0p0 Chapter 604 Murong Xianglan
Chapter 604 Murong Xianglan
The prince gently stroked the little girl's head, and when she relaxed a little, he asked softly, "What's your name?"
The little girl shook her head and still didn't speak.
"How old are you, then?"
"Do you know where home is? Who are your relatives back home?"
The little girl kept shaking her head, her eyes dimming.
The prince smelled the faint scent of ointment on the little girl and stopped asking questions. He asked Ranchun and Ranxia to take the little girl back to his room and instructed her, "Make some nutritious and easy-to-digest porridge."
After leading the three away, the prince's face immediately turned cold. "Go check! This child must be related to the owner of the manor at the foot of the mountain. Go check! Find out whose family this child is from!"
Yun En quickly responded.
The only place the little girl could climb to halfway up the mountain was the villa at the foot of the nearest mountain, and those villas were owned by someone, and only the rich or noble could own them.
The prince only owns half of the manor at the foot of the mountain. As for the rest, one can roughly know the truth by checking who the owner of the manor is.
In just two days, the prince had found out the identity of the little girl.
In the past two days, Ranchun and Ranxia accompanied the little girl day and night. Ranxia reported to the prince that the little girl would cry and talk in her sleep at night, which proved that she was not mute at all.
The prince was not in a hurry and asked someone to find a pure white Persian kitten. Its emerald eyes and cute appearance immediately captured the little girl's heart. She had let down most of her vague defenses in the past two days. She would not starve or be beaten here, and she had two beautiful sisters to take care of her and apply medicine to her. Even the tall brother doted on her. When Xiaobai jumped to his feet and didn't dare to move, he ran over and hugged Xiaobai, and the tall brother was not angry at all.
She despised Xiaobai for being as timid as a mouse. Didn't he know he was a cat? Why did he act like a mouse when he saw his brother? He didn't dare to move.
The little girl looked at the prince's expression, squatted down, picked up Xiaobai, and carefully glanced at the prince. She looked at the prince's gentle smile and smiled back. The smile was as bright as the sun. Then she ran to the side with the little white cat and started playing.
The prince had an idea and asked someone to bring him paper and pen. He watched the man and the cat playing together and began to draw stroke by stroke.
When the prince showed the painting to the little girl, the little girl's eyes brightened. The prince's painting showed the little girl squatting at his feet holding a cat. The girl looked away with her bright eyes, but she was holding the little white cat in her wrist.
The prince smiled and said, "Here you go!"
The little girl slowly stood up, then bent her knees and bowed to the prince seriously.
The prince joked, "Let me give you a nickname first! When I first met you, you were just a little clay cat! How about calling you Ni Ni?"
Ni Ni didn't think the name was anything special and immediately nodded happily.
After Ni Ni was taken away by Ran Chun, the prince's face turned stern, "Have you found out? Tell me!"
The kneeling subordinates immediately spoke up, "This child's name is Murong Xianglan. She's the daughter of Murong Cheng, a fourth-rank official in the Imperial City and a junior minister of the Imperial Household! Miss Murong's background is somewhat complicated. Murong Cheng is the eldest son in the family. His first wife was pregnant with three children. The first was a pair of twin sisters, one of whom died at the age of three. She is Miss Murong II. The second was a boy, Murong Cheng's eldest son. The third is Miss Murong III—Murong Xianglan! She was a posthumous child. Her mother, Qin, died of a hemorrhage when she gave birth to Miss Murong III, three years after her eldest son. Before she died, she named the newborn daughter—'Yuanzhi Xianglan, Xishui Ruyan!' The eldest daughter will be named Zhilan, and the youngest will be named Xianglan! But within a hundred days of Qin's death, Murong Cheng married his second wife, Ji!"
"It was only half a year after Ji's marriage that she gave birth to her and Murong Cheng's first daughter, the Fourth Miss Murong! She is the same age as the Third Miss Murong! The eldest Miss Murong was already nine years old. Before she got married, she had been taking care of her younger sister. The eldest son of Murong was a male heir, so Old Madam Murong had been raising him by her side, not letting Ji interfere. After the eldest Miss Murong got married, she was later transferred out of the imperial city with her husband. Even though she left two old maids to the Third Miss, she couldn't stand the stubborn harassment of the mistress Ji. The people around the Third Miss were eliminated or driven away one by one. Ji couldn't reach the eldest son of Murong, so she could only take action against the Third Miss. Murong Cheng was a confused person in the inner house. Old Madam Murong must have fought with Ji for many years, and they must have reached a tacit understanding to protect the eldest grandson and give up the Third Miss!"
"The Third Young Lady was exiled to this remote suburban farm. As the second daughter of the firstborn, all her resources fell to the two daughters of the Ji family! The Ji family hadn't yet given birth to a son, which might be why they were teaching their daughters to be close to Murong's eldest son! Murong's eldest son is indeed closer to his two half-sisters, and he thought the Third Young Lady came to this farm just to learn the rules. Little did he know that there were only two maids sent by the Ji family to torture the Third Young Lady daily. Under the guise of teaching, the maids routinely beat and scolded her, and withheld her food! The Third Young Lady had been here for only six months when she couldn't hold on. As far as I know, she found an opportunity to sneak out. The two maids searched for her at the foot of the mountain for a few days before giving up. Fearing punishment from the Ji family, they dared not speak out. They planned to send a letter to the Ji family shortly after, saying that the Third Young Lady had died of illness. So, Young Master, at this moment, no one in the Murong family knew that the Third Young Lady was missing, nor did they know her condition or whether she was still alive or dead!
"I have already controlled those two women, Master, please see..."
The Crown Prince's aura was terrifyingly low. He couldn't help but slam his palm on the table. "How ridiculous! The legitimate daughter of a fourth-rank official actually...actually lives worse than the children of ordinary people! This Murong Cheng!"
"Have someone watch over those two maids and have them deliver the letter to the Ji family as usual! Don't leak the news. Find out where Miss Murong's husband has taken up his post and when he will be back! No one in the Murong family is reliable. We can't send Murong Xianglan back now! We can only wait for her, the eldest sister, to return to the imperial city with her husband! But now, with Miss Murong Xianglan's status as an official, we definitely can't send her to Qingciyuan again! Let her stay here for a while!"
Perhaps it was because the Crown Prince was about to become a father, but the thought of a child being treated this way filled him with pity. He felt even more disgusted with the Murong family! Murong Cheng was even more despicable! He had married a new wife only a hundred days after his wife's death, and the new wife had given birth less than six months after their marriage. It was obvious that he had been having an affair with Ji Shi for a long time!