Chapter 490 A big black pot
Niu Niu noticed her mother's uneasiness at the first moment.
"Mom, do I have to go? I don't want to go." Niu Niu said.
Zhang Yunniang held her daughter's soft little hand and smiled helplessly: "The Duke took you out to play because he wanted to spend more time with you. He is a loving father."
Niuniu frowned: "But it's a rare holiday, I want to stay at home with you and daddy."
Zhang Yunniang did not want to let her daughter suffer, and was even more afraid that Duke Xianguo would snatch her daughter away, but she had no right to reject the biological father's desire to get close to her daughter.
"I don't like him either!" said Niu Niu.
When Zhang Yunniang heard this, she was so scared that she immediately covered her daughter's mouth and said, "Good girl, don't say this outside."
When others hear that a daughter doesn't like her father, they won't pay attention to the real reason. They will just arbitrarily think that Niu Niu is unfilial.
Niuniu pursed her lips and said, "Being an adult is so troublesome. You can't express your likes and dislikes directly, and you have to waste your precious time on someone you don't like."
Zhang Yunniang looked at her daughter with pity and said, "Do you remember what your parents taught you before? To judge whether a person is good or bad, in addition to relying on your first reaction, you can also get in touch with the person carefully, think more and observe more, so as not to misunderstand others."
Niuniu lowered her head: "Okay, I'll go get to know him better today."
Although it was only a short trip, Zhang Yunniang was still worried that her daughter would feel uncomfortable on the road, so she prepared a lot of things for her to use.
Gu Mingda personally carried the large package onto the carriage, then turned to Duke Xian and said, "Duke, Niuniu has always been naughty. If she has ever made you unhappy, just tell me and I will take care of it later."
Duke Xianguo agreed with a smile. He naturally understood what Gu Mingda meant. Gu Mingda didn't really want to punish Niu Niu. He said this just to tell Duke Xianguo that if Niu Niu did anything wrong, they and his wife would deal with it. He was afraid that Duke Xianguo would bully Niu Niu.
Under the reluctant gaze of the Gu couple, the carriage of Duke Xian's Mansion set off out of the city.
Duke Xian originally planned to take Niu Niu out alone, but at Qin Jing's suggestion, he also brought Qin Jingshu along.
Qin Jing originally wanted to take Qin Er with him, but Qin Er disappeared early in the morning, and he was urgently called back by the yamen.
The servants were all sitting in the carriage at the back, and only Duke Xianguo and his two daughters were sitting in the carriage at the front.
"Niuniu, we have not only chickens, ducks, and fish on the farm of Duke Xianguo, but we also raise deer and peacocks. You will definitely like them!" Duke Xianguo said in a coaxing tone.
Niuniu glanced at him and nodded obediently: "Thank you, Duke Xian."
"Child, this address is too polite. I've been waiting for you to call me dad." Duke Xian complained softly.
Niu Niu pursed her lips. In her heart, her father was Gu Mingda, and she couldn't call him that to anyone else.
Duke Xian was a flexible man. Seeing the atmosphere in the carriage becoming awkward, he smiled and patted Niuniu: "Okay, okay, you are not familiar with daddy yet and don't want to call me daddy. Daddy won't blame you, but you have to remember that daddy values you the most."
When Niu Niu heard the word "value", she felt something was strange, but she couldn't figure out what was strange about it for a moment.
Qin Jingshu didn't say a word and shrank into the corner as if she didn't exist. Duke Xian didn't mention his adopted daughter on purpose either.
Niuniu came close to her good friend and asked in a low voice: "Jingshu, why are you ignoring me?"
Qin Jingshu looked at Niuniu, her eyes full of guilt: "I... I'm sorry... I don't know what to say to you..."
She couldn't stop feeling guilty when she thought about how Niu Niu was almost bullied to death by the Zhang family when she was a child and faced a life-and-death dilemma. Although the wife of Duke Xianguo was not an easy mother to get along with, her life was obviously not in danger in Duke Xianguo's mansion.
Niuniu frowned slightly: "Why are you looking at me with such strange eyes? As if I am a pitiful creature?"
Qin Jingshu paused after hearing this.
Duke Xian grabbed his adopted daughter's shoulders and said, "Jingshu feels sorry for you. I hope you can forgive her."
Niu Niu felt even more strange: "I have the best parents in the world, I don't feel wronged at all."
Duke Xian's heart sank, and he just said, "Niuniu, don't worry, you will be the first among Duke Xian's girls in the future, and Jingshu won't dare to compete with you."
Qin Jingshu had already been greeted by her adoptive father. She nodded vigorously when she heard this: "I know I am only the daughter of the second wife. I dare not ask for more..."
But Niu Niu interrupted her.
"Has anyone in Duke Xian's Mansion bullied you?" Niu Niu asked.
Qin Jingshu really wanted to say that someone was bullying her.
Ever since her background was exposed, the news somehow leaked out among the servants. She had a very difficult time during this period, and almost everyone looked at her with strange eyes.
It was as if she was a thief who didn't deserve everything she had now, and that anything sent to her yard during this period was excessive.
She also tried to complain to her mother, but was dismissed by Lady Xian Guogong with just a few words.
According to the adoptive mother, "Gu Xi used to sleep in the firewood room and eat rotten vegetable leaves, but she never complained about the hardship. Why are you complaining about the hardship?"
Qin Jingshu's treatment in the Duke's Mansion plummeted. She had been trying to hold on. When she was hungry in the middle of the night, she lay in bed scratching her head and couldn't fall asleep, wondering whether Niu Niu had suffered more than her in the past.
"I... didn't... no one bullied me..." Qin Jingshu felt guilty enough towards Niu Niu and didn't want to make her good friend upset because of her own affairs.
Niuniu tilted her head and looked at her: "You have lost a lot of weight, and your eyes are full of red bloodshot. Have you not slept well recently? Have you suffered any injustice?"
Qin Jingshu's nose felt sore. No matter how mature she was, she was just an eight-year-old child. She couldn't hold back her tears.
Niuniu hurriedly grabbed her hand.
Duke Xian also said, "Jingshu is the daughter of the Duke's Mansion. How could anyone let her suffer?"
But Niuniu did not believe Duke Xian's one-sided words, and said to Qin Jingshu: "We are good friends, we should be honest with each other, don't hide it from me."
Qin Jingshu threw herself into Niu Niu's arms and burst into tears.
Duke Xianguo standing by had an unpleasant expression on his face.
"They bullied me... they didn't give me proper meals... the food was all rotten..." Qin Jingshu said intermittently.
Niuniu's face immediately puffed up, and she turned around and questioned Duke Xian: "Why do you want to bully Qin Jingshu? You actually gave Jingshu rotten rice! Everyone in the Duke's Mansion is evil!"
How could Duke Xian know about these trivial matters in the inner house? He just felt that a huge black pot was put on his head out of thin air. Even if he was dissatisfied with Qin Jingshu, he would not eat rotten rice like his adopted daughter. It's not like Duke Xian's mansion was unable to make ends meet!
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