The myna's sudden cry of "Brother, sister likes you the most~ Mm-hmm~" instantly silenced everyone in the room.
Then, a heated discussion erupted.
"I never thought Master Jiang the Sixth was such a playboy."
"You can't judge a book by its cover."
"A young man should be amorous."
"It's normal for a young man to be infatuated with a girl."
"The Sixth Master likes elder sisters. I have a niece from my natal family. I'll introduce her to him."
...
The voices of the discussion drowned out Jiang Mingshu's scolding of the myna.
"Shut up! I'll kill you."
Jiang Mingshu panicked and opened the cage, trying to hold the myna's beak.
The myna flew out and circled around the hall, still chattering.
"Sister, you're the only one in my heart."
"Quick, catch it!" Jiang Mingshu shouted at the servants to catch the bird.
"Kill the bird!"
"Sister Five, the old lady gave you a meager dowry. Flatter her more and ask for more."
"The old hag favors her sons. She's biased, so biased..." The myna flew over Old Madam Jiang's head and shouted.
"Mother, be careful! Quick, catch it, hurry up!" Jiang Mingyue's heart skipped a beat when she heard this. She cursed Jiang Mingshu for being careless and urged the servants to catch the myna.
The myna flew from Old Madam Jiang's head to Old Master Jiang's side.
"Old fool, old fool. You're biased towards your own son. For those who aren't your own, you give nothing. You're biased. You poisoned the robe, poisoned it, and want to poison you to death..."
"Jiang Mingshu!" As Old Master Jiang got older, he became more and more afraid of death. Hearing this, he was terrified. He immediately took off his robe, threw it on the ground, and stomped on it twice.
"Go, call the doctor."
"Father, it wasn't me who said that. It wasn't me," Jiang Mingshu denied, but everyone could see her panic after the truth was exposed.
"Quick, catch the bird. Hurry up!"
The myna was on Old Master Jiang's head, and the servants didn't dare to pounce on it. When they carefully reached out, the myna flew to the beam of the room and continued to drop bombs.
"Mingyue, you're my darling, my treasure. You're the only one in my heart."
"I, Jiang Mingshu, swear that I'll only love Jiang Mingyue in this lifetime. Wah..." This was really naming names.
The woman who had previously said she would introduce her niece's face changed drastically.
"Come here, arrest Jiang Mingshu."
Old Master Jiang's sixtieth birthday was completely ruined by a myna.
Outside, the continuous banquets were still going on, but the event in the courtyard had already ended.
The guests from each family didn't feel like eating either. They left excitedly and spread the first - hand news.
Within a day, the news that the Sixth Master of the richest family in the city was a step - son, had an affair with Miss Five of the Jiang family, and was dissatisfied with the meager treatment from Old Master Jiang and Old Madam Jiang, and secretly poisoned them had spread throughout the whole city.
This was the first version that Chunyao told Ye Yunniang.
Li'er told Ye Yunniang that the story had evolved into one where Jiang Mingshu and Jiang Mingyue had secretly conceived a child, and Old Master Jiang had tried to separate the lovers. The child was lost, and Old Master Jiang demanded that the children of other branches in the mansion be made to pay with their lives. As a result, the second and third ladies lost their children. Jiang Mingyue was naturally jealous and often beat and killed the maids.
The story continued to change, but Ye Yunniang no longer had the time to listen. She had to pack her luggage and follow her mistress to the Tranquil Reflection Manor.
She packed a box with clothes, shoes, and socks, and another box with other accessories, jewelry, books, writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones.
The Tranquil Reflection Manor was not large. Ye Yunniang lived in the side wing with the senior maids.
Chunyao didn't come. Two days before the departure, Chunyao's child had chickenpox.
Because of this, Jiang Mingrui and Jin Huifang, who had originally planned to leave after Jiang Mingshu's matter was settled, left early with their child.
Jiang Tingjun seemed to be tired from the carriage ride. He developed a fever that night.
The doctor was called, and medicine was boiled and fed to him, but his condition didn't improve.
Ye Yunniang held the crying Jiang Tingjun and tried to soothe him.
She didn't close her eyes for two days and two nights. Only after Jiang Tingjun's fever subsided did Ye Yunniang go back to her room and have a good sleep to relieve her fatigue.
When she woke up, she received a lot of rewards.
This was one of the reasons why Ye Yunniang liked Jin Huifang the most. Jin Huifang was generous in rewarding the servants who did well.
Ye Yunniang accepted the rewards and went to thank Jin Huifang.
Jin Huifang and Jiang Mingrui discussed that there had been many incidents in their fourth branch recently.
They decided to go to the White Cloud Temple to stay for a while, offer incense, and pray for their son's safety.
Ye Yunniang had been to temples to offer incense before. Usually, the mountains were not high, and it only took half an hour to reach the temple on foot without much effort.
However, it took two hours to reach the White Cloud Mountain.
Fortunately, Jin Huifang took pity on Ye Yunniang for her hard work in taking care of Jiang Tingjun and arranged a sedan chair to carry her directly up the mountain.
They arrived at the mountain at noon. First, they went to the guest courtyard to rest, have vegetarian meals, and then took a one - hour nap.
In the afternoon, they strolled around the temple to enjoy the scenery.
Ye Yunniang didn't climb the mountain, so she wasn't tired. She carried Jiang Tingjun, who didn't want to stay indoors, and wandered around the temple.
As she walked, she heard a familiar voice.
"Mother." Ye Yunniang quickened her steps and passed through the round gate.
Cai Damei was chatting with someone with her child beside her.
Hearing the shout, she was a bit confused.
Why did she seem to hear Yunniang's voice?
She turned around and saw Ye Yunniang holding a precious - looking child, smiling bitterly at them.
When they met and started chatting, it turned out that after Ye Yunniang entered the Jiang Mansion, Cai Damei had been constantly paying attention to the situation. There had been incidents of a child being abducted and a maid being killed in the Jiang Mansion.
Cai Damei was extremely worried. She ran to the side gate to ask Granny Tian for information.
Granny Tian only said that everyone was fine and told Cai Damei to go back.
As for Cai Damei's request to see Ye Yunniang, Granny Tian said that she couldn't enter the inner courtyard and couldn't pass on the message.
Cai Damei went back worried. A few days later, she received clothes and fabric sent by Ye Yunniang through Granny Tian, along with a message saying that she was okay.
Cai Damei felt something was amiss.
Seeing that Cai Damei was extremely worried, the neighbors came together to offer incense and pray for blessings at Baiyun Temple.
Cai Damei agreed. They set a date and went to the temple.
Unexpectedly, they ran into Ye Yunniang.
Cai Damei said, "It's really a blessing from the Bodhisattva."
Ye Yunniang simply explained that Jiang Tingjun was suffering from summer heat, and the masters had brought him here to escape the heat. She didn't plan to tell Cai Damei about the abduction by human traffickers, so as not to worry her.
As the two were chatting, they heard the laughter of Jiang Tingjun and Pan'er.
It was the first time for Jiang Tingjun to play with a child a bit older than him. He was very happy.
Pan'er had a good personality and led Jiang Tingjun to play around.
The two children chattered away in words that others couldn't understand.
After playing for a while, Jin Huifang sent someone to invite Cai Damei and Pan'er to meet her.
Cai Damei took Pan'er and went.
Jin Huifang was very amiable. She took Pan'er's hand and gave quite a few rewards.
She left Jiang Tingjun in her own room and asked Ye Yunniang to see the mother and son off.
Ye Yunniang thanked her and carried Pan'er away.
She escorted them back to their accommodation.
Cai Damei and the others were staying in an ordinary guest room in a row of houses. She let Pan'er play at the door.
Cai Damei pulled Ye Yunniang into the room to talk. "How are things going between you and that gentleman?"
Ye Yunniang felt a bit embarrassed to talk about it.
Seeing this, Cai Damei understood everything. It seemed that they had been together more than once.
It was impossible not to feel sad. The woman who was supposed to be her son's had someone else. She sighed, thinking that her son was out of luck.
"Yunniang, as I've always said, if you don't want to stay in the Jiang Mansion, then don't..." She didn't finish the sentence, but Ye Yunniang understood.
"Mother, I just want to go home and accompany you and Pan'er." Ye Yunniang looked at her son outside the house.
"Good, we'll wait for you to come back."
"Mother, when are you going down the mountain?"
"We'll go back after breakfast tomorrow."
"I'll come over tomorrow morning to see you off down the mountain."
"You have to serve the young master. Is that okay?"
"Yes, it is."
After chatting for a while, she hugged Pan'er. Amid Pan'er's crying, Ye Yunniang returned to the guest courtyard.
Jiang Tingjun had already woken up and was looking for Ye Yunniang. In this unfamiliar place, he was quite clingy to Ye Yunniang.
After having enough to eat and drink, Jiang Tingjun wanted to go out and play.
It was already dark. Ye Yunniang didn't want to go out and tried to coax him to play inside the room. "Brother, play."
