Shen Jingzhao jumped up in shock, thinking his eyes were playing tricks on him.
"What the hell, why is there writing on the ground!"
Little Sui An squatted down and pretended to examine it. Oh no, she was a little illiterate, so she could only say, "Ahem, Second Brother, let me test you. Tell me quickly, how do you read these characters?"
Shen Jingzhao widened his eyes and muttered between his lips, "The Shen Family's Ruoyuan... still has a chance of survival... wait quietly for the coming days, and we shall be reunited!"
Halfway through reading, his voice suddenly rose, "Little Sister, does this say? It's about our Daddy!"
Outside the hanging flower gate, Su Jinhan was stunned and couldn't help but want to reprimand them.
"Jingzhao, you must not talk nonsense with your little sister. How can you make jokes about your father?"
Little Sui An hurriedly explained, "Mother, Second Brother isn't talking nonsense. It appeared on the ground by itself. You should come and see."
Su Jinhan hurried over and, following the direction of Little Sui An's finger, took a closer look.
She saw that on the bluestone steps, there was indeed a string of faint, grayish-white characters!
A shiver ran through her entire body, and she clenched her fists tightly to keep from crying out.
"Sui An, this is!"
Little Sui An smiled without a word.
Su Jinhan stood frozen in place, her chest feeling as if it held a fireball, shocked to the point of bursting.
Everyone said that Marquis Shen must be dead.
Even she had almost begun to waver...
But this omen before her eyes was actually telling her that the Marquis was still alive?!
Shen Jingzhao's eyes turned red, and he hurriedly tugged at her sleeve, "Mother, is this fake? I didn't see it wrong, did I? Can Daddy really come back?"
Su Jinhan turned her head, looking at Little Sui An with tear-filled eyes and hope.
Little Sui An looked away, wanting to pretend she didn't understand, but her little head couldn't help but be honest, nodding continuously.
Su Jinhan was instantly overjoyed, hugging Sui An and Jingzhao as she sobbed.
"Don't worry, it's true. Mother knew it. A person as capable as your Daddy would never fall on the road back to the capital. He will definitely be safe and sound!"
Only then did Little Sui An smile, puffing out her little cheeks, and burrowed into her mother's neck, rubbing against it again and again, "Great, great, I'll be able to see Daddy very soon."
"Oh right, what does Daddy look like? Is he handsome? I want a good-looking one." Little Sui An scratched her head, acting conceited.
Su Jinhan was torn between laughter and tears, picking her up alone, "My Little Darling, it's a good thing the Marquis is the number one handsome man in the capital, otherwise I'd really be afraid you wouldn't recognize him."
"Wow, really?" Little Sui An exclaimed, her eyes immediately turning into stars.
She couldn't hide her love for good looks at all.
"Just wait for your Daddy to return. Once he sees you, who knows how much he will spoil you!" Su Jinhan was incredibly happy.
The Marquis had always longed for a daughter. Whenever there was a banquet, seeing the daughters of his colleagues, he would always hide in Su Jinhan's arms and say he felt miserable.
If he knew there was a clever and eccentric Little Sui An at home, he would probably fly home immediately, no matter how difficult things were.
But these were things for later. Right now, the most important thing was not to waste this omen.
Su Jinhan composed herself and quickly ordered the maid, "Even if the Marquis is protected by good fortune, we cannot just wait. We must still do what we can."
"It is not appropriate for people from the mansion to go out anymore. Bai Zhi, you go back to the Su Mansion and have my Eldest Sister's horse team keep an eye out along the road for the Marquis's tracks and continue to inquire for me."
Just as she was speaking, a little sparrow flew by and brushed against the tip of Little Sui An's ear.
"Oh?" Little Sui An seemed to have sensed something.
She glanced to her side and saw a figure flash past the small garden gate.
Little Sui An narrowed her eyes slightly, made a shushing gesture to Su Jinhan, and leaned into Shen Jingzhao's ear to whisper a few words.
Shen Jingzhao first widened his eyes, then nodded vigorously and walked toward the incense burner without changing his expression.
Soon, after they returned to the Yingyue Courtyard.
Zhou Yuncai stood up straight from behind the wall, beckoned to an old woman, and snuck into the garden.
"Quick, look for it. Su Jinhan and her three children were just around here. I don't know what they were happy about. Could it be they found a treasure on the ground?" she said anxiously.
The old woman nearby searched around and pointed to the ground, "Madam, I found it, but there is no treasure, only a line of text. This servant cannot read..."
"What? Let me see." Zhou Yuncai hurried over.
She saw that on the bluestone steps, the white text from earlier had long since scattered with the wind.
Only a string of characters made of incense ash remained: 【 Fool, what are you looking for? 】
"You!" Zhou Yuncai's face flushed red, and she stomped her feet in anger.
"Madam, what exactly does it say?"
"Shut up, you fool! Bah!"
On the other side, inside the Pine and Crane Hall.
By the time Zhou Yuncai finished scolding the old woman and arrived late to deliver the medicine, it was already much later than usual.
Although Old Master Shen felt displeased, he was in no mood to get angry right now.
"Father, the Yingyue Courtyard is truly unlucky."
After Zhou Yuncai entered, she started complaining first, "Ever since my sister-in-law adopted that girl Sui An, she doesn't know what she's so proud of all day long. Just now in the garden... hmph, never mind."
Old Master Shen asked sharply, "What, did that little girl do something? Is there something wrong with her?"
Zhou Yuncai stammered, but she couldn't bring herself to say it. She couldn't very well say she had been called a fool...
Old Master Shen glared at her, "Hmph, you usually have the most nonsense to say, but when I ask you for something important, you're useless! However, that little Sui An's arrival is indeed suspicious. I'm afraid she's not an ordinary child. You must be careful."
Zhou Yuncai stepped forward, puzzled, "Father, why bother worrying about her? She's just a wild girl of unknown origin. We should just drive her out."
Old Master Shen frowned, "Do you think you have a way to get past Su Jinhan!"
Zhou Yuncai rolled her eyes, suddenly coming up with a plan, and hurriedly bowed.
"Don't you have many imperial gifts? Could you spare one set..."
"It just so happens that the day after tomorrow, we are holding a family banquet for Jingzhao. If the little girl is clumsy in front of everyone and breaks one of them..."
"When the time comes, she will have offended the imperial grace. Forget about driving her out of the mansion, it would be good if we didn't take her little life!"
Upon hearing this, a look of satisfaction gradually appeared on Old Master Shen's face.
He lowered his gaze and nodded, "Since we are going to use it, let's kill two birds with one stone. Take out the Glazed Tile screen. This item was previously cracked by Jingping, so let that girl take the blame for it as well. I'll leave this to you."
"Yes, Father!" Zhou Yuncai was overjoyed.
...
Days passed in the blink of an eye.
Soon, the day arrived for Old Master Shen to hold a grand family banquet for his grandson for the sake of his reputation.
However, early in the morning, Little Sui An was nowhere to be found.
After Su Jinhan called her name and searched around anxiously.
She finally heard movement over by the courtyard.
At this moment, Little Sui An was hanging upside down from a tree branch like a turtle on its back, with her feet pointing to the sky.
She was even leisurely eating melon seeds.
Su Jinhan was startled and ran over to catch her, and then gave Shen Jingzhao a rap on the head.
"You brat, it must have been you being naughty and putting your sister up there!"
Shen Jingzhao spilled the melon seed shells in his hand, opened his mouth wide, and covered his head, wailing.
The little milk ball hurriedly poked out her little head, looked at them, and smiled, "Hehe, Mother, I asked Grandpa Begonia Tree to let me swing. Don't blame Second Brother."
Su Jinhan was stunned for a moment, then took a closer look.
She saw that Little Sui An wasn't using any effort, yet her body was steadily hanging on the tree, and she could even swing back and forth.
"Strange, no matter how I look at it, it seems like the tree is the one exerting force..." she muttered.
When she looked up again, she suddenly realized that this Begonia tree, which had been half-dead before, had grown many new leaves without her noticing.
There were also two little sparrows standing on the tree, peeking at Su Jinhan.
Su Jinhan's face turned pale. Just then, a servant walked by, and she hurriedly coughed to cover it up, "Ahem, well, it seems Sui An takes after me. She's strong and sturdy at such a young age, and can even hang upside down, haha."
After she finished speaking, she put her hands on her hips and gave a fake laugh, then mercilessly reached out and "picked" Little Sui An off the tree.
"Hurry back to the room with Mother. Look at yourself, isn't it scary? Be careful you don't get caught as a little monster!"
Little Sui An waved her arms and pouted in protest, "Mother, I'm not making trouble. Actually, I was just listening to something serious."
As their figures walked away, the two little sparrows on the treetop shook their wings, nodded and pecked at each other, and then hurriedly flew off to the Pine and Crane Hall to eavesdrop.
Just then, a maid came uninvited.
"Requesting an audience with Madam. The banquet at the Old Master's place will begin in an hour."
"Also," she paused, her tone deepening, "Since the Little Miss is part of the mansion, she should also go along!"
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