Chapter 55055 Let's wait and see
Chapter 55
Qi Jingyan nodded: "Thank you for your help, An Ning."
Meng Yuning thought about it and decided it wasn't a big deal. She nodded, "Okay, then I'll wash it after dinner."
As she spoke, she emerged from the tent, grabbed her clothes, and went to the bathroom converted from the west wing. She washed and changed, and after finishing her clothes, she returned to comb her hair and looked at Qi Jingyan and Yi'er: "Have your Highness and Yi'er had breakfast?"
Yi'er shook her head and said, "No, I haven't eaten yet. Yi'er and her brother are waiting for An Ning."
Meng Yuning then pulled Yi'er to push the wheelchair together: "Okay, let's go eat together."
Qi Jingyan grabbed her wrist, pulled her to his side, and placed the white hairband in her hand: "A Ning, please help me tie my hair up first. It's really not good to go out like this."
Yi'er walked from behind the wheelchair to the front, tilted her head to look at her brother, and gestured with her hands to size him: "Brother, your head is so big."
Meng Yuning was originally trying to hold back her laughter, but upon hearing what Yi'er said, she couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Qi Jingyan glanced at her dimly.
Meng Yuning quickly suppressed her smile and said, "Okay, I'll help tie him up, Your Highness."
She turned and went to the dressing table to get a wooden comb. After carefully combing his hair, she tied it into a high ponytail with a headband at the back. She turned to the front and looked him over, nodding with satisfaction: "He's very elegant, that's it."
Just as she was about to push the wheelchair, she saw Xiao Yi'er had taken off his blue hairband at some point and tiptoed to hand it to her: "A Ning, Yi'er also wants to be elegant."
Qi Jingyan: “…”
Meng Yuning smiled and said yes, then took the blue hairband from Yier's hand. She had bought it for Yier at the market when they were floating on the river, and Yier had often chosen this one to use since then.
She picked up Yi'er and placed him sideways on Qi Jingyan's lap. She slowly combed his hair with a comb and then tied it into a high ponytail like Qi Jingyan's. She also turned to stand in front of him, folded her arms, looked him over for a long time, and nodded seriously: "You are so elegant."
Yier clapped her hands and smiled, then raised her little face proudly to her brother.
Qi Jingyan shook his head helplessly, grabbed his collar with one hand, lifted him up and put him on the ground.
"Let's go, let's go have breakfast." Meng Yuning pushed the wheelchair forward, and Yi'er ran over and pushed hard together: "A Ning, Yi'er will help you."
In order to make it easier for Qi Jingyan's wheelchair to enter and exit, Mu Yun had people saw off all the door thresholds in the house on the first day they moved in, so the two of them, one big and one small, could push the wheelchair out effortlessly.
Seeing a few people coming out to move around, Mu Yun called Mu Jiu and the others in to continue making the bed. They would finish it today with some finishing touches and polishing, and the new bed would be ready for use. Meng Yuning was very happy and said to Mu Jiu who saluted them, "Thank you for your hard work. I'll make something delicious for lunch today."
Mu Jiu and the others smiled and bowed, saying respectfully, "Thank you, Miss Meng."
After a few people entered the house, Meng Yuning turned around and saw Mu Ying and Mu Li standing upright at the gate of the courtyard. When they saw her come out, they clasped their fists and saluted her, then stood up straight again.
Meng Yuning looked at Qi Jingyan curiously and asked in a low voice, "Your Highness, what are Mu Ying and Mu Li doing?"
Qi Jingyan took a look and said, "On duty."
Early in the morning, the sun was shining brightly at the gate of the courtyard, and there was not even a place to provide shade.
Meng Yuning and Qi Jingyan discussed, "Your Highness, this house is full of our guard brothers. There aren't any bad guys here. They don't have to stand there all the time, right?"
Qi Jingyan looked like a hands-off boss, leaning back in his wheelchair leisurely: "They are An Ning's people, An Ning can make the decision herself."
Meng Yuning didn't dare to think so. When everyone separated in the future, Mu Ying and Mu Li would naturally go back to Beijing with them.
But that was a matter for the future. Now that the two were under her charge, she would adjust their work content and waved to them: "Mu Ying, Mu Li, come here."
The two responded, walked over quickly, and bowed: "Miss, what can I do for you?"
Meng Yuning: "From now on, when I don't go out, you two can move around freely and don't have to stand at the door."
Mu Li subconsciously looked at Qi Jingyan again. Mu Ying glanced at her, using her eyes to remind them that their master was now a girl. Mu Li turned her head back, and the two of them bowed in unison and responded, "We will follow your orders, girl."
Meng Yuning wanted to say that there was no need to always be polite, but when she thought about how although Mu Yun and the others were very casual when interacting with Qi Jingyan, they never overstepped the boundaries of etiquette, she swallowed the words that were on the tip of her tongue.
Seeing that they were still standing there, Meng Yuning decided to find something for them to do: "Mu Ying, go check on Qiulian first. Check if she took the medicine that Doctor Tang prescribed for her yesterday on time."
Then he looked at Mu Li and said, "Mu Li, go see what Meng Jin and the others are busy with. Ask them to bring breakfast for me and the two princes, and boil a pot of hot water. The prince will need to wash his hair later."
The two of them responded and turned away.
After everyone settled down yesterday, she thought about Qi Jingyan and Yier's identities, as well as the assassinations along the way, and became wary of them.
She, Meng Jin and the other three, as well as Qiu Lian, specifically reminded them that there were two princes living in the main courtyard, and to avoid disturbing them, they should not come in without being called.
But Mu Ying and Mu Li were Qi Jingyan's people. Like Mu Yun and the others, they had their own set of rules, so she didn't say anything to them.
Not long after, Mu Li, Meng Jin and Meng Yin came in with breakfast for several people. According to Meng Yuning's instructions, they placed it on the table under the newly built awning in the yard.
After the meal was served, Meng Jin and the others stood awkwardly aside: "Miss, what else can we do in this yard?"
Meng Yuning pointed towards the main house and said, "We won't be using the tent today. Go in and take it down. Clean up the house and the bathroom as well. Wash and hang out any clothes you have."
The two of them responded and went into the main house to work.
Meng Yuning pushed Qi Jingyan to sit at the table, then carried Yier to his high chair, and then sat down between the two of them and started eating breakfast.
Mu Shan and his friends made breakfast again this morning. There was egg custard, lasagna, millet porridge with a layer of rice oil, and two plates of pickles.
Yi'er held the bowl and ate the egg custard in small bites with a spoon. Meng Yuning served a bowl of millet porridge and ate it with pickles. Qi Jingyan also served a bowl of millet porridge and ate it slowly.
Qi Jingyan ate a bowl of millet porridge, then put down his bowl and chopsticks, wiped his mouth with a handkerchief, and said, "After a few days, when everything is settled, the mansion will need to hire some more servants. Then An Ning will come and take a look."
Meng Yuning almost choked on her porridge: "I can't do it."
Mu Li hurried to pour water, but Qi Jingyan got there first and picked up the teapot. He poured a cup of warm water and handed it to Meng Yuning: "Drink some water."
Mu Li's hand paused in the air for a moment, then silently retracted it. He thought to himself that his speed was far behind His Highness's, and that he needed to practice more in the future.
Meng Yuning held the bowl of porridge in her hand and drank a sip of water from Qi Jingyan's hand before she continued, "Your Highness, selecting people is such a big deal. I'm afraid I'll make a mistake and recruit someone I shouldn't have. That would be troublesome. Why don't you come here?"
If there's one task that's the most difficult in the world, it's selecting, employing, and managing people. Not only is it laborious, but if you're not careful, you'll end up in a difficult position.
Especially in the residence of His Royal Highness Prince Shen, there was no room for carelessness. If she was careless and invited a spy in, as a daughter of the Meng family, she would be unable to explain herself even if she had a mouth full of mouths.
Qi Jingyan stroked the teacup with his fingertips, slowly turning the rim. "That's fine. Let Mu Yun help you. Just pick the ones that suit your taste, and he'll take care of the rest."
Hearing that she didn't have to take full responsibility, Meng Yuning felt less pressured and nodded. "Okay, then. I'll pay close attention."
She lowered her head and took a mouthful of porridge. After thinking for a moment, she decided to speak out loud and clear: "But Your Highness, you know I'm not very smart and can't see through the twists and turns in other people's hearts. If I'm wrong, you can't blame me later."
Seeing her carefully removing herself, Qi Jingyan couldn't help but chuckle, "Okay, I don't blame you."
Meng Yuning put down the spoon and stretched out a little finger in front of him: "Then let's make a pinky promise."
Seeing that she often played like this with Yi'er, Qi Jingyan smiled and stretched out his little finger to pull it with her.
Yi'er stood aside and poked his little head out and said, "Let's make a promise and don't change it for a hundred years."
Qi Jingyan looked at Meng Yuning: "No change."
Meng Yuning secretly patted Yi'er's leg. Yi'er understood instantly and added, "It's a puppy now."
Meng Yuning didn't say anything, but pursed her lips and looked at Qi Jingyan, wanting to see how he would answer.
Qi Jingyan saw Meng Yuning's little movements under the table and couldn't help laughing: "Okay, it's a puppy now."
Meng Yuning finally felt relieved: "I'll ask Mu Ying, Mu Li, Meng Jin and the others to go with me later." The more people there are, the more imposing it seems.
Qi Jingyan naturally agreed, and then said with a smile: "If it's still not enough, you can call Mu Jiang, Mu Shan and the others."
Meng Yuning quickly waved her hands: "That's not necessary." The two men walked towards that station with weapons in hand. They were tall and strong, and looked ferocious. Don't try to scare people.
Meng Yuning and Yier ate for a while and then put down their bowls and chopsticks.
After Meng Jin and the other man cleaned the house, they came out carrying two basins of laundry. Seeing that they had finished eating, they came over to clear the table first, then carried the lunch box and the two basins of laundry out of the yard.
As the two of them left, they saw Meng Zhu and Meng Yu appear at the door carrying two wooden barrels on a wooden stick. They stood there and didn't dare to go in. Meng Yuning saw them and quickly waved, "Carry them in."
As the two approached with buckets of water, Meng Zhu said, "Girl, one bucket is hot water, and the other is cold water."
Meng Yuning looked around and finally pointed to the pavilion and asked Qi Jingyan: "Your Highness, it's getting hot now. Let's move this table to the side and wash under this pavilion, right?"
Qi Jingyan nodded: "Listen to An Ning."
So Meng Yuning ordered everyone to move the table aside, and then said to Mu Yun who was waiting not far away: "Mu Yun, do we have a bamboo couch in our house?"
Mu Yun: "Yes, Miss Meng, please wait a moment." He walked out of the yard. After a while, he brought back a bamboo couch and placed it under the pavilion.
Meng Yuning said, "Meng Zhu, Meng Yu, we don't need you here for now. Go to the kitchen and tell Mu Shan that I want to make glutinous rice chicken for lunch. A glutinous rice chicken will probably take, probably..."
Meng Yuning calculated quickly in her mind.
In ancient times, the regulations for the weight of jin and liang were different in each dynasty. One jin here was sixteen liang. She had estimated before that one jin here was roughly equivalent to about six hundred grams in later generations. And to make a glutinous rice chicken, about one hundred grams of raw glutinous rice is needed, which is equivalent to about three liang?
I don’t understand it, forget it, it doesn’t matter whether it’s bigger or smaller, it doesn’t affect the taste.
So he said, "One sticky rice chicken requires about three ounces of sticky rice. Let Mu Shan count our people and soak enough sticky rice. It's better to soak more so that there won't be enough to eat when the time comes."
Meng Zhu nodded: "Yes, I'll take note of it."
Meng Yuning added, "Have Mu Shan kill ten more chickens and shave off all the meat that can be removed. Don't throw away the remaining chicken skeletons; you can use them to make fried chicken racks later."
Originally, chicken thighs were used to make glutinous rice chicken, but there were too many people. If we only used chicken thighs, I don’t know how many chickens we would have to kill.
After thinking about it, he ordered: "Ask Mu Shan to soak some of the dried mushrooms he brought from the mountains. We will need them later."
"Also, I see there are some newly bought dried shrimps in the kitchen, soak some of them, and then ask Mu Shan to buy some dried scallops."
Meng Zhu and Meng Yu responded one by one and took notes carefully.
Meng Yuning thought for a moment and said, "Oh, and the most important thing is the lotus leaf."
Then he turned to look at Qi Jingyan and said, "Your Highness, can I go out and pick lotus leaves later?"
When they came here that night, she saw a lotus pond by the roadside not far away.
Yi'er hurriedly hugged Aning's legs: "Aning, Yi'er is going to pick lotus leaves too."
Meng Yuning touched Yi'er's little head and looked at Qi Jingyan.
Qi Jingyan nodded: "I'll accompany you later."
So they made the decision happily.
Meng Zhu and Meng Yu went to the kitchen to pass on the message and help out.
Watching the two people leave briskly, Meng Yuning couldn't help but sigh sincerely. With help, life is much easier. She hadn't done anything this morning, and everything was already settled. This kind of life is pretty good.
After they left, Meng Yuning asked Mu Yun to help Qi Jingyan lie down on the bamboo couch, found a stool of suitable height, placed it above his head, put the basin of water on the stool, and then found a small stool to sit on.
Mu Li added water on the side. Meng Yuning rolled up both sleeves, tested the water temperature, and asked for some cold water to be added. Then she untied Qi Jingyan's hair and put it in the water.
Yi'er lay on the edge of the couch, holding up her little face with her two little hands, watching quietly.
Meng Yuning used her hands to scoop water and wet Qi Jingyan's hair. Then she took out the shampoo soap she had bought at the market earlier, which was said to be made of cypress and soapberry. She rubbed it with her hands and then applied it to Qi Jingyan's hair. She rubbed her hands along the hair and rubbed out a handful of fine white foam.
Seeing the bubbles coming out, Yi'er couldn't stay any longer and asked Mu Li to help him roll up his sleeves to his elbows. He also rubbed the shampoo soap a few times, then scratched his brother's hair and soon caught some bubbles too. The little guy couldn't help but giggle: "A Ning, this is fun."
Meng Yuning taught him: "Yier, rub it like me, it will produce more bubbles."
So the big and the small started to study how to make more bubbles on Qi Jingyan's head. After studying for a while, they even started a competition to see who could make more bubbles.
Qi Jingyan's lips curled up, and his eyes looked over the edge of the awning to the blue sky.
Mu Yun was standing not far away, watching this scene, his expression indescribable.
This morning he heard His Highness calling him, so he went in. As soon as he entered, he saw His Highness with a head of fluffy, messy hair.
He was startled and hurried over to ask His Highness what was wrong with his head.
His Highness glanced at him lightly, signaling him to stop making a fuss, then smiled and glanced into the tent.
He didn't dare look into the tent, but he knew that His Highness was looking at Miss Meng, and he knew that His Highness's chicken-coop-like hair was Miss Meng's masterpiece.
The corners of his mouth twitched, and he thought to himself that his Highness really didn't act like a prince at all in front of Miss Meng.
Look, look, he was right, now Miss Meng and the little prince are playing on the prince's head, and the prince is still lying there looking leisurely and contented like a free and easy cloud and wild crane.
This is really, really unbearable to watch.
He felt a little pain in his eyes, so he tilted his neck back and looked at the birds flying in the sky.
Mu Li, who was accompanying him, and Mu Ying, who had just returned from Qiu Lian, were also stunned by the scene. They quietly walked over to Mu Yun and asked in a low voice, "Is our girl always so casual in front of His Highness?"
Mu Yun said calmly, "We're just getting started. Let's wait and see."
Meng Yuning and Yi'er rubbed Qi Jingyan's hair from inside to outside. After they had enough fun, they called Mu Ying and Mu Li to change the water twice and wash his hair clean.
Then she helped Qi Jingyan sit in a wheelchair and pushed him into the sun. She slowly combed his hair while letting the sun dry it.
The sun in early summer was quite scorching. After a while, Meng Yuning touched Qi Jingyan's hair and felt that it was about to smoke from the sun, so she pushed him under the pavilion again. She and Yi'er each took a palm-leaf fan and fanned him fiercely.
After a lot of hard work, Qi Jingyan's hair was finally dry, and it regained its former smoothness.
Meng Yuning tied it up for him again, and then the group went out to pick lotus leaves as they had agreed before.
This was the first time Meng Yuning went out for a stroll since she moved in that evening. She found that the area around the former residence of Prince Yu Nan was as desolate as the yard before it was tidied up.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
