Fierce Consort

Chapter 73

Dinner was set up in the reception of the Jinhua Hall.

Apart from Shen Yi Yao, everyone else was of the younger generation. Luo Huai Yuan was the oldest but he was only twelve this year. Therefore, they didn't insist on segregating by gender.

There was a large table of sumptuous dishes. They included exquisite foods from the cook as well as Granny Ma's specialties.

Granny Ma had been relocated to the Peaceful Garden's kitchen, and was responsible for the masters' meals. Her salary was also increased several-fold and her reputation increased quite a bit as well.

Her son had long since reached the age to be married but many families with daughters didn't like that his mom was widowed and that they were poor. The slightly better off families weren't willing to let their daughters marry him. Now that she was working in the madam's kitchen, many people started reaching out regarding this matter. These days, Granny Ma was all smiles and served even more wholeheartedly. She put all her efforts into coming up with better things for the madam, miss and young master to eat.

When they were in the marquis estate, they could eat whatever they wanted by ordering from the main kitchen. After the Ningxiang Chambers built its own little kitchen, Yan Yan rarely ate at the Jinse Pavilion. Now that they lived at the manor, there were some restrictions. The kitchen only had two cooks and it was mostly their family of three eating together.

Everytime they ate, the atmosphere would be very gloomy. They merely focused on eating and didn't talk. There truly wasn't anything to talk about. Shen Yi Yao wasn't good with words. She wanted to say something to her daughter, but seeing her unsmiling expression, she could only swallow her words. As for Yan Yan, the scars in her heart made her unable to smile at Shen Yi Yao.

Because Shen Qi and Luo Huai Yuan were present today, the atmosphere was quite a bit livelier.
Shen Qi was a glutton and every dish at the table suited his taste. His chopsticks moved swiftly. Luo Huai Yuan was a lively one. He had noticed some clues this afternoon and naturally put all his efforts into lightening the mood.

When he spoke about them playing cards in the afternoon, Shen Yi Yao listened extremely closely. When she heard Yan Mo's face was stuck full of paper strips, she turned to look at her son. Yan Yan remembered the scene from earlier and also looked at her brother in amusement. Yan Mo felt very embarrassed from their stares and his little face turned red.

Yan Yan grabbed a piece of stewed duck and put it in her brother's bowl. When she looked up, she happened to meet Shen Yi Yao's gaze. The both of them froze before Yan Yan faintly withdrew her gaze.
Although it was only an instant, the goodwill, anxiety, unease and all sorts of complicated emotions in Shen Yi Yao's eyes were carved deeply into her mind.

Seeing this, Luo Huai Yuan's gaze flickered and he didn't say anything.

After eating, Shen Qi asked if they wanted to go play cards again at the Lincang Residence. He had been screwed over by Luo Huai Yuan and Yan Yan teaming up in the afternoon, and wanted to get revenge. Although the sky was dark, it was actually still early. It was only just past seven. Pieces of snow drifted in the wind and a layer of white covered the ground.

Cui Qiao walked in while rubbing her hands. "It's snowing outside. This servant will have the little lasses prepare some parasols."

Seeing this, Luo Huai Yuan spoke: "Since it's snowing, let's not change locations. Auntie, how about you take pity on us and clear out a place for us to play a while?"

Shen Yi Yao naturally wouldn't be against it. She let them use the western warm room to play. They had a little lass take a parasol to fetch the cards from the Lincang Residence and the group moved to the western room. Luo Huai Yuan used the opportunity to have Shen Yi Yao observe and supervise in case Shen Qi acted shamelessly when he lost.