“Thump, thump, thump!”
In the dead of night, a series of urgent knocks suddenly sounded at the door.
Jiang Yueheng’s eyes snapped open, instantly alert, and he prepared to get up to investigate.
Liu Qingwu was awakened by the rustling movements and propped herself up drowsily, looking at Jiang Yueheng who had only taken two steps. “What’s wrong?”
“I’ll go check first.”
Outside, Fuling was staring anxiously at the door.
Since neither Jiang Yueheng nor Liu Qingwu liked having servants on night duty, only the married couple was inside the room.
Jiang Yueheng opened the door and saw the anxious maid, asking in a deep voice, “What happened?”
“Reporting to Shizi, the young master won’t stop crying. Please come take a look.”
“I’ll go immediately. Inform the mistress.”
Without waiting for a response, Jiang Yueheng strode quickly to the east room.
In the east room, the wet nurse was rocking Hao Ge’er back and forth, gently patting the child’s back with her right hand, trying to stop his crying.
Hao Ge’er in her arms was whimpering softly, his little body trembling with sobs—he must have been crying for some time.
Jiang Yueheng instinctively took the child in his arms, imitating the wet nurse’s rocking motion.
But he forgot that aside from the day Hao Ge’er was born, he had never held the child since. His arms were terribly stiff.
Hao Ge’er, with reddened eyes, saw that the face above him had changed to an expressionless adult one, and feeling the stiff embrace and unfamiliar scent, he burst into even louder wails.
Liu Qingwu, who had rushed over, felt a headache coming on at the scene before her.
She reached out and took Hao Ge’er, letting him rest on her shoulder while patting his back and continuously walking around the room, making soothing “oh~ oh~” sounds.
Hao Ge’er, seeing his “playmate” from before bedtime and smelling the familiar scent, gradually stopped crying.
It was time for his night feeding. When Hao Ge’er opened his eyes, he saw a completely unfamiliar scene in his drowsy state. Feeling extremely insecure, he could only express himself through loud crying.
Feeling that the little one on her shoulder seemed to have stopped crying, Liu Qingwu adjusted her position to face him directly—sure enough, he had stopped crying.
She breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Jiang Yueheng, whose expressionless face faintly revealed a hint of helplessness. “Husband, you should rest first. You have morning court tomorrow.”
Jiang Yueheng wanted to help but clearly knew he would only make things worse. After a moment of silence, he asked, “What about you?”
“I’ll stay here with him tonight.”
Liu Qingwu’s tone carried some helplessness. The child clearly only recognized her now, so to be safe, she should stay the night.
Seeing that he hadn’t moved, Liu Qingwu urged again, “Husband, please go rest.”
Jiang Yueheng obediently turned around, but on his way back to their room, he found himself thinking about when the grapes could be planted.
After sending everyone else back to rest, Liu Qingwu watched as Hao Ge’er stared wide-eyed at her, his little mouth continuously sucking at the air, his small hands grabbing randomly.
She hesitated and looked at the wet nurse. “Does Hao Ge’er want to nurse?”
The wet nurse apologetically explained that Hao Ge’er had started crying as soon as he opened his eyes and she had been comforting him for so long that she hadn’t had time to feed him yet.
With quick reflexes, Liu Qingwu extracted the “intrusive” little hand from her collar and, with lightning speed, stuffed the child into the wet nurse’s arms. “Feed him first!”
During the fourth watch of the night, it was time again for Hao Ge’er’s night feeding.
This time, with Liu Qingwu and the wet nurse by his side, Hao Ge’er opened his eyes to familiar faces and was surrounded by familiar scents.
He smiled sweetly and smoothly drank his night feeding.
However, a new problem soon emerged.
Well-rested and well-fed, Hao Ge’er was bursting with energy, giggling happily and willing to do anything—except sleep!
To make matters worse, Hao Ge’er didn’t want the wet nurse; he only wanted his “little companion” to play with.
Liu Qingwu felt her vision darken instantly. As a healthy young woman who usually slept soundly for eight hours, waking twice in one night left her so exhausted she could barely keep her eyes open.
She lay on her side facing Hao Ge’er, closing her eyes in an attempt to deceive the clueless infant.
And what was our little protagonist doing?
Tugging at her sleeve with his small hands, and when she remained still, he gave Liu Qingwu a sharp slap.
Liu Qingwu’s mind jolted awake instantly, while the wet nurse watched trembling nearby.
Hao Ge’er paid no mind to any of this. Seeing her awake, he giggled gleefully and, before she could react, slapped Liu Qingwu again.
The wet nurse: “…”
Liu Qingwu: “…”
Liu Qingwu abruptly sat up, stopping the wet nurse from picking up the child. She pressed Hao Ge’er onto his back on the bed and began to play with him.
The wet nurse watched with relief: The Shizi Furen truly lived up to being his aunt, genuinely fond of the young master.
If Liu Qingwu had known what the wet nurse was thinking, she might have retorted: Are you blind?
Hao Ge’er was merely a two-month-old infant; she wouldn’t hold a grudge against him. The sooner she exhausted his energy, the sooner she could sleep.
The next day, Hou Furen heard early in the morning about Hao Ge’er’s nighttime crying. Worried, she rushed to the West Courtyard to check on him without even stopping to eat.
In the West Courtyard, Jiang Yueheng was about to leave for court when he saw his mother arriving hurriedly with her maids.
“Mother, what brings you here?”
Hou Furen’s eyes were filled with concern: “I heard from the servants this morning that Hao Ge’er cried last night. I was worried and came to see for myself.”
Jiang Yueheng said with self-reproach: “I’m sorry to worry you, Mother. It’s my fault for not taking good care of him.”
Hou Furen waved her hand, signaling him not to say more and to go to court as scheduled, as she was eager to check on the child inside.
East Chamber.
Before Hou Furen even reached the bed, she saw Liu Qingwu and Hao Ge’er sleeping soundly, their heads close together.
She carefully examined Hao Ge’er’s rosy little face and found no trace of tears at the corners of his eyes.
Then she noticed the dark circles under Liu Qingwu’s eyes. Without waking them, she beckoned for the wet nurse to follow her to the outer corridor.
“Tell me in detail about Hao Ge’er’s condition last night.”
“Reporting to Madam, the young master woke up near the end of the Hai hour last night. Perhaps because the environment was unfamiliar, he cried incessantly, disturbing the Shizi and Shizi Furen.”
“Seeing that the young master only wanted her to hold him, Shizi Furen stayed to rest in the East Chamber.”
“The young master woke a second time during the fourth watch. After drinking his milk, he demanded someone play with him, and Shizi Furen played with him for a long time.”
“He woke a third time at Mao hour, three quarters in. Shizi Furen and the young master have just fallen asleep less than an incense stick’s time ago.”
Hou Furen suddenly understood. She had noticed the dark circles under Liu Qingwu’s eyes and knew she hadn’t slept well, but hadn’t realized she’d been woken three times.
“Send someone else in to watch over them. You may go rest as well.”
Hou Furen dismissed the wet nurse, then summoned the servants attending to Liu Qingwu and carefully instructed them: “Do not disturb your mistress’s rest. Let her sleep as long as she wants.”
After speaking quietly, she left the West Courtyard.
In the Zheng courtyard, Hou Furen finished her morning meal with a troubled heart. After much deliberation, she finally ordered a maid to deliver five thousand taels in silver notes to the West Courtyard, telling Liu Qingwu to buy whatever she liked.
By the time Liu Qingwu opened her eyes again, the sky was already bright.
During the daytime, Hao Ge’er was not as clingy to her, and the wet nurse took the child away.
Fuling promptly presented the five thousand taels in silver notes. Liu Qingwu’s dazed eyes instantly widened: Five thousand taels!
This night was not a loss after all!