Chapter 126

Chapter 126

And so, dinner that evening was quite lavish.

But… Ji Yan’an could not eat it.

Even now, he could only have small amounts of easily digestible, nourishing food.

Things like stewed chicken soup, porridge, pigeon soup, and steamed egg custard.

He could not eat much meat, either.

A medicinal meal had even been specially prepared for him.

The medicinal meal carried a distinct herbal smell, while the other dishes on the table gave off mouthwatering aromas.

Across from him, Jiang Yunsui was stuffing food into her mouth with gusto, her cheeks packed full, looking blissfully happy as she ate.

Nanshu stood behind Ji Yan’an with his head lowered, not daring to say a word as he tried his utmost to make himself invisible.

Ji Yan’an radiated a gloomy pressure from head to toe.

Song Jin was seated at the other end as well, speaking in that infuriatingly smug tone of his.

“How embarrassing. The Young Master is still ill, yet he prepared such a sumptuous dinner for us. In that case, we won’t stand on ceremony.”

Jiang Yunsui said, “Delicious, delicious.”

Shen Qingzhu held back a laugh. “The Young Master’s health has only just begun to improve. Aside from what’s in front of you, you cannot eat anything else.”

Ji Yan’an turned his head and stared at Nanshu for a while.

Nanshu looked like he wanted to find a crack in the ground and bury his head in it.

He had been so focused on having the kitchen prepare a feast that he had forgotten the Young Master had not yet recovered from his serious illness and still could not eat anything too greasy.

The medicinal meal truly could not be called tasty, but at least he no longer felt like throwing it up as he ate it.

By the time they slowly finished dinner, the sky had basically gone dark.

Ji Yan’an sat in the courtyard with a heavy cloak draped over him.

Autumn had already arrived, and the nights were growing colder and colder.

Before long, even the days would become very cold.

Jiang Yunsui went out for a stroll to aid digestion, and while she was at it, to see if there was any gossip to be had.

Unexpectedly, she really did run into some.

Some of the servants in the Prefect’s Mansion were still from the previous Prefect’s Mansion. Because there were not enough hands to serve, the lower-ranking servants who had little to do with the Prefect had all been kept on.

At that moment, near an inconspicuous small side gate of the Prefect’s Mansion, a young maid was acting furtively.

Out of curiosity, Jiang Yunsui followed her.

“Did you get the things?”

The moment Jiang Yunsui heard that, she grew excited. Had she stumbled onto another conspiracy scene?

Let her prick up her ears and listen carefully.

“I got them, Miss Bai.”

“Hurry and take them away. This is not the Ouyang Family anymore, after all. It would be bad if you were discovered.”

The more brightly dressed woman did not seem to care.

“These things were mine to begin with. If I hadn’t been unable to take them when I fled, I wouldn’t have had to trouble you.”

“By the way, how are all of you doing now? The new masters haven’t been bullying you old staff, have they?”

“No.”

The maid said, “The new masters are very kind. Everyone who used to follow the Prefect was sold off. Those left in the residence now are only us miscellaneous maids and servants. Everyone who served as Steward has been replaced, and our lives have actually improved quite a bit.”

“That’s good.”

Jiang Yunsui saw the woman open the bundle and take out three taels of silver, which she handed to the maid.

“You and I were mistress and servant once, at least. Now that you can live well, I can feel at ease. Take this. It isn’t much. As for the rest of these things, I still need to use them to find a way out of Qiusha.”

The maid could not help asking curiously, “What exactly happened back then?”

Miss Bai’s expression turned rather ugly at the thought of that day.

“At the banquet that day, the Prefect killed one of the Barbarians.”

The maid looked shocked.

“The Prefect dared to do that?”

That was right. In many people’s eyes, Prefect Ouyang was nothing but a useless coward who only threw his weight around at home, though no one dared to say so.

“Hmph. They hit him where it hurt, that’s all.”

“That dead old man has been especially sensitive about that sort of thing ever since he became impotent. His temper got worse, and his tastes became twisted. At the banquet that day, one of the Barbarians drank too much and, when he left the table to relieve himself, he humiliated one of the concubines in the Prefect’s inner courtyard.
He even shouted at the top of his lungs that the Prefect was done for, and that all the women in the Prefect’s rear courtyard should be handed over to him. That damn old man was so provoked he killed him on the spot. Who could have imagined that one of the Barbarians was actually a Little Prince?

“Good thing I was sharp. As soon as I got back, I found a place to hide all the valuables. Otherwise, who knows whose hands these treasures would’ve fallen into.”

“Enough talk. I’m leaving. You… just do your job properly here in the residence. From the look of things, this new master really is a decent one. At the very least, he’s still holding Qiusha and hasn’t let those Barbarians break in.”

The maid nodded. “Miss Bai, please be careful too.”

In times like these, it was far from easy for a woman to be out on her own.

“I know.”

After the two parted ways, Jiang Yunsui crouched there and tilted her head.

“So that’s what happened.”

In her heart, she cursed the Prefect up and down.

He had caused this disaster, then simply dusted off his hands and ran, leaving the whole mess for Ji Yan’an to deal with. He had even made Ji Yan’an lose so much weight.

Perhaps because the residence had changed masters, the servants below were all walking on eggshells and behaving themselves.

Aside from what she had heard by the small side gate, Jiang Yunsui didn’t come across anything else interesting.

Forget it. Time to go back and cultivate.

She wandered her way back, fetched a soft cushion, and placed it in the courtyard. Then she folded her two short little legs together.

“Holding the Origin and Guarding the One.”

Muttering under her breath, she began cultivating.

It was already autumn now, so there wasn’t much moonlight or starlight at night.

But while cultivating, she could still draw in some Moonlight Essence and Power of the Stars.

“Jiang Yunsui.”

After she had cultivated for a while, Ji Yan’an’s voice came from inside the room.

She opened her eyes, got up, and patted off her bottom.

“I’m coming, I’m coming.”

Little Mushroom happily bounced back into the room to accompany him to sleep.

After washing up, she climbed into bed, still mumbling under her breath.

Ji Yan’an listened quietly for a while.

“Ji Yan’an is a big baby who needs to be coaxed to sleep.”

A certain big baby pinched her mouth shut, squeezing it into a duck bill.

“Shut up.”

That little mouth of hers only ever spat out things he didn’t want to hear.

Unable to speak, Little Mushroom could only look at him with her big eyes and nod.

“Do you want me to sing you a song?”

Seeing that Ji Yan’an didn’t respond, she went ahead and started singing on her own.

“Deep in the forest, there was a pretty little mushroom.

Carefree and happy like a joyful little sprite.

Today she made friends with a tiger.

Tomorrow she’ll make friends with a fox.

The day after, she’ll make friends with a little bird.

…”

Jiang Yunsui’s voice was soft and sweet. She sounded lovely when she spoke, so by all logic, her singing shouldn’t have been unpleasant.

But… why did Ji Yan’an feel like this song was so strange?

It felt off-key.

When she started singing it a second time, Ji Yan’an became absolutely certain.

She had not sung it this way the first time!

Ji Yan’an opened his eyes.

“Who taught you to sing like that?”

Jiang Yunsui blinked. “My good friend Tuantuan did~”

Ji Yan’an said, “Did he ever tell you not to keep singing?”

Jiang Yunsui huffed. “What’s wrong with it? He said I sing very well.”

Ji Yan’an’s tone was sincere. “Then this friend of yours must have something wrong with his ears.”

Jiang Yunsui: “…”

“Hmph!” she huffed, very loudly.

After flailing around twice, she pulled the quilt right over her head.

Bad Ji Yan’an!