"Maybe... that person is a mute and can’t speak?" Lady Wei guessed.
Zhi Wan recalled how the person hadn’t made a sound and nodded. "That’s possible. But he was so strange. On such a hot day, he was still wrapped up so tightly."
"That part is indeed quite odd," Lady Wei agreed with a nod.
The two of them discussed it for a little while longer before changing the subject.
Thinking that they were already back in Jurong, Zhi Wan wanted to make a trip to Red Leaf Village to see Nanny Chen.
"Aunt, I want to go see Nanny Chen. When we get back to the city in a bit, you can rest at an inn first. I’ll be back soon."
Lady Wei took her hand and said, "We’ve already co all the way to Jurong, so it’s only right that you go see your nanny. I don’t need to rest. I’ll go with you."
Hearing this, Zhi Wan hesitated. "But the roads in the village aren’t easy to travel on. It’s very bumpy..."
"If you’re not afraid, why would I be?" Lady Wei pinched her cheek, speaking casually.
At her words, Zhi Wan didn’t refuse again.
After arriving in the city and buying so gifts for Nanny Chen, the group headed straight for Red Leaf Village.
Seeing Zhi Wan arrive, Nanny Chen was both surprised and delighted. "Miss, what brings you here?"
After they parted last ti, she had thought it would be a long while before she would see the young miss again.
She hadn’t expected to see her again so soon.
"I ca with my aunt," Zhi Wan said with a smile.
"Madam Lu ca as well?" Nanny Chen was stunned.
Just as Zhi Wan was about to nod, she saw her aunt stepping down from the carriage.
Seeing this, Nanny Chen hurried forward to curtsy. "This humble woman greets Madam Lu."
"Nanny Chen, please rise." Lady Wei personally helped her up, smiling. "It’s been many years, but you are still as spirited as ever, Nanny Chen."
Nanny Chen was so happy she didn’t know what to say. Fortunately, her daughter-in-law, Qiao’e, ca out holding a baby and reminded her, "Mother, quickly invite them inside for so tea."
"Right, right. Look at my muddled head." Nanny Chen finally ca to her senses and quickly said to Lady Wei and Zhi Wan, "Please, co inside and sit."
Zhi Wan was very surprised to see Qiao’e holding a baby. "Sister-in-law Qiao’e, you’ve already given birth?"
Qiao’e smiled and held the baby out for her to see. "He was born last month and is now a full month old. Would you like to hold him, Miss?"
Looking at such a tiny baby in her arms, Zhi Wan was at a loss and didn’t dare to hold him. In the end, it was Lady Wei who took the child.
"This child is so fair and chubby. He’s a blessed one." Lady Wei said with a smile, then called for Nanny Fang to retrieve a brocade box from the carriage.
The box opened to reveal a silver longevity lock.
Lady Wei hung the longevity lock around the baby’s neck.
Seeing this, Nanny Chen and Qiao’e quickly tried to refuse. "Madam, this is too valuable! We couldn’t possibly accept..."
"It’s a gift from to the child on our first eting. I wish him good health and a long life," Lady Wei said with a smile.
Hearing this, the two no longer refused and could only thank her profusely.
"Madam, you are so fond of children. In the future, you will surely be blessed with a large and prosperous family!" Nanny Chen said sincerely.
These words delighted Lady Wei. "Then I shall hope for your auspicious words to co true." After speaking, she glanced at Zhi Wan with a beaming smile.
Zhi Wan was flustered, and her face turned red.
Seeing this, Lady Wei was very pleased, but mindful of others being present, she didn’t tease her.
The group went inside the house.
The brothers Daniu and Erniu, having heard the news, also ca to pay their respects to Lady Wei.
After so pleasantries, Lady Wei told Nanny Chen about the marriage between Zhi Wan and Lu Zhan.
When Nanny Chen heard this, she grinned from ear to ear.
"Last ti the Princely Heir accompanied the young miss to visit , I thought that the two of them were a perfect match, a pair made in heaven. I was right after all."
Lady Wei raised an eyebrow. ’So my son has accompanied Wan’er here before?’
"It seems Nanny Chen has a good eye," Lady Wei said, her face full of pleasure.
Seeing that they were about to start discussing her marriage, Zhi Wan quickly changed the subject. "Nanny, thank you for keeping my parents’ graves tidy."
Her main reason for visiting Nanny Chen today was also to thank the entire Chen Family.
If not for them helping to look after her parents’ graves, they would never have been so clean and tidy.
Hearing this, Nanny Chen paused for a mont, then shook her head. "We weren’t the ones who cleaned them. Daniu and I do indeed go twice a year to tidy up the Master and Madam’s graves, but every ti we go, they have already been cleaned. It was the sa this year."
"It wasn’t you who cleaned them?" Zhi Wan was astonished. "Then who could it be?"
"Back when the Master was alive, he did many good deeds for the people of Jurong. It must be those people who, grateful for his kindness, have been tidying the graves of their own accord," Nanny Chen guessed.
At her words, Zhi Wan imdiately thought of the black-robed person she had encountered at her parents’ graves today.
’It must have been that black-robed person, right?’
’Could it be that they also received kindness from my parents?’
But no matter who it was, Zhi Wan was deeply grateful in her heart.
They all chatted for a while longer. Seeing that it was getting late, Lady Wei and Zhi Wan bid farewell to the Chen Family.
As dusk fell, the group returned to Jurong.
Seeing how late it was, Lady Wei and Zhi Wan decided to find an inn in Jurong to stay the night and return to Yangzhou the next morning.
The inn Jiang Shi found was the sa one Zhi Wan and her cousin had stayed at last ti.
Having spent the entire day traveling, Zhi Wan and Lady Wei were exhausted. After dinner, they each returned to their own rooms to rest.
After a quick wash, Zhi Wan fell onto her bed and was asleep in monts.
In the middle of the night, she suddenly woke up to find herself in a room.
She looked around blankly before rembering: this was her cousin’s room at the posthouse.
She glanced at the empty bed, hesitated for a mont, then walked out of the inner chamber.
Sure enough, in the outer room, the man was at a desk, bent over his work.
"Cousin," Zhi Wan called out softly.
Hearing her voice, the man paused his writing and looked up. He was a little surprised to see his cousin erging from the inner chamber. "When did you get here?"
"Just now," Zhi Wan replied as she walked closer.
She was just about to find a chair to sit down when an arm suddenly tightened around her waist.
The next mont, she found herself sitting on her cousin’s lap.
She froze, trying to stand up, but the man’s arm held her waist firmly, preventing her from moving.
"We’ve only been apart for a day. Why are you acting so distant with , cousin?" the man’s voice was deep, laced with a clear hint of teasing.
"I am not," Zhi Wan denied.
"You’re not?" The man’s long fingers lifted her chin, and he looked down at her.
Zhi Wan’s butterfly-wing-like lashes fluttered, and she suddenly threw her arms around his neck, pressing her red lips to his.
Lu Zhan was taken aback, but then his grip on her waist tightened. He lowered his head to kiss her soft lips, but just then, Zhi Wan suddenly turned her head away, dodging him.
Lu Zhan was speechless.
He gave his cousin’s slender waist a squeeze. "Are you toying with , cousin?"
Zhi Wan said, perfectly self-righteous, "Who told you to break the promise you made last night, cousin?"
Holding his soft, delicate cousin in his arms, Lu Zhan’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He asked with restraint, "Tell , what promise did I fail to keep?"
"You can forget sothing you promised yourself?" Zhi Wan said, dissatisfied.
Lu Zhan thought for a mont, then finally seed to rember sothing. He cleared his throat and changed the subject. "Cousin, why don’t you go rest in the inner chamber for a while? I still have so official business to finish."
Zhi Wan wasn’t about to let him off the hook so easily. She picked up the brush and paper from his desk and said with a sly smile, "Drawing a portrait of you won’t take long at all, cousin. I’m very fast."
Lu Zhan was speechless.
"So, cousin, will you lie on the bed, or right here on this desk?" As Zhi Wan spoke, her eyes scanned the desk before them, as if assessing whether it was big enough for her cousin to lie on.
Lu Zhan was speechless.
In the end, he chose the bed in the inner chamber.
User Comments
0 comments from readers