Chapter 268: Did You Two Plan This?
Chapter 268: Chapter 268: Did You Two Plan This?
On the street, guards from the Xie family paraded Ba Deshun, Wang Qiao’er, and Deng Fugui.
Along the way, the guards shouted, "These three stole from the Commandery Princess! They are being paraded through the streets as a public warning. Let this be a lesson to you all! Do not engage in such shameful acts and bring disgrace upon your family and friends!"
The common folk pointed and stared.
"Hey, isn’t that Mr. Ba Sr.?"
"He even resorted to stealing. It serves him right that the Commandery Princess is having them paraded through the streets."
"Is that Ba Deshun’s son next to him?"
"Not his biological son. He’s the son of Mr. Ba’s mistress, from another man. She brought the boy with her when she moved in. I heard the child abandoned his birth father and already calls Mr. Ba Sr. ’Dad’."
The crowd was overcome with a sense of shame on their behalf.
Wang Qiao’er was instantly labeled a social-climbing, promiscuous woman in their gossip.
A few rotten vegetable leaves were thrown, landing on Wang Qiao’er’s head.
Deng Fugui panicked and rushed forward, shielding Wang Qiao’er with his body.
His eyes red, he warned the onlookers, "Don’t you dare bully my mother!"
In the crowd, Uncle Deng saw this, and his heart turned completely cold.
Even knowing Wang Qiao’er was in the wrong, Deng Fugui was still willing to stand by her.
’Deng Fugui is no longer my son.’
Uncle Deng turned and walked away, crestfallen.
Later, Shen Ningning heard that Ba Deshun, having stolen from her, was no longer accepted by the public.
Unable to remain in the Capital City, he had no choice but to pack his bags and move his entire family back to his hometown.
Wang Qiao’er and Deng Fugui went with him.
When the old village chief found out, he cried his eyes out, saying, "I’ll never see Fugui again in this lifetime."
Uncle Deng, on the other hand, was unfazed and even offered a few words of comfort to the old village chief.
"Dad, you still have me."
The weather grew colder and colder.
The sky was overcast, and a bitter wind ravaged the lands of Cangyun Country.
Many families had run out of firewood and thought of going up the mountain to chop down trees.
But the recent snow disaster had frozen the trees on the mountain as hard as rock. They were also soaked through and through, completely useless as dry firewood.
Fortunately, the court quickly organized disaster relief, distributing stacks of firewood, as well as rice and flour.
This allowed the common people to catch their breath.
It was rumored that the donation came from a mysterious woman from Jiangnan. Whenever this lady was mentioned in the city, people couldn’t help but praise her generosity.
On the day Shen Ningning was to attend Lu Shaoyuan’s birthday banquet.
She had just reached the foot of Wolf Mountain when she saw Mo Lingwei stepping down from his carriage.
The young Crown Prince was dressed in a dark fur cloak, the black fox fur collar accentuating his cool, handsome features.
The moment he saw Shen Ningning, Mo Lingwei’s eyebrows raised, and a bright light flashed in his narrow eyes.
"What a coincidence. Did you come here specially to meet me?" he asked with a faint smile.
However, before he could feel too pleased, the Lu family’s carriage came up from behind.
Lu Shaoyuan leaned his head out, waving to the little girl. "I’m here to pick you up, Shen Ningning!"
Mo Lingwei’s expression instantly turned cold.
The Black Wolf King, squatting beside Shen Ningning, glanced at Mo Lingwei, then at Lu Shaoyuan.
Impatience swirled in its lupine eyes.
’These two brats are here again.’
When the Lu family’s carriage came to a steady halt, Lu Shaoyuan was surprised to see Mo Lingwei.
"What is the Crown Prince doing here?"
"And why shouldn’t I be here?" Mo Lingwei’s tone was icy.
His narrow eyes shifted to Shen Ningning. "Did you two plan this?"
The little girl trotted over, holding a box with a birthday gift.
"Brother, I didn’t get a chance to tell you. Today is Lu Shaoyuan’s birthday. Mrs. Meng personally came to invite me last time, so I accepted."
"Here, Lu Shaoyuan. This is the birthday present I prepared for you. Happy birthday!"
Lu Shaoyuan took it and opened the box. To his surprise, inside were four stalks of ginseng tied together with red string!
He was quite astonished. "Such fine ginseng... they look like they’re over a hundred years old."
"Shen Ningning, where did you get these?"
The little girl hummed, "I just dug them up randomly on the mountain."
Lu Shaoyuan’s eyes went wide.
’Wolf Mountain is such a treasure trove?’
’You can just dig randomly and find four fully intact, hundred-year-old ginseng stalks!’
Lu Shaoyuan came back to his senses. "We should get going. It’ll take another half an hour to get to the manor where the banquet is being held."
Just as Shen Ningning was about to nod, she caught a glimpse of Mo Lingwei in her peripheral vision, staring at them with an icy aura.
The little girl remembered and said, "Brother, you should come with us too!"
Lu Shaoyuan froze for a moment, then looked back at Mo Lingwei. "Does the Crown Prince want to come along?"
He hadn’t invited Mo Lingwei, not because he didn’t want to, but because he wasn’t familiar with him.
It simply hadn’t occurred to him to invite the Crown Prince.
Mo Lingwei crossed his arms and sneered, "The two of you are going to the banquet together. Is there even room for me?"
Shen Ningning tilted her little head, not understanding. "Does Brother mean you’re not going?"
Mo Lingwei glanced at her, his face pale and cold, his jawline tight. "I’m going."
The little girl’s face immediately lit up with a smile, and she turned to pat the Black Wolf King’s head.
"Langlang, you can go home now. I probably won’t be back until tonight."
The Black Wolf King’s ears twitched, showing it understood.
「On the way to the manor.」
Shen Ningning sat in the middle, with Lu Shaoyuan and Mo Lingwei on her left and right.
The little girl contentedly nibbled on the pastries Lu Shaoyuan had prepared and sipped hot tea.
As for Lu Shaoyuan and Mo Lingwei, one was ill at ease, and the other wore a cold expression.
Lu Shaoyuan cleared his throat. "Regarding today’s birthday banquet, if the hospitality is lacking in any way, I hope the Crown Prince will forgive us."
"Fine," Mo Lingwei replied coldly.
Silence fell inside the carriage, broken only by the CRUNCH, CRUNCH sound of Shen Ningning cracking melon seeds as she read a storybook.
Mo Lingwei suddenly asked, "Which manor are we going to?"
Lu Shaoyuan sat up straight and replied, "A hot spring manor my mother bought three years ago."
Shen Ningning’s interest was piqued. She looked up with her dewy eyes and asked curiously, "Can we go in the hot springs?"
Facing her, Lu Shaoyuan finally broke into a smile. "Of course! The manor has six natural hot springs. You can soak in whichever one you like."
Mo Lingwei’s Adam’s apple bobbed, his gaze remaining cold.
"The palace has them too," he said, not forgetting to add, "The pools are very large. You can even swim freely in them."
Shen Ningning’s eyes sparkled, and she clapped her little hands. "Ooh, ooh, I like that!"
Lu Shaoyuan hesitated for a moment.
After some thought, he took out a Go board from a chest on the side.
"Want to play a game of Go to pass the time?"
Shen Ningning blinked. "But I don’t know how."
Lu Shaoyuan smiled. "It’s very simple. I can teach you."
Seeing that the two of them were about to start playing together...
Mo Lingwei frowned, impatiently fiddling with his string of Buddhist beads a couple of times.
He simply stood up and pushed Shen Ningning down into the seat he had just vacated.
"I know how to play. I’ll play against him. You watch, and you’ll learn in no time."
Lu Shaoyuan’s smile froze on his face, but he had no choice but to bite the bullet and agree.
The game pieces were made of high-quality Mutton Fat Jade and ink jade.
The board was set. Mo Lingwei held the black stones, and Lu Shaoyuan held the white.
As they began to play, Lu Shaoyuan said, "Your Highness, my skills are poor. Please don’t laugh at my attempts."
Mo Lingwei’s tone was nonchalant. "It’s just to pass the time. I’m only playing casually myself."
Despite saying this, both of them grew more and more serious.
On the board, the black stones attacked ferociously while the white stones counter-attacked. The two were evenly matched in skill.
But in the end, Mo Lingwei’s black stones managed to lure the enemy in deep and encircle the white stones.
The outcome was decided.
Lu Shaoyuan’s forehead was beaded with fine sweat. Seeing that his white stones had lost their advantage on the board, a flash of regret appeared in his eyes.
’I was so close to surrounding him!’
’The Crown Prince really has a cunning streak.’
Mo Lingwei, on the other hand, chuckled lightly. "You let me win."
He turned his head to Shen Ningning. "Did you understand?"
Unexpectedly, when they both looked over, they saw the little girl clutching a hand warmer, her back to them, fast asleep in the carriage! ZZZ...
Mo Lingwei: ...
’Suddenly, the victory didn’t feel so satisfying anymore.’
By the time the carriage stopped at the entrance of Cloud Mist Manor, Shen Ningning had finally woken up.
Lu Shaoyuan got out of the carriage first, while Mo Lingwei half-led her down by the hand.
A blast of cold, snowy air hit them, but it couldn’t hide the lively atmosphere all around.
Shen Ningning looked closely and saw many familiar faces had come to attend the banquet.
It turned out Lu Shaoyuan had also invited other people from the National Academy.
The little girl glanced over and saw Ye Shangyi surrounded by a few noble ladies, whispering as they looked in her direction.