Chu Yi watched the mother and her two children, his lips curving into a pleased arc.

The woman he had hidden deep in his heart turned out to be the biological mother of his two children…

The one in his heart was the very person before his eyes.

The person before his eyes was precisely the one in his heart.

Life could actually be this perfectly complete.

He spoke: “These next few days, I may have to trouble Miss Yun…”

Yun Chu stood up smiling: “How could this be considered trouble? It should be me…”

“It’s another matter.” Chu Yi pointed to the wall on the eastern side of the courtyard. “I’ve purchased that courtyard. I plan to open a doorway in this wall between the two courtyards. From now on, no matter which side the children are staying at, it will be convenient.”

Yun Chu was astonished.

After buying this courtyard, she had inquired about the neighboring households. The eastern residence belonged to a fourth-rank official at court. This family had lived there for at least forty or fifty years.

He said he’d buy it and just bought it?

They were willing to sell?

Well, he was a prince. Apart from being unable to buy the imperial palace, he could buy whatever he wanted.

“Father, does this mean our whole family will move to the neighboring courtyard?” Chu Hongyu’s eyes sparkled brightly. “Will Nanny Zheng and Steward Cheng also live there with us?”

Chu Yi nodded: “Of course. From now on, that courtyard will be Prince Pingxi’s residence.”

“Wonderful, wonderful!” Chu Hongyu was extremely excited. “Changsheng, did you hear? From now on we can be with Mother every day! Father will never object again! How wonderful, truly wonderful!”

The little girl smiled, pressing her lips together.

The two children were happy, and Yun Chu became happy along with them.

Chu Yi lingered here for a shichen. When there was really no reason to continue staying, only then did he get up to leave.

Yun Chu had Yu’er first finish reading the books he was supposed to read that day, then took the son and daughter together to prepare a birthday gift for Imperial Consort Yin.

A woman of Imperial Consort Yin’s status naturally lacked for nothing. After consulting with Chu Hongyu, Yun Chu unanimously decided to personally make longevity peaches for Imperial Consort Yin.

There were still three days until Imperial Consort Yin’s birthday. The first day was spent learning from the cook how to knead dough and how to steam pastries. The second day, under the cook’s guidance, they learned to shape longevity peaches. On the third day, they officially began making them, and everything looked quite presentable.

Chu Hongyu held up the longevity peach he had shaped and put it in the steamer: “Mother, look, the longevity peach I made is so beautiful.”

Chu Changsheng raised up the little peach she had shaped, also showing it off to Yun Chu.

Yun Chu praised them: “They’re all shaped very beautifully. Your Imperial Grandmother will definitely be especially happy when she sees the birthday gifts.”

Before long, the longevity peaches were steamed. They had shaped many extra ones while making them, and the steamer was completely full of longevity peaches of all sizes.

She picked up a small longevity peach, blew on it, and brought it to Chu Changsheng’s lips: “Taste it and see how it is.”

The little girl took a bite, and immediately her eyes lit up. She nodded vigorously.

Yun Chu said: “What does your nodding mean? Is it delicious, or not delicious?”

“De-delicious!” Chu Changsheng spoke. “Mother, want—want more.”

Yun Chu blew on it several times before stuffing the small longevity peach into her daughter’s mouth.

From the side came Chu Hongyu’s voice, hopping on one foot: “So hot! I’m going to be burned to death!”

“You child, what’s the hurry?” Yun Chu took one out from the steamer, blew on it until it wasn’t so hot, then handed it to him.

At the same time, she also tasted one herself.

She had to praise it—after three days of learning, the finished product tasted really quite good. The children sending such birthday gifts should count as showing full sincerity.

These three days, Yun Chu stayed with the children day and night, experiencing unprecedented happiness and joy.

Soon it was the morning of the fourth day. Before dawn had even broken, she dug the two children out of bed.

Chu Hongyu refused to open his eyes.

The little girl hugged her quilt and wouldn’t let go.

Yun Chu indulged them.

She had servants gently and carefully dress and wash them, then carried them to the front gate.

The princely residence’s carriage was already waiting at the main gate. Nanny Zheng bowed to Yun Chu: “These three days have been hard on Miss Yun.”

The two children’s lives had been managed by Nanny Zheng since they were small. Yun Chu greatly respected Nanny Zheng and smiled warmly: “How can this be called hard work? Dawn hasn’t even broken yet. Be careful on the road.”

Nanny Zheng lowered her head in acknowledgment.

Previously, seeing Miss Yun close to the two young masters, she had only felt surprised, but thought that since Miss Yun was a woman of the Xie family, no matter what, it wouldn’t amount to anything.

Now, Miss Yun had left the Xie family. Whether as a widow or as a divorced woman, she could ultimately remarry.

The two young masters’ attitudes weren’t important. What mattered was His Highness, who had actually allowed the young lord and princess to stay here for three days.

It seemed the princely residence would soon have a mistress.

Nanny Zheng took the two children to the palace. Only after the carriage disappeared at the end of the alley did Yun Chu turn back.

These three days, she had held off handling all matters.

Once the children left, she had the people from the outer courtyard come in one by one to report on matters.

Having just moved to this courtyard, the only servants attending her were her personal attendants. She still needed to purchase some household servants, and some trivial matters hadn’t yet formed proper rules—all required her oversight one by one.

After finishing matters in the inner courtyard, next came affairs of the outer courtyard.

Chen Defu came with a large stack of account books. First, the monthly accounts from the hot springs estate were out and required her personal review. Second, there was an estimated budget allocation for the shelter. Third, the construction of the ocean-going ship was short on funds.

Yun Chu’s storeroom still had over a hundred thousand taels of silver, with continuous revenue from the hot springs estate. It sounded quite wealthy.

But building the ocean-going ship—the original fifty thousand taels could only complete half of it. She approved another fifty thousand taels of silver, hoping that next spring when the ship set sail, she could quickly recover the costs.

“Miss, there’s one more matter.” Chen Defu collected the account books and looked up. “Ding Yiyuan has been invited to Prince Pingjin’s residence by the heir of Prince Pingjin.”

Yun Chu couldn’t help but smile: “What a coincidence.”

Prince Pingjin’s residence was frequently discussed by the common people of the capital. In her previous life, Prince Pingjin’s residence would occasionally produce some embarrassing incident that became the talk of the town.

If Ding Yiyuan went to another residence, she might have to rack her brains thinking about what happened in her previous life, but for Prince Pingjin’s residence, certain matters floated before her eyes without even needing to think.

She wrote a letter with her left hand and had Chen Defu deliver it to Ding Yiyuan through several intermediaries.

While she was busy with this, Qiutong came in from outside to report: “Miss, Steward Yun has come on orders to request Miss to return to the Yun family residence.”

Yun Chu changed her clothes and walked to the Yun family residence.

Entering the door, she discovered that several cousins from the collateral branches were also present—Yun Run, Yun Yi, and their group were all there.

“Chu’er, you’ve come.” Lin Shi pulled Yun Chu to sit down. “What have you been busy with these past three days? We couldn’t see hide nor hair of you.”

Yun Chu evaded: “What brings several cousins here? Is there some important matter?”

Yun Yi sighed: “The three of us were inexplicably demoted this morning.”

“An expected matter.” Old General Yun spoke. “Just respond to changes with constancy.”

It was merely that person in the shadows using these insignificant juniors from the Yun family’s collateral branches to test the Emperor’s reaction.

Yun Run frowned: “But if there’s a first time, there will be a second. First it’s Yun Yi and the other two, and soon it will fall on other members of the Yun family. If we don’t take measures, eventually anyone will be able to step on us Yun family members.”