At this time, in the separate courtyard of the Marquis of Chu State's residence, a tranquil and gentle atmosphere prevailed. She leaned against the incense burner, her eyes slightly closed in comfort as she smiled at Lady Bai across from her and Pan Xiang playing with an old cat beside him. The warm fragrance wafted up from the incense burner, permeating her sleeves and hair.

  Madam Bai carefully applied the pig's foot cream to the back of her hand, brought it to her nose to smell, and smiled: "It smells pretty good, and it feels quite moisturizing. Dan Niang, you really have a lot of free time."

  "Peony said: "The weather is getting cooler and my mother is getting older, she always thinks of my father and brothers in her heart, every day she wants to worship Buddha and recite scriptures, greedy for warmth and hiding by the brazier, she has no energy at all. I have to find something else to distract her and take her mind off things."

  Madam Bai lay on her back on the couch, ordering Yu to apply a beauty cream all over her face. With her eyes closed, she said: "I really envy you for being so carefree, doing whatever you want every day. If I want to take a break and be alone, I have to pretend to be ill to sneak away here. When I want to talk to you, I'm afraid you're busy. Luckily, Yu went back to get something and happened to run into you, so I knew you were free these days and had you come over. Otherwise, at this moment, I wouldn't even have anyone to talk to."

  "Is there something on your mind that you'd like to talk about? Why so many worries? No matter how busy I am, I can always spare some time to chat with you. How long have you been staying here?" This beauty cream, Li Man Niang and Du Fu Ren had Lin Ma Ma send it over, but Bai Fu Ren hadn't seen her in a long time, so she let Xiao Er run this errand, also intending to ask if Bai Fu Ren was free to visit Fang Yuan for a stroll and a chat. Who knew that Bai Fu Ren had already arrived at the other courtyard alone with Pan Xiang to "rest" and recover from her illness?

  The white lady's eyelashes fluttered slightly: "It wasn't long ago, just about half a month ago."

  Recalling the strange behavior of this couple at the last gathering in Fangyuan, Peony secretly wondered if they had another falling out and asked: "How long do you plan to stay here?"

  Mrs. Bai fell silent for a moment, then said, "I haven't thought about it specifically. Let's just see how things go, it's rare to have such peace and quiet, so let's just enjoy it." Yu's hand paused, and a worried expression appeared on her face, she wanted to speak but stopped herself, finally lowering her eyes and continuing to wipe Mrs. Bai's face and neck.

  The peony was seen in the eyes, and the heart knew that this couple must have had a problem, and it was a big one. Just thinking about how to comfort Mrs. Bai, suddenly saw an old woman with a bun and a golden pin holding a large bowl of porridge and walking in, smiling: "This is what Little Gong wanted earlier."

  "Bring it over and let me see."

  She was lying still, the old woman busied herself to walk a few steps forward and handed it in front of her. Mrs. Bai glanced at it and said, "It's cooked well, but don't let him eat too much." Just as she was saying this, she suddenly covered her mouth, turned over and sat up, and had a dry heave. Jingyu quickly handed over the basin, and Mrs. Bai's eyes were already filled with tears, but she only vomited out a few mouthfuls of clear water.

  The woman was so frightened that she hastily retreated several steps with her bowl, saying anxiously: "Does the lady not like this flavor?"

  "Put down your bowl and get out."

  The nanny curtsied and slipped out quietly. Pan Ling clamored for food, but his wet nurse didn't dare give him any, only looking at Madame Bai inquiringly. Madame Bai rinsed her mouth, weakly waving her hand: "Take him out to eat, just half a bowl is allowed, don't let him eat too much."

  When the wet nurse carried Pan Yan out, Peony quietly asked: "What's wrong with you?"

  Madam Bai didn't even notice the beauty cream still on her hand, and gently placed it on her lower abdomen, furrowing her brow without saying a word. After a long while, she finally let out a low sigh: "It seems I'm pregnant again."

  Yu Li gave Peony a meaningful glance, apparently having had some thoughts in mind.

  "Ah, that's great! Ah Jue has a younger brother or sister to play with, so he won't be lonely. Have you invited the doctor over?"

  "None, it's just a guess."

  "Peony could see that Madame Bai's mood was extremely bad. This child, seemingly a girl, didn't seem to be very welcome. She fell silent for a moment before speaking softly: 'Please get a doctor to take a look. If it is, then we should keep her if she needs to be kept. If not, and there's an illness, we need to treat it early.'"

  Madam Bai took the handkerchief handed over by Nian Yu, and slowly wiped off the beauty cream on her face. When she was wiping for the fifth time, she suddenly covered her face with the handkerchief, holding it still, only her shoulders slightly trembling.

  Yu Yu saw this and looked at Peony in a fluster. She had been following Madame Bai since she was young, and it was only the second time she had seen Madame Bai like this...

  Peony hastily stepped forward and held onto Madame Bai's shoulder. She didn't say a word either, only gently stroking Madame Bai's back, but as soon as she touched her, she realized that Madame Bai's back was all bones, surprisingly even thinner than herself.

  After about half an incense stick, Madame Bai's trembling gradually subsided. She still held her face with a handkerchief and said in a dull tone: "Dan Niang, take advantage of the early hour to hurry back. I'm not feeling well, want to be alone for a while, can't entertain you today, please forgive me."

  Yu Rong anxiously looked at Mudan, shaking her head slightly, meaning she hoped Mudan would stay. Mudan hesitated for a moment, gently patted the shoulder of the white lady, and softly said: "Then you rest, I'll go back. In short, think more about Ah Ju and yourself, as well as Yu Rong and the others. If you have anything, just call me and I'll be there immediately."

  Peony deeply understood that someone like Madam Bai was extremely proud from the inside out, always presenting herself as perfect in front of others, never easily showing weakness or helplessness. Even if she wanted to, her upbringing wouldn't allow her to freely express her emotions in front of others. She had her pride and self-respect; although she loved to comfort herself with gentle words, when it came to the matter between her and Pan Rong, she only mentioned it briefly without going into details. Out of respect, Peony didn't pry further since Madam Bai was unwilling to speak about it. Despite knowing that this must be Madam Bai's most painful moment, Peony also knew that what she needed most right now wasn't comfort but solitude, a space to freely express her emotions alone.

  Madam Bai nodded vigorously: "Yes, all right." Then she hurriedly sent Yu out, "Yu, you see He Niang off for me."

  "Yes." Although Yu's mouth responded, she looked at Mrs. Bai with concern, motionless. Peony gently pulled her: "Let's go."

  Yunyu followed Peony out of the door, beckoning a young maid to go to the side tea house to call Huoer and Kuaner over. She also ordered someone to bring a horse for Peony and called out to Gui. Peony hastily said: "Don't bother, hurry back and keep watch at the gate for your mistress..." If things were as she expected, Lady Bai was probably crying her eyes out right now. Peony paused for a moment, then spoke in a low voice: "If she still doesn't feel well after a long time, have Ah Ju go call her... I'll be in town these next few days, if anything happens, just send someone to tell me and I'll come immediately."

  Niè Yù hastily paid her respects to the peony and rushed in, arriving at the outside of Madame Bai's residence. However, she found the doors and windows tightly shut, with an eerie silence inside. She felt a little panicked and subconsciously pushed the door gently, but it was bolted from the inside and wouldn't budge. Niè Yù became frightened and wanted to shout for help, but then remembered Peony's words. She pressed her ear against the gap between the doors, holding her breath to listen... A low, suppressed sobbing sound came from inside.

  Tears streamed down Yu's face uncontrollably, poor lady, she didn't even dare to cry out loud. She calculated the time and planned that if Madame Bai still didn't call for someone after half an hour, she would follow Peony's instructions and bring over Pan Xuan to be called "mother". However, Madame Bai's sobbing gradually subsided, and the sound of water came from inside, roughly after half a stick of incense had passed, the door creaked open, and Madame Bai stood at the entrance saying: "Go get Ah Xuan. Have the kitchen make me a bowl of bird's nest congee." Her complexion was not good-looking, her eyes were still red, but her hair was already neatly combed.

  Yuexi let out a big sigh of relief and happily agreed.

  The peony was in full bloom, but she didn't notice it. She let her horse walk slowly and just kept thinking about Madam Bai's affairs with her head down. She wanted to help Madam Bai more than ever before, and to do so, she had to understand what had happened in their past. Jiang Changyang clearly knew something. She looked up at the sky and estimated that when she returned to the city, Jiang Changyang should be back too. She turned her head to look at Gui who was following closely behind her: "Gui, you went to Furong Garden to deliver a message last time, did you know if Mr. Jiang has been busy with official duties these past few days? Is he in or out of the city?"

  Last time she let you go and tell Jiang Changyang about Lu Wulang coming to her door, Jiang Changyang only responded with a sentence "I know" and asked her not to worry, but there was no more conversation. After that, Mrs. Du came to the door, although she didn't intentionally talk to him, she knew he knew about it, but he still didn't say anything, this has been going on for several days, and she hasn't met him when she went out. Thinking of this, Peony couldn't help but slightly pout her mouth.

  He let out a soft "ah" and his eyes darted around, looking evasive. He glanced around the area before saying, "It should be here, right?"

  "Like this, you go ahead to Furong Garden first and take a look. If Mr. Jiang is there, tell him to come in this direction, I have something to say to him."

  "Mother, there are still some programs left in this city. It's not good to leave you and Kuang'er, Shu'er here. How about we go a bit further and talk again?"

  "Peony frowned and said: 'Don't you want to go?'"

  Guiguan smiled: "Where is it?" He pulled his neck forward and looked, and suddenly a thread of joy appeared in his eyes: "Mother, say Cao Cao, Cao Cao arrived. Look, who is that?"

  Since it's said that way, who else could it be? Peony raised her eyes and saw two horsemen coming from afar. Although their faces were still unclear, she could see that the person in front was wearing a blue round-necked robe, which she remembered clearly. It was what Jiang Changyang wore when he first accompanied her back to the city. Her heart skipped a beat with excitement, and she raised her whip, lashed the horse's buttocks, and galloped towards the approaching riders.

  As she walked halfway, she finally got a clear look at the man's face, it wasn't Jiang Changyang. But the other person also saw her approaching with a smile all over her face. Peony was extremely embarrassed and turned around to glare at Gui: "Why did you lie about the military situation?"

  He shrunk his neck: "Doesn't it look like that? You also thought so."