"Mom promises that Man'er's mother is definitely not a witch. Just look at Man'er and you'll know." Jian Ning leaned over and rubbed her forehead against hers. "Our Man'er is so well-behaved and smart. How could the mother who gave birth to Man'er be a witch?"
"No, I trust you, okay?"
Ah Man opened his tearful eyes and asked again, "What about Auntie? Is she a witch? Is she a bad person?"
Well, she's certainly not a seductress, and it's not easy to judge or define bad people based on just one or two things.
Over time, good people can become bad, and bad people can become good. Good people can do things that harm others for their own selfish reasons, and bad people can show some glimmer of humanity when they have a change of heart. Even people like her own parents, who are selfish to the core, cannot be defined as bad people as long as they don't kill or burn people in their lives.
Including Lao Dingtou and Meng.
All we can say is that they are not kind to others and are selfish.
As for Yunniang, Jian Ning could sense her hostility towards her at first sight, and her hostility towards her only came from her own sense of crisis.
Perhaps it was because she really loved Huo Jincheng, or perhaps she loved the power in her hands, but no matter what, she did not abuse Ah Man or lead her astray.
She was nothing more than a victim of the feudal society's enslavement of women.
Even if Jian Ning and Ah Man explained these words to her, she still wouldn't understand. She could only tell her, "'Witch' is an insult. Mother doesn't think she's a witch, but she hurts others to achieve her own goals, so she's now a bad person. We shouldn't learn from her. No matter what, we shouldn't hurt others, because if we hurt others, we'll only hurt ourselves in the end. Do you understand?"
Ah Man nodded, not quite understanding.
"Mom." Sanniu woke up, sat up and squinted at Jian Ning, "But it's dawn."
She yawned loudly and pushed Erniu again, "Second sister, wake up quickly."
Just as Jian Ning was about to signal her not to wake Erniu up, she saw Erniu also opened her eyes and yawned loudly.
The two little ones got up. Jian Ning hugged Ah Man and quickly leaned over to pull the quilt over them. "Wrap yourselves with the quilt. Be careful not to catch a cold."
"Mom." Erniu looked at Ah Man and saw tears in her eyes. She yawned and said, "Sister Ah Man, you are so pitiful."
"I also feel sorry for Sister A'man." Sanniu echoed.
Ah Man blinked, tears falling from her eyes. She wiped them away with her backhand and said, "But I don't like being pitied."
"What should we do then?" Erniu and Sanniu asked in unison.
"Mom." Ah Man looked at Jian Ning, and Jian Ning smiled, "Our Ah Man is not pitiful. Ah Man has daddy who loves him, grandparents who love him, and me as his mother and three younger sisters. We are all Ah Man'er's family and relatives."
"And Dabao. Mom, you forgot to mention Dabao."
"Yes, and Dabao too. So many people like Man'er. Our Man'er is not pitiful at all."
"My grandfather seems to like me a little bit, but my grandmother doesn't like me."
"It doesn't matter. Our grandparents don't like us either. They even beat us because we were younger sisters, right?" Erniu turned her head and asked Sanniu.
This wasn't the first time Ah Man had heard Erniu say their grandma had beaten them. "Your grandma is a bad person, but mine isn't. She just doesn't like me because she doesn't like my mom."
"My dear mother," she added.
Jian Ning pinched her little nose and said with a smile, "Your grandma just hasn't figured it out yet. When she does, she will like our Man'er. Tomorrow morning, I'll take you to your grandparents. It's getting late, you should all go to bed."
"Mom, Jiajia and Yaoyao will also go to school with me, okay?"
The Taifu's mansion had a private school and hired a teacher. The Taifu would give lessons himself when he had free time. There were also mothers in the mansion who taught the girls needlework and etiquette.
"My grandma likes Jiajia and Yaoyao. Mommy, please send them both with me."
The two little ones also strongly requested to go together. Erniu also said, "Mom, I gave in to my sister today. I didn't even fight with my sister. Mom said that we can't fight when visiting someone else's house. As the older sister, I should think about giving in to my sister, and I did it."
Erniu tilted her head, raised her little chin, and looked like she was saying, "Praise me, praise me!"
Ah Man and Sanniu both testified for her. Jian Ning put Ah Man down with her blanket, leaned over, cupped Erniu's face, and kissed her forehead. "Good girl, you did a good job. Tomorrow, your mother will send you to go with Sister Ah Man."
Seeing this, Sanniu and Ah Man both clamored for a kiss from her. She kissed them both again and told them to go back to sleep. Jian Ning came out of the west wing and heard Ah Man, Erniu and Sanniu talking and laughing inside. She felt relieved and shouted loudly, "If you have anything to say, let's talk tomorrow morning. Go to sleep and don't talk anymore."
Jian Ning returned to the small flower hall. Ding Youtian raised his eyes and asked, "Are all the kids asleep?"
"He's asleep." Jian Ning glanced at Huo Jincheng, "Are you feeling better? If you are, think about how to deal with Yunniang. You can't keep her locked up forever."
Huo Jincheng lowered his brows and remained silent. Jian Ning continued, "Everyone has desires and greed. She is certainly hateful, but how you deal with her is entirely up to you."
As a person who traveled from the modern era, Jane Ning disapproved of the practice of selling and killing concubines. However, she also understood that she could not change the ancient people's ideas on her own, so she did not want to say much about it.
"If it weren't for the fact that that bitch treated Man'er well, I would have killed her long ago!" Huo Jincheng picked up the wine glass in front of him and drank it all in one gulp. "I won't let that bitch get away with it. Even if she was instigated to do such evil, I will starve her to death before I drive her out of the house."
"Under someone's orders?" Jian Ning and Ding Youtian exchanged glances, then looked back at him. "Who are you referring to?"
"Who else could it be?" Ding Youtian said, "He probably suspects his parents are behind this."
Huo Jincheng snorted.
Jian Ning and Ding Youtian were still unaware of the fact that he had caused a scene at the Grand Tutor's residence, but Jian Ning probably knew about the fact that he had imprisoned Yunniang and his conversation with Yunniang in the room, because Baimei was there.
Baimei is a crow who loves to mimic gossip and has extremely high intelligence. Jian Ning naturally knows what Baimei knows, but this is Huo Jincheng's family affair, and it is not convenient for her and Ding Youtian to interfere. Besides, she has a lot of things to do.
"It's getting late. Go back and get some rest. We have to go to Huichun Hall to look for that Wang tomorrow, so we should get some rest early."
"This is my house. Go and have some rest. Brother Ding and I will have our own drinks. It won't bother you."
Ding Youtian said, "It is true that it is your house, but my wife and I paid the rent. My wife gave the half tael of silver to Yunniang."
Huo Jincheng angrily said, "You bitch! When did I ever agree to collect rent from you? I'll go find that bitch and get the money back from you."
Just as Jian Ning was about to call him, she heard Yunniang's shouting and cursing faintly in the quiet night.
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