Qi Wenwei asked Anning for permission to leave and returned to his room, where his maid Mo’er greeted him with a smile, "Has Master had his al?"
Qi Wenwei sternly replied, "I already ate in Madam’s room."
Mo’er handed Qi Wenwei a cup of water. After drinking, Qi Wenwei thought of sothing.
He sat down and instructed Mo’er, "Ask soone to go to Madam’s room and find Aunt Hao, check if there are any peaches left in Madam’s room. If there are, ask for so."
Mo’er imdiately went out to send a maid to ask.
When she returned, she asked Qi Wenwei, "Does Master want to read for a while?"
Qi Wenwei couldn’t help but frown; he was actually sowhat impatient with reading and also unwilling to be disciplined by Anning.
Although he was young, he already knew that Anning was not his birth mother.
He had also seen his mother, Zhou Zhenniang, more than once.
Zhou Zhenniang was especially good to him. Whenever he went to see her, she would lay out all the good things for him to choose from, not caring whether he studied or how well he did. He was genuinely close to Zhou Zhenniang at heart.
He felt that Anning, not being his birth mother, had no right to discipline him.
Yet Anning occupied that position, and even if she was strict with him, he could not disobey. Over ti, Qi Wenwei actually harbored so resentnt towards Anning in his heart.
It was only because Qi Rui occasionally disciplined Qi Wenwei that he pretended to be close to Anning.
Today, Qi Wenwei went with Qi Rui to see Zhou Zhenniang. Seeing her living in a modest manor, wearing simple clothes, and thinking of Anning’s living conditions made him feel even more unjust for Zhou Zhenniang.
Thinking of the fine peaches Anning had and Zhou Zhenniang having to eat sour little peaches from the manor, he wanted to get so for Zhou Zhenniang.
But soon, the maid returned.
She entered the room and whispered softly, "All the peaches in Madam’s room were given to Mr. Qi. There’s none left."
Mo’er waved her hand to dismiss the maid and said to Qi Wenwei with a little smile, "If Master wants peaches, I can have soone bring so tomorrow."
However, Qi Wenwei looked displeased.
He sat for a while before saying, "No need."
When it ca ti to sleep, Qi Wenwei still felt stifled and uncomfortable.
He hated that he was young and powerless, unable to do anything for his birth mother, and kept thinking about growing up fast to provide a better life for her.
Mo’er ca out from the main house and happened to run into Bi’er, and the two talked together.
While munching on an apple, Mo’er said, "Sister Bi’er, Madam was really strange today."
"How so?"
Bi’er asked casually.
With a frown, Mo’er said, "Madam gave all the peaches in her room to Mr. Qi, not leaving any for Master or the elder sister; I an..."
Bi’er laughed, "Madam’s things, she can give them to whoever she likes. Maybe in the past few days Mr. Qi has been greeting Madam daily, and she rewarded him seeing his filial piety."
That’s also possible.
Although Mo’er felt it was abnormal for Anning to favor Mr. Qi over Master, she also thought since Mr. Qi had no birth mother and was raised by Madam, it was normal for Madam to be kind to him; hence, she did not think much of it.
After practicing her cultivation for half the night, Anning had a sound sleep and woke up the next day feeling fine.
However, to prevent others from noticing anything unusual, she continued pretending to be sick, staying in bed for three days before claiming to be well again.
In the past three days, Qi Wenwei and Qi Wenjuan naturally ca over daily to pay their respects.
Qi Wenshao did the sa every morning and evening.
The three of them ca at different tis, rarely encountering each other.
As a girl, Qi Wenjuan would chat with Anning after arriving, and sotis even inquire about Anning handling family affairs during her illness.
She didn’t know who told her, but ntioned that Anning was close to Mr. Qi, so she asked Anning today, "Why does mother favor Mr. Qi so much? Elder brother is her biological son, while Mr. Qi is just the child of a concubine..."
Anning was originally smiling but imdiately hardened her expression upon hearing Qi Wenjuan’s disdainful tone about Qi Wenshao and said sharply, "Hold your tongue."
Qi Wenjuan was taken aback.
She had never been reprimanded so sternly by Anning before; her face turned pale in an instant, looking truly pitiful.
Anning eased her tone: "From now on, never speak ill of your Mr. Qi again. His mother might have been a servant, but she was as close as a sister to . Before I got married, she even saved my life. You should respect her more in the future."
Qi Wenjuan quickly stood up and listened attentively.
Seeing that Qi Wenjuan took her words to heart, Anning softly continued, "It wasn’t initially what Aunt Bai and your father did. You were too young to understand—your father was at fault. I have never blad Aunt Bai, and initially thought about raising the child together with her after she gave birth, but she was not fortunate and passed away early, leaving your Mr. Qi behind."
When Anning spoke of Aunt Bai, there was a nostalgic tone in her voice, captivating Qi Wenjuan’s attention.
Anning sighed, "I promised Aunt Bai that I would take good care of your Mr. Qi. However, these years my health has been poor, and I also had to look after you and your elder brother, which sowhat neglected Mr. Qi. Thinking about it now, I owe it to Aunt Bai. Moving forward, I will take good care of your Mr. Qi. Make sure you listen well—from now on, you must treat Mr. Qi with the sa respect and closeness as you do your elder brother. If I ever hear you speak improperly of him again, be prepared for my discipline."
Qi Wenjuan repeatedly agreed and only when Anning’s face softened, she ca closer and started to act coquettishly, "Mother, you should have told this earlier. You nearly scared to death just now."
Anning smiled and tapped her forehead, "You just..."
After that, Anning seriously asked Qi Wenjuan, "Who told you such things as being raised by a ’small-ti woman’?"
Qi Wenjuan frowned and thought hard, "It was the nurse who said it."
Anning didn’t say much but chatted and laughed with Qi Wenjuan for a while longer before letting her leave.
After Qi Wenjuan departed, Anning called for Mrs. Hao.
She thought for a while and instructed, "Go investigate Liu San’er’s family. Ask in detail what she’s been up to in my elder daughter’s room and whom she’s been in contact with outside. Report back to when you have gathered all the information."
Mrs. Hao complied and left.
Anning thought deeply.
She had always felt sothing was not quite right about Liu San’er’s family.
Liu San’er’s family was the nurse that Ye Anning picked for Qi Wenjuan, and Ye Anning had never been suspicious.
But, Anning did not trust the Liu San’er’s family.
After all, when Qi Rui was giving birth, soone had even secretly switched her child—let alone a nurse.
Moreover, since Ye Anning rembered that Zhou Zhenniang used to work as a maid in the Qi Family and still had many relatives and old friends in the manor, it was possible she could plant a few of her own or bribe soone in the manor.
Thinking of these, Anning decided to check the servants in the house thoroughly in a few days.
Of course, the most urgent matter now was to return to her family ho.
Qi Wenshao was not getting any younger. Previously, Ye Anning hadn’t put much effort into educating him, resulting in his lack of discipline and negligible academic progress. Now that Anning had taken over, she naturally wanted to plan properly for him.
Ye Song, Anning’s father, was a great scholar with excellent erudition and was very capable of teaching students.
Anning planned to take Qi Wenshao back to her mother’s ho and entrust Ye Song to carefully educate him.
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