esteem could not bear it.

Pei Yuan sat on the ground and pounded on the door of the bed: "Ji Baoning, you still don't open the door for me, isn't that a bit too much?!"

"Woof!"

"Mee——"

He made such a noise that everything on the bed woke up and made noises one after another.

Pei Yuan only heard the barking of dogs, and could not hear or associate other sounds.

Baoning heard him yelling outside: "What did you hide in the bed!"