Chapter 640

The woman's face darkened, and she snatched the child from her arms in one swift motion.

Tuan Tuan widened her eyes, "How could you snatch someone else's child!"

"My son!" the woman lunged forward to take him back, but the lady sidestepped and blocked her, causing her to stumble and fall sitting on the edge of the bed.

The child cried even harder, his little face flushed red, and his tiny hands flailed in the air.

The lady held the child and turned to leave.

The woman slumped on the bed, her shoulders shaking with sobs.

She dared not cry out loud, so she muffled her sobs into the bedding.

Tuan Tuan clenched her small hands tightly, lowered her head, and thought, "This auntie is so pitiful."

Huh, what's that?

Oh, it's the little dudou that the auntie just took off the little brother.

It had fallen to the floor at some point, been kicked under the bed, and a small corner was showing.

Tuan Tuan's eyes lit up: "It fell on the ground and no one picked it up—it's unwanted stuff!"

She squatted down, picked up the dudou, and unfolded it to look.

It's exactly the same as the one the little brother was wearing earlier!

It too had a moon-white base, embroidered with winding-branch patterns, and a red-thread embroidered "An" character.

Wow, it's really beautiful!

The more she looked, the more she liked it; she folded it neatly with satisfaction, untied the small embroidered pouch at her waist, and slipped it inside.

She glanced at the woman, who was still sobbing on the bed, the bedding soaked through in a large patch by her tears.

Tuan Tuan thought for a moment, then said, "Auntie, you just want to go back to Zhou Jing'an's home, don't you?"

"Don't worry, I'll help you! Just wait a few more days for me!"

Tuan Tuan walked out of the Listening-to-Rain Pavilion, strolled reluctantly around her own home, and opened her eyes.

Xiao Ningyuan's smiling face appeared before her: "Come on, get up, little pig! Breakfast is already on the table."

"I've been calling you for ages—how can you sleep so deeply?"

"You must be tired from running—come on, get up, eat your fill, and big brother will play with you!"

Tuan Tuan looked at her brother, blinked, and everything from her dream was crystal clear, as if it had just happened.

Xiao Feifei nudged her from side to side; she turned her head to look.

All she saw was its little nose pressed against the embroidered pouch on the bedside table, sniffing nonstop.

Right! That little brother's dudou—is it still there?

She sprang up suddenly, giving Xiao Ningyuan a fright: "You don't have to rush that much!"

Tuan Tuan didn't answer; she opened the embroidered pouch, reached in with her small hand, and pulled out the dudou.

Xiao Ningyuan stared, mouth agape: "Tuan Tuan, does your mother still make you wear this? The size is wrong too—it's far too small."

"It's not mine!" Tuan Tuan unfolded the dudou, pointed at the "An" character on it, and said, "It belongs to Zhou Jing'an's son!"

Xiao Er also looked bewildered: "Whose son?"

"Zhou Jing'an!" Tuan Tuan chattered on, recounting her dream from last night in full.

Thinking of the woman and child's situation, Tuan Tuan's nose soured: "That auntie is so pitiful, big brother!"

"That big bad guy won't let her see her own child—should we help her?"

"Hold on," Feng Zhou said, still sorting it out, "Little Alliance Chief, you mean the concubine Zhou Jing'an redeemed from the brothel and their two children are in the hands of the Prince of Qing?"

Tuan Tuan nodded: "Exactly! It's them!"

Everyone listening was dumbfounded: "What does this have to do with anything!"

Eunuch Cheng walked over and called out to them: "Little Princess, are you awake? Are you hungry?"

He glanced at the few of them, found it strange: "You guys, why are you all standing here? It's time for breakfast."

Tuan Tuan zoomed into her little clothes, jumped off the bed, and ran to Eunuch Cheng: "Grandpa, I'm here!"

Xiao Feifei followed her and rolled out as well.

Only then did everyone come to their senses, and Xiao Ningyuan said: "Let's go, we'll eat while we talk."

At the table, Xiao Er recalled: "According to Zhou Jing'an, when the Prince of Chen and the Prince of Qing occupied Jingcheng, it was they, father and son, who ordered the city gates to be opened."

"The Prince of Qing promised them that, after success, he would ennoble the Marquis of Jinghai as a Duke of the State and grant them the right to collect the Jiangnan Region's salt tax."

Xiao Ningyuan snorted: "Their appetite is indeed huge! Not only do they want to rank among the Three Dukes, they also want to be the richest under heaven."

Chu Yuan added a bowl of porridge for Tuan Tuan: "But now, Marquis Zhou Jinhua is still just the Marquis of Jinghai, not yet made a duke. We just don't know whether the salt tax collection rights have already been given to him."

Xiao Ningyuan shook his head: "No way—the Jiangnan Region is the richest land, and the salt tax is of paramount importance to the Imperial Court."

"They even exempted Jiangnan Region from thirty percent of taxes to win the people's hearts in their contest with His Majesty, so they certainly wouldn't hand over the salt tax to outsiders."

"The two armies have been standoff for so long, and they don't know when His Majesty will delay before launching an attack on the city."

"They don't have the previous dynasty's treasure to fund their military expenses."

Xiao Er put it bluntly: "So, their promise to Zhou Jinhua has still not been fulfilled?"

"Exactly!" Xiao Ningyuan's eyes grew brighter and brighter: "Zhou Jing'an is Zhou Jinhua's late-born only son, treasured beyond measure."

"Now his son is gone, and this grandson, though born of a brothel woman, is to him the ultimate treasure in the world."

"I guess he would even give up the dukedom, and possibly abandon his marquis title, just to retrieve his grandson."

Feng Zhou understood: "The eldest son's meaning is to tell Zhou Jinhua the news of this mother and child?"

Tuan Tuan hurriedly said: "Good! That auntie misses Zhou Jing'an! She really wants to return to his home."

Xiao Ningyuan picked up a piece of pastry and placed it on his sister's small plate: "Tuan Tuan, would you give that dudou to big brother?"

"That could serve as proof of where the mother and child are."

"Uh‑uh! Big brother, you can take it!"

"I hope that aunt can take the child to the place she wants to go to soon."

"Don't be with that big bad guy."

"So good!" Xiao Ningyuan again picked up a piece of meat and handed it to Xiao Feifei.

Xiao Feifei obediently carried it to a side spot and ate it, fragrant.

After the meal, Xiao Ningyuan, holding a brush in his left hand, wrote a secret letter, and placed the little bellyband that Tuan Tuan had picked up together with the letter into a bundle and tied it up.

He handed the bundle to Xiao Er: "Tonight, place this bundle in Zhou Jinhua's bedroom."

"Got it!"

Xiao Er took it, smiled, and said, "Now there's a good show to watch. I wonder what this Marquis Jinghai will do for his grandson."

At noon the next day, Zhou Jinhua arrived at the gate of the Ning Prince's Mansion with a generous gift and got out of the carriage: "Go knock on the door and say that the Marquis Jinghai wishes to see His Highness Qing Wang."