Lady of Fortune, Jiao Niang

Chapter 84

When Qi Yun returned to the mountain courtyard with Ye Jiao, Xu Bao was already fussing.

Children couldn't handle hunger, and he had never been away from Ye Jiao for so long. Xu Bao was pursing his lips, not crying, but his little head kept turning around as if looking for someone.

Liu Shi was also extremely worried. Seeing that it was almost dark and neither her son nor daughter-in-law had returned, she was naturally anxious. She couldn't get a word out of Little Su's mouth. The little girl remembered Ye Jiao's instructions and kept quiet as a clam. Liu Shi didn't want to make things difficult for her, but she had already started planning to send people down the mountain to look for them.

Just then, Qi Yun and Ye Jiao's carriage returned.

This time it was Tie Zi driving the horse with the streak of white mane, while the coachman had led a new horse from the medicine shop to drive the empty carriage back from the abandoned courtyard.

As soon as they entered the courtyard, Xu Bao seemed to sense something and opened his mouth to wail loudly!

His cries were always very loud. As Qi Yun put it, even the family's little black dog couldn't outdo him.

This wail startled Liu Shi, who was holding him.

The next moment, seeing Qi Yun and Ye Jiao hurrying through the door, Liu Shi first looked them over, confirming both were fine, then smiled and coaxed the Xu Bao in her arms: "Look, look, Xu Bao is so smart, he knows his mother is here. Listen to this crying, so loud and clear, really healthy."

Nanny Liu also chimed in with a smile from the side. Ye Jiao first respectfully bowed to Liu Shi, then reached out to take Xu Bao.

The little baby stopped crying as soon as he was in Ye Jiao's arms. Since his hands and feet were wrapped in swaddling, he couldn't move, so he could only twist his head to burrow his face into Ye Jiao's chest, nuzzling around and humming, clearly hungry.

Ye Jiao couldn't very well nurse him in front of Liu Shi, so she said softly: "Mother, I came back late and made you worry. Let me go change clothes first, then I'll come keep you company and talk."

"You must be tired after being out all day. Just rest after tidying up, no need to come find me." Liu Shi smiled and nodded, letting Ye Jiao leave. But she called out to Qi Yun: "Second Young Master, wait a moment."

Qi Yun's eyes had been closely following Ye Jiao, but hearing Liu Shi's words, he had to stop and turn back to bow to Liu Shi: "Mother."

Liu Shi looked at him with a smile, beckoning with her hand: "Come here, let Mother have a look."

Qi Yun glanced imperceptibly at the wound on his arm. He had already changed his robe, and the cloth bandage on his arm was completely hidden by his sleeve, so there was nothing to worry about when Liu Shi examined him.

He walked over and sat beside Liu Shi, saying slowly: "I went down the mountain to check on the medicine shop. It started raining and wasn't good for travel, so I was delayed."

This was half true and half false, but no fault could be found with it.

Liu Shi wasn't really trying to find out anything specific. For her, managing the household affairs well was enough. Her second son was decisive, had his own plans, and was the smartest of the three brothers. Liu Shi never worried much about him.

Reaching out to gently grasp Qi Yun's hand, Liu Shi smiled and said: "It's no problem. You shouldn't have gone out running around in the rain anyway. Your health is still weak, and rainy days are especially cold. It's good that you took shelter in your own shop. But you made Jiao Niang worry and go looking for you. You should comfort her properly later."

Hearing this, Qi Yun's expression softened, his eyebrows becoming gentle as he replied softly: "I understand, Mother."

Not only had she braved the rain to find him, she had also saved his life. Qi Yun thought he was truly blessed in this lifetime. Though his health was poor, he had parents who loved him, brothers who helped him, and when he came of age, he married the best, most wonderful girl. This life wasn't lived in vain.

Liu Shi patted his hand again, didn't keep him long, and after saying a few words, let him go.

After Qi Yun left, Liu Shi lost her smile and asked quietly: "Nanny Liu, do you think Second Young Master is hiding something from me?"

Nanny Liu hesitated for a moment, then replied in a low voice: "Second Young Master... is the most filial. If he's really hiding something, it's probably because he's afraid of making you worry, Madam."

Liu Shi nodded, not denying this point. She turned the prayer beads in her hand: "All three of my sons are filial, understanding and well-mannered. Usually they don't hide anything from me. Since Second Young Master won't tell me, I'm willing to pretend I don't know. But I still need to make the necessary preparations."

She had seen clearly that Qi Yun had changed clothes, and so had Tie Zi.

Though Ye Jiao appeared to still be wearing the same satin dress from the morning, the cloak she'd worn outside was nowhere to be seen.

Even if Liu Shi couldn't guess what had happened, she knew these two had definitely not just been delayed by heavy rain. There must have been other matters.

Nanny Liu whispered: "Madam, if you're worried, we could call Tie Zi in to ask."

Liu Shi shook her head: "No, if I asked him, Second Young Master would know. Since he wants to hide it from me, I should pretend not to know. Otherwise, he'd worry too."

Fingering her prayer beads, Liu Shi stood up and motioned for Nanny Liu to come closer.

She instructed quietly: "Send someone down the mountain to inform the household. Tell them to secure the gates, guard the home well, and refuse all visitors. Also tell Elder Young Master and them not to hurry back. With all this rain recently, they should stay well at the estate."

Nanny Liu agreed and turned to leave.

As she walked out the door, she saw Little Su and Tie Zi sitting together, whispering about something.

Seeing Nanny Liu come out, they stood up: "Nanny Liu."

Nanny Liu nodded with a smile on her face: "Why are you sitting outside? The weather's getting cold, don't always sit on these stone benches, careful you don't get stomach troubles."

Both replied obediently, and only then did Nanny Liu leave.

After she was gone, Little Su grabbed Tie Zi and pulled his sleeve to look at a scrape running from his hand to his elbow, tears streaming down anxiously: "How did you get hurt so badly?"

Tie Zi had protected her since childhood and was always most afraid of her tears. He quickly said: "It's nothing, much lighter than Young Master's injury. Don't worry, it'll heal in a few days."

Little Su bit her lips to hold back tears, nodding, then remembered: "Young Master is hurt too? What about Second Young Mistress, is she alright?"

As she spoke, the little girl was about to get up and run inside, seemingly wanting to carefully check whether her Second Young Mistress was injured, her face full of urgency.

Tie Zi quickly held her back and made her sit down.

Right now the Young Master and Young Mistress were talking inside. If she went in, the Second Young Master wouldn't be pleased.

"She's fine. Doctor Li came with us, didn't he? They're both well now. Just remember when the bath water is carried in later to remind Second Young Mistress that Second Young Master's wound can't get wet. Just be careful."

Tie Zi smiled and rubbed Little Su's head.

As for how they got injured, he didn't say. There was no point in telling her anyway; it would only frighten Little Su and serve no other purpose.

Just then, a servant woman came over with a smile: "This sweet soup is from Madam for you. Drink it while it's hot to ward off the cold."

Little Su held it in her hands and thanked her. After the woman left, she wondered: "Why is Madam giving me sweet soup?"

Tie Zi understood clearly in his heart. This was Liu Shi rewarding her.

When Ye Jiao left, Little Su probably didn't know what dangers lay ahead. She just received Ye Jiao's instructions to keep quiet and take good care of the little Young Master.

And Little Su had truly said nothing, keeping the matter secret until they returned without revealing even the slightest detail to Liu Shi.

She did this because she didn't know what Ye Jiao was going to do; she was simply following her master's orders.

Liu Shi was rewarding her loyalty.

Conversely, if Liu Shi had easily pried open Little Su's mouth just now, she would probably have had her sent away now, dismissed from the household and never used again.

Tie Zi reached out to pat Little Su's head, smiling as he said to her: "Don't ask too many questions. Just eat whatever you're given. It smells really good. If you don't eat it, I might just eat it myself." He pretended to grab the spoon from her hand.

Who knew Little Su would directly hand the spoon to him: "You went out for a trip and must be cold. You have this. I'm fine." After saying this, Little Su paid no attention to Tie Zi's expression, stood up and patted down her skirt, then went to check if the bath water was ready.

Tie Zi was left staring at the bowl of red bean sweet soup in bewilderment.

After a while, he smiled. The boy who was always clever and sharp in front of Qi Yun now seemed a bit silly, and soon finished the red bean sweet soup completely.

Inside the room, Ye Jiao had finished nursing and tidied her clothes, placing Xu Bao on the bed to play with him.

Xu Bao could now see many things clearly. He naturally loved to laugh, and with just a little coaxing would giggle continuously. His arms and legs were quite strong, and when he moved around he was especially cute.

While Ye Jiao went out to have people bring in a bathtub and set up screens, Qi Yun let his injured left arm hang naturally without moving it, extending his right hand to flip over Xu Bao, who was lying on his stomach.

Xu Bao seemed to prefer lying on his stomach and didn't like lying on his back. Being flipped over by his father made him quite displeased.

But he didn't fuss or cry, just wriggled his limbs on his own, looking for a way to flip back over.

Qi Yun just sat nearby watching, not helping, only occasionally reaching out to pat his belly.

His son really looked like a little turtle that couldn't flip over.

When he heard Ye Jiao's embroidered shoes making footstep sounds, Qi Yun quickly gave the little fellow a push from behind, and he successfully flipped back over.

Xu Bao laughed again, happily lying on the bed with his head raised looking at Qi Yun, his eyes like black grapes, especially bright and lively.

When Ye Jiao walked over to look, she saw this harmonious scene of father and son playing together.

She smiled and sat beside Qi Yun, but seeing Xu Bao reaching his little paws toward Qi Yun's left arm, she quickly pulled him back: "Don't bother your daddy. His arm is hurt and it will hurt if you touch it. Be good, Xu Bao."

Hearing this, Qi Yun couldn't help but smile.

Ye Jiao blinked and looked at him: "Husband, what are you laughing about?"

"Jiao Niang, you're speaking in two-character phrases now. It sounds interesting." As Qi Yun spoke, he turned sideways to protect his left arm, then reached out his right hand to pinch Xu Bao's little chubby hand.

Xu Bao laughed and hugged his hand. Though he supposedly couldn't understand anything, he never again reached toward Qi Yun's left arm.

However, Ye Jiao didn't notice anything different about her speech. She'd probably picked it up from taking care of Xu Bao, as Nanny Liu always spoke in phrases like "eat food-food" and "sleep sleep-sleep," unconsciously influencing Ye Jiao. But she herself didn't think anything was wrong.

She looked at Qi Yun somewhat puzzled: "What's interesting about it?"

Qi Yun looked at her and smiled: "It's like if I called you Jiao Jiao..."

As soon as this address came out, Qi Yun felt it was too sweet and couldn't continue.

But before he could say more, he saw Ye Jiao's cheeks turn slightly red.

This was actually quite rare. Usually his wife was the most cheerful person, following her heart in everything, doing whatever came to mind. Even when they studied the book together, Ye Jiao could try everything one by one without changing expression, never shy. Her heart was like crystal, extremely transparent.

But now Ye Jiao's cheeks were red, and she glared at him: "Husband, you can't call me that. It sounds like calling a little child."

Qi Yun curved his lips, stopped teasing her, but kept this endearment in his heart.

There would always be a time when he could use it.

Ye Jiao lowered her head and patted Xu Bao's little bottom, looking at Qi Yun: "The bathtub is ready in the outer room."

But Qi Yun didn't get up immediately. Instead, he said to Ye Jiao: "Why don't you wash first, Jiao Niang? You were very tired today too."

But Ye Jiao blinked: "No, you have a wound and need to be careful not to get it wet. I should help you wash first."

Hearing this, Qi Yun immediately stood up and efficiently went behind the screen to undress and get in the bathtub.

Ye Jiao arranged the screen again, making sure it blocked properly, then called Little Su in to help watch Xu Bao. After tying up her sleeves, she took a towel and went behind the screen.

This wasn't the first time Ye Jiao had seen Qi Yun bathing. The last time was shortly after they were married, when Ye Jiao had accidentally seen him. At that time, Qi Yun was so startled that his whole body turned red.

Now Ye Jiao's mindset was about the same as back then, and Qi Yun had made considerable progress. After all, they had no secrets from each other anymore, so looking was just looking...

It's not like she hadn't seen it before.

However, when Ye Jiao took the towel to scrub his back, Qi Yun's ears still turned red.

Ye Jiao took a bath bean and crushed it, spreading it on the towel to lather it up, carefully avoiding his arm as she made circles on the man's back while asking: "I forgot to ask you earlier, when Third Prince called you over, didn't he say it was related to Big Brother?"

"Mm, we discussed it. He said Big Brother's health is much better and he'll return soon. It's just that someone will come back with him, but I don't know who. Third Prince didn't say, so I figured we'd find out when the time comes."

This made Ye Jiao feel more at ease. She splashed some water on him and gently pinched around his arm wound with her soft fingertips, her voice tender: "As long as Big Brother is safe, that's good. Coming back now, he can still make it for New Year. And Xu Bao too - Big Brother prepared so many things for Xu Bao, but Xu Bao hasn't even met him yet."

Qi Yun smiled but didn't speak.

Third Prince's troubles were clearly significant, involving the imperial court and inner palace. As an ordinary citizen, he naturally wouldn't rush to inquire about such matters.

Currently, his family hadn't reached the point where their honor and disgrace depended on Third Prince. Qi Yun also hadn't planned to seek him out recently. He'd wait until this matter passed and Ye Ping Rong returned before making any decisions.

After all, Ye Ping Rong had served with Third Prince for a long time. They'd need to discuss together how to proceed in the future.

Just then, Ye Jiao heard two grunting sounds.

She couldn't help but peek her head out from behind the screen and saw Little Su holding up Xu Bao. The little girl looked somewhat helpless, while Xu Bao was grinning at his own map drawn on the bed, looking quite pleased with himself.

Little Su saw Ye Jiao looking over and shook Xu Bao slightly. Sure enough, she could see his little pants were wet in a large patch.

Ye Jiao asked: "So wet, change his clothes."

Little Su immediately went to get new ones, used soft dry cloth to clean the little Young Master, and prepared to put new little pants on him.

But Ye Jiao had said this while standing behind Qi Yun, so Qi Yun didn't know what Ye Jiao was looking at. He was just leaning sideways against the bathtub, and since his arm injury prevented him from turning around freely, he could only turn his head sideways and saw that Ye Jiao's clothes were wet in a patch.

Naturally, he thought Ye Jiao's earlier words were about herself.

This was understandable too. Ye Jiao was afraid Qi Yun would get cold, so she'd added hot water to the bathtub several times, and some inevitably splashed out.

Second Young Master said matter-of-factly: "Being wet isn't a problem, but now that the weather's cool, it would be bad if you caught cold. Fortunately this bathtub is large, so just come in and wash."

Little Su was puzzled. There was a charcoal brazier in the room, so where was it cold?

Qi Yun had expected Ye Jiao to hesitate a bit, but who knew his Jiao Niang would readily agree: "Alright then."

This made Qi Yun unconsciously shift his position, as if wanting to make room for her.

But Ye Jiao put the towel aside and turned to leave the screen area.

Just as Qi Yun was wondering about this, he saw a naked little white dumpling being placed in the bathtub.

The chubby little body went straight into his arms. Qi Yun quickly held him tight, hearing Ye Jiao's laughing voice: "Husband, let him sit on your lap and support him."

Then Qi Yun found himself staring into his son's eyes.

Xu Bao looked at him with a grin and even blew a bubble from his mouth.

Qi Yun was stunned for a moment before accepting this unexpected development. He coughed lightly, held him tight, and together with Ye Jiao, got their son cleaned up.

However, he was thinking they should go down the mountain soon.

At least at home, they could have someone carry Xu Bao to a side room to sleep. But on the mountain, with just this one room, there was nowhere to take him even if they wanted to...

But though Qi Yun had this thought, he didn't immediately return. Whether considering his wound or for the sake of these mountain-full of red leaves, he wouldn't act hastily.

After staying on the mountain for three more days, accompanying Liu Shi to see enough of the beautiful red leaf scenery, their group finally took carriages back toward the Qi family home.