Chapter 343: You Are Forbidden to Investigate the Past Anymore
Chapter 343: Chapter 343: You Are Forbidden to Investigate the Past Anymore
Shen Ningning pointed at the pot of sweet potato vines. "I don’t have much time to look after this. If you can take good care of this plant and make it bear fruit within a month, no matter the size, I’ll give you an even bigger reward."
Upon hearing this, Dong Sanhua hurriedly said, "Commandery Princess, you don’t need to give me anything. I’m already so grateful that you’ve taken me in."
"Never mind just this one pot. Even if you gave me a few more, I could still grow them."
"Great!" Shen Ningning’s eyes lit up. "You just wait."
She scurried back into the inner room on her little feet and took out six sweet potato vines from the Immortal Realm.
"But I don’t have any more flowerpots, so you’ll have to figure out how to plant them yourself," the little girl said, handing them to Dong Sanhua.
Dong Sanhua turned over the seedlings, examined their roots, and was surprised by how fresh the sweet potato vines were.
Uncle Deng offered, "I happen to have a few flowerpots I’m not using. I’ll bring them over for you later."
Dong Sanhua smiled, her expression gentle and lovely. "Actually, when you plant sweet potato vines, you can’t restrict their roots, so you shouldn’t put them in flowerpots. But, Brother Deng, it would be a great help if you could just lend me that small shovel of yours later."
Uncle Deng agreed at once.
Afterward, Shen Ningning and Uncle Deng escorted Dong Sanhua to an abandoned village house.
Dong Sanhua was very diligent. The moment she put her things down, she immediately started cleaning.
Shen Ningning asked if she needed help, but Dong Sanhua quickly and politely shook her head.
Next, Shen Ningning watched as she used a shovel to turn over the earth next to the heated brick bed in the inner room. Then, she spread the fertile soil from the flowerpot into the patch she had dug.
Dong Sanhua planted the sweet potato vines there.
Shen Ningning was surprised. "You’re planting them inside the house?"
Dong Sanhua gave a serene, faint smile. "It’s warm inside. If they’re put outside, the sweet potato vines will freeze and stop growing."
While they were talking, Uncle Deng had already carried a large load of firewood back, stacking it all in the small kitchen.
He also helped her lay out her bedding, carried two large jars outside, washed them clean, and filled them with fresh water he had brought from his own home.
Shen Ningning noticed they worked together with a natural chemistry.
So, she didn’t stay any longer. She said a quick goodbye and left.
Uncle Deng stayed to help wipe down the tables and benches and sweep away the dust, only heading back in the evening.
"Dad, I’m home." Uncle Deng came through the door, brushed the snow from his clothes, and went to warm his hands by the stove.
He brought over a food box. "Ah Hua just made these flatbreads. I knew you hadn’t eaten, so I brought some back for you, along with a bowl of congee."
The old village chief ignored him, chewing on a tea stem with a displeased look on his face.
As slow-witted as Uncle Deng was, even he could sense it.
"Dad, what’s wrong?" he asked, sitting down beside him.
The old village chief sneered. "You have the nerve to ask me what’s wrong? You useless blockhead!"
"When Ningning was here, why didn’t you say you wanted Ah Hua to stay?"
"If you had spoken up, I could have smoothly arranged a marriage for you two. But no, you didn’t say a damn thing and even helped send her away."
Having been scolded, Uncle Deng looked completely innocent. "Dad, Ah Hua and I are just friends right now. I can’t force her to marry me just because she’s depending on others for shelter. Wouldn’t that be taking advantage of her?"
The old village chief was so angry he kicked him. "You don’t like her? If you don’t like her, then why are you following her around like a puppy all day!"
Uncle Deng’s face turned beet red. "I do like her, I do, but... I’m not good enough for her. Ah Hua has never been married."
The old village chief was simply speechless with his son.
He clutched his chest in anger, and Uncle Deng quickly poured him some tea.
The old village chief slapped his hand away. "Get out! Don’t be an eyesore! Just looking at you is shortening my life!"
...
「One day.」
Shen Ningning finished her classes at the National Academy.
Just as she stepped outside, she saw Xie Ming’an’s carriage pull to a stop.
A long, fair hand lifted the curtain, revealing Xie Ming’an’s handsome, jade-like face.
He gave a faint smile. "What a coincidence. I was just coming to pick you up, and your classes are already over? Get in the carriage. Let’s go home together."
Shen Ningning pretended not to hear, turning her little head away and walking toward her own carriage instead.
Xie Ming’an’s expression darkened.
He decisively got out of the carriage and followed her.
"Why are you still ignoring me? I haven’t done anything to upset you recently, have I?" Xie Ming’an pressed.
Shen Ningning stopped in her tracks, staring at him with her large, limpid, jet-black eyes.
"I just don’t want to talk to you. Stop bothering me!"
"Shen Ningning, you’re so heartless," Xie Ming’an said with a frown. "You said you liked Jade, so I took out everything my mother left me. How can you not remember my kindness?"
Shen Ningning blinked her big eyes. "What? That was yours? If I’d known it was yours, I wouldn’t have taken it."
Xie Ming’an hadn’t expected her to draw such a clear line between them.
He reached out and blocked her path, preventing the little girl from getting into her carriage.
"Lord Xie, are you trying to bully a child? If I shout right now, Mr. Han will come out and knock you down with one punch!" Shen Ningning threatened, trying to sound fierce.
A cold smile played on Xie Ming’an’s thin lips.
His brow furrowed. "So you call my elder brother ’Brother,’ but I’m just ’Lord Xie’ to you?"
"I already said I was wrong for misunderstanding you before. Why are you still holding a grudge?"
"Tell me. What will it take for you to forgive me and speak to me properly?"
Shen Ningning fell silent.
A cold wind gusted past, lifting the hems of their clothes.
After a moment, the little girl turned her head and looked at him with those large, clear, jet-black eyes.
Her small face was flushed a tender pink by the biting wind.
She said, "Aren’t you very good at investigating cases?"
"Then you can help me find my birth parents. Find out their full names."
"I don’t want to just stare at a bare memorial tablet every time I pay my respects to them."
"If you can find out, I’ll let bygones be bygones."
Xie Ming’an was stunned.
By the time he came back to his senses, Shen Ningning’s carriage had already traveled some distance away.
"Alright, I promise you," Xie Ming’an called out, making his pledge to her amidst the ice and snow.
True to his word, as soon as Xie Ming’an returned, he immediately dispatched more than ten of his trusted men to Shu State.
This was because the Xie Mansion maid who had allegedly seen Shen Ningning’s parents was last known to be in Shu State.
Although Xie Ming’an’s previous investigation had indicated the maid was already dead, he refused to believe she had left no clues behind.
Snowstorms raged under a gloomy sky, and a month quickly passed.
"Lord Shaoqing, we found something!"
That night, a trusted subordinate, covered in snow after a long and hasty journey, arrived directly at Xie Ming’an’s study.
Xie Ming’an quickly put down his brush. "Well? What did you find?"
The subordinate reported, "The maid may not be dead. She might have been taken away by someone."
Just as Xie Ming’an was about to ask for more details, the housekeeper, Uncle Pang, knocked on the door from outside. "Second Young Master, the Master summons you."
Xie Ming’an frowned. "Understood."
He stood up and said to his subordinate, "I’ll be right back."
Xie Ming’an arrived at Xie Suzhi’s study.
He found Xie Suzhi with a face as grim as frost. "My men tell me you’ve recently been investigating the old family servants who used to serve your mother?"
"Yes, Father." Xie Ming’an nodded, not yet understanding why Xie Suzhi was asking about this.
Unexpectedly, Xie Suzhi immediately said in a deep voice, "Recall your men at once. You are forbidden from investigating this matter any further."