The more outstanding he became, the more Jiang Wan worried about not being good enough for him.
After some encouragement from Jiang Yan,
Jiang Wan felt better.
Considering Jiang Da Bao and the others were not too young, before the New Year, Jun Shen discussed with Jiang Yan about sending them to the Imperial College for education.
In modern times, some children start school at over two years old.
Jiang Da Bao and the others had learned at home before, but now, going to the Imperial College, Jiang Yan naturally had no objections, as the instructors there were far superior to any private tutors.
To prevent classmates from mocking them,
Jiang Yan instructed the family not to use their nicknames in public, now using their full names.
The eldest was called Jun Yi.
The second, Jun Qi.
The third, Jun Nuo.
On the first day of school,
The triplets were stared at like monkeys when they entered the Imperial College, which made Jun Nuo want to punch them.
Jun Yi noticed and pulled Jun Nuo back, “Little sister, calm down, don’t mind them.”
Jun Qi added, “Yes, don’t mind them. They’re just envious of us. Look, no one else here came out of the womb together like we did.”
Jun Nuo thought about it and decided not to fight them.
The triplets had never been separated since birth, so Jun Shen pulled some strings, spoke with the Emperor, and arranged for them to be in the same class.
Thus, there was this scene:
Other classes were either all boys or all girls.
Their class had only Jun Nuo as the sole girl.
But no one dared to say anything.
Firstly, their father was Duke Jun, and secondly, there were three of them; if they were provoked, they would surely team up against anyone.
Jiang Ran, although Jiang Yan wanted to send her to the Imperial College, she herself was unwilling.
Jiang Yan could only arrange for tutors to come to their home to teach her.
When he had free time, he also taught her.
On this day,
Jiang Yan took Jiang Ran out to buy new writing supplies. After buying them, they left the stationery shop.
Remembering his promise to buy roast duck for his children today,
Jiang Yan told Jiang Ran to get in the carriage and wait for him.
He would buy some roast ducks and come back.
Jiang Ran agreed and got into the carriage. Not long after, she heard something hit the carriage. Lifting the curtain, she saw a blood-soaked little boy, which startled her.
“Help, help me…”
Jiang Ran saw him faint, quickly opened the curtain, and got off the carriage.
Qing Yi and Qing Er were with them today. Qing Er was still in the carriage, while Qing Yi had already gone to check on the boy.
Qing Er initially tried to stop Jiang Ran from getting off.
She jumped down from the side.
Coming over,
Jiang Ran saw Qing Yi had moved the boy to the side. She approached and said, “Uncle Qing Yi, he looks so pitiful, let’s save him. He just asked me for help.”
Qing Yi ultimately did not refuse.
He immediately carried the boy into the carriage.
They had just left when someone came chasing after them.
Qing Yi, noticing this, hesitated for a moment before deciding to take the boy back to the Duke’s mansion and call for a doctor to treat him. Jun Shen was about to reprimand them for secretly bringing someone back, but Jiang Ran stepped forward and said it was her idea to save him.
“Why did you think of saving him, you girl?”
Jiang Ran gave this reason: “He looked quite pitiful.”
Qing Yi then added, “Master, we saw many people looking for him today. This kid’s identity is either not simple, or he knows some secret of that group.”
Upon learning this, Jun Shen’s face darkened as he said, “So, you left the princess consort behind and came back.”
Qing Yi, Qing Er: “…”
They had completely forgotten!
Jiang Ran had also forgotten.
When Jiang Yan returned, Jiang Ran immediately ran over to apologize, “Big sister, I’m sorry…”
“What are you apologizing for? It’s fine that you came back first.”
Jiang Yan didn’t mind.
Jiang Ran pulled her to a secluded spot and told her what had happened before.
Only then did Jiang Yan understand why they had left first.
She heard that Jun Shen had gone out to look for her.
Jiang Yan’s heart felt sweet; he still cared for her just as before.
After clearing things up, Jiang Yan followed Jiang Ran to see the little boy they had saved.
The little boy was still unconscious.
Jiang Ran showed him to Jiang Yan and said, “Sister, he’s badly injured. The doctor said he has both external and internal injuries. There isn’t a single piece of good flesh on him; he’s covered in marks from being beaten with sticks.”
Jiang Yan asked, “Who is this little boy, to be beaten like this? Has anyone checked? Was it the people looking for him who did this?”
“Uncle Qing Yi has already gone to investigate.”
Jiang Ran replied.
Every time she called Qing Yi and the others uncle, Jiang Yan wanted to laugh because it was the wrong generation.
Jiang Yan reminded her again, “Little sister, don’t call Qing Yi and the others uncle in the future. They are of the same generation as us; you should call them brother.”
“Oh.”
Jiang Ran responded casually.
She examined the little boy and asked in confusion, “Sister, why did they beat him everywhere but not his face?”
Jiang Yan’s gaze fell on the little boy’s face as she said, “Haven’t you noticed how good-looking this boy is? Perhaps the people looking for him were human traffickers. To prevent him from escaping and to fetch a higher price, they only beat other parts of his body, not his face.”
Hearing this, Jiang Ran grabbed Jiang Yan’s sleeve in fear, “Sister, will they capture little girls too?”
“Rest assured, sister will have someone protect you. But for your safety, don’t wander off alone or talk to strangers unless someone is with you, understand?”
Jiang Yan instructed her.
Jiang Ran nodded her head, “Sister, I’ll remember what you said.”
Not long after, the little boy woke up.
Hearing him ask for water, before Jiang Yan could get some, Jiang Ran ran to fetch it.
But she didn’t know how to feed him, so she handed it to Jiang Yan.
Jiang Yan helped the boy sit up and fed him water bit by bit. About half an hour later, the little boy slowly opened his eyes.
Jiang Ran asked, “You finally woke up, how are you feeling?”
“Thank you for saving me.”
The little boy remembered Jiang Ran.
After speaking, the little boy glanced at Jiang Yan beside him and surveyed his surroundings.
Seeing that their home was quite nice, he excitedly grabbed Jiang Yan’s hand and said, “Sister, please save them. They were captured with me. They helped me escape, but they couldn’t get out.”
Chapter 151: Persuading Jun Shen to Choose Sides
After clarifying with the little boy, Jiang Yan immediately started making arrangements, but before she could finish, Jun Shen returned.
She handed the matter over to Jun Shen.
When Jun Shen arrived with his men, the group had already moved the children.
Fortunately, they were in a carriage, slower than Jun Shen’s horses.
Eventually, they were intercepted by Jun Shen’s group.
After rescuing the children, Jun Shen had Qing Yi and the others send all the involved parties to the Shuntian Prefecture.
As for the rescued children, Jun Shen also had his men take them to the Shuntian Prefecture.
Back home, he suddenly remembered there was a child at home who had been trafficked.
Jun Shen initially planned to send this child to the Shuntian Prefecture as well, but he had lost his memory and didn’t remember what had happened before.
“You really don’t remember what happened before?”
Jun Shen stared at the little boy and asked.
The boy shook his head.
Jun Shen then had all the previously rescued children brought over to identify him.
