Ye Jiaoniang had agreed readily at the time, but now she was unhappy.
"No matter what, he's the child I carried for ten months and gave birth to. I can't bear to give my son away..."
The fleeting, romantic atmosphere vanished instantly, and Yin Wenxiao put her down.
"Husband---" Ye Jiaoniang realized that her words might have upset him, so she quickly grabbed his sleeve and tears streamed down her face.
"I……"
Ye Jiaoniang opened her mouth, then suddenly hugged his waist tightly: "I'm just scared... I'm scared, there's no one in this manor who truly cares for me except you, I'm scared..."
"..."
Yin Wenxiao was indeed a little displeased by her words, but when he saw her crying like this, he couldn't help but feel sorry for her.
"I'm not blaming you." Yin Wenxiao raised his hand and gently wiped away her tears with his fingertips, soothing her softly, "It's alright, don't cry, be good..."
He coaxed her gently for a while, and Ye Jiaoniang finally stopped sobbing.
Another quarter of an hour passed.
Seeing that Ye Jiaoniang had slowly recovered, Yin Wenxiao lowered his head and kissed her forehead, saying, "You should rest early. I'm going back to the front yard."
"Husband, can't you stay tonight?"
Ye Jiaoniang's beautiful face suddenly looked aggrieved again, and she held onto his clothes tightly with her slender white hands, "Can't you leave tomorrow morning?"
"Sweetie, Mother is keeping a close eye on you." Yin Wenxiao was also reluctant to part with her.
However, with the Duke of Zhenguo and Qin Yu about to return to the capital, the entire city was discussing the matter, so he was naturally busy.
"Alright then." Ye Jiaoniang stopped crying and reluctantly let go of his clothes, turning her head away as if in a sullen mood. "Then you should go now."
"..."
Yin Wenxiao hardened his heart, turned around, and strode away.
As soon as he left, Ye Jiaoniang lay on the bed and cried bitterly. The next morning, she looked sickly.
When she went to pay her respects to the lady, the lady gave her a gilded pearl flower.
The Yin family owns a jewelry shop. At the beginning of the month, when the shop was taking inventory, some jewelry came out of stock. This morning, the manager had someone bring a box of the extra jewelry to the lady's place.
Although not as precious and gorgeous as the jewelry in Duobaoge, it has the advantage of being unique and elegant.
Qin Sheng didn't intend to keep all of these pieces for herself; she had already sent some to Old Madam Yin, Second Madam, and her two cousins.
Just then, Ye Jiaoniang came over to pay her respects, so Qin Sheng had Emerald bring out a gilded pearl hairpin for Aunt Ye.
Ye Jiaoniang didn't think much of it, but she accepted it respectfully on the surface.
But the more she thought about it, the more resentful she became.
Qin Sheng comes from a good family, is good-looking, and is proficient in everything. Why is God so unfair, giving all the advantages to her alone?
What about myself?
Even with the man she loved, she dared not tell the truth, and could only lie and say that her parents had long since passed away in order to gain his sympathy.
Ye Jiaoniang dared not think about how Yin Wenxiao would view her if he knew that he had a mother who was a concubine.
In a daze, Ye Jiaoniang left the Madam's Zhefang Courtyard.
As they were about to return to Mingyue Pavilion, Ye Jiaoniang accidentally stepped on a small stone. She snapped out of her daze and looked down at the pearl hairpin she was clutching tightly in her hand.
Suddenly feeling a surge of anger with nowhere to vent, Ye Jiaoniang clutched the pearl hairpin and threw it violently to the ground.
Not only did she throw it away, she also stomped on it a few times.
It was as if he was stepping not on a small, gilded beaded flower, but on Qin Sheng, the legal wife.
After stepping on the ground, Ye Jiaoniang felt a little better, then turned around and gave the little maid following behind her a sinister look.
"..."
The maid was startled and took two steps back, waving her hands repeatedly, "This servant didn't see anything!"
Ye Jiaoniang returned to Mingyue Pavilion.
Little did he know that the scene of him throwing away the pearl hairpin that the lady had given him and then stepping on it had already been seen by others.
...
Caiyue quickly entered Zhefang Courtyard.
Qin Sheng was talking to the steward of the manor. After giving some instructions, the steward got up, bowed, and left.
"lady---"
As soon as the steward left, Caiyue hurriedly stepped forward to bow, whispered something to Qin Sheng, and then showed her the broken beaded flower wrapped in a handkerchief.
Qin Sheng glanced down and said to Caiyue, "Think of a way to deal with this properly and prevent it from appearing again."
Caiyue's heart skipped a beat, and she lowered her head, saying, "Yes."
“Madam,” Emerald came over, puzzled, “Madam clearly knew that Aunt Ye was angry with you about the renovation of the clan school, so why did you still reward her with the pearl hairpin? It’s worth more than ten taels of silver, and she just ruined it like that, wasting all your good intentions.”
"How could that be?"
Qin Sheng's smile was somewhat strange, and she gestured for Emerald to come closer.
After whispering a few words, Emerald stared in shock, swallowed hard, and gave the lady a thumbs up.
The next day.
On the last day of August, according to the Yin family's custom, the whole family must have lunch or dinner together on the last day of each month.
This rule was left behind by Yin Wenxiao's grandfather when he was alive.
The Yin family has always been small, so Old Master Yin set a rule that the whole family should have a meal together every month to make it lively.
This rule has been preserved even though the old man has been gone for many years.
On the last day of August, Qin Sheng personally prepared a sumptuous lunch, which was set out in the Cangmang Pavilion outside Songliu Courtyard.
The Cangmang Pavilion features artificial hills and flowing water, and is planted with many precious flowers. It is a very pleasant place to sit here in autumn to read, drink tea, or play chess.
The second master's family naturally came as well.
I enjoyed lunch very much.
After the meal, the second master, unusually, discussed current events with Yin Wenxiao, intentionally or unintentionally testing him with questions.
The women were chatting and laughing.
The jewelry Qin Sheng sent to Yin Rusi and Yin Ruwu yesterday was also made of pearls, but it wasn't gilded; however, the style was similar.
During our conversation, the topic turned to the beaded flowers from yesterday.
It was said that the beaded hairpin that the eldest sister-in-law gave to Aunt Ye was gilded and had a white jade bead the size of a peanut embedded in it. Yin Rusi and Yin Ruwu were both curious. The two girls glanced at the eldest sister-in-law, who had a calm expression, and kept asking Aunt Ye if she could let them see the beaded hairpin.
"..."
How could Ye Jiaoniang possibly have a pearl flower? She threw away that gilded pearl flower yesterday in a fit of anger.
Later, after thinking it through, I was afraid of causing trouble, so I went back to look for it.
Who knew the hairpin had disappeared, and no one knew if some passing servant had picked it up.
However, Ye Jiaoniang wondered if the gilded pearl flower that the lady had given her yesterday really had white jade beads inlaid on it.
Seeing Ye Jiaoniang's face growing paler and paler, Old Madam Yin frowned. "Jiaoniang, what's wrong with you? It's just a pearl flower. If Rusi and Ruwu want to see it, you can send someone back to get it."
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