After eating the breakfast that Li'er brought, Ye Yunniang called Li'er back as she was clearing away the dishes to leave.
"What are your orders, Nurse Ye?"
Ye Yunniang felt uncomfortable hearing the words "Nanny Ye". "I'm older than you, so call me 'elder sister'."
Pear obediently changed her address, "Sister Ye, is there anything you want to say?"
Ye Yunniang wanted to find Granny Tian, the gatekeeper, to ask her to help send the 10 taels of silver back and to pass on a message to her mother.
"Madam instructed that the wet nurse is not allowed to leave Zhiyu Pavilion at will. If Sister Ye trusts me, I can run errands for you." Ye Yunniang was quite friendly to Li'er. Li'er was willing to run errands for Ye Yunniang.
"Thank you so much, Pear." Ye Yunniang said gratefully.
Ye Yunniang took out the 10 taels of silver she had been rewarded with yesterday. For their convenience, Shanhu gave Ye Yunniang and the others five silver coins, each weighing two taels.
Ye Yunniang looked at the copper coins in the money bag and thought of Cai Damei's teachings.
"Yunniang, when you stay in the Jiang family, remember to give someone something in return whenever you ask for a favor or help. Don't let people help you for nothing."
Ye Yunniang put a silver coin back into her purse, grabbed a handful of copper coins, and then took a hairpin made of rice-grain beads from the dressing table. She then stuffed the purse and copper coins into Li'er's hands.
"Little Sister Pear, could you please give this purse and hairpin to Aunt Tian? Please ask her to take the purse home for me."
Give the purse and hairpin to Granny Tian, and this handful of copper coins will be yours.
Pear smiled even sweeter as she carefully put away the coins. "Don't worry, Sister Ye, I'll definitely deliver it." Pear picked up the tray and left.
Unable to go out for a day off, Ye Yunniang continued to tidy up the room, organizing all the items according to her own habits, and carefully wiping the room inside and out.
The rest of the time was spent taking out the fine cotton silk that the lady had given her. It felt soft and comfortable, and it was suitable for Pan'er to wear.
Ye Yunniang cut out the pieces and began sewing.
By evening, after finishing sewing the outfit, I felt a little regretful. I should have sent Li'er to Granny Tian's place later. That way, Pan'er could have worn new clothes.
I can only try to send it back next month after I receive my monthly salary.
**
Ye Yunniang followed Chunyao into Fanghua Courtyard through a side door, bypassed the side rooms, crossed a small courtyard, and arrived at a small side courtyard. These were the three rooms where the sixth young master of the Jiang family lived.
Chunyao said that this small courtyard used to be Master Jiang's study.
Shiliu, accompanied by Rouge, served in the main room.
"Master just finished feeding and had her diaper changed," Shiliu instructed before taking Yanzhi back to rest.
Chunyao and Ye Yunniang sat to the side, keeping watch.
"Don't be nervous, sit down." Chunyao sat on the footstool in front of the bed and invited Ye Yunniang to sit down with her.
Ye Yunniang walked over in small steps and sat down next to Chunyao.
Ye Yunniang thanked the maid and accepted the teacup. The teacup contained only warm water, as they couldn't drink tea while breastfeeding.
“Usually I’m the only one sitting here waiting for the young master to wake up. Now that you’re here with me, at least I have someone to talk to.” Chunyao said, taking a sip of water and putting it aside.
Before Ye Yunniang could speak, Chunyao started chattering away...
While listening to her speak, Ye Yunniang kept an eye on the child lying on the bed.
The child's eyelids twitched; he was about to wake up.
Ye Yunniang stood up immediately and met his dark, bright eyes.
Ye Yunniang smiled unconsciously. "Greetings, Master. My name is Ye Yunniang, and I am your wet nurse."
“Master is still young and can’t understand what you’re saying.” Chunyao stood up a moment later, lifted the blanket, checked whether the little master had urinated or defecated, dressed him, and carefully picked him up.
Jiang Tingjun's eyes shifted to Chunyao, and he let out a soft "Ah."
"Young master is hungry, your wet nurse will feed you right away." Chunyao said, about to untie her clothes, but stopped when she saw Ye Yunniang.
"You feed it."
Ye Yunniang paused for a moment, then reached out to Jiang Tingjun.
"Sit down and breastfeed."
"Oh, okay." Ye Yunniang sat down at Chunyao's suggestion, took Jiang Tingjun's hand, and pulled open his clothes. She then held the penis to Jiang Tingjun's mouth.
Jiang Tingjun stared at Ye Yunniang with his big eyes for a while, as if confirming something.
It took a while before she opened her mouth to suckle.
Ye Yunniang's breasts were engorged and she was in a lot of pain after not feeding her baby for two days.
Jiang Tingjun was nursing, while Ye Yunniang was doing better. Watching Jiang Tingjun drink his milk heartily, she thought of Pan'er again, wondering what he was eating now.
At this moment, Pan'er was crying for Ye Yunniang. He didn't want to eat porridge; he wanted to drink milk.
"Pan'er, come and eat rice porridge, porridge is delicious too. Come on, ah—"
"Pan'er, don't cry. Look how well your brother is eating. Come on, learn from your brother, open your mouth wide, ah..." Cai Xiaomei coaxed her grandson from the side.
After Jiang Tingjun finished eating, Chunyao took the child and held him aside to take care of him.
Ye Yunniang tidied her clothes and sat down to watch Chunyao play with the child. A maidservant came over, whom Chunyao said was Ziyuan, the head maidservant assigned by Madam Jiang to manage the young master's household affairs in the other courtyard.
They all had to listen to Zi Yuan.
On this day, Chunyao only played with the child. Ye Yunniang took care of everything else, including when the child ate, peed, defecated, or cried.
These were all things she was used to doing at home, so Ye Yunniang found them easy to do.
On the way back, Ye Yunniang couldn't help but whisper to Chunyao, "The diaper was only wet a little before it was thrown away?"
"I feel sorry for her," Chunyao smiled and explained to Ye Yunniang.
"You'll understand in time. The Jiang family is incredibly wealthy. The number of diapers a child uses isn't even as many clothes as the lady makes in a month. The mistress doesn't care about such a small amount of cloth."
Ye Yunniang was shocked. She remembered that Pan'er was using the same things her father had used when he was a child, and she wanted to ask if she could have them. But then she remembered what Cai Damei had said.
"Yunniang, remember this after you enter the Jiang family: you can only accept what the master gives you. If the master hasn't asked for it, no matter how much you want it, you can't ask for it."
Ye Yunniang shut her mouth and said no more.
Chunyao didn't hear Ye Yunniang say she wanted it, so she thought highly of her, thinking she was a person who knew her place.
After spending a few days taking turns with Chunyao and getting to know each other, the five of them began taking turns.
Ye Yunniang was assigned to the first half of the night.
After having an early dinner, Ye Yunniang went to the side courtyard of Fanghua Courtyard.
Rouge was playing with Jiang Tingjun.
After the two finished their handover, Rouge went back to rest.
Ye Yunniang tried to comfort Jiang Tingjun, but Jiang Tingjun was a little uncomfortable with her and felt like crying. Ye Yunniang picked him up and gently soothed him.
This trick worked; Jiang Tingjun quickly stopped crying and smiled at Ye Yunniang.
I played with Jiang Tingjun for a while, fed him, and coaxed him to sleep.
Ye Yunniang gently placed Jiang Tingjun on the bed, "What a sensible and well-behaved child."
Ye Yunniang sighed softly, wondering how Pan'er was doing.
After covering herself with the blanket, Ye Yunniang went to the table, poured herself a glass of water, and took a sip to moisten her mouth.
"Nanny Ye, you can go to the couch and take a nap," Hongcai, the maid who was guarding the room, reminded her.
"Thank you for reminding me, Miss Xie Hongcai. I'm not sleepy right now. I'll stay here and watch over you, young master. You can go and get some sleep first," Ye Yunniang said, thanking her and suggesting.
“I’m not sleepy either. Let’s talk, Nurse Ye.” Hongcai sat down next to Ye Yunniang.
The two sat down at a distance that was neither too close nor too far from the bed, a distance that wouldn't wake Jiang Tingjun, who was fast asleep in bed, yet still allowed them to see him at a glance.
"Nanny Ye, you're from Lincheng, aren't you?"
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