In the carriage, Old Marquis Gu held An’an in his arms, thinking to himself: I must properly plead with the Emperor later.
Then, the old marquis patted his body, his expression changing, and he had the carriage stop by the side of the road.
“Um, An’an.” Old Marquis Gu’s face revealed a hint of guilt as he set An’an down.
“What’s wong, Gwandpa?” An’an was wondering why the carriage had suddenly stopped when she met the old marquis’s slightly embarrassed gaze.
“Um, An’an, could you wait here for Grandpa for a while? Grandpa forgot something and needs to go back and get it.”
“Okay~ Then An’an will wait here for Grandpa!” Little Tuanzi obediently sat still.
“An’an is so good!” Old Marquis Gu instructed the servants to take good care of An’an before rushing back to the Gu residence at full speed.
Sitting in the carriage, An’an looked left and right, swinging her little feet as she obediently waited for Old Marquis Gu.
“It’s terrible! Quick, fetch a doctor!” A cry for help came from ahead.
Hearing this, An’an immediately lifted the curtain, got off the carriage, and rushed toward the source of the sound.
“Hey, hey, Miss An’an, slow down!” The servants outside the carriage immediately followed.
Jin Li watched the little dumpling charging forward without a second thought and immediately chased after her.
An’an ran over, but her tiny figure couldn’t even squeeze through the crowd.
“Whose child is this? Go away, go home, what are you doing here making a scene!”
“Ugh, whose child is this? So unruly, why are you pushing?!”
Seeing Little Tuanzi struggling to squeeze through, Jin Li immediately stepped forward, picked her up, and cast a slight spell to make the crowd part automatically.
An’an felt herself suddenly being picked up and looked up to see a familiar face: “Oh, Little Koi, why did you follow me here!”
“You little wretch, what are you saying? It was clearly you who carelessly bumped into us!”
Before Jin Li could speak, the two were drawn by a voice.
On the ground lay an old woman, her face pale, seemingly already unconscious.
Jin Li carried An’an and pushed through the crowd. On the ground lay an elderly woman who appeared to have fainted.
The old woman’s maid was crouched beside her, her eyes red as she argued with a lavishly dressed woman: “How can you be like this?! It was clearly your carriage that frightened our madam!”
The lavishly dressed woman was extremely impatient: “I’ll just compensate you with money, alright? What’s the big deal? Is it worth making such a fuss?”
“You!” The maid was almost crying from anger. Today, the old woman had finally felt well enough to go out for a walk, but unexpectedly, the horse was startled and nearly crashed into her. The old woman, being elderly, was immediately frightened into unconsciousness.
An’an tugged on Jin Li’s sleeve, signaling to be put down.
Jin Li carefully set Little Tuanzi on the ground. An’an immediately ran to the old woman’s side, slipped a small pill into her mouth, and took out a small medicine pouch for her to smell. The old woman slowly regained consciousness.
“Madam, you’ve finally woken up! Otherwise, this servant truly wouldn’t have known what to do!” The maid happily helped the old woman up.
“Thank you, young lady.” The maid respectfully bowed to An’an.
Little Tuanzi scratched her head, looking a bit embarrassed: “Hehehe, no need to thank me.”
The awakened old lady affectionately patted An’an’s head. “Whose child are you? You saved this old woman’s life. Come, let’s go to the Duobao Pavilion ahead. Pick something you like, and I’ll give it to you as a token of gratitude.”
The old lady looked very kind, and An’an smiled while shaking her head.
“Oh, so you’re awake after all! Nothing serious happened! All that wailing and fussing over nothing—truly low-class,” a woman sneered.
“Here, this is for you. All that noise and commotion must be for money, right? I’ll give it to you then!”
The woman signaled to a maid beside her, who nodded and tossed a gold ingot from her purse.
“Our young lady is rewarding you. Why aren’t you picking it up?” the maid said rudely.
“You!” The maid beside the old lady was about to speak up but was stopped by the old lady.
“Young lady, my old bones can’t withstand such a fright. I don’t want this gold. Just apologize, and we’ll let it go.”
“You old hag, who do you think you are to demand an apology from me?” the woman said arrogantly.
“That’s right! Our young lady is from the Jiangning Weaving Bureau. You old thing can’t afford to offend her!”
An’an put her hands on her hips. “You! You hit someone and won’t even apologize. Mother says people like this are bad! Villains!”
“Big villain!!” Little Tuanzi scolded.
“You little wretch! How dare you speak when our young lady is talking!” the maid immediately snapped back.
Jin Li’s expression turned cold.
“Slap!” The maid suddenly covered her face, whimpering, “Young lady, why did you hit me?”
The elegantly dressed woman looked bewildered. “Why would I hit you for no reason?”
“Slap! Slap!” Two more slaps followed.
“Ah! Who! Who is it?! Show yourself to me!” The woman covered her face. “Who dares to hit me?! Are you tired of living?!”
“Slap!” This time, it was her mouth.
“Young lady, young lady, should we… should we go back?” The maid was almost in tears. In broad daylight, could there really be ghosts?
The woman looked around nervously, feeling somewhat scared but still muttering defiantly, “Consider yourself lucky. If I find out who did this, you’ll pay!”
Watching the two scurry away, Jin Li sneered inwardly: Hmph, daring to insult his Little Grass—now that’s truly asking for trouble.
Meanwhile, An’an took the old lady’s hand and placed a small medicine packet in it.
“Grandma, take this. It will help you sleep better at night.”
The old lady accepted it and patted Little Tuanzi’s head.
“Grandma, take care of yourself! Goodbye!” Little Tuanzi waved to the old lady and followed Jin Li back to the carriage.
The old lady gave her maid a meaningful look, and the maid immediately understood. “I’ll send someone to follow them right away.”
Back in the carriage, An’an sat quietly with Jin Li, waiting for the Old Marquis to arrive.
“By the way, Little Koi, why did you follow us?” Little Tuanzi looked at Jin Li, a bit annoyed. “You’re not being good, Little Koi.”
Jin Li sighed helplessly. “Little Grass, I…”
Just as he was about to explain, the carriage curtain moved, and Old Master Gu fell silent at the sight of Jin Li’s sudden appearance.
“You rascal!” Old Master Gu gave Jin Li a hearty pat on the shoulder, making Jin Li stare at him.
“Fine, fine, you can come along. It’s not safe for you to be alone anyway.” Old Master Gu picked up An’an again and spoke to Jin Li.
Jin Li remained silent, reverting to his usual cold and aloof demeanor.
The carriage slowly made its way toward the palace, and An’an fell asleep, her little head swaying gently.
After an unknown amount of time, An’an was awakened by Old Marquis Gu.
“Little An’an, we’ve arrived.”
Still dazed, An’an was helped down from the carriage.
Once on the ground, Old Marquis Gu took An’an’s hand and led her into the palace, with Jin Li following silently behind as usual.