Pastoral Splendor

The busy first day finally came to an end. Yan Ying and Manager Zhao tallied up the figures and found that they had sold nearly three hundred taels of silver. If they calculated a profit of half, they would have earned over one hundred taels. Yan Ying knew very well in her heart that they had definitely earned more than half, but she deliberately understated the profit to prevent Manager Zhao from spreading the word and making it difficult for Bai Xiang Yuan to do business in the future.

The capital city is still the capital city. Even though her things were expensive, people still came to buy them. Although many of the items were bought by Xu Yixuan and Jian Yifei through their friends and relatives, there were also quite a few genuine customers. Moreover, Yan Ying believed that as long as people were willing to buy, and her products gained a reputation, the business would flourish even more.

Princess Consort Yu had already returned to her residence before noon. Before leaving, she reluctantly grabbed Yan Ying's hand and said, "If you encounter any difficulties in the future, just come to me."

Yan Ying lowered her head, not daring to look into the Princess Consort's earnest gaze, and said softly, "Thank you for your high regard, Your Highness."

Princess Yu felt a pang of sadness when she saw that Yan Ying refused to look up at her. She took Xiu Yue's hand and got into the carriage. She lifted the side curtain slightly and gazed greedily at Yan Ying's fair and jade-like face, then let out a long sigh.

Madam Li sat silently to the side, while Xiuyue, somewhat self-righteously, said, "Does Your Highness think that Miss Xiao and our young master have an unusual relationship? This servant thinks that the young master is very fond of Miss Xiao. After the young master marries the young master's wife, Miss Xiao can be brought into the mansion as a concubine."

Princess Yu gave her a displeased look, and Li Mama scolded from the side, "Xiuyue, you have served the Princess for so many years, how come you don't know the rules? This is not something you should think of, isn't it presumptuous?" Although Xiuyue's words were not wrong, the important thing was that she did not know that Yanying was Princess Yu's daughter, and still regarded her as a country girl.

Xiuyue shuddered and quickly knelt down to apologize to Princess Yu: "Your Highness, this servant knows her mistake."

Princess Yu ignored her, only lifting the side curtain a little to look outside. As Yan Ying's figure slowly disappeared, she lowered the side curtain with a sense of loss. Turning her head, she saw Xiu Yue kneeling there and asked with some surprise, "Xiu Yue, why are you kneeling?"

Xiuyue said in a low voice, "This servant knows her mistake. This servant should not have talked nonsense."

"It's good that you know you're wrong. Just watch your mouth from now on." Princess Yu glanced at her and said, "Get up."

Xiuyue was overjoyed. She kowtowed and got up, sitting quietly on the small stool. Looking at the gentle expression on the Princess Consort's face, she secretly felt fortunate that she was following the Princess Consort. If she had followed that Consort Zhu, she would have been in for a beating.

After seeing Princess Yu off, Yan Ying returned to the shop. Manager Zhao and the shop assistants were all preparing to leave. Yan Ying smiled at them and said, "I've been so busy today that I haven't had a chance to catch my breath. In a couple of days, I'll cook a feast for you all."

Manager Zhao and his employees were very grateful: "Thank you very much, boss."

Jian Yifei busied himself putting the door panels on the Baixiangyuan shop. He was strong and could carry two or three panels at a time. He was also very fast at installing the door panels. In the blink of an eye, the shop door was closed tightly, leaving only a small door on the side for entry and exit.

The shop instantly darkened, with only a few rays of slanting sunlight filtering through the door, casting a faint yellowish glow. Jian Yifei and Yan Ying stood facing each other, neither speaking, creating a long silence.

"Sanhua, when are we getting married?" Jian Yifei finally managed to stammer out a sentence after a long while: "I...I want to be with you every day."

Yan Ying smiled at him: "You choose the date yourself and send it to my house. Do you expect me to specify the date? People will definitely say I'm desperate to get married."

Hearing this, Jian Yifei was delighted and quietly reached out to take Yan Ying's hand: "How about we get married after your second sister gets married?"

Yan Ying pouted: "Where's your mother? What did she say? We have to pay respects to our parents when we get married. If she stays out of the way and doesn't show up, how can we have the wedding ceremony?"

“This…” Jian Yifei squeezed Yan Ying’s hand and whispered, “Don’t worry about it. I will persuade her eventually. If she insists on not agreeing, then I will go to your house to have the wedding ceremony and pay respects to your parents. That will be enough.”

"Hmm, you certainly have guts." Yan Ying laughed. Going to Xiaojia Village to get married, doesn't that mean she's marrying into the family? If Jian Yifei's mother knew, she'd be furious.

“What courage? I just want us to be together.” Jian Yifei sincerely took Yan Ying’s hand, took a step closer to her, and gently embraced her: “Didn’t we agree to spend our whole lives together? I don’t care if you marry into my family or I get married, as long as you’re with me, that’s all that matters.”

Yan Ying nodded and pressed her face against Jian Yifei's chin: "You're right, I'll have to reward you properly."

Jian Yifei's breathing became somewhat rapid, and their noses drew closer and closer, almost able to feel each other's warm breath. Just then, the back door suddenly opened, and a strong ray of sunlight shone in. The two turned their heads to look at the door and saw a dark figure standing there, back to the sunlight, so it was not very clear. But judging from the figure, Yan Ying believed it was Xiuzhu, who had been sent by the Princess Consort of Yu to serve her.

"Xiuzhu, what's the matter?" Yanying asked loudly.

Xiuzhu squinted. Having just come from a sunny place into this dark room, she was still quite unaccustomed to it. Suddenly hearing someone speaking, she was even more startled and stammered, "Miss Xiao! I came to ask you when you're going to cook dinner."

Yan Ying shook off Jian Yifei's hand and walked towards the backyard: "Let's do it now."

Jian Yifei gave the uninvited guest a resentful look, pondering whether she should immobilize her and Xiuwen by striking their pressure points to prevent them from running around, so that she could have a peaceful intimate moment with Yanying.

Following Yan Ying to the kitchen, Yan Ying said to Xiu Wen who was waiting there, "You and Xiu Zhu go and tidy up the house. Jian Gongzi and I are enough to handle things in the kitchen."

Xiuwen responded and quickly pushed open the door and went out, thoughtfully closing the kitchen door behind her. Jian Yifei felt a little more comfortable when she saw that only she and Yan Ying were in the kitchen. She walked up to Yan Ying and said with a grin, "This Xiuwen is much smarter than that Xiuzhu."

Yan Ying glanced up at him: "How do you know?"

Jian Yifei suddenly hugged her tightly, his hands like iron clamps: "She knew to close the kitchen door when she went out." After saying this, he suddenly pressed his face against hers: "Sanhua, I really want to kiss you. I've missed you so much after not seeing you for so many days."

"How can there be so many days? Haven't we seen each other every day these days?" Yan Ying laughed and struggled, "We can talk nonsense later, let's get the food ready first!"

Jian Yifei quickly pecked her lips. He had intended to let go as Yan Ying had told him, but Yan Ying's lips were so soft and fragrant that he couldn't just skim away. His face had barely moved away when he suddenly pressed it back: "Sanhua, let me kiss you again..."

After one kiss, they kissed twice, and slowly the two of them embraced, completely forgetting about cooking.

"Sanhua, you are so beautiful."

"I've always been good-looking, and you're only just realizing it?"

"You've always been beautiful, but the more I look at you, the more beautiful you become. No one can compare to you." Jian Yifei's eyes burned like a flame, intensely scorching her skin. "What should I do? If we get married, will I only want to look at you every day and not want to do my work?"

"How could that be?" Yan Ying laughed. These were just silly things said when people were in love. Even the most abnormal person would become normal after marriage. She nudged Jian Yifei: "Hurry up and help me wash the vegetables and start the fire. I can hear footsteps pacing back and forth in the yard outside. Xiuzhu and Xiuwen must be hungry."

Jian Yifei looked up and realized that the sun was setting and the light in the kitchen was gradually dimming. He quickly went to the side, rolled up his sleeves, and started washing vegetables. Yan Ying lit the oil lamp and began preparing the meal.

White smoke curled up from the kitchen roof. Xiuwen and Xiuzhu stood under the tree, watching the smoke, and swallowed hard: "Finally, we can start cooking."

"Isn't that right?" Xiuzhu said with a worried look, "It's already this late, how come Miss Xiao and Young Master Jian aren't hungry at all? I've been busy all day, and my stomach is empty."

Xiuwen smiled wryly, "They have their own things to do, they won't go hungry!"

"Didn't everyone say that our young master likes Miss Xiao? Now that Young Master Jian has come along, what's going on? Isn't Young Master Jian our young master's martial arts instructor? And yet he's so intimate with Miss Xiao?" Xiuzhu frowned and said, "This Miss Xiao is really something, she's holding hands with both of them and won't let go!"

"Xiuzhu! Don't talk nonsense!" Xiuyun quickly tugged at her sleeve: "Do you remember Xiuyun? Illness enters through the mouth, and disaster comes from the mouth. Remember, remember!"

Xiuzhu curled her lip indifferently, but thinking of Xiuyun who had now been reduced to a lowly maid, she didn't dare to say anything more. She listlessly waved her hand and said, "There's really no way out here. Before, we could still hope that the Princess would be kind enough to assign us a steward or a personal attendant. Now that we've been thrown into this Baixiang Garden, we don't know where our future lies."

“Isn’t this place great? There aren’t so many rules. I don’t have to worry about someone stirring things up behind my back, or about being punished by Consort Zhu for doing something wrong. Besides, I think Miss Xiao is a straightforward person. It’s quite nice working under her.” Xiuwen said enthusiastically, “I really like being here.”

Xiuzhu gave a soft hum and didn't say anything. Judging from her expression, she was quite dismissive. Seeing her expression, Xiuwen knew that she was upset, so she didn't try to persuade her anymore and just hurriedly went to the kitchen.

Chapter 223

The night was deep, the sky was dotted with stars, and the courtyard was quiet. Only the light inside the house could be seen flickering, shining through the light blue window screen, a warm yellow glow, carrying a faint sense of spring.

"Your Highness, what should we do?" Cheng Siwei nestled in the Prince of Qin's arms and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I really like the Miss Yan you chose for Fei'er, but Fei'er insists on marrying a country girl. She even turned against me because of this."

The King of Qin reached out and tapped her cheek, beaming, "How could our Fei'er marry a country girl? Has he lost his mind? You, as his mother, are being too lenient. Marriage is a major event, decided by parents and matchmakers. It's not his place to interfere!"

Cheng Siwei gently pressed her face against Qin Wang's and whispered, "I went to see that country girl, but she spoke so confidently, saying that her background was no worse than mine, and that her marriage to Fei'er was a good match. Oh dear, it makes me so angry!" As she spoke, her two willow-leaf eyebrows furrowed tightly, as if she was in great pain, and her small face turned pale.

The King of Qin laughed heartily and reached out to stroke Cheng Siwei's smooth hair: "That country girl actually said such a thing? That's quite interesting, she's quite bold."

"Your Highness, how dare you laugh at her!" Cheng Siwei sat up straight in Prince Qin's arms, complaining repeatedly, "It's one thing that you won't help Siwei, but you even dare to mock her!" Her eyes were brimming with tears, as if she was about to cry from grievance: "Siwei is, after all, a young lady of the Marquis of Anguo's mansion, but because of her love for Your Highness, she has fallen to this state. Your Highness..." She buried her face in Prince Qin's chest, almost sobbing uncontrollably.

The King of Qin looked down at the slender body in his arms, and suddenly felt a pang of pity. Memories of the past slowly surfaced before his eyes. Back then, she was a young girl like a flower bud, so beautiful and radiant. After they met, they fell in love with each other, but because of her status, he could only see her in secret and could not bring her into the King of Qin's palace as his wife.