Chapter 184: The Aggrieved Little Munchkins
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
After spring, the sky gradually darkened, and the children became more and more happy.
Yu Wan planned to call Little Bruiser home for dinner after peeling the last few spring bamboo shoots in the basket. As she peeled them, a drop of cold water dripped onto the back of her hand. She was suddenly stunned and looked at it blankly for a long time, not understanding why she was staring at a drop of rain in a daze.
A few more drops of rain fell. Only then did Yu Wan come back to her senses. She quickly carried a basket of spring bamboo shoots into the kitchen. Just as she was about to cross the threshold, a spring bamboo shoot fell and smashed into the bucket.
Yu Wan held the dustpan in one hand and bent down to fish out the bamboo shoots from the bucket with the other. Unexpectedly, her body tilted too much when she scooped the bamboo shoots and the dustpan tilted. The bamboo shoots on it spilled all over the ground.
Yu Wan scrambled to pick it up. After picking up the bamboo shoots, she hurriedly went to collect the clothes that were hanging on the clothesline. After she finished collecting the last piece, the heavy rain fell!!!
Yu Wan stood at the entrance of the central room and looked at the rain outside with lingering fear. “Fortunately, I was fast!”
With that, Yu Wan frowned. Was it an illusion? She felt that this scene was somewhat familiar, as if she had experienced it before.
The raindrops landed on the glazed roof with a crisp sound. Yan Ruyu’s body moved and she suddenly sat up! She widened her eyes and looked at the familiar curtains and bed. For a moment, she did not know where she was.
“Lychee…” She called out hoarsely.
It was Cai Qin who responded. Cai Qin cut off a clean thin jacket, lifted the curtain, and asked Yan Ruyu softly, “Miss, you’re awake?”
Yan Ruyu’s gaze landed on Cai Qin’s face. She was in a daze for a long time before memories surged from the depths of her mind.
Lychee had broken her leg because of the princess’s horse. She had promoted Cai Qin to her personal maidservant. Last night, Young Master Yan had asked her to tour the lake. She had dressed up carefully and drank with Young Master Yan.
Wait, drinking?
Yan Ruyu’s heart sank. “Aren’t I on the pleasure boat? Why am I… back home?”
Cai Qin said, “Miss, you were drunk last night. Young Master originally planned to let you rest in the pleasure boat’s room, but the wind and rain made it unsafe. So he sent you back to the manor in a carriage.”
Yan Ruyu had indeed forgotten what had happened after drinking two glasses of wine. Her alcohol tolerance was not good to begin with, and last night, she could not resist Young Master Yan’s kindness and drank an extra glass… Now that she thought about it, she regretted it.
She boarded the boat alone without a maidservant by her side. She did not know if she had lost her composure or if she had said something she should not have.
“You said that the Young Master was the one who sent me to the carriage. He sent me home personally?” Yan Jiuchao hugged her?
Cai Qin shook her head. “It’s Steward Wan and a nanny from the Young Master Manor.”
Cai Qin did not find the nanny familiar. She had never seen her before, but the Young Master Manor was so big. It was impossible for her to see everyone. Cai Qin felt that this was nothing, so she did not specially pick it out to tell Yan Ruyu.
When Yan Ruyu heard from Cai Qin that it was the nanny of the Young Master Manor, she did not take it to heart. But why did she suddenly feel flustered?
In the study of the Young Master Manor, the sky was still dark.
Yan Jiuchao sat behind the desk with Shadow Six and Shadow Thirteen standing beside him like statues. In the empty space in front of him, an old and decent nanny was kneeling.
“I, Madam Kou, greet the Young Master.” Nanny Kou kowtowed.
On the ship, in order to avoid attention, Nanny Kou only treated herself as a nanny of the Young Master Manor and did not officially greet Yan Jiuchao.
Yan Jiuchao said indifferently, “There’s no need for formalities. Tell me the results of your examination.”
“Yes,” Nanny Kou said. “That girl had given birth before.”
This answer was expected. Of course, Yan Ruyu had given birth before. Otherwise, where did the three little young masters come from? Shadow Six and Shadow Thirteen did not quite understand the purpose of Young Master inviting the nanny for a physical examination. Since Young Master did not say, they did not dare to ask.
The study was not lit, and only faint candlelight came from the lantern under the porch.
Yan Jiuchao’s face was hidden in the dark, making it impossible to see his expression.
“I know this.” Yan Jiuchao’s voice was low and cold. “I’m asking how many times she gave birth?”
Shadow Thirteen and Shadow Six were stunned. This question was strange. What did he mean by how many times?
“Twice,” Nanny Kou said.
Shadow Thirteen and Shadow Six’s expressions became even stranger. If one child was counted as one time, then the three little young masters should be counted as three times. However, if one pregnancy was counted as one time, then there would only be once. Where did the two times come from?
Yan Jiuchao did not interrupt Nanny Kou and gestured for her to continue.
Nanny Kou was a very experienced midwife. In her early years, she had also been a doctor’s daughter. She was not interested in Nanny Hui’s way of seeing people with the naked eye. She paid more attention to physical examination, and she did not make any mistakes on the people she examined.
Nanny Kou said, “From the extent of that girl’s recovery, the first time she gave birth should be at least three years ago.”
After a woman gave birth, the birth canal, cervix, and abdominal muscles would be different from when she was a girl. Although the recovery varied from person to person, someone as powerful as Nanny Kou could still combine the person’s own condition and give a relatively accurate judgment.
Shadow Six and Shadow Thirteen frowned. That’s not right! The little young masters were born two years ago!
“The second birth was two years ago,” Nanny Kou continued.
Shadow Six and Shadow Thirteen looked at each other. The nanny’s words sounded scary. Could it be that Yan Ruyu had been with a man first before sleeping with their Young Master? The two of them suddenly began to sympathize with their Young Master. He had kept his virginity for so many years, but in the end, it was snatched away by a woman who was not a virgin.
Shadow Six decided that from this moment on, he no longer cared about the competition of private parts because his Young Master was too pitiful.
Yan Jiuchao knew that the two of them had misunderstood. After Nanny Kou left, he said coldly, “I have an illness, but it’s not to the extent that I can’t even tell this.”
The woman he was with that night was a virgin. He was sure of that.
Therefore, if Yan Ruyu had already given birth three years ago, then it could only be said that the woman he had been obsessed with for a night was not Yan Ruyu at all.
It was not that he was not shocked, but he was not too shocked. After all, he had more or less guessed this when he saw the two urns and the two longevity locks.
“How did you suspect this?” Shadow Thirteen asked.
“Two longevity locks are different,” Yan Jiuchao said.
Shadow Thirteen did not react, but Shadow Six was enlightened. The three little young masters were triplets, so their food and clothes were the same. If it was really something for the twins, then the two longevity locks should be the same style.
Shadow Six could not help but admire his Young Master. As expected of someone who had been a father before, he was even confident that he could score well in this kind of mentality. If it were him, how could he know that the two longevity locks looked different?
However, at that time, Young Master should not have completely suspected Yan Ruyu until Yan Ruyu gave herself away on the pleasure boat.
She tried her best to hide the fact that she had been to Gong City. It was hard not to suspect that she had done something shameful in Gong City. Coupled with the two children who had died young, all his deductions came naturally.
Shadow Six was ashamed. He had never been a father before, so he was not as sensitive as his Young Master in such matters. Fortunately, his Young Master was decisive. Otherwise, they would still be kept in the dark.
“That woman is too bold!” Shadow Thirteen said coldly.
Did she not know how to write the word “death” when she dared to pretend to be the little young masters’ mother?
Shadow Thirteen thought of something and said, “Wait, are the little young masters still your biological children?”
The rain was pouring, and the window was rustling. Yan Jiuchao moved the paperweight inkstone inadvertently, and the wind blew the paper on the desk throughout the room.
Shadow Thirteen and Shadow Six grabbed the pieces of paper that were flying around. When they looked up, they saw the three little young masters standing at the door in a daze.
The sky was still dark. At this time, they should be sleeping soundly. Why did they suddenly come to the study? They didn’t hear what they said just now, right? They were still young, so they wouldn’t understand, right?
Shadow Thirteen wished he could slap himself. Was he crazy? How could he say such a thing?
The three of them stood on the cold floor in thin pajamas and bare feet. The cold wind made them shiver. Their eyes were wide open, and there was a trace of uneasiness in them.
“Come here,” Yan Jiuchao said.
The three of them crossed the threshold with their short legs and walked around the desk to Yan Jiuchao. They raised their heads and looked at him pitifully.
Yan Jiuchao stroked their little faces. “Did you have a nightmare?”
The three of them lowered their heads.
Yan Jiuchao had long discovered that they would have nightmares as long as there was heavy rain. However, this aggrieved and uneasy look seemed to be not only because of nightmares.
Yan Jiuchao raised their heads again and saw that their eyes were red and tears were rolling in them.
Yan Jiuchao gasped in heartache. “Shadow Thirteen.”
“Got it. I’ll punish myself with a hundred strokes.” Shadow Thirteen silently went to the courtyard to receive his punishment.
Yan Jiuchao carried the three teary little fellows onto his lap. They usually looked like brats, but were their hearts actually so sensitive and fragile? Did they take Shadow Thirteen’s words seriously?
The three of them wiped their tears with their small hands. They did not want to become wild children without a father.