He tilted his head slightly, and a cold gaze immediately fell upon him. (For readers, you can search for "" to find this site immediately.)
Chapter 62
Back at the Prince's residence, Third Sister intended to invite An Ran to her room for a while, and subtly inquire about her impression of Fang Ting. However, An Ran looked exhausted, her face pale, and said she was tired. Third Sister felt sorry for her, as her injuries had not fully healed, so she instructed the maids to take good care of her and let her go back.
She returned safely to the east wing.
After letting her hair down and washing her face, Anran changed into some casual clothes and leaned against the large pillow on the canopy bed, lost in thought.
When Qingxing and Qingmei saw that Anran looked exhausted, they were so frightened that they wanted to go and report to Third Sister to ask the imperial physician to come and take a look, but Anran stopped them.
"I want to be alone for a while. You can all go down first."
The two men always obeyed An Ran's every word, so they brought hot tea and some of An Ran's favorite snacks and placed them on the high table by the bed before carefully closing the door. The two men stood guard at the door and did not go anywhere, in case An Ran called for someone and there was no one to serve her.
Ever since their young lady arrived at the Prince's mansion, she's been plagued by misfortune, suffering from all sorts of illnesses and ailments. On the way to the mansion, her horse was startled, and she nearly died; even they almost lost their lives. Just a few days ago, she only went to Aunt Li's courtyard with Third Aunt, and yet she returned injured, her face swollen and red—a truly frightening sight. Her beautiful face was almost ruined!
The girl's journey has been incredibly difficult.
She didn't come to be the young master's concubine willingly; the Grand Madam and the Madam forced her, what could the young lady do? But the Third Aunt disliked the young lady very much, and when she came, she made those cold remarks, but the young lady didn't seem to care and was always smiling.
Only they knew how much bitterness was in the girl's heart.
Finally, the Third Aunt stopped being so hostile to her daughter and gradually started to smile. Later, clothes and jewelry were sent in like a flowing stream. In other people's eyes, the Third Aunt doted on the daughter... But all of this was earned by the daughter herself through hard work.
Although the girl was at least not taken as a concubine by the third son-in-law and elevated to the status of a noble concubine, when will this turmoil ever end?
Qingxing and Qingmei were a little younger than Anran. The two little girls sat at the door, resting their chins on their hands, their little faces showing a faint sadness, which looked rather comical.
An Ran, who was in the room, had no idea what the two young girls were thinking.
She was staring intently at the handkerchief in front of her, and her fingers began to tremble uncontrollably.
This handkerchief...this handkerchief is not the one she lost!
An Ran remembered clearly that the lotus petals on the corner of her handkerchief were pinkish-white, and the stamens were embroidered with pale yellow silk thread. On this handkerchief, the pinkish-white of the lotus petals was a deeper shade, and the silk thread for the stamens was a pale yellow.
The two handkerchiefs are very similar, with only slight differences in the silk threads, which are almost imperceptible without close inspection.
Moreover, An Ran carefully touched the texture of the handkerchief. This one was not as soft as her previous one. Her previous handkerchief had been washed twice, while this one was obviously brand new.
Having realized this, An Ran became even more on edge.
What exactly is Chen Qian trying to do?
He kept the handkerchief he had lost, but sent over one that was almost identical. What was he thinking?
An Ran was unwilling to think about it further, nor did she dare to.
In this life, she is a noblewoman, while Chen Qian is still the son of a merchant. How dare he covet her!
She thought she would never have anything to do with Chen Qian again, but unexpectedly, they met again in front of the Stele Forest.
Despite her reluctance, An Ran had to admit that Chen Qian had probably developed feelings for her again. In her previous life, Chen Qian could take a liking to An Ran, a girl from a poor family; why couldn't he take a liking to An Jiu Niang, a girl from a noble family, in this life?
Just thinking about this possibility makes An Ran tremble with fear, even in this June weather.
Isn't it enough that she's really afraid of him?
She didn't want to dwell on the grudges of her past life; she just wanted to live this life well, and she absolutely couldn't have anything to do with Chen Qian again!
An Ran pondered deeply, but found herself completely clueless.
Since Chen Qian was able to deliver this handkerchief to her, he must have thoroughly figured out her background. However, she knew nothing about Chen Qian's movements, or even what he was doing or where he was at that moment.
How should she respond to such a one-sided situation?
She was, after all, a concubine's daughter of a marquis. Even if Chen Qian had designs on her, was he guaranteed to marry her? As far as he knew, the Nan'an Marquis's mansion had no connection to the Chen family of Jiangnan. He came from a merchant family, and even if he was a royal merchant, so what? Could he really just walk up to the marquis's mansion and ask for her hand in marriage?
Thinking this way, An Ran's tense nerves finally relaxed a little.
No, she had also met Chen Qian's mother, Madam Ding, the matriarch of the Chen family, in this life—An Ran's heart leaped into her throat again.
Consort Li!
Ding had visited the Prince Yi's residence before, and the person she was looking for was Consort Li. Moreover, An Ran had seen Ding at the Prince's residence more than once, so it's likely that she had already made contact with Consort Li!
Did the Ding family know about these things?
Did Chen Qian ever ask Ms. Ding if she had feelings for him?
Was Chen Qian's encounter with her in the Stele Forest that day accidental or inevitable? What role did Consort Li play in all of this? And how much did Yunlan know?
An Ran felt her mind was in complete turmoil and she couldn't make sense of it all at once.
She had to stay calm; she couldn't afford to lose her composure! An Ran repeatedly reminded herself that she was finally about to leave Chen Yuan's residence in Prince Yi's mansion. Was she really going to fall into another quagmire?
She would never allow such a thing to happen!
An Ran covered her reddened eyes with her hands. She absolutely, absolutely refused to accept her fate!
*******
Before dinner, Third Sister was worried about Anran, so she went to the east wing to check on her.
"Ninth Sister, does your injury hurt?" Third Sister felt guilty, as it was because of her that Ninth Sister suffered these injuries. She asked with concern, "If you are not feeling well, please don't force yourself. Call the imperial physician to take a good look at you."
An Ran is no longer seriously ill. She came back in the afternoon saying that she was just feeling unwell because she was upset and wanted to be alone.