chapter 63
2805 Words
Ye Jiao saw that Ye Pingrong seemed to be muttering something silently, but she could not make anything out from the shape of his lips. Ginseng (Little Ginseng) was confused: "Big Brother, what's wrong?"
Ye Pingrong did not tell her directly, especially when he met his younger sister's clear eyes, he said nothing more, just smiled and said: "It's nothing, Jiao Niang. Your pregnancy is a big deal, and a happy occasion too. I came here to check on you."
Everyone told her it was a big deal, but Ye Jiao thought everything was just natural.
Yet she would not say it out to dampen others' good intentions. As she fetched her cloak, she said: "Big Brother, you came really quickly. I only just found out about this myself."
Since this was Ye Jiao and Qi Yun's bedroom, Ye Pingrong would not go in, he just stood at the doorway and answered slowly: "I came here with the innkeeper's wife." He left the rest unsaid.
In front of both Ye Jiao and Qi Yun, Ye Pingrong never hid his identity. His position as a ti Xia was neither high nor low, a seventh-rank military officer was passable, and even for the sake of backing Ye Jiao up, this identity could not be kept secret.
But Ye Pingrong never told anyone about Chu Chengyun and Lady Meng's identities.
Even though Chu Chengyun never brought it up directly, just from the several assassination attempts they had experienced after leaving the capital, Ye Pingrong knew that this Prince Duan could not have a peaceful life around him all the time.
Chu Chengyun said he wanted to be a carefree prince, and Lady Meng seemed to agree, willing to wander around with him, but Ye Pingrong knew in his heart: if he really just wanted to be a carefree prince, there was no need for Lady Meng to go to such great lengths to win him over.
In terms of status, one was a prince and the other was a princess, with Prime Minister Meng behind them. By all rights they should be able to live freely.
To go to such great lengths on him could only mean they had plans for the future, or something they feared.
No matter what their plans or fears were, it was none of Ye Pingrong's business to inquire. All he could do was protect his own family.
After cutting off relations with Ye Erlang, his only family was Ye Jiao.
To protect her, he could not expose Prince Duan's identity. Otherwise, if something went wrong in the future, his little sister would be implicated.
Fortunately Ye Jiao did not press for answers. She took her cloak, put it on, tied the ribbon, and led Ye Pingrong to the side wing.
Xiaosu poured a cup of hot plain water, then brought a bowl of congee, set it in front of Ye Jiao and said softly: "Second Young Madame, this is what Madam told Mama Liu to make. She was worried you hadn't eaten enough just now, and feared that if she made anything too greasy you would have appetite loss from pregnancy, so she cooked this congee to fill your stomach."
Ye Jiao really wanted to say that she did not have appetite loss, she could eat, she was hungry.
But when the congee was placed in front of her, it smelled fragrant, and it was Lady Liu's good intention, so naturally Ye Jiao would not refuse.
Luckily the congee tasted good, the minced chicken inside was finely chopped, as if it would melt, and it had a refreshing fragrance, it was no worse than the dishes she had just eaten.
Seeing that Ye Jiao enjoyed eating, Ye Pingrong's tiger-like eyes softened.
He was born tall, even when sitting he was a head taller than others, especially compared to Ye Jiao, he was several sizes bigger.
But now when he looked at Ye Jiao he was especially cautious, he even lowered his voice when speaking, afraid that he would startle his little sister if he spoke too loudly: "Little Sister, I came looking for you today for another matter."
Ye Jiao lifted her eyes to look at him, put down the empty bowl in her hand, wiped the corner of her mouth with a handkerchief, then asked: "What is it?"
Ye Pingrong took a package of silver from his bosom and placed it in front of Ye Jiao: "This is what I've saved up all these years outside. This portion is for you."
Ye Jiao was no longer the naive person who did not know the value of silver back then. All the silver Qi Yun earned was with her, and to share her husband's burden, Little Ginseng learned how to manage accounts every day, so she could roughly estimate how much silver was in this package.
But the more there was, the less willing she was to accept it: "This is what you've saved, you should keep it yourself. What are you giving it to me for?"
Ye Pingrong did not take it back: "This is the make-up for your dowry."
In fact Ye Pingrong had given Ye Er a similar amount of silver before, but back then it was to cut off relations with Ye Erlang, to atone for his failure to teach his younger brother well, so he gave the silver to him, and from then on they would have nothing to do with each other.
But Ye Jiao was his good little sister, he doted on and protected her, he never wanted to cut ties with her.
So this silver could not be compensation for cutting off relations, it could only be given to her as dowry.
It was just an excuse, but when he really said it, Ye Pingrong felt a little sour in his heart: "Elder brother wasn't there when you got married, you wrongfully suffered for nothing. Now that elder brother is back, I can't let you taste that kind of bitterness again."
Even though Qi Yun was a good man and the Qi family was also a good household, Ye Pingrong would not be like Ye Erlang, feeling comfortable and falsely pretending everything is fine just because his sister married a good man.
On the contrary, Ye Pingrong had never felt comfortable about it.
Ye Jiao was always straightforward when she spoke, and she was the same this time: "Big Brother, it's not easy for you to be a Tixia. I asked my husband, your monthly salary is only three taels of silver. I have my husband, my husband said all his silver is for me to spend, I don't lack money."
...Little Sister, is it appropriate to say it so directly?
Ye Pingrong did not know whether to laugh or cry for a moment, but in the end he felt gratified.
Only when Qi Yun treated her well would elder brother be most at ease.
But he still insisted: "I'm your elder brother, I should have protected you. Giving you this dowry now is already late, just take it as elder brother's sincere wish, accept it."
Ye Jiao blinked, nodded in agreement, but thought to herself that she could not accept it for nothing, she had to give Ye Pingrong something in return.
Her eyes turned, and Ye Jiao got an idea: "I have something to give you, wait for me, I'll go get it."
Xiaosu quickly said: "Second Young Madame, whatever you need me to get it for you."
But Ye Jiao insisted: "No, I want to give it to him myself."
But just as she was about to go out, she saw Qi Yun come back.
When Qi Yun left, he did not go to the front hall, he was called away by Lady Liu.
Lady Liu knew that Ye Jiao and Qi Yun were going to be parents for the first time, and they were still in the sweet period of their marriage, so there were some things she had to properly remind and instruct them in detail.
The most important point was that they had to abstain from i*********e for a few months, not to disturb Ye Jiao and the baby.
In Lady Liu's eyes, it was definitely her son who was always clinging to Jiao Niang. Now that Jiao Niang was carrying a baby, Lady Liu naturally had to make it clear to her son, so that nothing would happen later and hurt her good daughter-in-law.
What she did not know was that in fact Little Ginseng was the more enthusiastic one about this matter, especially that picture album, she could not wait to try every page one by one.
But Qi Yun did not dare to be neglectful at all, he remembered everything in his mind before returning to the courtyard.
Just as he entered the courtyard gate and saw Ye Jiao coming out, he went up to meet her: "Jiao Niang, where are you going?"
Ye Jiao first held his wrist, made sure her husband was fine before showing a smile, and answered firmly: "I'm going to give someone something." After saying that, she left with Xiaosu.
Qi Yun went inside, exchanged greetings with Ye Pingrong, then sat down.
But Second Master Qi noticed that this time Ye Pingrong was not as gentle with him as before, instead he had the same solemnity as when they first met.
This surprised Qi Yun, but he did not ask directly, he was about to talk about something else.
But Ye Pingrong did not give him the chance, he said directly: "What have you been teaching my sister?"
Qi Yun seemed a little confused: "I don't know what you're talking about."
Ye Pingrong also found it hard to say, he hesitated for a moment before saying: "Just now, at the gate here, Jiao Niang said you taught her this. Aren't you leading her astray?"
Qi Yun thought back for a moment before remembering, oh right, that was something he taught, and it was something he could not bear to correct after teaching it.
After all, who would have thought that his Jiao Niang would actually believe it, and still remember it to this day, every time it turned Qi Yun's heart into a puddle of warm water.
Now that he was asked this face to face by her elder brother, Qi Yun could still keep a calm expression, he replied calmly: "How can this be called leading her astray? It's just a little pleasure for how a married couple gets along, it's perfectly normal."
Ye Pingrong originally wanted to reprimand him a little, so that he would not fool his little sister again in the future.
But Qi Yun's expression was so upright and confident, plus Qi Yun was born with a calm, steady good voice, what he said sounded like the truth.
Ye Pingrong, who had originally come to question him, also started to hesitate: "Don't you lie to me."
Clearly, back when he saw the prince and princess they weren't like this.
Qi Yun was still calm: "What I say is of course the truth. Big Brother just doesn't know about these things, it's normal for Big Brother not to know, since you haven't married yet anyway."
Ye Pingrong, who is still single to this day: ...
Suddenly feeling a little hit, Ye Pingrong coughed lightly twice, thought he had probably thought wrong, so he naturally accepted Qi Yun's explanation.
And Second Master Qi calmly picked up the teacup beside him, lifted the lid and brought it to his mouth, using the steamy heat from the tea to hide his expression of sudden relief.
At least he got through this, Qi Yun breathed a sigh of relief.
By this time, Ye Jiao had already come back with Xiaosu.
Xiaosu was holding a box in her hands. As soon as Ye Jiao entered the room she took the box and smilingly placed it on the table.
But she did not say anything to Ye Pingrong first, she looked at Qi Yun first: "Husband, can I give this to Big Brother?"
Qi Yun did not even ask what was inside, he just nodded: "Our things, you can decide whatever you want to do with them."
Ye Jiao smiled and narrowed her eyes, then gave the box to Ye Pingrong.
Ye Pingrong put down his teacup and took it, while opening it he asked: "What is this?" When he opened it and saw what was inside, he was slightly stunned.
Ye Jiao sat down next to Qi Yun, held her husband's hand, gently interlaced their fingers, her voice soft, word by word: "Wild ginseng." Then she looked at Qi Yun and said softly: "We should have given this to him a long time ago."
This kind of ginseng that doesn't belong to ordinary people by just hearing the name should be given away.
Although Qi Yun did not know why Ye Jiao had always disliked this wild ginseng, he did not need it now, it was good to give it to Ye Pingrong as a gift, so he smiled and nodded in agreement: "Right, we should have given it to Big Brother a long time ago."
This statement made Ye Jiao smile. Looking at the wild ginseng in Ye Pingrong's hand, Little Ginseng looked very pleased.
Ye Pingrong did not stay here too long, he still had to escort Lady Meng back, so he stood up, said goodbye to the two of them and left.
Ye Jiao then opened the cloth package on the table, showed the silver inside to Qi Yun: "This is what Big Brother gave me, said it's for my dowry."
Qi Yun was not surprised by this, he had even expected it long ago. Ye Pingrong felt guilty towards Ye Jiao and wanted to protect her, he would make up this dowry to Ye Jiao sooner or later.
Looking at it, it was several dozen taels, not a small sum.
Qi Yun did not look at it more, he just said to Ye Jiao: "Since it's a gift from Big Brother, just keep it. Dowry should be your private silver, remember to store it properly."
Ye Jiao was confused: "Husband, what is private silver?"
Qi Yun thought about how Ye Jiao had a hard life before, she never had much money of her own, the Ye family probably mistreated her.
After marrying into his family, she usually managed the money for the whole family, she never had any silver of her own, it was normal that she did not know what private silver was.
Thinking of this, Qi Yun explained it in detail. Ye Jiao listened, and summed it up in one sentence—
Private silver is your own money, you use it yourself, you don't have to tell anyone else.
But... this sounded a little familiar.
Ye Jiao blinked and asked Qi Yun: "Then according to what you say, have you given me your private silver already?"
That was what Qi Yun said before when he put all the silver he earned with her, and Ye Jiao never felt any guilt using it.
Qi Yun also thought of this, so he felt that bringing up private silver was unnecessary.
Originally everything he had belonged to Jiao Niang, he had held nothing back.
But before he could speak, he heard Ye Jiao's soft voice say: "Then let's put them together. Your private silver is for me to spend, my private silver can be for you to spend too, we'll keep everything in the same box. What's yours is mine, and what's mine is yours."
When Qi Yun heard this, he could not help but look at her. He looked at her until Ye Jiao felt strange, then heard Qi Yun say: "Jiao Niang, did you eat something sweet just now?"
Ye Jiao really thought back, her bright shiny eyes looked at the man: "No, I just ate the banquet, came back and drank a bowl of chicken congee, I didn't eat anything sweet."
But Qi Yun leaned over, and said softly: "I don't believe it. If you didn't eat anything sweet, why does Jiao Niang's mouth taste like honey?"
She looked sweet, soft, every word every syllable seemed to hit the soft spot in his heart, it was incredibly warm.
Little Ginseng just blinked, before Qi Yun could lean over she leaned in first, pressed against the man's lips, her voice muffled: "I really didn't eat anything, if you don't believe me, taste it."
Qi Yun smiled when he heard this, he remembered Lady Liu's instructions, so he carefully avoided touching Ye Jiao's abdomen, gently held her, lifted her face with a smile.
After a while, Ye Jiao's voice sounded vaguely: "Is it not sweet?"
"I haven't tasted it yet."
"Then can husband taste it again?"
"Okay."
- Writer
