Chapter 280: A Visit to the Past
"By the way, father, did you grow up in this General's residence when you were a child?" An Qing Ran asked with a look of curiosity.
"Of course, I was born here and grown up to the man in this General's Mansion." An Zhongtao smiled, his eyes fulled with memories.
An Qingran asked again, "At that time, were there more people in the General's residence than there are now?"
" Speaking of which, it was about the same."
"The old mama and maids from that time are all sixty years old now, aren't they, where are they all now and why haven't they remained in the General's house?"
"Why are you asking this, you child?" Lian Jin Yu asked with a smile.
"Just curious ah, the General's house is the house of the rich and powerful. I just thought we have always been generous to our underlings, why are there no old people in the General's house, I originally thought they had gone back to the countryside with Grandma, but this time Grandma brought all middle aged Mamas, apparently, those people are not with Grandma either ......"
"I think about it, the mamas and servants when I was young are indeed in their sixties or seventies now, right? But they didn't stay in the General's Mansion all the time. As far back as I can remember, the General's Mansion changed a batch of slaves every two years. It wasn't until your grandma left the General's Mansion that we didn't continue to change people, so there are some old people left in the mansion..."
An Qingran didn't speak.
An Zhongtao frowned: "Are you really just asking this out of curiosity?"
"I just want to know the history of our General's house, so that when I am in the palace, I can also ask the historian to compile the lineage and see if we, the An family, are qualified enough."
"Qingran, you're thinking too far. I don't think this matter should be done. We should keep a low profile. It's obviously inappropriate to think about these things before you enter the palace." An Zhongtao said seriously.
An Qingran nodded in agreement.
When An Qingran said this, An Zhongtao was very happy, and felt that she still had An Jia in her heart.
An Qing Ran did not get specific information from the General, but she could see a hint. This old lady changed her servants once every two or three years, which was probably rare in the capital. What was the reason for her doing this?
An Qingran decided to start an investigation.
She askedRenDong to check if there were any "fish that slipped through the net" in the mansion. Let her check all the servants, those who are elderly, those who have served the old lady, or those who came to the General's residence when the General was a child, all count.
After checking and investigating, Rendong came back and told her that she had not found a single servant, and that the earliest servant girl to join the house was when the General was in her teens.
An Qing Ran was not in a hurry, she sat in the courtyard and wondered where she would find the evidence.
It was twenty years ago that her grandmother and uncle left after her own father inherited the General's Residence and a lot of events have changed. Fortunately that the General's Residence is in the capital, otherwise, she wouldn't really know where to look for evidence.
She couldn't go out, so she had to wait for the Crown Prince to come.
Dongfang Jin really lived up to her expectations and came to see her in the evening, and brought her some new jewellery, saying that they were made in the palace. An Qing Ran then laughed bitterly and said did he intend to let everyone know that they were secretly seeing each other?
Dongfang Jin said he just saw a good one and thought of her.
But in the end, she didn't accept it and let him take it back. For An Qing Ran's cautiousness, Dong Fang Jin was half helpless and half admiring.
When An Qingran asked him to help, the prince naturally obliged. After the two of them finished talking about their business, Dongfang Jin's eyes were full of enthusiasm again, and he was also surprised to find that the pimples on An Qingran's face had become smaller, and he couldn't help but look happy, sort of happy for her.
An Qing Ran then asked him jokingly if he still cared a little about her looks.
Dongfang Jin raised his eyebrows, and An Qingran looked at his anxious look and felt a sweet sigh in her heart, how fortunate she was.
However, the two of them continued to be affectionate and did not overstep their bounds.
*****
Inside the palace.
Shu Guifei was feeding the parrot, her expression was nothing special, Dongfang Ye came in with a look of anger on his face: "That Dongfang Jin really doesn't know what to think, marrying an ugly monster and being happy all day and night."
"That's his business. Obviously if either he really likes An Qing Ran, or his scheming is so deep that he has finally married the daughter of the General guarding the country ......" Shu Guifei said quietly.
"So what, I just don't believe that if he marries An Qing Ran, the General will disregard this Shu born(concubine born)......"
"How can one care, if your father cares for you, how can that throne be the turn of the crown prince who has a bad reputation, the status is important ......"Shu Guifei sighed, "I advise you to be more stable these days, if the crown prince succeeds the throne in one go, we all have a bad life."
Dongfang Ye stopped talking, he thought he was handsome and powerful, how could he be no match for that sick crown prince?
"He has been ill, whether he can succeed the throne or not is still a mystery." Dongfang Ye finally said viciously.
Shu Guifei laughed, " "It's really up for discussion. Anything can happen, can't it?"
Their mother and son were discussing this matter, and Dongfang
Ye had resentment, but was unwilling to risk marrying An Qingran, so he was dissatisfied in his heart that his mouth was not fair, but he could only do so, even as he waited to see the joke.
*****
An Qingran went out of the mansion door, only to invite an old woman into the mansion.
Lian Jingyu knew about this, but did not know what exactly An Qingran was going to do.
Qiuwu courtyard.
An Qingran saw Mama Huang walk in trembling and immediately went forward to help her, "Granny, slow down."
"I'm fine, although I'm seventy-two now, I'm not deaf or blind, but my legs and feet are not so good, Miss An, I've been away from the capital for more than twenty years, and you still managed to find my old body, that's just formidable."
The one who is formidable is Dong Fang Jin, An Qing Ran understands in her heart that this guy is indeed quite formidable: "Mama, I came to you to find out about the affairs of the General's Residence back then. As you may have heard, I am the future crown princess, so I thought, thanks to the blessings of my ancestors, I would like to know more about the affairs back then, but there are no more old people in the Residence who have passed through the ages, so I can only trouble you."
"Crown Princess? Oh, I didn't know this, the old body kneels down to you ......"
Of course, An Qingran helped her up.
The old lady sat back down again, "If this is about the General's house, the old body is not quite sure, the old body is just a midwife ......"
"Yeah, you were the one who midwifed my father back then, so you're the one who gets the credit for that. I just want to know what happened back then." An Qing Ran smiled.
The midwife was a bit confused, but when she mentioned that year, her memory was rather vivid: "Back then, the two young masters were born at the same time on that day at the General's residence, I remember it clearly ......"
The old lady's eyes shone brightly, apparently she really remembered it well: "Why do I remember it so well, you don't know, the old General rewarded me with an ingot of gold at that time. That little young master was born without crying and smiling, the only strange child I've delivered in my life is this little young master ......"
