0p0 Chapter 200
Chapter 200
Princess Yanping, Jin Xinyu, walked over slowly and bowed to the two of them."Sister Tiemei, Lady Jiang."
Ye Yunniang returned the greeting.
"Princess."
Tong Tiemei looked at Jin Xinyu's somewhat disheveled clothes.
"What happened on your way here?"
"Lin Zhongmou forced his way into my carriage," Jin Xinyu did not hide the truth.
At the mention of Lin Zhongmou, uncontrollable disgust appeared on Jin Xinyu's face.
"I will arrange for a few maids who know martial arts to accompany you." Tong Tiemei was worried that Jin Xinyu would be taken advantage of.
"Thank you, Sister Tiemei." Jin Xinyu did not decline; this was exactly what she desperately needed right now.
Nanny Lu walked over. "Madam, it is time."
"Princess Consort, Princess, please come inside." Ye Yunniang invited the two to head towards the Leyuan Garden.
Leyuan Garden was where the Jiang family entertained their guests.
The full moon banquet began, and Cai Damei carried Yuanyuan out to meet the guests.
Yuanyuan was over three months old, raised to be fair, chubby, and quite heavy.
Ye Yunniang was worried about tiring Cai Damei out. She reached out, took Yuanyuan, and held him in her arms.
The female guests gathered around to take a look.
His big round eyes and chubby little cheeks were very endearing to the ladies.
Some of them wanted to hold him, but Ye Yunniang pretended not to hear.
She had heard from Nanny Lu that at many full moon banquets in the capital, when babies were handed over for others to hold, they would come back pricked by needles, pinched, twisted, or even poisoned...
Hearing that had given Ye Yunniang nightmares for several nights.
Originally, Ye Yunniang had arranged for the wet nurse to be the one holding the baby.
But after hearing Nanny Lu's words, Ye Yunniang felt uneasy and repeatedly begged Cai Damei to hold Yuanyuan.
Cai Damei felt her status was inappropriate and had said early on that she would not go to Leyuan Garden for Yuanyuan's full moon banquet.
She planned to stay in her own courtyard.
However, after hearing Ye Yunniang's explanation, Cai Damei was also afraid something might happen to Yuanyuan.
After the ladies had taken their turns looking, Li Pan walked in from outside.
"Mother, Father wants to take Yuanyuan to meet the lords."
"This is my eldest son, Li Pan," Ye Yunniang introduced Li Pan to the female guests.
Using the etiquette he had learned recently, Li Pan bowed to everyone around him.
"Li An greets the ladies."
After Li Pan finished his greeting, Ye Yunniang handed Yuanyuan to him. "Go on."
Li Pan held Yuanyuan steadily and went to the male guest reception area. He paid no attention to the evaluating gazes cast his way.
He had encountered many such gazes back in Jiangcheng.
Li Pan knew exactly what they were thinking without even having to guess.
It was nothing more than calling him a burden, saying he followed his mother into a wealthy family, and guessing he was an ungrateful wretch who would eventually steal the Jiang family's wealth...
At first, hearing these things made Li Pan feel sad and inferior.
His slight shifts in mood were quickly noticed by Li An and Li Ping.
"Big brother, these people are just jealous."
"Brother, think about my biological parents. I don't feel inferior, so why are you overthinking it?"
His younger brothers' comforting words helped Li Pan learn to let go, and also strengthened his resolve to take the imperial examinations.
Originally, Li Pan had not wanted to come on this trip to the capital.
But a single sentence from Li Ping made Li Pan pack his bags and come.
"Big brother, do you want Mother to be called a stepmother by others?"
Upon arriving in the capital, they learned that Jiang Mingzhe had been titled the Count of Suyan.
Li Pan worried that Jiang Mingzhe might abandon Ye Yunniang or despise him.
But Jiang Mingzhe proved with his actions that he would not, and even wanted to make him the heir.
Whether Jiang Mingzhe was just putting on an act or being sincere, Li Pan was grateful to him.
And then, he refused the offer.
After seeing off the last guest, Ye Yunniang let out a long sigh of relief.
Today was finally over.
She first went to the courtyards of her three older sons, chatted with each of them for a while, and asked if they had been bullied today.
Li Pan: "Mother, I wasn't bullied."
Li An: "There were two who spoke unpleasantly, but I talked back and shut them up."
Li Ping: "I memorized the names of those with foul mouths. I've already sent someone to investigate them. I will make them pay."
Li Ping believed in taking revenge from morning till night.
"You were with your big brother today. Did you see anyone bullying him?"
Ye Yunniang was worried that Li Pan, afraid of causing her trouble, wouldn't say anything even if he was bullied.
"I remember everyone who bullied big brother, and I won't let them off." His, Li Ping's, big brother was not someone anyone could just casually bully.
Ye Yunniang wanted Li Ping to look after Li Pan a bit more. But thinking about how young Li Ping still was, she couldn't bring herself to say it.
Li Ping saw through Ye Yunniang's thoughts.
"Mother, you underestimate big brother."
Li Ping recounted the events on their way to the capital, such as getting food poisoning, encountering robbers, and being targeted by human traffickers.
"I had heatstroke and was poisoned, so I couldn't handle things on the road. Whenever something happened, big brother dealt with it, and he did a great job."
After hearing Li Ping's account, Ye Yunniang realized that her understanding of her eldest son really seemed a bit one-sided.
Returning to her room, Jiang Mingzhe was holding Yuanyuan, teasing him and playing with him.
"Call me Daddy, Yuanyuan, call me Daddy."
"How old is he? He can't even understand words yet," Ye Yunniang said as she clapped her hands to attract Yuanyuan's attention, reaching out to hold him.
Placing Yuanyuan on the bed, Ye Yunniang unfastened Yuanyuan's clothes and examined him carefully.
"Jiang Mingzhe!" Ye Yunniang's voice tightened.
"What is it?" Jiang Mingzhe didn't even have time to put down his teacup before rushing to the bedside.
On Yuanyuan's thigh, there was a visible patch of purple bruising from being pinched.
"Qiushuang, go call a doctor."
Outside the door, Qiushuang acknowledged the order and went to fetch a doctor.
Inside the room, Ye Yunniang and Jiang Mingzhe recalled the events of the day.
On the female guests' side, Cai Damei held him first, and later Ye Yunniang held him.
After that, Li Pan carried Yuanyuan away.
"Pan'er would never pinch Yuanyuan."
Jiang Mingzhe believed that Li Pan wouldn't do it.
Jiang Mingzhe thought about the situation when Yuanyuan was taken to the front yard.
Jiang Mingzhe took Yuanyuan from Li Pan's hands and held him at first.
Later, he had to offer toasts.
Gu Cundong was there and reached out to take him and hold him.
Gu Cundong had held Yuanyuan many times before.
Jiang Mingzhe didn't refuse and handed the baby over to him.
After the toasts were finished, Jiang Mingzhe held Yuanyuan the entire time without letting go.
Gu Cundong wasn't that bored to do such a thing.
Jiang Mingzhe wouldn't hurt his own son either.
Who had pinched Yuanyuan?
"Did Yuanyuan cry?"
"No," Jiang Mingzhe answered very affirmatively. Even though he was offering toasts, he had been keeping an eye on his son the whole time.
"He didn't even cry when he was pinched. Could our son be a fool?" All the worries at the bottom of Jiang Mingzhe's heart surged up.
He shouldn't have harbored any wishful thinking and let his son take the surname Jiang.
He must be cursed.
"It's all my fault."
Jiang Mingzhe's panic was something Ye Yunniang had never seen before.
"Jiang Mingzhe, don't blame yourself." Jiang Mingzhe couldn't hear Ye Yunniang's words at all.
He kept blaming himself, muttering that he was wrong.
Slap!