Chapter 118

"Second brother, what are you looking at?" Chu Huibao asked, yawning.

Chu Chengmao retracted his gaze and said, "Look at the stars."

"Stars?" Chu Huibao also looked up at the sky. After the fireworks exploded, the whole night sky was brilliant. Only when the fireworks burned out did the night sky return to its original darkness.

There were indeed stars in the night sky, but because of the clouds, they were not very bright.

Liu urged Chu Huibao: "Huibao, go back to bed, aren't you tired?"

The New Year's Eve dinner was prepared by Xue and Jiang Yanyi and other sisters. As the mistress of the house, she was now completely deprived of power, and the servants had to ask Xue for everything. She had been a daughter-in-law for a lifetime. Soon after Xue came into the family, she followed Chu Chengbai to Yongzhou. She had never been able to exercise her power as a mother-in-law. After her daughter-in-

law finally came back, because of her son's trouble, the old lady simply handed over the power of housekeeper to Xue. Liu's heart ached just thinking about it.

Which family could be a mother-in-law like her? In other families, the daughter-in-law would coax the mother-in-law, but in her case, because it was the old lady who gave Xue the power of housekeeper, not to mention that Xue was a thoughtful person who handled everything properly, even if she found a mistake, she could not offend the old lady Chu and teach Xue a lesson.

But none of the children could understand her painstaking efforts. The eldest daughter was not well taught, so Liu wanted to teach the youngest daughter well, so that the two sisters would not be crooked. However, the youngest daughter was a fool, and she only knew how to eat all day long. Liu felt tired just thinking about

it. Everyone was laughing at the New Year's Eve dinner, but Liu just felt uncomfortable.

Old Mrs. Chu was old, and she couldn't stand it at night, so she went back to her room with Old Mrs. Chu to rest. She couldn't leave immediately, so she called Chu Huibao and wanted to leave under the pretext of taking Chu Huibao back to her room.

Chu Huibao was indeed sleepy. When Liu called her, she looked at Chu Shubao again: "Where's the elder sister?"

Chu Shubao rubbed her hands and said: "I have an appointment with my sister-in-law, Ayi and Jiabao to play mahjong together to celebrate the New Year. Huibao, if you are sleepy, go back to your room with your mother to sleep."

Although Chu Huibao was playful, she was really sleepy. She had to yawn and go with Liu.

After watching the fireworks, Jiang Yanyi sent Chu Yan back to his room first.

Jiang Yanyi was not able to hide his leg muscle atrophy after all. The doctor would come to give him acupuncture and hot compress every few days. Jiang Yanyi also told Chu Zhong to massage him frequently to relax his muscles and promote blood circulation. Now the muscle atrophy is not obvious.

But even during the New Year, he did not look very happy. Jiang Yanyi almost never saw him smile.

After entering the courtyard, Jiang Yanyi asked him: "Yangui, are you worried about something?"

Chu Yangui pulled the corner of his mouth and revealed a somewhat pale smile: "At this time last year, I came back from Pingkangfang with the son of Minister Liu, and our mother chased us around the yard with a chicken feather broom. This year, there are only two of us left..."

The death of Mrs. Jiang has always been a hurdle in his heart that he could not get over.

Jiang Yanyi sighed softly and comforted him: "Mother is over there, and she hopes that you will live a peaceful and happy life. Today is New Year, don't think about these sad things."

Chu Yangui nodded, and he stroked the thick stack of books on the table: "Sister, how great it would be if I had studied hard earlier?"

Jiang Yanyi said, "It's not too late now."

She had long seen that Chu Yangui didn't like staying in the Chu family. Although they were adopted by Chu Changping and had a good relationship with the younger generation of the Chu family, there was no blood relationship after all. Also, because of the move to Xizhou, they didn't want to cause trouble for the Chu family.

"I will buy you a house in the spring. When the noodle shop and Ruyi Building become bigger, I will buy you a few more shops." Jiang Yanyi has made plans to buy more real estate deeds for Chu Yangui in the future. Even if he doesn't know how to do business, he will have enough to eat and drink for the rest of his life just by collecting rent.

Chu Yangui heard this and said hurriedly, "I don't want a house, sister, don't worry about me, I will have a promising future."

He didn't want to be a burden to Jiang Yanyi, he would work hard to grow up and become a helper to Jiang Yanyi.

Jiang Yanyi knew that this teenager had a strong sense of self-esteem, so she followed his words and said, "Of course, my Yangui will definitely have a bright future."

Being praised by her, Chu Yangui was still a little embarrassed, and said, "I will read for a while and then go to bed. Sister and Sister Shubao have made an appointment to play mahjong. If you don't go, they will probably blame you."

Jiang Yanyi said, "Okay, I'll go over now. Don't read too late and go to bed early."

Chu Yangui nodded obediently.

When Jiang Yanyi returned to the front hall, the servants had already set up the table. Sister Chu Shubao and Xue sat on each side, eating melon seeds and chatting about family matters.

Seeing Jiang Yanyi coming, he asked the servants to remove the fruit plate on the table and quickly bring up the mahjong cards.

"We're just waiting for you, Yi." Chu Shubao dealt mahjong cards while spitting out melon seed shells.

Chu Jiabao echoed, "Second sister, you have to give us some money later."

Jiang Yanyi sat down with a smile, "I'm not good at playing cards, but I hope you guys will let me off a little later."

Jiang Yanyi was right. Her card skills were really bad. She had been losing money for several rounds. Chu Shubao was only a little better than Jiang Yanyi, and Xue and Chu Jiabao won more.

It was the New Year's Day, and the Chu family's guards relaxed their vigilance and had a few drinks. When a black shadow quietly climbed over the wall, no one noticed.

The black shadow touched the yard where Jiang Yanyi was with a familiarity, and was about to climb in, but it instantly disappeared.

Huo Jianjia, carrying her sword which was tightly wrapped with a cloth belt, kicked open the door and walked into the yard. She looked around cautiously, twitching her nose like a small animal, as if trying to identify the smell in the air.

After a while, Huo Jianjia did not find the source of the smell, so she returned to the room carrying the sword.

The shadow jumped from the roof to the back of the house and climbed into Jiang Yanyi's room through the back window.

Although the lights were not on, it was still possible to see at a glance that there was no trace of bulge on the bed.

She was not in the room?

Feng Shuo frowned his handsome eyebrows.

At this time, in the front hall of the Chu family, Jiang Yanyi and Chu Shubao, who had been losing money, were like chickens with blood, vowing to win back a game, while Xue and Chu Jiabao, who had won money, were at ease.

Once the game started, they lost track of time.

When the night watchman rang in the street, Jiang Yanyi woke up and asked, "It's only a quarter of an hour before midnight, right?"

Xue was a little sleepy, and yawned with her hand covering her mouth, "Yes, it's almost midnight."

Chu Shubao lost the most in this round. When she took money out of her purse, she found it was empty. She couldn't help but said with a sad face, "I don't want to play anymore. I'm so tired. I'm going back to my room to sleep."

Chu Jiabao laughed at her, "Ayi has lost the most and he hasn't given up yet. You mustn't be unable to afford to lose, big sister."

Chu Shubao said, "If I had all the businesses that Ayi has, I wouldn't be afraid of losing."

Jiang Yanyi quickly said, "No, I'm afraid of losing too."

These words made everyone laugh. Xue kept yawning, "It's this late, everyone go back to their rooms. Nian'an should be awake by now, I have to go over to see him."

Although Chu Chengbai's eldest son, Chu Nian'an, is now fostered by Xue, Xue has never given birth to a child. Usually, the wet nurse takes care of the child, so she has to take care of him when she is free.

As soon as the card game was over, Jiang Yanyi felt very tired. She rubbed her sore neck and went back to her own residence.

When she entered the yard, Huo Jianjia heard the sound again. It was probably because she recognized her from the footsteps. This time, she came out of the ear room without the big knife on her shoulder. She stood at the door, rubbed her eyes and asked Jiang Yanyi: "The boss is back."

Jiang Yanyi said "um" and asked: "Why haven't you slept yet?"

Huo Jianjia said: "I will sleep after the boss is back. Did the boss win money playing mahjong?"

"Don't mention it, I always lose." Jiang Yanyi felt warm in his heart because of Huo Jianjia's words, but he felt a little depressed when talking about playing mahjong, and said: "It's so late, you should go into the house and rest."

Huo Jianjia responded and then closed the door.

Jiang Yanyi returned to her room and did not notice anything unusual. She lit the candles on the candlestick, took off her cold-proof awning and hung it on the rack. When she turned to pour water next to the low table, she found someone sitting on the mahogany chair.

Jiang Yanyi shivered reflexively and almost screamed in shock, but luckily she managed to hold it in.

"When did you come?" she asked in a low voice.

"When you were playing mahjong."

Feng Shuo's voice was calm, but Jiang Yanyi inexplicably had the illusion that he was squeezing her.

She laughed awkwardly: "I didn't know you would sneak over. I didn't hear that you would come to visit after dinner, so I thought you would come tomorrow."

Today is New Year's Eve, and tomorrow is the first day of the new year.

Feng Shuo did not answer, but just raised his eyelids and glanced at her.

He had beautiful eyes. Under the orange candlelight, his narrow eyes revealed a bit of laziness and casualness. He was so charming whether he was open or closed.

He said, "Come here."

Jiang Yanyi walked towards him without any control.

Feng Shuo took one of her hands, took out a jade bracelet from his arms and put it on her hand.

Her five fingers were slender and slender, as if she had no bones, and her wrist was as white as snow. The jade bracelet matched the emerald ring on her index finger very well. The overly cold color gave people a sense of reserved alienation.

It was quite elegant and noble, "to be admired from a distance but not to be played with."

As the saying goes, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. Jiang Yanyi had to deal with some noble ladies in business. No matter what era, the topics that women can quickly get along with are either rouge and powder or clothes and jewelry. Jiang Yanyi naturally put a lot of effort in these.

Jade can be divided into two types. Jadeite is the best among hard jade, and the most famous among soft jade is Hetian jade.

The bracelet Feng Shuo gave her was a rare dragon stone, which was the best part of the whole piece of jade. The color was transparent and pure, and the water head was excellent. At a glance, it felt warm and crystal clear.

She raised her hand and looked at the bracelet on her wrist, and said with a pained look: "You really don't treat silver as money. You might as well keep the money for this bracelet to recruit soldiers and buy horses."

Such a flawless bracelet made of dragon stone jadeite would probably cost tens of thousands of taels of silver to buy.

Feng Shuo didn't expect that his carefully prepared New Year gift would be evaluated so highly by her. Knowing that she was worried about military supplies, he felt funny but also felt guilty - he didn't treat her well enough.

She put him first in everything. The losses of Ruyi Tower and the noodle shop had to be raised for the military camp. He saw a lot of things. He didn't say anything at the time, but it didn't mean he didn't know.

After letting his subordinates take over the business of the porcelain kiln, he had already made a promise that Jiang Yanyi would definitely make the most money, which was also a little compensation from him to Jiang Yanyi in secret.

Seeing the distressed expression on Jiang Yanyi's face, Feng Shuo felt his heart soften. He said, "Someone gave me a piece of raw stone a few years ago, and I just found a jade craftsman to grind it a while ago. It didn't cost much."

Hearing him say this, Jiang Yanyi's eyes lit up.

She couldn't stop fiddling with the bracelet on her wrist, and she couldn't stop looking at it.

Seeing her happy, Feng Shuo also smiled. When the night watchman's call of midnight rang again, he said slowly: "Yanyi, Happy New Year."

Jiang Yanyi also looked up at him, smiling: "Happy New Year."

Feng Shuo pulled her over and held her in his arms: "My mother said she wants to see you. I'll take you to see her another day."

Jiang Yanyi was stunned: "The Grand Empress Dowager..."

Feng Shuo curled his lips: "She's recovered."

Fang Qing has been dead for more than three months. The Grand Empress Dowager is no longer controlled by drugs and has slowly regained her consciousness. Although sometimes she forgets who she is when talking to Feng Shuo, she is no longer as hysterical as before.

The doctor in the palace said that the condition of the Grand Concubine Dowager would gradually improve as the time of stopping medication became longer. In another year or so, she might be like a normal person.

Jiang Yanyi was happy to hear Feng Shuo say this, and immediately agreed: "I will go to the palace to pay New Year's greetings in a few days."

Feng Shuo grabbed her hand with the bracelet on it. Her snowy back of the hand was so attractive that Feng Shuo couldn't help but pecked it, raised his eyes and said sternly: "Keep the other hand to wear the bracelet given to you by your mother."