Chapter 144 - The Child Stuck in the Wall Hole
Chapter 144 The Child Stuck in the Wall Hole
Qin Wanru and Shui Ruolan followed the old maid through several corridors and came to a yard. The old maid went inside to report, and left Qin Wanru and Shui Ruolan waiting on the porch.
After a while, the old maid asked them inside with a smile.
Qin Wanru walked inside behind Shui Ruolan, totally focused on the present.
There were quite a few girl servants and old maids standing in two orderly rows, but they were silent. She could tell that there were strict rules in Great Elder Princess Rui’an’s Mansion.
With so many people in the house, she could only hear them breathing.
After entering the house, Shui Ruolan first made a salute to Great Elder Princess Rui’an, who was sitting on the couch in front of them. Qin Wanru immediately stepped forward to make a salute.
“Sit down!” Great Elder Princess Rui’an looked at Qin Wanru with a smile and reached out to wave at her. Qin Wanru stepped forward and was about to make a salute again, but Great Elder Princess Rui’an reached out to stop her.
“Just sit here!” Great Elder Princess Rui’an pulled Qin Wanru to the front. Nanny Gao hurriedly brought a stool here. Qin Wanru sat down on the stool in front of Great Elder Princess Rui’an, surprisingly close to her.
“What happened? Did you quarrel with the young madam of Duke Yong’s Mansion?” Great Elder Princess Rui’an asked with a smile.
With her small face blushing, she blinked and nodded honestly without defending herself.
“The Young Lady in your mansion doesn’t like you?” Great Elder Princess Rui’an reached out to touch Qin Wanru’s hair. She thought that the child looked rather pleasing to the eye, and her sweet and honest look delighted her.
“Big Sister and I do not have the same mother. I am not related to Duke Yong’s family at all!” Qin Wanru lowered her head and looked a little depressed.
“Who is your mother?” Great Elder Princess Rui’an tilted her head to glance at Shui Ruolan and didn’t any similarities
“I don’t know who my mother is!” Qin Wanru lowered her head, and Great Elder Princess Rui’an could only see the top of her head.
“Why don’t you know?” Great Elder Princess Rui’an asked in amazement. It was normal for a man to record his illegitimate child as his legal wife’s child in order to give his child a decent identity.
“I really don’t know. It seems… no one has mentioned my mother!” Qin Wanru said, shaking her head bitterly
“Madam Qin, why can’t this child’s mother be mentioned?” Great Elder Princess Rui’an asked Shui Ruolan, puzzled.
“Great Elder Princess, I don’t know either… I was not in Qin’s Mansion at that time,” Shui Ruolan said in shame.
“There must be someone talking about this Madam in your mansion?” Great Elder Princess Rui’an became increasingly suspicious and thought there must be a secret behind it. It was impossible that no one had talked about the child’s mother, unless someone deliberately commanded them not to.
“I have always thought that my mother was Madam Di, but Madam Di falsely framed me for my sisters actions again and again. I couldn’t help wonder why. and found out that Madam Di was not my mother. That’s why decided to shift the blame onto me,” said Qin Wanru bluntly. She spoke softly with the sorrow of a young girl.
“This child… is loved by no one!” Great Elder Princess Rui’an sighed, looking wilted. Great Elder Princess Rui’an, who still quite young, seemed to age.
“Princess, such a child is sensible. You can tell right away that Second Miss Qin is more sensible and good-natured than most Young Mesdames of aristocratic families,” Nanny Gao said meaningfully. Qin Wanru blinked her eyes, seemed to have noticed something, but failed to grasp what it was.
“I hope that Hao’er is the same as you!” Great Elder Princess Rui’an sighed again and reached out to touch Qin Wanru’s hair, “This child is well-behaved, but unfortunately she doesn’t have a mother to take care of her!”
“Great Elder Princess, I have a mother now, and she is very nice to me. She married my father because of me. Otherwise, she would have dedicated her life to Buddhism.”
Qin Wanru looked up at Shui Ruolan with a smile.
Seeing the bright smile on her small face and thinking of her life experience, she found the child increasingly pitiable.
Great Elder Princess Rui’an found the child increasingly pleasing to the eye, and even felt the same about Shui Ruolan. She had invited Shui Ruolan as an afterthought. How, hearing why Shui Ruolan had married into the Qin’s mansion, she subtly nodded to Shui Ruolan in approval.
Shui Ruolan was quiet. During her many years in the back yard of the Qin mansion, she had rarely interacted with others and had not been good with words, so she sat aside quietly with a gentle smile on her delicate face. Everyone considered her a good nature.
“Just come and find me if you need any help in future!” Great Elder Princess Rui’ansaid, smiling at Shui Ruolan.
Although Qin Wanru didn’t talk much, Great Elder Princess Rui’an had understood the meaning behind her words. She knew that there must be a secret behind Shui Ruolan’s marriage into the Qin family. Thinking that Shui Ruolan did that in order to take care of Qin Wanru, she involuntarily had more sympathy for Shui Ruolan.
“Thank you, Great Elder Princess!” Shui Ruolan stood up in excitement and bowed deeply to Great Elder Princess. Although she was not good at interacting with people, she knew that Great Elder Princess intended to help her.
With no powerful background, she could only count on Old Grandma. Now if Great Elder Princess Rui’an was willing to take her side, she had far more power behind her. She also saw how incredibly kind the great elder princess was.
“Princess, it’s about time that you go outside. Maybe you can go out and talk with several of the old Mesdames who seldom come out?” Nanny Gao suggested with a smile. The sky was clear and Great Elder Princess Rui’an seemed in good spirits.
“Has the child from Duke Xing’s Mansion come?” Great Elder Princess Rui’an nodded and was about to get up, but paused as she did, looking concerned.
Nanny Gao knew about the knot in her mistress’ mind, so she instantly avoided the topic, which displeased Great Elder Princess Rui’an even more.
“Your highness, your favorite young master Hao has also come,” she replied.
“Really? Where is he?” Great Elder Princess Rui’an became so excited that she reached to pat the bar of the chair. “Hurry up, bring him over. Let me have a look!”
“I’m afraid… he’s still outside and can’t come over at the moment!” Nanny Gao said vaguely.
“Humph, it’s the old woman again. She won’t admit it, but she holds him so tight now. If it weren’t for…” Speaking of this, Great Elder Princess Rui’an blushed in anger. “Let’s go. I’m going to meet Hao’er and see how he has been doing recently and whether he is being bullied!”
She stood up to walk outside.
“It’s still early. You can walk around in the garden. I will send someone to find you later!”
After taking two angry steps forward, Great Elder Princess Rui’an suddenly remembered Qin Wanru and Shui Ruolan and looked back to tell them.
“Yes, Great Elder Princess!” Qin Wanru and Shui Ruolan stood up together and watched the great elder princess leave.
After Great Elder Princess Rui’an left, Qin Wanru and Shui Ruolan casually admired the scenery in the garden. There were a lot of Mesdames and Young Mesdames along the way.
Shui Ruolan walked until she was tired, and Qin Wanru found a pavilion for her to sit down and rest. Qin Wanru didn’t feel tired. She had climbed over the wall in Qin’s Mansion many times, so she was energetic and continued going forward with great interest.
Yujie was not tired either. She was more energetic than ordinary people and wanted to see more of the princess’ magnificent mansion and garden. Qin Wanru and Yujie went walked further and further together, not noticing as the crowd around them began to disapear.
After passing through the door of a natural stone arch and turning a corner at some exquisite rock work, Qin Wanru looked up at the several laurel trees planted along the wall. She could smell the strong fragrance of the trees. The little yellow flowers fell on the grass and dusted the shrubs and scattered stones.
It was just a small corner of the courtyard, but it still was a unique piece of art.
“Hey, who are you? Pull me out!”
Qin Wanru was losing herself in the scenery when she heard a child’s voice. She couldn’t tell if it was a boy or a girl, but she knew that it was a child. She involuntarily looked down in surprise and looked for the child around. She hadn’t seen any children when she came in.
“Look, I’m here! Are you blind? I’m here. Can you see me?” The voice was raised in frustration. Qin Wanru walked silently in the direction of the voice and was astonished to find a delicate boy lying in the bushes. He was about six or seven years old with adorable, wide eyes.
However, he scowled as he saw Qin Wanru approach.
“Come and pull me up. I want to crawl inside!” the little boy said, patting the grass beside him.
Qin Wanru took a closer look. The boy was not lying in the grass, but stuck trying to drawl through a hole in the wall. Looking at the high wall and the boy stuck in it, Qin Wanru could not help but laugh.
“Hey, how dare you laugh at me! I’ll tell my grandma and ask her to beat you to death!” The boy blushed and pretended to be fierce by clenching his teeth in anger and glaring at Qin Wanru. He beat the grass hard like a lively little beast making threatening gestures with no strength.
“Why are you so rude?” Qin Wanru crouched down and said with a smile.
“None of your business! Who are you? What makes you think that you can tell me that?” With his face suddenly darkening, the boy glared at Qin Wanru angrily like an aggressive cock.
“Hey, why are you talking like that? Our Young Madam talked to you politely. Why are you so rude? Which family does this ill-bred boy come from?”
Yujie also came over. Seeing that it was a cute child, she also teased him.
“Are… you seeking death?” the boy said coldly, grabbed a stone in his hand and threw at Qin Wanru’s head without thinking, still cursing, “It has nothing to do with you whether I’m ill-bred or not! Even if I’m ill-bred, I’m still much better than you! You dare to bully me, and I’ll tell my grandmas and ask them to beat you to death!”