Chapter 238: Whispers
As dusk settled, Bai Li walked slowly along the bluestone road, holding an umbrella.
“There’s no need to trouble them, I’m just staying temporarily, I’ll be leaving soon,” Bai Li said, “You have many people here, it’s too much trouble.”
Leaving soon? Zhou Jingyun’s ears caught the phrase. He rocked the baby in his arms and didn’t respond to her words, only saying, “Even if you have fewer people, preparing a separate place would still be troublesome.”
He then turned to look at the wet nurse.
“Wait until it’s dark before Madam Zhuang enters, you take care of the child for now.”
The wet nurse hurriedly responded, “Yes, this servant can manage alone.”
She then looked around nervously.
Hired as a wet nurse, she had sensed the strangeness of this family from the beginning. They seemed like a family, but they weren’t quite. They moved from a small alley to a famous pleasure boat in the capital, and now they had entered the Marquis’s Residence. Where would they go next?
Her gaze fell on the young lady Bai holding the umbrella.
There was no wind, no rain, not even sunlight. What was she blocking with the umbrella?
Moreover, the maids and servants passing by seemed to ignore them.
Too strange.
The wet nurse didn’t dare to look more and lowered her head, just as Madam Zhuang had instructed from the beginning: don’t look, don’t think, don’t ask.
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Mama Xu placed two large food boxes at the door and shooed away the two young maids before stepping forward to knock.
Zhou Jingyun personally opened the door quickly.
He had obviously just bathed, carrying a fresh fragrance. Under the lamp above the door, his features were as beautiful as a painting.
“Really no need for someone to serve?” Mama Xu asked softly.
Zhou Jingyun smiled and said, “Someone will come later tonight, having them look after is enough.”
He then lifted the food boxes and went inside.
Mama Xu stood outside for a while, listening to the silence inside, and could only turn back.
The Madam of Dongyang’s courtyard was brightly lit. The dining table inside was laden with food, and the Madam of Dongyang was sitting there eating.
“I thought Madam had no appetite,” Mama Xu said.
She still felt flustered and had no appetite.
She had only heard a snippet, but Madam had listened to the whole story, who knew how frightening the content was.
She was still thinking about how to comfort and appease her.
“I have to eat my fill,” the Madam of Dongyang said, tearing off a piece of stewed pigeon with her chopsticks. She snorted coldly, “What kind of things do I encounter every day! If I didn’t have the strength, I would have been scared to death!”
Although Madam had always eaten and drank without delay before, looking very energetic, the anxiety between her brows was hard to conceal. Mama Xu often worried that she was like a taut string, ready to snap at any moment.
But at this moment, it was different. The anxiety between Madam’s brows had eased considerably, and there was even a hint of joy. Her whole person seemed to relax like a willow branch.
Could it be because of the child?
Mama Xu didn’t ask more, stepping forward to serve her soup: “Madam is right! Madam must nourish her spirit, and not be outdone by the Marquis’s Heir.” She smiled, “Just now, when I delivered food to the Marquis’s Heir, although he didn’t smile, his whole being was beaming with joy.”
The Madam of Dongyang snorted.
Indeed, beaming with joy.
The person had returned.
But! He was happy too early. Had he forgotten that the person was not his wife, it was a fake marriage!
Look at him, completely smitten!
Laughing! He’ll have time to cry later!
The Madam of Dongyang’s eyes sparkled, and she instructed Mama Xu, “Give me another bowl of rice!”
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Zhou Jingyun placed the food boxes on the table. Bai Li also walked out of the washroom, wearing her familiar pomegranate red dress.
“Is Nannan settled with the wet nurse?” she asked, sitting down and continuing to dry her wet hair with a towel.
As casual and everyday as before, Zhou Jingyun felt a moment of trance, as if she had never left.
“I was just holding Nannan, letting the wet nurse eat,” Zhou Jingyun said, setting out the dishes, “Mama Xu doesn’t know it’s you, see if the food suits your taste?”
Bai Li smiled and said, “I’m not picky.” She added, “Chun Yue put away the brazier in the washroom, find it for me later.”
Zhou Jingyun smiled and agreed, picking up a bowl to serve her rice.
“After Li Yu arrived, did he find out who instigated these people?” Bai Li asked.
Zhou Jingyun shook his head: “The deserter identity is real, the official search is also real. The surviving deserters insisted that they knew the pleasure boat held countless treasures and wanted to rob it and flee.”
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He then handed her the bowl.
Bai Li took it.
“The people from the Capital Garrison insisted on taking the deserters away, Li Yu managed to suppress it with great difficulty, and finally handed them over to the Capital Prefecture for questioning,” Zhou Jingyun continued, sitting down and picking up his bowl and chopsticks, “But I don’t think they’ll find out anything.”
Bai Li nodded: “Since they dared to attack the boat and kill people in broad daylight, and it was the Prince of Chu’s property, they must have made preparations and cleared the way.”
“It doesn’t matter, they just won’t find evidence, but we can definitely find out who did it,” Zhou Jingyun said, picking up some food for Bai Li, “There will always be traces left behind.”
Bai Li ate the food he picked for her and smiled, “I think the other party doesn’t mind being found out.”
Zhou Jingyun understood: “It’s a deliberate intimidation…” He looked at Bai Li, “Is it directed at Li Yu, or Nannan?”
He frowned and stood up.
“Is it Zhang Ze?”
Zhang Ze had boarded the pleasure boat before, and Bai Li had told him that the little princess was there. Although Zhang Ze had left without doing anything, he was a cunning and treacherous person, it was highly possible he had secretly orchestrated this.
Bai Li shook her head, holding her chopsticks: “He might watch from the sidelines, but he shouldn’t personally plan and act.”
She then gestured for Zhou Jingyun to sit down.
“Fortune and misfortune are intertwined, it’s unavoidable. Tomorrow we’ll go see Li Yu and ask about the situation.”
Zhou Jingyun hummed in agreement, thinking of the young man’s distraught appearance when they couldn’t find Bai Li…
“Although we told him you’re safe, he must be very worried,” he said, squeezing his chopsticks, “I’ll accompany you to the Prince of Chu’s Residence tomorrow.”
Bai Li thought of something and chuckled, “Alright, the Marquis’s Heir visiting the Prince of Chu, perfectly reasonable.”
Those rumors were flying around, she would naturally hear them too. Zhou Jingyun glanced at her and said slowly, “It’s not a bad story either.”
Bai Li laughed out loud.
“Eat quickly,” Zhou Jingyun said, “You haven’t eaten a grain of rice since morning.”
Bai Li picked up some food and put it in his bowl: “Neither has the Marquis’s Heir.”
He had rushed to see her early in the morning, he must not have eaten either.
Zhou Jingyun smiled and lowered his head. Bai Li didn’t speak again. The two sat facing each other, eating. The window was open, and the summer wind swirled gently.
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When Zhou Jingyun brought in the brazier, Bai Li was playing happily with Nannan on the Arhat bed. Or rather, Bai Li was playing happily, rolling the chubby Nannan back and forth, making her giggle.
“Don’t let her eat your feet,” Zhou Jingyun said.
Bai Li hurriedly picked up Nannan, who was curled up, hugging her foot and trying to put it in her mouth.
“Do you want to gnaw on a pig’s trotter, huh?” she asked, rocking her.
Nannan was still laughing at first, but quickly started crying because she couldn’t eat the foot.
“Crybaby, crybaby,” Bai Li said.
The wet nurse sitting nearby hurriedly stood up, smiling and saying, “She must be sleepy, I’ll take her to bed.”
“You should also dry your hair with the brazier,” Zhou Jingyun said.
The wet nurse retreated with the child, standing in the courtyard, she looked back. Through the window, she saw the young lady Bai still lying on the Arhat bed, the Marquis’s Heir standing beside her, holding her long black hair and drying it with the brazier.
“It smells so good, what incense did you use?” the young lady Bai turned her head and asked.
“None,” Zhou Jingyun said, “It’s your hair that smells good.”
The two looked at each other and smiled.
Oh my, oh my, the wet nurse hurriedly averted her gaze, covering Nannan’s eyes, and quickened her pace into the side room.
A transition~ Tomorrow we enter the next plot.
