Becoming the Villain's Discarded Wife
Chapter 366: Shen Wenchen Seeks Merit

Chapter 366: Chapter 366: Shen Wenchen Seeks Merit

Nanzhi’s mother, who had been unable to sleep out of worry, suddenly froze at the sight of Little Yuanbao looking so harrowed. Hearing Little Yuanbao had run out herself only worsened her heartache.

This child, how could she have traveled on her own all this way to Yan City?

Could something have gone wrong in the fort?

She wasn’t alone in her speculation. Nanzhi and Chen Qiulan too wondered the same.

"Little Yuanbao, why did you come to Yan City? Does your father know?" Nanzhi asked gently, worry filling her eyes.

She was afraid.

She feared that something had gone wrong with Little Yuanbao or Qing Feng Fort and that more problems could emerge.

The course of this world had become more and more unpredictable; her foreknowledge as a "reader" had long been depleted.

"I, I..." Little Yuanbao hesitated a bit, but when she saw the light in Nanzhi’s eyes, she chose to tell the truth.

"It’s Sister Yueyue, I heard Uncle say that a hundred-year-old ginseng is needed to cure her illness."

She had picked some flowers from the mountain to give to Yueyue that day, only to find her quietly wiping blood from her mouth with her sleeve.

Later she asked Uncle, who said Yueyue’s condition was worsening and that he might not be able to control it. If they had the ginseng, perhaps Yueyue could live for a few more years.

She knew her father was busy making wine and taking care of everyone else, but she found it hard to bear when Yueyue would look at her with a pale face.

Yueyue had asked her not to tell Brother Xiaoqi, to which she had tearfully agreed.

But she had seen Brother Xiaoqi making a wish before the Buddha statue a few days ago.

His wish was for Yueyue to grow up safely.

She knew the Buddha and gods were make-believe.

But she didn’t want to see Brother Xiaoqi upset.

Thus, she secretly took Uncle’s medicinal powder and money and went down the mountain.

"You’ve worked hard." Nanzhi’s eyes were rimmed red as she gently patted the girl’s head.

She knew Little Yuanbao liked Xiaoqi, but she never imagined the girl would be so brave as to travel such a distance on her own.

She didn’t want to think about how the child could have made it all this way alone.

"Little Yuanbao, how did you get here?" Shen Zhiyu stopped crying and sat down next to Little Yuanbao, curiously asking.

"I took Uncle’s private money. After descending from the mountain, I met a goods peddler who offered to bring me here for a silver coin," Little Yuanbao explained, taking large mouthfuls of noodles.

The peddler and his donkey were both fantastic, running even faster than her pony!

They reached here in just five days.

"Then how did you end up like this?" Nanzhi’s mother asked, pouring a bowl of water for the little girl.

Little Yuanbao should not have been in such a state if someone had brought her here, right?

"It was the peddler. He left me in the woods near the city gate. I lost my balance and had a fall," Little Yuanbao answered, her face puckering up at the memory of the pain.

Along her journey, she had also encountered a few brutes who tried to steal her purse.

But she cleverly scattered Uncle’s medicinal powder to distract them and ran away.

However, the money she had tucked away had disappeared. She asked many people for directions to the spot where her mother used to set up her stall.

She searched for a long time but could not find her mother or grandmother. Last night, she had slept in a broken hut.

Today, she had visited two pharmacies but found no hundred-year-old ginseng. It was almost dusk when she finally ran into Brother Zhiyu.

And then, her mother and others had found her.

"What kind of peddler would behave like that!" Nanzhi’s mother fumed. Peddlers usually traveled all over to earn some silver.

Since she took Little Yuanbao’s silver, how could she just abandon the child at the city gate and leave?

"Mom, you should go to bed too. It is really late." Nanzhi said somewhat helplessly. Seeing the growing whites in her mother’s hair, she could only say that.

"Okay, okay, so now I’m too old for your liking!" Her mother playfully huffed, then turned to Little Yuanbao, "Yuanbao dear, after you finish your noodles, let your uncle heat some water to bathe, and then you can have a good night’s sleep."

"Okay～" Little Yuanbao nodded and sweetly answered, and mother Lin went back to her room satisfied.

After finishing their noodles, Nanzhi took Little Yuanbao to take a bath, then she carried the sleep deprived child back to the room.

Sadness filled Nanzhi as she looked at the malnourished little girl.

It had only been just over two months since they last met. How had the little girl gotten so skinny?

"Mommy~"

These were the last words the little girl murmured before turning over and falling into a deep sleep.

Nanzhi looked at her side profile, slightly dazed.

Was she the same when she was a little?

Snuggled in grandma’s arms, longing for a mother she had never seen...

Just as she was about to get lost in her memories, a rustling sound came from the roof.

"Nannan——!"

The smile on Shen Wenchen’s face froze when he noticed an extra person on the bed.

"Wenchen?" Seeing him again seemed to clear away Nanzhi’s previous sadness.

"Nannan, where did you get another child from this time?"

Shen Wenchen wrapped his arms around Nanzhi’s waist, his face full of bewilderment.

His reason for saying "another" was because the last time he came here, he saw Xiaomi getting up in the middle of the night.

"This is Little Yuanbao," Nanzhi replied with amusement, explaining with a glance at him.

"Isn’t this the daughter of the bandit leader you mentioned previously?"

Although Shen Wenchen said this, he had seen the original story.

Despite the plot deviating from reality, the previous events were accurate.

He knew that this little girl’s father was the big boss Chi Sheng of Qing Fenghan, and everything began with that old man who ate many of his pancakes.

Because of his words, the people of Qing Fenghan had hoped to recognize the little girl as a godparent.

And it was for this very reason that saved Nannan and the others from a great disaster.

They didn’t know that if they hadn’t been taken to the mountain back then, they might have been killed on the originally planned route.

In the end, this little girl could be considered a lucky person.

"Right, right." Nanzhi didn’t argue with the words coming out of his mouth. After all, Shen Wenchen was an official while Chi Sheng and their gang were still bandits in the public eye.

Either they were conscripted or they renounced their mountain bandit identities after coming down the mountain. Otherwise, even if they didn’t do anything wrong, they would still be listed when the court decided to suppress bandits.

"Why is she here? Didn’t the bandit leader come?" Shen Wenchen asked all intrigued, but his hands didn’t stop doing what they were doing.

He bought a bracelet today and thought it would suit Nannan perfectly!

So, he came to visit her late in the night.

"The little girl is courageous, she came all by herself. But I just don’t know what hardship she faced, as she became so skinny..."

Feeling a cold sensation encircling her wrist, Nanzhi looked down.

A silver bracelet dangled securely on her hand.

"This bracelet?"

"It’s a gift from me." Shen Wenchen smirked, eagerly awaiting her praise.

"It’s so heavy though."

After a moment of silence, Nanzhi finally spoke.