Chapter 96: The Luckiest Thing!

In another room of the City Lord's Manor.

On the table before Chen Delin were several plates of drinking snacks and two wine cups.

One wine cup was placed by his hand.

The other wine cup was placed across from him, beside a long blade with a chipped edge.

He filled the cup across from him, then poured the wine onto the ground.

"Old Marquis, today I heard some good news — Yu'an is actually a boy! Old Chen here is overjoyed, so I'm telling you too, to let you share in the happiness."

As he spoke, Chen Delin roughly wiped his face, his eye sockets flushed bright red.

"If A Song hadn't been trying to save me back then, he wouldn't have been injured on the battlefield, and as a result…"

"Although the Cheng Family never blamed me, all these years Old Chen has blamed himself — it hurts!"

As he spoke, he pounded heavily on his chest.

After a long while, he let out a long breath.

"Rest assured, even if it costs this old life, this Subordinate will protect the Old Madam and Yu'an, as well as the rest of the Cheng Family."

Having said that, he picked up his own wine cup, clinked it against the cup across from him, then tipped his head back and drained it in one gulp.

……

Elsewhere, Gu Shang brought Zhao Kuan to the Study.

The moment they stepped through the courtyard gate, they saw Chen Ying, who had been waiting at the door all along.

"Gu Shang, you two guard outside the courtyard. Don't let anyone get close to it."

Having said that, Chen Ying glanced at Zhao Kuan, turned, and entered the Study.

The distance was a bit far, and the two inside deliberately lowered their voices; on top of that, there were other guards nearby, so Gu Shang couldn't get close to listen.

So he had no idea what they were saying.

"Big Brother Gu, what do you think — in the dead of night like this, what urgent matter could Lord Chen have with Steward Zhao?"

A guard nearby sidled up to Gu Shang and whispered with him.

"A couple of days ago, Steward Zhao was called in for a scolding in the middle of the night too — no idea what he'd done wrong. When he came out of the Study, his legs were so weak he nearly ate dirt on the ground; if I hadn't given him a hand, he'd have taken a nosedive."

As he spoke, the guard covered his mouth and snickered.

"It's only been a few days, and he's already messed up again."

Gu Shang patted that man's shoulder.

"Alright, no matter what

it is, it's none of our business. I can see Lord Chen's been in a foul mood these past couple of days — we just need to do our own jobs properly and not give the lord more to worry about."

Having said that, he turned his head to glance toward the Study, his gaze turning deep.

Most likely it wasn't Zhao Kuan who'd done something wrong, but rather Chen Ying had an urgent matter to order him to handle.

Sure enough, in no time Zhao Kuan walked out of the Study with a face full of worry, his expression hurried as he quickly left the City Lord's Manor on foot.

One hand was carefully pressed to his chest, as though he were hiding something inside his clothes.

It happened to be the hour for changing the watch. Gu Shang made an excuse to separate from the fellow guard on night duty, changed into a set of Night Clothes, and quietly followed.

He had just reached Zhao Kuan's door when he saw him carrying a small Inventory on his back, first casting a cautious glance all around, then climbing onto a Horse Carriage.

Gu Shang followed the Horse Carriage all the way and saw it pass through the City Gate.

What is he going out of the city for?

Could it be to handle some business matter?

But this isn't the sort of thing one needs to hide — why all the sneaking around?

Gu Shang's instincts told him something was off.

But he had no Token on him and couldn't keep following, so he had to head home first.

In no time, a Carrier Pigeon flew out of the city.

……

Elsewhere, Cheng Chengxuan looked at the slip of paper in his hand, his brow tightly furrowed.

Sending someone out of the city in the dead of night wouldn't normally be anything unusual, but with Yi Jiang knowing Yu'an's identity, he couldn't help but start overthinking.

On top of that, on that day Shang Xiaomin and Chen Ying had arrived almost one right after the other.

If you told him they hadn't run into each other on the road, he wouldn't believe it!

Cheng Chengxuan rose and went to the window, and said a sentence toward the outside.

"Make a trip outside the city. If you spot a Horse Carriage coming out of Beihuang City, follow it and see where exactly it's headed."

The moment Cheng Chengxuan finished speaking, a black shadow flashed past.

If it hadn't stirred the dead leaves on the ground, it would have been as if he'd just been muttering to himself at empty air.

After closing the window again, Cheng Chengxuan called out toward the door.

"Cheng Feng!"

Hearing his voice, Cheng Feng pushed the door and came in, his gaze drifting — whether intentional or not — toward the window.

These past few days, several more people had appeared around the courtyard; the opponents' martial skills were on par with theirs, and might even be a notch above.

He had mentioned this to the Young General, but the Young General said not to bother with it.

"Young General, what are your orders?"

"Send word to Cheng Yao at once — have them keep an eye on the Sweater Shop in Muyuan Capital. If any steward shows up, watch where he goes at all times!"

"Yes!"

After doing all this, Cheng Chengxuan took out the Jade Pendant, hesitated for a few seconds, and finally set it down.

Although he very much wanted to discuss countermeasures with Big Brother, it was already far too late.

"Forget it, let's talk about it tomorrow."

……

Below An Luo's house.

The very first time he saw Yu'an appear by An Luo's side, Cheng Sitao had already bought the place below An Luo's home.

So that whenever Yu'an came over later, he could watch over and look after the little one at any time.

In the room, after coaxing Yu'an to sleep, he rose quietly.

Just as he was about to head out, a murmur suddenly sounded by his ear.

"Daddy, don't go."

He turned his head to look, and saw the little one sleeping very uneasily, tiny brows scrunched into a knot, little hands grabbing about in front of him.

"Alright, alright, alright, Daddy won't leave."

Seeing that anxious little face, a faint heat rose around Cheng Sitao's eyes, and his throat caught.

One hand holding Yu'an's little hand, the other gently stroking the little one's head, he comforted him in a soft voice.

Perhaps sensing the reassurance from a family member, the furrow between Yu'an's brows gradually eased; the big eyes beneath his lids rolled, and opened slightly.

It was his first night sleeping in an unfamiliar place, and in the instant Yu'an opened his eyes he was still a little dazed.

His little brain froze for quite a while, and only after seeing his own daddy did he come back to himself.

"Daddy?"

Cheng Sitao answered softly.

"Mm, Daddy's here."

Yu'an had just had a nightmare, and now couldn't fall back asleep, so he simply held onto his daddy's hand and spoke in a small voice.

From the villainous National Preceptor leading soldiers to search them, to the whole family being locked up in Prison.

"There were rats and bugs in the Prison."

Listening to the milky little voice by his ear, Cheng Sitao's nose stung.

"Yu'an must have been terrified, right?"

"Nope."

The little one proudly lifted his little chin.

"Little Aunt scared the rats away, so Yu'an wasn't scared anymore."

"It's just, just…"

Yu'an poked at his fingers, bashfully lowering his little head.

"When I was sleeping, a bug almost crawled into Yu'an's ear, and Yu'an cried."

The little one held up his thumb and forefinger, pinching them together to leave a gap as thin as a single strand of hair.

"But only for a little while!"

Cheng Sitao gathered the little one tightly into his arms, and in the place Yu'an couldn't see, blinked hard to dispel the mist in his eyes,.

"Mm, Yu'an's really brave."

Yu'an giggled, took a sip of the water Daddy handed over, and went on talking about the journey of exile.

"The sun was so big, the road was so hot, it was all gravel and bumps, Yu'an was tired and hot, and my little feet got blisters and blood from walking."

"But Yu'an walked on my own, and didn't let the Ancestors carry me the whole time!"

As he spoke, the little one's mood sank.

"The constables were so mean, they even hit Aunt and Grandmother, Great-grandmother fainted from exhaustion, and when we went to find medicine we ran into a Wild Boar, Yu'an ran and ran…"

Hearing this, Cheng Sitao clenched his fists tight, a surging hatred brewing in his eyes.

Whipped?

How dare those people—?!

"And then Yu'an met Fairy Sister!"

At this, the little one broke into a big smile.

Meeting Fairy Sister really was the greatest fortune of his life!