Chapter 101: Chapter 101: This Person Is Under My Protection
Wu Zuchang quickly shook his head.
But when he looked at Shen Ningning, he grinned foolishly again.
"You do!" he said. "A little girl with big eyes, you smell nice, and you’re fair and soft."
Shen Ningning’s eyelashes fluttered. "Then... was she really lost?"
Wu Zuchang froze, glancing from side to side. "Lost...?"
Suddenly, he seemed to recall a painful and terrifying memory.
"She’s lost! The little girl is lost! So much blood, so much blood!" Wu Zuchang suddenly flew into a frenzy, clutching his head and screaming.
Shen Ningning rushed to hold him back to keep him from hurting himself.
"Brother Zuchang, don’t be afraid! I’m here!"
Wu Zuchang seemed to snap out of it and hurriedly pulled her into a hug.
"Don’t be afraid, little girl. Shh, shh!" His grip was so strong that he squeezed Shen Ningning until she could barely breathe.
Wu Zuchang was trembling in terror, but he still told her, "Brother’s here, Brother’s here!"
Struggling to breathe, Shen Ningning gasped, "Brother Zuchang, let go..."
Wu Zuchang was lost in his own painful memories.
Just then, Lu Shaoyuan, who hadn’t gone far, rushed over and shoved him away. "You’re hurting her!"
He then quickly pulled Shen Ningning aside. "Are you okay?"
Seeing Shen Ningning gasping for air, her small face flushed red, Lu Shaoyuan glared at Wu Zuchang. "You--!"
The little girl pushed his hand down. "It’s alright. I was too direct and made him remember something unpleasant."
After a while, Wu Zuchang returned to normal and was squatting on the ground again, watching ants and smiling to himself.
Shen Ningning sat nearby and explained the whole situation to Lu Shaoyuan.
Lu Shaoyuan frowned. "So you’re saying the Wu family are just frauds, and their daughter probably died long ago."
Shen Ningning lowered her long lashes, her voice soft and sweet. "I was planning to find the right time to ask him properly, but after seeing Brother Zuchang like this, I don’t have the heart to."
"You’re just too kind-hearted," Lu Shaoyuan said. "If we send him directly to the government in the Capital City, they’ll definitely find the holes in their story."
Shen Ningning shook her head vehemently. "No."
After how Wu Zuchang had just run over to protect her, the little girl couldn’t bring herself to send him to the government.
Instead, she grew worried. "Qin Fangmei won’t let this go. She can’t get to me, but it’ll be troublesome if she persuades Landlord Du to go after Wu Zuchang."
’This won’t do,’ she thought. ’I have to find Crown Prince Brother and ask for his help right away.’
Shen Ningning said goodbye to Lu Shaoyuan, telling him she had to leave for a while and asking him to keep an eye on Wu Zuchang.
Lu Shaoyuan grabbed her by the sleeve. "You’re thinking of going to the palace again?"
The little girl asked, confused, "How do you know?"
Lu Shaoyuan cleared his throat.
’Of course I know,’ he thought. ’It’s not like my family doesn’t have people in the palace.’
Lu Shaoyuan said vaguely, "I just heard about it. I’m guessing you’re going to ask the Crown Prince for help, right?"
"I don’t think it’s right to trouble the Crown Prince over such a small matter."
Shen Ningning blinked helplessly. "Then... I’ll go find Grandpa Fu."
"You still don’t get it, do you? Landlord Du knows about your relationship with Magistrate Fu. He’ll definitely report this to the authorities somewhere else. If he did it here, the County Magistrate would obviously protect Wu Zuchang for you."
"If it’s in a different jurisdiction, how can Magistrate Fu help? That would just put him in a difficult position."
The little girl was completely out of ideas.
She squatted down, cupping her chin in her hands and looking troubled.
When Wu Zuchang saw her, he copied her and squatted down beside her.
The two of them weren’t actually siblings, yet they both sighed at the same time.
The sight made Lu Shaoyuan laugh.
He pulled Shen Ningning to her feet. "What are you so worried about? I can help you."
"You?" The little girl looked at him, puzzled. "How can you help? Are you going to come to the courtroom with me to get spanked?"
Lu Shaoyuan’s brow tightened. "What are you even thinking? Who would dare to lay a hand on me? As for Wu Zuchang, I’ll protect him for you."
"But how?"
"You don’t need to ask about that. When the government constables come to arrest him, just let Wu Zuchang go with them for now. But don’t worry, he won’t come to any harm. I guarantee those officials will bring him right back, nice and proper."
Shen Ningning was confused, but Lu Shaoyuan didn’t explain any further.
He turned and went to find his attendant, giving him some unknown instructions.
By noon, Shen Ningning was sharing the food she had brought with Wu Zuchang.
But Wu Zuchang refused to eat. He insisted on watching her eat her fill first, only then would he eat what was left.
When Shen Ningning put the chicken bones she was done with aside, he even picked them up to gnaw on them and nearly choked.
The little girl felt a sense of exasperation.
’In that moment,’ she thought, ’I suddenly understood how Mo Lingwei must have felt when he saw me eating eggshells.’
Just as they were eating, Ren Yu and Xiang Qian arrived with a group of their classmates.
"Ningning," Ren Yu called out.
Shen Ningning stood up, her small hand awkwardly clutching half a meat bun.
"Um... I shared my lunch with Brother Zuchang today, so you’ll have to get your own food from the dining hall."
Usually, Grandma Qin packed so much food that the little girl always shared it with everyone.
Hearing this, the classmates suddenly burst out laughing.
Ren Yu waved her hand. "You’ve misunderstood! If we were always eating your food, we’d be taking advantage of you. We all ate before we came."
"We were just talking it over. That Qin Fangmei is definitely bad news, so we believe you. She must have been trying to hurt you, and this silly brother of yours found out."
Xiang Qian nudged her. "Don’t call him ’silly brother’."
Ren Yu chuckled. "Sorry, my mistake. I didn’t mean anything by it, Ningning, so don’t take it the wrong way."
"We came here to tell you that if the government comes to arrest him, we absolutely won’t stand by and watch them take him away this time. We’ll all protect you!"
The other classmates chimed in—
"That’s right! This is our academy. We won’t let Qin Fangmei run wild here."
"She’s still causing trouble even with her injured foot. That woman is rotten to the core."
"Shen Xuezhi always looks out for us, so there’s no way we’ll sit by and do nothing this time."
"Let’s see the government try to arrest all of us! Our parents are not people to be trifled with!"
Shen Ningning was moved beyond words.
She said to everyone, "Thank you all for your kindness, but Lu Shaoyuan says he has a plan."
The group, who had been all fired up, exchanged a look when they heard this.
"Huh? Lu Shaoyuan’s handling it? Oh, well then, never mind."
Ren Yu started laughing. "Qin Fangmei really is blind. Of all the people to cross, she chose our Ningning."
Everyone knew how well-liked Shen Ningning was, and look at the influential people who protected her—from Magistrate Fu, to Lu Shaoyuan’s family, and even the Crown Prince!
For Qin Fangmei to dare challenge her was simply suicidal. It was laughable!
Just as Lu Shaoyuan had predicted.
That afternoon, constables from the neighboring Yu’an County showed up at the academy.
They said someone had filed a report, accusing Wu Zuchang of attempted murder at the academy.
Wu Zuchang stood behind Shen Ningning. When the constables came to grab him, he resisted, shouting, "No! I won’t go!"
He struggled fiercely, and with his great strength, he threw a punch that nearly knocked one of the constables out cold.
Shen Ningning remembered Lu Shaoyuan’s instructions and took his hand. "Brother Zuchang, don’t be afraid."
Then she declared, "I’ll go with you. They can’t turn black into white."
