Chapter 13: Little Su Huan Gets Hit

Su Huan was carried into the inner room by Zilan and placed in a crib alongside the Wang family’s little miss, Wang Ruiying.

She was wearing a goose-yellow bellyband embroidered with golden ingots. Her hair was tied into two little lamb-horn braids, and her bright, lively eyes were fixed curiously on the Seven-Treasure Necklace around Wang Ruiying’s neck.

Earlier, she had noticed that the child cradled in the Old Madam Wang’s arms seemed to be wearing a spiritual object. But because she had been too far away, she wasn’t sure. Now, up close, Su Huan could clearly see the faint golden glow emanating from the Seven-Treasure Necklace.

Strangely though, even with such a spiritual object protecting her, how could Sister Ying be so quiet, like a lifeless doll, showing not a trace of vitality?

Su Huan grew intrigued. She gathered the nearby spiritual energy into her palm, intending to inspect Wang Ruiying’s body. But just as her hand brushed against the Seven-Treasure Longevity Lock, someone slapped her hand away.

Smack!

Instantly, her chubby, lotus-like arm turned red. Su Huan froze for a moment, then instinctively opened her mouth and began to cry.

“Waaah!”

“Madam Liu, what are you doing?!”

Zilan was startled. She quickly scooped up little Su Huan and gently patted her to soothe her. Seeing the large red mark on her arm, her heart clenched in pain. She immediately told another dazed wet nurse to fetch ice to reduce the swelling, then angrily turned to glare at Madam Liu, demanding an explanation.

Madam Liu was Wang Ruiying’s wet nurse.

She closed the door, muffling Su Huan’s crying and stopping the other nanny from bringing ice. Casually lifting Sister Ying into her arms, she said coldly, “Miss Zilan, aren’t you overreacting a bit? Our little miss is delicate and frail—she mustn’t come into contact with anything dirty. That low-born girl dared touch her necklace with those filthy hands. If something happened to the little miss, could you bear the consequences?”

As she spoke, she looked impatiently at the crying Su Huan. “Besides, she’s just a refugee girl. So what if she was hit? The ice on this ship is meant for the old madam and little miss to cool down—using it to relieve her pain? That’s just wasteful.”

Su Huan wanted to curse in anger but could only produce pitiful sobs.

Zilan continued comforting her, furious at Madam Liu’s words. “We’re all born of fathers and mothers. Even if you didn’t want her touching the little miss, you didn’t need to hit her so hard! Look at how red her arm is—it hurts even me to see it, let alone her grandmother!”

Madam Liu didn’t respond. She merely wiped the spot Su Huan had touched.

Suddenly, footsteps were heard outside the door. Someone tried to open it but couldn’t.

Outside, Granny Su’s anxious voice called, “Old Madam, I swear I just heard my little one crying. Please, open the door and let me check on her!”

Old Madam Wang soothed her briefly, then called out from outside the door, “Zilan, are you inside? Open the door.”

Zilan shot Madam Liu a reproachful look and replied before going to unlock the door.

With all the commotion, the Old Madam and Granny Su had definitely heard.

She welcomed them in and explained, “Old Madam, Madam Su, it’s nothing serious. Little Huan accidentally fell from the crib and hurt her arm. I was just about to send someone to get ice for her.”

“What?! Was it serious?”

The two elderly women were shocked and rushed over to examine the child.

Seeing the swollen red arm, it clearly didn’t look like a fall but rather as if someone had struck her.

Granny Su’s heart ached. Shaking with fury, she directly questioned Zilan, “Miss Zilan, if my child cried from a fall, then why are there adult finger marks on her arm?!”

Old Madam Wang had no tolerance for child abuse. Just moments ago, she had confidently promised Granny Su that the child would be well taken care of under the wet nurses’ care. Now the child was hurt—wasn’t that a slap to her own face?

She stomped her phoenix-head cane in frustration and glared at the group. “What on earth happened? Speak up, now!”

Zilan originally wanted to cover up the incident, but seeing it couldn’t be concealed, she had no choice but to kneel and confess, “Old Madam, Madam Su, earlier Little Huan was playing with the little miss and accidentally touched her Seven-Treasure Longevity Lock. Madam Liu was worried she’d dirty it and, in a moment of panic, slapped her.”

Madam Liu and Madam Wang also knelt to admit fault. Madam Liu remained calm and unapologetic, while Madam Wang looked terrified, worried about being implicated.

Granny Su was furious, practically fuming, “Children playing together will naturally touch and bump into each other! If Madam Liu thinks my granddaughter is dirty, she could’ve said so outright—how dare she secretly lay hands on her?! My child is only three days old! Her parents, uncles, aunts, and brothers all love her like a treasure, and you—you dare hit her?!”

In her fury, she thrust Su Huan into Old Madam Wang’s arms and lunged at Madam Liu.

Startled, Old Madam Wang quickly cried out, “Someone, take the little miss—don’t let her get hurt!”

She, too, was a grandmother. If her own granddaughter had been struck like this behind her back, she would’ve been just as furious. So she didn’t stop Granny Su from attacking.

The maids initially wanted to intervene but instead obeyed her order and just took little Sister Ying from Madam Liu’s arms, leaving the latter to fend for herself.

Seeing that Granny Su had come to defend her, Su Huan clapped her hands in delight and laughed through her tears. “Good~ good~”

Though she couldn’t speak yet, she could pronounce single syllables.

Old Madam Wang was surprised. “Wuya, you can understand what your grandmother is doing?”

Most children would be frightened to tears seeing adults fight. But this little girl wasn’t afraid—she was laughing, as if she knew her grandmother was standing up for her.

Su Huan didn’t respond. She simply glanced at Old Madam Wang and gave her a smile, then pointed at the necklace around Wang Ruiying’s neck. “Yiya yiya~”

Old Madam Wang chuckled. “That’s your sister’s longevity lock. She can’t be without it, so I can’t let you play with it. How about Wang Grandma finds you another necklace?”

She ordered Zilan to bring over an even more luxurious longevity lock to compensate Su Huan.

To her surprise, Su Huan didn’t even look at it. She continued pointing at Sister Ying’s necklace. “Yiya yiya!”

Some of the maids grew displeased. “Old Madam, this little girl is really ungrateful. She just wants the one around the little miss’s neck—we shouldn’t indulge her.”

Hearing this, Madam Liu immediately broke free from Granny Su and rushed over, urgently saying, “Exactly! Old Madam, how can the little miss’s things be casually touched? I say this grandmother and granddaughter came here just to swindle money!”

Granny Su, seeing her get riled up again, immediately took Su Huan from Old Madam Wang’s arms and declared, “We may be poor, but we’re not to be slandered! You hit my granddaughter and now you accuse us of extortion? In that case, there’s no reason for us to stay on this ship!”

Then she looked at Old Madam Wang and solemnly said, “Old Madam, out of respect for you not stopping me just now, I’ll give you a word of advice: My little granddaughter has always been unusually intelligent since birth. If she’s so focused on that necklace, it might mean there’s something wrong with it. I suggest you have someone take a look—just to be safe.”

Madam Liu scoffed, “What nonsense. As if your granddaughter is some great expert!”

But even as she spoke, her fingers clenched nervously.

“Madam Liu, silence!”

Old Madam Wang recalled how elders often said that children’s eyes were the sharpest—they could see things adults couldn’t. She grew serious and personally removed the necklace from Sister Ying’s neck, handing it to Su Huan.

“Wuya, help Wang Grandma take a look—what’s wrong with this thing?