Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Little Girl, Sign Your Name!

After entering the city, the little girl temporarily left her carriage at the stable.

At the pharmacy, the shopkeeper packed the counted silver in a large bundle and helped tie it onto Shen Ningning's back.

"Miss Shen, is the silver too heavy? Shall I find someone to escort you back near your carriage?" Shopkeeper Fang asked.

Shen Ningning shook her head: "No need, I can carry it. By the way, Shopkeeper Grandpa, do you know the way to the General of Zhen Nan's residence?"

"The General of Zhen Nan's residence?" Shopkeeper Fang's expression turned respectful: "Just follow this street straight ahead, turn left, and after two intersections, you'll be there."

Shen Ningning sweetly said, "Thank you."

Watching her leave with small steps, Shopkeeper Fang mused with a hoarse voice, "This girl knows someone in the General's residence? Could her background really be significant?"

After leaving the pharmacy, Shen Ningning found a secluded spot to hide all the silver in her fairyland.

She kept only a hundred taels on her person.

Next, the little girl went to buy a box of pastries.

She was very well-behaved.

Her grandmother had said, when visiting someone's house, it was polite to bring a gift and not to arrive empty-handed.

The weather was sweltering, sweat clinging to her forehead, her black hair sticking to her fair, jade-like skin.

She had walked continuously for half an incense stick's time.

The little girl wiped her sweat, having given her water pouch to the refugees, leaving herself parched and thirsty.

Finally reaching the entrance of the General of Zhen Nan's residence, she was overjoyed, casting aside all her fatigue.

She was about to meet her brother!

She looked down at her dress and shoes.

Today, she wore the pink butterfly-patterned Luo dress and matching shoes she had bought specifically for herself.

Assuring herself she was presentably dressed, Shen Ningning approached with the pastries in hand.

"Excuse me..." She craned her neck upward, addressing the tall guard at the General's residence, "I'm here to see Brother Mo, is he in?"

The guard, without shifting his gaze, completely ignored her.

Shen Ningning asked twice more, but the guard treated her as if she was invisible!

This left the little girl feeling helpless.

What was going on?

Just then, a man in a long robe, appearing very refined, walked out of the estate.

She hurriedly approached, "Excuse me, uncle, I'm looking for Brother Mo, is he at home?"

The butler paused, sizing up Shen Ningning: "Brother Mo? Who is that?"

The little girl quickly said, "Mo Lingwei."

The butler was startled, then angrily said, "How dare you! What impudence for a child like you to create trouble at the General's residence, and to address the Crown Prince so casually?"

Shen Ningning was surprised, "But Brother told me to find him here, he even gave me a jade piece..."

Before she could finish, the butler had already pegged her as a mischievous little scammer.

"Get her away quickly, before the master and the young master return. They'll be furious to see an unknown girl spouting nonsense here!" the butler interrupted her.

Obeying the order, a guard reached out, grabbing Shen Ningning by her clothes.

He lifted her effortlessly, as if picking up a small chicken.

"Let me go! Brother! Brother, save me!" the little girl struggled desperately.

The butler rolled his eyes, "The tricks of swindlers these days are endless. Knowing our lord is a close confidant of the Crown Prince, they dare to pull such stunts? Hmph!"

"Ah—” Shen Ningning was thrown out onto the street by the guard.

Her petite body crashed to the ground, scraping her arm to a raw red, her dress tearing apart.

The guard warned fiercely, "Stay away! Or you'll regret it!"

Shen Ningning, with tears in her eyes, her tender white face and a pair of black eyes filled with grievance.

She picked up the pastries, choking back tears, muttering, "It really was Brother who asked me to come here to find him..."

The little girl was deeply upset.

Brother had said his name was Mo Lingwei, but they claimed Mo Lingwei was the Crown Prince.

If Brother was the Crown Prince, why did he ask her to come to the General's residence?

Could it be that Brother had lied to her?

Thinking of the jade pendant swallowed by the fairyland, she now had no proof to show that she knew her brother.

Shen Ningning cast a final glance at the General's residence, wiped away her tears, and walked away with a lonely figure.

Just then, a luxurious carriage passed by her.

The little girl's eyes were blurred with dust, and she stood rubbing them.

The carriage stopped at the General of Zhen Nan's residence, and the butler immediately greeted them: "Master, Young Master, you've returned."

General Chen, with a square face and imposing appearance, stepped down from the carriage without a word, seeming in a bad mood as he entered the residence.

His son, the eldest young master of the General's residence, Chen Shaobei, twelve years old, had sharp brows and bright eyes.

The butler ingratiatingly asked, "Young Master, did you see the Crown Prince?"

"No," Chen Shaobei replied coldly, "The Crown Prince returned to the palace. He cut off the tendons in Prince Six's hands and feet, displeasing the Emperor who punished him to kneel in the temple. The whole court is trying to persuade the Emperor, but he refuses to relent."

He sighed, "Tomorrow, my father and I will continue to plead in the palace. Please pack a few clothes for me; I'll stay in the palace barracks for now and won't return."

"Yes," the butler agreed.

Just then, Chen Shaobei glanced back and saw a small pink figure silently walking away along the wall.

He slightly furrowed his brows, "Who is that?"

This alley led only to the General's residence.

The butler glanced over and replied, "Probably a refugee trying to beg for food. We've driven her away."

Chen Shaobei then withdrew his gaze.

Shen Ningning, carrying the damaged pastries and covered in dirt, was unable to clean herself off.

She walked under the scorching sun, slightly dazed.

The little girl was thinking she might never have the chance to meet her brother again in her life.

Just as she was overwhelmed with sadness, a hand suddenly reached out from a nearby alley and pulled her in!

Before Shen Ningning could even cry out, her mouth was covered.

Inside the shabby alley, four or five burly men stood.

A man in a long coat, looking cunning and smug, watched Shen Ningning with a sneer.

"I knew it! How could Shopkeeper Fang of Chun Tang suddenly become wealthy? I thought he was blessed by the gods to have so much medicine. Turns out, it was you who sold him those fine herbs!"

Shen Ningning stepped back, her eyes wary, "I've sold everything to him already, I don't have any more herbs."

The cunning man chuckled, "Selling goods to him means sabotaging my business. Cutting off someone's livelihood is like taking their life, little girl, do you understand?"

With that, one of the burly men suddenly pulled out a dagger and pressed it against Shen Ningning's cheek.

The man threatened, "I'll spare you because you're just a child. But if I ever see you selling herbs to him again, I'll make your family come to collect your body!"

After speaking, he signaled with his eyes, and the burly man took out a piece of paper.

The man said, "This complaint states that you were forced to sell herbs to Shopkeeper Fang. I'll help you report it to the authorities. If they ask you, say he forced you, and demand double the compensation."

"Sign here, and I'll let you go!"

Shen Ningning struggled, "I won't do it, I won't lie!"

"You have no choice!" the man forcefully said, "Hold her down and make her sign!"

The little girl quickly reached for her fingers, about to escape into the fairyland.

Suddenly!

A dark shadow descended from above.

A knee struck right into the neck of the man holding Shen Ningning.

The burly man fell with a thud!

Before Shen Ningning could react, she was pulled behind someone by a hand.

She lifted her clear eyes to see a lean figure.