Chapter 57

Chapter 57

Ji Yan’an stared at her angry retreating back for a moment, and then he got mad too.

So he simply went back to his own work.

Only, no matter what he did, it felt wrong.

Every little while, he would glance at that little maid squatting there, disguising herself as a mushroom.

He was the dignified Young Master. Surely he was not expected to go coax…

“Time to eat.”

The moment Nanny Zhou called those three words from outside, Ji Yan’an felt something blur before his eyes.

When he focused again, where was the angry Little Mushroom who had been there? She had run off to eat.

Ji Yan’an: “…”

Fine, fine. Even when she was angry, she still didn’t forget to eat.

Ji Yan’an rose and headed for the dining hall. Jiang Yunsui was already sitting obediently in her chair.

A maid was serving her food.

The little girl did not even look at him. She scooped up a heaping spoonful of vegetables and rice and stuffed it into her mouth.

Ji Yan’an’s footsteps gradually grew heavier.

He suddenly realized that there seemed to be a new little “master” in the residence.

In the past, Jiang Yunsui would at least wait for him to eat together. Now she had actually started eating before him, the true master.

When had it started?

Oh. Some time ago, he had been too busy and sometimes had no time to come back for meals.

Back then, Jiang Yunsui had also been grieving over Cook Chen’s death. Afraid that the little maid would go hungry, and afraid that the people in the residence would neglect her, he had given orders for meals to be prepared as usual and for Jiang Yunsui to eat first.

In short, this was a disaster of his own making.

Ji Yan’an walked over and sat down, then coughed once.

Jiang Yunsui lifted her little face to look at him. There were still grains of rice stuck to the corner of her mouth, and both her cheeks were stuffed round and full as she chewed lightly.

She looked like a fluffy little squirrel.

“Where are those human traffickers? I’ll have people make preparations.”

Jiang Yunsui’s temper came quickly and left just as quickly.

She chewed rapidly, swallowed the food in her mouth, then gave him the name of the inn.

She also poured out every bit of information she had heard.

A plan for the arrest gradually formed in Ji Yan’an’s mind. Once they finished eating, he would pass down the orders.

After the meal, the sun set.

Jiang Yunsui stood under the Peach Tree, staring at the unripe peaches that had already grown to the size of fists.

Beside her were the three dogs.

Suddenly, a miserable scream came from the room where Ji Yan’an was soaking in his medicinal bath.

Jiang Yunsui shuddered, then hurriedly ran over.

“What happened? What happened?”

Ji Yan’an said, “I’m fine.”

But those three words sounded as if they had been squeezed out through clenched teeth.

Jiang Yunsui leaned against the door. She really wanted to go in and take a look. He had never cried out that badly before.

Nanshu was pacing back and forth outside the door as well.

“Ah, Mr. Shen said it would hurt more this time. The Young Master cried out so miserably-just how painful must it be?”

After all, in the past, even when he was injured, he had never made a sound.

There was no more noise from inside. Shen Qingzhu soon came out.

The moment the door opened, Jiang Yunsui tried to step in with her short little legs.

Shen Qingzhu picked her up by the collar and carried her back out. “It’s enough for Nanshu to go in and take care of him.”

Jiang Yunsui tilted her head up to look at him. “I want to, too…”

“No. What would a little girl like you go in there for?”

Little Mushroom puffed up her cheeks in anger.

But with Nanshu there, she felt somewhat reassured.

Jiang Yunsui herself did not even realize that she was growing closer to Ji Yan’an now, and relying on him more and more.

She waited at the door for a while. Ji Yan’an seemed to know she was there, and his slightly weak voice came from inside the room.

“I’m fine. Go play by yourself.”

Jiang Yunsui gave a muffled “oh.” After thinking for a moment, she went to find a basket and a little hoe, then headed out to dig up mushrooms.

She had not dug any up for two days, and mushrooms had sprouted beneath the trees in the courtyard, in the grass, and even between the cracks of some stones.

Aside from the large Delicious Mushroom, there were also termite mushrooms.

Termite mushrooms were almost never found in the north, yet somehow they had miraculously grown in this little courtyard-and grown very well at that.
The first time the kitchen chef received a batch of termite mushrooms, he was dumbfounded. Was this something that should even exist around here? And they were so fresh, too, as if they had just been dug out of the soil.

That said, they really were delicious.

At that moment, Jiang Yunsui was holding a little hoe and digging in a flowerbed that was supposed to have flowers in it.

Mm. Now it was full of termite mushrooms.

Jiang Yunsui had made several little mushroom patches for herself-some in the flowerbeds, some beneath the trees. She would spend a while at one patch today, then go sit at another the next day.

And now, in this flowerbed, aside from the weeds, the termite mushrooms were growing the best.

As for flowers? There had never been any such thing in this estate.

There had been none before Ji Yan’an arrived, and after he came, he was too lazy to fuss over such delicate things.

A few of the termite mushrooms had fully opened their caps. The spread-out caps were even bigger than her face.

She huffed and puffed as she dug for quite a while. The three dogs enthusiastically helped with their paws, and at long last, she managed to dig out five termite mushrooms and put them into her basket.

Ji Si suddenly appeared behind her.

Jiang Yunsui did not notice. When she twisted her little body around, her head bumped right into his leg.

She looked up with a blank expression and carefully identified him for a moment.

“Si Si.”

Mm. All those hidden guards dressed the same, had fairly standard builds, and covered their faces. They really were hard to tell apart.

Ji Si gave a slight nod. “The Young Master is calling for you.”

“Ji Yan’an is out?”

Hearing that, Jiang Yunsui stopped digging mushrooms. She handed the basket of termite mushrooms to Ji Si, then scurried off on her short little legs to find Ji Yan’an.

Jiang Yunsui soon ran up to him, but then just as quickly wrinkled her little nose, twisted her tiny waist, and ran away.

Only after she could no longer smell that awful odor did she stop, poke her head out to look at Ji Yan’an, and give him a silly grin.

Ji Yan’an: “…”

Yes. At that moment, Ji Yan’an was drinking medicine.

What Jiang Yunsui disliked most was that bitter, strange smell of traditional medicine.

Ji Yan’an handed the empty bowl to Nanny Zhou to take away.

“Come here.”

Jiang Yunsui shook her head. “Wait a little. Wait until that smell goes away.”

So he simply took out five little golden mushrooms. The moment a certain little girl saw them, her eyes lit up.

She instantly forgot what she had said just a second ago and toddled over happily.

“Are they mine? Mine?”

The moment she reached Ji Yan’an’s side, he swiftly rubbed a finger over the tip of her nose.

A wave of unpleasant medicinal smell shot straight into her nose.

Jiang Yunsui’s pretty little face instantly scrunched up in misery.

“Ji Yan’an, are you sick or something?!”

Her soft, milky little voice had no force at all when she scolded him. She sounded like an irritable kitten throwing a fit.

She hurriedly wiped at her nose, but that smell was not going to fade anytime soon.

The corners of Ji Yan’an’s mouth lifted as he leaned lazily back in his chair.

“You already know I’m sick.”

Jiang Yunsui: “…”

She glared at him, then stood on tiptoe and snatched the little golden mushrooms into her hands with lightning speed.

So pretty. Sure enough, mushrooms were still the prettiest.

Not only pretty, but tasty, too.

“They weigh three taels. The rest are still being made for you.”

That was right. This gold belonged to Jiang Yunsui.

And there was not only gold, but silver as well.

It was Ji Yan’an’s reward for her.

The gold and silver had all come from Wang Hu.

Inside that secret chamber, besides the military funds, there had also been plenty of bribes, as well as gold and silver he had stolen from elsewhere.

All of it had been divided up, and Ji Yan’an had naturally received a portion.

From that portion, he took some out as a reward for Jiang Yunsui. After all, if not for her, they would never have found that secret chamber.

Jiang Yunsui thought gold bars, silver bars, and gold ingots were all far too ugly in shape, so she had Ji Yan’an get them made into little mushrooms of different weights.