Chapter 332: Moonlight
Chapter 332: Chapter 332: Moonlight
Shen Ningning replied without a second thought, "Brother is amazing."
Xie Ming’an’s smug expression instantly froze. His face darkened, and his brows knitted together.
The little girl turned and walked toward her carriage.
Xie Ming’an followed behind her, pestering her with questions.
"He’s so amazing? Could he solve a case faster than I did?"
"Yes."
"I pulled an all-nighter investigating and interrogating, and I was the one who found proof that Consort Rong’s palace maid was stealing the very things she was meant to guard. If my older brother were here, could he have found it?"
"Yes," Shen Ningning answered, just as decisively.
Xie Ming’an’s sharp brows furrowed deeply.
He planted a hand on the carriage shaft, blocking Shen Ningning from getting on.
The little girl glanced back at him, blinking her large, innocent eyes.
She said, "Brother wouldn’t be so rude and block me from getting on. He would lift me up."
Xie Ming’an was taken aback for a moment, then immediately held out his hands. "I can do that too."
Unexpectedly, Shen Ningning’s small hand landed on the back of his with a SMACK.
A haughty expression appeared on the little girl’s spirited, fair face.
"I’ll let Brother hold me, not you. Lord Xie, I’m just a child, so you’d better behave!" With that, she ducked right into the carriage.
"You—!" It was only then that Xie Ming’an realized what had happened.
’I was actually tricked by this chubby little doll!’
Muchun and Wanchun struggled to stifle their laughter.
The two of them curtsied in farewell, and the carriage rumbled away.
The carriage window shifted, and Shen Ningning, holding onto the frame with her small hands, peeked her head out like a little kitten.
Then, Xie Ming’an could only watch as Shen Ningning actually made a face at him.
"Bleh~" The little girl stuck out her tongue before her small figure ducked back inside.
Xie Ming’an took two steps after the carriage, his handsome brows knitted. He chided in a low voice, "Shen Ningning, show some respect!"
He was her second brother, after all.
...
Recently, a large number of outsiders had gathered in Xiangyun Village.
They loitered at the village entrance all day, craning their necks, all for the chance to say a single word to Shen Ningning.
Grandma Qin’s home, in particular, had visitors from morning till night.
Her doorstep was about to collapse from being trodden on so much.
At first, Grandma Qin could still muster the energy to deal with them.
But the people came in wave after wave, and her old body simply couldn’t take it anymore.
After sitting all day long, her back ached, she felt dizzy, and her vision was blurry. All sorts of unpleasant symptoms were cropping up.
Left with no other choice, Grandma Qin had to ask the Black Wolf King to send a few wolves down from the mountain to accompany her in the yard.
With wolves standing guard, the people no longer dared to make any more rash visits.
So, they set their sights on the old village chief instead.
They hoped he would introduce them to Shen Ningning.
Unexpectedly, the old village chief always claimed illness and refused to leave his home. His courtyard gate and house door remained tightly shut all day.
So the people went to visit the other families in Xiangyun Village.
Even the mad scholar’s courtyard was filled with people.
When Shen Ningning returned to the village that day, she was immediately pulled aside by Sister-in-law Liu and Granny Chen.
"Ningning, thank goodness you’re back! These outsiders are driving us crazy."
The little girl blinked her big eyes. "What’s going on?"
"Sigh! What else could it be? They’ve all come here looking for you after hearing about your reputation," Sister-in-law Liu said, flicking her hand dismissively.
Granny Chen spoke in a gentle tone, her smile kind and loving. "Ningning, we heard you’re incredible now. They say you can just point at the sky and make the dark clouds part to reveal the sun."
"The story has spread all over the city. Everyone is saying you’re a true blessed girl. They’re coming in groups, wanting to kowtow to you and even make offerings of incense oil."
Sister-in-law Liu added helplessly, "Grandma Qin can’t handle them all, and the old village chief won’t come out, so it’s us who have to suffer, stuck making small talk with them all day."
"Look at my mouth—my lips are chapped from all the talking. These people come every single day. If Grandma Qin hadn’t seen how much we were being disturbed and asked the Black Wolf King to patrol the village with his pack, they’d still be here today!"
Granny Chen laughed. "The threshold of the mad scholar’s house was trampled to bits."
"They didn’t just pester Grandma Qin; they also sought him out to ask what it felt like to teach the blessed girl. The mad scholar has fainted from the stress several times."
Hearing all this, Shen Ningning covered her mouth with her small hands and couldn’t stop laughing.
Sister-in-law Liu asked, "Ningning, your fame has spread even farther now."
"Can you make this cold disaster go away soon? So all of us can get back to our normal lives."
Shen Ningning’s smile faded. Blinking her large eyes, she said earnestly, "Aunt Liu, I don’t really have any control over that. It was just a coincidence."
When Sister-in-law Liu heard this, her face fell with a hint of disappointment.
But Granny Chen just chuckled. "No need to rush, Ningning. You have a special gift."
"Perhaps the heavens simply favor you. Just wait a bit longer. Who knows, maybe one day a single word from you will make the skies clear up for good!"
Shen Ningning simply smiled and played along, but her mind was already turning back to that day.
’I didn’t do anything that day, though.’
’I just pointed at the sky, and the sun came out.’
Suddenly!
Shen Ningning remembered—right before that, she had plucked a golden pearl from the Immortal Realm.
’Could it be thanks to the golden pearl?’
To test her theory, that evening, while staying alone on the mountain, Shen Ningning took a small golden pearl out from the Immortal Realm.
She sat on the veranda steps with an arm around the Black Wolf King, surrounded by the wolf pack, which lay sprawled across the entire yard.
The little girl looked up at the gloomy sky as the cold wind howled.
’If the golden pearl’s power is to make dark clouds scatter and the sun appear... then at night, it should also be able to break through the clouds.’
Shen Ningning rubbed the golden pearl hard between her hands, crushing it completely.
Just like last time, once the golden pearl broke, a shimmering golden liquid flowed out first.
But it quickly transformed into tiny specks of golden light, like motes of dust in a sunbeam, and swiftly rose into the air.
The Black Wolf King and the pack all tilted their heads up to watch.
Amid the whistling of the dark wind, the sky remained unchanged.
Lang Si was sitting behind Shen Ningning, acting as the little girl’s backrest.
It let out a low whimper.
’Why isn’t the sun out yet?’
Wolf Three shot it a sidelong glance and let out a derisive howl.
’What a fat, stupid wolf. The sun is for the daytime. At night, you can only get the moon.’
Shen Ningning hugged the Black Wolf King’s tall, furry body for warmth.
Blinking her bright, sparkling eyes, she gazed expectantly at the sky.
"Don’t worry, let’s just wait a little longer."
A moment passed.
Suddenly, something magical happened!
Just as it had that day, the blanket of dark clouds split down the middle, parting as cleanly as if sliced by a knife!
A pool of bright, clear moonlight suddenly poured down from above.
It fell directly on the spot where Shen Ningning was sitting.
The bright moon, revealed after the clouds parted, seemed to have appeared just for her.
Bathed in the brilliant moonlight, the little girl’s heart pounded wildly with excitement.
"So it really was the golden pearl’s doing!" she exclaimed, jumping to her feet in delight.
The wolf pack also scrambled to their feet in astonishment.
As the wolves gazed at the long-absent moon, the Black Wolf King let out a howl. Immediately, a chorus of howls rose and fell from the rest of the pack.
However, after only a moment of celebration, the dark clouds converged once more, hiding the moon from view.
Even so, Shen Ningning had now figured out how the golden pearl worked.
She was thrilled. "It seems one golden pearl can only drive away the clouds for a short time. If I use more golden pearls at once, it’s sure to bring back the sun!"
What the little girl didn’t know was that at this late hour, there was another person who, just like her, was wide awake.
And that person had witnessed the moon’s brief appearance with their own eyes.
In Zichen Palace, before a window, Mo Lingwei’s cool, distant eyes were fixed on the vast sky, his expression one of faint astonishment.