Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty
Chapter 284 - 283 He Has Come

Chapter 284: Chapter 283 He Has Come

Mrs. Li and Lady Luo were somewhat puzzled to see Chu Hanyan acting like this. They had met the young girl before when Chu Lingxuan had brought her to meet their elders and relatives. The little girl had stood there, pouting, twiddling her chubby fingers, and refusing to move. Chu Lingxuan had apologized to the guests with a smile, saying, "Yan’er is a little shy." Then he had her taken away.

But Hanyan seemed transformed by Chen Afu’s coaxing.

Mrs. Li chuckled shrilly, "Oh, Ms. Chen hasn’t even married into our Chu family yet our sister is already treating you as a mother."

Chen Afu pretended not to hear and, after greeting the guests with Chu Hanyan, she patted the little girl on the head and whispered, "You’re such a good girl. Auntie is proud of you. Let’s have dinner now. Auntie will come to see you later."

Chu Hanyan nodded and was led out of Hua Hall by Mrs. Song.

Before leaving, she turned to glance back at Chen Afu, her face breaking into a dazzling smile.

After dinner, while the guests were watching a play, Chen Afu accompanied by Yu Zhuo and Xia Yue, went to visit Chu Hanyan in Yuetao Pavilion.

Halfway there, they were joined by Chu Zhen. "Sister Chen," she said, "I’ve heard that you design clothes. Those beautiful disk buttons, Hanyan’s beautiful clothes, Aunt Three’s pretty shoes, all designed by you, right? Could you also make a unique set of clothes and shoes just for me? I want to wear them to the Peach Blossom Banquet next year. Would that be okay?" She ended by tugging playfully at Chen Afu’s sleeve.

This young lady sure doesn’t consider herself an outsider. What’s her relationship with her, that she would make such a request upon their first meeting. She’s just like her mother, Mrs. Li, with such narrow vision.

Maybe they had already made similar requests to Chu Lingxuan, this was why he reminded her earlier. Though Chu Zhen was Chu Lingxuan’s cousin, Mrs. Li had done much damage to the main family in plotting for the second family’s interests together with Princess Rong Zhao. Even if she were a saint, she wouldn’t make clothes for her daughter.

Smiling, she replied, "Ms. Chu, you flatter me too much. I’m not very skilled at designing clothes. I did come up with those disk buttons, but that’s all I know how to do. Yan’s clothes were made by her maid according to the designs from the Nirvana Embroidery Workshop, and Aunt Three’s shoes were made by my own maid in the same way. Ms. Chu, you could take your skilled maid to the third floor of the Nirvana Embroidery Workshop and pick some samples. They have a lot of beautiful designs."

Chu Zhen hadn’t expected Chen Afu to refuse so outrightly. Her eyes reddened in anger, she stomped her foot and started to protest, "You this..."

Chen Afu gave Chu Zhen a cold look and walked on.

As soon as she entered Yuetao Pavilion, she saw Chu Hanyan standing in the corridor, eyes fixed on the entrance. Upon seeing Chen Afu, she opened her arms wide and ran towards her, yelling, "Auntie, Auntie, Yan missed you."

Chen Afu laughed and picked her up, rubbing her cheek against Hanyan’s little face. "Auntie missed you too," she said.

Holding her, Chen Afu felt both sweet and at peace in her heart.

After some moments of affection, Hanyan began to feel sleepy. Mrs. Song then took her to bed for a rest.

Chen Afu sat in the corridor and quietly talked with Mrs. Wei. Mrs. Wei said they were likely to stay until three days later, after they had seen off the guests from Capital City and Shizhou Mansion, before returning to Tang Garden. Gossiping, she added, "The Marquis came to Dingzhou yesterday. He initially planned to stay with us, but the attitudes of the old Marquis and the master were not welcoming, and the Madame even offended with her words. So, the Marquis indignantly moved to an Inn."

At first, Chen Afu had not realized who the Marquis was. It was only later that she realized it was Marquis Chu, Prince Consort Chu. Surprised, she asked, "Did he come specifically to celebrate Yan’s birthday?"

Mrs. Wei shook her head, "No way he’d make a special trip for Yan’s birthday, he does not like her much. He came to Dingzhou on official business. But he was here today, he was part of the banquet..."

Just then, Chu Hua walked into the courtyard, leading a few people. There was a woman following her, carrying a child a little over one year old.

She laughed gaily, "Knowing Sister Chen is here, I deliberately brought my little Heng so that you can see him."

Chen Afu quickly got up to welcome them, joyfully took Xie Heng into her arms, and said with a smile, "Oh, what a lovely child." Behind her, Xia Yue handed over a wallet with a piece of jade in the shape of a kylin.

Heng does not resemble the Chu family. He has thick brows and big eyes, plump cheeks, slightly dark skin, and is an incredibly adorable and sturdy little boy. He is not shy, nor does he sit still, grabbing Chen Afu’s clothes, then her hair, and even happily kissing her face when he was pleased. This made Chen Afu giggle with laughter, kissing him back several times.

Chu Hua said regretfully, "Little Heng is already a year and a half old, but he still can’t talk."

Chen Afu grinned, "My mother used to say that boys tend to start talking later..."

While she was speaking, Chu Lingxuan walked into the Taoran Pavilion with a stern expression.

Chu Hua had just yelled, "Brother..." when she swallowed the rest of her words.

Because, following Chu Lingxuan, another middle-aged man entered. This man was tall and noble, wearing a date red brocade embroidered with gold, and tied a jade belt around his waist. It was Chu Lingxuan’s father, the Marquis Chu.

Upon seeing him, Chu Hua ran over to Chu Lingxuan, pulling on his sleeve and complaining, "Brother, why did you bring him here?"

Chu Lingxuan said, "He said he wanted to see Little Heng and Yan."

Ignoring Chu Hua, Marquis Chu scanned the courtyard and walked over to Chen Afu. Looking at the child in her arms, a few strands of smile flashed across his face, "Is this Little Heng?"

"Yes." Chen Afu responded.

Marquis Chu stretched out his hand and, unexpectedly, Little Heng leaned toward him with a giggle. Holding the laughing Little Heng, his eyes seemed to fill with teardrops, but he blinked them away in an instant.

But Chen Afu saw everything clearly.

Just then, Chu Hua rushed over and snatched Little Heng from him. He wailed loudly, reaching out towards Marquis Chu, and even uttered a word, "Grandpa."

Chu Hua was livid and hadn’t realized that her son had finally spoken. She soothed him, "Hush, don’t cry. He’s not your grandpa, your grandpa is still at home in the capital."

Without any expression, Marquis Chu glanced at Chu Hua, turned around, and walked towards the house. Chu Hua wanted to stop him, but was blocked by Chu Lingxuan. They all followed him into the house.

Marquis Chu stood in the hall, observing before he asked Chen Afu, "Which room is Yan in?"

Chen Afu couldn’t refuse him, nor did she want to. She pointed towards the east room.

Marquis Chu walked towards the east room, pushed the door open, and peered inside. The room was so silent you could hear a pin drop, and Mrs. Song, who was sewing on the brocade stool, stood up abruptly from fright.

He gently walked to the bed. Through the aqua-colored gauze curtain, he saw a little girl asleep on the bed, her black hair spread out on the pillow, her long eyelashes like black butterflies with their wings folded, and a smile flickered across her rosy lips from time to time, as if she was having a sweet dream...