Chapter 209: Opening a Passage in the Middle Wall
Chu Yi gazed at the mother and her two children, the corners of his lips curving into a joyful arc.
The one he had secretly cherished in the depths of his heart turned out to be the biological mother of his two children...
The one he admired was right before his eyes.
The one before his eyes was the one in his heart.
Life could actually be so perfect.
He spoke up: "I might have to trouble Miss Yun these next few days..."
Yun Chu stood up with a smile and said, "How could this be considered trouble? It was originally I who..."
"It's another matter." Chu Yi pointed to the wall on the east side of the courtyard. "I've bought that courtyard. I plan to open a passage in this wall between the two courtyards. This way, no matter which side the children live on in the future, it will be convenient."
Yun Chu was astonished.
After she bought this courtyard, she had inquired about the neighbors. The family to the east was the residence of a fourth-rank official in the court, and they had lived here for at least forty or fifty years.
Did he just buy it like that?
Were they willing to sell?
Well, he was a prince. Aside from not being able to buy the imperial palace, he could buy whatever he wanted.
"Father, will our whole family move to the neighboring courtyard then?" Chu Hongyu's eyes sparkled. "Will Nanny Zheng and Cheng Zongguan and the others also come live with us?"
Chu Yi nodded: "Of course. That courtyard will be the Prince of Pacifying the West Manor from now on."
"Wonderful, absolutely wonderful!" Chu Hongyu was overjoyed. "Changsheng, did you hear? We can be with Mother every day from now on. Father will never oppose it again. This is great, truly wonderful!"
The little girl pursed her lips and smiled.
Seeing the two children happy, Yun Chu felt happy along with them.
Chu Yi lingered there for an hour, but with no further reason to stay, he finally got up and left.
Yun Chu had Yu Ge'er finish today's required reading first, then took her son and daughter to prepare a birthday gift for Yin Pin.
A woman of Yin Pin's status naturally lacked nothing. After discussing with Chu Hongyu, Yun Chu decided they would personally make longevity peaches for Yin Pin.
There were still three days until Yin Pin's birthday. On the first day, they learned from the cook how to knead dough and steam buns. On the second day, under the cook's guidance, they learned to shape the longevity peaches. On the third day, they formally began making them, and they already looked quite presentable.
Chu Hongyu placed the longevity peach he had shaped into the steamer: "Mother, look quickly! The longevity peach I made is so pretty."
Chu Changsheng held up the little peach she had shaped, showing it off to Yun Chu as well.
Yun Chu praised: "You've both shaped them beautifully. Your imperial grandmother will surely be very happy when she sees the birthday gift."
Soon, the longevity peaches were steamed. They had made many extra while shaping them, so the steamer was filled to the brim with longevity peaches of all sizes.
She picked up a small longevity peach, blew on it to cool it, and brought it to Chu Changsheng's mouth: "Try it, how does it taste?"
The little girl took a bite, her eyes immediately lighting up, and she nodded vigorously.
Yun Chu asked: "What does nodding mean? Is it delicious or not?"
"De-delicious!" Chu Changsheng spoke. "Mother, want—want more."
Yun Chu blew on it several times vigorously before placing the small longevity peach into her daughter's mouth.
From the side came Chu Hongyu's hopping voice: "It's burning hot! I'm going to be burned to death!"
"You child, why the hurry?" Yun Chu took one out from the steamer, blew on it until it was less scalding, and then handed it to him.
At the same time, she tasted one herself.I must say, the finished product they made after just three days of learning actually tasted quite good. For two children to present such a birthday gift should be considered quite sincere.
During these three days, Yun Chu spent day and night with the children, experiencing unprecedented happiness and joy.
Soon it was the morning of the fourth day. Before dawn, she pulled the two children out of bed.
Chu Hongyu refused to open his eyes.
The little girl clung to her blanket, unwilling to let go.
Yun Chu indulged them.
She had the servants dress and wash them quietly, then carried them to the front gate.
The Prince's mansion carriage was already waiting at the main entrance. Madam Zheng bowed to Yun Chu: "These past three days have been hard on you, Miss Yun."
Since Madam Zheng had been managing the two children's daily lives since they were young, Yun Chu respected her greatly and replied gently: "This can hardly be called hard work. It's still dark outside, please be careful on the road."
Madam Zheng lowered her head in acknowledgment.
Previously, when she saw Miss Yun getting close to the two young masters, she only felt surprised, but thought that since Miss Yun was a member of the Xie family, nothing would come of it anyway.
Now that Miss Yun had left the Xie family—whether as a widow or a divorced woman—she could remarry.
The attitudes of the two young masters weren't important; what mattered was the Prince, who had actually allowed the heir and the princess to stay here for three days.
It seemed the Prince's mansion would soon have a mistress.
After Madam Zheng took the two children to the palace, Yun Chu only turned back when the carriage disappeared around the corner of the lane.
For these three days, she had put off handling all matters.
As soon as the children left, she had people from the outer courtyard come in one by one to report.
Having just moved to this residence, she only had her close attendants serving her. She needed to purchase more servants, and some trivial matters hadn't yet been standardized, all requiring her personal attention.
After handling the inner courtyard affairs, she moved on to outer courtyard matters.
Chen Defu came with a large stack of account books. First, the monthly accounts for the hot spring manor were ready and needed her personal review. Second, there was the estimated funding approval for the shelter. Third, the construction of the ocean-going ship was short on funds.
Yun Chu still had over a hundred thousand taels of silver in her treasury, along with continuous income from the hot spring manor, which sounded quite wealthy.
However, regarding the ocean-going ship construction, the initial fifty thousand taels could only complete half. She approved another fifty thousand taels, hoping that by next spring when the ship set sail, she could quickly recover the costs.
"Miss, there's one more thing." Chen Defu put away the account books and looked up. "Ding Yiyuan has been invited to the Marquis Pingjin's residence by the heir of Pingjin."
Yun Chu couldn't help but smile: "What a coincidence."
The Marquis Pingjin's residence was often discussed by the common people in the capital. In her previous life, the Marquis Pingjin's residence would frequently become the subject of amusing incidents that people loved to talk about.
If Ding Yiyuan had gone to another residence, she might have had to rack her brains to recall events from her previous life. But regarding the Marquis Pingjin's residence, some things came to mind without even thinking.
She wrote a letter with her left hand and had Chen Defu deliver it to Ding Yiyuan through several intermediaries.
While busy with this, Qiutong came in from outside to report: "Miss, Steward Yun has been sent to invite you back to the Yun family for a visit."
Yun Chu changed clothes and walked to the Yun family residence.
Upon entering, she discovered that several cousins from the collateral branches were also present, including Yun Run and Yun Yi.
"Chu'er, you're here." Lin Shi pulled Yun Chu to sit down. "What have you been busy with these past three days? We haven't seen hide nor hair of you."
Yun Chu brushed it off: "What important matter brings my cousins here?"Yun Yi sighed: "The three of us were inexplicably demoted this morning."
"An expected outcome," Old General Yun remarked. "We simply need to remain steady amidst changes."
This was merely that hidden figure using these insignificant junior members of the Yun family to test the Emperor's reaction.
Yun Run frowned: "But where there's a first time, there's bound to be a second. First it's Yun Yi and the other two, soon it will fall upon other members of the Yun family. If we don't take measures, eventually anyone will be able to step on our Yun family's head."
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