Chapter 276: The Not-So-Bright Child
This chapter is translated and hosted on BCatranslation.
Lu Chao Chao had just finished drinking her milk, leaving a small white “mustache” on her upper lip. She sat on the floor, her tiny feet bare and her chubby hands grasping them as she sniffed them curiously. Her big eyes were filled with wonder.
“Why Third Brother say feet stinky?” she wondered aloud in her babyish voice. “They not stinky… not even little bit…” She swallowed a bit of spit while speaking, her face scrunching up as she thought hard about it.
The last time she tried to bite her toes, she was only a year old, and she remembered it fondly. She patted her little chest as if trying to be serious with herself. “No bite, no bite. Chao Chao big girl now,” she said, but her eyes stayed glued to her toes, clearly tempted.
“Mommy say two-year-old girls can’t nibble toes no more,” she muttered, still staring at her feet, not wanting to look away.
Just then, Nan Mu Bai walked over, hearing her babbling. Before he could speak, Chao Chao lifted her foot toward him, her face filled with sincere curiosity. “Brother, you wanna nibble too?”
Nan Mu Bai blinked, caught off guard. “Huh?”
“No, no, Mommy says no more nibble toes after two,” Chao Chao continued, shaking her head very seriously. “But… but maybe we can suck fingers instead?” She sighed dramatically, her round cheeks puffing out. “Ohhh…”
Nan Mu Bai stared at her, his eyes wide with confusion. “Huh???” he repeated, utterly baffled.
Looking at Chao Chao’s small feet and her silly expression, he couldn’t help but turn away, disbelief on his face. [There’s no way the royal family could have such a dumb child…]
Meanwhile, Madam Pei was sitting on the ground in a daze, her dress soaked with a foul-smelling liquid that was spreading around her.
“You pee-peed your pants!” Chao Chao pointed and shouted loudly, her eyes wide with excitement at her discovery.
The people around Madam Pei stared at her with judgmental looks, and she couldn’t even lift her head. Her face turned bright red with embarrassment.
Suddenly, the nine-headed hydra lowered its head to the ground, and Nan Mu Bai climbed onto its back, standing tall and proud. “Envoy of the Southern Kingdom, make way! Envoy of the Southern Kingdom, make way!” he shouted loudly as he began marching toward the city gate.
Lu Yuan Ze, though weak and frail, forced himself to stand. His eyes were dark and filled with anger. “Throw this wretch into the pond,” he ordered coldly.
The old clan leader, already weakened by age, slumped to the ground, unable to muster the strength to intervene anymore.
“No, you can’t throw me into the pond! You can’t!” Madam Pei screamed as she fell to her knees, her voice hoarse and desperate. “Brother Yuan Ze, I was wrong, I was wrong! Spare me, I won’t dare again. Brother Yuan Ze, I was wrong…”
“Clan chief, save me!” she cried out frantically. “Yuan Xi, Yuan Xi, you promised to protect me! Yuan Xi, please save me…” Blood trickled from Madam Pei’s throat, staining the corners of her mouth.
But the strong men held her tightly, tying her up as they prepared to throw her into the water. Suddenly, Lu Yuan Ze spoke again, his voice calm and steady. “I’ll do it myself.”
With a firm grip, he dragged her toward the water. His health had been weak for years, and every step took great effort, his breaths coming in sharp gasps. Finally, after much struggle, he reached the edge where the river’s cold, dark waters began to swallow Madam Pei.
Fear and despair filled Madam Pei’s eyes, and deep regret surged within her.
She suddenly remembered the year she first came to the capital. Snow was falling heavily. Her mother had given her just enough money for the journey, but most of it had been spent on fine clothes and a servant girl. By the time she arrived in the capital, she had little money left. She had already decided she would never return to the countryside. She wanted to stay in the capital and live a life of comfort and luxury. Her cousin was her only chance to achieve that.
The money she had left was barely enough to rent an ox cart. Stuck in the snow between villages, with no one around to help, she felt utterly helpless. To look good, she had chosen clothes that flattered her figure but weren’t warm. She shivered in the freezing cold, feeling utterly hopeless.
She thought she would freeze to death until she met Madam Xu.
Back then, Madam Xu was just a young girl, not even fifteen. She was cheerful, with a bright smile and a gentle demeanor. Surrounded by servants, she sat in a tall, elegant carriage. Though many years had passed, Madam Pei remembered this scene as clearly as if it were yesterday.
At the time, Madam Xu had spotted her lying in the snow and quickly called out, “Big Brother, stop the carriage! There’s someone in the snow!”
The man leading the group on horseback—likely Xu Yi Ting—stopped and looked back. Madam Xu wanted to jump down to help, but he stopped her, frowning. “The snow is too cold; you can’t get down. If you catch a chill, what will we do? You’ve been frail since you were little. If you fall ill, Mother will cry her eyes out.”
He ordered his servants to give Madam Pei some hot water and placed a heater in her arms. Only then did she start to feel warm again. When she opened her eyes, she saw Xu Yi Ting’s tall and handsome figure. Sensing her gaze, Xu Yi Ting frowned slightly, keeping his distance.
“Dear sister, traveling in the snow is dangerous. You almost lost your life today,” the young Madam Xu said softly, covering her mouth with a delicate hand, her expression innocent and sincere.
Pei Jiao Jiao bit her lip, tears welling up in her eyes. “Miss, your family is rich, not like mine. My father died young, and my mother remarried. I have no family to turn to. This time, I came to the capital to rely on some distant relatives, but I’m just living under someone else’s roof,” she said, wiping her tears away with a trembling hand.
Madam Xu’s eyes instantly filled with sympathy. “I-I’m so sorry, sister. It’s my fault,” she apologized, her voice trembling with concern.
“Big Brother, can we take her to the capital with us? After all, my carriage is big enough. One more sister won’t be a bother. Big Brother… please, she might freeze to death out here. She’s so pitiful… let’s help her,” Madam Xu pleaded, her eyes red with emotion. “Her father passed away, her mother remarried, and now she’s living under someone else’s roof.”
“How about finding her a good job? If a woman can earn her own money, she’ll have a way to stand on her own.” Madam Xu’s kind-heartedness shone through, her desire to help evident as she looked at Madam Pei.
Madam Pei glanced at the warm, inviting carriage. Even from a distance, she could feel its comforting warmth. A charcoal brazier burned brightly, and a small stove bubbled with milk scented with red dates and longan, filling the air with a sweet aroma. Roasted chestnuts and peanuts popped with a delightful crackling sound.
[Such happiness. How nice it would be if I could sit inside that carriage,] she thought, but another emotion flickered within her—resentment. [Why does this girl have all the luck? Why does she get all the good things in life while I don’t?]
Madam Pei clenched her fingers tightly.
“Jiao Jiao is also a proper lady from a good family. Don’t look down on me, Miss. If you’re unwilling to spare some coins then it’s obvious you don’t genuinely want to help me.” Pei Jiao Jiao muttered bitterly.
Madam Xu was taken aback. “Earning money with your own hands, honestly and openly—how is that degrading?”
Xu Yi Ting’s gaze turned icy as he looked at Pei Jiao Jiao. “I didn’t want to upset my sister, so I didn’t expose you. But you shouldn’t have taken advantage of her kindness.”
“You claim to be poor, yet a simple cotton outfit costs only a few silver coins. Meanwhile, your dress is made of brocade, which costs several silver coins per foot. This kind of fabric isn’t warm, but it looks good. You’ve even paired it with carefully selected accessories. Does that look like poverty to you?” Xu Yi Ting sneered.
He flicked his sister’s forehead lightly. “You silly girl, she almost tricked you into giving her money! This was her plan all along!”
“You just want to rely on your looks to find a wealthy family in the capital. It’s one thing to scheme against others, but to plot against my sister? You must be dreaming!” His eyes turned sharp and cold.
This novel is translated and hosted on BCatranslation
Everyone has their own way of living, and striving for a better life is natural. But to take advantage of her sister’s kindness? That was unforgivable.
Initially, Xu Yi Ting had planned to let her go once they reached the capital, but after seeing her try to manipulate his sister, he couldn’t allow it.
“Throw her off,” he ordered.
“A corrupted heart can ruin a good person’s nature,” he added.
The servant immediately obeyed, throwing her off the carriage. That day’s humiliation still burned deeply in Madam Pei’s memory.