Chapter 45

Rong Juan pointed at the Yan Duke Prefecture: "This family is it!"

The guard: "..."

The guard looked back, pondering which illegitimate child in the manor might be related to this kid, thought it over and found no match, then looked back again, only to see the child searching, taking a small stool from a storage bag and placing it by the gate.

The child sat down, curiously watching the passersby on the road.

"Does young master know anyone in our manor?" The guard, seeing the child's attire, dared not look down on him.

Rong Juan sat obediently: "He He Shizi."

"Our young master has gone to court," the guard said. "Which manor are you from? I'll send you back. It's raining, and the temperature might drop with snow; don't freeze."

"No one wants me," Rong Juan sighed.

The guard was stunned, dumbfounded, as a servant boy came over to ask what was happening.

After the guard explained, the servant boy went to question the child, who said: "I am an unwanted little pitiful one."

The servant boy was at a loss. Rong Juan summoned auspicious clouds, took out some melon seeds, and sat eating them outside the Yan Duke Prefecture. Seeing the auspicious clouds, the servant boy immediately entered the manor to report to the Yan Duke's wife.

The Yan Duke's wife had long given up hope of holding a grandson and felt indifferent toward children. She waved her hand: "No need to bother."

Whose child is this? They will come looking later.

In the carriage, Rong Juan's expression grew increasingly unpleasant. As light snow began to fall and the wind turned biting, Rong Juan worried the child would freeze. Qin Bi was speechless; if He Yan felt heartache, let Rong Juan feel it first.

Who knows who they are quarreling with? In Qin Bi's view, whatever the Yan Duke Prefecture possesses, He Yan can give to whomever he pleases. Rong Juan need not snatch things for Rong Juan; let He Yan raise Qin He's whole family!

The small hand warmer had cooled down, and the child ran back.

Rong Juan quickly lifted the child into the carriage: "Are you cold?"

Qin Bi touched the child's hand. Rong Juan said: "Not cold. The hand warmer isn't warm anymore."

Guard Yan quickly replenished the charcoal. Rong Juan said: "Let's go home."

"No," Rong Juan said. "This family hasn't seen me yet."

This family dotes on that lucky treasure. Rong Juan just wanted to wander around this house. He is the child they long for but cannot have. He will just wander around, not following them. Rong Juan had his own little plan.

Rong Juan followed Rong Juan's lead. Qin Bi gave him a small hand warmer. No matter how they thought about it, they were all a family of villains.

If Qin He and her child hadn't arranged for them to be a contrast, Rong Juan would have run off to be the contrast himself. Surely, the more Qin He's child is doted on, the more pitiful he is.

Rong Juan felt this way himself, but Qin Bi did not.

The child ate a piece of pastry, drank some water, and went back again.

The Yan Duke Prefecture guard: "..."

He Yan returned from court, stepped out of the carriage, and saw a familiar little bun at his manor gate. Approaching, he realized it was indeed the young heir of the Rong Wang Fu who attended court daily.

"Rong Juan," He Yan lowered his gaze and asked, "Why have you come to my manor?"

"This is my home," the child said, looking up and pointing at the Yan Duke Prefecture.

Heh. He Yan raised an eyebrow: "You really are not polite."

"Your father holds you in his palms, afraid you'll melt," He Yan said coolly to the child, glancing at the sky. "It looks like rain and snow. Go home quickly so you don't freeze."

The child stood up, looked at He Yan, and said: "You gave many things to the lucky treasure."

"Just as your father dotes on you, the lucky treasure is a child I have watched grow up since infancy." He Yan looked down at the child, a flicker of complexity passing through his eyes. "You have many heavenly treasures and earthly herbs; the lucky treasure should have them too."

Rong Juan said: "But you didn't give any to me!"

He Yan was speechless, paused, and said: "Go back."

"I won't leave," Rong Juan said, sitting back on the small stool.

The child was too small, not even half a year old. He Yan was at a loss.

But this was Qin Bi's child. Just for that reason, He Yan did not wish to say much more.

However, both Rong Juan and He Yan were powerful heirs of the Great Yan Empire serving in the court; they could not simply ignore the child. He Yan wanted to send the little one home, but the child refused to leave. The little bun was not bored, eating peeled melon seeds.

"I am an unwanted little pitiful one," Rong Juan told He Yan.

He Yan: "..."

The melon seeds were all peeled. His luck value was already maxed out.

"You also gave the lucky treasure a field," Rong Juan continued to accuse.

He Yan's eyebrows twitched. These were his things; he could give them to whomever he pleased. Did such a small child have any right to meddle? But the child wouldn't leave, sitting on a small stool eating peeled seeds and muttering on.

He Yan gave in, pulling out a land deed for the child: "Here is fifty mu of fertile land. Go home quickly."

Hearing this, the child's black, round eyes immediately lit up. He jumped down from the small stool, stretched out his tiny hands to take the deed, and practically buried his small head over it, recognizing the characters one by one.

He Yan's patience was exhausted. The child looked up: "You gave the lucky treasure one hundred mu of fertile land. This is second-class land."

He Yan fell silent, staring at the child: "On what grounds should I give you one hundred mu? Go ask your father."

"Father," Rong Juan called He Yan.

He Yan was struck as if by lightning. The child's milky voice made him dizzy. He Yan, who usually never changed expression, suddenly changed color, staring at the child for a long moment without moving. The servant boy was too terrified to make a sound.

"Your father is Rong Juan," He Yan said, sounding somewhat weary.

Rong Juan looked up at He Yan, whose face had not yet recovered. He waited a long time, but received no hundred mu of fertile land, only fifty. Fifty mu he would take. Rong Juan put away the small stool and wobbled away.

Sigh. He was just a little pitiful one. That lucky treasure got one hundred mu, then another fifty, all fertile land. This father also loves children, yet only gave him fifty mu of second-class land.

No, he would come again next time and empty the Yan Duke Prefecture.

Back in the carriage, Rong Juan held Rong Juan. Rong Juan took out the land deed like a treasure: "Fifty mu, Father, for you."

"This is yours," Rong Juan said. "Keep it yourself."

Rong Juan looked at Qin Bi: "Mother."

"It's for you. Put it in your little treasury," Qin Bi smiled.

Rong Juan put it away. His father gave it; why not take it?

Rong Juan narrowed his eyes, thinking the same. Since Rong Juan called him father, if He Yan failed to recognize it, that was no one else's fault. Let He Yan give his things to Qin He's children. Let him see how he handles it when he finds out he has a child.

Rong Yang went to He Yan's presence today just to show himself, letting He Yan know such a son existed. He Yan failed to recognize him; Rong Yang, being small, did not mind, and Rong Juan cared even less.

Upon returning to the Rong Wang Fu, the Rong Wang was already waiting.

Qin Bi carried the child back to the courtyard. The Rong Wang sat in a chair and said, "Why did you take the child to the Yan Guogong Prefecture? Do you not know the Yan Guogong Prefecture longs for a child so much that they treat other people's children as treasures?"

"Rest assured," Rong Juan said. "He Yan does not value our Rong Yang."

The Rong Wang nodded and sighed, "Back then, if you had not married Qin Di's concubine-born daughter, you would have no child. Though her birth was somewhat low, she is far superior to Qin He."

As he spoke these words, the Rong Wang felt somewhat guilty; both Rong Juan and He Yan possessed fates that doomed them to lose their wives and remain childless.