As we entered August, the weather remained hot.
Ye Yunniang will be on night watch tonight.
After spending a long time together, Ye Yunniang learned when Jiang Tingjun would wake up at night, and that she could take a short nap in between.
It's too hot at night; it's too hot for me to sleep.
The fan in my hand, no matter how much I fan it, is useless.
Ye Yunniang walked to the window, pushed it open halfway, and felt a cool breeze.
She let out a comfortable sigh, enjoying the gentle breeze, when her ears first caught the sound of movement on the bed.
Ye Yunniang walked over, and Jiang Tingjun woke up.
"Young Master is awake." Ye Yunniang said to Jiang Tingjun while checking the diaper covering him.
He had wet himself, so Ye Yunniang quickly changed Jiang Tingjun's diaper, picked him up, and originally intended to sit on the edge of the bed to breastfeed him.
It was too hot. Ye Yunniang, thinking that it was late at night and no one would be around, went to the window to breastfeed.
Yunniang was breastfeeding Jiang Tingjun by the window, and she smiled as she watched him drink the milk heartily.
Suddenly, a strong gaze fell upon her, startling Ye Yunniang, who turned to look out the window.
There was nothing there. But something felt off; it felt like something was watching me.
Ye Yunniang hurriedly closed the window, her face turning pale.
Sensing that something was wrong with Ye Yunniang, Jiang Tingjun frowned and started to cry.
Ye Yunniang gently patted Jiang Tingjun, "Don't cry, don't cry. It's your fault, I scared you, little master. Don't cry, don't cry..."
Ye Yunniang was extremely flustered, feeling that there was someone outside the window.
I felt panicked and guilty at the same time. Why did I have to open the window just to cool off for a moment?
Ye Yunniang was no longer sleepy and stayed up for the next two hours.
The area outside became lively; Ding Fang had arrived.
"Did the young master cry last night?"
"Yes, he cried for a while." Ye Yunniang handed Jiang Tingjun to Ding Fang and left wearily.
Back at Zhiyuxuan, I greeted Chunyao and Shiliu, who had gotten up early, and went back to my room to rest.
I lay down but couldn't fall asleep. I really wished Cai Damei was here with me to give me advice.
Ye Yunniang tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
While Jiang Mingzhe listened to the report inside Qingyuan, he dismissed the others.
Jiang Mingzhe privately sought out Jiang Mingrui to discuss something. They took a familiar path, a secluded trail behind the courtyard, directly to Jiang Mingrui's study.
Jiang Mingzhe never expected that what he would be greeted by when he stepped out of the alley would be such a shocking scene.
A woman exuding a gentle aura was breastfeeding her child. While the child was nursing, one could also see… The scene was so stimulating that Jiang Mingzhe stopped in his tracks, staring intently.
The woman noticed the gaze was too intense.
Jiang Mingzhe stood in the shadows, out of sight of the woman.
By the light of the room's lamp, Jiang Mingzhe could see the woman's panic.
Her eyes were as clear and innocent as a deer's; her eyebrows were slender and delicate; her nose was straight and upturned; and her lips were red without any makeup...
The sound of the window slamming shut startled Jiang Mingzhe awake. He wondered how he had gotten so engrossed in what he was watching.
Jiang Mingzhe hurried towards the study, but he had no interest in discussing business. He finished quickly and passed by again; the window was tightly shut.
Back at Heqing Courtyard, Jiang Mingzhe summoned Qingmo and inquired about the wet nurse at Fanghua Courtyard.
Qingmo was in the front yard, but he knew everything that was happening in the mansion.
Jiang Mingzhe soon learned that the woman he had met the previous night was Ye Yunniang.
After worrying for two days and seeing that nothing had happened, Ye Yunniang realized that she had been overthinking things.
Ye Yunniang sat in the courtyard, talking to Chunyao while doing her embroidery.
Jiang Tingjun liked the clothes Ye Yunniang made. Madam Jiang asked Ziyuan to bring some fabric and make two more outfits for Jiang Tingjun.
Ye Yunniang estimated that the fabric she received could make at least four sets of clothes.
“The extra amount is naturally a reward from the master,” Chunyao said, carefully inserting the needle.
She sewed very carefully, afraid of pricking her fingers.
"Ouch." Chunyao slurped, then put her finger in her mouth and pricked herself again.
"Sister Chunyao, how about I mend it for you?" Ye Yunniang looked at Chunyao, who had pricked her finger six times in less than fifteen minutes since she sat down. She had never seen anyone so bad at mending clothes.
"Yunniang, thank you so much." Chunyao handed her undergarment, which she had accidentally torn a large hole in, to Ye Yunniang.
Ye Yunniang put down her needle and thread, took the clothes, and began to sew.
The needle, which felt as heavy as a thousand pounds in Chunyao's hands, was handled with great dexterity by Ye Yunniang.
"All done." Ye Yunniang handed the mended clothes to Chunyao.
Taking the clothes that showed no signs of mending, Chunyao said, "Yunniang, I really envy your skill. Why are my hands so clumsy?" She slapped her own hands, feeling utterly useless.
“Everyone has their strengths. I’m not as good as my sister when it comes to food. I didn’t taste any extra water in the chicken noodle soup I had this morning.” Ye Yunniang admired Chunyao in her heart.
She can taste everything about food, from how it was prepared and what ingredients were used to determine its freshness.
When it comes to food, Chunyao instantly becomes confident, "My tongue is the golden tongue that all chefs want. Let me tell you, when I was a child, the head chef in the manor wanted to take me on as an apprentice."
At this point, Chunyao sighed regretfully, "My mother doesn't want to. She says that a girl shouldn't be working in the kitchen all day, getting all dirty. How will she get married in the future?"
"It's not bad now. If I can't be a master chef, I'll be his wife. I can have him cook delicious meals for me every day."
"Is your brother-in-law the head chef in the manor?" Ye Yunniang asked curiously.
"Hmm, didn't I tell you?"
Ye Yunniang shook her head. No.
"Let me tell you."
When Chunyao talked about her family, she mentioned that her parents were servants of the Jiang family.
Chunyao grew up in the mansion from a young age, and when she was 10 years old, she went to work as a cleaning maid in the courtyard of the fourth master of the Jiang family.
As she grew older, she married the son of the chef who had previously wanted to take her on as an apprentice; he is now the head chef of the household, Chef Jin.
Chunyao and Chef Jin had two sons and a daughter.
After Madam Jiang gave birth to Jiang Tingjun, the two wet nurses who had been prepared for the birth of Jiang Tingjun encountered an accident.
Chunyao, who had just finished her postpartum confinement, was chosen to be Jiang Tingjun's wet nurse.
"Next month I can go home and take care of my Niu Niu." Chun Yao's sudden remark puzzled Ye Yun Niang.
"Sister Chunyao, are you going back?"
Chunyao nodded, "When I came to Fanghua Courtyard, it was because the Sixth Young Master didn't have a wet nurse for a while. Now you and Dingfang are almost ready to take over. Shiliu and I should also return to our respective positions."
"Ah, Sister Pomegranate is leaving too?" Ye Yunniang was even more surprised.
“Your sister Shiliu’s husband is Chen Chang’an, who works for the Second Master. He was sent to Nanzhou to be a manager, and Shiliu was supposed to go with him. But because of the Sixth Young Master, she’s staying behind for the time being,” Chunyao explained Shiliu’s situation.
"Sister Chunyao, I can't bear to part with you." Ye Yunniang felt a pang of panic as she thought about Chunyao and Shiliu leaving.
"I'm leaving Zhiyu Pavilion, not the Jiang family mansion. We'll have a chance to meet again in the future," Chunyao comforted Ye Yunniang.
That's what they say, but Ye Yunniang can't even leave Zhiyuxuan, so how could they meet again?
Ye Yunniang felt depressed and had little appetite.
Pear came to collect the bowls and chopsticks, looking at the half-eaten food left on the table.
"What's wrong with Sister Ye?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
