Fierce Consort

Chapter 12

The hall was scarily silent. The maids on the side all shrunk their necks in without daring to speak. At this time, a maid from outside reported that Miss Yan had woken up.

The Zhenguo Madam asked about her. The maid reported that the miss was in good spirits and that she had eaten. Only then did the Zhenguo Duke speak and ask for Miss Yan to be brought to the Ninghui Hall.

When the maid came to report that her grandfather asked her to go to the Ninghui Hall, Yan Yan was in the middle of eating.

The Zhenguo Duke Estate servants had excellent etiquette, and knowing that Miss Yan was cherished by the duke and the madam, they naturally served her attentively.

The moment Yan Yan opened her eyes, a maid had carefully asked if she wanted to get up. Warm water and snacks were already fully prepared. Yan Yan had come to the Zhenguo Duke Estate several times when she was younger, and had even stayed for extended periods of time. Therefore, she treated this place as her own home, and had the maids serve her in taking a bath and changing her clothes before eating a few things.

The maid came to report as she was half full, and Yan Yan didn't delay. She let the servants clean her hands and rinse her mouth, put on a new set of clothes before heading over to the Ninghui Hall.
Yan Yan felt refreshed after her bath and in her new clothes. Walking on the paths of the Zhenguo Duke Estate, she finally felt free of that stifling Weiyuan Marquis Estate, and felt like she was born again.
Yan Yan had some idea why her grandfather called her over. Nothing had been revealed back at the Weiyuan Marquis Estate, but her second aunt was intelligent and her grandparents loved both herself and her mom. They would definitely have done some investigating, and at this time probably intended to ask her about the details.

Yan Yan decided to speak honestly. From when she was six or seven, her mom gradually brought her back to the Zhenguo Duke Estate less and less. Especially in recent years when her dad was stationed at the border. She only returned once during New Year's.

Yan Yan definitely didn't believe there wasn't someone causing mischief behind the scenes. Why didn't they want her mom to return home? Wasn't it because they were afraid the Zhenguo Duke Estate would see some signs, making it difficult to control her mom?

Of course, Yan Yan felt the shadow of her dad Yan Ting behind the scenes. Every time she thought of this, her heart would tremble incessantly. This was also why she had never made a fuss despite having these thoughts in the past. If she truly made a fuss, her opponent was someone who should be her most intimate person.

Whether this list of "most intimate people" included her mom, she didn't dare think about.....

Lost in her thoughts, Yan Yan arrived at the Ninghui Hall.

The Zhenguo Madam's many matrons and senior maids had long since been waiting outside the doors. Seeing Yan Yan arrive, they crowded over and intimately called out to her, asking how she was doing and saying how she's grown so big.

The one who said she's grown was Matron Xu. She was an old servant of Yan Yan's grandmother, and had often held Yan Yan when she was young.
Hearing the commotion outside, the Zhenguo Madam called from inside: "Come in, Ah Yan. Hurry and let grandmother take a good look at you."

Yan Yan heard the summons and ran into the hall like a baby swallow returning to its nest. She ran straight up to the Zhenguo Madam who was sitting on the arhat chair up above.

The Zhenguo Madam Zhou-shi's head of snow-white hair was done up tidily into a bun at the back of her head. It was held in place by an emerald inlaid gold ruyi-shaped hairpin. She wore a set of golden yellow colored robes embroidered with phoenix eye patterns. Her face was oblong-shaped, her features kind. Her eyes were filled with benevolence as she looked at her tenderly.