As soon as Wen Qinghe's words fell, Jiang Wanru happily took the empty bowl from Wen Jiuniang and walked inside. (Please remember) She had only walked halfway when she suddenly turned her head to face Wen Qinghe and said: "Thank you, Master Wen, for trying it out. I'll go make some sweet red bean paste pancakes. I'll save a portion for you." Wen Qinghe heard the tone of her voice, which was clearly that of a new cook who had just taken over. He wanted to respond when Jiang Wanru had already turned and walked away.

  Wen Qinghe turned his head in surprise and looked at Wen Jiuniang, saying: "Didn't you tell me a few days ago that Jiang Niangzi is very talented in cooking?" Wen Jiuniang nodded affirmatively after hearing his words, saying: "Xiao Lan indeed has talent. She's only been learning to cook for some time now. The dishes she cooks nowadays are all praised by Father for their novelty. The pastry you had today was her first attempt at making it. Don't you think the style is exquisite and that piece in the back tastes good too?"

  Wen Jiuniang looked at Wen Qinghe's expression and said to Bi Lü, "Bi Lü, has your Xiaolan ever cooked before?" Bi Lü smiled and nodded, saying, "Xiaolan, when she first started cooking, she didn't even know how to use flint to start a fire, let alone control the size of the flames. But now she's gotten the hang of it and cooks delicious dishes. Sometimes when she has free time, she thinks up new desserts to make, and they're all very delicate, but the flavor needs someone else to taste first."

  Wen Qinghe only thought that Jiang Wanting had a strange habit, where there were people cooking, she wouldn't go taste the flavor herself, but instead wanted others to help her taste it. Wen Jiuniang heard this and laughed, saying: "Brother, you also think she's a bit weird, right? This little lazybones, when cooking, if she has to taste the dish's flavor, afterwards she won't have the heart to cook other dishes. It's the same with pastries, she needs others to help her taste the flavor before she'll have the heart to finish making them."

  Wen Qinghe looked at Jiang Wanyu's behavior, usually you think she is okay, only today did I know that she is not a good person to deal with. Bi Lu picked up the sleepy Jiang Yanran and said: "Fei Yang, bear with it for a moment, let Auntie take your sister back to sleep." Wen Jiuniang walked over, hugged Jiang Feiyang in her arms, and whispered to Bi Lu: "My brother is watching the children there, I'll go with you to send them to sleep."

  Wen Qinghe stayed, squatting at the edge of the grass mat. Niu Niu came over and leaned against him, speaking in a low voice: "Dad, you said Auntie can't be my mom, but can Auntie be my mom? She can cook many delicious things, and she will also hold me and talk to me." Wen Qinghe looked at his daughter with some surprise, asking in a low voice: "You like Auntie very much?" Niu Niu smiled and nodded: "I like her, I also like brother and sister." Wen Qinghe looked at his daughter's smiling face, only lightly stroking the top of her head.

  After Wen Jiuniang came out, she picked up Shang Mingshi and said to Niu Niu: "Niu Niu, are you going to stay here with Dad or go sleep with your brother and sisters for a while?" Niu Niu looked at Wen Qinghe with a reluctant face and said: "Dad, do you want me to accompany you?" Wen Qinghe gently stroked his daughter's face and said in a low voice: "Niu'er, go sleep for a while, Dad will be here waiting for you to wake up." Niu Niu was happy to follow Wen Jiuniang then. After seeing that Niu Niu and Shang Mingshi had fallen asleep, Wen Jiuniang looked at Bi Lü who was standing guard beside them and said: "Bi Lü, my brother has something to talk to me about, let's go outside the courtyard to talk, you help me keep an eye on them." Bi Lü smiled and nodded.

  Wen Jiuniang walked out of the room and saw Wen Qinghe still standing by the corridor, his eyes fixed on her. She smiled and walked over to him, saying: "Brother, is our family pressuring you to take a concubine again?" Wen Qinghe nodded with an angry expression, speaking in a low voice: "I don't know what kind of medicine that woman gave my mother, but she insists that I take her as a concubine. If it weren't for the sake of our daughter, I'd have killed that woman already. Now that I'm marrying again, it's like taking someone else's good daughter and bringing her into our home to be bullied to death."

  Wen Jiuniang's face changed color, and she whispered to Wen Qinghe: "Have you ever mentioned this to your uncle?" Wen Qinghe shook his head with a bitter expression, and said in a low voice: "After Father had Wang Yiniang beaten to death by Mother, he has long been disgusted with Mother. The two of them are now just pretending to be okay on the surface, maintaining a united front for outsiders to see. If I were to tell Father the truth, I'm afraid he would also lose his temper and directly divorce Mother."

  "Big sister, how could you let such a good person die like that? When Niu Niu grows up and finds out what really happened, she'll never forgive you for letting the enemy go today." Wen Qinghe's eyes were red as he looked at Wen Jiuniang, his voice filled with pain. "Jiuniang, do you know? If it weren't for Niu Niu, I would have wanted to die together with my mother a long time ago. That way, I could have fulfilled my filial duty and reunited with your sister in the afterlife. Your sister was so kind to her, even someone with a heart of stone should have been warmed by it. And yet she had the heart to abandon her own daughter's mother to be bullied to death."

  Wen Jiuniang and her family had long since distanced themselves from Wen Qinghe's mother, whose temperament was like a stormy sea on a windless day. The two families had fallen out years ago and no longer kept in touch. After marrying into the Shang family, Wen Jiuniang only secretly maintained contact with Wen Qinghe. She had originally thought that as long as Wen Qinghe's small family stayed far away from her own, she could maintain peace at home. But after hearing about the cruelty of that woman, she immediately changed her mind, fearing that the woman would not let go of her own son so easily.

  Wen Qinghe couldn't help but laugh at this point, and said to Wen Jiuniang: "Jiuniang, don't you remember that I've been doing the medicinal herb business all these years? I won't take another wife now. First, I need to get rid of that woman. I just happened to save her, but she's been clinging to me nonstop. She wants to marry me and have children with me. As for having children, she can forget about it in this lifetime. Haha, as for becoming my wife or concubine, she can forget about entering my household even more. I've told my mother that if she dares to act on her own accord, don't blame me for cutting off our mother-son relationship. With a mother like mine, it's like she's holding a soft knife and slashing at my heart."

  Wen Jiuniang gazed at the person in front of her, who was sneering. She was taken aback and tears fell from her eyes. Wen Qinghe, a renowned elegant and refined member of the Wen family, had been forced by his mother to become the kind of person he was now. Seeing Wen Jiuniang's sorrowful expression, Wen Qinghe smiled wryly and said to her: "Don't be sad, since the day my father ignored me because of my mother's affairs, I've only been able to entrust our daughter to you in the family. I want to save some money, so that in the future, we can go to the capital city and let our daughter grow up without worries."

  Wen Qinghe didn't wait for his daughter to wake up, and a servant rushed over to call him out. Jiang Wanyu brought out a bowl of pastries and saw the tear stains on Wen Jiuniang's face that hadn't dried yet. She sighed and said: "Jiuniang, are you sad about your brother again? Alas, mothers and sons don't have overnight grudges. As a mother, she will think more for her own son. She will definitely find a good wife for your brother and a good mother for the child. You just think too much, come on, eat some sweet pastries, and you'll feel better."

  Wen Jiuniang hastily applied a layer of powder to her face, and with a blush, she faced Jiang Wanyu and said: "The wind is strong and the sand is plentiful, it's hurt my eyes." Jiang Wanyu smiled and accepted this excuse. She handed the bowl in her hand to Wen Jiuniang and said: "Then please help me send this dessert to Shang Daifu and his family to taste, if there's anything not good about it, please let them speak their minds so I can improve next time." Wen Jiuniang took the bowl with a smile and whispered: "Xiao Lan, the children have been sleeping for a long time, they'll wake up soon. Give them less dessert, I'm worried that during dinner they won't eat much."

  Jiang Wanru smiled and said, "Okay, I'll give each of them one piece of pastry to eat now, and put the rest away for tomorrow." Jiang Wanru turned around and went back to the kitchen, wrapped the pastries in dry leaves and tied them up. She carried three small packages out front and gave one package to the old gatekeeper couple to try, causing the old man to repeatedly say "thank you, master". Jiang Wanru took another package to coax the four children, and stuffed one package into Bi Lu as a snack.

  The days passed quickly to the summer, in the middle of the government office, suddenly sounded joyful gongs and drums, causing people to rush over to ask for news. They heard that recently, there have been frequent reports of victories on the border, and the enemy's surrender has been sent to the capital by fast horse. Wen Jiuniang excitedly rushed over to report the good news, she smiled and said: "Xiao Lan, it's so lively in the street, let's go and join in the fun." Jiang Wenyu looked at the big belly of Bì Lǜ, lowered her head and looked at their two little ones, she smiled and said: "You go ahead, we'll stay home and wait to hear you tell us about the exciting things."

  Jiuniang walked away with a happy and joyful expression, while Bi Lü envied her and looked at her back, saying: "The Shang family is really good, Jiuniang got married, but she's still so carefree, it's quite rare." Jiang Wanru smiled and said: "The people in the Shang family like Jiuniang's personality, they get along very well. However, I think Jiuniang must have had a very happy life in her maiden home to cultivate such a natural, straightforward, and considerate personality."

  After Jiang Wanru finished speaking, Bi Lü was silent for a while. Jiang Wanru smiled and squatted down to tease the smiling Jiang Feiyang and Jiang Lanlan, who were hugging each other. Before long, the three of them were playing together. Jiang Wanru seemed to hear Bi Lü sighing softly, saying: "Actually, many people envy me for having such a carefree life as I do now, so there's no need to envy others." When Jiang Wanru looked up at Bi Lü, she saw her smiling warmly with her hands gently stroking her belly.

  After entering autumn, Fang Zheng hurried back to Zhongnan. He looked at Bi Lu's cheerful expression and after she fell asleep, he specially found Jiang Wanru, smiled and thanked her: "Xiao Lan, this time I came back, all the way worried that Bi Lu would give me a cold face, and worried that she would become thin and pitiful. Now seeing that everything is fine with her, my heart has finally fallen into place."

  "Thank you for taking good care of her." Jiang Wanmu heard this and smiled at him several times, saying: "You let her put her mind at ease, she will naturally be able to rest and recover well, preparing to bloom and bear fruit for your family."

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