Chapter 355: Me?

Chapter 355: Me?

The man hurried over.

He had never met Hegen. If it weren't for this man's daughter becoming a favorite of the crown prince, he wouldn't have bothered with someone like him.

Even after Hegen was welcomed into the residence, the man hadn't gone to greet him.

Hegen, unaware of noble family etiquette, was treated to good food and drink. When bored, he flirted with pretty maids, not feeling slighted at all.

When the man arrived, he stayed silent despite the chaos.

Wife Yuan, noticing his conflicted look, suggested, "Husband, even though Ying'er isn't my own child, she is still a child I've watched grow up."

"She's your daughter, a young girl harassed by a scoundrel. Even if we keep him, shouldn't we beat him to let the child vent her anger?"

As Wife Yuan spoke, a thick cane was brought out. One strike could strip off skin. Hegen broke into a cold sweat, finally scared.

But he clung to his life-saving token, shouting, "No, you can't do this to me!"

"My daughter Zhaodi is a county princess! If you hit me, I'll complain to her!"

The man hesitated, then forced himself not to look at his wife and daughter, ordering Hegen to be untied and helped back.

Hegen wanted to flaunt his power, thinking he could touch any noble lady he wanted.

But seeing the cane still out, he swallowed his words and left proudly.

Though he didn't speak, his arrogance was clear.

Wife Yuan pitied the young girl in her arms. The scoundrel who harassed her went unpunished, and she worried the child might be traumatized.

The man, after driving away the nuisance, talked with Wife Yuan, "This matter is my fault, but you and Ying'er must also be sensible and understand me."

"If we fail to please the county princess, our family's life will become much more difficult in the future."

Wife Yuan hesitated, "But if others take advantage of Ying'er without paying any price, wouldn't that be telling others that the girls in our family can be easily insulted by anyone?"

The man thought for a while, as if he had figured something out, and promised, "I won't let this matter spread."

"All the servants who witnessed this, except for my confidants, will have their tongues cut out and be sold off."

Wife Yuan was shocked and exclaimed, "Husband?"

The man's voice didn't waver as he continued to order, "Those who can read will also have their hands cut off."

The young girl buried in Wife Yuan's arms trembled and buried her head even deeper.

The man advised, "Endure it. Endure until the day agreed upon in the invitation, and we can send him away."

......

Xiner impatiently dealt with the noble families of Dezhou.

Before leaving, Jingchu had instructed her not to completely offend the local gentry before fully understanding their backgrounds.

By leaving them a glimmer of hope, they would not unite and focus all their efforts against her.

Today, this man surnamed Yuan claimed to have prepared a satisfactory gift for her.

Xiner had no expectations. She even felt despair at these people's ability to give gifts.

When the cleaned-up Hegen was brought before her, Xiner was puzzled.

Especially the way he looked at her made her deeply uncomfortable, as if he were looking at a golden goose, with a particularly greedy expression.

She furrowed her brows slightly and asked, "What does Elder mean by this?"

The man said smugly, "County Lady, why don't you guess his identity?"

Xiner: "..."

Seeing her impatience, the man stopped beating around the bush and boasted, "I heard that the County Lady is from Dezhou. After much investigation, I finally found your father. Today is the day for your family reunion."

Xiner was stunned for a second, not immediately understanding what a father was.

This role had been insignificant in her life, and she had long ignored it.

When she was young, she had envied the daughters of County Clerk Ma for having fathers, thinking that the reason she and her mother lived under someone else's roof was because she had no father.

They called her a fatherless wild child, so in her imagination, having a father meant she wouldn't be bullied anymore.

Then her mother told her that the father she had longed for had thrown her into a baby abandonment tower, and it was her mother who had desperately dug her out before the tower was burned.

At that time, she was too young to understand what all this meant, only knowing that the father she had hoped for couldn't shelter her from the storm but instead wanted to abandon her.

As she grew up, the fog of her childhood lifted, and she saw everything for what it was.

Xiner came back to her senses, and Hegen had already assumed the air of an elder, directly scolding her: "Zhaodi? Where are your manners? Don't you know how to greet someone when you see them? Why aren’t you calling me Father?"

Zhaodi?

Xiner pointed at herself.

"Are you talking to me?"