The Marquis's line has ended? The pregnant maid is pregnant again!

Father Shen was heartbroken over the hairpin: "I told you to sell that hairpin a long time ago. You could have gotten at least a few dozen taels of silver to help with household expenses, but you just wouldn't. You kept saying you couldn't sell it, or that you'd save it for Yun'er's dowry. How could you suddenly give it to someone you've only just met? How could I have married such a short-sighted woman like you? That's a lot of hard-earned money! Do you know how long that would be enough for our family to live on? If we had that much money, our third son wouldn't be this old and still not tall enough!"

Mrs. Shen frowned, wishing she could cover Mr. Shen's mouth: "What do you know?? You think that hairpin can be sold?? All those pieces of jewelry I stole over the years, I've sold them one by one to supplement the family income! If that hairpin could be sold peacefully, I would have sold it long ago!"

If that hairpin is actually sold, it could lead to our deaths, and neither of us might be able to keep our heads!

If they follow the trail to me, find out I'm involved in what happened back then, and discover that Shen Qinghe was sold to slave traders by us, do you still want money? I guarantee our lives will be a living hell!

Shen's mother looked at him with a fierce expression, but her heart was filled with fear: "Shen Qinghe, how did you get here?!"

Mr. Shen was speechless when she asked him, and finally remembered that Shen Qinghe was not their biological daughter.

"Hurry up and go back to find Brother Chu. We need to teach that ingrate Shen Qinghe a lesson. We can't let her bully our own daughter!"

-

In the small courtyard of the bamboo garden.

The whole room was filled with absurdity. Not only did Lu Jihan fail to maintain his defenses, but he was also provoked by her again and again, unable to stop.

When Lu Jihan opened his eyes again, it was already evening, and night was gradually falling.

Lu Jihan stood up. The room was dark, with no lights on. He called out:

"Qinghe!"

As he called out, Lu Jihan walked towards the door. The closer he got to the door, the more he could hear people talking and laughing in the courtyard.

Upon hearing Lu Jihan speak, someone immediately ran over to reply.

"Master is awake??" Lin Feng hurriedly pushed open the door, looked at Lu Jihan, and explained:

"It's good that you're awake, sir. The small kitchen in the courtyard is repaired, and Miss Qinghe has already tried out the cooking utensils. Since we don't have much official business to attend to today, Miss Qinghe is having a barbecue with us in the courtyard! Come join us, sir!"

Lu Jihan glanced into the courtyard and saw Shen Qinghe and Qing'er chatting and laughing, but didn't look into the room.

Lu Jihan finished dressing, puffed out his chest, and deliberately raised his voice: "No need, I have official business to attend to."

As he spoke, he deliberately avoided looking into the courtyard.

Lin Feng scratched his head: Huh??

Shen Qinghe, who was talking to Qing'er and grilling meat in the courtyard, heard a man's voice coming from the doorway. She put down the ingredients she was holding and handed them over to Qing'er for the time being.

She ran up to Lu Jihan, grabbed his arm with both hands, and looked up at him expectantly: "Really? You're really not coming with us, Master?"

"Hmm." Lu Jihan deliberately turned his head to look at her, his expression stern and unyielding: "Official duties are at stake; we cannot neglect them!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than the girl in front of him looked at him, grabbed Lu Jihan's sleeve and arm, and shook his arm, pleading, "Just once today, just once, okay? Master, just this one night's rest, it won't delay official business much!"

While acting coquettishly, Shen Qinghe observed Lu Jihan's expression. Seeing that Lu Jihan didn't immediately shake off her hand, she felt a little more confident and said in a high-pitched voice, "Come on, come on! Come on, sir! Come with us! We can't enjoy our food without you!"

Encouraged by the young girl's persistent pestering, Lu Jihan cleared his throat and pursed his lips: "Alright, since you're so sincere, I'll indulge you this time. But neglecting official duties shouldn't happen a second time."

"good!"

As soon as Lu Jihan finished speaking, Shen Qinghe pulled him to the courtyard.

Watching the two figures from behind, especially his young master's, Lin Feng couldn't help but think to himself: "My lord, what official business do you have? You rushed back to the manor in such a hurry because you have no official business today. And you're putting on an act in front of Qinghe, just to see her act coquettishly and show off your girlish charm? You're such a good actor! I can't even bear to watch!"

yard.

It's already autumn; the weather has cooled down and become much drier.

Shen Qinghe and her men set up a small barbecue stall in the courtyard. Qing'er, Fang Yu, Lin Feng, Yun Chen, Shen Qinghe and Lu Jihan, a total of six people, simply sat on the ground.

The six people sat in a circle.

Originally, Qing'er was by Shen Qinghe's side.

As soon as Lu Jihan arrived, he forcefully went to Shen Qinghe's side, and Qing'er immediately stepped aside.

Lu Jihan and Shen Qinghe sat side by side, but in reality, their arms were just close together.

Both were sitting cross-legged, but Shen Qinghe's head only reached Lu Jihan's chin.

He had broad and thick shoulders, and with a turn of his head, he could completely block out Shen Qinghe next to him.

"Would you like some fish, sir? I just grilled some, would you like to try some?"

Shen Qinghe placed the grilled fish on a clean lotus leaf and handed it to Lu Jihan.

He took it, and just as he was about to taste it, he discovered that the grilled fish only had one side.

Lu Jihan stopped what he was doing and glanced at what everyone was holding. "Why is there only half?"

"Ah?" Shen Qinghe said, "When Master was still asleep, the fish was cooked. Guard Linfeng was starving, so I gave him half of it first."

Lin Feng immediately sat up straight. Having learned from his experience with the belt last time, he didn't dare to think twice and directly handed over half of the fish meat on the lotus leaf in his hand: "Master, the fish, I haven't eaten it yet."

Facing the wind, one should observe one's nose and contemplate one's heart.

Lu Jihan snorted and took the lotus leaf from his hand. "Qing'er, you roast it for him."

"Ah? This servant obeys." Qing'er was suddenly called out and was stunned for a moment before she reacted. She glanced at Lin Feng beside her and turned her head away somewhat embarrassedly.

Shen Qinghe, who witnessed all of this, couldn't help but laugh.

If she can't understand Lu Jihan's arrogance and jealousy, then she's wasted her two lives, okay?

Why are you even jealous of a fish?

Like a three-year-old. Shen Qinghe was struggling to suppress her laughter, so she decided to find something else to talk about. She picked up a skewer of shiitake mushrooms from the side and put it on the iron rack to grill:

"What else would you like to eat, Master? I'll grill it for you."

Lu Jihan was not someone who strictly adhered to etiquette. In the military camp, when he was extremely hungry, what hadn't he eaten?

He had eaten tree bark for several days straight, so he knew what it tasted like.

Yesterday, when Shen Qinghe said that she grew up eating tree bark, Lu Jihan felt extremely distressed.

Grilled fish, if it were other young masters and ladies, they might find it a bit dirty, and they wouldn't sit on the ground so casually.

But Lu Jihan did not.

He held a lotus leaf in one hand and used chopsticks to peel and eat fish with the other. As soon as he put a bite of fish in his mouth, the smoky, charred aroma filled his nose and mouth.

The fish skin was grilled until crispy, while the fish meat was very tender. The seasoning sprinkled on top was fresh, fragrant, spicy, and very appetizing.

It smells amazing, so the presentation might not be the most refined or appealing, but the aroma of the fish, with its smoky, charcoal-grilled flavor, is absolutely incredible.

As Lu Jihan ate his grilled fish, he heard Shen Qinghe's question beside him. He raised an eyebrow and teased her, "Don't you think I'm worthy of you grilling all of these?"

He was teasing her on purpose; it was a joke, and his tone wasn't very serious.

Unexpectedly, upon hearing Lu Jihan's words, Tang Guo acted as if facing a formidable enemy, taking two skewers of each of the prepared ingredients from the table and placing them on the iron rack to start grilling.

Without the slightest hesitation or questioning, she quickly carried out the task based on his single sentence, treating the baking process as if it were some extremely important matter that could not be relaxed.

As Lu Jihan watched her figure, the smile on his lips grew wider and more pronounced.

It was a small courtyard where a gentle breeze occasionally blew by, and the oven emitted a smoky, fiery aroma, with a faint white smoke drifting through the air.

Before him stood his two most trusted guards, both wearing relaxed smiles, each enjoying themselves.

Beside him, a little girl was busy working on something he had just said.

Time seemed to pass quickly and peacefully, but Lu Jihan liked these days the most, because if there were many such days, it meant that the country was peaceful and prosperous, and he had nothing to do.

Shen Qinghe baked a lot of food for Lu Jihan, and specially baked some more, instructing Fang Yu to send it over to the old lady.

Although Fang Yu doesn't talk much and has little presence, she is very perceptive.

He's the first to notice when there's no charcoal left, or when the fire is getting too small, and he'll immediately take action.

After Shen Qinghe prepared the food to send to the old lady, he was the first to volunteer to deliver it.

Seeing that Shen Qinghe was still thinking about her grandmother even at this time, Lu Jihan understood that Shen Qinghe was always thinking about her grandmother.

As he watched Shen Qinghe's figure, Lu Jihan's gaze grew increasingly gentle and satisfied.

Shen Qinghe was also very happy, but happy times are always short-lived.

The next day, an uninvited guest arrived.

In the morning, Shen Qinghe prepared food for Lu Jihan in her small kitchen.

At this moment, the gatekeeper sent a servant to report: "Miss Qinghe! Someone is looking for you at the gate. They say they are your childhood neighbor and want to visit you."

Shen Qinghe was puzzled. She had been sold to slave traders when she was eight years old: "Is it a boy or a girl? What's its name?"

The servant said, "He said his surname is Chu."

Shen Qinghe paused, her hand holding the knife still.