Chapter 150
Jiang Mingzhe returned to the tent and looked at the sleeping Ye Yunniang, reaching out to smooth her furrowed brow.
Ye Yunniang, uncomfortable from the touch, turned over, facing away from Jiang Mingzhe, and continued sleeping.
Jiang Mingzhe lay down behind Ye Yunniang, pulling her into his embrace and burying his face in the crook of her neck and shoulder.
"If you have something to ask, ask me. Don't listen to random gossip from others."
"If I ask, will you tell me?"
Jiang Mingzhe turned Ye Yunniang to face him.
"You ask, I'll tell."
Ye Yunniang looked at Jiang Mingzhe. "How are you going to arrange things for me and the children?"
"Marry you and bring you home."
"You want to marry me?"
"A man doesn't let the woman he loves be an unofficial concubine or a mistress. Ye Yunniang, I will give you the best of everything I possibly can. Will you marry me?"
Ye Yunniang's heart was in turmoil, leaving her speechless. She nodded vigorously.
Then, after a moment's thought, she shook her head.
"Unwilling."
"No, I am." Ye Yunniang tried hard to suppress her emotions. "I'm willing. But my mother and the children..."
"I'll take care of them." As long as Ye Yunniang agreed, everything else could be handled.
Ye Yunniang suddenly thought of something.
"The Second Madame..."
"She and I are already divorced."
Ye Yunniang detected the disgust in Jiang Mingzhe's tone and hesitated.
"Do you... still have feelings for her in your heart?"
"It's Jiang Mingrui I despise."
Both Zhuang Meixue and Jiang Mingzhe had wronged each other. Zhuang Meixue had been unfaithful, but Jiang Mingzhe hadn't been very angry about that.
What truly angered Jiang Mingzhe was what Zhuang Meixue and Jiang Mingrui had done to Jin Huifang and Jiang Tingjun. That was something he could not tolerate.
Hearing this, Ye Yunniang remembered the incident when the Jin family had come to claim the child.
"How did you resolve things with the Jin family?"
"You're not sleepy anymore?"
"Hmm? No, I am, sleepy, sleepy, sleepy. I want to sleep." Ye Yunniang closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep.
"What a shame, I'm not sleepy." Jiang Mingzhe buried his face by Ye Yunniang's ear, his warm breath causing her to shiver.
"No." Ye Yunniang raised a hand to block Jiang Mingzhe.
Back at the traffickers' den, she had clearly seen and heard Brother Ma and Taohong inside their tent from outside.
She didn't want to become a spectacle for others.
"The tent is thick; no one can see or hear anything." Jiang Mingzhe wouldn't let anyone see or hear them either.
"But..."
"Trust me."
...
When she woke up, Ye Yunniang pounded the pillow several times, treating it as Jiang Mingzhe.
She should never have trusted a man's words.
What 'just once'? She hadn't slept all night.
After getting dressed, she walked out of the tent with small steps.
"Oh, you're awake." Baise walked over, supporting her belly, and looked Ye Yunniang up and down. "Quite intense last night, huh?"
"You heard?" She shouldn't have listened to Jiang Mingzhe.
Baise pointed at her own neck.
Ye Yunniang hurriedly covered her neck and turned back into the tent.
A short while later, Ye Yunniang came out again, her neck covered up tightly.
Seeing Baise still smiling, she said, "Stop laughing."
"Alright, I won't." Baise stopped smiling and took Ye Yunniang to eat.
Wen Nuan was helping in the kitchen. After being rescued, she didn't want to be a freeloader and had volunteered to work to repay the kindness.
Wen Nuan was quite skilled at cooking, so she was assigned to help in the kitchen.
Seeing Ye Yunniang and Baise approach, she served them food and sat down beside them to chat.
Wen Nuan had heard many things about Baise and admired her greatly.
She wanted to be like Baise—not dependent on a man, but carving out her own path in the world.
Ye Yunniang ate while listening.
After the meal, the three of them went to see the vast flocks of sheep.
It was the first time for Ye Yunniang and Wen Nuan, and they found it very novel and interesting.
Baise was a bit bored and yawned; she had been looking at them for months and was long tired of it.
Back at the tent, Jiang Mingzhe told Ye Yunniang they would leave tomorrow, but they would travel separately.
"You're abandoning me again." Ye Yunniang didn't notice the reluctance and coquettishness in her own tone.
Jiang Mingzhe heard it. Reluctant to part, he hugged her tightly.
"Yan State knows what I'm doing and has sent people to assassinate me. It's very dangerous for you to travel with me."
Jiang Mingzhe did not hide the truth.
Ye Yunniang understood the urgency of the situation and said no more, only adding, "The children and I will be waiting for you to come home."
"Yes, I will definitely return." Jiang Mingzhe promised.
Ye Yunniang and Wen Nuan would travel with Tie Yi and Baise, disguised as fur merchants.
With the war between the two countries stopped and trade reopened, many merchants were traveling back and forth. This way, they wouldn't attract attention.
Jiang Mingzhe also sent out several other groups separately to draw attention away and prevent anyone from discovering Ye Yunniang's group.
Ye Yunniang reluctantly boarded the carriage and parted from Jiang Mingzhe.
"You can't see him anymore. No need to keep looking." Ye Yunniang ignored Baise's words, just quietly gazing behind them.
In her heart, she prayed for Jiang Mingzhe's safety.
Wen Nuan handed a water skin to Ye Yunniang. "My intuition tells me we will get back."
Ye Yunniang took the water skin. "Yes, I believe your intuition."
"Your intuition is that accurate?" Baise asked curiously.
"Of course. I've managed to grow up this big relying on my intuition. Back in the traffickers' den, the first time I saw Ye Yunniang, I had a feeling she was my benefactor. And sure enough, we were rescued soon after." Wen Nuan recounted her first meeting with Ye Yunniang.
"Then, using your intuition, guess if what's in my belly is a boy or a girl?" Baise pointed at her own stomach for Wen Nuan to guess.
Wen Nuan was momentarily stumped. "You really know how to think of things?"
"Come on, it's to pass the time. Tell me, isn't it a girl?" Baise really, really hoped for a daughter.
"I think it might be a boy," Ye Yunniang offered her opinion.
"You already have three sons, and you still want a boy?" Baise thought Ye Yunniang favored sons over daughters.
"Look, your belly is round—that's the shape for carrying a boy. You usually crave sour things—'sour for a son, spicy for a daughter.' Also, look at your complexion; compared to women carrying girls, it's quite different..." Ye Yunniang listed several traditional methods for guessing a baby's gender.
Every single one pointed to a boy for Baise.
"I don't want to have a boy!" Baise shouted, raising her fist to hit Tie Yi beside her. "It's all your fault!"
For not giving her a daughter.
Tie Yi caught Baise's hand. "It's my mistake. Wife, you can have whatever you want to have."
"What are you talking about? It's already formed in there. Do you think I can just change it if I want?" Baise felt Tie Yi was just placating her.
"Whatever it is, you are the most important," Tie Yi continued to coax Baise.
"Really?"
"Really. In my heart, you are my greatest treasure. More important than any weapon I've ever forged."
"That's more like it." Satisfied, Baise leaned against Tie Yi.
At that moment, Ye Yunniang and Wen Nuan felt utterly stuffed.
They turned away, ignoring the couple.
For a while, the carriage was quiet as it moved forward.
When it grew dark, the caravan made camp.
Ye Yunniang, Wen Nuan, and Baise prepared dinner.
Tie Yi took people to patrol the surroundings, scattering medicine to repel mosquitoes, insects, snakes, and rodents.
Everyone in the caravan was busy with tasks, while Baise sat by the fire.
"Add more chili," Baise instructed Wen Nuan, who was in charge of the cooking.
Wen Nuan paused her hand from turning the meat. "I already did."
"Add even more. It's cold at night; eating spicy food warms you up. We brought plenty of chili, don't be stingy. Let me do it."