Chapter 57 - Hidden a.s.sa.s.sin
In the blink of an eye, seven days have pa.s.sed since An Zi Ran returned to An Yuan County.
Generally, after the bride returned to visit her parental home, it was time to go back to the husband"s house, but no one raised any questions about this issue, including Fu Wu Tian. Steward Su was too happy to say anything. He"d much prefer the young master to stay at the An family house.
Of course, there were some people who couldn"t wait for An Zi Ran to leave.
There were still five more days till May.
In other words, Fang Jun Ping and them would have to continue spending their own private money for another five days.
Those four rarely appeared at the family dining table.
When Zheng Bi stepped through the door, she shouted at the servants standing on the side with a high and mighty voice, "You people go and bring me a table here. Today, I, along with Concubine Fang, and the two young misses are going to eat here."
After the table was moved in, they sent people outside to go buy food. Then they had the food placed on the table one plate at a time. Because it took some time to gather the food, it was no longer hot by the time it arrived. But the dishes still looked very exquisite. One of the dishes was the signature roast duck of An Yuan County. There was a layer of honey brushed along the outside of the duck, which was said to be very delicious, but the price was on the expensive side, so very few farmers could afford to eat it.
The women"s dining table was placed directly opposite An Zi Ran.
At a glance, the dishes on his table were comparably shoddy.
An Zi Ran never paid any special attention to food, but he also didn"t abstain from eating certain foods. Today he felt like eating lighter dishes, so the food cooked by Chef w.a.n.g were not greasy.
Zheng Bi wanted this precise effect, and immediately smiled with smugness. "Zi Ran, ah. Why are you eating so plainly today? Is it that An family has nothing good to eat? Do you need your third mother to share some food with you?"
"Mother, what are you saying? His body is so precious, he should be having plain tea and simple foods." An Ke Xin said with a sneer.
"Oh my, blame this Yulin* head of mine, I almost forgot this." Zheng Bi quickly patted her head. Then she smiled at An Zi Ran and said, "Zi Ran, ah, Third Mother will stop asking you to eat (my food) then. If you eat it and your body becomes upset, then Third Mother will become a sinner. Third Mother can"t afford to bear the responsibility of such a sin."
[*T/N: The dictionary says this is the Yulin prefecture level city in Shaanxi, so my guess is that Zheng Bi is from there. Probably.]
Fu Wu Tian said to An Zi Ran, "Are they always so noisy?"
Without a change in expression, An Zi Ran picked up a piece of green vegetable. After eating it, he replied, "You get used to it."
This was not the first time he has had to dine with them. In the days when he first came (to this world), they were noisier than crows. At that time, there was also a w.a.n.g Qing Lan. Their there mouths were like a thousand ducks quacking in his ear.
Fu Wu Tian"s eyes revealed a hint of a smile. "It"s been hard on you."
An Zi Ran nodded. "It was quite hard."
Sitting opposite them, w.a.n.g Qing Lan"s expression stiffened. She knew that Zheng Bi and them were preparing to come out to eat, so that"s why she came out to eat with them today. The purpose was naturally to watch the show, but she didn"t expect that the show has just started and she was already implicated with them through a casual insinuation, and she could not say anything about it.
w.a.n.g Qing Lan changed the topic and said, "Zi Ran, actually Fourth Mother always wanted to ask, why didn"t Zi Ming come back with you? He is only five months old. Is it all right to hand him over to strangers to care for? If anything happened to him, we would be too far away to help. Why don’t we have him come back to us?"
An Zi Ran raised his head and gave her a look.
A flash of discomfort flickered across w.a.n.g Qing Lan"s face. She always felt that his eyes seemed to hide a hidden implication. Just when she wanted to say something to ease this feeling, An Zi Ran leisurely moved his gaze away.
"There"s no need. If we bring him back, I will feel even less at ease."
w.a.n.g Qing Lan did not hear the implication in his words, and she subconsciously said, "What is there to worry about? If you don"t have time, Fourth Mother can help out." This last sentence was her true motive.
A baby was like a piece of white paper. Keeping him by her side would allow her to easily influence his thoughts. If Zi Ming were to be placed under her care, then she would have an ace up her sleeve. An Zi Ran have already been married, so the An family would definitely be inherited by An Zi Ming in the future.
Her words also shook Fang Jun Ping and Zheng Bi"s hearts.
What w.a.n.g Qing Lan was planning, anyone with a brain could guess.
But was it so simple? They didn"t think that An Zi Ran would give An Zi Ming to her to take care of. Forget the fact that An Zi Ming was a boy; even if it was a girl it would be impossible. w.a.n.g Qing Lan"s thoughts were undoubtedly idiotic.
An Zi Ran"s indifferent gaze swept across the faces of the three people and immediately said, "No need. I don"t want to see my brother fall into the snow in the future and almost die while clinging to life by a thread."
[T/N: He is referencing to how the original An Zi Ran died.]
The expressions of the three people froze, especially w.a.n.g Qing Lan.
Out of humiliation, w.a.n.g Qing Lan flew into a rage. Her pretty eyes widened into saucers and she said, "What kind of words are these? Can it be that I would harm Zi Ming? I can"t harm a human life, not to mention that of a baby"s. Since you are unwilling then I have nothing to say. This meal, you guys eat it yourselves." Finished talking, she got up with a huff and left.
Once she left, the other four calmed down.
Zheng Bi, who was originally irritated by his words, unexpectedly no longer shouted loudly and challenged An Zi Ran. She became as silent as Fang Jun Ping, who hadn"t opened her mouth from beginning to end.
An Zi Ran and Fu Wu Tian were pretty fast eaters. They soon finished their meal and left the room together, side-by-side.
When they were far away enough from the dining hall, Fu Wu Tian said some words that held a deeper meaning.
"w.a.n.g fei, have you found the answer you want?"
An Zi Ran was slightly surprised, but he quickly understood. As expected, he couldn"t hide anything from this man. Asides from that secret, he feared that there was nothing else that Fu Wu Tian did not know. He simply replied, "At present, I cannot find any flaws. It is impossible to determine who it is."
This was beyond his expectation. The opponent was too good at concealment. It seemed that once he became aware, the other party got scared and retreated into their tortoise sh.e.l.l. It"s not like he hadn"t investigated. After the incident, he interrogated all the servants that had contact with An Zi Ran on that day. But no one was clear about the situation at that time, and none of them lied. Then, he changed the direction of the investigation and started to look at the concubines and young misses. As a result, he found that each of them was suspicious.
Fu Wu Tian said, "Do you need this prince to help?"
An Zi Ran looked straight forward with a chilly gaze, "No need. I will personally find this murderer hidden in the dark." No matter how deeply they hide in the shadows, there will come a day when they expose themselves, as long as they"re still trying to attempt something with the An family. But perhaps they could really consider bring the little bun back.
"w.a.n.g fei." Fu Wu Tian suddenly stopped walking.
An Zi Ran also came to halt. "What?"
Fu Wu Tian suddenly smiled. The handsome face revealed a clear smile for the first time. It was so bright that it made people feel like they couldn"t open their eyes. Even An Zi Ran"s spirit was slightly stunned. Fu Wu Tian spoke into An Zi Ran"s ear. "w.a.n.g fei, this prince seems to have no use at all. Next time feign a little weakness and lean on this prince"s shoulder, would you?"
The corner of An Zi Ran"s mouth quirked up softly. He decided to ignore the man. He didn"t need his shoulder, but he needed the person. Not now, but when he really needed the help, he certainly wouldn"t be polite with him.
"Follow me."
An Zi Ran suddenly grabbed his hand and hurried to his room.
Fu Wu Tian looked down at their joined hands. He noticed that they were not going towards the study. In broad daylight, they were going to the bedroom and not the study? His expression suddenly became meaningful. "w.a.n.g fei, where do you want to take this prince?"
An Zi Ran looked back at him with a suspicious look. Why did he feel like his voice suddenly held a hint of excitement? But he didn"t think much of it and just said, "Didn"t you say you were feeling useless? I will use you right now."
After hearing those words, a look of subtle expectation crossed Fu Wu Tian"s face.
An Zi Ran"s heart was a little uncertain.
He always had this feeling like he didn"t know what Fu Wu Tian was imagining in his head.
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