“Ah—”

Ji Yunshu suddenly sat up from the bed, breathing heavily. Her forehead was covered in cold sweat.

So it was a nightmare!

Hearing the sound, Luan’er ran in and saw her young miss sitting on the bed drenched in sweat.

She asked worriedly, “Miss, did you have a nightmare?”

She nodded, still somewhat unable to come back to her senses!

Luan’er quickly found a hot towel to wipe away her sweat.

Looking outside, Ji Yunshu asked, “How long did I sleep?”

“Miss slept from yesterday until this morning. This servant didn’t want to disturb you, so I didn’t wake you.”

She’d slept that long!

No wonder her nerves were weak—she’d had a nightmare!

Yet she still felt lingering fear. That sensation had been very real. Although she couldn’t see the face clearly, in the dream, those eyes—she could see them clearly.

Carrying pleading and despair!

Actually, Ji Yunshu rarely had such dreams anymore.

The last time was a year ago, when a young maid at the Liang manor hanged herself. That night, she had dreamed that maid was sitting at the edge of her bed, similarly saying “help me.”

Thinking of this, her heart felt inexplicably uneasy.

But after calming down, perhaps it was just because she was too tired.

She shook her head and stopped thinking about it!

Getting up from bed and dressing properly, Ji Yunshu touched her deflated stomach. These past two days, it seemed she’d only eaten one steamed bun yesterday morning.

Right now, she really was hungry!

“Luan’er, is there anything to eat?”

“Yes, yes, yes! Knowing Miss would definitely be hungry, I already had the kitchen prepare it. I’ll bring it over to you now.”

Having said that, Luan’er ran out inexplicably excited.

The result…

She brought a whole table of dishes.

The Wei manor maid serving the food said as she worked, “When Master and Madam left, they specifically instructed us servants to make some good food for Miss Ji. But since Miss Ji has injuries, she can’t eat anything too stimulating, so we prepared some relatively light dishes, and also some ginseng soup. Miss Ji, see if you need anything else?”

With a whole table of dishes, what more could she need?

“No need, no need.” Ji Yunshu quickly said, then greeted the maids bringing dishes. “There are so many dishes—I definitely can’t finish them alone. Sit down and eat together.”

“No, no—we’re servants. How could we eat at the same table as the master?”

“It’s fine. Look, so many dishes—I can’t eat more than a few bites. If you don’t sit down and eat together, wouldn’t that be wasteful?” She guided them persuasively!

The maids still shook their heads, not daring to break the rules.

Simply flustered, they quickly ran away.

In the end, Ji Yunshu still pulled Luan’er to sit down and eat together.

A whole table of dishes—even stuffed, there was still far too much left!

She sighed.

“Miss, why are you sighing?”

“Sighing that the rich are too rich, sighing that those without money have even less.”

Luan’er puffed her cheeks, looking melancholy. “This servant still remembers when Nanny Zhang passed away—Miss and I nearly starved to death.”

What do you mean “nearly”? Your young miss actually did starve to death!

The one sitting before you now has your young miss’s body, but not her soul.

Ji Yunshu didn’t plan to acknowledge her soliloquy. She walked into the courtyard, took several breaths—very refreshing!

After the rain, the air had become very clean too.

“Luan’er, accompany me for a walk. This vast Wei manor—I haven’t toured it yet.”

“Alright!” Luan’er ran out from inside, very excited.

Rarely did her young miss have such good spirits.

The master and servant left the courtyard and walked around the Wei manor. The Wei manor servants were very polite—when they saw her, they called out “Miss Ji.”

Presumably everyone knew that this Ji Yunshu was the daughter-in-law confirmed by Master Wei and Madam Wei. Sooner or later she would be the manor’s mistress. Being respectful now was definitely not wrong!

Passing by the Wei manor garden, she heard a commotion coming from inside.

It seemed Wei Yi’s voice was the loudest!

Ji Yunshu curiously walked over. Rounding a decorative rock formation, she saw Wei manor servants gathered together, shouting laboriously, “Eat, eat, eat, eat…”

Also waving their hands and feet together, extremely excited.

Though she didn’t like joining crowds, she was just too curious.

So she walked over and pushed through the crowd. Everyone seemed too focused, so they didn’t notice her.

Now she understood what was happening.

So they were having a cricket fight!

Wei Yi was sprawled on the ground, holding a straw in his hand. In front of him was a small round dish with two crickets fighting intensely!

He shouted loudly, “Eat! Hurry and eat! Flower, eat it!”

So even crickets had names.

Ji Yunshu had come over out of curiosity, but now the surrounding atmosphere had ignited her interest. She was also very curious about which of those two crickets would win.

The Wei manor servant sprawled across from Wei Yi was also highly emotional, pounding his fist forcefully on the ground, hoping his cricket would win.

Ji Yunshu stared wide-eyed—those two crickets were clearly identical.

How could you tell them apart?

“I won!” The servant across from Wei Yi shouted, jumping up from the ground. He didn’t forget to extend his hand toward Wei Yi. “Young Master, my cricket won! Pay up, pay up!”

Wei Yi also climbed up from the ground, extremely disappointed!

He pulled out a silver ingot from his sleeve and gave it to that servant.

“Why do you win every time?”

“Thank you, Young Master.”

That servant smiled, holding the silver. He bit it with his teeth, grinning. Looking up, he suddenly saw Ji Yunshu standing in the crowd.

He trembled, bowing. His lips twitched. “Miss… Miss Ji.”

Only now did everyone suddenly notice the only woman standing in the crowd.

Helplessly, it really was because Ji Yunshu was wearing light blue-green clothing—too similar in color to the servants’ clothes!

Wei Yi turned around and, seeing her, immediately beamed with joy. “Shu’er!”

Everyone dispersed in a flash, vanishing without a trace.

“You’re fighting crickets—is it fun?” Ji Yunshu asked him.

“Fun! Does Shu’er want to play?” Having said that, Wei Yi picked up the round dish from the ground. One cricket was alive, one dead!

He said somewhat sadly, “But my cricket loses every time.”

“Because you’re foolish.”

“I’m not foolish—this cricket is foolish. It loses every time. The silver Mother gave me gets won by them every time.”

Ji Yunshu wanted to laugh at him, yet felt his stupidity was pitiable. She sighed. “Wei Yi, these two are identical. Do you know which one is yours?”

“Ah?” He scratched his head, looking at the two identical crickets in the dish, examining them for a long time before finally shaking his head. “Is Flower this dead one? Or this living one?”

“You’re being tricked. Every time you fight crickets with them, they bring ones of the same size and build to fight with you. Anyway, if they win, it’s theirs; if they lose, it’s yours. You’re just foolish, which is why you get tricked every time.”

“Oh, so that’s how it is.”

Wei Yi wasn’t angry at all, blinking his beautiful eyes.

Ji Yunshu found it strange. “Why aren’t you angry?”

“Not angry. Actually, they’re very pitiful. When it rains, they’re still busy. When it snows, they’re still busy. Very pitiful, very pitiful. I often see Father and Mother giving them silver, so it’s fine. Just giving them silver to buy good food.”

That clean face carried an extremely innocent and kind smile.

Wei Yi’s kindness was pure!

Ji Yunshu extended her hand upward and patted his head. Her eyes were full of indulgent affection.

And he seemed to enjoy it very much, voluntarily lowering his head, obediently allowing her to stroke him.

“Wei Yi, do you want to go out and play?” Ji Yunshu asked him.

“Yes!”

“Then good—I’ll take you out.”

“Really?” Wei Yi’s eyes brightened.

Of course Ji Yunshu wouldn’t deceive him. Returning to the courtyard to change into men’s clothing, she took Wei Yi out of the manor.

And all along the way, Wei Yi kept asking the same question.

“Are you big brother or Shu’er?”

Ji Yunshu was annoyed by his asking several times and simply stopped answering him.

The two entered the Ink Treasure Studio. Ji Yunshu had the shopkeeper bring out a set of brush and ink.

“Young master truly has a discerning eye! This is the finest set of brush and ink in our shop. Look at this brush—made from Treasure Mountain wood, not easily broken. The bristles are made from superior stone badger fur, and they even have a faint lingering fragrance. Now look at this brush—ivory shaft, fragrant fox fur bristles. Holding it in hand, very satisfying, displaying nobility. Moreover, our material selection, degreasing, ingredient mixing, pressing, sorting, mounting, dry trimming, engraving, cord tying—nothing is done carelessly.”

The shopkeeper strongly recommended—this big sale couldn’t be let go!

Ji Yunshu picked up a brush to examine, revealing an expression of not being very satisfied.

But actually, she loved it and couldn’t bear to put it down!

The shopkeeper quickly said, “Young master, look—the brushes here are the finest in all of Jinjiang City! Tiger fur brushes, yellow ox ear hair brushes, stone badger bristle—whatever name you can mention, I have here! Round tip, pointed tip, long bristle, short bristle—I have everything here.”

“How much silver for this set?” Ji Yunshu asked.

The shopkeeper extended two fingers and smiled. “Two hundred taels!”

Killing her!

Going out, she’d only brought twenty taels!

Wei Yi wandered around the shop, completely not noticing Ji Yunshu’s currently troubled appearance.

The shopkeeper tentatively asked, “Young master, buying or not?”

“Buying, of course buying.” Jingrong’s voice rang out.

Ji Yunshu turned her head and saw him and Lang Bo entering the shop.

Jingrong’s expression unchanged, he pulled out a gold ingot from his waist and placed it on the table.

He instructed the shopkeeper, “Wrap it up.”

Good heavens, that shopkeeper’s eyes glowed with golden light. Carefully holding the gold ingot, he licked his lips and nodded. “Yes, yes—I’ll wrap it up for Master right away.”

Ji Yunshu was stunned, staring at him.

“Consider it this young master buying a heart’s desire for Master Ji. The gift is light but the sentiment heavy!”

This gift wasn’t light at all!

“Your High—”

“Just call me Young Master.” Jingrong interrupted her.

Ji Yunshu smiled awkwardly. “Young Master needn’t spend money. I was just looking—I didn’t say I’d buy it.”

“Then consider it me—to win a beauty’s smile!”