The Royal’s Little Lady

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It turned out that after Guizhi went over to the eldest Young Madam, she wanted to come over to see little Ah Chen. On the way, they met the Old Madam, so they simply came over together.

 

As soon as they entered, they saw Ah Chen’s little head drooping listlessly on Gu Sui’er’s shoulders. His little face was flushed red and he whimpered from time to time as if he had suffered an enormous grievance.

 

The Old Madam felt distressed. She hurried over to take him into her arms but surprisingly, this greatly wronged baby hugged his mother’s neck tightly, without any signs of it letting go.

 

“He received a fright ah!” She felt a pain in her heart when she looked at little Ah Chen acting like that: “When children receive a fright or feel afraid of the dark, they instinctively look for their mothers.”

 

The eldest Young Madam frowned slightly and asked Gu Sui’er, “What exactly is going on?”

 

Not knowing what was going on, Gu Sui’er looked at Zuo Xiuyan.

 

Nanny An immediately said from the side: “Just now, I heard that when Young Mistress went out to handle some matter of the Tingzhu Courtyard, Zuo girl was left alone in the room. Probably she knows what’s going on?”

 

She had never liked Zuo Xiuyan. She always had a feeling that this person was too good at pretending. But now that she had found an opportunity, she really wanted to make Zuo Xiuyan confess everything at once.

 

When Zuo Xiuyan heard this, her face turned pale with shame. She raised her sleeves to cover her lips as she declared weakly with red eyes: “No… Old Madam, Xiuyan doesn’t know anything… As a matter of fact, anything that happened here has no connection to Xiuyan at all ah!” 

 

The Old Madam comforted her, “I didn’t say you were related to this. We merely wanted to ask if you knew how he had fallen off the bed. We need to get a clear picture of it.”

 

After Zuo Xiuyan heard this, her complexion got a little better, and she repeated what she said to Gu Sui’er: “If I had indeed heard anything before, I would have surely come over to take a look at him. But I only came here after I heard a loud thud.”

 

“I truly don’t know how he fell to the ground. Seeing him there, I felt so distressed that I rushed forth to hug him.” Zuo Xiuyan clasped her hands in front of her chest and sighed, “I have come to love this child so much. Now that such a thing happened to him, I feel so worried.”

 

The sentence ‘such a thing happened to him’ sounded fairly harsh in everybody’s ears.

 

After all, it was just a matter of falling from the bed. Little children were not sensible, so there would inevitably be some moments of carelessness. How could she just say something like ‘such a thing happened to him’ so casually? Those who were not aware of the whole matter would assume that some unfortunate had taken place.

 

And the person to whom ‘such a thing happened’ was currently rubbing his steamed bun-like face in his mother’s embrace.

 

Naturally, the Old Madam was displeased too, which was well conveyed by the slight frown on her face: “Nothing happened to him, you don’t need to feel worried.”

 

Jing Yue, who was standing by the side and listening to the conversation, couldn’t help saying: “No ah, I was picking up bamboo leaves outside the reception pavilion. At that time, the window was open, so I was able to hear the sounds coming from the inside very clearly. I think I had heard the Little Young Master crying loudly initially, which was followed by a few whimpers and finally the sound of him falling on the ground and bursting into tears. How could Zuo girl not hear anything? Besides, wasn’t there a pillow beside him? Who moved that away?”

 

Gu Sui’er hadn’t thought this much about the matter. In the countryside, it was common for children to fall off the kang. Yet, because they had soft bones, the children generally did not end up with a severe injury.

 

She never thought that Jing Yue would actually say this.

 

She glanced at the young maid: “Is what you said true?”

 

Originally, Jing Yue herself didn’t think deeply about this matter before blabbering it aloud. But after she realized its importance, she found all the others staring at her.

 

She was a little scared, but she still raised her fingers and vowed to the Heavens: “Every word I said is true. I would perish if I had told even the least bit of a lie.”

 

After Jing Yue said this, everyone turned their eyes away to the other side.

 

Once facing the other side, everyone cast a suspicious gaze on Zuo Xiuyan.

 

Zuo Xiuyan quickly explained: “I must have remembered it wrong then. Actually, I think I might not have heard it clearly. Anyway, when I came over, Ah Chen was already on the floor. I neither saw him fall nor did I notice a pillow!”

 

Gu Sui’er had already begun to suspect Zuo Xiuyan.

 

When she left, she clearly remembered seeing little Ah Chen sleeping encircled by the pillows and the canopy. How could Zuo Xiuyan not remember this? If she hadn’t moved the pillow and the canopy, little Ah Chen wouldn’t have fallen off so easily. So, she must be lying.

 

But why would she lie? Did she do something wrong?

 

Gu Sui’er couldn’t help but speculate for a while. Thinking that Zuo Xiuyan, who might have done something wrong, was in the same room with her little Ah Chen, she suddenly shuddered.

 

“Zuo girl, you were inside while Jing Yue, who was outside, heard everything clearly. Did you really not hear Ah Chen crying?”

 

Zuo Xiuyan became upset when she heard this. She asked with visible displeasure: “Sui’er, what do you mean by that? Are you suspecting that I did something to Ah Chen? Why would I do that when I love him so much?”

 

Seeing her like this, the Old Madam quickly interrupted: “Xiuyan’s words also make sense. Besides, Xiuyan has always liked Ah Chen. She couldn’t have remained sitting if she had indeed heard him cry.”

 

With red eyes, Zuo Xiuyan looked at her gratefully: “Old Madam is right, you are also aware that Ah Chen likes me the most and I also like this child.”

 

As she spoke, she walked up to Gu Sui’er: “Poor Ah Chen, you actually fell off the bed. I really—”

 

Originally, she wanted to display how close she was to Ah Chen and how much he liked her.

 

Unexpectedly, she had barely even reached Gu Sui’er when little Ah Chen burst into a loud cry.

 

Terrified, Gu Sui’er hurriedly tried to coax him.

 

Looking at the tears streaming down his pink little face and his rather afraid and aggrieved expression, the Old Madam hurried over to help Gu Sui’er pat and coax the crying child. Then, she instructed the eldest Young Madam to go and summon an Imperial Physician.

 

By noon, after the Imperial Physician had finished examining little Ah Chen, said that there was not any major issue with his body and he might have just been frightened. Proper care would improve his state.

 

After more than half a day of commotion, Gu Sui’er had finally coaxed Ah Chen to sleep before the Old Madam got up to leave.

 

Walking out of the Tingzhu Courtyard, the Old Madam asked the eldest Young Madam, “What do you think of this matter?”

 

The latter analyzed: “Zuo Xiuyan wants to marry our Ah Heng, so she naturally doesn’t like Sui’er. Although she is afraid of the consequences, she does have the intention to create trouble for Sui’er. Sui’er is a simple-minded person, perhaps even now, she is thinking of ways to please Zuo Xiuyan. Most probably, today’s matter is the result of a dirty trick played by Zuo Xiuyan. But of course, there is also the possibility that Sui’er, under the urging of her subordinates and getting aware of the advantages, did this to keep Zuo Xiuyan in check.”

 

Old Madam: “Then which one do you think is more likely to have happened?”

 

The eldest Young Madam smiled: “A pure and kind person may get used by others, a calculating person may also concoct a plan to frame others so today’s matter can not be assessed for the time being. However, I believe that a few months old baby will not pretend.”

 

When Zuo Xiuyan tried to approach little Ah Chen, he looked very scared.

 

The Old Madam nodded slowly, “Yes.”

 

She originally thought that if Zuo Xiuyan could marry Ah Heng, it might not necessarily be a bad thing.

 

But now, it seems that such a petty and vicious woman must not enter Ah Heng’s backyard.

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