Wolf-Raised Cub with a Space: Surviving the Disaster Years
Chapter 165: Langlang Can Speak
"He’s recovering very well," the Shopkeeper said hurriedly. "Wuer has also been very good. He’s much better these past few days and even helps out with chores occasionally. I tell him to rest, but he won’t listen."
As he spoke, the Shopkeeper glanced toward the back courtyard. "He just lay down to rest. You should go see him, Miss."
Shen Ningning thanked him and headed for the back courtyard.
Wuer was indeed doing much better. Though he still had splints on his body, he was currently dangling his little feet from a lounge chair, enjoying the refreshing autumn breeze. He looked utterly content.
"Wuer, I’m here to see you!"
"Sister Ningning!" Wuer sat up in pleasant surprise. He sniffed the air. "Something smells delicious."
Shen Ningning gave a sweet smile. "You’ve got a good nose. I brought some food for everyone. I wanted to bring you your portion first, and I’ll take some to the uncles in a bit."
She lifted the lids off two food containers, revealing a bowl of pale white noodles drizzled with a spoonful of warm sauce.
Wuer mixed it up and immediately began to dig in with relish.
Seeing that he looked like he’d put on a little weight, Shen Ningning knew he was recovering well and felt much more at ease.
She let Wuer eat while she took a packet of Aconite to the front to talk business with the Shopkeeper.
However, without even looking at it, the Shopkeeper said, "Miss, I can’t accept this for now. The noble person’s condition has improved recently, so they haven’t finished the Aconite from last time."
Shen Ningning paused for a moment, then broke into a pure, innocent smile. "That’s alright. If he can make a full recovery, that’s a wonderful thing."
After a little while, Shen Ningning chatted with Wuer for a bit longer before leaving to visit the group of refugees.
Watching her small figure recede into the distance, the pharmacy manager heaved a heavy sigh.
In truth, he was only refusing Shen Ningning’s herbs because he was following the orders of his older brother, the Dean of the Imperial Hospital.
His brother’s stern voice still echoed in his ears. ’Back when Consort Li was in favor, I did a lot of her dirty work. Now that she’s fallen, I have to find a way to cut all ties with her. Otherwise, if the Emperor decides to settle old scores, his investigation will eventually lead to me. Consort Li must die.’
’Brother, what do you plan to do?’
Doctor Fang had mulled it over for a moment, his gaze turning vicious. ’The one thing the Emperor cannot tolerate is any harm coming to the Crown Prince. In that case, I’ll use that to my advantage and frame Consort Li. You see, Aconite can save lives, but it can also take them!’
The Shopkeeper had been startled at the time. ’But wouldn’t that implicate Shen Ningning?’
Doctor Fang had shot him a look, his tone sinister. ’My own life is on the line, and you’re worried about someone else? If I’m condemned, you won’t get off easy, either!’
Thinking of all this, the pharmacy manager could only sigh again and again.
He was powerless to stop his brother, and he couldn’t warn Shen Ningning either.
’What a waste of such fine herbs,’ he thought. ’They’re all top-quality, the real thing.’
...
「Meanwhile, in Shu State, the day was calm and sunny.」
A recent rain had brought a moment of respite to the people of Shu State.
In a quiet courtyard tucked away in a deep alley, the doors were shut tight. If you didn’t listen closely, you wouldn’t have heard the faint sound of crying from within.
"Prime Minister, I was wrong! I beg you, please don’t harm the child," a young woman pleaded, kneeling on the ground and kowtowing.
Sitting before her was Prime Minister Xie Suzhi, his expression as cold and grim as frost.
The Hidden Guard beside him held a swaddled infant, dangling its head over a wok of boiling oil.
A moment ago, the baby had been crying nonstop. Now, it had likely cried itself out and fainted.
Its little face was a purplish-red from the rush of blood.
Xie Suzhi’s voice was chilling. "You took my silver, yet you lost my child. Did you think that by changing your name and going into hiding, I wouldn’t be able to find you?"
"Look at your son. He was born not long ago, wasn’t he? You get to be by his side, but my child, because of your carelessness, has been separated from me for years."
"If you don’t tell me exactly how my daughter was lost that day, I will make you feel the pain of being separated from your own child."
As a mother herself, the sight made the maid’s heart seize with terror. Her whole body trembled. "Prime Minister, whatever you want to know, I’ll tell you everything!"
Xie Suzhi asked, "The day you took my daughter away, what color was her swaddling cloth? Was there any kind of token on her?"
The maid shook her head. "There was no token. The swaddling cloth was made of a small floral print fabric. There was nothing else."
Xie Suzhi’s gaze was profound. "Do you remember any of my daughter’s distinguishing features?"
The maid lowered her gaze. After a moment of seeming thought, she shook her head decisively. "My lady was fair and lovely from birth. She had no special features."
Xie Suzhi was silent for a long time. The maid trembled with growing dread.
Suddenly, he spoke, his voice merciless. "Throw her child into the oil."
The maid’s head shot up, her eyes nearly splitting from rage and terror. Her bound hands struggled frantically. "No! Please, my lord, no!"
The Hidden Guard began to lower the infant. When the child was half an inch from the boiling oil, Xie Suzhi called a halt.
He rose to his feet, staring down at her icily.
In that moment, he wasn’t the cold, unfeeling Iron-faced Prime Minister, but a father driven to the brink of madness in the search for his own daughter.
"I warned you not to lie. I’ll ask you one more time: does my daughter have any distinguishing features? Speak!"
The maid, terrified he would actually be so heartless as to throw her child into the oil, cried out, "Yes, there is! My lady... she had a Ruyi charm. The mistress had me go buy it myself."
"A Ruyi?" Xie Suzhi had the Hidden Guard make a note. "Describe it."
"It has a lotus pattern... and it’s made of silver," the maid choked out between sobs.
Xie Suzhi’s gaze turned frigid. "If that’s the case, why didn’t you tell me this before? You served beside Lady Xin. My wife and I treated you well."
"Do you have any idea how much you’ve delayed me from finding her by withholding this information!"
Kneeling on the floor, tears streamed down the maid’s face. "Someone ordered me not to speak of it, or my whole family would be killed. I have a child now... I don’t want to bring a death sentence upon us."
"Who gave you that order?"
The maid spoke a name.
A flicker of stunned disbelief flashed across Xie Suzhi’s otherwise calm and composed face.
「A moment later.」
The driver waiting at the door was startled to see the Prime Minister kick the door open and stride out, his face dark.
The driver quickly sat up straight. "My lord, where to next?"
"Back to the Capital City!" At Xie Suzhi’s command, the guards cleared a path, and the carriage set off at a gallop toward the Capital City.
...
That evening, after dinner, Shen Ningning sat with Grandma Qin on the covered veranda.
The two of them, grandmother and granddaughter, gazed at the moon together, sipping hot tea and nibbling on soft, delicious date-paste cakes.
Lang Si kept sniffing the air nearby, his mouth watering. He didn’t dare snatch a cake, so he just stared pitifully at Grandma Qin.
Grandma Qin chuckled and handed him two cakes, then said to Shen Ningning, "Ningning, you should give the Black Wolf King a couple as well."
’Can’t show favoritism,’ she thought. ’They’re both Grandma’s beloved, chubby wolves.’
The Black Wolf King, lying at Shen Ningning’s feet, suddenly said, "Don’t want it. Too sweet."
The little girl relayed the message. "Grandma, Langlang says it’s too sweet. He doesn’t want it."
Suddenly!
Shen Ningning and Grandma Qin both froze, whipping their heads around in unison to stare at the Black Wolf King.
The entire wolf pack’s eyes went wide, every single one of them staring at him.
Wolf Three was utterly astonished. "Did I hear that right? Wolf Father just spoke human words!"
The moment he said it, he yelped and leaped into the air in fright. "Did I just speak human words too?"
The Black Wolf King couldn’t believe it either. The words had just come out so naturally.
He hesitantly opened his mouth and once again let out a low, deep, "Hmm?"
The entire pack was floored!
He could really talk.
Shen Ningning leaped to her feet, crying out in delight, "Langlang, you can talk!"