"Who is it..." You Ran asked lazily.
The little girl quickly climbed onto the bed, her tiny hands touching her face, and said in a childish voice, "Daddy said it's... His Highness the Crown Prince!"
"What?!" You Ran immediately snapped out of her daze, quickly sat up, and started putting on her clothes.
The two children, a dragon and a phoenix, sat obediently on the doorstep waiting.
In no time, You Ran quickly tidied herself up and strode out the door.
The twins happily followed, "Auntie, wait for us—"
result--
"Hey, where did Auntie go? The flower hall is on the left..." Fengwa shouted.
A leisurely voice drifted from afar, "Tell my eldest uncle and aunt, as well as my cousin and his wife, that I've gone on a journey!"
Dragon and Phoenix Twins: ...
Chu Heng, arriving late: ...
He touched his nose; it was time to change his strategy...
As she leisurely stepped out of the side gate of the Su family, a figure suddenly rushed out and hugged her.
"You Ran... please, please save us..."
Su Youran was startled and pushed the person away forcefully, shouting, "Who are you?!"
"I...I am your aunt..." The woman slumped to the ground, dressed in coarse cloth, looking haggard. She brushed her messy hair back with her hands, revealing a somewhat familiar face.
You Ran looked at her closely, then jumped in surprise, "You are... Gao Shi?"
The woman nodded vigorously, then knelt down again, "Yes, yes...we are blood relatives, you must help us..."
It was truly surprising to Su Youran that she could see the Jiang family again after so many years.
That year, the cooperation between the Jiang family and the Rong Prince's Mansion broke down. In order to protect the Jiang family, the third son, Jiang Mingxin, covered up the matter of privately hoarding copper mines and privately forging weapons. He committed suicide in prison, and the Yong'an Earl's Mansion was stripped of its title and dismissed from its post.
She never heard of the Jiang family again after that.
Unexpectedly, they returned to Dingzhou.
That's true. The Jiang family's roots are in Dingzhou. If they don't go back to Dingzhou, where else can they go?
You Ran asked, "It's been so many years, it's kind of you that Auntie still recognizes me."
Madam Gao hurriedly said, "This humble woman has been waiting here for many days... I saw the county magistrate once from afar... County magistrate, please save us... Even if you disregard our feelings, please save Mingwei! She has always been thinking of you..."
You Ran glanced at the gate behind her, remembered Jiang Mingwei, the only one who had ever been kind to her, and nodded, "Lead the way."
After walking for a quarter of an hour, they arrived at a dilapidated courtyard. Madam Gao pushed open the door and respectfully welcomed her inside.
Then a shrill voice came from inside, "Tian, are you dead? Why aren't you taking the clothes to be washed?!"
"And you—you still think you're the only son of the Jiang family? If you don't chop three bundles of firewood today, you won't get any dinner tonight!"
"You...you Gao, you're out again so early in the morning..." Before he could finish speaking, the man turned around and saw You Ran, and froze.
You Ran was also taken aback, "You...you are..."
The man strode over, "Princess! That's right, I am Yun Ni! Aunt Yun! I'm the head of the Jiang family now!"
You Ran couldn't believe it.
Yun Ni bossed Gao Shi around, "Aren't you going to start a fire and cook?!"
Gao swallowed her anger and left in a hurry, not daring to say a word.
Yunni pulled You Ran to sit down at the stone table next to her and started talking about the Jiang family's situation in recent years.
After the Jiang family returned to Dingzhou in disgrace, they originally thought they could still live a wealthy life with the wealth they had accumulated.
To their surprise, upon arriving at the ancestral home, they discovered that the family fortune had already been plundered twice, with the goods being sent to the capital in batches. Once, the goods were stolen by bandits, and the other time, they were given to the Su family as compensation. The few remaining valuables in the ancestral home in Dingzhou had long been embezzled by the concubine who was in charge of guarding the home, who had even sold off the entire ancestral home, property, and shops.
The former Earl of Yong'an suffered a series of blows and died suddenly from a serious illness.
"Uncle Jiang used to earn a little money copying letters, but that wasn't enough to buy him wine to drown his sorrows. Madam Gao and Madam Tian were both useless; they could do nothing but cry. Your father… Third Master Jiang was already immobile, and in recent years he'd become even more despondent, unwilling to move. His leg was completely crippled; he couldn't stand up at all. Later, it was only thanks to Mingwei washing clothes and me returning to my old profession—dressing as a man and performing on stage—that the Jiang family was able to stay afloat." Yun Ni's face showed no sadness or anger, only disdain. "That's when I understood: what's the difference between noble and lowly people? It's all about money and power. When you have money and power, you can bully and insult those less fortunate than you. I earned money outside to support the family, and when I came home, I could order around those who had once scorned and cursed me—it was incredibly satisfying!"
She glanced at You Ran's expression, and seeing that she wasn't displeased, continued, "After a while, I realized that life like this wasn't so bad. It's just a pity for Mingwei..."
Remembering something, she pulled You Ran towards a small house, saying, "It's just in time that the county princess has arrived. County princess, please go and see Mingwei."
He leisurely stepped inside, and a strong smell of blood hit him. A figure was lying on the bed.
She was taken aback. "Aunt Mingwei?!"
Yunni sighed. "Two years ago, she married a shop assistant at a cloth store, and we all thought she was finally free from her misery. Unexpectedly, a month ago, she suffered a severe postpartum hemorrhage and was sent back by her husband's family. I angrily berated her for not calling a doctor to examine her. Her wicked mother-in-law actually said that Mingwei not only killed her grandson, but dared to expect her to call a doctor to treat her? She even said that the Lady of Yong'an had caused her miscarriage and was sent away, and now the retribution was falling on her daughter. I immediately chased her away with a broom. I did call a doctor, but the doctor said she needed ginseng over a hundred years old to keep her alive… In our current state, how could we afford a hundred-year-old ginseng?"
She paused, then asked, "So, did Madam Gao come looking for you because of this? Did she say anything she shouldn't have?"
You Ran shook his head, sat down on the edge of the bed, pulled Ming Wei's withered wrist over, and took her pulse.
A heartache I can't express.
Yun Ni continued, "Mingwei has always been healthy. After she got married, I secretly went to see her a few times, and every time I caught her wicked mother-in-law tormenting her to death..."
You Ran untied the bundle on her body, took out two silver ingots, and said, "Go and buy a hundred-year-old ginseng first, and I will give Aunt Mingwei acupuncture."
Yun Ni hesitated for a moment before taking the silver and turning to leave.
The moment You Ran took out the silver needles and uncovered Ming Wei's blankets and clothes, her pupils contracted and her nose stung with tears.
Mingwei lay unconscious with her eyes closed, her body reeking of a foul stench. She was emaciated, skin and bones, and even in the dim light, the various depths of her wounds were visible.
The image of Mingwei's spirited appearance when he came to her and her mother to borrow grain to help the disaster victims that year flashed before her eyes.
Even though he tricked her into spending the Earl's mansion's money to do good deeds, she remained as innocent as ever.
Unexpectedly...
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