There was an orchard in the Young Master Manor, and a large number of fruit trees were planted there. The most eye-catching thing was the few cherries that emitted a rich fruit fragrance at the back of the orchard. The cherries were ripe, and the heavy fruits hung on the branches and leaves like tempting little red lanterns.
When the new maidservants passed by, they could not help but drool as they picked a basket. The two of them naturally did not dare to eat, so they thought of taking it to show respect to Young Master and Young Madam first. They would reward them after their master tasted it.
The two of them picked the reddest and largest one. After washing it, they placed it on a plate and sent it to Yu Wan and Yan Jiuchao.
At this time, their Young Master and Young Madam should have woken up. When the two of them arrived at the Qingfeng Courtyard, the courtyard was so quiet that it was as if there was no one there. The two of them had just arrived and did not understand the rules of the Young Master Manor. They thought that the servants had slacked off and thought to themselves, “Why can’t such a big Young Master Manor control a few servants? They’re not as sensible as the two of them.”
They were the ones who cleaned the wedding room. They knew where the wedding room was. Uncle Wan had just come, and the door was ajar. The two of them thought that Young Master and Young Madam had woken up, so they quickly pushed open the door and entered the room. In the end, they saw a sleeping woman lying on the red bed. Her body was covered by a silk blanket, and a slender arm reached out and hung down by the bed. Her skin was as thin as white porcelain and as smooth as pearls. There was a man sitting in the wheelchair beside her.
The man’s black hair was like ink and his temperament was cold. He seemed to be staring at the woman on the bed.
The man suddenly turned around when he heard the commotion behind him. He glanced at the two of them coldly and shouted, “Get out!”
The two of them trembled in fear. Two cherries fell from the plate, but they did not bother to pick them up and fled.
“You’re still pretending to be asleep?”
Yan Jiuchao said coldly, his words clearly directed at Yu Wan.
Yu Wan had woken up fifteen minutes ago, but when she thought of what had happened in the morning, she did not know how to face Yan Jiuchao. Therefore, she could only endure the awkwardness and pretend to be asleep. When she woke up, she was in this position. In order to prevent Yan Jiuchao from realizing that she did not dare to move, her arm that was hanging off the bed was about to go numb. However, Yan Jiuchao refused to leave. He just sat in the wheelchair and used his eyes to dismember her.
Who’s newlywed life was as bitter as her…
Yan Jiuchao sneered. “I think you want to do it again?”
“I can’t,” Yu Wan said weakly.
At this point, she could not pretend anymore. Yu Wan simply moved her numb arm back to the blanket and pulled the blanket over her head.
She really didn’t do it on purpose, but it was really her first time. It was her first wedding and her first wedding night. Who would remember that her period was coming? She moaned and enjoyed it. When it was his turn to eat his fill, her stomach suddenly hurt.
She still remembered his expression at that time…
Yu Wan covered her face. If she had known earlier, she would have listened to him and not teased him. She would have obediently fallen asleep. Now, she was satisfied but he was left half-full. She even took a sip of post-meal tea unkindly and fell asleep without comforting her poor little husband. But then again, she couldn’t be blamed for this. She had already worked very hard, okay? Who asked him to… not finish it after so long?
3
Yu Wan quietly slightly lifted the blanket and glanced at him. Her cheeks were burning as she pulled the blanket tightly.
Yu Wan knew that she was in the wrong and thought about acting pitiful first. She stuck out her round little head from under the blanket and whispered, “Actually, I feel very uncomfortable too, okay? It hurts so much.”
“Where does it hurt?”
“My waist hurts.”
1
Yan Jiuchao: “…!!”
When Uncle Wan brought over hot water, the newlyweds had already dressed up and washed up. According to local customs, the first morning after the bride consummated her marriage, she had to eat a bowl of four-happiness soup made from lotus seeds, lilies, red beans, and honey dates. The meaning was that from this day onwards, she would be in love with her husband and have children early. Yu Wan did not know if it was sweet or not, but she had already given birth to children. She finished this bowl of four-happiness soup without leaving a single bite. After all, it was really delicious!
Yan Jiuchao looked at her coldly. “You can really eat.”
Yu Wan hesitated. “I consumed too much energy.”
Yan Jiuchao, whose heart had been stabbed again: “…”
Yu Wan, who realized that she had said something wrong, hurriedly cleared her throat and changed the topic. “How do you feel? Are you feeling better?”
“What do you think?” Yan Jiuchao asked.
He was still in a wheelchair. It seemed that the poison had not been completely cured. It was not surprising when she thought about it. This poison curse had been on him for twenty years, and they had only tried it once, and he was not fully satisfied—
Yu Wan’s expression did not change as she said, “Then let’s try a few more times after I recover.”
Yan Jiuchao blushed. “Who wants to try it with you!”
With that, he pushed the wheelchair to the study room.
Yu Wan looked at the beautiful cherries on the table and could not help but pinch a few to try. The cherries were very fresh, the flesh was full, and the taste of the fruit was very strong. It was sweet and sour and juicy, and it was more delicious than what she had eaten in her previous life. There were also cherry trees in the back mountain of Lotus Flower Village. They were wild, but the taste was not as good as the few she ate. Yu Wan left half for her sons and got someone to send the other half to Yan Jiuchao.
“Young Master.” Shadow Thirteen walked in.
Yan Jiuchao said, “I want to be alone.”
Shadow Thirteen looked at Yan Jiuchao with a complicated expression and silently retreated.
Young Master’s illness did not seem to have improved, which meant that Young Madam’s Gu King was useless against Young Master. Such an outcome was not too surprising. That Southern Xinjiang Gu Master had bragged a lot, but he had never tried to solve it himself.
Shadow Thirteen only felt heartache for his young master. In the past, he didn’t want to live and let himself weaken. Now that he wanted to live well, he couldn’t find a way to treat it.
“Where’s Young Master?” Uncle Wan walked over with a plate of cherries.
Shadow Thirteen nodded and looked at the cherry in his hand. “Young Master wants to be alone.”
Uncle Wan was stunned for a moment before he understood and said in disappointment, “It didn’t detoxify…”
Uncle Wan did not say anything else. He placed the cherries on the table and said that it was sent by Young Madam before going to work.
Yan Jiuchao could not taste it, but since it was sent by Yu Wan, he still tried one. He happened to take an unripe and cold juice that melted on the tip of his tongue with a slightly sour taste. He frowned.
How many years had it been since he last ate something sour…
Wait.
Sour?
Yan Jiuchao blinked in disbelief. He spat out the fruit core and picked another one. This time, it was pure sweet. He did not taste it. He changed to another half red and half yellow one and indeed tasted an extremely faint sourness.
He could taste the sourness of the fruit. He… he was getting better.
Yu Wan still did not know this huge good news. She was being led by Uncle Wan to the reception pavilion in the front yard. Usually, on the first day of the wedding, she should serve morning tea to her in-laws. However, Prince Yan had passed away and Shangguan Yan had remarried. This step was saved.
The Young Master Manor had a mistress. According to the rules, all the servants had to visit her.
Yu Wan had come to the Young Master Manor a few times, but at most, she was in Yan Jiuchao’s courtyard. In order to help her familiarize herself with the environment, Uncle Wan specially led her around the manor.
It was true that Yu Wan when she told Yan Jiuchao that her waist hurt. Who asked him to be unable to move his legs? Her waist was about to break, okay?
“Young Madam, do you want to rest for a while?” Uncle Wan noticed Yu Wan holding her waist.
Yu Wan did not force herself and nodded.
Uncle Wan got someone to lift the sedan. The sedan was made of two bamboo poles. There was a chair on it, carried by two strong pageboys.
Yu Wan thought to herself, Why didn’t you say so earlier? I’m almost exhausted, okay?
Yu Wan sat in the sedan and went to the reception pavilion.
Yan Jiuchao’s foundation was in the Yan Manor, and the people in the Young Master Manor were much simpler. The butler was Uncle Wan, the accountant under him, and the assistant steward of the outer court. Their surnames were Wu and Hu, respectively. Then there was Nanny Fang, who was the steward nanny of the Qingfeng Courtyard. Nanny Li, Nanny Wang, and Nanny Zhang were the nannies of the three little masters. Yu Wan had seen these few people before. The two new maidservants were more unfamiliar. The round-faced one was called Tao’er, and the sharp-faced one was called Li’er. They were the little unlucky fellows who had accidentally barged into the wedding room this morning and were chased out by Yan Jiuchao.
The two of them were frightened by Yan Jiuchao. They were still in a daze, and their faces were pale.
Yan Jiuchao did not have much use for maidservants. They were bought to specially serve Yu Wan. Tao’er was thirteen, and Li’er was fourteen. They looked quite clean and did well. It was just that they were timid and could not take a scare.
Uncle Wan explained, “We’re in a hurry and can’t choose slowly. Young Madam, use them first. I’ll pick a few more presentable ones later.”
Yu Wan did not say that it did not matter if they were presentable or not, as long as they were loyal. No matter how arrogant she was, she still had this bit of self-awareness. The gap between the royal family and the commoners was definitely not something that she could make up for with a few more years of life. She was also a dabbler. If the servants beside her were as ignorant as her, the Young Master Manor’s reputation would be lost.