Chen Shi’s children, who had been looking at the food, all stood up with worried expressions.
“Mother…”
Qi Yue just smiled without speaking and didn’t dissuade her.
“Sister-in-law is a physician. If she says Mother can eat it, then she can,” Chang Yunsheng said quietly, signaling his younger siblings to sit down.
Everyone sat down with doubt.
“How is it?” Qi Yue asked after watching Chen Shi eat two bites.
Chen Shi nodded with some nostalgia.
“It’s really delicious,” she said, smiling at Qi Yue.
“It’s scrambled eggs!” Qi Yue laughed heartily, patting Chen Shi’s shoulder.
Everyone in the room was stunned.
“Scrambled eggs?”
Chen Shi was also very surprised. She gestured, and Cai Qing quickly served her more.
“It really does taste like eggs,” she said after eating carefully. “But…”
The other children all had the maids serve them some.
“Indeed…”
“But it really is like crab roe…”
“Sister-in-law, quickly tell us how to make it!” Chang Yinglan ran to Qi Yue’s side, shaking her arm and asking repeatedly. “I’ll make it for Mother every day from now on.”
“It’s very simple. Just raw eggs and raw salted duck eggs, add wine, sugar, and vinegar and stir-fry,” Qi Yue smiled.
“That simple?” Chang Yinglan looked incredulous. “Sister-in-law, please teach me…”
“Yinglan, sit down quickly. Let your sister-in-law eat. She made all these dishes and hasn’t eaten yet,” Chen Shi said to her daughter.
Chang Yinglan stuck out her tongue and quickly returned to her seat.
The servant women arranged chairs and chopsticks for Qi Yue to sit.
“Sister-in-law has worked hard,” Chang Yunsheng said with his younger siblings in unison.
“Not at all. Cooking for people you care about is a blessing and a very joyful thing,” Qi Yue smiled, pointing to the dishes she had made. “Come, try this boiled fish. But I warn you, you must take a small piece first to make sure you can handle it before eating more.”
This aroused everyone’s interest even more. They all refused to believe it and deliberately picked up large pieces to put in their mouths, immediately throwing the table into chaos.
Some spat it out, some wanted water, some cried.
Chen Shi watched her children’s predicament without the slightest worry, but laughed instead.
The three Chang Yunsheng siblings walked Qi Yue to the door together, and at the entrance, all three called out “Sister-in-law” to Qi Yue in unison.
Qi Yue turned back to look at them, the lanterns in the hands of the maids and servants illuminating her serene face.
“Thank you, Sister-in-law,” the three bowed respectfully in unison.
“It’s just a meal, not worth all this. If you want to eat, come to my place anytime,” Qi Yue smiled.
“Thank you, Sister-in-law, for working hard in the kitchen to make Mother so happy,” Chang Yunsheng said solemnly, his excitement barely contained. “Since Father passed away, this is the first time Mother has been so joyful…”
His voice trembled at this point and he could barely continue.
Qi Yue looked at them with a slight smile.
“Thank you too for letting me cook for you,” she said. With that, she waved her hand and turned to walk slowly away.
Watching the dim lanterns accompanying the woman as she gradually disappeared into the distance, the three at the door still stood without moving.
“Why did she thank us? Thank us for letting her cook?” Chang Yinglan said in confusion.
This was her first time meeting this long-renowned Lord’s wife, and she didn’t match the impression from the descriptions she’d heard. Instead, the thought that came to mind was no wonder the old marchioness had liked her so much.
Chang Yunsheng watched the woman’s figure gradually disappearing into the distance and sighed.
“Because over there, she’s probably too lonely and isolated,” he said quietly.
In that household, except for the old marchioness, no one liked her.
Even with such excellent cooking skills, having no one who wanted to eat her cooking must be terribly sad and lonely.
This was a fact everyone knew. All three couldn’t help but sigh, looking toward the direction Qi Yue had left, which was already shrouded in darkness.
When Qi Yue entered the door, the room was already dark.
Qiu Xiang looked at her with embarrassment and concern.
“The Lord always… sleeps early…” she stammered in explanation.
Qi Yue didn’t mind and smiled at her.
“Then I’ll borrow your and A’Ru’s place to wash up,” she said. “I won’t disturb the Lord.”
Chang Yuncheng, hearing this in his room, felt somehow… disappointed.
He stared at the canopy in the darkness and suddenly remembered that time when the woman had shamelessly lingered in his room, looking around everywhere, ready to explode at the slightest touch…
It seemed like he hadn’t heard her screams or her raised voice calling his name in a long time.
No one had ever called him by his full name like that…
Simple and direct, with all emotions clearly displayed through this form of address.
“Chang Yuncheng! Chang Yuncheng!”
It sounded… somehow… somewhat intimate?
The door made a soft sound, followed by light, deliberately quieted footsteps.
That faint, elusive fragrance gradually spread, seeping through the door crack.
A lamp was lit, then dimmed somewhat, as if someone had deliberately blocked it.
“There should be a door curtain here, otherwise it will disturb the Lord’s rest…”
“This servant will have it ready tomorrow…”
Chang Yuncheng heard the woman’s quiet conversation.
Then came the sound of light footsteps leaving, the door closing, and the room returning to quiet except for the faint lamplight.
Chang Yuncheng lay with his hands behind his head, silent for a moment before suddenly sitting up.
Qi Yue frowned at a line of text in her book.
“What does this mean?” she murmured, picking up a goose feather pen nearby, dipping it in ink and writing it down on paper. “I should ask my teacher tomorrow. It’s truly like different professions being separated by mountains, with thousands of years between ancient and modern times.”
“It’s so late, why aren’t you sleeping yet?”
Chang Yuncheng’s voice suddenly rang out, startling Qi Yue.
She looked up to see Chang Yuncheng standing at the bedroom door across from her.
She had been too absorbed in reading to hear him open the door.
“Did I disturb you?” Qi Yue smiled and said, putting down her book. “I couldn’t sleep so I read for a while. I’ll go to sleep now, I won’t read anymore.”
As she said this, she stood up from the desk and reached to extinguish the lamp.
But Chang Yuncheng walked over instead.