After night fell, Chu Fuyu washed up and climbed into bed with the three children.
She even took out a soft silk quilt from her space. It was light, warm, and unbelievably comfortable.
The children quickly fell asleep, huddled close together, sleeping soundly.
In the past, the cold nights had kept them awake for hours.
Chu Fuyu glanced around the thatched cottage.
The place was actually fairly spacious, with two rooms in total. Only one was being used as a bedroom, while the other was filthy and completely untouched. The walls and roof were damaged in several places too, so even during autumn, cold drafts seeped into the house.
As she lay there, she began planning what needed to be done tomorrow.
First, she would go to the market and buy necessities for daily life. She could use the bolts of fabric from her stockpile to hire a tailor to make proper outer clothing and padded winter clothes for the children.
Then she needed to hire someone to repair the house, clean it thoroughly, and add some furniture.
Moving directly to the capital wasn’t an option right now.
With the gold and silver she possessed, buying an excellent residence in the capital would be easy enough.
But once she entered the capital, it would be far too easy for the Prince Jing Manor to discover the existence of the three children.
Ancient society cared deeply about bloodlines and status. If the manor learned there were heirs living outside, they would absolutely take the children back no matter what.
And then she would once again be left alone.
Looking at the sleeping faces of the children in the candlelight, Chu Fuyu felt her heart soften.
Even though she had only spent one day with them, they were still her biological children. The instinctive love of a mother made it impossible for her to hand them over to anyone else.
Besides, even if sending them back to the manor might benefit their future, Prince Jing Xiao Jingheng spent all year fighting on battlefields. He would never have time to properly care for them.
A lack of parental love could leave permanent scars on a child’s personality.
Chu Fuyu understood that better than anyone.
A woman may be strong already, but a mother becomes even stronger.
She was determined to give the three children a warm and loving home.
With those thoughts in mind, she gradually drifted into sleep as well.
The next morning, when Chu Fuyu woke up, the children were still asleep.
She quietly got out of bed, washed her face, brushed her teeth, and changed into one of the cleaner-looking outfits she owned.
There was a blurry bronze mirror in the house.
As Chu Fuyu sat before it to comb her hair, she unexpectedly discovered that her face looked slightly different from her appearance in the modern world.
In modern times, she had already been considered a stunning beauty—bright eyes, white teeth, glamorous and elegant.
But now…
The corners of her eyes tilted slightly upward, tinged with a faint reddish hue. Her eyes shimmered with moisture and charm, making her look extraordinarily alluring.
It felt as though she had transformed from a glamorous celebrity into an irresistible enchantress.
Especially those peach blossom eyes—she looked affectionate no matter who she gazed at.
Even dressed in rough cloth garments, her beauty remained impossible to hide.
It was just that years of hunger and low blood sugar had left her complexion pale and weary.
Touching her own face, Chu Fuyu couldn’t help sighing.
No wonder the famously abstinent Prince Jing had married such a bad-tempered woman as his principal wife.
After all, her previous self’s fiery reputation had been widely known. Yet he had still spent two sweet years deeply in love with her.
Clearly, the man appreciated a beautiful face too.
By the time she finished tidying herself up, the children had begun waking one after another.
While they washed their faces, Chu Fuyu organized the kitchen a little and brought out quite a few cooking utensils along with rice, flour, oil, and seasonings from her space.
This morning, she decided to make scallion pancakes.
Having lived alone for many years in modern times, she was already familiar with basic cooking skills.
Soon, the rich aroma of frying scallion pancakes filled the house, making the three children cry out excitedly.
Seeing their rosy little faces made Chu Fuyu happy too.
She fried five pancakes in one go, heated four cups of milk, and secretly added a few drops of spiritual spring water into each cup.
According to the space’s description, the spiritual spring could strengthen the body, improve beauty, cleanse toxins, and even enhance intelligence with long-term use.
Wasn’t that far better than any health supplement?
So Chu Fuyu decided that from today onward, the entire family would drink spiritual spring water daily.
Adding it into their morning milk was perfect.
Besides the pancakes, she also fried eggs and bacon.
The children were severely malnourished, so they needed more protein.
The three boys happily stuffed themselves with eggs and scallion pancakes.
Sanmao—now called Huaiyi—grinned widely.
“This is amazing, Mother. I never thought we’d be able to eat until full every day.”
Ermao, Huaiyu, laughed at him.
“At least now you won’t need to run naked to Brother Huzi’s house to steal sweet potatoes anymore.”
Huaiyi secretly rolled his eyes at his second brother before asking cautiously while eating,
“Mother, are you going out today? Can I come with you?”
Chu Fuyu rubbed his little head and smiled.
“Of course. Mother is going to the market today, and all of you are coming with me.”
“Wow!”
Huaijin and Huaiyu’s eyes immediately lit up as well.
The eldest, Huaijin, quickly swallowed the pancake in his mouth and said indistinctly,
“Then we need to hurry. Mother, Grandpa Wang’s donkey cart will pass by soon. If we miss it, we’ll have to walk for two hours.”
Chu Fuyu nodded.
Hearing this, Huaiyu and Huaiyi sped up their eating too.
Meanwhile, Chu Fuyu calculated silently in her heart.
Walking from Lishui Village to the market town took nearly two hours, but riding a donkey cart would save more than half the time.
And since she planned to buy supplies in large quantities, hitching rides constantly would be inconvenient anyway.
She could spend some money hiring a cart, but after thinking it through, she decided it would be much better for their family to own a donkey cart themselves for future travel.
After making up her mind, she quickly finished breakfast, washed the dishes, tidied up the house, and led the three children outside to wait for Old Man Wang’s cart.
Old Man Wang was already in his sixties. His family supported two sons studying for the imperial examinations, and last year his eldest son had successfully passed the county-level scholar exam, bringing considerable prestige and income to the family.
They were considered one of the few scholarly households in all of Lishui Village.
Naturally, their family conditions were much better too. They owned a donkey cart and could even afford meat from time to time.
Before long, Old Man Wang drove the cart over.
Seeing Chu Fuyu and the three boys, he cheerfully greeted them.
“Damao, Ermao, Sanmao, are you boys going to the market too today?”
Huaiyi nodded enthusiastically.
“Yes, Grandpa Wang! Mother is taking us to buy new clothes!”
Huaiyu immediately corrected him proudly.
“Grandpa Wang, we have proper names now. My name is Chu Huaiyu.”