Chen Beiqing only noticed now that Su Jin had maintained a nonchalant attitude throughout the conversation.
He held back his agitation, feeling slightly uneasy as he cautiously asked, “Have you been… well all these years?”
“Pretty good, neither been abused nor mistreated. Although my family wasn’t well-to-do financially, there was no lack of familial care and affection.”
She spoke on behalf of the original host of the body. As for Su Jin’s first-hand personal experience, there were only instances where she made life miserable for others instead, not the other way around.
“That’s a relief to hear. Mother would be relieved to know this too.”
As he re-assessed the information about Su Jin he had gathered prior to this visit, Chen Beiqing dived straight to his main purpose, albeit with slight hesitation.
“Would you be willing… to accompany me to the capital and meet our mother? After all, that is where your original home was supposed to be.”
His mother had been living in hermitage for years and her health had frequently fluctuated for the worse. Losing her own daughter dealt a huge blow to her, both emotionally and mentally. Even till now, she still could not forgive her husband for that freak incident.
Chen Beiqing had hoped that by bringing his long-lost sister back to their mother, it would resolve the longstanding knot in her heart and improve her health.
“Sure thing~”
Su Jin gave an immediate response as her lips curled up. She already had prior plans to relocate to the capital, and the original owner of the body did desire to reunite with her birth mother. To her, this was a small favour to fulfill the wish of the original owner of the body.
Either way, there was no merit in procrastinating matters that needed to be addressed eventually.
Chen Beiqing was elated by the unexpected positive response. He made the request expecting that Su Jin would turn him down, especially since he was aware that she was already a mother of three.
In fact, he had mentally planned out his next moves on the assumption that Su Jin would turn him down, which involved secretly bringing his mother over to Fengyuan County to meet Su Jin instead.
“Great! I will see to the preparations. Please do let me know if you need any help with logistic arrangements.”
Chen Beiqing eagerly offered, turning around to beckon his attendant, relaying instructions to make all necessary preparations for the journey.
“No rush. I have certain matters to settle first before we can depart. To be frank, even if you had not visited today, I already had planned on moving to the capital soon. You came at a convenient timing.”
Chen Beiqing’s excitement started fizzling down, as he began to notice various minor details which he had overlooked.
For one, Su Jin appeared to be too calm throughout the entire conversation, as though it was nothing more than a trivial matter to her.
He became flustered, not knowing how he should frame his next words. Instead of facing her indifference, he would prefer to receive her anger and resentment, since that would mean that she still harboured feelings for her biological family.
“Do you mind… calling me ‘big brother’? Mother did not intentionally abandon you. She thought you had passed away after you had gone missing for years without any news. Shortly after that incident, she began living in seclusion and had been praying daily, praying for you to have a blessed afterlife. Could you please forgive our mother?”
A pained expression flashed across Chen Beiqing’s face.
Complicated feelings arose when Su Jin saw the fragile expression of the man in front of her, unbefitting his tall, masculine figure.
She did not feel qualified to answer on behalf of the original owner.
“We will soon reunite with mother, right, Big brother?”
Chen Beiqing’s head snapped up reactively.
(My ears had not play a trick on me… she just addressed me as big brother, right?)
With a gleam in his eyes, he broke into a wide smile and replied, “Of course! We will be reunited soon!”
……
Su Jin had always acted swiftly. Upon deciding on a departure date, she worked around-the-clock to tie up loose ends in Fengyuan County.
In addition to her kids, she had planned to bring her mother, Qin Shi, along with her to the capital.
At her eldest brother’s side, they had initially refused to leave Fengyuan County. Only after several rounds of persuasion, was Su Jin finally able to convince them to relocate to the capital at a later date, after they had made their own necessary arrangements.
Her second brother, Su Ce, had to deal with some paperwork before going for the capital to participate in the imperial examinations.
Su Nian, the youngest brother of Su family, had just passed the pre-scholar examination and recently started receiving tutorage from his current mentor. It would be a pity to leave before he had received any proper teachings and guidance.
Considering their circumstances, all three of Su Jin’s brothers decided to stay behind together for now and join up with her in the capital at a future date.
She had also finalized all necessary arrangements for manpower and management of her restaurants, shops and fields.
Everything was progressing smoothly at her end.
……
On the other hand, there was an uproar in the capital due to a recent shocking development.
The prince who was known to be impotent suddenly had a three-year old daughter!
Not long after Ming Jue’s return from the Imperial Palace, eunuch Changde arrived at his residence with an imperial edict, bestowing Guaibao with the title of ‘Princess Lingxi’. The edict officially recognized and declared Guaibao as a princess of the Great Yuan Empire and that she would be receiving national stipend, corresponding to her status as royalty, signifying the Emperor’s favour towards her.
The entire estate was brimming with celebratory mood. Countless chests containing all sorts of valuables were being transported into the main hall. There were gifts bestowed by the Emperor, treasures rewarded by the Empress, and even congratulatory presents from the other noble families with extensive information network which had caught wind of the news.
The entire main hall was filled with mountains of precious treasures.
Guaibao’s jaws dropped as her eyes sparkled.
(Did Guaibao just… strike the lottery!?)
The little girl with massive greed reached out to the nearest chest filled with priceless deep-sea pearls and could not control the smug on her face. She could now kiss goodbye to the past her, who had to secretly hide every penny she had, fearing that her mother would confiscate her money for whatever reasons.
Placing her hand over her chest, Guaibao silently mourned for the past her.
“Daddy, do all of these belong to Guaibao?”
With her head tilted curtly, the little girl asked as her voice trembled, while tugging on the corners of Ming Jue’s clothes.
Ming Jue: “…”
Seeing his daughter’s money-obsessed antics uncharacteristic of a three year old kid, Ming Jue extended his slender finger and poked her on the forehead.
His eyes curled up as he replied, “Yes, all of these will go into Guaibao’s private coffers. Just let Daddy know if there is anything you desire in the future. There is also a treasury room in our estate. The housekeeper will show you the way and you can pick whatever you like within.”
“Yippee~ Oh… erm, if Daddy is so rich, why did you despise Mommy for being poor and abandon us in the past?”
A frown appeared on Guaibao’s face as she glanced at her father disapprovingly.
Ming Jue’s half-lowered eyelids instantly opened up. With a slightly annoyed expression, he sighed and asked faintly, “Is that what your Mom told you?”
“Mm-hmm, Mommy said that she was too poor for you so you ran away.”
The image of Su Jin with a smug expression flashed across his mind. Ming Jue gritted his teeth while his face twitched, without any visible change in his expression. In other words, for all these years, his daughter was under the impression that her father was a shameless money-grubber who despised the poor.
(That woman!)
Guaibao paid no heed to her father’s state of silence and happily inspected her mountain of assets. The three year old toddler was on cloud nine from becoming rich overnight and had no idea of the harsh reality of life. As the saying goes, life isn’t always smooth sailing.
Just then, a guard entered the hall to deliver a message, informing them that a person had arrived outside Prince Li’s residence requesting, for an audience with the newly conferred princess.
Having yet to adapt to being addressed as ‘pretty pig’, Guaibao did not realize that the messenger was referring to her. She continued swimming in her treasures.
(A messenger for Guaibao?)
Having a rough idea of what was going on, Ming Jue fished Guaibao out from one of the treasure chest and headed to the entrance.
“Eh, Daddy, where are we going?”
She had not had been satisfied yet!
“Someone is looking for you outside.”
He paused for a moment, before continuing, “Most likely, it is someone sent by your mother.”
Upon hearing this, Guaibao became excited. Had her mother arrived at the capital?
She could not resist the urge and ran out to check on her own.
When she saw that it was Liao Qing, she delightfully hopped over and greeted him with her baby-pitched voice, “Uncle Liao Qing, did you come with Mommy? Where is she?”
Liao Qing crouched down to catch her and answered with a smile, “Boss did not come with me, but she should be here soon. She sent me ahead because she could not stop worrying about you.”
The excitement in Guaibao’s eyes died down a little, as she asked in low spirits, “Did Mommy mention when she would be here? Guaibao misses her dearly.”
Her voice cracked and the tony pigtails on her head drooped down to reflect her downcast mood. The vigour she had displayed earlier was nowhere to be found.
Liao Qing was just about to comfort Guaibao, when a pair of adult hands picked her up. The owner of those hands shot a sharp, displeased gaze at him.
Ming Jue gently patted her on the back as he coaxed Guaibao, “Don’t cry, your mother must be on her way. She will be here in no time.”
Since that woman had sent an advance party, she should be arriving soon.
Guaibao nestled her head against her father’s chin and snuggled against it, but she did not utter any words.
Unlike the cheeky and lively Guaibao that Liao Qing was familiar with, he had no idea how to improve the mood of the sullen little girl in front of him.
After racking his brains for a moment, Liao Qing remembered something which might help.
“Guaibao, old man Xuanyuan has entrusted me to deliver a present for you.”
With this, her tears should stop soon. Given the weight of the box, Liao Qing was under the impression that the contents must be very precious.
He pulled out the brocade box from his baggage and presented it to Guaibao with a smile.
Clearly captivated by the well-decorated rectangular object, Guaibao rubbed her eyes with her chubby hands, secretly peeking at the well-decorated box.
Thinking back to the valuable gifts she had just received, Guaibao’s curiosity was piqued.
“Daddy, let Guaibao down. Guaibao wants to open the present.”
TL Corner: I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Do let me know in the comments or discord if there are any errors or mistakes.
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Thank you!
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