Legitimate Daughter of the Noble Family - C128
The calmness in Madame Chen’s eyes gradually disappeared. Ever since they entered the Half Moon Temple, Jin Lan’s actions had become like that of a different person, completely out of her expectations.
She had originally planned to keep this matter a secret until everything was settled. No matter how noisy it was, as long as they pushed it to the capital and Yangzhou, where they had a long way to go and failed to receive the news in time, the people around would not be able to explain themselves.
Yet now, this little girl had already known about it and was behaving with such filial piety. If she was able to suppress it, if word of this got out in the future, she would most likely become an unfilial victim. Furthermore, just now, the Emperor had given the order personally to praise the Ye Family with the words of loyal and filial piety. The Marquis Runan’ Mansion had been silent for many years, and with great difficulty, he had taken this opportunity to reestablish his power.
A cold light flashed in Madame Chen’s eyes. She had underestimated the Lan Clan after all, to be able to establish a relationship with the Residence of Northern Tranquil King. She had also underestimated this child who was only nine years old.
She thought that although the little girl was clever, she was still young, her actions were gentle and roundabout, and was not as stubborn as Ye Jinyan.
With the Madame Chen floating palace, after controlling the inner palace for dozens of years, she would definitely benefit from it if she was able to avoid harm.
But when she thought about the situation that she had just arranged with great difficulty, she was still a little unwilling. She calmed the anger in her chest and said, “No matter how impatient you are, you still have to wait until the next day. I will arrange for some carriages to leave, right? Also, we need to clean up the Lotus Root, so we don’t have to leave anything behind. ”
In other words, he agreed to let her return to the Yangzhou?
Jin Lan was ecstatic, he suddenly raised his head and looked at the Madame Chen, “Thank you for your consent, Old Ancestor!”
Without another question, she opened her mouth to thank the Old Ancestor for the courtesy and confirmed what he said. This way, no matter who it was that came up with the idea, she would just hold on to her face and not let it go.
The Old Ancestor’s eyelids jumped, his face revealing a cold expression, but using the gesture of carrying tea, he forcibly pushed it back down, “Alright, Girl Lan, quickly get up. The green bricks are cold, it’s not good to freeze over.” He then shifted his gaze and gouged out Mama Zhu’s eyes, “You should get up as well.
“Yes, this servant thanks First Princess for his great kindness.” Mama Zhu respectfully kowtowed to Madame Chen. Just as she was worrying about what kind of excuse she should find to stay, she did not expect that it would be so easy to achieve what she wanted. Compared to the obstacles she faced when she entered Marquis Mansion, Madame Chen’s attitude was like heaven and earth.
Jin Lan endured the pain in his knees and stood up with the support of the Mama Zhu. He then apologized to the Madame Chen, “Jin Lan, please punish me for disturbing the Old Ancestor’s listen to the drama.”
“Forget it.” Madame Chen looked at Jin Lan’s delicate and white face, and sighed: “Speaking of this matter, it’s also my fault. In my opinion, you should be happy and quiet normally, and with this kind of matter, you probably won’t have the mood to listen to any more. It’s better for you to return to the Lotus Root to rest early, so we can get up early tomorrow.”
The Old Ancestor’s intention was for her to avoid revealing her secrets to the other girls, so that no one would be able to find any clues.
However, she was not in the mood to continue the liveliness. After a moment of thought, she lowered her head and replied, “Yes.”
Even if she was in a rush to go back and clean up, Jin Lan still accompanied Madame Chen out of the Half Moon Temple first. After Mama Wu and Lixia supported him out of the temple and along the hand overpass to the Emerald Hall, she deeply gazed at Lixia’s back for a while before bringing Mama Zhu back to the Lotus Root.
Fortunately, when Li-Xia came, Zhu’er was alertly able to avoid him. Even if the Old Ancestor suspected that she had some grudge with the Residence of Northern Tranquil East, as long as she was not caught, the Old Ancestor could not use this as an excuse. However …
She turned her head to the side and glanced at Mama Zhu. And why would Yan Ye’s letter be on Mama Zhu? Also, even if Mama Zhu was his mother’s wet nurse, she had long redeemed herself and left the palace. However, she clearly knew all about the news inside the manor and even knew about Ye Lin’s letter.
There must be something she didn’t know!
No matter what, it was imperative that they leave the manor successfully and return home. There was still time for her to get to the bottom of things.
Bypassing a crowded area, Jin Lan walked along the quiet veranda back to Lotus Root.
On the Old Ancestor’s birthday, most of the maids and maids had prepared some good food. The courtyard was quiet. Other than the two old wives on duty, no one else could be seen. When he pulled up the curtain and entered the house, he found that Mama Shang, Wan Ju and Bi He were all waiting for him.
“Miss!”
Seeing Jin Lan enter, the three of them could not help but come over, but when they saw the Mama Zhu behind her, they were all stunned, “This is …”
Jin Lan took off the silk cape that he was wearing, “Mama Zhu is mother’s wet nurse.”
Mama Zhu swiftly closed the door and received the crane cloak from Jin Lan’s hands. Then she smiled and nodded to the three as a form of greeting.
Mama Shang was the first to recover and quickly saluted back, “Greetings, big sister.”
Wan Ju and Bi He followed closely behind, and also kneeled down to Mama Zhu. However, the two of them had their suspicions, they had been beside Jin Lan for so many years, yet they had never seen, let alone a wet nurse.
He didn’t know if it was true or false that one had popped out all of a sudden.
As they thought of this, the two of them looked at Jin Lan at the same time.
“Wan Ju, Bi He, the two of you hurry up and pack up. Tomorrow morning, we will head back to the Yangzhou!” Jin Lan didn’t have the intention to explain any further. At this moment, she was extremely anxious, wishing that she could immediately go to her mother’s bedside.
“You’re leaving tomorrow?” Although they wished to return to the Yangzhou as soon as possible, they did not dare dream of leaving on the second day of the Old Ancestor’s birthday. After all, according to the Old Ancestor’s intentions, if he could not wait for the young lady to stay in the capital, how could they easily escape?
Mama Shang’s thoughts were much more meticulous than the two of them. She noticed something amiss from the anxious look on Jin Lan’s face and the sudden appearance of Mama Zhu, so she asked: “Miss, did something happen?”
Jin Lan knew that if she didn’t explain the situation clearly, the big guy would be confused, and would make mistakes in the chaos. After thinking about it for a while, she told him about her conversation with Mama Zhu, but hid the secret between King Residence of Northern Jing and the old ancestor, saying that her mother was very ill and the ancestor had agreed to let them return to Yangzhou tomorrow.
My wife is very ill? Wan Ju and Bi He looked at each other, only then did they realise how serious the situation was, and immediately did not say anymore, and started to pack their boxes.
Mama Shang had the intention to ask more, but when her eyes made contact with Jin Lan’s gloomy face and Mama Zhu’s worried expression, she knew that it would not be convenient to say anything more. She simply took the crane cloak that Mama Zhu had wrapped around her arm and hung it on the rack, and led the two of them into the room, in order to warm them up.
However, before Jin Lan could sit down, there was a series of knocks on the door, causing everyone’s expression to change.
“Is Lady Jin Lan in the room?”
It was Jin Qian. She raised her head and gave Mama Shang a look.
Mama Shang nodded, she glanced at Wan Ju and Bi He who had stopped, then quickly walked to open the door, and lifted the curtain, “Miss has just returned, what a coincidence.”
Jin Qian held a Vermillion Painted Flower food box, and laughed: “I also came here to offer Miss Jin Lan Life Congee following the orders of the Old Ancestor.”
Eating longevity porridge with longevity noodles was the custom of the Great Zhou. It had a long meaning, and at a young age, there was a present era. However, not long after using the Life Bestowing Porridge, it was time to send them off. After all, the capital city had strict curfews. Even if the Old Ancestor was a noble First Princess, it would not be good to drag it on too long in order to avoid a situation.
Jin Lan climbed onto the brick bed, and then changed the brocade bed sheet beside him to cover his oily octopus before raising his voice and saying, “Let Sister Jin Qian in.”
Jin Qian smiled as she entered the house, she went straight to the innermost room, and when she saw Jin Lan, she blessed herself, “Miss Jin Lan.”
Even though she hadn’t interacted much with Jin Qian in this manor, she had always sensed her goodwill. From the very beginning, she had intended to reveal the time when the Old Ancestor stood up, his habits and the small movements in the Plum Garden to them.
Therefore, Jin Lan had a good impression of Jin Qian, “Sister Jin Qian, quickly get up, the sky and earth are freezing cold, send someone to say that I will ask Wan Ju to go and get it, and I will trouble you to come over specially.”
“Miss, where are you from? Serving the lord is a servant’s duty, how can you pick and choose?” Jin Qian smiled as she said that, she placed the food box on the warm brick bed. Just as she was about to open the lid and take out the Life Eating Porridge, Wan Ju walked over from behind and snatched it away.
“Let me do it, sister. Rest well.” With that, Wan Ju quickly opened the box and brought out the still steaming hot Five Grains Porridge, “Young lady, try it.”
Jin Lan scooped up a spoonful of the white porcelain spoon. The Five Grains Porridge Porridge was cooked until it was extremely fragrant and sweet, but she had no appetite. After tasting a bit, she put down the white porcelain spoon.
Jin Qian was about to leave after putting away the food, but after the porridge was sent over, she still had to return to report to the Old Ancestor. She had only taken two steps when she turned back and looked meaningfully at Jin Lan. “Miss, you need to drink this porridge while it’s hot. Otherwise, it’ll get cold if you delay it any longer. By then, it might not be tasty.” With that, she lightly smiled, turned around and left the room.
Waiting for the door curtain to close with a “Pa” sound, Jin Lan’s expression suddenly changed, and she anxiously looked at Wan Ju: “Quickly pack up, we will leave immediately!”
Wan Ju was startled, didn’t she say that she would only start tomorrow? Why is it …
The faces of Mama Shang and Mama Zhu also changed drastically. They didn’t have time to explain as they started to pack up their things.
“Besides jewelry and clothes, anything beside that can’t be identified, leave it all behind!” Jin Lan couldn’t sit still anymore. He lifted the brocade bed sheet off his body, jumped off the brick bed, and helped to clean it up.
She was too careless. How could she be so muddleheaded, did she really believe that the Old Ancestor would let her leave?
There were more than ten million ways to subvert things overnight. The ancestral elders who wielded great power in the manor could do countless things if they wanted to leave behind a branch girl.
She was sure that if she believed the Old Ancestor’s words and rested peacefully in the Lotus Root, then everyone in the entire Palace would know that the young lady of the Orchid Hall had a relapse and was bedridden!