Trouble on a Shopping Trip

"Big sister, big sister, I'm here!"

After court ended, Jiang Nuan headed straight to where An Yan was staying.

Just as she entered, An Yan came out. Seeing her, she smiled and said,

"I worked out the timing and thought you'd be here soon. I made a few dishes, though I don't know whether they'll suit your taste."

With that, An Yan took Jiang Nuan by the hand and led her into the little kitchen.

Perhaps because she didn't know Jiang Nuan's preferences, she had made a sweet dish, a savory dish, and a spicy dish.

Jiang Nuan's eyes lit up the moment she tasted the food.

[Wow, these braised lion's head meatballs are delicious! Who knew big sister could cook like this? If I could eat food like this every day, I'd even be willing to earn ten million a year!]

Hearing Jiang Nuan's wholehearted praise of her cooking in her thoughts, An Yan felt a tremendous sense of accomplishment!

[Host, why are you eating your fill and demanding money on top of it?] Guagua quipped, speechless. Watching Jiang Nuan enjoy the food more and more, it couldn't hold back either.

[Host, host, I want some too! Could you sneak me a couple of bites? Please, host~]

[Oh, you can eat now?]

Jiang Nuan had thought it couldn't eat.

[Yes, yes, I can!]

With that, Guagua manifested its form and darted beneath the table.

While An Yan wasn't looking, Jiang Nuan secretly picked up two morsels and gave them to Guagua.

The sight of a tiny humanoid sprite emerging from Jiang Nuan's head startled An Yan so much that even her chopsticks froze.

With Jiang Nuan looking so perfectly calm, An Yan seemed to be the one making a fuss over nothing.

"Big sister, your cooking is so good. Why have you stopped eating?"

Seeing An Yan's chopsticks come to a halt, Jiang Nuan asked in confusion.

As though waking from a dream, An Yan picked up a couple of bites, but her gaze kept straying toward Guagua, which was holding a lion's head meatball.

So that childlike voice she heard had come from it? It seemed this little sister of hers had plenty of wonders about her!

Before she knew it, Jiang Nuan had eaten more than half the food. Rubbing her round belly, she refused the food An Yan offered her with very little conviction.

"Big sister, I can't. I really can't eat another bite."

Seeing that Jiang Nuan truly couldn't eat any more, An Yan didn't insist. It would be bad if she ate too much and upset her stomach.

"Big sister, let's go. The streets are bustling right now. We can walk off the meal and buy a few things while we're at it."

With that, Jiang Nuan painfully took one of the ten gold ingots Jiang Chengze had given her after court and pressed it into An Yan's hand.

"If anything catches your eye, big sister, buy it! Everything's on me!"

The gold ingot felt scorching in An Yan's hand. Just who was her little sister? How could she casually hand over a gold ingot? She seemed to know far too little about her; all she knew was that her name was Nuannuan.

She had just been about to return the ingot when Jiang Nuan, as though she had anticipated her intention, stuffed it straight into her purse.

"This is my gift to you, big sister. You can't refuse it, or I'll be sad."

As she spoke, Jiang Nuan even made a show of wiping the corners of her eyes.

In the end, An Yan had no choice but to accept Jiang Nuan's kindness.

Jiang Nuan felt she had become thoroughly accustomed to being a child now. Even her mentality was growing more childlike.

She chalked it all up to returning to her true nature.

"Nuannuan, look at this fabric. It's so pretty! Shall we buy it and have some clothes made for you?"

"And this velvet flower would go perfectly with your outfit. Let's buy it too."

"And this toy looks like such fun. Let's buy this as well."

Everything caught An Yan's interest, but she had little desire for possessions and bought only a few things suited to Jiang Nuan.

Jiang Nuan watched as the pile of things belonging to her grew larger and larger, while An Yan bought hardly anything for herself.

So she set her little face into a stern expression and looked thoroughly unhappy.

"Big sister, from now on, you're listening to me!"

Jiang Nuan knew that if she asked An Yan outright whether she wanted something, the answer would almost always be no, so she might as well pick out things for her herself.

[Following the usual novel formula, shouldn't we run into that fake heiress, An Yuxue, about now? Then she'd bully big sister, and I'd stand up for her.]

Jiang Nuan let her imagination wander.

Hearing that thought, An Yan was deeply impressed by Jiang Nuan's wild imagination. But the scene she envisioned couldn't happen, because from what An Yan knew of An Yuxue, she went to the temple with the young lady of the Chen family to pray for blessings on this day every month.

And the street they were browsing lay in the opposite direction from that temple. There was no way An Yuxue would come here.

An Yan wasn't the only one who knew this; Guagua knew too, and it told Jiang Nuan the truth.

Jiang Nuan felt a little disappointed when she found out. She had thought she could use the opportunity to vent her big sister's anger for her!

Still, it didn't matter. She could buy, buy, buy for her big sister. Shopping could wipe away most unhappiness.

"Wrap these up, and these, and these too. Then make a few outfits to this young lady's measurements and deliver them to Moonfall Courtyard when they're finished.

"Also, bring out whatever suitable ready-made clothes you have in the shop so we can take a look."

After giving her instructions, Jiang Nuan tossed out a gold ingot. The shopkeeper immediately beamed and began making arrangements for An Yan.

An Yan went inside carrying a sea-green long jacket that Jiang Nuan had enthusiastically recommended.

Before long, An Yan came back out.

As the saying went, clothes made the person just as a saddle made the horse. An Yan had been sorely neglected in the An household; her clothes had all been drab, and her hairstyles had favored simplicity and practicality.

Now she wore a sea-green long jacket, her ink-black hair simply tied back. Her fair little face bore no powder or rouge, yet her beauty still stole the breath, like wild grass stubbornly growing between cracks in stone, like an unyielding pine standing tall amid wind and snow.

[Wow! Guagua, did you see that? That gorgeous woman is my big sister, my big sister!]

Jiang Nuan shouted inwardly.

Even the shopkeeper, who had seen countless beauties, couldn't help being dazzled.

"Miss, this outfit belongs on you and no one else. Only you could wear it to such effect."

The shopkeeper offered his heartfelt praise.

Hearing their admiration, An Yan pinched her cuff a little uncertainly.

"Well, well, whose lovely young lady is this? I've spent so many years in the capital, yet I've never seen such a beautiful little thing!"

A somewhat frivolous male voice rang out.

With that voice, a man in a lake-blue robe walked into the shop. His features were decent enough on their own, but his upturned eyes spoiled the overall appeal of his face.

The man beside him, dressed in a sapphire-blue robe, seemed to be his older brother. Their faces bore some resemblance!

Jiang Nuan was just about to speak when Guagua, utterly shocked, spoke in her mind first.

[Host, host, gossip has come knocking! Didn't you say it was such a shame you were busy today and missed out on the gossip about Great General Mao? These two are the children born from an affair between Great General Mao's concubine and his guard!]