Chapter 30: Xu Qingyan and Kong Shuyin (5)
When Li Zhiwei saw Niannian, she found the girls chatting and laughing as though nothing had happened, apparently unaffected by what her foolish son had just done. Only then did she let out a sigh of relief.
But when she saw Kong Shuyin, her heart gave a start.
Thinking of what her son had just done, Li Zhiwei sighed and hurried over to take Kong Shuyin’s hand.
“When did you arrive in the capital, Shuyin?”
“Auntie, I just got here myself.” Seeing Li Zhiwei, Kong Shuyin answered somewhat sheepishly.
She had only just arrived in the capital and had been so focused on finding out where Xu Qingyan was that she had forgotten to pay her respects to the elders.
“Oh, An'an is a thoughtless child. Don’t take anything he said to heart.” Li Zhiwei knew that this girl was fond of her foolish son.
All she could do was say a few good words on her son’s behalf. She couldn’t let this girl run off, or her son would end up a bachelor for the rest of his life.
“Auntie, An'an’s words were only spoken in the heat of the moment. I know that. It’s just that what he said was really hurtful to Sister Niannian. He deserves to be taught a lesson.” Kong Shuyin felt not the slightest bit sorry for An'an. After all, she had been beaten plenty of times by her own mother growing up.
“What a good child.” Li Zhiwei had not expected Kong Shuyin to still speak up for An'an at a time like this.
“Auntie, what An'an said to Sister Niannian was truly too hurtful. You must make sure he remembers this lesson.”
When Li Zhiwei saw her daughter, she looked at her with concern. “Niannian, your brother was being ridiculous. Your father will deal with him. Are you all right?”
“Mother, I’m fine.” Niannian had not originally felt particularly wronged, but when her mother asked her that, her eyes suddenly reddened.
She had been angry when her brother said those things, but she had not really taken them to heart. After all, she knew the truth of the matter better than anyone. She had endured far worse during her time in Jiangnan. Words as insignificant as these could not hurt her that deeply.
What hurt most was that they had come from An'an.
“Mother, why did Third Brother say something like that?” Niannian suddenly remembered how An'an had abruptly flown into a rage and shouted at her.
That was not like An'an at all. After all, she was the only girl in the family, and he had always indulged her.
Li Zhiwei was taken aback at first. Then she glanced at the two girls, who were still holding hands affectionately, and asked uncertainly, “Could he have been jealous?”
“Jealous?” Niannian’s eyes widened as though she had just heard the most ridiculous joke in the world. Pointing at herself, she asked, “Me?”
Niannian truly could not understand. Was there something wrong with An'an’s eyes? Jealous of her?
“Mother, did something go wrong when you gave birth to him?” Niannian looked at Li Zhiwei suspiciously.
Otherwise, why was An'an not only missing a few screws, but jealous of her as well? It wasn’t as if she could steal his beloved from him.
At that thought, Niannian glanced at Kong Shuyin, who was still holding her hand affectionately.
Then she seemed to realize something.
“Mother, could An'an have gotten jealous just because Shuyin took my hand, and tried to ruin my reputation because of it?” Niannian’s eyes widened in disbelief. Could An'an really have gone that far over something so trivial?
“What? Is even this not allowed?” Frightened, Kong Shuyin hurriedly let go of Niannian’s hand.
She felt terribly uneasy.
Had she caused trouble just by holding Sister Niannian’s hand?
The more she thought about it, the more anxious Kong Shuyin became. What if Auntie now thought she was a troublemaker and refused to approve her marriage to An'an?
“It’s not your fault. An'an is simply too narrow-minded.” Li Zhiwei smiled awkwardly.
Prince An’s Residence
“Father, am I really your biological son?” An'an shouted indignantly from where he was tied to a chair.
He could not understand how his father could bring himself to hit him so hard.
“When you publicly humiliated your own sister like that, did you ever think about the fact that she was your sister?” Xu Heming said, raising the whip and striking him again.
“Father, I was just angry.” An'an gritted his teeth. He naturally knew that what he had said had gone too far.
He had regretted it the moment the words left his mouth.
But words were like water poured from a basin. Once spoken, they could not be taken back.
“Father, I was wrong. I was just angry. Why does Shuyin like my sister more than she likes me?” An'an grew more and more aggrieved as he spoke. The more he thought about it, the more unwilling he became.
Xu Heming had been about to swing the whip again, but he froze.
He cursed inwardly. So after all that, the brat had simply been jealous.
He sympathized with An'an, of course. But the person An'an had insulted was his daughter. Sympathy was one thing—he could ignore it when An'an insulted someone else. But insulting his own daughter was another matter entirely.
“Father, do you know how hard it is to find someone you love? I finally found someone, and her heart belongs entirely to my sister! What exactly am I lacking compared to her? Sob…”
An'an continued to wail and complain.
Xu Qingshi and Pingping had heard what happened and hurried over. When they arrived, they found An'an crying so hard that his nose was running, complaining tearfully about how unfair Xu Heming was being to him.
“Big Brother, what foolish thing has this idiot done now?” Pingping asked Xu Qingshi uncertainly.
“Don’t worry. Second Brother is Father’s biological son too. Father only wants to teach him a lesson.” Xu Qingshi rubbed his forehead.
He could not understand it either. Their second brother was exceptionally clever, while their third brother seemed to be missing a few screws. An'an had been beaten more times than anyone could count since childhood.
“But this is the first time I’ve ever seen him cry like that. What stupid thing did he do this time?” Pingping asked again, unable to hide his concern.
“Why don’t you go take his punishment for him?” Xu Qingshi asked with a faint, meaningful smile.
“No, thank you.” Pingping hurriedly shook his head. He wasn’t stupid.
“Big Brother, Second Brother, save me! Father is going to beat me to death!” An'an cried out as soon as he spotted his two brothers standing nearby.
“Father, stop hitting him. If you hurt him, Mother will feel sorry for him again,” Xu Qingshi said with a light cough before pleading on An'an’s behalf.
“Hmph. Your mother said I only need to avoid his face!” Xu Heming glared at Xu Qingshi unhappily, looking very much as if he would beat him too if he said another word.
“Father, what did he do this time to make you so angry?” Pingping asked, utterly baffled.
“Ask him!” The moment Xu Heming thought of how An'an had tried to make Niannian suffer such public humiliation, he wanted nothing more than to beat the brat to death.
“I…I only said a few things about my sister because I was angry. I didn’t mean it! Sob…” An'an cried out, full of regret.
The two brothers, who had initially felt sorry for him, exchanged a glance. Then they both turned to An'an, their expressions suddenly wary.
“What did you say to Niannian?”
“I…I only told the Third Prince to take his woman away…”
The angrier his two brothers looked, the softer An'an’s voice became.
He was filled with regret. How could he have forgotten that the two of them were every bit as protective of Niannian as their father was?
