“She’s given birth before.” Nanny Hui said.
Worthy Consort Xu and Yan Huaijing’s expressions changed slightly.
Worthy Consort Xu frowned and said, “Are you sure you didn’t see wrongly?”
Nanny Hui said firmly, “I dare to guarantee with my life. Usually, after a woman gives birth, her body will be different. Only a very few women can recover to the state of a young girl. However, this can be hidden from others, but not from me. My eyes have never made a mistake in judging a woman!”
If it were anyone else, Worthy Consort Xu might not believe them. However, it was Granny Hui. She was someone who had committed a huge taboo in the hands of the Empress but could still leave the palace alive. Even the Empress could not bear to kill her. Her ability was obvious.
“My son…” Worthy Consort Xu looked at Yan Huaijing beside her.
Yan Huaijing frowned. “How did this happen? I clearly heard Yan Xie say that she can’t give birth.”
Worthy Consort Xu said, “The Young Marquis of the Yan family didn’t name anyone. It might not be Yan Ruyu.”
“Is that so?” Yan Huaijing was deep in thought.
Worthy Consort Xu looked at the woman in the flowers and sighed softly. “I thought I could get something on this girl, but in the end, I was happy for nothing.”
Worthy Consort Xu had always been meticulous.
For this flower banquet, more than half of the noble ladies in the Capital had come. Yan Ruyu’s father had also defeated Xiongnu. It was reasonable for Yan Ruyu to be invited. Therefore, no one suspected that Worthy Consort Xu had an additional motive. As for Yan Huaijing’s appearance, it was even more natural. The three years of mourning for Empress Dowager had already passed. It was time for him to find a suitable Princess Consort for himself.
During this period, Worthy Consort Xu brought her son to the imperial garden. She greeted the noble ladies and rewarded them with many gifts. Then, under the kneeling of the noble ladies, she left with her son.
The noble ladies were all guessing who had caught the eye of Worthy Consort Xu and the Second Prince. From the rewards, the daughters of the Prime Minister’s family were the most generous, followed by the Imperial Censor and the Grand Duke’s family. It seemed that at least one of the three daughters would marry the Second Prince.
Yan Ruyu was not interested in the second prince’s marriage at all. After Worthy Consort Xu and the Second Prince left, she also returned home.
In the Yan Manor, Yan Xie had already gotten up from his blankets due to Mrs. Yan. Yan Ruyu had caught him sneaking out of the manor. Yan Ruyu asked Mrs. Yan to keep a close eye on him and not let him go out and cause trouble again.
Yan Xie was blocked by Mrs. Yan in the study. He listlessly flipped through the article left behind by the teacher.
“Mother, I’ve been reading for half a day. Can I rest for a while?” Yan Xie asked bitterly.
Mrs. Yan glared at him. “It’s only been less than an hour! Why are you worse than the concubine’s son?!”
Yan Congming had three sons. The eldest and second sons were all born from Mrs. Yan, but the third son was born from a lowly concubine. That child was not very promising, but he was more obedient than his two legitimate brothers.
“How can I be the same as him?” Yan Congming put down the article in his hand and leaned towards Mrs. Yan. He hugged her arm and said, “I’m your biological son. I have you to dote on me!”
“You!” Mrs. Yan was overjoyed by her son’s flattery. “Alright, I’ll let you rest for a while, alright?”
Yan Xie snorted. “I knew you were the best! Much better than that wretched girl!”
“How can you say that about your sister?” Mrs. Yan’s face darkened.
Yan Xie choked. He had almost forgotten that he was no longer the child his mother doted on the most. He felt jealous and became even more jealous of his sister. Suddenly, he rolled his eyes and said softly, “Mother, do you still remember when a Daoist priest came to our house and said that Sister will have no children in her life?”
That was not long after Yan Ruyu was born. At that time, there was only Mrs. Yan and Yan Congming in the room, and Yan Xie was only five years old and did not know anything yet, so Mrs. Yan did not let him go out of the room. She did not expect her son to remember these words. How could he not remember the teachings of Confucious when he could remember such a thing!
Mrs. Yan glared at her son angrily. “What nonsense are you talking about? Are the words of a daoist true? You’re just bluffing! Doesn’t your sister have a child now?”
And she had three of them! Mrs. Yan felt her heart melt at the thought of such a cute little thing.
Yan Xie pursed his lips. “Who knows if she gave birth to them herself…”
“You!” Mrs. Yan raised her fist, wanting to punch him.
Coincidentally, the maidservant entered with the fruit basket. “Madam, the fruits you wanted have been picked.”
Yan Xie hugged his head and looked at Mrs. Yan defensively.
Mrs. Yan sighed helplessly. She took the basket and handed it to Yan Xie. “You, don’t always make things difficult for your sister. She’s doing this for your own good. That’s why she doesn’t allow you to go out and cause trouble. She’s about to return from the palace. Give these fruits to her and coax her. Apologize to her. As her brother, what’s wrong with doting on her?”
“There are so many people doting on her. Is there a need for me to do that too?” Yan Xie expressed that he didn’t want to go.
Mrs. Yan forcefully stuffed the basket into his hand. “If you continue to dawdle, I don’t think you can leave the manor for the rest of your life!”
He was the eldest young master of the Yan Manor, but he was not as unyielding as a girl. Don’t think that he didn’t know that the servants were laughing at him.
Yan Xie reluctantly took the basket and sent it to Yan Ruyu.
Yan Ruyu did not return. He went to her study to wait for her.
Yan Ruyu had read a lot of books. The books had all been flipped through, unlike Yan Xie and the brothers in the manor where the bookshelves were all used for decoration.
Yan Xie was getting impatient from waiting. He casually flipped through the shelves and accidentally touched a vase on the shelf. He thought that the vase would fall, which shocked him. Unexpectedly, the vase only turned to the right. The bookshelf suddenly moved to the side, revealing a bare wall. In the wall, there was an inconspicuous landscape painting.
Yan Xie casually lifted the landscape painting. Behind the painting was a small square hole. Inside the hole were two porcelain jars, one big and one small. They were both white. The small one was the size of a fist, and the big one was only the size of a medicine jar.
“What is this?” Yan Xie curiously picked up one of the small jars and opened it. It was actually ash, white ash. He smelled it. It smelled of burned wood. He dipped his finger in it again, wanting to put it in his mouth and taste it.
“What are you doing?!”
Yan Ruyu’s voice suddenly appeared behind him, scaring him so much that he staggered and almost dropped the jar!
Yan Ruyu’s expression changed. She took two steps forward and snatched the jar from his hand. Then, she slapped him!
This was not enough. After Yan Ruyu put down the jar, she pulled out the sword in the study and pointed it at Yan Xie’s heart.
Yan Xie fell to the ground. “Mother! Save me—”
Mrs. Yan was worried about her son and was worried that he would anger her sister again so she had been loitering nearby. When she heard his cry for help, she hurriedly entered the courtyard and walked to the study. When she saw her daughter trying to assassinate her son, she was so frightened that she almost fainted.
“Yu’er! No!”
Mrs. Yan rushed over and grabbed Yan Ruyu’s wrist.
Yan Ruyu was so angry that her entire body was trembling. The blood vessels in her eyes had swelled up, as if she wanted to skin the person in front of her alive.
Yan Xie had never seen her look so terrifying. He stuttered, “Mother… Mother, save me…”
“Yu’er! He’s your brother!” Mrs. Yan said anxiously.
Yan Ruyu gripped the hilt of her sword tightly, her eyes like torches. “…Get lost, get lost!”
Yan Xie rolled away.
“Yu’er…”
“Mother, you go out too. I want to be alone.”
Her appearance was really terrifying. Mrs. Yan didn’t dare to provoke her and left with lingering fear. She caught up to the frightened Yan Xie. “What did you do? You made your sister so angry!”
“Why is it my fault again? Mother, you really can’t blame me this time! You’re too biased. The moment something happens, you think I’m the one who’s messing around, but I didn’t! I just saw her things!” Yan Xie had an aggrieved expression as he told Mrs. Yan about the two jars. “Isn’t it just two jars of ashes? What’s wrong with me taking a look? It’s like someone’s ashes!”
“What are you saying? How could your sister hide such an unlucky thing?” It was no wonder that Yan Ruyu wanted to kill him. With his smelly mouth, Mrs. Yan herself wanted to beat him to death!
Mrs. Yan didn’t ask Yan Ruyu what it was. In her opinion, it didn’t matter what it was. Who didn’t have a secret stash? Her daughter had always been sensible and knew her limits. She didn’t have to stare at her like she was staring at her two useless sons.
However, Yan Xie could not get over it for a long time. His mother was biased towards Yan Ruyu and did not think about her expression. She thought that Yan Ruyu was scaring him, but he understood that she really wanted to kill him at that time.
He was getting more and more curious about what was hidden in the jar.
