Chapter 42042 Don't be awkward
Chapter 42
Meng Yuning was so amused by Yi'er that she deliberately imitated him and said, "Spend money, spend money."
As he spoke, he stretched out his hand, and Yi'er cooperated and clapped it. Then they both said in unison, "It's a waste of money."
Seeing the two of them looking obsessed with money, Qi Jingyan smiled and shook his head, then asked, "Ling Chuan bought all these for you. How can you say that I got rich?"
When the things were delivered earlier, the guards showed them to him. He was surprised that Ling Chuan was so generous this time.
Then he thought about Ling Chuan, the foodie. If the chef in the house cooked dishes that he liked, he would give him a big reward.
And Aning is his, so how could Lingchuan treat her badly?
But why did Aning say that he had made a fortune? Did she want to give him the money she earned?
As soon as this thought came to his mind, Qi Jingyan couldn't hide the smile in the corners of his eyes and eyebrows.
Meng Yuning was dazzled by that flower-like smile and was stunned for a moment. She sighed in her heart, this man is so beautiful when he smiles.
Seeing her drooling over him, Qi Jingyan's smile widened. He raised his hand and waved it in front of her eyes: "A Ning, why am I the one who gets rich?"
Meng Yuning came back to his senses, with an expression that said, "You're still pretending to be me." "This is a gift from the young marquis through me. I understand everything."
As he spoke, he took out a large pure gold bracelet and shook it: "Your Highness, let me tell you, these are the most valuable items in that shop. When we get to Lingnan, we can exchange them for a lot of silver."
Qi Jingyan: "A Ning, are you worried that I don't have money to spend?"
Meng Yuning thought to herself, you even have to pay the young marquis for your groceries, which means you must be out of money.
Also, in the original plot, during the first few days after Qi Jingyan arrived in Lingnan, he was watched openly and covertly by people from various forces, and he did not dare to use his private property. He lived a very difficult life. Not to say that he was poor, but he was also stretched to the limit.
According to the book, there was a time when they were so desperate to make ends meet that the guards even discussed going out to perform and break rocks in the street. And Doctor Tang even made a fortune-telling banner, ready to impersonate a Taoist priest and go out to cheat people out of their fortunes.
Fortunately, Qi Jingyan found ways to secretly get some money, which solved the urgent problem.
So you say, this looks like being rich?
But it seems difficult to say these words directly to his face, otherwise he will feel embarrassed.
Meng Yuning considered herself very considerate, so how could she lose face for His Royal Highness Prince Shen? She said in a slightly exaggerated tone, "Your Highness, could be without money? That's impossible, absolutely impossible."
Then he changed the subject, "It's just that I was thinking that with hundreds of us arriving in Lingnan, the expenses must be quite high. These jewels are naturally not worth mentioning in the eyes of Your Highness, but even a mosquito leg is still meat, so Your Highness, please accept them."
Seeing this girl staring at him and fooling him again, which made him feel quite comfortable, Qi Jingyan couldn't help laughing.
It was the first time that Yier heard the novel saying "Mosquito legs are also meat". The three-year-old kid didn't quite understand that this sentence was used as a metaphor. He just thought that he was going to eat the buzzing mosquitoes, which was disgusting just thinking about it.
The little boy looked disgusted and waved his hands repeatedly, saying in a very serious tone: "Yier, don't eat mosquito meat."
They were both amused. Meng Yuning touched Yi'er's little hand and said, "No, no, I won't eat it. I'd rather die than eat mosquito meat."
Seeing An Ning's confident tone, Yi'er finally felt relieved.
Qi Jingyan took the large gold bracelet from Meng Yuning's hand, put it on her wrist, and explained in a gentle voice, "Lingchuan loves the food you cook. These are his thanks to you, not for me. Just keep them."
Meng Yuning felt the heaviness on her wrist and looked at the bed of gold with a look of disbelief on her face. "Are all these jewels for me?"
Qi Jingyan nodded: "It's all for you."
Meng Yuning only felt that fireworks were exploding in front of her eyes, and the whole world became bright.
But she still pointed at the boxes of jewelry on the bed and carefully confirmed again: "These, these, and these, Your Highness, do you really not want any of them?"
Qi Jingyan suppressed a smile: "Well, I don't want any."
Meng Yuning wanted to pretend to be calm, but she was an ordinary person. How could she remain calm when she suddenly became rich?
"I'm rich, I'm rich, I'm really rich this time." She smiled happily, picked up Yi'er and gave him a big kiss, then held Yi'er and spun around a few times, then put Yi'er down and pushed Qi Jingyan's wheelchair for a few more circles.
Qi Jingyan said nothing, holding his forehead with his hands, his shoulders shaking with laughter.
Meng Yuning didn't stop there. She clasped her hands together and bowed to Qi Jingyan again and again: "Thank you, Your Highness. You are simply my God of Wealth. By the way, do you have any more generous friends like Young Marquis Yu? The more the better."
Qi Jingyan listened to such shameless words, looked at the face that was about to rush towards him, and the pair of eyes full of sincerity, he reached out and pushed the face aside, laughing even harder: "Yier, quickly take her away."
Meng Yuning shook her head and pretended to be disappointed, "Well, it seems there is no more."
Although Yi'er didn't quite understand what his brother was grinning about, seeing how happy he was, he also laughed along. He walked over obediently, hugged An Ning's legs and dragged her aside: "An Ning, play with Yi'er."
Meng Yuning dragged a small pendant to the bed, carried Yi'er onto the bed, and took off her shoes and sat on it.
She took off the big gold bracelet on her hand and put it back in the box. She then excitedly rummaged through the jewelry in the box, sorting them into categories and putting them into different boxes.
Previously, she thought these all belonged to Qi Jingyan, so she didn't care much. But now that she knows they are hers, her mood is different. She likes them more and more no matter how she looks at them.
Seeing Aning happily fiddling with the jewelry, Yi'er approached her and asked, tilting his head, "Aning, do you like gold?"
Meng Yuning smiled and nodded: "Yes, I like it."
Yi'er said seriously: "Then Yi'er will buy you a lot in the future."
The words of a three-year-old kid should not be taken seriously, so Meng Yuning did not refuse. She reached out and rubbed the kid's head, accepting his kindness: "Okay, An Ning, wait for our Yi'er to buy it for me."
The two brothers stood on either side, watching Meng Yuning fiddling with the jewelry tirelessly. Almost quarter of an hour had passed until she finally finished.
When Meng Yuning looked up, she saw Yi'er sitting there, his little head nodding, his eyes almost closed.
She quickly got down and moved the boxes one by one to the cabinet and put them in. Then she clapped her hands, walked back to the bed and sat down. She reached out and held Yi'er in her arms, rocking him gently: "Baby Yi'er, it's time to sleep."
The little boy was already very sleepy, and now he was being gently rocked in the arms, and soon he closed his eyes and fell asleep.
Meng Yuning held him for a while longer, and when Yi'er fell asleep, she gently put him on the bed, pulled over his little tiger-head quilt, and put a corner of it over his little belly.
Now that the weather is getting hotter, there is no need to cover yourself with a quilt, but when Yier goes to sleep, the tiger-head quilt must be placed next to him.
It was when they were in the cabin on the mountain. One night, she felt that the quilt was too hot between them, so she took the quilt inside the bed.
Unexpectedly, Yier woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't find the quilt, so he crawled all over the bed crying looking for the quilt. After finding it, he held it in his arms and fell asleep again.
Later she asked Qi Jingyan, and Qi Jingyan said that the small quilt was made by the Queen Mother herself. Yier liked the little tiger head on the quilt, so the Queen Mother kept the small quilt on the bed.
It was fine when the Empress was around, and Yi'er didn't rely much on this little quilt. But after he was sent to Qi Jingyan by the Empress Dowager, this little quilt became the most important thing to Yi'er.
Meng Yuning felt sad when she heard this, especially when she thought of Yier having to cover himself with a small quilt when he slept, and he had to fold it himself before he woke up. The little kid was clumsy and the quilt was folded crookedly and not very neatly, but he still had to fold it. She almost shed tears.
After that, Meng Yuning remembered that no matter whether Yi'er covered himself with the quilt or not, she would always put the quilt next to him.
Thinking of this, Meng Yuning sighed softly and kissed Yi'er's little face lovingly.
Qi Jingyan had been sitting by the bed watching her. When he saw her suddenly sigh, he asked, "What's wrong?"
Meng Yuning shook her head: "It's okay."
Although Qi Jingyan was eating and sleeping as usual, speaking and acting as usual, and looked like nothing had happened, she knew that he was carrying a huge mountain of sadness in his heart.
In the past, when he was on the mountain, he would occasionally sit quietly facing the valley. Now on the boat, he would occasionally stare at the river alone. Every time at that time, she could feel a sense of deadness from him.
So it’s better not to mention those sad things to him, so as not to make him unhappy.
Seeing Yi'er sleeping soundly, she whispered, "Your Highness, you've been sitting here for most of the day. Why don't you lie down for a while?"
As she spoke, she yawned and tears came out. She raised her hand to wipe the corners of her eyes and asked again, "Do you want to lie down?" If he didn't, she would lie down.
Qi Jingyan nodded: "Okay."
Meng Yuning moved to the bedside: "Then I'll go call someone to help you."
Qi Jingyan originally wanted to say that so much time had passed, and he wanted to try again to see if he could get up, but due to the chaos last time, the scolding from Doctor Tang, and An Ning who was too scared to say a word, he gave up.
Meng Yuning went out and called Mu Shan, who was guarding outside the door, to come in. She helped Qi Jingyan to the bed. After Mu Shan left, she also got on the bed, took off the hairpin on her head, let her hair down, and lay down next to Yi'er.
Qi Jingyan was silent for a moment, then turned his head away: "A Ning, I'm the one who caused you such a scare today."
Meng Yuning waved her hand sleepily. "Your Highness, you said I was yours, so it's too awkward to say that. Besides, I got those jewels, so a little scare won't hurt."
To be honest, if she could get such good things every day, she would be willing to be scared every day.
Qi Jingyan smiled silently: "A Ning, has anyone ever told you that you are good at talking?"
Meng Yuning was so sleepy that her consciousness began to blur. She mumbled incoherently, "Of course. How can I be successful online if I can't speak?"
Qi Jingyan: “…”
He believed that Aning was doing very well thanks to her eloquence and sweet talk.
But, is it online? Or at night?
If it's online, what kind of net is it? A fishing net? Or something else?
If it was at night, where was it? But no matter where it was, it was definitely not in the capital.
Qi Jingyan was full of doubts, but when he turned his head, he saw that the heartless girl was already fast asleep, and he smiled helplessly.
---
Mu Yun arranged Cai Yuezhao and Fu Dong in a cabin on the second floor. After Yuan Qing and the coachman moved Cai Yuezhao's things in, Mu Yun took them to settle down.
Fu Dong was busy making the bed by himself, while Cai Yuezhao and Yu Xiao sat on the couch by the window, facing each other in silence.
Yu Xiao observed the fatigue between Cai Yuezhao's brows and couldn't help asking, "How long have you been out?"
Cai Yuezhao said: "It's been more than twenty days."
Yu Xiao: "Didn't you come out not long after I left Beijing?"
After saying that, he suddenly stared at her with suspicion: "Are you chasing me?"
Cai Yuezhao's heart skipped a beat, and he looked at him expectantly: "You, you guessed it?"
Yu Xiao raised his hand and patted her head lightly, feeling very disappointed. "Cai Yuezhao, I'm out here on business, not sneaking out to eat something delicious. Do you really have to chase me so closely?"
Cai Yuezhao looked at his face, which she had seen since she was a child but never tired of seeing, and suddenly felt very tired. She didn't want to talk anymore, so she turned her head to look out the window and ignored him.
Yu Xiao: "You're not talking again. Have you been with that mute Yuan Qing for so long that you're almost mute yourself?"
Fu Dong, standing by, sighed and shook her head, holding a feather duster. She was really afraid that the young marquis would accidentally lick his lips and poison himself to death.
Yu Xiao asked Fu Dong again: "Everything is fine, why are you sighing here?"
Fudong pointed at his own girl, shook his head, and continued to dust everywhere with a feather duster.
Yu Xiao looked at the master and servant with a look of disdain: "This is really a case of the top beam being crooked and the bottom beam being crooked. One by one, they have all become mute."
After that, he stood up and walked out: "Sleep for a while, I'll call you later when it's time for dinner."
This time Cai Yuezhao replied: "Oh, I see."
After Yu Xiao left, Fu Dong quickly approached his daughter and asked, "How is it, daughter?"
Cai Yuezhao: "I misunderstood him. Miss Meng is with His Royal Highness the Queen Mother and Prince Shen. Yu Xiao bought things for Miss Meng just because she cooks delicious food."
Fu Dong suddenly became happy: "So that's how it is. If it's about food, then it's normal for the young marquis to give her more."
Then he couldn't help but persuade her, "Miss, why don't you learn a few dishes from Miss Meng? Then you can cook them for the young marquis, which would be a good thing for him."
Cai Yuezhao frowned and shook his head: "I don't like cooking, so I won't learn it."
The sight of oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, pots, pans, and utensils gave her a headache. She would rather go out and wield swords and fight than cut, chop, stir-fry, and cook in the kitchen.
Fu Dong: "Even for the young marquis, you are unwilling to learn?"
Cai Yuezhao continued to shake his head: "No, if he likes me, even if I can't cook, he will still like me. If he doesn't like me, even if I become the best chef in the world, he still won't like me."
Fu Dong: "But if the girl can cook..."
Cai Yuezhao interrupted her: "There's nothing wrong with that. If he's going to be attracted to someone just because they can cook, then he might as well just marry the chef in their house whose cooking suits his taste best."
Thinking of the fifty-year-old chef in the kitchen of Cheng'an Marquis's Mansion who was praised by Prince Yu, Fudong shuddered with his arms crossed. The idea of these girls was too extraordinary.
However, it seems to make sense.
---
Qi Jingyan lay on the bed, unable to fall asleep. He looked at the ceiling quietly with an expressionless face.
It wasn't until a ray of sunset shone through the window that he gently patted the two who were sleeping soundly together: "A Ning, Yi Er, wake up."
Meng Yuning opened her eyes with difficulty, "What's wrong?"
Qi Jingyan lifted a strand of hair stuck to her face and tucked it behind her ear: "It's getting late. If you sleep any longer, you won't be able to sleep tonight."
Meng Yuning turned her head to glance out the window and sat up: "It's already this late, I have to go cook."
Qi Jingyan supported himself on the bed with both hands and sat up: "If you are tired, let them do it. You don't have to cook every meal."
Meng Yuning put on her shoes neatly, walked to the mirror and sat down, picking up a comb to comb her hair: "Your Highness, don't worry, I'm not tired, and I like cooking."
She truly loves cooking, and she also loves seeing everyone's surprised and delighted expressions after eating her cooking.
Moreover, the guards were very helpful. Every time in the kitchen, they rushed to do all the physical work, so she didn't feel tired at all.
Seeing that she didn't seem to be reluctant at all, Qi Jingyan nodded: "Okay, as long as An Ning likes it. If you feel tired one day, just take a rest."
Meng Yuning also combed her hair into a simple bun, pinned it with a hairpin, and picked out two small hairpins from the two boxes of jewelry that Mu Feng and Su Yang had helped her pick out at the beginning to secure her loose hair. She looked at herself in the mirror, feeling refreshed and neat, and was quite satisfied.
Qi Jingyan had already woken up Yier. Yier was a small kid, sitting on the bed in a daze, sleepy-eyed. Her big round eyes were clear and cute, and she looked very adorable.
Meng Yuning walked over and picked up Yi'er, "Yi'er, Aning is going to cook, do you want to go?"
Yi'er nodded her little head, "Yi'er, go."
He said that, but before he could recover from his shock, he put his arms around An Ning's neck, leaned on her shoulder and started to daze again.
Meng Yuning was not in a hurry for the moment. She first carried Yi'er to the door and called in Mu Jiang, who was guarding the door. While the master and servant were busy there, she carried Yi'er to the window in the corridor, where they admired the sunset.
After Mu Jiang pushed Qi Jingyan out, they left the cabin together.
When we got to the second-floor deck, we saw Mu Feng and Su Yang having a fishing competition, but this time there was a young man of similar age joining them.
Meng Yuning asked Qi Jingyan in a low voice: "Your Highness, who is that person wearing a bamboo hat?"
Qi Jingyan: "Miss Cai's attendant is named Yuan Qing."
Meng Yuning was a little surprised: "He is Yuan Qing?"
Qi Jingyan looked at her: "A Ning knows him?"
Meng Yuning nodded: "I've heard of it."
In the original plot, when Cai Yuezhao fled the capital with her grandmother, grandmother, and younger brother and headed for the southwest, she was accompanied by two guards. The female guard was named Fudong and the male guard was named Yuanqing. The two could be described as Cai Yuezhao's right-hand men.
Later, Cai Yuezhao took her younger brother to guard the southwest, and Yuan Qing and Fudong also stayed by her side. The three masters and servants cooperated well on the battlefield and were invincible.
Although Yuan Qing cannot speak and is somewhat ignorant of worldly affairs, he is a sharpshooter and can use a knife well.
The book only says that he is a martial arts expert and is dedicated to protecting his master, but it doesn't mention his age. Is he really that young? He looks about the same age as Mu Feng.
Meng Yuning was lost in thought when she heard Su Yang yelling as he pulled up the trembling fishing rod. It was a carp weighing two or three pounds. Then, Yuan Qing's rod also pulled up, and it was an even larger grass carp.
Seeing that they were having a lively time, Meng Yuning took Yi'er over there, and Qi Jingyan turned his wheelchair and slowly followed behind.
It turned out that when Su Yang and Mu Feng competed, Su Yang caught more fish every time. But now Yuan Qing came, and his speed was almost as fast as Su Yang. They could be seen pulling up and swinging their fishing rods continuously, and the number of fish in their buckets increased, and they were almost full.
There were only a few fish in Mu Feng's bucket, which was sitting in the middle. He looked left and right and simply gave up.
He sat down on the ground, held both buckets in front of him, helped them count the fish, and after counting, helped them count again, acting as a referee.
Yi'er also came over with his hands in his pockets to help count. No matter who caught a fish, the little kid would jump for joy every time he caught one: "Fish, fish, what a big fish!"
Meng Yuning watched for a while and saw two kitchen helpers at the stairs looking over their shoulder. They kept looking at her, as if they wanted to call her but seemed embarrassed. Seeing this, Meng Yuning leaned over and whispered to Qi Jingyan, "Your Highness, I'm going to cook."
After he nodded in agreement, she didn't call Yi'er and ran towards the stairs.
When the two guards saw Miss Meng coming over, they said embarrassedly, "Miss Meng, the rice is already cooked. The brothers are preparing the dishes, but they are worried that they are not doing it well, so they would like you to come over and take a look."
Meng Yuning smiled and agreed, and they went to the kitchen together.
As soon as he entered the room, he saw Mu Shanyao wearing an apron and holding a spatula in his hand. He was standing in front of a pile of processed ingredients, worried. When he saw Meng Yuning coming over, he immediately smiled innocently: "Miss Meng, please help me figure out which dish to cook first."
Meng Yuning smiled and asked, "What dishes are you planning to make today?"
Mu Shan pointed at them one by one with his shovel: "Cumin lamb, beef stewed with potatoes, pork ribs stewed with carrots, Chinese cabbage with vinegar, hot and sour shredded potatoes, and spinach and egg soup."
These were the dishes Meng Yuning had taught them before, otherwise they wouldn't have dared to cook them randomly.
Meng Yuning thought for a moment and said, "You guys make the cumin lamb and the beef stewed with potatoes. Let's change the carrot stewed pork ribs to steamed pork ribs with garlic, and I'll make it."
I just bought a steamer for steamed buns, and it can come in handy.
Mu Shan agreed.
Meng Yuning added, "Keep the vinegar-fried Chinese cabbage and spinach and egg soup for you to make. The hot and sour shredded potatoes and the vinegar-fried Chinese cabbage have a bit of a clash of flavors, so let's make minced meat and mashed potatoes instead."
Everyone said yes in unison.
So everyone divided the work. Mu Shan and his friends used two large pots to cook the four dishes they were responsible for, while Meng Yuning used one pot to cook her two dishes.
She washed the ribs that had been cut into small pieces with starch again, drained the water, added a large bowl of minced garlic, stirred it evenly with chopsticks, then added salt, soy sauce, cooking wine, a little sugar, pepper, chopped green onion, and chopped ginger, stirred it evenly again, and put it into several large plates.
Then take out the newly bought steamer, clean it, and place the plates containing the ribs in the steamer layer by layer until all six layers of the steamer are full. Cover the top lid and have the guard move the steamer into the pot filled with water, light the fire and start steaming.
Meng Yuning instructed the guard who was stoking the fire: "It will take about half an hour to steam the ribs until they are soft and tasty."
The guard agreed, brought a small stool and sat in front of the stove, watching over the pot and burning the fire carefully.
Meng Yuning: "Then I'll go to the deck first. When the spare ribs are steamed, call me and I'll make mashed potatoes."
The guards naturally agreed.
Meng Yuning walked out, but as soon as she walked out of the kitchen, she saw Cai Yuezhao standing outside the door and wandering around.
Cai Yuezhao turned and left when he saw Meng Yuning coming out, but after taking two steps, he turned back and thrust the small dagger into Meng Yuning's hand. He said awkwardly, "Well, I want to learn two dishes from you, just two. Can I give you this dagger as a gift?"
Meng Yuning was holding the dagger and didn't react for a moment.
Seeing that she didn't say anything, Cai Yuezhao took off another jade bracelet from his hand and stuffed it into Meng Yuning's hand: "This one is for you too. If it's not enough, I'll make up for it later."
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