Chapter 859 - 861: Long-Forgotten Old Friend_1
The visitor’s footsteps halted, not causing any fuss, and even deliberately lowered their voice to say, "I was too eager to see an old friend and acted rashly. Please tell your master that Lin Hanlan will come to visit later."
"Yes, Miss Lin," Jianqi said politely.
The footsteps outside gradually receded. Jiang Yichun moved slightly, carefully rising up. Just as he sat up straight, he saw his son was already awake, his big eyes rolling around. He quickly picked up his son, whispering, "Don’t wake your mother, she’s exhausted. Daddy will take you to eat."
He carried Dengdeng out of the room, not bothering to inquire about the female visitor from earlier and simply asked someone to fetch the milk for breakfast from the Kitchen.
He washed his son’s face with water, then let him play by his side. After cleaning up himself, breakfast arrived. He held his son and fed him the milk. After finishing, he then started on his breakfast. Nearly done, he spoon-fed his son most of a bowl of millet porridge mixed with egg yolk.
If someone thought about it, they wouldn’t have imagined Jiang Yichun with such a tender and attentive side. Muyu, standing by, was so astonished he touched his head, wondering if he could do the same if he became a father. Could he?
At this thought, he suddenly laughed out loud. It would be good enough for him if he didn’t drop the baby.
Jiang Yichun, interrupted by his laughter, looked up and asked, "What’s so funny?"
Muyu quickly waved his hand, "My lord, it’s nothing. I just couldn’t help laughing because the little young master is too adorable." He wouldn’t dare to express his real thoughts just now. To dare to laugh at his master being a nanny, he would be facing punishment again.
Parents always enjoy hearing praise about their children, and Jiang Yichun was no exception. Since Muyu complimented Dengdeng, he didn’t mind Muyu suddenly laughing and interrupting their father-son dinner.
Worried that he couldn’t divert the topic, Muyu hurriedly said, "My lord, a young miss came this morning named Lin Hanlan, but Jianqi stopped her, worrying she would disturb your rest. She said she would visit later and mentioned something about an old friend."
Jiang Yichun had heard all this and initially pushed it to the back of his mind. Now that Muyu brought it up, he began to recall the incident.
"Is she my wife’s friend?" Jiang Yichun asked.
Muyu thought to himself, How would I know? I’m not my lady’s maid.
"I’m not sure. But looking at her, she also has the surname Lin and looks somewhat like Lin Gongzi, possibly a relative," Muyu said.
Jiang Yichun uttered an "Oh," and continued to focus on feeding his child. He didn’t remember any Lin Hanlan. Probably one of Ruozhu’s lady friends or maybe a customer who ordered knitted goods.
After a while, Bai Ruozhu woke up feeling sore all over, her throat dry, and her stomach growling fiercely. She quickly washed up and rushed to join the father and son for breakfast.
"Did you sleep well? Try these shrimp dumplings; you’ll definitely like them," Jiang Yichun said as Bai Ruozhu arrived, opening the steamer lid and pushing it in front of her.
Bai Ruozhu glanced inside, where there were three delicate shrimp dumplings with one spot emptied out, showing that Jiang Yichun had eaten one, thinking it would suit her taste, and quickly covered the rest for her.
She gave him a sweet smile, "Then I won’t be polite, I’m starved."
She picked up a shrimp dumpling and put it in her mouth. It was at the perfect temperature. She chewed twice; the flavor was indeed good and exactly to her liking. Her dear Yichun really knew her well.
Enjoying her meal, she stuffed another dumpling into her mouth. The shrimp dumplings were the perfect size, just one bite each. Just as she was about to chew, she heard footsteps outside, followed by a woman’s voice.
"Brother Yichun, you’re finally up, it’s been so many years since we’ve seen each other!"
Bai Ruozhu’s mouth was full of shrimp dumpling, and she nearly choked on the words "Brother Yichun," startled by the surprise. What was going on? Had another childhood sweetheart appeared?
Jiang Yichun paused and quickly glanced at his wife, not having anticipated that the female visitor had come for him. When had he made such an acquaintance?
"Who might this young lady be?" he asked coolly.
Lin Hanlan clearly saw that he did not remember her, and a hint of embarrassment crossed her face. She said, "My name is Lin Hanlan, my father is the Huainan King. As children, we visited the palace every year to pay respects, and we even played together there. Later it changed to visiting the capital every three years, and by then you were no longer in the capital. I asked around a lot, only to learn that you..."
At this point, she suddenly seemed to recall something and her expression turned to one of annoyance as she muttered under her breath, "Why am I even bringing this up, honestly."
Jiang Yichun’s complexion changed. He was well aware of why he hadn’t been in the capital, as that incident had always been a wound he did not wish to reopen, hurting anew with each mention.
But after the pang of pain, Jiang Yichun regained his cool demeanor, his attitude clearly projecting "I don’t remember, I don’t know you."
Bai Ruozhu silently chewed the shrimp dumpling in her mouth. Seeing as a beauty had arrived and she was not in a position to speak with her mouth full, she decided it was better to finish eating first. She noticed Lin Hanlan’s embarrassment and gave Jiang Yichun a look, hinting that even if he truly couldn’t remember, it would have been kind to pretend to do so and spare the girl’s feelings.
Lin Hanlan watched Jiang Yichun, and seeing that he remained unable to recall, her face betrayed a touch of disappointment. She chuckled awkwardly and said, "Never mind if you can’t remember, it’s just good to see each other again. This must be your sister-in-law, right? And this is your baby? So adorable!"
Lin Hanlan bounced over to Bai Ruozhu’s side, her lively personality obvious by the way she moved, so different from the usual demure ladies of noble families.
Bai Ruozhu finally swallowed the shrimp dumpling and quickly returned Lin Hanlan’s smile, saying, "Yes, this is our son, his nickname is Dengdeng."
Lin Hanlan blinked her large eyes at Bai Ruozhu, "Then sister-in-law, how may I address you?"
"My name is Bai Ruozhu," Bai Ruozhu replied with a smile, considering she was the daughter of the Huainan King. Even if she truly was her husband’s girlhood sweetheart, it was only proper to be polite to her.
Thinking this, Bai Ruozhu stole a glance at Jiang Yichun, wondering just how much of a playboy he had been in the past to have so many "sisters."
Lin Hanlan cheerfully called her "Sister Ruozhu," then took off her waist pendant and pressed it into Bai Ruozhu’s hands, saying, "This is a gift for meeting Dengdeng. I suppose I’m his aunt now."
Bai Ruozhu looked at the Jade Pendant for a moment before returning a grateful smile to Lin Hanlan, "On behalf of Dengdeng, I thank Miss Lin."
"No need to thank me, we’re all family," Lin Hanlan said boldly. Suddenly, she shouted in surprise, startling little Dengdeng with her dramatic reaction.
"I remember now, Brother Yichun, I was dressed as a boy back then, and you all called me Xiaohan. Do you remember now?" Lin Hanlan exclaimed excitedly to Jiang Yichun.