Chapter 185: Sulking

The fourteen-year-old girl’s skin was tender; this slap came so suddenly that the shock overwhelmed the stinging pain.

"Sister, why did you hit me?"

"Why did I hit you?" Princess Yi'an raised an eyebrow high. Her face was clearly delicate and beautiful, but at this moment, it showed a sharp edge. "If you hadn't thrown a drunken tantrum and insisted on talking to me that day, how would I have gone to the rockery? That much is one thing, but you were so dawdling that you caused Princess Lingque to have her head hit by a stone. Do you have any idea how much trouble this has caused me..."

Listening to Princess Yi'an's endless scolding, Kou Wan's heart grew colder and colder until she finally couldn't help but ask, "Does Sister mean you would rather it had been me hit by the stone?"

Princess Yi'an was incensed by Kou Wan's questioning tone. Without thinking, she snapped, "What do you mean 'I would rather'? It should have been you from the start!"

"But Sister, you were the one who called Princess Lingque over—"

"Kou Wan!" Having her truth exposed, Princess Yi'an flew into a rage. "You've even learned how to talk back, have you?"

Looking at her hand, which was poised to strike again, Kou Wan suddenly didn't want to say anything at all.

"Stop looking for trouble for me in the future." Having finished her lecture, Princess Yi'an turned and left.

With a loud *bang* of the door slamming shut, Kou Wan collapsed onto the bed and began to sob.

Kou Wan did not show her face when Princess Yi'an left the Marquis of Weiwu's manor. Dissatisfied, Mother Kou ordered a maid to call Kou Wan.

"Mother is looking for me," Kou Wan said with a wooden expression after entering the room.

Seeing her like this, Mother Kou couldn't help but frown. "Your sister has returned to the palace; why didn't you even show your face?"

"I'm not feeling well." Kou Wan lowered her eyes, her heart filled with desolation.

She knew that as long as she showed even the slightest negligence toward her sister, it would all be her fault.

Mother Kou's voice rose slightly. "Not feeling well? You were out shopping this morning; now that your sister is back, you're suddenly unwell?"

"Yes, I'm unwell because she's back!" Kou Wan cried out.

Mother Kou was infuriated by these words. "I told you long ago, your sister's ability to enter the palace to accompany the Empress Dowager is her destined fortune. As a younger sister, instead of being happy for her, you have all these petty schemes. Is this how I taught you?"

"What did Mother teach me?" Kou Wan lifted her face, one cheek still showing the imprint of a hand. "To be submissive to her? To be her sister, yet act like a little maid? Mother always says her being in the palace to accompany the Empress Dowager brings endless benefits to the family, but what benefits has she actually brought? Even if she didn't enter the palace, the Marquis of Weiwu's manor would still be the Empress Dowager's maiden home. Now that she's in the palace, she is the only one enjoying the benefits of being a princess. I think Mother is the one who is muddled—"

With a *slap*, a palm landed on Kou Wan's face.

Familiar pain accompanied a wave of dizziness. Kou Wan clutched her face and retreated step by step, then turned and ran quickly before Mother Kou could open her mouth to speak.

"This brat!" Mother Kou slammed the table in anger, but she didn't take it to heart.

In her view, her younger daughter was just acting out with a child's temperament and needed discipline.

However, Kou Wan did not return to her room; she ran crying all the way out through the Flower Gate.

Seeing her tear-stained face, the guard at the corner gate asked, "Second Young Lady, where are you going?"

Kou Wan ignored him and ran straight out through the gate.

"Second Young Lady, Second Young Lady—" The guard hadn't expected Kou Wan to dash out so directly; in a flash, she was gone. Realizing something was wrong, he hurried to send word inside.

Receiving the message, the head maid quickly reported to Mother Kou, "Madam, the Second Young Lady has left the manor."

Mother Kou grew even angrier.

Running out just because of a few words—how willful!

It was inappropriate for a noble lady of a great house to run out crying, so Mother Kou hurriedly ordered the servants to go out and search for her.

The Marquis of Weiwu's manor was located in a prosperous area with people coming and going. The manor's people split into two teams to search for Kou Wan, which felt much like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Meanwhile, a beggar ran through several streets and arrived in front of a private residence, knocking loudly on the door.

"Is Young Master A-Xing in? I've discovered something."

Hearing this, the gatekeeper let the beggar in.

In the side hall, A-Xing asked the beggar, "What is it?"

"While I was resting against a corner, I accidentally saw a little girl crying. Out of curiosity, I took a few more looks, and I didn't expect that the little girl would be muffled and dragged away..."

A-Xing listened quietly until the beggar finished, his face showing little emotion. "How many people dragged her away? Did you see where they dragged her?"

"A man and a woman, two people. I followed them quietly and saw them take the little girl into a private residence... Oh, right, Young Master A-Xing, that little girl should be a daughter from the Marquis of Weiwu's manor."

His begging territory was near the Marquis of Weiwu's manor, and he had seen that little girl emerge from the manor with her maids several times.

"The Marquis of Weiwu's manor?" A-Xing's indifferent expression finally changed.

There were far too many unfortunate people in the world to be able to look after them all. Telling the patrolling officers about a kidnapper's hideout was already doing more than one's duty. But upon learning the girl was from the Marquis of Weiwu's manor, A-Xing changed his mind.

He didn't understand the relationships between these high-ranking families; he only knew that a daughter of the Marquis of Weiwu's manor should be in the same social circle as A-Hao, and perhaps they were even friends. For that, he would have to ask A-Hao's opinion.

He pulled a few copper coins from his pouch and handed them to the beggar as thanks for the information, then called a youth from the courtyard to follow the beggar and confirm the kidnappers' hideout. Then, he hurried back to the General's Manor.

Receiving the answer from the gatekeeper that "the Second Young Lady has not left the house," A-Xing went straight to Luoying Residence.

Lin Hao was idle, using a comb to absentmindedly brush Lin Xiaohua's fur. Lin Xiaohua looked as if she were enjoying it, gnawing on a carrot with a wide grin.

A-Xing's gaze drifted toward Lin Xiaohua before he walked toward Lin Hao.

Every time he saw Lin Xiaohua, he felt she was a very lucky donkey; she was far too good at being reincarnated.

"I just got some news from a beggar," A-Xing said, sitting down beside Lin Hao and getting straight to the point.

Managing the various affairs of the Lin residence's beggar shelter and dealing with all sorts of beggars looking to take advantage, A-Xing had grown quite a bit over the past winter. Gathering information by giving small benefits to those beggars who frequented the streets was something A-Xing had thought of; he had even used some of the filtered information to earn silver, ensuring his "silly sister" wouldn't fall into deficit.

"What news?"

"Are you friends with the lady from the Marquis of Weiwu's manor?" A-Xing asked first.

Lin Hao told the truth. "No."

She still remembered that girl rolling her eyes at her. Although the girl had appreciated her warning later, they couldn't be considered friends.

"Then it's nothing." A-Xing relaxed, patted Lin Xiaohua, and prepared to leave.

Lin Hao pulled him back. "How can you leave halfway through? What is it, exactly?"

"A beggar saw a daughter of the Marquis of Weiwu's manor fall into the hands of kidnappers..." A-Xing explained the situation. "Since you aren't close, don't bother. I'll arrange for a beggar to tell the patrolling constables."