Ye Yunniang was led by Jiang Mingzhe to a small room at the stern of the ship.
"Have you finished your business?" Ye Yunniang studied Jiang Mingzhe, noting that he had grown thinner and darker, but his spirits were high.
"No." Jiang Mingzhe had rushed back overnight after hearing the news of Ye Yunniang's pregnancy.
Originally, he had only intended to watch from afar, but seeing Ye Yunniang weeping by the ship’s railing, he couldn’t resist coming out to see her.
"When are you leaving?"
"In an hour."
Only an hour. Ye Yunniang’s heart sank. Perhaps because she was carrying Jiang Mingzhe’s child, she desperately wished he could stay with her.
"I will come back alive," Jiang Mingzhe promised.
"The child and I will wait for you," Ye Yunniang said, voicing the words Jiang Mingzhe most wanted to hear.
Jiang Mingzhe held her tightly.
Ye Yunniang, feeling slightly uncomfortable, patted his arm. "I can barely breathe."
Jiang Mingzhe loosened his grip but didn’t let go.
Ye Yunniang leaned back into his embrace and told him about the recent events in Jiangcheng.
"Did you know about the affair between Jiang Mingrui and Zhuang Meixue?"
"After Zhuang Meixue became pregnant, I investigated how she planned to pass off the child as mine. That’s when I discovered their affair—and that the child wasn’t mine." It was at that moment Jiang Mingzhe gave up on the younger brother he had raised since childhood.
"What about the child in her womb?"
"I didn’t lay a hand on it," Jiang Mingzhe said, anticipating Ye Yunniang’s question. "Zhuang Meixue’s own guilt caused her to miscarry. Then, trusting that charlatan Ma Xiangu, she took some dubious tonic and lost the child."
After losing the child, Zhuang Meixue refused to reflect on her actions. Instead, she blamed Jin Huifang and Jiang Tingjun for everything.
She even contacted human traffickers, intending to sell Jiang Tingjun.
When that scheme failed, she hatched another vicious plan—to drive Jiang Mingrui and his family out of the Jiang household.
Before she could act, the Zhuang family was purged and exterminated.
Jiang Mingde, that pedantic fool, jumped in to flaunt his so-called righteousness, bringing ruin upon the Jiang Family as well.
With the Zhuang family gone, Zhuang Meixue lost her backing. Jiang Mingzhe treated her coldly.
Desperate, she turned back to Jiang Mingrui, winning his heart again.
"What happened to Jin Huifang... I never expected it. Yunniang, thank you for taking in Xiao Liu." Jiang Mingzhe spoke sincerely.
"I didn’t take him in because of you," Ye Yunniang said. Her heart ached for Jiang Tingjun, so young and motherless.
"I know." Jiang Mingzhe held her close. He understood that Ye Yunniang was kind-hearted and principled.
Her actions only deepened his disgust for Jiang Mingrui and Zhuang Meixue.
Before learning of their affair, Jiang Mingzhe had always shared his wealth with Jiang Mingrui.
Jiang Mingrui had hidden these treasures under his wet nurse’s name, avoiding confiscation during the purge.
As a husband and father, Jiang Mingrui could have easily secured a future for Jin Huifang and Jiang Tingjun.
Yet he showed no regard for their bond. He heartlessly took the last silver note Jin Huifang’s family had given her, leaving her destitute and in danger.
"I’ll have someone retrieve what Jiang Mingrui took. It will all go to An’er." Initially, out of brotherly duty, Jiang Mingzhe had planned to let Jiang Mingrui be.
But Jiang Mingrui’s cruelty drove Jin Huifang to despair and death, forcing Ye Yunniang to adopt Jiang Tingjun.
With that, Jiang Mingzhe’s last shred of fraternal affection vanished.
"I’ve also prepared a share for Li Pan. When he turns eighteen, it will be given to him."
Ye Yunniang sat up and looked at Jiang Mingzhe. "You don’t have to do this. I never wanted your money."
Then she reconsidered—after all, Jiang Mingzhe had given her jade bracelets and the treasure in the courtyard.
"Alright, I did think about it. If we parted, you might give me some jewelry. I’d sell it, buy a small shop, and live off the rent—two taels of silver a month."
Jiang Mingzhe laughed. "Only two taels? You think I’m that stingy?"
"Two taels is plenty! Before An’er, our household expenses were less than five hundred copper coins a month. Even with An’er and the baby on the way, one tael would suffice." Ye Yunniang believed one shouldn’t be too greedy.
Jiang Mingzhe pulled her back into his arms. "I give it to you willingly."
Wealth was nothing to him—it couldn’t be taken into the afterlife. If lost, he’d earn it again.
What Jiang Mingzhe cherished was the thrill of making money.
But more than money, he valued family.
For them, he had worked tirelessly, elevating the Jiang Family from mere affluence to the pinnacle of Jiangcheng’s wealth.
He fulfilled their endless desires—until their greed became insatiable.
In the end, he used his fortune to spare them from death.
Speaking of Li An reminded Ye Yunniang of Bao Min, who had helped amend Jiang Tingjun’s name and household registration.
"We owe Bao Min our thanks for An’er’s matters."
"Leave it to me. I’ll thank him properly." Jiang Mingzhe gritted his teeth at the mention of Bao Min.
That scoundrel had spread rumors on the ship that the child was his, all to test Jiang Mingzhe.
Once his current affairs were settled, Jiang Mingzhe would make sure Bao Min received his "gratitude."
The hour passed too quickly. Reluctantly, Ye Yunniang bid Jiang Mingzhe farewell.
Returning to her room, she found both children asleep.
Cai Damei sat by the window, staring blankly at the river. At the sound of the door, she turned.
"You’re back. The kitchen sent food." Cai Damei rose and brought the pregnancy meal from the food box to the table.
Ye Yunniang sat down to eat.
"Mother, what did you discuss with Bao Min?" Ye Yunniang sensed Cai Damei’s mood had darkened after her visit to Bao Min’s room.
"Nothing much. He just promised not to speak carelessly." Cai Damei evaded the question.
"Mother, I saw Jiang Mingzhe earlier."
"He’s on the ship?" Cai Damei straightened. "What are his plans for you?"
"His business isn’t finished yet. He came to see me and left." Ye Yunniang took out three rolls of silver notes from her robe.
Cai Damei stared at the rolls on the table.
"Child support?"
"Something like that." Ye Yunniang recalled Jiang Mingzhe’s words when he handed them to her:
"My woman spending only one tael a month? That’s far too little."
She had checked—each roll contained ten notes, each worth a thousand taels.
Three rolls totaled thirty thousand taels.
"How much?!" Cai Damei gasped.
"Thirty thousand."
"Our humble origins have left us with too little worldly experience," Cai Damei murmured in awe.
After ten days on the river, they arrived at Lincheng Port.
Stepping onto solid ground, breathing in the earthy scent, Ye Yunniang’s nausea vanished.
They rested a day in Lincheng to recover. Tong Mo hired a carriage to take the family to Lijia Village.
Lijia Village was under the jurisdiction of Dawan Town, Lin’an County, Lincheng.
Two days on the official road brought them to Dawan Town.
With their land and house in Lijia Village sold, they had nowhere to return to. They lodged at an inn in town.
Cai Damei remembered Li Wenkuo’s eldest son, Li Dong, worked as an accountant at a local tavern.
They would seek him out first to learn the situation.
"Auntie, why have you returned?"
