Li An was massaging Ye Yunniang's legs to relieve the numbness caused by lying in bed.
"That's good, An'an. Your massage feels very comfortable," Ye Yunniang praised.
Encouraged by Ye Yunniang's praise, Li An massaged even harder.
Being young, Li An soon ran out of energy.
Ye Yunniang asked Qiushuang to bring a bowl of chilled mung bean soup for him to drink.
Ye Yunniang herself drank warm red bean soup.
After finishing their drinks, the mother and son leaned against each other and chatted.
Mostly, it was Li An talking about his dical studies at the Gu family's place.
Ye Yunniang listened, occasionally responding with a nod, a soft sound of agreent, or a word of praise.
"An'an is so amazing."
"An'an is so incredible."
The constant praise made Li An feel a bit shy.
"Mother, I'm only doing average."
Ye Yunniang disagreed. "Mother isn't praising you blindly. Think about it, Imperial Physician Gu is such a remarkable person."
Li An nodded. "Master is the youngest and most talented imperial physician in the Imperial Academy of dicine."
"Imperial Physician Gu is so incredible. If he took you in as his disciple, wasn't it because he saw your talent and aptitude? Could it possibly be because he thought you were stupid?"
"Mother~" Li An pouted. "I'm not stupid. I've morized everything Master asked to."
"Our An'an is very impressive."
"But, Senior Brother..."
Ye Yunniang reached out and covered Li An's mouth. "Don't say anything yet. Let ask you first."
Li An nodded.
Ye Yunniang withdrew her hand.
"How long has your senior brother been studying dicine?"
"Two years, no, three years and four months," Li An reported the ti his senior brother, Li Tao, had been studying dicine.
"And how long have you been studying?"
"Less than two months."
"You've only been studying for such a short ti. By comparing yourself to your senior brother, are you trying to say that you're stupid, or that he is?" Ye Yunniang asked in return.
"But Master said that when Senior Brother first started learning, he morized the Tangtou Ge in just three days."
Ye Yunniang had seen the dical books Li An used for his studies.
morizing the Tangtou Ge in three days.
"Alright, your senior brother is very impressive."
Ye Yunniang hugged Li An. "But in Mother's heart, our An'an is the most impressive of all."
Receiving his mother's praise, the gloom on Li An's face cleared up.
"An'an, there is sothing Mother wants to tell you."
"What is it?"
"There is always a higher mountain."
Ye Yunniang explained to Li An that he shouldn't be afraid of others being better than him.
It's a good thing when soone is better than you; it gives you the motivation to surpass them.
What you should fear is reaching a certain height and finding no one better than you.
At that point, you would lose your direction, beco lost, and sink into the illusion that you are the greatest.
You would forget to make progress and improve yourself.
Li An was still too young to fully understand these words from Ye Yunniang.
Only later, when he reached a height unattainable by others and recalled Ye Yunniang's words, would he understand her concerns.
For now, with Ye Yunniang's comfort, Li An no longer wallowed in an inferiority complex about not being as good as his senior brother.
He turned his low spirits into motivation to study dicine.
Li An's change pleased Gu Cundong. Using his senior brother to motivate him was a very effective tactic.
Cai Dai carried Yuanyuan in her arms to keep Ye Yunniang company.
"Where is Shushu?" Ye Yunniang glanced behind Cai Dai but didn't see Cai Shuyi.
Yuanyuan was a boy, and the person in the family who was most upset about this was Cai Shuyi.
Her little sister was gone.
Because of this, Cai Shuyi didn't like Yuanyuan at first, feeling that he had stolen her sister.
However, Cai Shuyi was soon won over by Yuanyuan's toothless smile and started calling him little brother, little brother all day long.
Cai Shuyi's favorite thing to do every day was to talk to Yuanyuan and play with him.
"Yunluo took Shushu to Prince Jing's Manor." Cai Dai placed Yuanyuan into Ye Yunniang's arms and sat aside to rest.
Carrying him all the way had made her a bit tired.
"Mother, let the wet nurse carry him next ti," Ye Yunniang said, feeling sorry for Cai Dai.
"Seeing them makes think of you." Cai Dai watched as the wet nurses didn't have to care for the child day and night, and wondered if Ye Yunniang had it this hard back in the Jiang family.
"Back then, there were four wet nurses taking turns. I worked for less than four shichen a day; it wasn't tiring at all."
Ye Yunniang adjusted her position to make Yuanyuan more comfortable in her arms.
After holding him for a while, Ye Yunniang's arms lost their strength, so she handed the baby over to the wet nurse.
Ye Yunniang didn't produce much milk.
Taking dicine and getting acupuncture every day, Ye Yunniang didn't dare let Yuanyuan drink her breastmilk anyway.
The little milk she did produce was given to Jiang Mingzhe to drink.
The wet nurse carried Yuanyuan to the next room to feed him.
With no one else in the room, Ye Yunniang spoke to Cai Dai about eting Li Jun while she was unconscious.
Ye Yunniang felt that she might have actually died, and it was Li Jun who pushed her back to life.
"Don't talk nonsense." Cai Dai pressed her palms together. "Bodhisattva bless us, may Yunniang be safe and sound. Bodhisattva bless us."
Ye Yunniang followed suit, pressing her palms together and bowing to her surroundings.
Lowering her hands, Cai Dai said, "When we return to Jiang City, I'll take Pan'er to burn more joss paper for him."
Ye Yunniang humd in agreent. "I'll go too. And for Father, we need to offer incense as well."
"Have you ntioned this to Mingzhe?"
"No. Jiang Mingzhe is currently thinking of a na for Yuanyuan."
"The child is almost a month old, and his na still isn't decided? What kind of na do you want to give him?"
"We've decided on his given na. It's just..."
"What is it?"
"The child's surna."
"Of course the child will be surnad Jiang." Cai Dai was puzzled; what was there to hesitate about?
Ye Yunniang briefly explained so of Jiang Mingzhe's concerns.
Ye Yunniang also didn't want the child to take her surna, Ye.
She had no good feelings toward the Ye family.
And having Yuanyuan take the surna Li wasn't appropriate either.
"I'll go talk to Mingzhe."
It wasn't known what Cai Dai said to Jiang Mingzhe, but in the end, it was decided that Yuanyuan's surna would be Jiang, and his given na would be Yeli.
Jiang Yeli. The surnas of all three families were used.
"Did you decide on this na, or did Mother?" Ye Yunniang asked Jiang Mingzhe curiously.
"Mother decided on the surna Jiang, and I chose the given na." Jiang Mingzhe was still worried that the Jiang family na would curse his own child.
"Yuanyuan will grow up safely," Ye Yunniang said with a very firm tone.
Brother Jun was watching over her and the children.
Ye Yunniang's confidence helped settle Jiang Mingzhe's heart as well.
The two then talked about Jiang Mingzhe being conferred the title of an Earl.
The news of Jiang Mingzhe being titled the Earl of Suyan had already spread throughout the capital.
Many nobles and powerful figures in the capital had sent invitations to Jiang Mingzhe, wanting to see what kind of person this newly minted Earl of Suyan was.
Since Ye Yunniang was in her postpartum confinent, Jiang Mingzhe didn't want to host a banquet and disturb her rest.
He planned to host Yuanyuan's one-month milestone banquet after Ye Yunniang finished her confinent.
It would also serve as their family's official debut in the capital.
After finishing his words, Jiang Mingzhe noticed Ye Yunniang spacing out.
"What's wrong?"
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