787 Grandmother and Granddaughter Meet, About to Give Birth
Qing Yan and Yu Wan looked in the direction the old woman was pointing and saw a courtyard on the wasteland in the distance. The courtyard was not big, and the door was deserted. To the east of the courtyard was an open-air market. There were people coming and going in an endless stream. They were clearly in the same place, but one was so prosperous and the other was desolate. Those people seemed to have specially avoided the courtyard. When they passed by, they covered their noses with disdain.
“Is that the Lan family?” Yu Wan frowned in confusion.
Qing Yan was about to ask the old woman again when the old woman was called away by her husband and entered the city.
“I’ll go take a look,” Qing Yan said.
“I’ll go with Shadow Six.” Shadow Thirteen jumped off the carriage and walked towards the courtyard the old woman pointed at with Shadow Six.
Not long after, the two of them returned with indescribable expressions.
Yu Wan looked at them strangely. “What’s wrong? Is it the Lan family?”
“Ah… This…” Shadow Six scratched his head in difficulty. “We didn’t go in. The people inside closed the door the moment they saw us. We couldn’t barge in without permission, so we came to ask Young Master and Madam if you wanted to barge in.”
In Yan Jiuchao’s current memory, he was the King of the Ghost Clan, but Yu Wan told him that they were traveling incognito. In order to hide their identities, he pretended to be the Young Master of Yan City. Yan Jiuchao gladly agreed, so Shadow Six and Shadow Thirteen could call him Young Master openly again.
Yu Wan thought for a while and said, “I’ll go with you.”
Yan Jiuchao closed his eyes and used his internal energy to sense that there was no danger. That was why he did not stop her.
Yu Wan alighted from the carriage. Qing Yan, Yue Gou, and Ah Wei drove the three carriages to the side and no longer occupied the team that entered the city.
“Young Madam, be careful,” Shadow Thirteen said as he looked at the bumpy ground.
“Okay.” Yu Wan nodded. She lifted her skirt and carefully stepped over.
The courtyard did not look close, but it was not far. The three of them quickly arrived at the door.
Shadow Six raised his hand and knocked on the door. “Is anyone there?”
Naturally, there was. She wondered if they would open it. The three of them had good hearing. They could hear the sound of running water in the courtyard, low coughs, and footsteps.
Shadow Six raised his hand again and knocked on the wooden door. “Excuse me, is anyone there?”
The person in the room still had no intention of opening the door.
Shadow Six looked at Yu Wan helplessly.
Yu Wan said, “Let me do it.”
Shadow Six retreated to the side. Yu Wan walked forward and kowtowed lightly. “May I know if the Lan family is around? We’re here to look for our relatives.”
It was unknown if this sentence moved the people in the courtyard, but the wooden door creaked open. Yu Wan saw an old granny with a hunched back. The granny could not even walk properly and could not stand up. She only opened the door a crack and looked at Yu Wan and Shadow Six and Shadow Thirteen warily.
Yu Wan could sense that her vigilance mainly came from Shadow Six and Shadow Thirteen. Was it because they were tall and strong and looked like they could fight? The old granny’s gaze landed on Yu Wan’s face. It was unknown if she had seen something, but a trace of surprise flashed across her eyes.
Yu Wan knew what to do when she saw this surprise, but she still asked her, “Nanny, is this the Lan family?”
The old granny said nothing.
Yu Wan took out the token and portrait she had found at the bottom of the cliff and handed them to the old nanny. “Nanny, do you know these?”
The old granny took the token and portrait from Yu Wan’s hand. Then, her expression changed. She left Yu Wan behind and walked into the house.
Yu Wan did not rashly follow in. Instead, she patiently waited where she was. About five minutes later, the old granny returned. She opened the courtyard door for Yu Wan and welcomed her in. Shadow Thirteen and Shadow Six also planned to walk in, but the old granny stopped them fiercely.
Yu Wan turned her head and said, “Wait for me here.”
Shadow Six frowned. “Ah… This… We have to protect Young Madam personally…”
Yu Wan smiled. “I’m fine.”
Shadow Six raised his eyebrows when he saw that Shadow Thirteen had no intention of objecting. “Alright then.” He turned to the old granny and said, “You better not bully my Young Madam! Our fists are very hard!”
The old granny rolled her eyes and closed the courtyard door with a bang!
Yu Wan entered the courtyard and realized that there was a stove in the corner. There was a medicine jar simmering on the stove. From the smell of the medicine, it was a medicine to calm one’s mind and pain. The amount was not light.
Was there a sickly in the Lan family?
The old granny brought Yu Wan around the corridor and came to a half-closed door. She gestured to her throat and Yu Wan understood that she was a mute servant.
Yu Wan nodded. The old granny knocked on the door, one long and two short. An old voice came from inside the room. “Come in.”
The old granny pushed open the door for Yu Wan and gestured for her to enter.
Yu Wan walked into the room.
The room was dark, and a strong medicinal smell wafted over. The furnishings in the room were also very simple, and it could even be said to be simple. The walls were cracked, the window lintels were split, and the tables, chairs, and stools had all lost their paint.
When they were still in Lotus Flower Village’s old residence, they lived in such a room.
Yu Wan could not help but be puzzled. Was this really the Lan family? Could it be that she had found the wrong person?
No matter what, the nobles of the New Capital should not have fallen into such a dire situation.
“Are you here?” The hoarse voice came from the bed again.
Yu Wan walked around the screen. The light here was even dimmer, but at least she could see clearly. On the bed covered with grass was a withered Matriarch. She should be very old. Her hair was white, and her face was slightly distorted by the pain. The moment her turbid old eyes saw Yu Wan, they suddenly lit up.
“You… come over and let me take a look,” she said in a hoarse voice.
Yu Wan came to the bed and saw that there was no stool. She sat down on the edge of the bed and approached her, allowing her to see her face better. She raised her trembling hand, wanting to touch Yu Wan’s face, but she couldn’t reach it.
Yu Wan was not someone who liked to get close to others, but for some reason, this Matriarch made her have the urge to get close.
Yu Wan took the initiative to lean over and let her touch her face.
Madam Lan’s eyes turned red. “You are…”
Yu Wan said, “My grandmother is Shen Yun, and my great grandmother is a daughter of the Lan family who left.”
In that case, Madam Lan understood. When her mother left, she was all alone. Unexpectedly, she gave birth to a sister with the same mother and different father.
Madam Lan was stunned.
Yu Wan’s gaze landed on the portrait the old lady was holding. “Are you the one in the portrait? Are you my grand-aunt?”
Madam Lan nodded, then shook her head. “She’s my sister, my twin sister.”
Yu Wan was enlightened. No wonder she felt that not only did the old lady’s appearance not match the woman in the portrait, but her temperament was also different. She thought it was because she was old and weak.
Madam Lan looked at Yu Wan with tears in her eyes and said, “You look so similar…”
Yu Wan blinked and said, “Like that grand-aunt?”
Madam Lan nodded. “Like her, and also like my mother.”
Although Madam Lan and her sister were twins, she inherited her father’s looks, and only her sister inherited her mother’s.
Madam Lan realized that she did not reject this child. Perhaps it was because she was very similar to her mother and sister, but she liked her very much. Madam Lan pulled Yu Wan’s hand and said, “I originally thought that you were my older sister’s descendant, but who knew that you were my youngest sister’s? How old are you? What’s your name?”
“My name is Ah Wan. I’m eighteen this year,” Yu Wan said.
“Eighteen.” Madam Lan patted Yu Wan’s hand in relief. She thought of something and said, “By the way, is your great-grandmother still alive?”
“No,” Yu Wan said regretfully.
“As expected.” Although she had long expected that it was unlikely that her mother was still alive at her old age, Madam Lan still had a trace of hope. When she heard the news of her mother’s death with her own ears, she could not help but cry.
Yu Wan did not know how to comfort her and quietly waited for her to finish crying. Madam Lan’s eyes were swollen from crying. Yu Wan handed over a handkerchief. After wiping her tears, she took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. “I haven’t seen the Lan family in a long time and lost my composure. Don’t take offense.”
Yu Wan looked around and asked in confusion, “Isn’t this the Lan family? Why hasn’t Grand-aunt seen the Lan family for too long? Also, when I was at the city gate just now, I heard the guards say that there are two Lan families. What’s going on?”
Madam Lan let out a long sigh. “It’s a long story. Our Lan family used to be one family too. They all lived in the Nether Capital. You should have heard that our Lan family’s ancestors had a Saintess. Your great-grandmother was also a Saintess.”
Yu Wan nodded. She had heard Grandma mention this before.
“Then how did they split up?” She asked.
Madam Lan sighed. “Isn’t it because of that matter?”
Yu Wan was about to hear her grand-aunt tell her what happened when a woman’s scream suddenly came from the other end of the courtyard.
Madam Lan’s expression changed.
In the next second, the old granny hurriedly walked in and gestured in a hoarse voice. Madam Lan grabbed Yu Wan’s hand. “Zi Yan is giving birth! She’s your brother’s last child!”
