Chapter 350 Doubts abound
Sitting in the carriage, Ye Jiayao looked at the jar of wine thoughtfully.

Drinking every day... You shouldn't drink alcohol when you're pregnant! Aunt Cui doesn't even know this common sense? Or is there something fishy going on here?
Qiao Xi also stared at the wine jar: "Second Young Madam, you are not really going to give this wine to Cui Yan, are you?"

Ye Jiayao was lost in thought. Indeed, everyone only heard what Cuiyan said about the baby in her belly. But Cuiyan came to the mansion to make trouble and threw a tantrum. Was this the behavior of a pregnant woman? Cuiyan should know that the child is her greatest support, so she should be careful to protect the child. Well, this matter needs to be investigated carefully.

Seeing that the Second Young Madam didn't react, Qiao Xi said nothing more.

After entering the palace, Ye Jiayao first went to Chaoyang Palace to ask the Queen for instructions on what to eat today.

The Queen was talking to several concubines, so she asked Wanru to pass on a message, saying that it was okay to do whatever they wanted, and that there was no need to be so particular about it right now, as the Emperor would have lunch in the Zichen Palace at noon.

What Ye Jiayao hates to hear the most is the word "casual". The person who says it may want to save trouble, but the person who does it will not save trouble and will have to think about it again.

It seems that it would be better to write a vegetarian menu and let the queen order the dishes for each meal herself.

When they arrived at the imperial kitchen, everyone was familiar with Ye Jiayao and greeted her warmly. No matter what Ye Jiayao needed, someone would come to help her, and there was no need for the imperial kitchen manager to give any instructions.

The kitchen is a place where cooking skills speak louder than words. Whoever has better cooking skills and is appreciated by the masters will be the boss. Although Ye Jiayao is only a walking attendant in the imperial kitchen and rarely comes to the imperial kitchen to cook, she cooks for the emperor and empress when she comes. This kind of honor can only be enjoyed by top chefs like Lu Yiming. Others find it difficult to even get the qualification to help.

In addition, Ye Jiayao was the second young lady of the Jing'an Marquis's Mansion, and she didn't like to put on airs and was polite to everyone, so naturally everyone looked at her differently. Some respected her, some flattered her, and even if they didn't have either of those, at least they didn't want to offend Ye Jiayao. This made Ye Jiayao's work go smoothly.

Just as they were about to start, Lu Yiming came over again: "Manager Ye, can I discuss something with you?"

Ye Jiayao said in a good-tempered manner: "Manager Lu, you are too polite. Please tell me what's the matter."

Lu Yiming felt a little embarrassed and hesitated, "Is it so? Can I learn your vegetarian cuisine? Uh... don't get me wrong, I'm just afraid that after a while, when you're gone, the emperor and empress will remember to eat the dishes you made, but they won't be able to summon you to the palace. If they ask me to cook, what can I do?"

Lu Yiming explained eagerly that each trade had its own rules, and if you wanted to learn someone's special skills, you had to ask for their permission, and stealing someone's skills was despised. If Shopkeeper Ye refused, he would have no choice.

"Don't worry. I won't pass on what you taught me to anyone else, not even my own son, without your consent. I promise that these dishes will not appear anywhere else except the imperial kitchen. I guarantee this with the century-old reputation of Vegetarian Kitchen." Lu Yiming said solemnly.

Ye Jiayao trusted Lu Yiming's character, and she was not a stingy person. Besides, Lu Yiming's concerns were reasonable. She was only responsible for the food and drink of the emperor and empress during the funeral period. After this period, she would definitely not come every day, and the emperor was embarrassed to ask for it.

Ye Jiayao said straightforwardly: "No problem, if others can't trust you, Chef Lu, how can you not trust him?"

Lu Yiming was overjoyed. He didn't expect Shopkeeper Ye to agree so readily. He clasped his fists and bowed: "In that case, thank you very much, Shopkeeper Ye."

Lu Yiming simply helped Ye Jiayao. The other chefs were shocked when they saw this. What was going on? The number one chef in the imperial kitchen was actually helping Shopkeeper Ye?
One of them was teaching while doing it, while the other was learning and taking notes, completely ignoring the surprised looks of others.

After lunch was ready, Ye Jiayao could not leave. She had to wait until the emperor and empress had finished eating. Otherwise, if they asked for more dishes or were not satisfied with any of the dishes, they would still have to come to her.

Taking advantage of this break, Ye Jiayao sat in the small courtyard of the imperial kitchen and took out the accounts that Manager Zhao had given her yesterday to have a look.

There was nothing wrong with the accounts, and every single one was calculated very clearly, except that the total amount added up to a considerable amount. However, the fact that the people below her got more money meant that she earned more. Ye Jiayao was not a stingy person who only took in money but never spent it. She liked mutual benefit and everyone was happy and harmonious. So she wrote a note on it and handed it over to Manager Zhao to handle.

After waiting for half an hour, the eunuch from the imperial kitchen who had delivered lunch came back and said that the emperor and empress had finished their meal. Ye Jiayao then stood up and left the palace.

She was still thinking about Cui Yan, so she went back to ask her elder brother first.

After arriving home, Manager Zhao came back to say that everyone had been sent away and all the valuable furnishings in the house had been sealed up. He asked whether we should send someone to bring them back and give them to the eldest young lady?
Ye Jiayao nodded, and these things would naturally be handed over to You.

"You'd better take Mama Fang with you." Ye Jiayao said, and asked Youshi's own people to go with the inventory, so that if something was missing, she would not be blamed.

"Yes." Manager Zhao took the order and left. Ye Jiayao then asked someone to invite the eldest young master.

Chunli was also thinking about the matters at the outer house, and came over soon.

Ye Jiayao sent away all the irrelevant people so that the two of them could talk more conveniently.

"Brother, I have something to ask you."

Chunli was as honest as a rabbit. Last night, he was overwhelmed with guilt and impulsively left Nuo and handed over the house deed. He regretted it in the middle of the night, but it was too late. In addition, his brother-in-law was still there, always glaring at him, as if to say, "If you don't behave, I don't mind beating you up again." He didn't dare to say a word and behaved himself.

"Second brother and sister, just ask."

"Cui Yan said she's pregnant. Have you asked the doctor to confirm it?"

Chunli shook his head: "I only knew about this when your sister-in-law came to my house to make trouble. Cuiyan said that she had already seen a doctor and wanted to find a suitable opportunity to tell me and give me a surprise."

Ye Jiayao had a plan in mind. It seemed that it was just Cuiyan's one-sided story. Maybe Cuiyan wanted to use this as an excuse, fearing that Chunli would dump her. This was a common trick used by mistresses. "How long did she say she was pregnant? When did her period come?" Ye Jiayao continued to understand the situation.

The scumbag Chunli actually blushed and stammered, "She said it's almost two months. As for the menstrual period, I don't remember it clearly. Who remembers this?"

Well, it seems that Chunli is not only a scumbag but also confused. Now that Ye Jiayao doesn’t have any real evidence, she can’t say anything. Let’s wait until the truth is revealed!
"Okay, there's nothing else to say. You can go back now, brother." After asking all the questions that needed to be asked, Ye Jiayao ended the conversation.

But Chunli hasn’t asked what he wants to know yet!

"Second brother's wife, over at the outer house..."

There were a lot of valuable things in there, and he wanted to put them away, but his brother-in-law was staring at him and he couldn't get away. He didn't know how his second brother's wife solved the problem.

As soon as Ye Jiayao saw his hesitant expression, she knew what he was planning.

"Well, the people have been sent away. They are all from other places and have been settled in. There is no need to worry. As for the things in the house, my sister-in-law has already sent people to count them." Ye Jiayao said bluntly, shattering Chunli's fantasy.

Chunli's face turned pale, the corners of his mouth twitched, and he felt so distressed that he wanted to cry. Now he had nothing left.

Ye Jiayao smiled and comforted him, "As husband and wife, what's yours is sister-in-law's, and what's sister-in-law's is yours. Won't it all belong to your son in the future?"

Thinking of his son, Chunli felt a little better and walked away dejectedly.

As soon as Chunli left, Ye Jiayao immediately asked Xiangtao to invite the doctor from Renhetang. Then she took the doctor and Lin Kun's family to the small courtyard where she and Aunt Jiang had lived together before.

Manager Zhao placed Cui Yan here.

Ye Jiayao and the doctor were waiting in the hall, while Lin Kun's family went to bring Cui Yan over.

Cui Yan's hands were tied, her mouth was blocked with a handkerchief, and her hair was disheveled, which frightened the doctor at Renhetang.

"Second Young Madam, this is..."

Ye Jiayao said lightly, "This little girl is so ignorant. She has been acting crazy lately and has even pissed off the eldest young lady. I asked you to come here today because I want you to help her see what's wrong."

The doctor knew what was going on. Yesterday, the eldest lady of the Marquis's mansion had a miscarriage and gave birth prematurely. It must be this woman's fault. As for the specific situation, he was just a doctor and had no interest in asking. In a mansion, some things did not need to be explained so clearly.

When Cui Yan heard that it was a doctor, she forgot to struggle. The color on her face immediately disappeared and she looked at the Second Young Madam in horror.

Ye Jiayao sneered: "Didn't you say you were not feeling well? Let the doctor take a look!"

Cui Yan finally reacted and struggled even more violently. Her mouth was blocked and she made a whimpering sound in her throat. She refused to let the doctor see her even if she died.

Ye Jiayao sneered in her heart, becoming more and more certain of her guess.

"Lin Kun's family, let her be quiet." Ye Jiayao ordered in a deep voice.

Lin Kun's family winked at the two servants who were escorting Cui Yan, and they increased their force to force Cui Yan to sit down.

But Cuiyan struggled desperately, and in such a critical situation, she was surprisingly strong, and the two men couldn't hold her down.

The doctor at Renhetang sighed, took out a silver needle and walked towards Cuiyan: "Let me do it!"

As he said this, he injected a needle into the back of Cuiyan's neck. Cuiyan immediately went limp and passed out.

Ye Jiayao was stunned: "Doctor...is she okay?"

The doctor said calmly, "It's alright. I just pierced her sleeping point to let her be quiet for a while. She will wake up in half an hour."

Ye Jiayao thought to herself: Chinese acupuncture is truly magical. A thin silver needle can be so useful.

Two servants lifted Cuiyan onto a chair and untied the ropes.

The doctor stepped forward, grabbed Cui Yan's hand, and took her pulse carefully.

Ye Jiayao looked at the doctor nervously, hoping that her guess was correct, which would make things much easier. Otherwise, Mrs. Qiao would definitely kill the baby in Cuiyan's belly, and she really couldn't bring herself to do it. It might even make Mrs. You unhappy, after all, this was the blood of the Xia family. The mother could refuse to acknowledge the baby, but the flesh and blood must be acknowledged. This was the attitude of many elders in dealing with such matters.

(End of this chapter)