Chapter 222 Passing by
As soon as her period was over, Ye Jiayao came back to life, but she still couldn't escape the fate of being ordered around by Liuli. In terms of feelings, Liuli was pregnant, and everyone in the mansion was very nervous about her. Moreover, since she was pregnant, they wanted to eat the dishes she cooked, and they always praised and apologized. If she didn't cook, she would seem too narrow-minded, and even worse, some people would criticize her. Was she jealous?
Well, she was jealous, but only to herself.

Furthermore, Youshi's attitude towards her seemed to have changed slightly. For example, when she told her to do something, she no longer asked her to help Liuli with this and that. Instead, she would directly ask her to do this and that for Liuli. When she said this, the apology hidden in her eyes had disappeared.

Ye Jiayao analyzed Youshi's psychology. Was it because she felt she didn't need to be so polite after getting used to being told to do so, or was it because of the ambiguous words of Li the imperial physician that day that caused Youshi to change like this? Ye Jiayao was not sure. She would rather believe the former.

Chunyu has been quite busy recently. First, it was the empress dowager's birthday. I heard that the empress dowager wanted to invite her to the palace for the birthday banquet, but then somehow she gave up the idea. Even at the birthday banquet, Ye Jiayao was not among the invited guests.

Ye Jiayao didn't think much of this. She didn't even want to go to celebrate the old lady's birthday!

Later, the envoys of the King of Nanyue were coming, and it was heard that the Princess of Nanyue was also coming with them. The emperor ordered him to be fully responsible for the reception and protection duties, and even asked him to participate in the negotiations. Negotiations were not easy, and they were related to the interests of Huai Song in all aspects. A complete plan had to be sorted out in advance, which required a lot of preliminary work. Therefore, he often left early and returned late, and sometimes did not return at all.

Chunyu was entrusted with an important task, and Ye Jiayao should be happy for him, but she couldn't help feeling lost. She couldn't see him every day. Even when he came back, he was exhausted. Sometimes he fell asleep while talking to her, which made her feel lost and distressed.

Well, anyway, the recent changes were not what she wanted to see, but in life, many things are always beyond one's control. Otherwise, why do people say... eight out of ten things in life are not as expected.

Therefore, she had to adjust her mentality and face them one by one.

If there was anything that made her happy and was under her firm control, it was the business of Tianshangju and the pastry shop.

After the first month of the lunar year, Ye Jiayao launched a health-preserving banquet. This year everyone had been consuming too much greasy food, which caused them to have fat waists, stomachs, and indigestion. It was time to take good care of themselves, so the health-preserving banquet, which was launched at the right time, was well received.

The appearance of coconut flakes has once again ushered in a hot sales boom for the pastry shop. The various exquisite pastries with a strong coconut aroma have once again successfully tempted the taste buds of the daughters of noble families and children.

All the major restaurants feel powerless against Tianshangju’s endless tricks. They can no longer compete with them by means of price cuts or publicity. Their new products are always popular, and they cannot imitate them because they simply cannot make them.

After Tianshangju's business got back on track, spring ploughing was about to begin. The farm was under the full management of Manager Bai. According to her idea, an orchard, a vegetable garden, a dairy farm and a flower garden were opened near the farm.

The farm Ye Jiayao wants is not a single type of farm, but a combination of multiple economic models.

The orchard is planted with oranges, peaches, grapes and other fruit trees. When the time comes, you can eat them yourself. The rest will become dishes or ingredients in the pastry shop, which will greatly improve the economic benefits. The vegetable garden is dedicated to providing fresh vegetables to Tianshangju. The dairy farm is the most important. The previous dairy farmers saw that Tianshangju needed more goods and they were indispensable, so they raised the price one after another, and the quality of milk also declined. This is something she can't stand. It's better to run a farm by herself to ensure the quality and quantity of the supply instead of being controlled by others. As for the flower garden, it also has many uses. It can be used for viewing, making scented tea, and making various delicious pastry fillings.

Of course, the investment was not small, but fortunately, Tianshangju had a good return, and Zhao Qixuan also said before he left that there was no need to rush to pay back the money, as it was enough for his border trade business. So, Ye Jiayao gritted her teeth and invested 70,000 to 80,000 taels of silver in the farm.

As a result, even Manager Bai was a little flustered. He was good at personnel management and overall arrangements, but he could not handle these more professional matters.

At this time, Zhu Wang came in handy. Zhu Wang was very good at raising dairy cows. After the last salt incident, Chunyu did not severely punish Zhu Wang's wife. This kind of person was not unforgivable, but rather sympathetic. He just asked them to move out of the mansion and gave them some money to treat their children. Zhu Wang and his wife were so moved that they were willing to work for Chunyu. Ye Jiayao learned about Zhu Wang's expertise and entrusted him with the important task of managing the farm without hesitation.

As for the orchard, Deng Haichuan's father, Uncle Deng, was an expert at growing fruit trees, so Ye Jiayao handed the orchard over to Uncle Deng.

It is relatively easy to find an experienced vegetable and flower grower in the vegetable garden and flower nursery.

Ye Jiayao worked for more than a month before she finally got the farm things done.

During this period, Xiao Jing came to Tianshangju to see her many times, and each time he said he was just passing by. However, Tianshangju was not between the Helian Palace and the Ministry of War, and it would take a long detour to pass by. Princess Yi De asked her to go to the Helian Palace many times. On the surface, she was going to see the ancestor, but in fact she was trying to find out about Ye Jiayao's situation in the Marquis' Mansion in a roundabout way. Naturally, Ye Jiayao would only report good news and not bad news.

But she vaguely felt that something very bad was going on from the unusual behavior of the Helian family, the change in Youshi's attitude, and the contempt and sarcastic words that Zhou showed when she occasionally came over to eat. These were things she didn't want to think about, but which were like thorns in her heart and would hurt when touched.

It really feels like sleeping on straw and eating bitter food, and biding one's time.

The spring sunshine is bright and gorgeous, and the breeze is gentle and refreshing. Ye Jiayao rarely has half a day off, but she doesn't want to go back to the Marquis' Mansion. Chunyu is not here, and she has to drink such bitter medicine when she goes back. When did she stop feeling the warmth of that home?

It all started when Imperial Physician Li came to see the patient.

Ye Jiayao decided to see the doctor at Renhetang again. Last time, the doctor told her to come back in a month, and now it has been almost two months.

Without bringing anyone with her, Ye Jiayao entered Renhetang alone.

"Doctor, I've been taking the medicine for two months, but am I feeling any better?" Ye Jiayao asked.

The doctor narrowed his eyes and looked at her. After a while, he remembered the patient Ye Jiayao.

"Bring me the prescription from last time." He had to see dozens of patients a day, and he was old, so it was normal that he couldn't remember the prescriptions he wrote. Ye Jiayao took out the prescription and handed it to him.

After the doctor looked at it, he nodded and said, "Have you been taking this medicine for the past two months?"

"No, my family hired another doctor for me and he prescribed two prescriptions for me. However, I feel that the medicines have no effect. I still believe that your medical skills are superior." Ye Jiayao knew that going to see another doctor in the middle of a course would be like the students she taught going to see another teacher. It would be an unpleasant thing, so Ye Jiayao flattered the doctor sincerely.

In fact, she really didn't trust the prescription written by Imperial Physician Li. After all, Imperial Physician Li was Liuli's man.

The doctor was obviously unhappy, but he still followed his duty as a doctor to cure diseases and save lives and asked Ye Jiayao for two other prescriptions. After comparing and considering for a long time, the doctor said slowly: "There is nothing wrong with these two prescriptions. The cold in your body is deep, and it will take more than one or two days to regulate it."

Uh... there was actually no problem with the recipe. Ye Jiayao was surprised, but also felt that she was a little mean.

"So...how long will it take to get better?"

The doctor stroked his beard and checked Ye Jiayao's pulse again, saying, "Don't be anxious. Take your time. It will take at least four or five months, or at most one or two years."

Ye Jiayao was speechless. Wouldn’t that mean she would become a medicine jar?

"Then...it won't affect fertility, right?" Ye Jiayao asked this question with a red face.

The doctor chuckled: "Probably not."

Ye Jiayao felt relieved, and felt that the haze that had been hanging over her head for a long time was blown away by these two light words.

It’s good that it doesn’t happen. God knows, she worries about this every day and is almost becoming a shrew.

Four or five months, so be it, or even longer, as long as it is not an incurable disease.

After coming out of Renhe Hall and taking a few steps, she heard someone calling her from behind.

"Yao Yao..."

It was Xiao Jing. Ye Jiayao stopped in surprise and turned to look at the person who came: "Why are you here?"

Xiao Jing was looking at the sign of Renhetang, and a worried look appeared in her slender eyes: "Are you feeling unwell?"

Ye Jiayao smiled faintly and covered it up: "I've been so busy lately that I feel dizzy and can't sleep well at night. The doctor said it's because I'm tired. I'll be fine if I have a good rest."

Xiao Jing's eyes were dark, and he obviously didn't believe it, but he didn't ask about the condition. He just asked, "Why didn't Brother Chunyu come with you?"

"He's busy. I haven't seen him for two days." Ye Jiayao herself didn't even realize the resentment that inadvertently slipped into her words.

Xiaojingjing nodded: "Brother Chunyu has been very busy recently."

"What about you? Why are you here?" Ye Jiayao asked.

Xiao Jing used the excuse that he had been using recently: "I was just passing by."

Ye Jiayao rolled her eyes at him: "You're passing by again, as if you have nothing to do all day and just wander around."

Xiao Jing said embarrassedly, "I really just passed by. I can only say that it was a coincidence. Why don't we go have a cup of tea? The environment of the teahouse in front is pretty good. By the way, I have a good news for you."

Ye Jiayao's curiosity was immediately aroused. Xiaojing's good news was either about Zhao Qixuan or Helian Xuan. No matter whose news it was, she was interested.

So, I readily agreed.

The two of them walked and talked as they entered the teahouse called Ziwei Pavilion, without noticing that someone was staring at them not far behind them.

(End of this chapter)