Words that became prophecy

Little Wanwan muttered as she stared at the spit bubbles around her mouth, utterly bewildered.

Liu Wan smiled faintly.

Even if Xie Huaishan's mother held a recognized position, they could not acknowledge that they were mother and son by blood. Otherwise, he would be the son of a lowly concubine who had married twice.

His standing would be even more disgraceful.

The old madam silently accepted this arrangement.

Xie Jin'an hesitated to speak, but the lie had snowballed ever larger. Without Liu Wan's arrangements today, he would not have known how to bring it to an end.

Never mind. There was plenty of time ahead. He would eventually secure something better for Rou Rou and her son.

But what had happened today... Xie Jin'an stared at Xu Rourou, a pent-up heat rising below his belly!

After Liu Wan left, he followed Xu Rourou into her room!

Xie Jin'an shut the door, his face dark.

Xu Rourou settled the baby, then turned and embraced her lover. "An Lang, I only went out to take a look. Someone really did push me into the water."

"Went out? Didn't I promise to give you the best? Why did you distrust me and go out anyway? Do you know what would happen if even a hint of today's events got out..."

Xie Jin'an shoved her away, sending her tumbling onto the bed. His movements were rough, the darkness in his eyes chilling.

He had always been handsome and refined. Seeing him like this actually stirred excitement in Xu Rourou's heart.

"An Lang, I know I was wrong. I shouldn't have listened to others sowing discord. I can give up status and riches alike. As long as your heart stays with me, I could die without a single regret."

Xu Rourou stretched out a foot and wound it around Xie Jin'an's calf, her eyes brimming with grievance and unshed tears.

Xie Jin'an's heart suddenly softened a little.

Before his grandfather had been granted a marquisate, the Xie family had lived in a border town. He and Xu Rourou had grown up together, their affection mutual.

Whenever they played house as children, Xu Rourou always played his wife. Out in the countryside fields, they had bowed as bride and groom and entered their makeshift bridal chamber, only to lose control and turn their pretend marriage into the real thing.

They had only been twelve at the time.

Xie Jin'an felt that Xu Rourou must have given him her whole heart.

Marrying Liu Wan had not been his wish, either. The Marquis's Residence had merely needed the Liu Family's help to rescue his father, Marquis Jing'an.

And Marquis Jing'an happened to have saved Liu Wan's father before.

Thus, the marriage between the two families had followed as naturally as water flowing into a channel.

Fortunately, Liu Wan was dignified and intelligent, managing the Marquis's Residence exceptionally well. He was content with her, too.

With a wife like that, what more could a husband ask for?

If he could also settle his childhood sweetheart Xu Rourou beside his bed and have her live harmoniously with his wife, that would be even better.

He drifted off into thought for quite a while, only to discover that Xu Rourou had already changed into sheer gauze.

Her body flickered into view beneath it. She had even brought candles and crouched before him, saying she wanted to make amends.

Xie Jin'an cast the affairs of the Marquis's Residence to the back of his mind, lifted his robe, and sat down at the bedside.

Pan Chun returned to the courtyard to claim credit. Liu Wan praised her flawless work and rewarded her with another handful of Golden Melon Seeds.

Pan Chun smiled. "Luckily, while you were recovering from childbirth, I went around asking the sisters from the Charity Hall for information. That mistress is utterly shameless. She actually threw herself into the water for a recognized position!"

Liu Wan looked slightly puzzled. "She fell in herself? It wasn't your doing?"

Pan Chun's expression stiffened. "I wouldn't dare do anything like that."

"I meant to test her capabilities and see whether she was worth taking on myself. It seems I needn't involve myself in this matter. As for falling into the water, I don't think she'd be foolish enough to gamble with her own life."

Liu Wan considered it. Xu Rourou had entered the Marquis's Residence as a wet nurse, and the old madam had done everything possible to conceal her identity.

Surely she would not rush to expose herself.

At most, she had come to take a look and stop Xie Jin'an from betraying her.

"Also, madam, Yinliu appearing with the baby wasn't my doing, either." Seeing Liu Wan lost in thought, Pan Chun hurried to clear herself.

"Understood," Liu Wan said mildly.

After thinking for another long moment, she said, "Go fetch the two young masters."

[Ah, I'm so bored. I want to sit up, aaah.]

[Mother, Mother, look at me! Wanwan wants to show you how someone on their deathbed suddenly bolts upright... Woohoo...]

Liu Wan whipped around. Little Wanwan, who had been lying perfectly still, had actually struggled upright against the railing.

She hurried over to pick the child up and examine her, her temples twitching with fright.

Was it normal for a baby barely a month old to sit up by herself?

"Words That Come True—what a fright you gave me." Liu Wan tapped her forehead with a slender fingertip, nearly toppling the little one in her arms backward again.

She did not want the little one thinking such inauspicious things again.

[Words That Come True! Words That Come True!]

This was Wanwan's most powerful skill! Awooo...

Little Wanwan bobbed her head, caught the finger her mother had tapped against her forehead in both chubby hands, and beamed.

Liu Wan smiled helplessly.

"The two young masters are here," Pan Chun announced.

Zi Mu and Zi Xing entered the room, having obediently made a point of bringing their schoolwork.

When Liu Wan said she wanted to check their lessons, Xie Zi Xing stepped forward, his little face full of pride.

He was still young and would soon begin his formal schooling. Alongside practicing martial arts, he had been practicing his handwriting, and he wrote the three characters of his name, Xie Zi Xing, crookedly on the paper.

Liu Wan nodded. The little boy's eyes sparkled. "Mother, I've learned other characters from my teacher, too."

With that, he wrote five characters on a blank sheet: Xie, sun, exempt, sun, exempt.

Sitting in her rocking cradle, Xie Wanwan caught sight of those five large characters and covered her eyes with her fair little hands.

[That's not my name. That's not my name.]

"Mother, this is little sister Wanwan's name. Aren't I amazing? Hehehe."

Xie Zi Xing had just lost a tooth, and his grin was bright and endearingly goofy.

Unable to suppress her smile, Liu Wan stroked his head. "Wanwan will like it. Play with her for a while."

"All right!" Xie Zi Xing nearly jumped up, his eyes sparkling as he looked toward his little sister.

"Zi Mu, come with me." Liu Wan took Xie Zimu to the study.

Once the study door closed, Xie Zi Mu lowered his head. "Mother."

"Zi Mu, you've been raised under my care for more than three years now. How far have you progressed in your studies?" Liu Wan asked.

"Mother, I've just finished reading The Analects."

Liu Wan nodded in satisfaction. "I believe you have a gift for studying. Your first teacher also said you can already compose some verses. Let me ask you: the Master said, 'The gentleman attends to the root...'"

"'Once the root is established, the Way grows,'" Zi Mu replied.

Suddenly, he looked up and caught the expression in his mother's eyes. In an instant, he understood why she had asked him about that passage.

He dropped to his knees. "Mother, I know I was wrong!"

"What did you do wrong?"