791 The Truth Back Then

That night, everyone stayed in the Lan family’s courtyard. This courtyard was a little dilapidated, but there were many rooms. Other than Yan Jiuchao, Yu Wan, and the three little lads who stayed in the same room, almost everyone else was assigned their own room.

Other than… Shadow Six and Shadow Thirteen.

Qing Yan smiled awkwardly. “I’m sorry. I have too much luggage. One of the rooms has been vacated to store my luggage. It’s been hard on the two of you to squeeze into the same room.”

Shadow Thirteen frowned and grabbed Qing Yan’s arm. “Move to Ah Wei’s room to sleep, or Yue Gou’s side.”

!!
Qing Yan curled his lips and said, “Yue Gou snores, and Ah Wei grinds his teeth. If you want to go, go yourself! I’m not going!”

Shadow Thirteen’s eyes turned cold. “You…”

Shadow Six walked over and pulled Shadow Thirteen back. “Aiya, alright, alright. Isn’t it just a room? It’s not like we’ve never stayed before. In the Young Master Manor and Prince Yan Manor, aren’t we both in the same room?”

Qing Yan raised his eyebrows and smiled. “That’s right.” With that, he whistled and left.

Shadow Thirteen’s face darkened. Shadow Six glanced at him and muttered, “Why? You’re unwilling to stay in the same room as me? Then I’ll move in with Qing Yan.”

“You’re not allowed to go!” Shadow Thirteen said.

Shadow Six: “Oh.”

Qing Yan had already walked under the roof. He turned his head and made a face at Shadow Thirteen. Shadow Thirteen slapped over. Coincidentally, Asura passed by and Qing Yan jumped onto his back.

The wind from a palm that was powerful enough to shatter mountain rocks brushed past Asura’s face. Asura calmly looked at his hair that was blown up and calmly returned to his room to sleep.

Shadow Thirteen and Shadow Six returned to their room. After washing up, they lay on the cold and hard bed. The two of them were sacrificial soldiers and did not covet pleasure. Even after following a master like Yan Jiuchao, they had never been greedy in their daily lives.

However, this bed seemed to be too small. Shadow Thirteen slept on the outside, and half of his body was stretched out of the bed.

When Shadow Six found out, he wanted to pull him in. “Don’t fall.”

“I won’t,” Shadow Thirteen said expressionlessly.

Shadow Six yawned.

Shadow Thirteen said coldly, “Don’t move!”

“I didn’t.” Shadow Six moved again.

Shadow Thirteen hesitated and looked at the dark top of the bed.

“Don’t you realize it’s so cold?” Shadow Six whispered.

Shadow Thirteen said seriously, “The Nether Capital is damp. The mattress is probably damp.”

“No wonder it’s so cold!” Shadow Six hugged Shadow Thirteen and rested his head on his shoulder.

Shadow Thirteen: “You…”

“Phew ~” Shadow Six fell asleep.

Shadow Thirteen closed his eyes and sighed helplessly. He also pulled the blanket over to sleep.

The baby goat was settled in the backyard. Ah Wei specially built a shed for it. Then, when he was cooking goat milk for Asura and his useless disciples, he also cooked an extra bowl for the newborn little fellow. Yu Wan took it and fed it to the little fellow.

This child was extremely obedient and had never disturbed his mother. Otherwise, with their current situation, the little maidservant and an old nanny would probably be too busy.

“Good boy.” Yu Wan tapped the little fellow’s cheek and placed him beside Zi Yan.

Zi Yan looked at Yu Wan gratefully and choked as she said, “Thank you, Miss.”

Yu Wan smiled and tucked her in. “Go to sleep. Someone will take care of him when he wakes up in the middle of the night.”

“Okay.” Zi Yan could not be more moved. After coming to the Lan family for so long, her days were actually not difficult. The Young Master treated her extremely well, but the Lan family was suppressed everywhere and her masters were killed one after another. She was always living in fear. Suddenly, there was someone else in this family. When she heard the laughter of the little masters and the laughter of the few strong men, she felt an unprecedented peace in her heart.

Suddenly… she wasn’t afraid anymore.

Zi Yan fell asleep.

The mother and son slept soundly. Yu Wan went to her room. The three little munchkins were sitting in the basins taking a bath. Yan Jiuchao looked at them domineeringly. Even though he had become the Ghost King, this man was still the best father in the world.

Yu Wan laughed and did not go in to disturb the intimate time of the four of them. She turned around and went to Madam Lan’s room.

Just as Madam Lan was about to rest, she heard a knock on the door and said, “Come in.”

Yu Wan pushed open the door and saw that Madam Lan had already sat on the bed. She was clearly preparing to rest, so she said, “I came to see if you were asleep and if there’s anything else I need to do.”

Madam Lan had been the head of the family for many years, so how could she not have this bit of judgment? The girl had clearly come to ask her something. Madam Lan smiled kindly. “I’m old and can’t sleep even if I lie down. Come and talk to me.”

“Okay.” Yu Wan closed the door and sat down by the bed.

Madam Lan raised her hand to stroke Yu Wan’s temples and sighed emotionally. “All these years, I’ve been living in hatred and have never been an elder properly. Zi Yan is afraid of me, they’re all afraid of me.”

Yu Wan said, “Second Grand-aunt had no choice.”

“That’s right. In the face of a great enemy, if I don’t keep reminding myself, I’m afraid that I won’t be able to withstand it one day,” Madam Lan said. She put down the hand that was stroking her temples and held her wrist instead. “If I’m no longer around one day, Zi Yan and the others…”

Yu Wan interrupted her. “Second Grand-aunt, don’t say such things. You’ll live a long life!”

Madam Lan smiled. “Okay, okay. I will live a long life. Tell me, what do you want to ask me in the middle of the night?”

Yu Wan said, “Actually, it’s nothing. I just wanted to come over and hear you talk about Great-Grandma again. Great-Grandma passed away when Consort Yun was very young. I want to know more and tell her later.”

At the mention of her mother, a trace of pride appeared in Madam Lan’s eyes. “Your great-grandmother is the Saintess of the Lan family. Her matters can’t be explained in a few words. The daughter of the Lan family got married late. You don’t know how glorious your great-grandmother was back then. The people who came to propose marriage almost broke the threshold. However, your great-grandmother is someone who wants to be the head of the family. She’s destined to be unable to get married. If not for that…”

At this point, Madam Lan suddenly paused.

Yu Wan looked at her in confusion. “If not, what’s wrong?”

Madam Lan had no intention of mentioning this to her juniors, but she found it difficult to refuse Yu Wan’s eager gaze.

She hesitated for a while and said, “Back then, the Sikong Clan also came to ask to marry your great-grandmother. As you know, the Sikong Clan is from the royal family of the Nether Capital, so they naturally can’t marry into the Lan family. But your great-grandmother was also unwilling to marry over, so the marriage between the two families was left unsettled. Not long after, your great-grandmother had her first marriage, which was with me and my sister’s father. However, my father passed away early.”

“Was it… an accident or died of illness?” Yu Wan asked.

“Neither.” Madam Lan lowered her eyes and paused. “He offended the Sikong Clan and was executed.”

Yu Wan was stunned. Even the Saintess’ husband could be executed. Did the Sikong Clan really not do it on purpose?

Madam Lan sighed. “Your great-grandmother came to ask for an explanation, but in the end, she accidentally killed an illegitimate son of the Sikong Clan. Although he’s an illegitimate son, he’s still of the Sikong Clan’s bloodline. The Sikong Clan raised a condition. If your great-grandmother is willing to marry into the Sikong Clan, this debt will be written off. If not, then they’ll do it according to the rules.”

“It’s a scheme, right?” Yu Wan said.

Madam Lan nodded. “Your great-grandmother thought so too, so she escaped. On the way…” Yu Wan looked at her steadily. Madam Lan closed her eyes. “Nothing. Some rumors are not enough to be believed.”

Yu Wan touched her chin. Something must have happened on the way for her great-grandmother to escape, and it was something that was unreasonable.

Yu Wan thought of something and said, “However, why are the Sikong Clan so obsessed with Great-Grandma? She’s already married and has given birth to two children with her husband. Does the Sikong Clan not care?”

Madam Lan sneered. “How can they not care? However, in order to obtain the bloodline of the Saintess, the Sikong Clan couldn’t care less. You must be very puzzled about the benefits of the bloodline of the Saintess. One of them was that it could be used as a medicinal primer. However, the Sikong Clan and the bloodline of the Saintess never seem to be able to fuse.”

Yu Wan looked at Madam Lan. “Why do you say that?”

Madam Lan recalled and said, “The Lan family’s ancestors had a Saintess, but the Lan family wasn’t the only descendant of the Saintess. In the early years, there were other Saintesses in the Nether Capital, and they were all married back to the Sikong Clan. But guess what? They just couldn’t give birth to a bloodline with the Sikong Clan. As time passed, their descendants were cut off. Now, only the Lan family still has the bloodline of the Saintess. In order to protect the bloodline of the Saintess, the Lan family has always kept a distance from the Sikong Clan.”

“It’s strange that there’s a rule of marrying into the family. This is also to prevent the Sikong Clan from forcefully marrying her, right? After all, the Sikong Clan is from the royal family. How can they be someone’s live-in son-in-law?” Yu Wan thought of something and said, “But… what if the Lan family’s Saintess and the Sikong Clan have descendants?”

Madam Lan smiled and shook her head. “That’s impossible. The bloodline of the Sikong Clan can’t fuse with the Saintess. Even if they do, they’ll die not long after they’re born.”

“What if?” Yu Wan asked.

“What if?” Madam Lan looked at the most eye-catching stars in the night sky. “That will be the most noble bloodline in the Nether Capital. Even the Saintess can’t compare to it.”