Being a second wife is difficult

It's definitely cool under the shade of the tree.

The wind came from the other side of the field, brushing against my face with the scent of soil and grass, neither dry nor damp, as if it had gathered all the good weather of the day into this shady spot.

Seeing that Qinghe was still standing to the side, Jiang Wan raised her hand and patted the cloth next to her: "Don't stand there, sit down and rest."

She then waved to the other maids and servants, "Find a place to sit, don't stand for so long, it's tiring."

The maids and servants smiled and thanked them before finding places to sit on the nearby lawn.

Qinghe then sat down next to her, took the herbal tea that Jiang Wan handed her from the side, took a sip, and said with a hint of barely suppressed laughter in her voice, "Madam, the breeze here is so comfortable, much more relaxing than staying in the mansion."

Hearing this, Jiang Wan couldn't help but smile and continued, "If you like it, I'll take you out more often. Staying cooped up in the mansion all the time will make you dull."

After she finished speaking, she added, "It's rare for you to be able to relax like this."

Qinghe nodded, not as if she were replying, but as if she was still savoring the lingering taste of the wind from just now.

"That's right. I used to think that when people in the manor talked about picking crops in the fields, it was just children running around. But today, standing on the edge of the field myself, I realized it's different."

"The sky is so high, the land is so wide, and the wind doesn't carry the smell of the base of the walls in the yard."

Jiang Wan chuckled: "You certainly know how to describe it. What does the base of the wall in the yard smell like?"

Qinghe thought for a moment and answered seriously, "It's damp. After the rain, when it gets damp again, there's always a strange smell in the corner of the wall. It's not smelly, just stuffy."

"It's different here. It smells of grass and earth, and there's a hint of the sweetness of dried corn stalks."

Lu Wan was squatting down nearby tidying up her basket when she heard this. She looked up and interjected, "Sister Qinghe has such a keen nose! I've never smelled anything like it before."

"You were running around playing when you were in the manor, and now that you're out here, you're only focused on finding sweet potatoes, so naturally you wouldn't notice," Lu Zhao chimed in, his tone slightly teasing.

Lu Wan, unconvinced, stood up and dusted off her hands: "So, you thought you could smell it?"

Lu Zhao didn't reply, and continued peeling the corn husks in her hands. Lu Wan snorted and squatted back down to continue arranging her sweet potatoes.

Seeing the siblings bickering, Qinghe held back her laughter and turned to Jiang Wan in a low voice, "Madam, the young masters are quite amusing. If it were any other child, they might not have been able to come up with that line."

Jiang Wan lowered her voice and replied, "Yes, they're just kids. They never give in when it comes to arguing. Watching them bicker is more interesting than watching a show."

As she spoke, she glanced at Lu Zhao and added, "But to be honest, Zhao'er probably didn't smell anything sweet either."

Qinghe was stunned for a moment before she realized what was happening, and couldn't help but cover her mouth with her handkerchief.

Lu Hui leaned closer, his ears sharp, and only caught the second half of the sentence before asking, "Mother, what's that sweet smell?"

Before Jiang Wan could answer, Lu Wan interjected, "Sister Qinghe said there's a sweet smell of corn stalks in the wind, can you smell it?"

Lu Hui actually tilted his head back and sniffed, thought about it seriously, and shook his head: "No, I can only smell the earth."

Lu Shan, who was sitting on the other side of Jiang Wan, was carefully peeling a bean pod when she saw her older siblings gather around. She looked up and whispered, "I can smell it."

Several people looked at her.

Lu Shan put down the bean pod in her hand and said seriously, "It's sweet, like...like sugar, with a fresh, breezy scent."

Lu Wan leaned closer: "Really?"

Lu Shan nodded.

Lu Wan then tilted her head back and took a deep sniff. After sniffing, she shook her head, took another sniff, and shook her head again. Finally, she gave up, squatted back down next to her pile of sweet potatoes, and muttered, "Why can't I smell it?"

Qinghe finally couldn't help but laugh. After laughing, she remembered that she was a maid, so she quickly composed herself and turned to Jiang Wan, saying, "Madam, the young masters are really interesting."

Jiang Wan glanced at her, a smile still on her lips: "They all heard you say 'I envy them being able to run around like crazy here.' The kids didn't say anything, but they remembered it. Their bickering later might have been a deliberate act to show you."

"They're having fun themselves, and they wanted you to have some fun too." She softened her tone as she spoke. "Since you've come all this way, don't think about things at home. Just relax and rest when you should."

Qinghe blushed for a moment, and her voice lowered slightly: "This servant was just saying it casually, how could I let the young masters worry about this servant?"

Before she could finish speaking, Lu Wan had already stood up, patted the mud off her hands, and said to Qinghe, "Sister Qinghe, if you want to play too, come run around with us this afternoon! I'll take you to find some good stuff!"

Lu Hui chimed in from the side, "There's still a patch of land over there that hasn't been turned over yet. I just saw it; there might be some bigger ones."

Even the quietest Lu Zhao spoke up: "With Mother watching over us, we won't run far."

Qinghe was at a loss for words at this scene and waved her hands repeatedly: "How could this servant run around with the young masters? This servant is following the madam, wherever the madam is, this servant will be there."

Lu Shan looked up from the pile of bean pods and whispered, "Then Sister Qinghe can pick them with Mother."

Lu Wan immediately nodded: "That's right, Sister Qinghe, you just play with Mother, and pick up whatever she picks up, isn't that fine?"

Qinghe opened her mouth, but found that she couldn't find a reason to refute what a four-year-old child said.

Jiang Wan, who had been listening nearby, slowly chimed in, "They all said you should join them, so it would seem like you're being too distant if you refused."

"You can stay with me this afternoon. Don't hold back. Pick up whatever you want. If you find something good, then you'll know that your trip wasn't in vain."

Qinghe glanced at Jiang Wan, then at the children. The blush on her face hadn't faded, but she couldn't suppress the smile on her lips. She softly replied, "Then... this servant will follow Madam."

Lu Wan was satisfied, so she squatted back down to continue arranging her sweet potatoes. After arranging two, she looked up and said, "Sister Qinghe, if you find a big one later, you can put it next to mine and compare them."

Lu Hui corrected her from the side, "Are you comparing or dividing?"

"We'll compare first, then divide the spoils," Lu Wan said confidently. "After the comparison, we'll know who deserves more."

Lu Zhao kept his head down, peeling corn, and didn't reply, but the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

Just as the atmosphere was relaxing, footsteps came from the other side of the field.

Jiang Wan looked up and saw a young woman wearing a light apricot-colored jacket leading two children toward her.

The woman walked slowly, one hand holding up her skirt, the other hand resting lightly on the child's shoulder beside her, as if afraid he might stumble.

The two children, one seven or eight years old and the other four or five, each carried a small bamboo basket with a few scattered items inside.

The woman stopped a step closer, her gaze sweeping over the children before landing on Jiang Wan's face. She then chuckled, "You must be the eldest wife of the Marquis's family? We met this morning; I was with my mother-in-law at the time."

Jiang Wan looked up and recognized the clothes she was wearing. It was the same clothes that had been worn by the woman in the dark green jacket that morning, the one who was said to be the eldest daughter-in-law.

She hadn't had a chance to ask his name during the initial greetings, but later learned from the old lady that he was from the Shen family. Coming to her senses, she nodded: "Yes, you're from the Shen family—"

"Young Madam Shen." The woman took two steps closer without any formality, her tone amiable, "Just call me Mrs. Shen."

"There weren't many people from our family at the temple today, just my mother-in-law and me. She's not feeling well and is resting inside. The children couldn't sit still, so I took them to run around in the surrounding farmland."

As she spoke, she pointed to the two children beside her, "The older one is called Shen Cheng, and the younger one is called Shen An. They're very naughty; they haven't stopped making a fuss all morning."

The two children were well-behaved and called out "Aunt Lu" in response.

Jiang Wan agreed, looked down at the two children, and her gaze fell on the baskets they were carrying. The bottom of the larger basket was covered with a thin layer of something, like a few pieces of potatoes and one or two ears of corn. The smaller one was even emptier, with only a few peanuts inside, as if they had been picked up casually.

Jiang Wan looked away and casually asked, "Is this your first time back?"

Mrs. Shen nodded: "That's right. The two children have never been to the fields before. They don't even know that sweet potatoes grow in the ground. I had to have the maidservant squat down at the edge of the field and teach them for a long time before we were able to dig out a few."

She chuckled as she spoke, "This is the first time I've ever come out to play like this. Once I started, I couldn't stop. I find it all so new and interesting."

"I couldn't keep an eye on them by myself. They disappeared in the blink of an eye, and I couldn't call them back."

Jiang Wan smiled and said, "It's always like this the first time. It will get better naturally after a few more times."

Mrs. Shen stood by the cloth without sitting down immediately. She first glanced at the things spread on the ground, then at the sweet potatoes and corn in the baskets of her children, and softly exclaimed "Oh!"

"Your kids are really amazing. My two kids ran around all morning, and their baskets combined didn't even have as much stuff as your young lady picked up by herself."

Upon hearing this, Lu Wan picked up her basket, showed it to everyone, and puffed out her chest: "I picked twenty-three! The biggest sweet potato king is still buried underneath."

Mrs. Shen bent down to take a closer look, then nodded in agreement: "That is indeed impressive."

She straightened up, looked at Jiang Wan, and said in a natural tone with a hint of familiarity, "If Madam doesn't mind, may I sit here for a while? I've been walking for quite a while, and my legs are a little sore."

Jiang Wan stepped aside, indicating that the cloth was still mostly empty: "Mrs. Shen, please make yourselves at home. The shade here is great, and the breeze is pleasant. It's perfect for the children to play together."

Mrs. Shen then sat down with her two children.

Shen Cheng and Shen An sat down next to her. The older one immediately emptied his basket and counted the contents, while the younger one looked around and lingered on Lu Wan's pile of sweet potatoes for a while.

Lu Wan noticed their gazes and leaned closer, peering into Shen Cheng's basket: "How much did you pick up?"

Shen Cheng held out the basket: "That's all."

Lu Wan lowered her head and counted carefully. After counting, she said, "Seven yuan, that's not a small amount."

Shen Cheng was a little surprised: "You think that's a lot?"

Lu Wan thought for a moment and said, "When I first came, I only picked up ten. You got seven the first time you came, which is already very good." She said it seriously, as if she was really comparing them.

Hearing her reply, Shen Cheng's previously listless spirits lifted a little. He put the basket back beside him, his tone lighter than before: "Well, my haul this time wasn't bad!"

The two children exchanged a few words and soon stopped sitting by the cloth.

Shen Cheng stood up and ran two steps toward the edge of the field, with Lu Wan following behind. The two of them squatted down by the grass and searched for something.

Shen An ran after him, but after a couple of steps he turned back, put the basket he was carrying on the ground, and ran off again.

Mrs. Shen watched their retreating figures and chuckled, "They're not this wild at home, but they become unruly as soon as they come out."

Jiang Wan said, "Children are all like this. When they stay in the yard for too long, with stone slabs under their feet and eaves above their heads, they can't run around. But when they come to a place like this, with their feet on the ground and their eyes able to see far into the distance, they naturally want to run a little further away."

Madam Shen withdrew her gaze, glanced at Jiang Wan, nodded in agreement, and then waved to her maid.

The maid was standing a few steps away, holding a palm-sized celadon box in her hands. When she saw her master beckoning, she quickly came over and handed the box to him with both hands.

Mrs. Shen took it, opened the lid, and inside were bright yellow candied apricots, their surfaces coated with a thin layer of icing sugar, shimmering in the sunlight.

"These sour apricots are homemade, made according to my mother's family recipe. You can't get them anywhere else."

Mrs. Shen handed the box to Jiang Wan. "It's honey-preserved, not too sweet, with a hint of sourness. When you eat it, it's sour at first and then sweet, leaving a very refreshing feeling in your mouth. Eating one when you're thirsty is the best way to quench your thirst, even more effective than drinking tea."

After thanking her, Jiang Wan curiously picked one up and put it in her mouth.

First, a sour taste rises, then the sweetness of honey slowly melts on the tip of the tongue, followed by a layer of clear sourness. The sour and sweet tastes alternate, going back and forth several times before dissipating.

She savored it for a while before praising it, saying, "This taste is truly rare. Unlike those candied fruits outside that are just sweet, this is indeed a recipe passed down through generations. It's more refined than any I've ever had before. My mouth feels very clean after eating it, without any sticky aftertaste."

Hearing this, Mrs. Shen's smile deepened. She picked one up, put it in her mouth, chewed it a couple of times, swallowed it, and then said, "I'm glad Mrs. Lu likes it."

"I just heard that you were in charge of the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet at your residence this year. It was a great success. My mother-in-law praised it several times when she went back, saying that the banquet at the Earl's residence this year was more elaborate than in previous years. I suppose it's because the First Madam has taken over the management of the household."

Her tone was natural, as if she were genuinely praising someone, without any hint of probing.