After entering the city, the little girl temporarily stabled the horse-drawn carriage.
When she arrived at the medicine shop, the Shopkeeper took the counted silver, packed it into a large bundle, and helped tie it to Shen Ningning's back.
"Little Miss, is the silver very heavy? Should I find someone to escort you back to your carriage?" Manager Fang asked.
Shen Ningning shook her head. "No, thank you, I can carry it. By the way, Grandpa Shopkeeper, do you know how to get to the General Zhen Nan Mansion?"
"The General Zhen Nan Mansion?" Manager Fang's expression grew respectful. "Just follow this street, turn left, and it's two intersections past that."
Shen Ningning said in a sweet voice, "Thank you."
Watching her little feet patter away, Manager Fang wondered aloud, 'This girl knows people from the General Mansion? Could her background really be something special?'
After leaving the medicine shop, Shen Ningning found a deserted spot and hid all the silver in her Immortal Realm.
She kept only one hundred taels on her person.
Next, the little girl went and bought a box of pastries.
She was a very well-behaved child.
Her grandmother had told her that when visiting someone's home, you must bring a gift. It was very impolite to arrive empty-handed.
The weather was hot, and sweat beaded on her forehead, sticking her dark hair to her fair, jade-like skin.
She walked for about the time it takes half an incense stick to burn.
The little girl reached up to wipe away her sweat. She had given her waterskin to the refugees, so her own throat was parched.
When she finally reached the entrance of the General Zhen Nan Mansion, she was overjoyed and forgot all her fatigue.
'I'll get to see my brother soon!'
She looked down at her dress and shoes.
She was wearing the pink butterfly dress and matching shoes she had bought for herself the other day.
After confirming she was properly dressed, Shen Ningning walked forward with the pastries.
"Excuse me..." She strained to look up at the tall guards of the General Mansion. "I'm looking for Brother Mo. Is he home?"
The guard stared straight ahead, completely ignoring her.
Shen Ningning asked two more times, but he treated her like she was thin air!
This put the little girl in a difficult position.
'What's going on?'
Just then, a refined-looking man in a long gown walked out of the mansion.
She hurried over to him. "Hello, Mister. I'm looking for Brother Mo. Is he home?"
The housekeeper stopped and looked Shen Ningning up and down. "Brother Mo? Who is that?"
The little girl quickly replied, "Mo Lingwei."
The housekeeper was stunned, then snapped angrily, "Insolence! Where did this little brat come from, causing trouble at the General Mansion's gate? Is the Crown Prince's name something a person like you can say so casually?"
It was Shen Ningning's turn to be shocked. "But my brother told me to find him here, and he gave me a Jade Pendant..."
Before she could finish, the housekeeper had already decided she was a little swindler with ill intentions.
"Get rid of her, quickly! The Master and Young Master will be back soon. If they see some strange girl spouting nonsense here, they'll be furious!" the housekeeper interrupted.
The guard obeyed, reaching out a large hand and grabbing Shen Ningning by her clothes.
He lifted her effortlessly, like plucking up a little chick.
"Let me go! Brother! Brother, save me!" the little girl struggled desperately.
The housekeeper rolled his eyes. 'The tricks swindlers use these days are getting more and more elaborate. Daring to pull a stunt like this just because she knows our Master is a trusted confidant of the Crown Prince? Hah!'
"AHH—" Shen Ningning was thrown directly out onto the street by the guard.
Her small body slammed hard onto the ground. Her arm was scraped raw and red, and her dress tore.
The guard warned fiercely, "Get lost! Or you'll be sorry!"
Tears welled up in Shen Ningning's eyes. On her fair little face, her dark eyes were filled with grievance.
She picked up the pastries and mumbled through her sobs, "My brother really did tell me to find him here..."
The little girl was overcome with sadness.
Her brother said his name was Mo Lingwei, but they said Mo Lingwei was the Crown Prince.
If her brother was the Crown Prince, why would he tell her to come to the General Mansion?
'Did my brother lie to me?'
Thinking of the Jade Pendant that her Immortal Realm had "eaten," she realized she now had no proof that she and her brother even knew each other.
Shen Ningning glanced back at the General Mansion, wiped away her tears, and walked away, a lonely figure.
Just then, a magnificent carriage brushed past her.
The dust kicked up by the carriage stung the little girl's eyes, and she stopped to rub them.
The carriage stopped at the General Zhen Nan Mansion, and the housekeeper immediately rushed out to greet it. "Master, Young Master, you've returned."
General Chen, a man with a square, imposing face, stepped down from the carriage. He entered the mansion without a word, clearly in a bad mood.
His son, the General Mansion's eldest young master, Chen Shaobei, was twelve years old, with sharp, sword-like brows and starlit eyes.
The housekeeper asked obsequiously, "Young Master, did you get to see the Crown Prince?"
"No," Chen Shaobei said coldly. "The Crown Prince returned to the palace and severed the tendons in the Sixth Prince's hands and feet. The Emperor was displeased and sentenced him to kneel in the Buddhist hall. The entire court is pleading for him, but the Emperor refuses to retract the order."
He sighed. "Father and I will go to the palace again tomorrow to continue pleading. Pack some clothes for me. I will stay in the palace barracks and won't be back for a while."
"Yes," the housekeeper agreed.
Just then, Chen Shaobei glanced back and saw a small figure in pink walking silently away along the wall.
He frowned slightly. "Who was that?"
This alley only leads to the General Mansion.
The housekeeper glanced over and said, "Just a refugee trying to beg for food. I've already sent her away."
Chen Shaobei then looked away.
Shen Ningning carried the ruined pastries, her clothes smudged with dirt and dust that wouldn't brush off.
She walked under the scorching sun in a slight daze.
The little girl thought that she might never have the chance to see her brother again in her lifetime.
Just as she was feeling utterly dejected, a hand suddenly shot out from a nearby alley and yanked her inside!
Before Shen Ningning could even cry out, her mouth was covered.
Inside the dilapidated alley stood four or five burly men.
A sleazy, cunning-looking man in a mandarin jacket and long gown stared at Shen Ningning with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"I knew it. I was wondering how that Manager Fang from Huichun Hall suddenly got so rich. I thought he must have been blessed by an immortal to get so many extra medicinal herbs. Turns out, it was you who sold him all the good ones!"
Shen Ningning took two steps back, her watery eyes wary. "I've already sold them all to him. I don't have any more herbs."
The sleazy man sneered, "By selling to him, you're ruining my business. Cutting off a man's fortune is like taking his life. Don't you understand that, little girl?"
As he spoke, one of the burly men at his side suddenly pulled out a dagger and pressed it against Shen Ningning's cheek.
The man threatened, "Seeing as you're just a child, I'll let you go for now. But if I ever see you selling herbs to him again, I'll have your family come collect your corpse!"
With that, he gave a signal, and a burly man took out a piece of paper.
The man said, "This is a formal complaint. It says you were forced to sell medicinal herbs to Manager Fang. I will report it to the government for you. If the officials question you, just say he coerced you, and that will make him pay back double the money."
"Sign it with your thumbprint, and I'll let you go!"
Shen Ningning started to struggle. "I won't! I won't lie!"
"It's not up to you!" the man said forcefully. "Hold her down and make her put her thumbprint on it!"
The little girl immediately touched her finger, about to escape into the Immortal Realm.
Suddenly!
A dark figure dropped from the sky.
A knee drove directly into the back of the neck of the burly man holding Shen Ningning.
The burly man crashed to the ground!
Before Shen Ningning could react, a hand grabbed her and pulled her behind the person.
She lifted her clear eyes and saw a slender figure.