Yunchu’s Vengeance - Chapter 209
Chapter 209 - Opening a Door in the Wall
Chu Yi looked at the mother and her two children, the corners of his lips curving into a delighted arc.
The woman he held hidden in the deepest recesses of his heart turned out to be the biological mother of his two children...
The woman of his heart was the very person right before his eyes.
And the person right before his eyes was precisely his beloved.
How could life ever be so complete and fulfilling?
He spoke up, "These next few days, I might have to impose upon Miss Yun for a bit..."
Yun Chu stood up with a smile and said, "How could this be considered an imposition? In the first place, it is I who..."
"It is another matter," Chu Yi pointed to the wall on the eastern side of the courtyard. "I have bought that courtyard next door. I plan to open a doorway through the wall dividing our two courtyards. That way, whichever side the children stay on in the future, it will be convenient."
Yun Chu was taken aback.
After buying this courtyard, she had inquired about the neighbors nearby. The residence to the east belonged to a fourth-rank official's family that had lived there for at least forty or fifty years.
He bought it just like that?
Were the owners even willing to sell?
Well, he was a prince after all. Aside from being unable to buy the imperial palace itself, he could buy whatever he pleased.
"Royal Father, does that mean our whole family will move to the courtyard next door in the future?" Chu Hongyu's eyes shone brightly. "Will Nanny Zheng and Manager Cheng live there together with us too?"
Chu Yi nodded: "Of course. In the future, that courtyard will be the Prince of Pingxi's Estate."
"Wonderful! That's just wonderful!" Chu Hongyu was excited to the absolute extreme. "Changsheng, did you hear that? In the future, we can be together with Mother every single day! Royal Father won't object anymore! How great, this is truly wonderful!"
The little girl pursed her lips and smiled softly.
Seeing the two children so happy, Yun Chu became happy along with them.
Chu Yi lingered there for an hour, but having no further reason to remain, he finally rose and took his leave.
Yun Chu had Yu'er finish his assigned reading for the day first, and then took her son and daughter to prepare a birthday gift for Concubine Yin together.
A woman of Concubine Yin's status naturally lacked for nothing. After discussing it with Chu Hongyu, Yun Chu and the children unanimously decided to make longevity peaches by hand for Concubine Yin.
With three days left until Concubine Yin's birthday, they spent the first day learning from the cook how to knead dough and steam pastries. On the second day, under the cook's guidance, they learned how to shape the longevity peaches. By the third day, they officially began making them, and the finished products looked quite impressive and proper.
Chu Hongyu picked up a longevity peach he had shaped himself and placed it into the steamer basket: "Mother, look quickly! The longevity peach I made looks so pretty!"
Chu Changsheng held up the little peach she had shaped, showing it off to Yun Chu as well.
Yun Chu praised them warmly: "You both shaped them so beautifully. Your Royal Imperial Grandmother will definitely be overjoyed when she sees your birthday gifts."
Before long, the longevity peaches were fully steamed. Since they had shaped many extra ones while making them, the steamer basket was filled to the brim with longevity peaches of all sizes.
She picked up a small longevity peach, blew on it to cool it down, and held it to Chu Changsheng's lips: "Give it a taste. How does it taste?"
The little girl took a bite. Her eyes immediately lit up, and she nodded vigorously.
Yun Chu asked, "What do you mean by nodding? Is it delicious, or is it not?"
"De... delicious!" Chu Changsheng spoke up. "Mother, I want... want more."
Yun Chu blew on another small longevity peach several times before feeding it to her daughter.
From the side came the sound of Chu Hongyu hopping up and down: "It's so hot! I'm going to get burned to death!"
"You silly child, what's the hurry?" Yun Chu took one out from the steamer basket, blew on it until it was no longer so hot, and then handed it to him.
At the same time, she sampled one herself.
She had to admit that the finished product made after three days of learning tasted surprisingly good. For the two children to present such a birthday gift would certainly count as full of sincerity.
During these three days, Yun Chu stayed with the children day and night, experiencing an unprecedented sense of happiness and joy.
Soon came the morning of the fourth day. Before the sky had even turned light, she pulled the two children out of bed.
Chu Hongyu refused to open his eyes.
The little girl hugged her blanket tightly, refusing to let go.
Yun Chu doted on them endlessly.
She had the servants gently dress and wash them, then carried them to the front entrance.
The carriage from the prince's estate was already waiting at the main gate. Nanny Zheng bowed to Yun Chu: "Miss Yun has worked hard these past three days."
Since childhood, the two children's daily lives had been looked after by Nanny Zheng, so Yun Chu held great respect for her. She smiled warmly and said, "How could this be considered hard work? The sky isn't light yet, so please be careful on the road."
Nanny Zheng lowered her head in assent.
In the past, seeing Miss Yun close with the two young masters only brought surprise to her heart, but thinking that Miss Yun was a married woman of the Xie family, nothing could ever come of it no matter what.
Now, Miss Yun had left the Xie family. Whether as a widow or a divorced woman, she was ultimately free to marry again.
What the two young masters' attitudes were did not matter; what mattered was His Highness, who had actually indulged the young heir and the princess to stay here for three full days.
It seemed the prince's estate would soon have a mistress.
Nanny Zheng took the two children and set off for the palace. Only after the carriage disappeared at the entrance of the lane did Yun Chu turn around and walk back inside.
For these three days, she had set aside all matters without handling them.
Now that the children were gone, she had the servants of the outer courtyard enter one by one to report their tasks.
Having just moved into this courtyard, the only servants she had were her personal attendants. She still needed to buy more servants, and because the daily chores had not yet formed established routines, she needed to oversee every single detail personally.
After finishing the affairs of the inner courtyard, next came the matters of the outer courtyard.
Chen Defu arrived carrying a thick stack of account books. First, the monthly accounts for the hot spring manor were out, requiring her personal review; second, there was the estimated fund allocation for the shelter; and third, the construction of the sea-going vessel was slightly short on funds.
Yun Chu still had over a hundred thousand taels of silver in her storeroom, alongside the steady stream of income from the hot spring manor, making her finances sound very abundant.
However, regarding the construction of the large sea-going vessel, the original fifty thousand taels had only covered half the work. She approved another fifty thousand taels of silver, hoping that when the ship set sail for distant seas next spring, she would be able to recover her costs as quickly as possible.
"Miss, there is one more thing," Chen Defu put away the account books and looked up. "Ding Yiyuan was invited to the Pingjin Marquis Estate by the Heir of Pingjin."
Yun Chu could not help but smile: "What a coincidence."
The Pingjin Marquis Estate was a frequent subject of gossip among the common folk in the capital. In her past life, a embarrassing scandal would break out from the Pingjin Marquis Estate every now and then, giving people much to talk about.
Had Ding Yiyuan gone to any other noble residence, she might have had to rack her brains to recall what happened in her past life. But going to the Pingjin Marquis Estate, certain matters floated right before her eyes without even needing a second thought.
Using her left hand, she wrote a letter and had Chen Defu send it to Ding Yiyuan through several roundabout channels.
While she was busy, Qiu Tong came in from outside to report: "Miss, Steward Yun was ordered to invite Miss back to the Yun residence."
Yun Chu changed her clothes and walked over to the Yun residence.
Upon entering the gate, she discovered that several cousin brothers from the collateral branches of the family were present as well, including Yun Run and Yun Yi.
"Chu'er, you're here," Lady Lin pulled Yun Chu down to sit. "What have you been busy with these past three days? I haven't seen a hide or hair of you."
Yun Chu brushed it off with a vague excuse: "Why are my cousin brothers here today? Is there an important matter?"
Yun Yi let out a sigh: "The three of us were inexplicably demoted and reassigned this morning."
"It was only to be expected," Old General Yun spoke up. "We shall respond to all changes by remaining unchanged."
It was merely the person lurking in the shadows using these obscure junior members of the Yun family's collateral branches to test the Emperor's reaction.
Yun Run furrowed his brows: "But where there is a first time, there will be a second. It started with Yun Yi and the other two today, but soon it will fall upon the rest of the Yun family. If we take no measures, anyone will be able to trample over the heads of us Yun family members when the time comes."