Chapter 003: Moth-killing Hero

The servants of Jiangxuexuan had already started to lay new mats and boil water. Yao Niang, who usually slept with her mother, was also moved to the second room.

After Yao Niang finished her bath, her wet nurse Gu Mama asked her to put on a small dress and a cool shirt, and the ice in the room was replaced. The Yan family had their own ice cellar, so after she moved to the second room to rest, the servants also brought a few basins of ice over, and the room finally became cool.

"My mother always accompanies me to review my lessons during this time." Yao Niang was somewhat dissatisfied.

Mother Gu smiled and said, "Good girl, if the master comes over more often, you can be a proper family!" For servants like Mother Gu, although Xie was the mistress of the third room, Yan Yingqi often stayed in Beijing before, and she was alone in Jinling, so it was difficult for the servants to spread rumors.

After all, these servants love to see their high and mighty masters living unhappy lives.

Yao Niang is eight years old this year. They live in a complex environment. Unlike other children, she is still ignorant and has already understood the rules of survival in this house. Her grandmother, Mrs. Quan, is very powerful and always has her way. Although my mother is the housekeeper of the third room, since my grandmother came back, most of the big and small things have to be consulted with her.

The new sister-in-law will come into the family in two years. My brother has always been close to my grandmother. This sister-in-law was also chosen by my grandfather, and my grandmother likes her very much. She is not close to my mother at all. If they become entangled in the future, won't my mother be attacked from all sides?

"Good girl, go to bed quickly, you have to get up early tomorrow to climb the mountain. Mommy has ironed that Hu-sleeved riding suit for you, you can go and have fun with peace of mind." Mother Gu looked at Yao Niang with her black hair hanging down, and marveled in her heart. The second wife, Xie, was originally the most beautiful woman in Wu, and now looking at the third girl's appearance, who knows how many people she will charm in the future.

Yao Niang yawned and said, "Then I'll go to sleep."

The children went to bed early and the adults were in a state of confusion. Yan Yingqi was with He Jieshi, whom he had not seen for a long time, and he wanted to do everything he could to please her.

After calling for water twice, Yan Yingqi still wanted to drink more, so Xie pushed him and said, "Since we still have to climb the mountain tomorrow, you should rest."

When Yan Yingqi saw Xie's flushed cheeks, he felt a sense of satisfaction. He remembered that when he passed the imperial examination and married Xie, he was so proud of himself that he even wrote a bridal poem.

"Okay, I'll do as you say." He stroked her fair shoulders.

However, Xie was not in the mood to talk to him too much, because she knew very well that Yan Yingqi was just a temporary novelty. She had given birth to an adopted son for the third wife and a caring daughter, which was better than anything else.

If she hadn't heard Yao Niang mention that Old Madam Yu from the eldest house had omitted the jewellery for her daughter, she wouldn't have really been so angry with Yan Yingqi and Yan Yuese today. Obviously, Old Madam Yu treated her son and the two from the eldest house equally, but she treated her granddaughter differently.

She was just doing this because she was not favored and was always looking down on her.

Yan Yingqi and Xie have been married for sixteen years, and he understands Xie quite well. If he doesn't bow his head once, there will be no turning back for them.

Now that he is back and his daughter is back too, it's a good opportunity to use the news of his son's engagement as an excuse to ease the situation.

Xie also didn't think Yan Yingqi had any feelings for her. She was 31 years old now, and her appearance and figure were no longer as good as they used to be. Yan Yingqi had concubines and maids around him. She heard that Zhen was very virtuous and she married the maid around her soon after she entered the house. So she never thought she was special.

In fact, Zhen didn't care that much. She even said to Madam Wei beside her: "Tomorrow, ask the kitchen to make basil drink for the fourth young lady. She is still a child, after all, she is still young and always worries about these trivial matters."

She is now the eldest daughter-in-law of the Yan family, and only her children are legitimate sons and grandsons. As for the middle-aged woman Xie, what is there to be afraid of? No matter how beautiful she is, she is old, and men, no matter whether they are eighty or eighteen years old, like young girls.

At worst, she could take in another beautiful concubine for Yan Yingqi, and then Xie would be nothing.

Mother Wei sighed, "It's not our daughter's fault. If anyone should be blamed, it should be the Yan family. A family like this is forcing themselves to follow the example of the merchants and have concubines. It's not decent at all."

"Hmph, the wife of the Minister of Rites, no matter if she is decent or not, there are many people who want to be her. What I care about is not these, but although the eldest young master is from the third house, he is the eldest master's firstborn son after all. He is five years older than our Jingwen, and now he has the title of scholar. If he can pass the imperial examination in the future, wouldn't the master's connections be used by him first?"

What Zhen was even most worried about was that once the old man and the old lady of the third house passed away, there would be no so-called succession. To a certain extent, he could inherit both the first house and the third house at the same time. By then, Yan Jingzhao would be his eldest son, and Xie would not be an ordinary concubine, which would seriously endanger her son's status.

Mother Wei slapped her head and said, "I haven't thought that far. What should I do?"

Zhen said, "I never interfere with outside affairs. Please keep an eye on Jingwen. He is getting older now. If there is anything that bothers him, just tell me and send him away. Don't let anything affect his studies."

Mother Wei quickly responded.

**

The next morning, before daybreak, Yao Niang was still yawning, but she was already ready to set out with the adults. Many people gathered in the third room, and Yan Jingzhao was talking to Yan Yingqi with an admiring look on his face.

Madam Quan was a little worried, and was reminding Mrs. Xie: "Don't go deep into the mountains, and don't get tired from climbing. You have to take better care of her."

Yao Niang felt very uncomfortable hearing these words. Her grandmother never regarded her mother as her brother's mother, but only as a servant who took care of him.

Yao Niang stepped forward and said with a smile: "Grandma, don't worry. My brother is so old and he has daddy around. How can he be tired? I heard that Qixia City is very fun. Why don't you come with us to climb there? With you, my brother will definitely not dare to run around."

Madam Quan used her status to oppress Xie because the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law was inherently unequal, but Yao Niang was different because she was a granddaughter. Although Madam Quan often pointed out her faults, she was a girl with a strong temper and personality, and even adults did not dare to blame her casually.

"I'm old and weak, so I won't go." Old Madam Quan waved her hand quickly.

Yao Niang gave Xie a look, and Xie felt warm in her heart. Others envied her for giving birth to a good son, but her greatest luck was giving birth to Yao Niang, who always helped her.

Yan Yingqi smiled and said, "Don't worry, Auntie. I will definitely take good care of them. Besides, it is also interesting to climb high and see far. Walking more is good for your health."

"Yes, grandma, don't worry." Yan Jingzhao also said.

In this way, the four of them went out, Yan Yingqi and Xie took a carriage together, and Yao Niang took a carriage with her brother. She and Yan Jingzhao were also very different in age. One of them grew up with her grandparents, and the other grew up with her mother. They didn't interact much on weekdays, and they didn't talk to each other.

The carriage finally reached the foot of Mount Qixia. The air was rare and good, and Yao Niang felt very energetic. Xie had to remind her, "Don't go too fast. You will be unable to climb when you reach the middle of the mountain."

Yao Niang saw that Xie was carrying an empty gourd on her back, and couldn't help but ask curiously, "Mother, what is this for?"

"I heard there is spring water on the mountain. I'll use this small gourd to collect some water and bring it back. It's best to use spring water when we make tea. Spring water is very sweet." Xie went out for a walk and was in a good mood.

Yao Niang giggled and said, "I want to drink the ice cream that my mother made for me, so I'll use this water to make it."

Xie wiped the sweat off her daughter's forehead with a handkerchief and said, "I understand."

Who knew that Yan Yingqi, who was in front, turned around and looked at Xie: "What's the matter?"

Xie also explained: "It is made by smashing the ice into small pieces, making it dense and smooth, and then pouring a lot of fresh fruit puree on it. This child especially likes it."

"I'll try it next time." Yan Yingqi said with a smile.

Xie only nodded slightly, but did not really agree. She also asked Yan Jingzhao: "How are you? Does your leg hurt?"

Yan Jingzhao shook his head: "It doesn't hurt." He grew up with his grandmother and always felt that his mother was too weak. He was not used to such care, but he felt that it would hurt Lie if he said it out loud.

Xie was quite self-aware and stopped asking questions. Yao Niang just felt sweaty and very tired. Halfway up the mountain, she saw an old man selling tea eggs and a large pot of chicken feet and intestine skewers. She touched her stomach and said to Xie, "Mother, mother, buy something to eat. I brought some money with me."

Xie was extremely worried: "Will it hurt your stomach if you eat it? Also, can you buy it yourself? I'll ask my maid to buy it for you."

"I know how to buy. I've even bargained for a price. My grandfather took me to the market to play there." Yao Niang was about to go there with her two maids. Xie was worried, so she followed them.

In fact, although Xie was born out of wedlock, the Xie family was also a famous family. She was raised by a beautiful girl and later married into the Yan family as a daughter-in-law just after she came of age. She seldom came into contact with the people of the market. Yao Niang followed her grandparents to the northwest, and she grew up alone, and she had a bit of a wild personality.

"This tea leaf egg is three cents each? Then there are four of us in our family, so let's buy ten, a total of thirty cents. And there are chicken feet and chicken legs, oh, there are also plain cakes for sale here, so let's take six pairs of chicken feet and four large chicken legs, and for the rest of the skewers like this, Hongxiu, I'll give you a hundred cents, you can buy them and give them to everyone." Yao Niang almost bought out the old man's stall.

What Xie found amazing was that her daughter was able to bargain with the old man, round off the price, and even give away free mooncakes, thus taking care of everyone.

"Nannan, you are awesome." Xie said.

Yao Niang spent two silver coins to buy a lot of food. She was very happy and handed the biggest chicken leg to Xie: "Mom, let's climb to the highest point and eat there later."

But Xie knew her daughter was hungry, so she quietly peeled a tea egg and handed it to her: "Come, eat it."

Seeing this, Yan Yingqi had no choice but to rest halfway up the mountain. The servants filled the water bags and placed the salty food bought by Yao Niang on a plate. He looked at this third daughter with a new eye. The second daughter, Qian Niang, who usually followed him, never did anything out of the ordinary and was gentle and careful. The fourth daughter was lively and a little coquettish.

Only Yao Niang was different. Such a young child knew how to buy things, how to calculate money, and she took care of everything.

Just as he was about to say a few compliments, a moth flew over. Yan Yingqi had been afraid of moths since he was a child, and his body froze for a moment. He was 35 years old, it was impossible for him to jump up like he did when he was a child, but he was extremely scared inside, and kept repeating to himself, "Don't come over, don't come over."

He also signaled Xie with his eyes, but little did he know that such a weak Xie acted as if she saw nothing and was drinking water attentively. His son Yan Jingzhao, a young man, had been hungry for a long time and was wolfing down his food. Only he and Yao Niang looked at each other. Yao Niang was eating a chicken leg and saw the moth flying towards her. She was about to wave it away with her hand, but it flew towards her face and she grabbed it directly into her palm.

Yan Yingqi immediately looked at his daughter, only to see Yao Niang shouting, "Hurry up and bring me the handkerchief. It's so dirty. I crushed a moth to death."

Before Xie could even take out her handkerchief, she saw her husband actually took out a handkerchief before her to wipe their daughter's hands. It was really unprecedented. This man was very clean. He even didn't want to leave the examination room because he thought the room was too dirty. He couldn't even take a bath and go to the toilet with such a person.

Little did she know that what surprised her even more was that Yan Yingqi said to Yao Niang with a bit of admiration: "You are really amazing..."

Xie and Yan Jingzhao, who were standing by, were covered in mist.