Chapter 162
"In your heart, do I rank behind Mother, Shushu, Pan'er, An'an, and Pingping?"
Right now, it wasn't a question of who ranked behind whom.
"Our engagement is canceled."
"I disagree."
Jiang Mingzhe walked over to the desk, opened a drawer, and took out a thick, folded piece of paper.
He handed the paper to Ye Yunniang, gesturing for her to open it.
Ye Yunniang unfolded the paper, looking from it to Jiang Mingzhe.
"What is this?"
"This will be our future home." Jiang Mingzhe pointed at the blueprint, introducing their future residence to Ye Yunniang.
The blueprint depicted a large, five-courtyard compound.
The first courtyard was for receiving and entertaining guests.
The second and third courtyards contained the living quarters for Li Pan, Li An, and Li Ping, as well as a garden. Next to the garden was a martial arts training ground.
The fourth courtyard was the living quarters for Ye Yunniang and Jiang Mingzhe. Cai Damei and Bao Shuyi would live in two connected courtyards, one large and one small, situated between the third and fourth courtyards.
The fifth courtyard was the living area for the servants.
"The compound is too big." The children would be living a bit too far from her, which Ye Yunniang did not like.
"The children are growing up; they need to learn to be independent." Jiang Mingzhe wasn't about to admit that he had designed it this way on purpose.
"Pan'er isn't even ten years old yet." Ye Yunniang couldn't bear to be separated from them.
That wasn't too young. Jiang Mingzhe himself had moved to the front courtyard at the age of three, separated from the female family members.
"I can't bear it." Ye Yunniang did not want to be separated from the children.
Under Ye Yunniang's insistence, Jiang Mingzhe eventually agreed.
Li Pan and the other two could live in the same courtyard as them until they were thirteen, after which they would have to move into their own independent courtyards.
However, if the children themselves wanted to move out earlier, neither of them was allowed to stop them.
Looking at the blueprint, Ye Yunniang remembered something.
"What about your parents?" Jiang Mingzhe's plans did not include Old Master Jiang and his wife.
Old Master Jiang's treasures had all been taken away by the children. They didn't have much silver left in their hands.
"Jiang Mingde has been pardoned. They will live with him." Jiang Mingzhe also had no desire to live with the Jiang family.
"Will he be reinstated to his official post?"
"No." The Emperor had only restored the freedom of Jiang Mingde's family. As for an official position, he could forget about it for the rest of his life.
"You don't need to worry about the Jiang family; I will handle them." Jiang Mingzhe understood that because Ye Yunniang had once been Jiang Tingjun's wet nurse, she subconsciously felt inferior when facing the Jiang family.
She didn't feel this way in front of Zhuang Meixue and Jiang Mingrui only because those two had harmed her son.
Ye Yunniang told Cai Damei the outcome.
Cai Damei was satisfied with Jiang Mingzhe's arrangement. However, she was not going to let Jiang Mingzhe support her and Shushu.
Her side dish shop, Xiaocaiji, would remain open.
Once Cai Damei's injuries healed, the group set off to return to Jiang City.
With no urgent matters pressing them, they traveled slowly, enjoying the scenic mountains and rivers along the way.
During this time, Ye Yunniang and Jiang Mingzhe gradually grew familiar with each other, learning many of each other's living habits.
The children also grew close to Jiang Mingzhe. Both Li Pan and Li An changed how they addressed him, calling him Father.
Only Li Ping, the stubborn child, insisted on calling him Foster Father, silently vowing in his heart every day to defeat Jiang Mingzhe.
Jiang Mingzhe was actually quite amused by this. Sometimes, when Li Ping seemed to be calming down, he would deliberately provoke the boy.
Regarding this, Ye Yunniang initially tried to mediate between the two. Later, when she grew tired of it, she started convincing herself that this was simply their unique way of bonding as father and son.
Ye Yunniang stopped interfering, letting the father and son mess around as they pleased.
As the weather turned from hot to cool, Ye Yunniang and the others arrived in Jiang City.
"Grandma, Master Bao is waiting for you at the city gates," Li Pan, who was sitting on the carriage frame, immediately spotted Bao Min and called out into the carriage.
Cai Damei didn't even bat an eyelid, continuing to taste the pickled vegetables in her dish.
In order to expand and strengthen Xiaocaiji, Cai Damei had been asking around at every place they stopped along the way, inquiring about whose family made the best pickled side dishes.
She didn't just buy their pickled dishes; she also spent money to purchase their pickling recipes.
She had Li Pan record and organize all the recipes for future reference.
Cai Damei tasted them one by one, pondering, experimenting with the pickling process, and making improvements.
She was very busy and had no time to think about Bao Min.
"Grandma," Li Pan called out again.
"Hmm, what is it?" Cai Damei looked at Ye Yunniang.
Ye Yunniang repeated what Li Pan had said.
Cai Damei just let out an oh and went back to tasting the side dishes in front of her.
Seeing this, Ye Yunniang shook her head at Li Pan.
Li Pan understood and waved his hand, signaling the carriage to continue moving forward.
Bao Min watched the carriage pass right by him, the smile fading from his face.
"Master, it is your subordinate's failure," Luo Xin apologized. They had been tracking them all the way but failed to find Cai Damei. It was only after receiving news from Jiang Mingzhe that they learned Cai Damei had nearly been in an accident on the road.
"I was the one who made a mistake." Bao Min understood that it was his own fault for making Cai Damei unhappy.
The carriage made its way straight to Sunsetglow Alley. Since Ye Yunniang and Jiang Mingzhe were not yet married, they could not live together.
Sunsetglow Alley had been renovated, and the ground was paved with new bluestone slabs.
The moss along the courtyard walls and everything else had been cleaned up spotlessly.
They arrived at the front door. The main gate was locked, and the surroundings were incredibly clean, without a trace of dirt.
Ye Yunniang took the key from Cai Damei's hand, unlocked the door, and pushed it open.
The courtyard was not filled with puddles of dirty water and overgrown weeds as Ye Yunniang had expected. Instead, it was swept completely clean; there wasn't even a single fallen leaf.
Ye Yunniang turned her head to look at Jiang Mingzhe, her eyes silently asking if he was the one who had cleaned it.
Jiang Mingzhe answered that it wasn't him.
If it wasn't Jiang Mingzhe, then it could only be Bao Min.
Thinking of Cai Damei's decision, Ye Yunniang felt it wasn't her place to say much.
"Mother, we are home."
Cai Damei gave a sound of acknowledgment, picked up the sleeping Bao Shuyi, and walked toward the backyard.
"Yunniang, you're back!" Chunyao strode over, then noticed Jiang Mingzhe standing by the carriage.
Chunyao's expression changed, and she quickly bowed. "Second Master."
"You are no longer a servant of the Jiang family; there is no need to bow," Jiang Mingzhe said, recognizing Chunyao as Chef Jin's wife.
"Second Master, my Dachuan always says, once a servant of the Jiang family, always a servant of the Jiang family."
Chunyao insisted on bowing. At the same time, she couldn't help but feel incredibly grateful that she had trusted Chef Jin's words and had always treated Ye Yunniang well.
Jiang Mingzhe withdrew his gaze and looked at Ye Yunniang. "I'll go stay in the small courtyard."
Their relationship had not been made public, so it wasn't appropriate for Jiang Mingzhe to linger at the Li residence.
Ye Yunniang saw Jiang Mingzhe off.
Chunyao enthusiastically offered to help Ye Yunniang tidy up.
Ye Yunniang politely declined, saying she would invite her over for a chat another day.
Chunyao realized that she was being too overly enthusiastic, which might be counterproductive. She pulled her hands back and took her leave.
Upon returning home, Chunyao grabbed Chef Jin and told him about seeing Jiang Mingzhe.
Hearing this, Chef Jin immediately wanted to go find Jiang Mingzhe.
"The Second Master has already left," Chunyao said, stopping Jin Dachuan.
"Where did the Second Master go?"
"How would I know where the Second Master went?" Chunyao rolled her eyes at Jin Dachuan. Was Jiang Mingzhe's whereabouts something she had the right to ask about?
"We will just wait for the Second Master to summon us." Jin Dachuan calmed down. Thinking of something, he instructed Chunyao.
"You must not breathe a word to your maiden family about the Second Master's return, nor anything about the Madam and the young masters."
"Why can't I say anything?"