"Qian, slow down! Where do you live? I'll get someone to send you home!" Jiang Ning said.
"I live nearby, so there's no need. I'll come to visit Auntie some other time!" He said happily. He was about to leave before it seemed like he remembered something. "Auntie, remember to make me something good!"
Then little Qian waved his hand and ran off.
Jiang Ning asked Dong Xie to follow the little boy to the gate in case the servants and guards of the Jiang residence made things difficult for him again.
The maidservants bowed before following her orders.
"It's getting late. Is the Young Lady still planning to go to Madam's place?" Chun Lai asked.
"Yes, let's go."
When she recalled Lin Zizi's face, she could confirm this body's original owner's birth mother. It saddened her heart to see what became of the beautiful woman. She couldn't imagine the emotional suffering the older woman had to go through. Jiang Ning promised herself that she would work together with Jiang Ruobai to help Lin Zizi recover.
"But Young Lady, you're not feeling well. What about the physician?" Chun Lai asked.
"Tomorrow," Jiang Ning said, looking up at the darkening sky.
When she returned to the purple bamboo garden, Jiang Ruobai happened to be back as well. Seeing the silver banknotes in her hand, he couldn't help but ask in surprise, "Xiao Qi, just as I returned, I heard that our family's youngest lady's handwriting is worth a thousand pieces of silver. Is it true?"
"Gossip sure travels fast here," Jiang Ning muttered to herself. The younger girl then raised the banknotes for Jiang Ruobai to see. "It's a fake. You shouldn't have believed what people say so easily."
"Fake? What happened?"
"Daddy's concubine used her power to bully people. My little friend couldn't stand it. It made me so angry. Help me vent my anger."
"You mean Concubine Hua? What did she do?"
"She didn't allow me to withdraw this month's allowance in advance."
"..." Fury stormed inside Jiang Ruobai's heart. How could he not be angry when he thought of the youngest daughter he had painstakingly found being bullied by a concubine?
However, his face remained as warm as the spring breeze. He reached out to take the silver notes and said with a smile, "Which little friend of yours can get a fake banknote? Let Father take a look."
"Qian, Old Li's grandson," Jiang Ning handed the notes to him.
Jiang Ruobai's hand stiffened, his fingers clutched tightly onto the silver notes at his daughter's blase answer. "Little, little Qian…?"
"Yup,"
"... This silver note should be real."
'No way. Could the eldest Imperial grandson bring fake silver notes to trick people?'
"Even you were fooled," Jiang Ning laughed. "Concubine Hua and Fifth Lady didn't realize this was a fake."
Jiang Ruobai coughed lightly at the accusation. But he couldn't really blame his youngest daughter for not knowing. He shouldn't keep her in the dark about this any longer. Jiang Ruobai inhaled deeply from his nose. "Xiao Qi," He began slowly, "Do you know who your father is?"
"An official,"
"Yes, I am the Minister of Revenue, in charge of the land's money and grain accounts. Others call me His Majesty's head butler." Jiang Ruobai continued, "Do you think someone like me would mistake the authenticity of these silver notes?"
Jiang Ning's eyes widened at that.
"So you mean to say… This is actually real?" She took the notes back and scrutinized the paper.
"It can't be more real." Her daddy confirmed.
"How is that possible? Old Li is so poor... How could his grandson take out a thousand silver notes?"Jiang Ning was stunned. "Is Old Li secretly a rich man?"
Jiang Ruobai did not say anything.
"If he's really that rich, why did he come to my place almost every day to freeload my food?"
"..." Jiang Ruobai's lips twitched.
'Freeloading? Didn't he give you money for your meal?'
His daughter was really something...
He started to see stars from the lightheadedness.
"Poor little Qian," Jiang Ning said as she clenched the bank notes in her hand, "He didn't even get to have a meal when he came to look for me. Not only did he lose a bank note to help me, but he was also tied up."
"What?" The lightheadedness suddenly disappeared for a moment. "What did you say?"
"Little Qian didn't even get to have a meal–"
"The last sentence!"
"Little Qian came to find me, but Concubine Hua tied him up before he could see me. If I hadn't arrived in time, your unruly concubine would have committed a crime in this house!"
Jiang Ruobai's face turned pale, and his hands began to tremble.
'Concubine Hua, that hopeless fool!'
'Did she dare kidnap the eldest Imperial Grandson and tie the boy in this manor?'
The eldest Imperial Grandson was the Emperor's favorite grandchild and had always been raised by his side.
Such a precious baby was actually treated worse than a slave by his own concubine!
If the young boy went back and casually complained to the Emperor about this matter… The Jiang family would be in serious trouble.