Chapter 10 Bamboo Horse

  Nan Yueping didn't know what was going on and listened in confusion, "Elder sister and second sister are naturally clever and inherited the Nan Yue bloodline, what does it have to do with the Wu family?"

  "Oh, Ping'er, your innate talent is revealed?" Wu Mei said calmly.

  Nan Yueping's face turned red, "I'm only sixteen."

  Wu Mei smiled warmly, "Silly girl, didn't your mother tell you? This has nothing to do with age."

  "What... what talent does Lan Sheng have?" In a desperate situation, she can also jump over walls.

  "She——" Wu Mei sighed, "Although she is my daughter, I don't want to say this, but she really isn't even as good as you. If everyone in the Wu family could inherit their ancestors' abilities, there wouldn't be only me left today."

  Nan Yueping glanced sideways at Lan Sheng, and Wu Mei's one sentence made her perk up her tail, but she didn't know that wasn't even a compliment.

  Nan Yue Lan had already gotten used to her mother's belittling, and she went down with a calm demeanor. Hua Mei didn't follow, only Wu Guo trailed behind her. She wasn't very concerned, processing the information she had just heard.

  Youhua Zha Xiao Ren is Wu Mei's, using plants to extract toxins is also her sect's, listening between the lines it seems to all belong to a kind of divination technique, and Youhua although clever, but still not enough spiritual, so Wu Mei only taught a part.

  Before today, Lan Sheng had always thought that this was a superstitious activity derived from Wu Mei's long-term oppression by the legitimate room, so he sneered at it. However, now it seems that it is far more than just superstition. Nan Yue Da Gu Shi and Wu Shi seem to be a strong alliance, and Wu Mei and Nan Yue Ping mentioned Jin Wei Yu Rui should also be her sister, but they have some kind of innate ability. Moreover, Nan Yue Ping once said that she was a female official of the Mingyue Temple, and even could not kneel to the princess, so what exactly is the Mingyue Temple, and what is its connection with the Nan Yue family?

  It's been a long time since Nan Yue Lan Sheng left this small town, but when he thinks back on it, the charm of Xiao Ba Wang's Yao Town is still quite evident. The local customs and people are simple and unadorned, preserving ancient traditions. No matter how strong the winds of change blow from outside, only a faint dust settles in the town. Few people pay attention to it, and it doesn't envy the outside world, instead using stillness to control movement.

  "Lan Sheng." Someone called her name.

  She turned around and saw An Gongzi, "An Gongzi." This was the second time he had called her Lan Sheng directly without any title, unless they were familiar with each other. But she had to be cautious, and it was certain that this man hadn't come once in thirteen years, even if they were familiar, it was a past matter.

  "How have you been?" Upon hearing her ask An Gongzi, An Qu's eyes dimmed slightly.

  "Not bad." Wasn't it a childhood sweetheart? Don't come up with this, she no longer believes in the ignorant promises of youth. "Where's Master?"

  "...it's also fine." The other party is so cold, how can I be enthusiastic?

  She smiled and nodded, then turned to leave with a swish of her sleeves.

  "This time I can come pick you up and take you back, it's great."

  Her skirt fluttered in the wind, she turned sideways, her half-face phoenix eyes flew with a flirtatious look, "Young Master An, I don't remember much about what happened when we were young, but my mother said that for those who are truly kind and sincere to us, we will never forget. I have no impression of you at all, why is that?"

  "I was just... I was still young at that time, wanted to write a letter but didn't know where you all went."

  "Haha, I was still young when I said that. Today, my ears are numb from hearing it. Perhaps back then, the young master and I were close, but now we're like strangers. Whether or not we can be friends, let's talk about it after spending more time together later. After all, I'm no longer the same person as Lan Sheng back then, so who knows if we can rekindle our past connection." With that said, she turned around and walked away through the corridor.

  She stood there stupidly. She said she couldn't remember him, but he remembered everything clearly. She said she had changed, but he thought she was still the same as before.

  "Brother Yu, how did you get out first?" Nan Yueping puffed up her cheeks in anger. "I'm so angry, Uncle Kai actually agreed to let that woman come home with us. Who doesn't know that Mother kicked her out of the house and said she's never allowed back? Yet she has such a thick skin, trying to stir up trouble again before Mother's bones are even cold. Brother Hao, help me think of a way to delay things for now, I'll write a letter to Father right away."

  "It's a good thing for a family to live together, and Mrs. Mei is the aunt of Jin Wei and Yu Rui, two sisters who have just lost their mother. Isn't it also good that they have more relatives to care for them?" An Pu didn't plan on helping to delay things.

  Nan Yueping was taken aback, never thinking that her usually doting brother would say such a thing. "Brother Qu, you don't know what's going on in our family," she said. "Mother said that woman is really vicious. Not only did she bully Eldest Madam, but also bullied her and Aunt Die. In the end, even Father couldn't take it anymore and had to chase her out."

  "I don't know, of course, but you wouldn't really remember either, don't forget how old you were back then, everything about Mrs. Mei was heard from others." An Ting rubbed Nan Yueping's hair.

  Nan Yueping's resentment was thus dispelled, and she said in a low voice, "My mother would never deceive me."

  The wife and concubine were at odds, with no clear right or wrong. An Qi's own mother had always been bullied by the madam, her body weakening day by day until she passed away early. As a result, he actually admired Madam Mei's strong personality. However, such thoughts couldn't be expressed openly, and in his household, he was just a shadow that no one paid much attention to. In the Nan Yue Fu, he was only the disciple of the Grand Master, living under someone else's roof, forced to swallow his anger and remain silent. Even if it was usually chatty Nan Yue Ping, who would arbitrarily speak out of turn and tell tales to Madame Yu, which would then reach the Grand Master's ears, he himself would become a troublemaker. The only person he could talk freely with used to be Lan Sheng.

  "Shifu's mother and Mei Furen are close sisters, and Mei Furen returning to mourn is both emotionally and rationally justified. Just relying on us two younger generations can't stop it. Once we return to the capital, Shifu will have his own decision. If he wants Mei Furen to leave, I believe Mei Furen won't insist on staying either." But he had a feeling that this time Mei Furen was determined to stay at Ding Nan Yue Fu.

  "It's really, if I had known earlier, I wouldn't have come. It's all for nothing." Nan Yueping thought about sneaking out to play and watching others suffer misfortune, but she didn't know that the wheel of fate had already started turning again for that mother-daughter pair.

  Nan Yue Lan sat in front of a stone table in her own small courtyard, and didn't let anyone clean up.

  Wu Guo was born with a downturned mouth, and it took him a long time to speak up, "Miss, aren't you going to pack your luggage?"

  "There's nothing good to pick up, and those clothes and accessories have more flowers than I do. She's not here, and it can't be left to Xiang Er alone to collect." Xiang Er was only twelve years old, had just been bought in for a few days, everything was curious and didn't understand, very reckless.

  Nan Yue Lan Sheng asked, "Wu Guo, wasn't it you who saved me from the water that day?" After she woke up, Hua Wu Guo was almost always by her side, so naturally she thought it was Wu Guo who had rescued her.

  "No." Her eyes were also naturally downturned at the corners, giving her a sorrowful appearance that was actually quite expressionless. "Miss, you still can't remember?"