The emperor would rather have a

Chapter 228 Is it a good match?

Since Fu Erniang gave birth to twins, the entire household has made taking care of the mother and her two children their top priority.

Three wet nurses were hired, along with two old women and four maids, to take care of the daily life of the mistress and the young master.

Apart from these nine people, no other servants are allowed to enter the main house in the inner courtyard without permission. All those who enter or leave must follow a strict "disinfection" procedure - medicinal bath, mugwort fumigation, hand washing with special disinfectant, and so on.

Even Li Yi, the head of the family, was no exception.

He himself set this rule because the mortality rate of children in this era was no joke, and there was no room for complacency.

Li Yi returned home after his shift and went straight to the inner courtyard without stopping. As he passed through the hanging flower gate, he deliberately paused under the corridor.

Two maids on duty immediately brought over a copper basin and medicine. After Li Yi carefully washed his hands, he wiped his face and neck with a cloth soaked in special disinfectant before being allowed to enter the inner courtyard.

Warm yellow candlelight shone through the master bedroom window, and the faint cries of a baby and the soft humming of a woman could be heard.

Just as Li Yi was about to push the door open, the door was unexpectedly pulled open from the inside first, and he almost bumped into Guo Shi.

"Yulan!" Li Yi reacted quickly, catching Guo Shi in his tracks and asking with concern, "Did you hurt yourself?"

Guo steadied herself, a gentle smile spreading across her face, and shook her head slightly: "No...it's alright."

As she spoke, she saw Li Yi keep walking and try to peek into the bedroom, so she quickly reached out and grabbed his arm.

"Erlang, please wait a moment before going in. The wet nurse is feeding the baby inside. Don't disturb Shuo-ge'er and Ning-jie'er."

Guo phrased it rather tactfully, but Li Yi understood what she meant.

The three wet nurses employed in the household were all respectable women from poor families. It was indeed inappropriate for the male head of the household to barge in while they were breastfeeding.

Li Yi obediently withdrew his foot and took half a step back, his tall figure stopping outside the nori curtain by the door.

"Erlang, I have something to tell you." Guo suddenly pulled Li Yi towards the porch.

"What's all this secrecy about?" Li Yi's curiosity was immediately piqued.

Guo, holding Li Yi's arm, walked to the dark corner of the porch. Her fingers unconsciously twisted her sleeves as she whispered, "My aunt came to see me this morning. She said that Yulan is about to come of age, but she is not yet engaged... Although she did not say it explicitly, from the tone of her words... I'm afraid she wants to ask Erlang to find a good match for Yulan."

The magnolia that Guo mentioned was naturally Li Yi's cousin. As she spoke, she secretly glanced at Li Yi's expression.

But Li Yi's expression didn't change. How could he not know what his aunt was thinking? She simply wanted to use his name as her nephew to curry favor with a prominent family through marriage.

But his aunt didn't dare to come to him directly, so she asked the kind-hearted Guo to pass on a message and find out his opinion in advance.

Li Yi didn't say much, but pondered for a moment and said, "Yulan is only fifteen this year, so there's no need to rush. Tell your aunt that I will keep an eye out for this matter, and we can discuss it further if a suitable one comes along."

However, as he said this, a thought suddenly flashed through his mind—Zhao Kuangyi was already eighteen years old, and it seemed that he was still unmarried.
It is said that the Zhao family intended to arrange a marriage for him at the beginning of last year, but then Zhao Hongyin suddenly passed away, and Zhao Er's marriage was put on hold.

If I could bring my cousin Liu Yulan and Zhao Kuangyi together... wouldn't that fulfill my aunt's little scheme and also create another layer of entanglement for the Zhao family, thus deepening my relationship with Zhao Kuangyin?

“However…” Li Yi tapped the pillar with his knuckles, but hesitated in his heart.

Firstly, the Zhao family was in mourning, so it wasn't a good time to discuss marriage; secondly, he still harbored some prejudice against Zhao Er and wondered if he could be a good match for his cousin.
"Erlang, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing..." Li Yi shook his head slightly and stopped thinking about it.

Anyway, there's no rush. Let's wait until we return from the southern expedition. We can test the Zhao family's attitude then before making a decision.

It's just a casual move anyway; success is fine, but failure won't matter.

"Has Erlang not eaten yet?"

Guo's voice carried a hint of concern, and her gaze fell gently on his slightly weary face.

"I was just about to go to the kitchen to check on the nourishing soup I'm making for my sister. Now that you're back, Erlang, I'll have the cook prepare some hot food for you too, shall I?"

"Okay." Li Yi nodded slightly. "I'll check on the child first, then I'll go later."

Guo gave a soft "hmm," turned, and gracefully walked along the corridor. Her light-colored skirt swayed gently in the deepening twilight, and her figure quickly disappeared into the shadows of the corridor pillars.

Before long, the door to the inner room was pushed open very gently, making a slight creaking sound, as if afraid of disturbing the tranquility inside.

Then, the three wet nurses came out one by one, ending this round of feeding.

But as soon as the three stepped onto the corridor, they all stopped in their tracks... because a majestic and imposing figure stood beneath it.

The last rays of orange-red sunset on the horizon, together with the lanterns lit early in the corridor, created a soft, hazy glow that enveloped Li Yi, who stood with his hands behind his back, like a light veil.

Light and shadow flowed across his sharply defined face, half of it shrouded in the shadows of twilight, the other half illuminated by warm yellow light, making his figure appear even more upright and majestic, exuding a calm yet awe-inspiring presence.

The wet nurses felt a chill run down their spines and almost instinctively bowed deeply, bowing their heads and holding their breath in respectful greetings—after all, the identity of the man who could appear outside the master bedroom door was self-evident.

Li Yi's gaze swept over their lowered heads... The profession of wet nurse has existed since ancient times and has strict selection criteria.

The three wet nurses in the household were carefully selected; they were all of decent appearance, around twenty years old, and had given birth to at least one child.

Two or three months after giving birth, when they had plenty of breast milk, they were hired by wealthy families to nurse their children.

In order to avoid neglecting the children of the master family due to favoritism, wet nurses were not allowed to go home to visit their own children at will, and their daily diet was also strictly controlled.

Firstly, it allows wet nurses to serve their masters with peace of mind; secondly, it prevents insufficient milk supply and ensures that the masters do not have enough to eat; and thirdly, it avoids bringing external diseases back to the masters' home.

It is said that there were cases where wet nurses were released from their homes only to find that their own children had died, and there were even cases where their husbands had remarried.

Therefore, only women from poor families would be willing to work as wet nurses for the sake of payment.

Li Yi said gently, "Thank you for your trouble, ladies."

His voice was deep and mellow, and it sounded particularly clear and comforting in the quiet courtyard where the lights were just coming on.

The three wet nurses were taken aback upon hearing this, and then a mixture of fear and overwhelming gratitude welled up in their hearts.

Several days had passed since they entered the mansion, and this distinguished master of the house always left early and returned late, always in a hurry. They had only seen him from afar once or twice, and had never even had the chance to approach and pay their respects, let alone speak with him.

These gentle words spoken so close to them were the very first thing the man of the house said to them!

For a moment, the three of them didn't know how to respond. They could only lower their heads even further and mumble "I dare not accept this" and "It is my duty" in their voices, which were barely audible.

Li Yi saw their helplessness but didn't say much. He just nodded slightly and looked past them into the now quiet bedroom.

"Are your wife and child asleep?" he asked in a low voice, even softer than before, as if afraid of disturbing the tranquility inside the room.

The head wet nurse composed herself and quickly replied respectfully, "The two ladies are talking with the young lady. As for the young master and young lady, they have just finished nursing, been burped, and fallen asleep."

"Okay." Li Yi nodded. "Thank you for your hard work. When you're on night duty, please be extra vigilant."

“Yes, Ah Lang,” the three wet nurses replied in unison.

Li Yi said no more, only waved his hand gently, indicating that they could leave.

The wet nurses, feeling as if they had been granted a pardon, bowed again before holding their breath and carefully retreating along the corridor.

Only after they turned the corner and could no longer see Li Yi did they dare to secretly breathe a sigh of relief and exchange a slightly nervous glance.

The man, who was renowned in the city, was much gentler than they had imagined.

Meanwhile, Li Yi, on the other side, stepped towards the tightly closed door.

He moved gently and slowly pushed open a crack, letting in a warm, slightly milky scent from the room.

He slipped inside and then closed the door very gently, shutting out the slight chill from outside.

The master bedroom was divided into two rooms by a brocade curtain.

In the outer room, Fu Erniang leaned against the soft couch by the window, a thin quilt draped over her. Her two concubines, Xian'er and Zuo Ling'er, were whispering to her.

The moment Li Yi entered the room, the whispering stopped abruptly, and all three turned to look at him.

Li Yi gently placed his index finger against his lips, making a shushing gesture.

He then moved lightly and walked straight towards the brocade curtain. He reached out and lifted a corner of the curtain, his gaze immediately piercing through the gap and locking onto the rocking bed in the inner room, which was draped with light gauze curtains.

The cradle was Li Yi's ingenious idea. He specially sought out experienced craftsmen to carefully modify and reinforce the sturdy and spacious "baby bed" as a base, creating this unique double "baby bed".

Li Yi moved with utmost care, approaching almost silently. The flickering candlelight cast his long shadow on the ground.

Only when he stopped beside the cradle did he hold his breath and lean down slightly.

Inside the gauze curtain, two small, evenly rising and falling figures were sleeping peacefully.

At this moment, all the noise and fatigue of the day seemed to fade away, and only the gentle, heavenly breath before my eyes was the truest comfort.

Li Yi subconsciously reached out, wanting to touch that delicate, flower-petal-like face.

However, his fingers suddenly stopped just inches away.

He ultimately did not touch it, but simply watched quietly through the veil, feeling the indescribable, heavy warmth and the unprecedented sense of peace.

Time flows quietly in the stillness.

After an unknown amount of time, Li Yi slowly got up, glanced at the two little figures in the gauze curtain, turned around and lowered the brocade curtain again, walking back to the outer room with his feet still very light.

Li Yi sat down on the couch next to Fu Erniang, gently placing his broad palm on the back of his wife's hand, which was draped over the thin quilt.

Fu Erniang raised her head and met her husband's gaze, which was as deep as the night and filled with an intense and unyielding tenderness.

“Jin Ding…” Li Yi’s voice was low as he sighed softly, “I will be joining the expedition in a day or two. Tomorrow morning, I will definitely finish my duty early and come back to spend some quality time with you and the child…”

Fu Erniang's body trembled almost imperceptibly, and the fingers wrapped around Li Yi's hand suddenly tightened.

She opened her mouth, as if to say something, but her throat seemed to be blocked, and she couldn't make a sound for a moment.

Li Yi felt the soft hand tighten in his palm, so he completely enveloped his wife's hand in his palm, his thumb gently stroking the back of her hand with a soothing force.

Fu Erniang sighed silently, suppressing her emotions, and said softly, "Husband, please rest assured. Yulan and the others will take care of everything at home. On the contrary, the battlefield is ruthless... You must take good care of yourself!"

She paused for a moment, her voice becoming even softer, yet each word was clear: "My children and I are waiting for you to come back safely."

"Yes!" Li Yi nodded emphatically.

Fu Erniang changed the subject at the right moment: "I have heard that the infants of several wet nurses all died shortly after birth... Did you have them specially selected by your husband?"

Li Yi did not deny it, but explained softly, "Since ancient times, it has been difficult to have both ways in life. Our children need to be fed, but we cannot cut off the life of other people's children. Therefore, hiring a woman who is still nursing her young child is the only way to achieve both."

Fu Erniang looked up at her husband, a hint of sadness lingering in her eyes. She sighed softly, her voice filled with tenderness and sorrow.

“I know my husband is a kind-hearted man who always considers others. But since becoming a mother, I can’t bear to hear such things. These past few days, seeing the wet nurses busy around me, seeing their forced smiles and devoted service, I can’t help but think… what kind of heart-wrenching pain are they enduring to nourish other people’s children? Whenever I think of this, my heart always aches… alas!”

Li Yi gently comforted her, "Jin Ding, don't feel uneasy... The wet nurses' children have already died and will never come back. But once they enter our household, they can earn ten thousand coins a month. That's more than the salary of many minor officials in Kaifeng Prefecture."

"With this money, they can feed their other family members and keep their children who are still alive from hunger and cold. Although they cannot bring back the lives lost, they can at least give the living some compassion."

Upon hearing this, Fu Erniang said no more and turned her gaze to the brocade curtain in the inner room.

In fact, she sympathized with the wet nurses, but on the other hand, she was more worried about her own child... She knew that some things did not only happen to ordinary people.

However, Fu Erniang dared not think too much about it. She could only pray to all the gods and Buddhas in her heart, hoping that her husband and children would be safe and sound.

Following Fu Erniang's gaze, Li Yi pondered for a moment and immediately understood his wife's thoughts.

He remained silent, only able to hold his wife's hand tightly, offering her support and silent comfort.

(End of this chapter)