Chapter 342

Upon noticing the newly cleared space at the back of the garden, Emma couldn’t help but subconsciously furrow her brows.

The vast majority of the Baohua Family’s assets had been confiscated six years ago, except for this manor personally built by the first king due to its highly special significance, which hadn’t been reclaimed.

So even though she didn’t want to recall those sorrowful memories and didn’t wish to live in the empty mansion with just her daughter, moving them both to a small house at the corner of the garden, this manor still nominally belonged to her. It shouldn’t have been entered without permission.

Could it be thieves? But why would thieves bother clearing the land?

Full of doubts, Emma pushed open the window to take a look and found not only was the area behind the garden where she and her daughter lived cleaned up, but even the carriage path from the main gate to the main building seemed to have been tidied. The gravel and weeds on the road had already been cleared away.

There were about seven or eight very fresh wheel tracks leading along the main road all the way to the front of the main building. The broken stained glass windows on the ground floor of the main building had been removed, and even the slightly collapsed servant quarters on the roof had been dismantled. There were messy footprints all over the flower beds in front of the main building.

This… someone wanted to move in?! After looking at the chaotic footprints in the flower bed and the horse dung that hadn’t been completely cleaned up, Emma couldn’t help but feel irritated as she bit her lips.

Although she wasn’t attached to this empty house, this manor was once her home where she had lived for more than twenty years. How could someone just barge in and occupy it without even saying hello? That was truly outrageous.

“Elie, tell Mommy!”

After closing the rear window with some irritation, Emma tried to calm herself down and asked gently:

“What happened behind the garden? Who has come these past few days?”

“These past few days… many uncles pushing ladders and carrying tools came, and they pushed down the big badge in the middle of the building and replaced it with a new one.”

After making an effort to recall, the little girl gestured and said:

“That badge had a bird with a sharp mouth, green feathers, and black-and-white stripes across its belly.”

Sharp mouth, green feathers, black-and-white stripes across the belly… Golden Dujian emblem?

After hearing the little girl’s description, Emma’s face suddenly turned pale as she thought of a possibility she couldn’t accept. Without even changing her shoes, she ran out of the small house and jumped over the garden wall toward the main building.

When Emma rounded to the front, seeing the main building facade that she couldn’t see from the small house and recognizing the pattern on the new emblem, her cheeks instantly flushed red. Her usually gentle eyes suddenly filled with a biting cold wind.

Golden Dujian emblem! Yes, she should’ve realized earlier. Besides herself, there was another person who had the right to live in the Baohua Manor! Looking up at the second-floor curtain wall of the main building and seeing the golden Dujian emblem shimmering with emerald light under the sunset, Emma silently turned her head and found the emblem of the Baohua family in the flower bed used as a garbage dump on the side of the building.

Golden Dujian… Leonard…

Her delicate white fists clenched tightly, then slowly relaxed, clenching again repeatedly several times before finally loosening completely.

After staring at the two badges for a long while, Emma let out a deep sigh and walked heavily to the flower bed, picking up the Baohua badge, which had been smashed on one corner, from the trash pile.

Stay calm.

It’s more important to cherish those in front rather than dwell on the past. Don’t focus on what you’ve lost; cherish what you still have…

When Leon carried her out of the Deathscape, she had already made up her mind to try, for Elie’s sake, to temporarily set aside the hatred in her heart and strive to embrace a new life.

But…

Her fingers unconsciously tightened slightly, deforming the large copper badge. Emma’s teeth sank into her pale lower lip, leaving a row of deep indentations.

…

“Stand still!”

After helping William and Melanie tidy their clothes and straighten out their crooked little outfits, Anna narrowed her eyes and reminded them: “Have you remembered everything I told you before?”

“We have.”

After adjusting his own little bow tie, William calmly repeated: “Greet Aunt Emma when we see her, wish Sister Elie a happy birthday, don’t cause trouble and embarrass Big Brother, and don’t break other people’s things…”

“Most importantly, absolutely do not mention your dream of ruling the world!”

After adding this sentence, Anna turned to look at Melanie who was happily spinning around, twirling her little dress, and emphasized somewhat worriedly:

“And don’t mention your dream of being a parasite either!”

“I know, I know!”

After hearing her sister’s deliberate reminder, Melanie couldn’t help but pout in front of the mirror, complaining unhappily:

“It’s just these few agreements, you’ve been nagging about them since yesterday, we’ve already memorized them, okay?”

“It’s best if you’ve memorized them!”

After glaring at the least reliable Melanie, Anna softened her tone slightly: “Since Big Brother started working, Sister Emma has helped him a lot, and she… um… saved my life… Anyway, she is our family’s benefactor. You must respect her, and you mustn’t bully Elie!”

“We won’t.”

After tidying the children’s collar, William nodded satisfactorily and then said seriously: “Big Brother said, a person can lose money, but cannot lose integrity. After being helped by others, one must always keep it in mind. I’ve always remembered this sentence. Although I don’t know if Melanie can achieve it, I certainly can.”

“I… I can definitely do it too!”

Realizing that Anna’s gaze immediately turned fierce, Melanie sensed danger and quickly put on a serious expression like William, raising her hand to swear:

“If I cause trouble today or make Sister Elie cry, then… then I’ll give all my pocket money this year to William!”

Is she that determined?

After hearing Melanie actually make such a “poisonous vow,” Anna finally felt somewhat reassured and went out to call the carriage. Meanwhile, William couldn’t help but glance sideways at his sister.

Since he lacked talent in math and only scored 5 points on the last small test, matters involving numbers, like pocket money, had been taken over by her, who self-proclaimed to be the future Minister of Finance of the Empire.

Now that Melanie suddenly swore using her pocket money, could it be that she planned to mooch off his pocket money for the entire year if she caused trouble today?

(End of Chapter)