Chapter 311: Someone Is Secretly Hunting on the Mountain
Chapter 311: Chapter 311: Someone Is Secretly Hunting on the Mountain
She angrily snatched her hand back.
Her small face, framed by rabbit-fur earmuffs, looked adorably cross.
"Then I don’t want it. You keep it. Give it to her."
Shen Ningning spun around and left.
Xie Ming’an frowned, immediately striding after her.
"Why are you throwing a fit? What did I say to upset you now?"
Shen Ningning ignored him.
Her little feet moving quickly, she ran out of the Xie Mansion and climbed into her carriage.
Then she had Muchun and Wanchun relay a message to Xie Suzhi.
"Please tell my godfather that my studies at the National Academy have been very demanding lately. Once he’s less busy too, I’ll come back to visit him more often!"
The implication was clear: she wouldn’t be back anytime soon.
A look of confusion appeared on Xie Ming’an’s cold face.
He could only watch as the carriage rolled away over the snow.
He raised his voice, calling out coldly, "Shen Ningning, Shen—"
The carriage had already sped around the corner and out of sight.
Xie Ming’an snapped back to his senses, his expression grim.
He spotted Muchun tugging on Wanchun’s sleeve as the two tried to slip away unnoticed.
"Stop."
He demanded in a cold voice.
"Tell me, did I do something wrong? I offered her a gift in good faith, but she refused it. Is she still holding a grudge?"
Muchun, ever proper, pressed her lips together. "I do not know."
Wanchun, however, thought for a moment and couldn’t hold her tongue.
"Second Young Master, of course the Commandery Princess was happy that you gave her a gift."
"But why did you have to add that the Fourth Miss was getting one too?"
"Don’t you know that the only reason the Master sent the Fourth Miss back to our ancestral home was because she slandered the Commandery Princess in the palace?"
"There’s bad blood between them, yet you treat them both the same. If you’re talking about who’s closer to you, our Commandery Princess should be..."
Muchun cut her off. "Wanchun! That’s enough."
Wanchun lowered her head and pouted. "Forgive me, Second Young Master. I’ve said too much."
Xie Ming’an stood rooted to the spot, stunned.
Confusion clouded his handsome, pale face.
"I didn’t know."
He had never paid much attention to the affairs of the household.
Ever since his mother left, it was as if all his capacity for caring had been taken away by her and his sister.
He didn’t care what happened at home.
He never would have guessed this was the real reason behind Xie Yuanjiu’s sudden departure from the Xie Mansion.
Muchun shook her head. "Second Young Master, you must be busy. We will take our leave now."
She pulled Wanchun away.
Xie Ming’an was left standing there alone.
He lowered his gaze, staring blankly at the hairpin in his palm that he had failed to give her.
"Forget it. If she doesn’t want it, she doesn’t want it." After a long moment, he sighed sharply, flicked his sleeves, and left with a cold expression.
This incident was quickly reported by a maid from the second household to Second Madam Xie.
"Oh, wonderful! That’s just wonderful." Second Madam Xie lay on her daybed, wearing a decorative forehead band and a sickly pallor.
Despite her appearance, her eyes glinted with schadenfreude.
"I’ve said it all along—Shen Ningning can’t get along with anyone in the Xie family."
"She’s nothing but a feral child!"
The maid chimed in, "Exactly. She’s not nearly as sensible, reasonable, or well-behaved as our Fourth Miss."
Second Madam Xie nodded smugly. Suddenly, a sharp, twisting pain stabbed through her abdomen again.
"Agh!" She clutched her stomach, calling to the maid, "Quickly, bring me more hot tea."
The maid hurried away.
A moment later, she returned with a teacup, her expression full of worry.
She watched as Second Madam Xie gulped down the scalding tea.
A chill ran down her spine.
"Second Madam, you’ve already had two bowls. Your lips are blistering! You can’t drink any more."
"Stop your nonsense," Second Madam Xie said, her pain easing slightly, though her voice was hoarse. "The Divine Woman said this is the only way it will work."
The maid’s brow furrowed, her suspicion and unease growing.
"Ever since you took that unknown herb from her, you’ve been freezing cold and suffering from these twisting stomach pains, and only scalding hot water brings any relief."
"I don’t think that herb is any good, Second Madam. Should I call a proper doctor for you?"
Second Madam Xie’s eyes shot wide. "Absolutely not!"
"You must help me keep this a secret, and you absolutely must not call a doctor for me."
"Otherwise, wouldn’t Xie Suzhi find out?"
Xie Suzhi despised Second Madam Xie’s belief in those so-called Divine Women from the city.
He considered their methods cruel and their practices sinister.
But Second Madam Xie had complete faith in them.
She clutched her stomach and said with a hint of anticipation, "The herbal medicine I took wasn’t brewed in ordinary water."
"The Divine Woman used Fang Qingdai’s birth chart, boiled it with two drops of my blood, and specially prepared the brew. I made a wish that Fang Qingdai would die on the battlefield."
"That way, the Second Master will stop thinking about her all the time and be a little kinder to me and Yuanjiu."
As she said this, a fanatical gleam ignited in the depths of Second Madam Xie’s eyes.
Her lips were blistered and red, accentuating her malevolent expression.
The maid beside her couldn’t help but tremble, a wave of fear washing over her.
’If the First Master or the Second Master were to find out about this...’
’The consequences would be unthinkable!’
During the days she stayed away from the Xie Mansion, Shen Ningning divided her time between classes at the National Academy and caring for Grandma Qin in the village.
The original plan had been to move Grandma Qin back to her house on the mountain once the ice was cleared.
However, the cold snap was simply too severe.
No sooner was the snow and ice cleared than the mountain path would freeze over again within three days.
Shen Ningning had no choice but to let Grandma Qin stay in the village a while longer.
Fortunately, the neighboring villagers all enjoyed coming over to chat with Grandma Qin.
Whenever Shen Ningning had a spare moment, she would ride the Black Wolf King and lead the wolf pack on a wild run through the mountains.
The blizzards were a curse for humans.
But for this pack of thick-furred, cold-hardy wolves, they were a blessing.
The wolves tore through the forest, their excited howls echoing one after another.
As she always did, Shen Ningning tossed some meat under a tree.
She discovered something amazing.
The Spiritual Spring Water she had previously drawn forth in the forest hadn’t frozen, despite the bitter cold.
Instead, it continued to murmur and flow, nourishing the entire mountain.
Suddenly, the Black Wolf King came to a halt.
The pack immediately stopped in its tracks behind him.
Seated on the Black Wolf King, Shen Ningning sensed it too and looked ahead, along with the rest of the pack.
Two great tigers—the very ones she had fed before—emerged from the depths of the forest, their gait majestic.
Trailing behind them were several other, unfamiliar tigers.
Shen Ningning guessed they were new members of the tigers’ family.
Just like her wolf pack.
Tigers were usually solitary, but in weather this harsh, they had to band together to survive.
The two groups of predators faced off.
The lead tiger let out two soft chuffs in Shen Ningning’s direction.
It was a warning for the little human.
A few days ago, three hunters had entered the other side of the mountain!
The tigers had killed two of them, but one had escaped with injuries.
Judging by the direction he fled, he was likely a villager from the western foot of the mountain.
Shen Ningning’s large, bright eyes widened in surprise.
She deduced that the hunter the great tiger spoke of must be from Xitai Village.