Chapter 106: Chapter 106: An Inscrutable Mind
The couple’s expressions changed, and they stammered guiltily, "Wh-what is it?"
Shen Ningning lightly tapped her little head.
"I think I grabbed the wrong one. It’s not this one."
Wu Cui and Qian Siniang’s expressions froze.
The little one took out a smaller longevity lock from her pouch.
"I bought that one on the street before, Uncle Wu. Take another look. This must be the right one, right?"
Wu Cui broke out in a cold sweat. He obediently leaned in to inspect it, putting on an act.
Shen Ningning watched him with a smile.
Qian Siniang had a bad feeling. She grabbed Wu Cui.
"Stop looking, that’s not it either!" Her tone was fierce, but when she looked at Shen Ningning, her face was all smiles. "Ningning, you little rascal, are you teasing us?"
The little one had a round face and big, bright, dark eyes.
"Don’t misunderstand, Aunt Wu. I really did grab the wrong one. After all, Grandma doesn’t even know I have a longevity lock!"
"After you mentioned it last time, Grandma and I searched everywhere at home. We only found these few, so it’s hard to say which one is your family heirloom."
Qian Siniang’s smile faltered. "None of these are it. Maybe... maybe Aunt Qin sold it long ago."
Wu Cui hurriedly chimed in, "Right! The Qins must have gotten rid of it privately."
"Ningning, it’s okay if it’s lost. Our family bond can’t be broken," Qian Siniang said with a dry laugh.
The implication was that even without the longevity lock, her family was determined to claim Shen Ningning as their daughter!
The little one’s expression didn’t change; she had expected this before coming.
Her voice was soft and sweet. "As for whether we’re family or not, Crown Prince Brother is already investigating."
"He said that if he finds out anyone is scheming and lying, he absolutely won’t let them off!"
At these words, the Wu couple’s faces changed drastically.
"The Crown Prince would bother with a small matter like ours?" Wu Cui’s lips trembled in disbelief.
Shen Ningning gave a sweet smile, her small body shifting with a cute coyness. "Of course! Crown Prince Brother said he would definitely stand up for me, find my birth parents, and not allow anyone to trick me!"
Mo Lingwei had said he would allow her to borrow his might.
’So using his name to scare this family right now should be perfectly fine, right?’
"But you two don’t have to be afraid, Uncle Wu and Aunt Wu. After all, you’re not lying to me, right?" The little one said with a sweet smile.
Sure enough, the expression on the Wu couple’s faces was truly awful, so much so that they couldn’t hide it.
"Huh? Uncle Wu, Aunt Wu, you look so pale. Are you not feeling well?" the little one asked, blinking her big, innocent eyes.
Qian Siniang replied with a dry laugh, "No, no. Ningning, what would you like to eat? How about I go make you some scallion pancakes?"
Shen Ningning looked at Wu Zuchang, who was standing nearby, watching them with a silly grin.
"Brother Zuchang, do you want some?"
"If girlie eats, I’ll eat!"
Only then did the little one nod. "Go ahead and cook, Aunt Wu. The things I brought were meant for Brother Zuchang anyway."
"Okay, okay, I’ll go right now." Qian Siniang shot Wu Cui a look, signaling for him to go outside to talk.
The couple definitely needed to discuss their strategy.
As they reached the doorway, Shen Ningning suddenly called out to them, "Uncle Wu, Aunt Wu~"
The couple paused, both turning back with forced smiles. "Ningning, what is it?"
’Why is this child starting to make us feel scared?’
’It feels like her gaze is as clear and cold as light on snow. We’re afraid she’ll see through us.’
Shen Ningning grinned, revealing her cute little white teeth, her eyes curving into crescents. "Don’t worry. Even if you aren’t my parents, for the sake of Brother Zuchang being so good to me, I won’t blame you."
Wu Cui and Qian Siniang looked as if a weight had been lifted from their shoulders.
Their smiles deepened. "Of course! Ningning, you’re a kind and good child. We wouldn’t treat you poorly either."
Shen Ningning’s tone shifted. "But if someone lies to me, I’ll get angry."
The little one crossed her arms, pouted her lips, and pretended to be bossy.
The joy on the Wu couple’s faces vanished in an instant.
In just a few short sentences, this child had sent their emotions on a rollercoaster!
In the end, Qian Siniang could only offer a few perfunctory pleasantries before she and Wu Cui fled the room as if for their lives.
It seemed if they stayed any longer, they would have kneeled down to Shen Ningning on the spot and confessed they had been bribed.
After they left, the little one’s gaze returned to its dark clarity.
"Miss, I think I understand why you brought so many things here today." Chen Ye, who had been standing silently to the side, suddenly understood after watching this "good show."
Shen Ningning was just too clever.
She knew to lay out her power and its benefits, first letting her opponents rejoice, thinking they had stumbled upon a great fortune.
But she also understood how to use an absolute power like the Crown Prince as her protective talisman.
The Wu couple thought they had discovered a chest of pearls, but they didn’t know that beneath the concealing veil, a fearsome dragon stood guard.
Chen Ye wasn’t sure why the thought of the Crown Prince made him think of a fearsome dragon, but it was probably because of the legends surrounding Mo Lingwei.
But this time, Shen Ningning’s performance had been flawless.
The little one looked at Chen Ye and gave a carefree laugh.
"My brother taught me." He had told her to borrow the tiger’s might.
That was how Shen Ningning had suddenly been inspired to come up with this idea.
When she smiled, Wu Zuchang, who was beside her, also began to grin foolishly.
"Brother Zuchang, what are you laughing at? Do you understand now too?" the little one asked.
Wu Zuchang shook his head. "Don’t understand. But... girlie looks... pretty when she smiles. Before, girlie... always cried. Couldn’t be coaxed..."
Shen Ningning froze for a moment, and a flicker of regret crossed her small, round face.
She said firmly, "Brother Zuchang, even though I won’t acknowledge them as my parents, for your sake, I will absolutely not make things difficult for them."
Wu Zuchang didn’t understand. He just chuckled foolishly, drooling a little. He quickly wiped it away, afraid of dirtying Shen Ningning’s little dress.
In the kitchen, the Wu couple were already at their wits’ end over the matter.
"I’m telling you, we should just return the gold to our benefactor! What’s the point of earning this money if we lose our lives?" Wu Cui said, his face a mask of worry.
Qian Siniang refused. "That’s easy for you to say. If we return the gold, what will we use to treat Zuchang’s illness?"
"With the family savings you spent long ago, this family won’t last more than a few days!"
Wu Cui lowered his head. "But I think if we just please Shen Ningning, there’s still a way forward. Zuchang’s illness isn’t new. We can treat it slowly."
"I disagree!" Qian Siniang hissed angrily. "You’re so spineless! What are you afraid of? Didn’t our benefactor say they would take care of everything if anything goes wrong?"
"Besides, no matter how nice we are to Shen Ningning, can she give us that much gold? Zuchang is my only child! The sooner his illness is treated, the better!"
Wu Cui didn’t dare say anything more. Qian Siniang had always been the one to call the shots in their family.
In the end, the two of them agreed to first coax Shen Ningning and treat her like an ancestor, and to stop forcing her to acknowledge them as parents, lest something happen that they couldn’t explain away.
The couple was just about to start cooking and treat Shen Ningning to a good meal.
Suddenly, an angry shout came from the doorway, "Wu Cui, you bastards! Your horse carriage ruined my land!"
