Chapter 293 - 292: Emotions (Monthly Ticket 140+)
Du Yunluo had no impression of this name at all.
This made her feel vaguely strange.
Whether it was the Lian Family or Mrs. Zhou, they were extremely strict about the courtyards of the young gentlemen in the front.
Just like Mu Lianxiao’s place, before he got married, there were only valets serving inside the house, and there were two maids cleaning the courtyard, young in age, not allowed to enter the house.
It was the same with Mu Liancheng and Mu Lianyu’s places.
As long as those cleaning maids didn’t make big mistakes, after the young gentlemen got married, they would be transferred to the inner courtyard to serve.
In Shaohui Garden, the second-class Hongfu, and the third-class Yan’er, were moved in from the front courtyard.
This has been an established practice in the mansion.
In the previous life, after Mu Lianyu got married, there seemed to be no maid named Zizhu in his courtyard.
But after all, it’s the second and third class in the courtyard of the younger uncle’s wife, and it has been decades, Du Yunluo might have remembered wrongly.
But, it’s still a doubt.
"Jin Ling’er, keep an eye out, and see if the Li Family has anything else valuable besides that golden bracelet." Du Yunluo instructed in a low voice.
Jin Ling nodded: "I understand, Madame."
The two chatted for a while, and then Jin Ling took her leave.
Jin Rui and Jin Lan escorted Jin Ling out, and exchanged a few words outside the courtyard door.
In the courtyard, Cangzhu and Hongfu stood under the veranda, stealing glances at Jin Ling’s back.
"She is really pretty," Hongfu sighed.
Cangzhu smirked: "What’s the use of being pretty? Didn’t Madame send her away early on? I heard she served Madame for five or six years, and she should have married along with Madame, but ended up hurriedly marrying Yun Qi while Madame promoted Jin Lan."
Hongfu frowned and said, "Wasn’t it because Yun Qi liked Jin Ling, so that..."
"Who knows..." Cangzhu sneered, "Maybe it was convenient, having such looks around is a disaster."
Hongfu turned pale: "Stop talking nonsense, our Princely Heir is not like that."
"Just because you served in the front courtyard, you think you know the Princely Heir?" Cangzhu stared at Hongfu and said, "Not to mention the Princely Heir, it’s obvious that Madame is jealous."
Hongfu pursed her lips and said softly, "Even if Madame is jealous, she treats those around her well. Look at how grand Jin Ling looks, Madame has provided plenty for her dowry."
"What kind of grandeur is that?" Cangzhu laughed, "You might as well ask Yu Zhu how grand Aunt Qiao used to be. Ah, I misspoke, when Aunt Qiao was at her grandest, Yu Zhu wasn’t even serving in her courtyard yet."
"You speak as if you saw it yourself, Aunt Qiao was still living in Baijie Hall, how old were you then? You hadn’t even entered the mansion, right?" Hongfu replied.
Cangzhu raised her eyebrows, wanting to say something, but turned her head and saw Yu Zhu standing at the corner, seemingly having come from the small kitchen, and who knows how long she had been standing and listening.
Cangzhu swallowed.
Yu Zhu walked over at a steady pace, her gaze directed forward, as if she hadn’t seen the tense Hongfu and Cangzhu, and passed them by without even a sidelong glance.
Yu Zhu went back to her own room.
After the door closed, Hongfu finally breathed: "Scared me, how much did she hear?"
"How should I know!" Cangzhu spat, "She just likes to eavesdrop, you’ll see, Madame will surely deal with her."
After sending away Jin Ling, Jin Rui returned to the room.
Du Yunluo had been busy with needlework these days, her eyes were tired, so she lay against the pillow to rest.
Jin Rui rubbed her temples for her.
For a moment, it was peaceful, Du Yunluo got drowsy, half-awake, a voice outside announced the arrival of Jiang Yunuan.
Du Yunluo sat up, tidying her black hair.
Jiang Yunuan lifted the curtain and entered, Du Yunluo stood to welcome her: "Second sister-in-law, why are you here? If there’s anything, just send for me, be careful, you’re expecting."
Jiang Yunuan waved her hand and smiled: "It’s not so precious that I can’t walk even a few steps."
They sat down, Jin Rui poured tea.
Jiang Yunuan held the tea cup and said, "Did Yun Qi’s daughter-in-law just leave? I heard about her, she’s a beauty, I haven’t met her, I came late."
Du Yunluo chuckled softly: "When she comes to the mansion next time, I’ll have her pay respects to you."
"That would be nice." After saying that, Jiang Yunuan scanned the room and sighed, "Why do I see more of Third Uncle’s things? Where’s yours? It’s your own place, you should decorate it well."
Du Yunluo lowered her eyes, smiling: "The Princely Heir’s things look fine to me."
"Watching them for long is bitter..." Jiang Yunuan sighed with furrowed brows, looking sorrowful, "In my place, I arranged a lot of my things, but I still can’t stay there. I can’t be idle, whenever I’m free, I miss our Lord, wonder if he’s eating well at the border, sleeping well, whether he’s hurt, how the battle is going, I think day and night, I’m afraid I’m losing my mind."
After speaking, Jiang Yunuan bitterly smiled and grasped Du Yunluo’s hand.
Du Yunluo didn’t pull away, she knew Jiang Yunuan was indeed losing her mind.
In the previous life, Jiang Yunuan kept talking about how she missed Mu Liancheng, couldn’t bear to be apart from him, about her nightmares, waking up from dreams, crying alone at night with her face buried in the quilt, afraid to disturb anyone, fearing others would know.
Du Yunluo was scared and anxious by her talk, as if seeing her own plight when Mu Lianxiao left, hence she couldn’t accept Mu Lianxiao leaving again.
From this time in the previous life, Jiang Yunuan was already losing her mind.
Du Yunluo remained silent.
Jiang Yunuan looked down at her barely swelling belly: "I just hope he grows up soon, when I finally reach full term, our Lord should be back..."
"He will come back." Du Yunluo responded.
At this moment, Du Yunluo wouldn’t refute Jiang Yunuan, after all Jiang Yunuan was expecting, if her emotions fluctuated and caused any accident, it would be Du Yunluo’s burden.
She wouldn’t be foolish enough to set her own nest on fire, she just needed not to be affected by Jiang Yunuan’s emotions.
Du Yunluo gently said: "Second Uncle and the Princely Heir will return then."
"Sister-in-law, before our Lord went on expedition, I wasn’t like this, I thought I could withstand it, grandmother, aunt, and the other ladies have all gone through this, I can too," Jiang Yunuan’s voice trembled, her eyes reddened, "I really thought I could, but after our Lord left, it just... gets harder each day, a day feels like a year. This taste, I only understood after truly experiencing it."
Du Yunluo sighed softly, her expression tinged with sorrow: "When I experience it, I’ll truly understand your words..."
Jiang Yunuan was momentarily stunned and looked up: "Did I scare you? Look at me, I came here to find someone to talk to, afraid of being alone, but unknowingly went back to that topic. They say when the belly grows, emotions are unstable, maybe that’s true."