Yun Ye nestled in his reclining chair, his head resting against the back. Yun Mu and Yun Baobao had finally tired from playing with their father. Yun Baobao lifted up Father’s foot and placed it next to his own little foot for comparison, because Mother said he and Father were practically cast from the same mold. Yun Mu pressed her ear against Father’s chest to listen to the thumping heartbeat.

Xinyue gently massaged Yun Ye’s temples. She could see her husband was very tired.

“How has Little Lingdang been serving you? Just look—you’ve become so thin, your chin is pointed, your cheekbones are showing. Next time don’t take her along—she’s completely useless, only knows how to play foolishly. Na Rimu is the same, can’t do anything. When something happens, all she knows is to run home. Big or small matters, you have to step forward to resolve them all.”

“Enough, shut up. I know you’re virtuous and capable, that I don’t need to worry about anything. But speaking of it, if they were all like you, what would you need me as a man for? You can’t do everything—you should always leave me something to do. At least let me know that I as a man still have some use, that I’m not a completely useless waste.”

Xinyue pouted and lightly patted Yun Ye’s head, saying, “You’re a person who does great things. It’s not worth troubling yourself over these small matters. It’s not good for household affairs to drain your energy.”

“Stop that nonsense—you’ve got it backwards. Household matters are the important things. The court’s great affairs are what’s dispensable. That muddy pit—I’ve long since stopped wanting to wade through it.” Yun Ye noticed his daughter lying on his chest had fallen asleep at some point, drool covering his chest. Yun Baobao, however, was persistently trying to match his little feet with Father’s to see whose were bigger.

Having been busy all day, Yun Ye was also very tired. Xinyue called for the maids to take Yun Baobao away. Na Rimu came over to carry Yun Mu but hesitated and was unwilling to leave.

“If you want to stay, then stay. I don’t plan on doing anything tonight.” Yun Ye’s words had barely finished when Xinyue firmly pinched him. She had originally wanted to have a good talk with her husband tonight, but seeing him yawning continuously, she could only make the bed and prepare to retire. Yun Mu had already been tactfully taken away by Huan Niang.

This wasn’t the first time the three of them slept together. When Xinyue had arranged everything, she discovered Na Rimu wrapped around her husband like an octopus. Judging from her bare, smooth back, this shameless woman was already completely naked.

This wouldn’t do. Her husband had traveled a long distance—fooling around at this time would be too harmful to his body. She lifted the quilt and swung two slaps on Na Rimu’s bare bottom, then pushed her to the inside of the bed. She squeezed herself in the middle.

Yun Ye habitually embraced Xinyue. After giving birth to two children, Xinyue’s body had become even more round and lustrous. Touching and caressing her felt very comfortable. Smelling the sweet fragrance in Xinyue’s hair, drowsiness surged over him like a tide.

The bird calls outside the window awakened Yun Ye from deep sleep. The early rising habit he’d developed in Yuezhou still exerted its powerful effect. Men in the morning are most worthless, especially with two beauties lying beside them.

Xinyue’s nightgown was lifted up. The coordination between husband and wife was most harmonious. Na Rimu also woke up, looking at Xinyue whose face was like a peach blossom and whose breathing was heavy, giggling. Mischievously using her hair tips to tickle Xinyue’s neck. Xinyue, who was nearly dying, had no energy left to find trouble with Na Rimu. Her two hands tightly gripped the blanket, her gaze hazy.

After a long spell of panting, Xinyue’s hair covered her face, her little mouth slightly open, looking disheveled. Only after a long while did she take a deep breath, as if reborn after drowning.

Na Rimu was murmuring about moving closer when they heard the room door bang open. She shrieked and dove her bare body under the blanket, looking out in shock. She saw Yun Mu wearing her nightgown, rubbing her sleepy eyes as she walked in. Huan Niang couldn’t come in and anxiously kept calling for the young miss to return.

Yun Ye had already dressed in his shorts in a split second. The little girl climbed onto the bed in a daze, not being picky, and burrowed directly between Yun Ye and Xinyue to continue sleeping. Perhaps because Xinyue had been nursing children, the milky fragrance on her body attracted her. Holding Xinyue, she skillfully found a nipple and began sucking.

With a wry smile, Xinyue could only hold her daughter and let her eat her fill first. Na Rimu felt a bit jealous—her own daughter drinking someone else’s milk made her somewhat uncomfortable.

Yun Ye at this time had already dressed with a smile and closed the door to prevent the spring scenery from leaking out.

The little girl had finally woken up completely and discovered she was drinking the elder lady’s milk. Feeling somewhat embarrassed, she quickly burrowed into her mother’s embrace, burying her head in her chest and not coming out.

With the little girl present, nothing could be accomplished. After going to the bathhouse to wash up, he saw Yun Baobao very obediently run over to pay respects to Father. Originally at this time there should be family teachings, but Yun Ye believed the children were too young and still couldn’t comprehend those difficult and strange principles, so he never conducted them. He took his son to the great hall to eat.

Na Rimu, bringing her daughter, was already seated at the table. Little Lingdang also sat at the lower seat, talking with Na Rimu. The old grandmother, aunts, and sisters-in-law all had their breakfast sent to their rooms by maids. Dong, Nan, Xi, and Bei didn’t like crowding around the big table and always ate with their teacher in the study hall. In the entire great hall, there were only the few of them.

They waited for Xinyue to return before starting the meal. Yun Mu and Yun Baobao naturally had already begun eating. It wasn’t that the children lacked manners—this was the result of Yun Ye’s encouragement. Yun Mu even told Yun Baobao that she had just drunk the elder lady’s milk. Yun Baobao said he had drunk it too. To shut the two children’s mouths, they had to let them start first.

The familiar atmosphere, familiar tastes, combined with familiar voices—this was the flavor of home. After eating breakfast, Yun Ye was like a lion inspecting his territory, walking through every part of the Yun family estate. The garden was still a sea of golden yellow. Actually, he never understood why most flowers that bloom in autumn are yellow. The garden was full of large patches of chrysanthemums. The strangest thing was that even the leaves of these chrysanthemums carried a strong fragrance.

“Marquis, these are wild chrysanthemums from E Province. Our family’s merchant convoy discovered them by accident. This type of flower is very suitable for making perfume.” Chenxin, who hadn’t been noticed before holding a hoe, suddenly appeared. Walking forward a few steps, he discovered Chenxin was digging holes. Beside him were many small plant roots.

“Why aren’t you helping at the academy? What are you digging holes here for?” Yun Ye found it strange why Chenxin would return from the academy.

“Marquis, the academy doesn’t need this humble servant anymore. This humble servant still prefers mixing fragrances, so I came back. I’m digging holes to bury these flower roots. Burying them deeply, then digging them out to plant again next spring.” Originally sending Chenxin to the academy was actually born of Yun Ye’s perverse sense of fun, preparing to tease those little lolis and help them develop some immunity to beautiful men in the future. It seemed to have worked—otherwise Xu Jingzong wouldn’t have sent him back home. If he wanted to know the details, he could ask Xu Jingzong. Asking Chenxin would be somewhat difficult for him.

Yun Ye nodded and continued admiring these wild chrysanthemums. He quickly discovered the extraordinary nature of these flowers. Wild chrysanthemums could be seen everywhere, but have you ever seen wild chrysanthemums where the entire plant could emit a strong fragrance?

Casually pinching off a small piece of leaf, his entire hand was assailed by fragrance. It was like lemon fragrance, yet also like mint fragrance, with a bit of musk scent. The feeling was cool and comfortable. The fragrance was so strong that it could actually keep away harmful insects like mosquitoes and flies. This was discovering a treasure!

It looked similar to ordinary wild chrysanthemums, but the leaves were more plump and substantial, with more flowers. Transplanted to sandy loam soil in the plains for cultivation—just looking at those thick dark green leaf veins, you could tell this flower’s vitality was robust. It was truly a treasure among wild chrysanthemums.

“Marquis, Madam calls this flower the fragrant-leaf chrysanthemum. Not only do the flowers have an unusual fragrance, the juice extracted from the leaves is very miraculous. After this humble servant mixed and blended these juices, I discovered they can replace musk. As you know, musk actually has an aphrodisiac effect, but the imperial palace doesn’t allow musk to enter. That’s because musk can also cause women pregnant less than three months to miscarry. Throughout all dynasties, musk has been treated as a forbidden item, strictly prohibited from entering the palace.”

“But among the common people, musk is very popular. Because it’s scarce, the price is expensive. When hunters kill male musk deer, if they can’t achieve a one-strike kill, the male musk deer will bite off its own scent gland before dying. Moreover, in many cases, musk is used as medicinal material. Our family can’t purchase too much either. The medicinal material brokers have already warned our family that if we continue to offer high prices to purchase large quantities of musk, leaving them with nothing to use, they’ll report us to the authorities.”

“Musk is the basic fragrance element of our family’s perfume. The perfume sold to high officials and nobles contains a lot of musk. Now with fragrant-leaf chrysanthemum, we don’t have this worry anymore. Moreover, our family can sell perfume to the imperial palace and princely households. They are the main users of our family’s perfume. This way, our family’s perfume workshop’s profits can definitely quadruple.”

Yun Ye smiled as he listened to Chenxin explain his plans, feeling deeply moved. Now even a plaything was beginning to shine with his own brilliance. The historical Chenxin had been beaten to death with court rods by Li Er. Apart from a pretty face, he was essentially worthless. Now he could openly demand sufficient authority from a marquis—he wanted to sell the Yun family’s perfume throughout the entire world.

“Very good, Chenxin. Our family’s old rule—I’ll give you a thousand strings of cash. You find people yourself, manage them yourself, negotiate with the household’s merchant convoy managers yourself, discuss sales channels, determine prices. The family waits for you to create greater profits. However, ugly words first—if there are no obvious benefits after two years, you disband your team, go to the family ancestral hall yourself to accept family law, then go to the perfume workshop to continue your current work. Do you dare take this risk?”

Chenxin raised his head as if controlling his emotions. After quite a while, he finally stopped his body from trembling. He suddenly knelt down and kowtowed, saying, “Marquis, please give this humble servant a chance.”

“This is what you yourself requested. Do it well, and you’ll be promoted to manager. Mess it up, and you go receive punishment. The Yun family has always had clear rewards and punishments. Since you want to do this work, the family will definitely support you fully. However, this support has a time limit—two years.”