Chapter 23 (part 1)

One day, Yaoniang and Yuyan were on the night duty together.

Before wet nurses Qian and Wang came, Yuyan suddenly informed Yaoniang that thse should go back to rest today and will not be placed on night duty.

Yaoniang looked at her in surprise: “What happened? Why doesn’t Mammy Mu let me take on night duty?”

Yuyan who was cleaning the bed didn’t raise her head and said, “You cannot always be on night duty. Recently, the little princess sleeps well so it’s improper to let you stay up all night alone.”

“But…”

Yuyan patted the soft pillow and placed it on the bedside. Then she stood up straight and looked at her helplessly: “I’m not criticizing you. You are too honest. Those two don’t say anything but you still hold your tongue. They work during the day and take care of the little princess together with some maidservants beside them. But you are always placed on night duty and still help massage the belly of the little princess during the day. You work so hard. So I just talked to Mammy Mu and have you, wet nurse Qian and wet nurse Wang take turns in caring for the little princess. Then you’ll be on day duty and they will be on night duty.”

“Actually I’m fine. I like to work at night…”

Yuyan turned around and smiled at her, apparently she didn’t believe her words.

Yes. Who would want to stay up late and not even sleep well at night?

On the surface, Yaoniang didn’t care. Yuyan sat on the edge of the bed and said to her, “In fact, it’s not just because of you. The little princess cried in the middle of the night the past few days, which disturbed a lot of people. There was no way to avoid it and everyone could only stay up late together. Now if only you are on night duty, Yucui and I must take turns to accompany you. Although there is only one master in the yard, there are actually a lot of things to do. Mammy Mu is getting older and she wasn’t in charge a long time ago. We can’t tire her too much. So if you three alternate on night duty, Yucui and I can rest.”

Expressing it this way, Yaoniang couldn’t say anything else.

Could she say that she really didn’t want to be on duty during the day?

In the past few days, Jin Wang would frequently come to the small lateral courtyard. Even if Yaoniang generally slept in the room during the day, she heard the maidservants say that Jin Wang came more than once.

In an odd way, her conscience felt guilty.

She remembered that day she used her quick wits in her predicament. She made up an excuse that the little princess was crying and ran away in a hurry. Fucheng was downstairs at that time. Was Jin Wang aware that she lied to him?

Yaoniang wondered if Jin Wang is going to punish her but this is totally unreasonable. Jin Wang, as the most powerful person in the entire Jin Wang Mansion, could certainly punish her for her deceit and even kick her out. It is really not so difficult.

Remembering the eyes of Jin Wang that day, Yaoniang felt perhaps he had some intentions towards her.

After reconsidering it, how could Jin Wang–such an important person–care about a widow, someone who lost her husband?

It’s not that Yaoniang is self-degrading herself, but his wife and concubines in the backyard were all gorgeous. Everyone was better than her regarding appearances and personalities.

She couldn’t figure this out. She could only give up thinking too much. Perhaps she would know when the right time comes.

As soon as things have been settled, Yaoniang had day duty. Although there were a lot of things during the day, it was much easier than staying up all night.

When she went on day duty for the first time, Jin Wang did not appear.

She actually felt that she thought too much.

But Jin Wang came on the second day.

The little princess just fell asleep. This was the proper time for her to sleep. She rubbed her eyes a few times with her small white hands and Yaoniang realized she was feeling sleepy. Holding the little princess in her arms, she walked back and forth to coax her. In a blink of an eye, the little princess fell asleep. Yucui was bragging about Yaoniang’s ability to coax a child to sleep. It would take a long time for wet nurses Qian and Wang to coax the little princess to sleep.

Suddenly they heard a voice in the courtyard. It seemed that Jin Wang arrived. The two rushed out to greet him. 

Sure enough, it is Jin Wang.

Today, Jin Wang looked surprisingly handsome. Wearing a robe embroidered with an image of sunshine after the rain and a sapphire crown on his head, Jin Wang was particularly spectacular like a cloud or fog on top of the mountains or a wave in the sea.

Yaoniang was stunned for a bit and then immediately made a deep curtsy alongside Yucui.

Jin Wang walked inside the room with Fucheng following behind.