Chapter 105: Trade-offs
Zheng Nianru came to Prince Duan’s Mansion early the next morning, and to her surprise, Zheng Boding had indeed kept Nanmen Yu at Prince Duan’s Mansion and showed no intention of releasing him.
"Why have you come so early in the morning?" Zheng Boding did not expect to see his own daughter at the gates of Prince Duan’s Mansion, and he was even more astonished to see Nanny Yun and Xing Yu following right behind her.
Zheng Boding had no time to say anything else; he hurriedly pulled Zheng Nianru into Prince Duan’s Mansion, questioning how she had come and whether she had been discovered, then uneasily instructed the butler to scout the situation in the Imperial Palace.
"I naturally missed Father." Zheng Nianru was absent-minded, and in the days to come, she would not spend much time at Prince Duan’s Mansion. Although not large, Prince Duan’s Mansion was the most ancient and historically significant royal mansion in the Zheng Capital. The sea-buckthorn tree trunks in the main hall, hundreds of years old, entwined their roots bizarrely, and the ancient trees cast shimmering spots of light beneath their lush canopy as several servants swept the fallen leaves with bamboo brooms.
As Zheng Nianru stepped into the courtyard, a cool breeze carrying the scent of time passed through, and she looked up at the sky between the ancient trees.
Zheng Boding intended to urge Zheng Nianru inside, but he couldn’t help stopping in his tracks, filled with emotion. After all these years, Nianru was visiting Prince Duan’s Mansion for the first time, returning to her own home.
Even if it was the first time, Prince Duan was still anxious. How could she come back, how could Nianru come back, which path did she take? Was it safe, or was it just her capriciousness?
"How did you manage to come out?" Zheng Boding didn’t have time to ask anything else; he just looked and looked.
"I didn’t come from the Crown Prince’s Mansion." Zheng Nianru looked towards Zheng Boding. Although not yet forty and despite the harrowing years as a prince, Zheng Boding never lacked food or clothing. The sorrow on his dignified face could not obscure the innate nobility, and standing in front of Zheng Nianru, traces of his past vigor were still discernible.
"Then you, you..." was it through Nanmen Yu’s connections? That boy hadn’t deceived; he responded to each query without reserve, his submissive demeanor nearly fooled him again.
"Father, rest assured, the route I took was unnoticed." Zheng Nianru looked around left and right. Didn’t Father have even one female servant at his mansion?