Chapter 67: Chapter 67: Little Wolf Sister, Come with Me
The driver was just about to obey.
But just then, a Chief Eunuch rushed out from within the palace gates.
"Prime Minister! Please, hurry into the palace! The Emperor is in a thunderous rage over the bandits’ uprising and is waiting for you!"
And so, the man in the carriage had to relent.
He told the driver, "Give her some silver."
The driver quickly did as he was told, apologizing to Shen Ningning several times.
As the carriage swept past her, the Prime Minister caught a glimpse of Shen Ningning’s small figure through the gap in the curtain.
However, due to the glare of the sun, he couldn’t see her face clearly.
Shen Ningning turned to watch the carriage enter the Imperial Palace.
’Uncle Prime Minister... He’s so nice. He even gave me silver,’ she murmured sweetly.
’Looks like in the whole Imperial Palace, only that Mo Changchong is a bad guy!’
Shen Ningning didn’t keep the five taels of silver.
As she walked into the city under the scorching sun, she saw a pitiful-looking beggar and gave the silver to him.
Shen Ningning used her own money to hire a carriage home.
On the way, the beggar reminded her of Jiang Zhi.
’I wonder how that big sister with the amazing martial arts is doing?’
After she got home, Shen Ningning got the Yellow and White Jade Pendant from the Black Wolf King.
Mo Changgong’s men had tricked her.
This Yellow and White Jade Pendant looked like her brother’s, but it was different!
The name on the back wasn’t Mo Lingwei’s, but Mo Changgong’s!
An exasperated look appeared on Shen Ningning’s small, round, fair face.
’They’re all bad guys, from top to bottom,’ she muttered, trying to sound fierce but only coming off as cute.
Still, since she had the Jade, she wasn’t planning on giving it back.
’It serves Mo Changchong right for throwing me out!’
The little one tossed the Yellow and White Jade Pendant right into her Immortal Realm!
"Oh, Immortal Realm, you’re in for a treat! This is a bad guy’s Jade, so you can eat it without any worries. We don’t have to feel guilty at all!"
Shen Ningning hugged a large head of cabbage she had grown herself, her bright eyes sparkling as she smiled, her little face adorably chubby.
She took a bath, then fetched the chilled lotus seed soup her grandma had made for her earlier that day from the cellar.
After savoring the delicious treat, she lay down on her comfortable bed, ready for sleep.
She had succeeded in making ice, so Grandma Qin, worried she might get too hot, had placed a block of ice in each of the four corners of Shen Ningning’s room.
Now, aided by the Seven-Round Fan, a cool breeze drifted throughout the room.
Shen Ningning was utterly comfortable. Her small, fair feet peeked out from under the blanket as drowsiness began to wash over her.
’In three or four days, I’ll have to go back to the academy,’ the little one thought.
’I should prepare some ice blocks in the Immortal Realm to use at school.’
With that thought, she soon fell asleep.
「The next day.」
Shen Ningning went to Xiangyun Village.
Chen Ye and Uncle Liu were in a meeting at the old village chief’s house.
The little one went to listen in and found out what was happening.
Apparently, while on patrol last night, Chen Ye had discovered suspicious footprints behind the village!
The villagers began to panic.
"They must be casing the joint! Figuring out our sleep schedules so they can launch a night raid!"
"What are we going to do? If they come at night, we’ll be caught completely unprepared."
"What’s there to be scared of? We have a patrol team!"
"I say, if things get too bad, we should go find Chief Wang and ask him to send men to protect us every day."
"And who do you think you are? The constables have their own duties. Why should they protect us?"
Everyone argued, and the discussion quickly devolved into a heated shouting match.
The old village chief frowned, chewing incessantly on a bitter tea stem.
Chen Ye and Uncle Liu remained silent, as both were men of few words.
But they both knew how serious the situation was.
Finally, the old village chief slammed his hand on the table. "Alright, here’s the plan. We’ll use my ox-cart to take the women and children to a safe place. The men will stay behind and defend the village."
Aunt Liu was the first to object.
"Village Chief, I intend to stand with my husband, through life and death!"
Her words made Uncle Liu’s face turn red.
The other village women quickly chimed in, "Exactly! If you just run off and save yourself when disaster strikes, what kind of couple are you?!"
Just then, however, Deng Fugui’s mother emerged from the inner room, clutching a pile of bundles.
All eyes fell on her.
Aunt Deng froze when she saw the look of disappointment in the eyes of her father-in-law, the old village chief.
She gave a hollow laugh. "My family has been urging me to go back home to wait things out. I’m planning to take Fugui back and stay with him for a few days before I return."
She made it sound nice, but she was just running away!
Aunt Deng’s husband said nothing, his brow furrowed.
The old village chief waved a dismissive hand. "Just go, quickly."
"Yes, yes," Aunt Deng nodded repeatedly, then clutched her bundles and fled.
Seeing this, the outspoken Sister-in-law Liu could no longer hold her tongue.
"That woman is just awful! If she hadn’t stolen things and paraded them around, why would those bandits have ever targeted our village?"
And now that there’s trouble, she’s the first one to abandon everyone and run!
What a piece of work!
Shen Ningning stood at the back of the crowd, listening and trying to think of a plan.
Suddenly, someone tapped her on the shoulder from behind.
"Fugui?" The little one turned and saw it was Deng Fugui.
Deng Fugui beckoned, pulling her outside the door.
He led her away from the adults.
"Little Wolf Sister, will you come with me?"
"Where are we going?"
"To my grandparents’ house to hide. My mom says those vicious bandits are coming soon, and they’re going to kill people!"
"I’m not leaving. I’m going to face this with everyone," Shen Ningning said, her sweet voice firm.
A look of disappointment filled Deng Fugui’s eyes.
After a moment, he said, "Little Wolf Sister, do you look down on me, too?"
"My mom stole your things and attracted a bunch of bandits. All the other kids in the village despise me for it. I can’t even hold my head up."
"I might just live at my grandparents’ place from now on and never come back. Little Wolf Sister, are you sure you won’t come with me?"
Shen Ningning’s eyes were dark and bright.
She blinked her long lashes and said calmly, "What your mom did is her own business. It has nothing to do with you."
"I won’t look down on you for it. Not unless you become just like her one day."
Deng Fugui said hastily, "I never will!"
Aunt Deng had already ordered someone to bring the ox-cart to the door.
She raised her voice, urging, "Fugui! We’re leaving! What are you chatting about? You think she even wants to talk to you?"
At that moment, Aunt Deng still harbored some resentment toward Shen Ningning.
’If Shen Ningning hadn’t been so stingy,’ she thought, ’I wouldn’t have had to steal anything.’
’If Shen Ningning had just generously lent me the item in the first place, none of this would have happened, right?’
Aunt Deng fumed silently.
Deng Fugui, who had strong brows and large eyes, had a guilty look on his face.
He said in a low voice, "Little Wolf Sister, I’m sorry. I apologize on my mom’s behalf! I’m leaving now. You have to stay safe!"
With that, he ran to the ox-cart. Even after he got on, his eyes remained fixed on Shen Ningning.
The little one went back inside.
The villagers were already in an uproar over the bandits, all talking at once and arguing nonstop.
Just then, a soft voice cut through the noise—
"Uncles, if I go get reinforcements, we can get through this, right?"
Everyone fell silent and turned to look at the small, bright-eyed Shen Ningning at the back of the room.
The old village chief asked, "Ningning, those bandits all know some martial arts. Even with the large wolf pack, I’m afraid the best we could hope for is a stalemate."
The little one shook her head. "It won’t just be the wolves."
Her voice was melodious. "I’ll go ask Crown Prince Brother to send men. We’ll catch them all in one fell swoop."
