Chapter 23.2

After the meal, Shen Qingyun went to Qi Feng’s house to borrow a hoe and a shovel, then took Da Bao to the backyard to work the soil.

Erniu, always eager to join in on the fun, of course couldn’t be left out in this situation.

So, before long, Yin Xiaoman was the only one left in the room.

Looking out through the window, she saw Shen Qingyun in the backyard, holding a shovel and turning over the soil, while Da Bao and Erniu each held a small stone, following behind him and breaking up the clumps of earth he had dug up.

The group of people were working busily, and there was no way they could return anytime soon.

Yin Xiaoman walked to another bedroom and rummaged through the schoolbag she had prepared for Da Bao, pulling out a box of colored pencils.

The pencils had been secretly slipped into Da Bao’s schoolbag by Mr. Ning, though they hadn’t noticed when it had happened.

By the time they realized, the man was already gone.

Yin Xiaoman wasn’t the type of person to be overly sentimental. She wouldn’t refuse the children from using the gift just because she knew it had been given to Erniu. To her, gifts were meant to come and go, and there was always the opportunity to return the favor later.

So, now, this box of colored pencils belonged to both children.

She casually picked out a sky-blue pencil, grabbed a piece of paper, and sat down to write a few lines.

After placing everything back in its original place, she took the note she had written and returned to her own bedroom.

With everyone busy, no one had time to notice her, so Yin Xiaoman quickly returned to the room she had in the palace. She opened the wooden box and took out a piece of broken silver, tucking it into her clothes.

Ever since she overheard the two palace maids’ conversation, Yin Xiaoman had felt uneasy. She wanted to try and contact Lichun to give her the silver, but she also didn’t want her actions to be discovered by others.

Yin Xiaoman was holding the silver and was about to silently recite the phrase to access the small warehouse, but suddenly, she realized—if those people were really going to perform some sort of ritual, they would definitely choose the warehouse as their location. If she went there so impulsively, wouldn’t she risk running into them?

Thinking of this, Yin Xiaoman hesitated. She sighed silently in her heart and muttered to herself, “Sigh, I still want to go to the Imperial Kitchen!”

Then, a familiar sense of dizziness washed over her again. When Yin Xiaoman opened her eyes, she found herself standing right by the stove in the Imperial Kitchen, the very place she had longed to return to for so long!

Nothing had changed in the Imperial Kitchen. It looked exactly the same as it had when she had seen it more than ten years ago.

It seemed that time passed at the same rate in this space as it did outside.

At this moment, the Imperial Kitchen had likely just finished preparing the master’s dinner. The familiar warmth, mixed with the lingering scent of food, still hung in the air. The unwashed steamers were soaking in wooden tubs.

Everything showed that it wasn’t time to finish up yet, but the place was completely empty, both inside and out.

That shouldn’t be the case.

Perhaps it was a long-standing habit, but when Yin Xiaoman saw this, she couldn’t help but furrow her brows. She quickened her pace, heading towards the door of the Imperial Kitchen, wanting to find out where everyone had gone.

She was stopped only when she suddenly bumped into a barrier, causing her to come to a halt.

Rubbing her forehead where it hurt from the sudden impact, Yin Xiaoman realized that in front of her was a completely transparent partition. On the other side of the partition, Lichun was leading all the palace maids and eunuchs on duty today, listening to an admonishment from Supervisor Wei.

Yin Xiaoman couldn’t hear what they were saying from such a distance, but she could feel from the tense expressions on their faces that they were being scolded.

For a moment, Yin Xiaoman felt a flash of disorientation, unsure whether this was a dream or reality.

After a long pause, she couldn’t help but sigh deeply in her heart.

She didn’t linger any longer. Turning, she walked toward the small room in the far corner, which had been specially set aside for the housekeeper.

This small room was where the Imperial Kitchen stored account books and valuable materials. It was also the place where the housekeeper and chefs would discuss the menus for the various masters in the palace.

Anything kept in this room was not meant to be seen casually, so the door was usually locked.

Only the housekeeper had the key to it.

Luckily, she didn’t need the key now.

Yin Xiaoman entered the room, placing the piece of paper she had written on the table, in the middle of the open account book. She also placed the piece of broken silver underneath the account book.

Then, she quietly found an inconspicuous corner to wait.

She knew that Lichun would come over soon.

Sure enough, it wasn’t long before the door opened from the outside. Besides Lichun, several other high-ranking stewards from the Imperial Kitchen entered.

As soon as they stepped in, one of the stewards, looking dejected, spoke up: “Lichun, if Supervisor Wei says we can’t set up the incense altar, should we just not do it? What if the Taoist Immortal comes again? Although the things the Immortal took aren’t worth much, I can always make up for them, but the problem is, we don’t know what the Immortal will take each time! Just the other day, I brought back some dried bamboo shoots, and she took them. Now, the Crown Prince wants stir-fried bamboo shoots with pork…”

Yin Xiaoman recognized the voice of the steward—it was the supervisor of the small warehouse.

This man had been promoted by her and was the most honest and reliable one.

Although he hadn’t finished speaking, Yin Xiaoman could already tell what had happened: the Crown Prince had ordered stir-fried bamboo shoots with pork, but the dried bamboo shoots were missing, and the chef had been pressing for them.

In his panic, the steward had reported the loss, which had led to the situation being exposed.

Yin Xiaoman couldn’t help but rub her temples, feeling a headache coming on.

The Imperial Kitchen was responsible for providing meals for the entire palace, and it was not uncommon for some ingredients to be unavailable at the last minute. If the steward had simply confided in Lichun about the matter, Lichun would likely have kept it private and handled it without causing any unnecessary commotion. At least, it wouldn’t have escalated to the point where everyone knew and was subsequently punished.

Yin Xiaoman wasn’t trying to shirk responsibility, but after so many years as the Head Maid, in her familiar domain, seeing someone mishandle a situation like this, she couldn’t help but feel frustrated and disappointed.

Fortunately, Lichun remained calm and composed as always.

She quietly listened to her subordinates’ complaints, giving them an outlet to vent. After they had said enough, she raised her hand in a gesture of quiet authority to signal that it was time to stop. “Alright, I’ll talk to Supervisor Wei about the warehouse issue. Don’t overthink it. Go back to your duties.”

“What about the incense altar?” one of the stewards asked.

“Let it go for now.”

Hearing this, despite the clear unease in their voices, none of the stewards dared to argue further. They silently filed out of the room.

As the door closed behind them, Yin Xiaoman noticed Lichun’s shoulders slump, and she couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy.

The palace was always strict about things like candles and incense. Yesterday, when Yin Xiaoman overheard the little palace maids discussing setting up the incense altar, she had immediately thought that such an action might violate the taboos of the nobility. She wanted to warn them, but didn’t know how to do so.

It seemed that Supervisor Wei had heard about it and came to offer a reminder. Though these people appeared to have been scolded, they had at least avoided a more serious issue because of Wei Gonggong’s timely intervention.

Unfortunately, Lichun was still young and lacked the experience to see the kindness behind Wei Gonggong’s actions.

While she was lost in thought, Lichun had already noticed the piece of paper Yin Xiaoman had placed in the account book. In an instant, she was startled and fell back onto the chair with a loud clatter, her face turning pale.

The note Yin Xiaoman had written was simple and to the point, with only a few short sentences: “The rice and grains are all taken by me, the silver will be replenished. Do not investigate further. Any excess silver, please use to purchase a bag of rough rice, half a bundle of mountain vegetables, a small jar each of salt, sugar, and yellow wine. Place them in the cabinet in this room. I will come to collect them myself.”

At the very bottom of the note, she had drawn a small cloud.

Before writing this note, Yin Xiaoman had carefully considered her options. Not knowing how to explain things to Lichun, she decided not to explain at all. Let them think whatever they wanted.

Sometimes, many things become more worrisome because one can’t make sense of them, which only leads to more hesitation and a greater tendency to follow orders.

Yin Xiaoman knew Lichun well enough to understand that she was not the type to overreact. In fact, she was very cautious by nature. 

Even if she were to show this note to others, no one would believe it, so Yin Xiaoman naturally didn’t publicize it. 

After noticing that the small warehouse no longer had missing items, she gradually began to trust what she had written on the note. 

As for the other requests, Yin Xiaoman was simply testing the waters. What if? What if Lichun really followed through with them? 

In that case, obtaining certain ingredients would not only become more straightforward but she might even have someone run errands for her.

When she saw Lichun sitting there like a fool, staring blankly without moving for a long time, Yin Xiaoman couldn’t help but feel disappointed, thinking her eldest disciple lacked the courage to act. 

She decided not to waste any more time and turned to leave.

Just as she opened the bedroom door, the three men came back from the backyard, laughing and covered in dirt, looking like a bunch of dirty monkeys.

“Mom, mom, we’ve turned over the whole backyard!” Erniu, upon seeing her, immediately shot toward her like a little cannonball.

Yin Xiaoman was startled and quickly stepped aside, raising her arm to stop her. “Look at you, all covered in dirt!”

She waved her hand dismissively, signaling them to stand still. “Go wash up first.”

As she turned to head into the kitchen, Shen Qingyun instinctively looked down at his rolled-up pant cuffs and the yellow mud stains on his rubber shoes. 

Seeing him in this state, Da Bao mistakenly thought it was because Shen Qingyun was displeased with her.

He quickly began to explain, “Mom doesn’t mind, mom likes cleanliness, mom smells nice…”

The more he tried to explain, the more flustered he became, his face turning bright red with embarrassment.

When he said “mom smells nice,” Shen Qingyun’s mind briefly went blank. He then found himself recalling the moment when he had stood by the car door and reached out to Yin Xiaoman.

That had been the moment they were closest to each other, and he had faintly caught the soft fragrance emanating from his wife.

At that moment, Shen Qingyun hadn’t really noticed it because his mind was occupied with other things. But now…

Suddenly, Shen Qingyun felt his ears turn hot, and without even needing to look, he knew they were probably bright red.

A bit embarrassed and angry, he grabbed Da Bao by the armpits and lifted him off the ground.

In a gruff voice, he said, “You know your mom likes cleanliness, yet you make yourself so dirty? Go wash up now!”

He said this while walking briskly toward the water well.

Yin Xiaoman, having finished speaking with them, had already gone into the kitchen.

Even though it was warm enough here that there was no need to heat the kang (a traditional bed warmer), she still kept the habit of heating a large pot of water late in the day—one, to prevent anyone from feeling thirsty at night, and two, for washing up.

She scooped a large basin of hot water and came out, intending to dilute it and use it for the little ones to wash their hands. But as soon as she stepped outside, she heard Da Bao screaming, with Erniu’s gleeful laughter in the background.

Yin Xiaoman raised her head in surprise, only to be immediately consumed by an overwhelming anger at what she saw!

Not far from the water well, Shen Qingyun was holding a basin and pinning Da Bao down, forcing him to squat while he poured cold water over the child’s head.

Though the temperature in Haicheng was relatively high, it was still winter!

Pouring a whole basin of cold water on the child—how could Da Bao not be frozen and crying out in distress?

Yin Xiaoman felt her blood pressure rise and her temper flare to an uncontrollable level!

Without thinking, she slammed the hot water basin onto the ground and stormed over, raising her fist to deliver a series of heavy blows to Shen Qingyun’s back!

“Have you lost your mind? Are you trying to freeze him to death? If he catches a cold, are you planning to take his life?!” 

The more she spoke, the angrier she became, and her thoughts involuntarily drifted to when she was a child, stepping into the cold seawater during winter, only to fall sick afterward.

At that time, her family was too poor to afford medicine. All her grandmother could do was cry while applying cold water to her face. She was lucky to have survived. If her body had been a little weaker, she might have died back then.

Shen Qingyun stood there, completely stunned, his hand still on his neck where Yin Xiaoman had bitten him. The disbelief on his face was clear as he tried to process what had just happened. It took a few moments for his mind to catch up with reality.

He had been so focused on trying to help by cleaning the kids up, thinking he was doing something thoughtful, only to end up completely baffled by her reaction. Her anger and frustration had taken him completely by surprise. And then—she had *bitten* him. 

He gingerly touched the spot on his neck, where he could still feel the heat of her teeth on his skin. It was a strange mix of sensations—surprise, confusion, and an odd sense of warmth. But above all, there was a growing realization: this was something more than just her anger. She had reacted out of emotion, and not the typical calmness she usually displayed.

Shen Qingyun could hear the door slam behind her as she locked herself in the kitchen with the children, and a heavy silence settled over him. He was still trying to make sense of it all, still not fully understanding what had just happened. 

*Was that… her way of showing she cared?* he thought, feeling a strange tightness in his chest. The whole situation was turning his world upside down, and his usual composed demeanor was slipping. 

He exhaled deeply, his fingers still lingering on his neck, still trying to come to terms with the fact that his wife, in her frustration, had left an undeniable mark. The question now was: how would he fix this?