Chapter 346 The Dark Person
After watching Ye Jiayao leave, Qiao Mingdong asked Chunfeng, "What family did your second sister-in-law come from?"

That kind of aura, sometimes restrained and sometimes sharp, is not something that a lady from an ordinary family would have.

Xia Chunfeng smiled faintly: "My second sister-in-law is a remarkable woman. She is of humble origins, but the daughter of the Yangzhou Tongzhi. But she is really amazing. You have heard of Tianshangju, right?"

Qiao Mingdong nodded: "I have heard of the reputation of Tianshangju in Suzhou. It is said to be the best restaurant in Jinling."

"It wasn't even a year ago. It was only after my second sister-in-law took over that Tianshangju started to flourish."

As Xia Chunfeng spoke, a look of admiration naturally revealed between his brows.

Qiao Mingdong was dumbfounded and asked in surprise: "She is the shopkeeper of Tianshangju?"

"Yes, she is the Imperial Kitchen Assistant and the Vice President of the Jinling Catering Chamber of Commerce. She is very capable. Moreover, she has a very good relationship with my sister-in-law, so you can rest assured."

Qiao Mingdong couldn't come back to his senses for a long time. Is there such a powerful woman in the world? The Qiao family's great grandmother was also a figure. She founded the Qiao family's foundation, but she didn't have the means of this second young lady. To be able to achieve this level in a year, Mingxiu was lucky to be on good terms with her.

Well, he really doesn’t have to worry. As long as Mingxiu can get through this, he believes that there is no problem that cannot be solved.

Ye Jiayao didn't know that Chunfeng's words of praise were not as effective as his words of praise for her. At this moment, her heart was being pulled by the dull groans inside.

The maids were busy in and out, bringing in basins of hot water and taking out basins of blood, which made her scalp tingle and she broke out in a cold sweat. Wouldn't so much blood flow out all at once?

It is really scary for a woman to give birth. This is the second child. Wasn’t the first one more dangerous?

Hongxiu came in and reported: "Mother Gui from the Helian Palace is here."

Ye Jiayao hurriedly said, "Please come in."

A maid brought Mother Gui in.

"Second Young Madam." Mother Gui bowed.

"The ancestor is concerned about you and asked this old servant to come and take a look."

Ye Jiayao asked Mother Gui to sit down and the maid came up to make tea.

"It's been so long and the baby hasn't been born yet." Ye Jiayao was worried.

Mother Gui asked, "What did the imperial physician say?"

"The imperial physician said that because the baby was not yet full-term, he could not use his own strength and had to rely on his mother. But my sister-in-law also had no strength left."

Mother Gui was silent for a moment, then comforted her, "Don't worry, childbirth is dangerous, you just have to get through it, Madam, you're a lucky person, everything will be fine."

With Gui's mother here, Ye Jiayao felt more at ease. Time passed by, but the child still didn't come out.

After a while, Zhou came and looked very shocked: "How can she give birth so suddenly? Isn't it time yet?"

Ye Jiayao knew that Zhou was a big mouth and a gossip. Fortunately, the government had issued a gag order, and no one was allowed to mention it. Just as she was about to explain, Mother Gui said, "Premature birth is not uncommon."

Zhou saw that Gui Mama was unfamiliar, but since she was sitting next to Ye Jiayao, she didn't dare to make a fuss and asked, "Who is this..."

"This is Mother Gui who serves Princess Yi De," Ye Jiayao introduced.

Zhou immediately smiled and said, "I thought so. At first glance, Madam Gui comes from a wealthy family. She is so impressive."

Mother Gui smiled faintly: "Madam, you are joking."

Zhou originally wanted to come and take a look and then leave, but since there were people around Princess Yi De, she stayed a little longer and chatted with Mother Gui about this and that.

Ye Jiayao wished Zhou would leave sooner, as this person's presence was an unstable factor.

Mother Gui was old and shrewd. She guessed the general situation from Ye Jiayao's expression. Besides, she didn't like talking to Zhou. After drinking a cup of tea, she said, "It seems that the baby won't be born for a while. The eldest princess is not in the mansion. The old ancestor is alone. I am worried. I will take my leave first. When there is good news, remember to report it, so that the old ancestor won't worry."

Ye Jiayao said: "Of course."

Seeing that Gui's mother was leaving, Zhou didn't want to stay. She didn't know how long she would have to wait for Qiao to give birth. Children don't come so quickly, so she smiled and said, "I have things to do at home, so I'll go back first. If there's any need for me here, Jinxuan, send someone to let them know and I'll come over."

"Mother Gui, let's go together!" Zhou said warmly.

Mother Gui smiled without saying anything, and the two of them left together.

Chunfeng and Qiao Mingdong were also sitting restlessly in the side hall, walking back and forth with their hands behind their backs, almost bumping into each other. The two smiled awkwardly, and Chunfeng said, "Let's just sit down and wait! We can't do anything, so we can only wait."

Qiao Mingdong smiled bitterly and said, "Yes, I didn't expect to catch up this time. My mother originally said that she would come to Nanjing after the New Year."

The two sat down and ordered someone to change the tea. They had just taken two sips when someone came to report that the Third Young Lady had sent someone to look for the Third Young Master.

Chunfeng confessed his crime and went out to meet people.

The one who came was Xiaoya.

"Didn't I tell you that I have something to do at home and I won't be going back tonight?" Chunfeng said.

Xiaoya said, "I came here and found out that the eldest young lady is about to give birth. You know what the third young lady is afraid of, young master."

Chunfeng's eyes turned cold. He knew that Liuli had mentioned this matter more than once. Whenever someone from home came to see him or he came over, Liuli would say nonsense and suspect that he and his second sister-in-law had something to hide.

"I think she is just bored." Chunfeng said unhappily.

Xiaoya said, "How about I go back and tell the truth? The eldest young lady is about to give birth."

Chun Feng thought about it, nodded and said, "Let's just say that I am accompanying the eldest young master of the Qiao family."

Xiaoya said, "I will take care of Third Young Madam, Master, don't worry."

Chunfeng watched Xiaoya leave and said silently: As long as you are here, I have nothing to worry about.

It was the right person to be saved.

After hearing Xiaoya's reply, Liuli hesitated and asked, "Isn't sister-in-law's due date in February? It's only December now, how come it's so much earlier?"

Xiaoya said, "I don't know about this. It just so happened that the eldest young master of the Qiao family came to Nanjing to check the accounts. The young master is not at home now, so a man had to stay to accompany the guests, so the third young master stayed."

In fact, she had heard that the eldest young mistress seemed to have had a miscarriage due to the eldest young master's anger, but she was not very clear about the details, so she simply said she didn't know.

Liuli snorted coldly: "Why are there no men? Isn't the eldest young master a man? He didn't accompany his brother-in-law when he came, and asked others to accompany him."

Xiaoya hadn't seen the young master, so she didn't know his situation, so she had to make up a story: "How can the young master be in the mood to accompany me now? The young mistress gave birth prematurely, and the young master is so worried."

Liuli thought about it and it made sense, so she stopped worrying about it. However, it was a bit strange that her sister-in-law suddenly gave birth prematurely!

"What about Ye?"

Liuli made no secret of her dislike for Ye Jiayao in front of Xiaoya, and called her by the surname Ye.

"The second young lady has been guarding the eldest young lady's room." Xiaoya replied.

Liuli sneered and said in a contemptuous tone: "Of course she has to stay. Madam handed this family over to her. It hasn't been long since Madam left, and the eldest young lady gave birth prematurely. If it's because of the eldest young lady herself, it's fine. If it's because of something else, hmph... Ye can't escape the blame!"

"Why didn't you ask around when you went there? Didn't you hear anything?"

Liuli glanced at Xiaoya with dissatisfaction.

Xiaoya said calmly: "I did ask a maid, and she said that premature birth is a common thing. Everyone is busy, so I was embarrassed to ask more."

Liuli pondered: "Xiaoya, what do you think, should I go over and take a look?"

Xiaoya was afraid that the princess would cause trouble if she went there, and the Third Young Master would definitely not like the Third Young Mistress to go there, so she said, "It's good for the princess to go. Take this opportunity to make peace with the First Young Mistress and the Second Young Mistress. As long as you are willing to humble yourself, how dare they make a fuss?"

Xiaoya knew the princess' temper and deliberately said the opposite of what she meant.

As expected, Liuli said with a spit, "I want to please them? Do I need to please them? You're dreaming. I just want to go over and see what's going on."

"If there is really a situation, you will know when the time comes. If you go there now, everyone will be busy. Besides, if you go there, you can't just take a look and leave. The Second Young Madam is guarding there, so you have to guard there too, right? Otherwise, people will gossip about you. You might as well pretend to be unwell. When I went to invite the Third Young Master just now, I said you were not feeling well, and the Third Young Master asked me to serve you well." Xiaoya said.

Liuli hesitated. What Xiaoya said made sense. It would be troublesome if she went, so she decided not to go. She could ask Zhou in a few days and everything would be clear. Zhou lived nearby and must know a lot.

"Forget it, then I won't go. I haven't been feeling well these past few days. The Queen Mother is gone, and people in the palace are indifferent to me. Even the Queen is like this. Sigh... People are forgotten when they leave, and they are all snobs." Liuli said in annoyance.

"Princess, maybe you are overthinking it. Everyone is sad now and has no time to think about these things." Xiaoya advised.

Liuli sneered, "Sad? They are howling like their mothers have died, but how many of them are truly sad? They are just pretending."

Xiaoya thought, the Queen Mother loved you so much, how many times did you visit her when she was sick? You said others were hypocritical, how filial were you? Otherwise, why didn't you summon her to the palace when she was dying? I guess she saw through you! You suffered for nothing, and got so much abuse.

Once you see through some people and some things, it is difficult to treat them the same way as before. In the past, I also felt that what the princess did was inappropriate, but I thought that she was my master, and the master had done nothing wrong. When the master had difficulties, I had to help share my worries and solve my problems. Now I feel that I was so stupid before, and I even helped do so many bad things.

Fortunately, the Third Young Master did not despise her and saved her when she was in the most dangerous time. He heard from the Third Young Master that the Second Young Madam had also secretly looked for her, but she was the one who had given her her life in return, so what else could she say? The princess was always surrounded by conspiracy, resentment, suspicion, all dark and obscure things that could drive people crazy. If it weren't for the Third Young Master, she wouldn't be able to stay there for a day.

(End of this chapter)