Chapter 56◇
◎Duan Jingchuan, your wife is craving something.◎
Duan Jingchuan sighed again, "Didn't you ever think about the possibility of something happening to you?"
"What could possibly happen to a grown man like me?" Seeing Duan Jingchuan's increasingly dark face, Feng Ran had a sudden inspiration and added, "Even if something does happen, I still have you, my husband~"
Seeing the trust in Feng Ran's face, Duan Jingchuan affectionately kissed her forehead. "You're right, I should be your support, but next time you must not act recklessly on your own. Remember to come back to me."
A feather brushed across her forehead, tickling her. Feng Ran wanted more, so she raised her little face, pouted, and went to find Duan Jingchuan.
Unfortunately, the height difference between the two was too great, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't find the place she wanted, and she was so anxious that she stomped her feet.
Her adorable pleading for a kiss made Duan Jingchuan's chest throb. He extended a finger and lightly touched Feng Ran's brow. "You little pervert, you're just drooling! I'm leaving."
No matter how far Ren Fengran's Erkang reached out, she couldn't stop Duan Jingchuan from leaving.
Feng Ran pouted, "It's all a lie. As expected, once you get something, you don't cherish it anymore."
Duan Jingchuan heard these words, but he didn't stop walking. Instead, he walked even faster, as if something was chasing him.
Duan Jingchuan wasn't as naive as Feng Ran. Saving someone was simply saving someone. Behind this rescue, Duan Jingchuan sensed danger, so he didn't go directly to the study but instead went to find Old Marquis Duan.
"Father, this is roughly the situation. Do you know who is behind Ren'ai Bookstore?" Duan Jingchuan humbly asked for advice.
Lord Duan, his beard bristling and eyes wide, said irritably, "Do you think your father is that despicable person? If he knew, my Duan family army would have wiped him out long ago."
Duan Jingchuan repeatedly apologized, "Father, that's not what I meant..."
Lord Duan waved his hand, "Alright, your concerns are not without reason. The strange thing is that the back of that bookstore is spotless, and the shopkeeper has grown up in this capital since childhood. There is nothing unusual about it."
Duan Jingchuan frowned. "This is the biggest anomaly."
Lord Duan was well aware that child trafficking was not as simple as a shopkeeper cutting corners or a big shop bullying its owner.
In other places, it would be normal for child abductions to occur, but this is the capital, right under the emperor's nose. The Ren'ai Bookstore is located in a place that is considered the back garden of wealthy and noble families. The children who can come here are very likely to be children of officials. The fact that someone dares to target these children of officials shows the power behind them.
Feng Ran's two kicks might have really caused a major upheaval.
Another matter that Lord Duan was also concerned about was, "How did the Crown Princess know that Ren'ai Bookstore was problematic? Those two kicks couldn't have been done for no reason, could they?"
Based on Lord Duan's understanding of Feng Ran, she was not someone who would cause trouble for no reason. Although Feng Ran often did things that made people laugh and cry, she was essentially a kind-hearted person and would never do something like tearing down books or burning down other people's houses for no reason.
In his view, Feng Ran's behavior was really strange. How could Feng Ran just happen to stumble upon a secret that had gone undetected for so many years?
Duan Jingchuan didn't even frown, and directly recited the draft he had already prepared in his mind.
"The previous gentlemen kept lecturing their wives, saying that books are a treasure trove of knowledge. The wives never quite understood, so they specifically chose a bookstore that wasn't doing well to try their luck. They even wanted me to pay for the bookstore to buy it. But this attempt turned out to be a disaster."
Duan Jingchuan knew the truth clearly in his heart; it was not as simple as he made it out to be. His wife had a beast-like intuition that allowed her to easily identify anyone who was vicious and tainted by evil deeds. However, he would not reveal a single word about this matter to anyone.
Demolishing someone's house just because of a phrase like "a house of gold and a beautiful woman" would be a ridiculous act if attributed to anyone else. In fact, if this were done to Feng Ran, Lord Duan would be furious and call her a fool. But if it were attributed to Feng Ran, Lord Duan would find it perfectly reasonable.
After all, this was something his wife could do, so he could only sigh and say, "It's also a blessing for these children; they deserve to be saved by the Crown Princess."
"So how do you plan to handle this matter?" However, things won't be that simple. If the person behind this really has their eye on Feng Ran, they'll get into trouble sooner or later. But Old Marquis Duan didn't express his opinion, and asked as if he completely trusted Duan Jingchuan.
Duan Jingchuan smiled, showing no sign of anxiety. "Father, this matter doesn't need to be dealt with. It's just that the Crown Princess was a bit annoyed by my pressure. She wanted to go to the bookstore to cultivate her mind, but she didn't expect the bookstore owner to be such a shifty-eyed man. He was terrified when he saw the Crown Princess. The Crown Princess only accidentally knocked over the candles and then pushed the shelf to put out the fire. Who knew that the wall behind the shelf wasn't very sturdy, which led to the exposure of the bookstore's shady dealings."
Lord Duan scratched his stubble without any regard for his image, and laughed and scolded, "Good lad, I don't know where you learned such a bad trick. This ability to avoid the important and focus on the trivial is not something I taught you. You want everyone's attention to be on these children, rather than on the Crown Princess kicking down a wall?"
Duan Jingchuan smiled shyly, "Father is joking. The Crown Princess is so delicate, how could she possibly kick down a wall?"
He might have believed this if Feng Ran hadn't broken his beloved gun with her bare hands.
The truth doesn't matter, as long as these people don't notice Feng Ran. Even if they do, they should treat it as an accidental discovery of a conspiracy. Lord Duan and Duan Jingchuan agreed on this point.
Such a big thing happened to Feng Ran outside, and no matter how much Qin Shi pretended to be deaf and dumb, it was to no avail. Even Feng Mama by her side advised her that such a big thing had happened, she should at least ask about it, otherwise it would be her dereliction of duty as the head of the household.
Qin had no choice but to grit her teeth and summon Feng Ran again.
Feng Ran had just put down her rice bowl when she felt like she had forgotten something. She looked around and suddenly remembered the little thing in the carriage.
Without even calling Xiuer, he tiptoed to the backyard.
The carriage has been unloaded, leaving only an empty compartment sitting there. It seems Xiuer hasn't had time to clean it up yet, as no one has opened the compartment.
Feng Ran stood to the side, listening intently to make sure the little thing was still in the carriage, and smiled gently.
"Interesting, what's their background? Interesting, what's their background?"
She knocked on the carriage shaft, but the breathing inside was not erratic. Feng Ran frowned, hurriedly opened the carriage, and carefully examined the situation before realizing that the little thing was simply fast asleep and not sick.
Judging from how tightly he was wrapped up, one could tell he was a clever person.
After looking around and making sure no one was paying attention, Feng Ran wrapped the little thing up even tighter, then casually hoisted it onto her shoulder and carried it back to her room.
The little creature woke up as soon as Feng Ran hoisted it onto her shoulder, but instead of calling for help, it cautiously peered out through the gaps in the blanket.
Seeing that the person in his arms was about to put him down, he quickly closed his eyes again.
Feng Ran knew the little guy was awake, but instead of revealing his thoughts, she haphazardly pulled his head out.
"Alright, stop pretending to be asleep. Didn't you come back with me on your own initiative?"
The voice was very familiar; it was the person who had saved him, he remembered.
The little one on the bed immediately opened his eyes and saw Feng Ran raising her eyebrows and looking at him.
The two, one big and one small, stared at each other without saying a word. In the end, it was Feng Ran who ended this boring staring game.
"Tell me, why did you secretly get on my carriage after I saved you?"
In fact, Feng Ran rescued thirteen children. The reason she remembers it so clearly is because the thirteenth child was extremely special.
With the same sallow complexion and thin build, the child was extremely cautious, his body bristling with thorns. Even though she appeared to be rescuing someone, he kept his face tightly covered and remained on guard.
When Feng Ran brought out all the other children, the sneaky little guy had disappeared.
At first, Feng Ran thought the child was a spy planted by human traffickers, but she found that the little guy was hiding in her car. Since she couldn't see anything wrong with the child, she just took it as curiosity and brought him back in a daze.
The child on the bed looked very young, maybe seven or eight years old at most. He cautiously looked around and, finding no one else, timidly said, "I have nowhere to go. I saw that you were very friendly and kind, so I followed you back without thinking."
After saying that, he looked at Feng Ran with deep admiration.
If it were an ordinary girl being looked at with such trust and admiration by a child who was a little dirty but still quite cute, she would have been overwhelmed with maternal instincts long ago. But Feng Ran was different from ordinary people and directly saw through that barrier.
He casually threatened, "Little thing, don't try to play tricks on me. Although you don't look like a bad person, my intuition tells me you're lying to me."
After all, she was still a child, and she was always a little unsure of herself when she lied. When Feng Ran exposed her, her face turned red with embarrassment, and her eyes filled with tears. She seemed to have given up on her plan, but she still couldn't help but plead, "Then could you please give me dinner, Madam? I will leave after I have eaten and will not cause you any trouble."
As he said this, large tears streamed down his face, but he didn't mention asking Feng Ran to let him stay.
The human cub was crying; that was Feng Ran's first thought.
Her eyebrows furrowed tightly as she suddenly missed her husband. If he were here, he would surely be able to handle the baby properly.
She wasn't good at comforting children, so she could only say with a stiff face, "Don't cry, it's just food. This is some chicken porridge I saved for you, it's still warm. Eat it, there's more if you want."
After speaking, he pointed to the food box on the Eight Immortals table.
She had to say a lot of nice things to Xiuer to get this bowl of chicken porridge and some refreshing side dishes. After all, she had just finished eating, and asking for more food seemed like a bottomless pit. Fortunately, Xiuer thought she was just being greedy and repeatedly told her that if she couldn't finish it, she should just leave it and not force herself to eat it.
Even the crying child smelled the aroma of food, and obediently wiped away his tears. Because he had cried in front of strangers, he felt a little awkward and quietly sipped his porridge.
I don't know which family raised her, but even when she's starving, she makes sure to clean herself up before eating, and her eating manners are quite elegant, comparable to her husband's level of civility.
The child ate very slowly, as if he was enjoying the warmth of the room, but even so, the bowl of porridge was soon empty.
After Feng Ran asked him, he shook his head to indicate that he was full.
"Thank you for your kindness today, Madam. If I have a future, I will definitely repay your kindness."
A note from the author:
I may have to stop updating. This is the last chapter of my drafts. I'm very sorry. I will definitely make it up when I'm back in full force.
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