“Get lost!” A young man shouted angrily from the dark cave, “I’ve told you that I wouldn’t eat. Who grants you the permission to disturb me again and again?!”
Song Yixiao heard him and knew that the man must have misunderstood. She supported herself up with her hands against the ground, intending to explain after getting up. However, when she tried to move, she felt a sharp pain in her ankle. Instantly, her face turned pale!
“My lady, what’s wrong?” Fortunately, Zhiqin was fine. She got up neatly and found out that something was wrong with Song Yixiao at once. She hurried to support her, “Is your foot hurt?”
Before Song Yixiao replied to her, the young man in the cave sensed that something went wrong and then walked out. That was a young man around 11 or 12 years old, dressed in a red round-collar suit decorated with bamboo pattens. With a jade belt tied around his waist, he also wore a green craped coat. He looked rather handsome with red lips, white teeth, dashing eyebrows and sharp eyes. Now this young man was looking them up and down, “Who are you? Why are you here?”
“My family name is Song. I live with my mother in Prince of Hengshan’s residence. Today it is my first time that I have come here with my mother. I am not familiar with this place so we arrive nearby by coincidence. It is raining now. Thus, we hope to go into the cave to hide from the rain.” Leaning against Zhiqin’s shoulder, Song Yixiao felt great pain in her ankle. Young as the man looked, he appeared obviously noble with the decent background.
Now that she was living under the roof of the others. As the princess consort, Wei Mengying must consider the mood of Prince of Hengshan so she couldn’t always stand up for Song Yixiao. As a result, Song Yixiao must avoid trouble as much as she could.
Holding back her anger, Song Yixiao didn’t mention her injury and yet explained in a nice tone, “I didn’t know you were in the cave. I never meant to offend you!”
The young man, with a gloomy face, stared at her for a while and then said impatiently, “You are so stupid. Why didn’t you ask for permission before you came in?”
“I don’t have magical eyes. It’s dark in the cave. How could I know you were in there?” Song Yixiao thought to herself in fury. She bit her down lip heavily and suppressed her urge to argue with him.
“I don’t want to badger with you.” As the girl lowered her eyes and stayed silent, the young man felt unhappy and yet still told them to come in when he saw the two girls’ shoulders wetted by rain. “Come in then!”
After he said that, he was about to turn around. However, he happened to see the staggering look of Song Yixiao. Unlike before, she couldn’t walk well now, which made him a bit shocked. Then he realized that the girl must be hurt due to his pushing. He felt a bit embarrassed instantly.
Song Yixiao didn’t notice his embarrassment. What she knew was that the young man was in bad mood. Therefore, after going into the cave with the help of Zhiqin, she felt her ankle swollen but she still withstood the pain and remained silent.
She didn’t say anything. Neither did Zhiqin dare to talk. The young man stood at the cave entrance with his sleeves rolled up, staring at the rain with a complicated and yet sad look. No one knew what he was thinking about. For the moment, only the patter of rain could be heard.
After a while, no one came to find Song Yixiao. The rain got lighter and then stopped.
Song Yixiao was about to ask Zhiqin to bring a strong woman to fetch her when the young man suddenly turned around and said to her in an unfriendly tone, “I live nearby. Come to my place and apply some medicine.”
Before Song Yixiao replied, he continued to say, “Then I’ll ask someone to send you back home.”
Song Yixiao’s injury was caused by him. Now that she could handle it in a decent way, she wouldn’t want to make it ugly for herself. Thus, she approved tacitly of the man’s arrangement.
After Zhiqin accompanied her out of the cave, the young man walked a few steps forward and turned around to see them staggering. He couldn’t help frowning and then he just strode towards them. Without giving them a heads-up, he directly carried Song Yixiao in his arms!
Zhiqin was taken aback!
Song Yixiao was astounded too, “What are you doing?” She was eight years old only, but they were literally strangers. After all, it was improper for men and woman to have physical contact. How could he carry her in his arms?
“How come a girl thinks so much?” Surprisingly, the young man rebuked her with justice for her questioning, “There is a long way ahead. I cannot stand you two staggering that slowly!”
Wait, didn’t the young man just say he lived nearby?
Song Yixiao was forced to lean against his arms, smelling the faint scent of his body, unable to struggle. She felt so embarrassed with a red face and had quick wits, saying, “How about you going back first and sending someone to pick me up?”
The young man answered with an impatient look, “We are almost there. Why do you ask for so much trouble?”
So, did this young man live nearby or not?
Song Yixiao felt so depressed and said in a weak voice, “Actually, you can tell me about the direction and go first. My maid and I will catch up with you.”
This time, the young man directly pretended not to hear her. Song Yixiao had no other choice but to pray that no one would see this.
However, after a short while, seeing the others look at her in shock, she regretted not to fake fainting beforehand.
“Oh! My lord, who is this?” One of coming servants, who was dressed in green, looked Song Yixiao up and down and asked in surprise.
“She has been pushed by me accidentally while sheltering from the rain and sprained her ankle.” The young man said casually, “Cuipiao, bring me the vulnerary and smear it on her. Then ask someone to take her home.”
Cuipiao was finally relieved with a sigh, saying joyfully, “Okay, I’m on it!”
As she tipped the wink, a strong woman came forward and fetched Song Yixiao from the young man, walking to the wing-room. However, Cuipiao didn’t follow immediately but chased after the young man, advising him in earnest, “My lord, you haven’t eaten anything for the whole morning since you got up. It is not good for your health. There is glutinous rice congee in the kitchen. Please have some! Otherwise, when Prince Consort comes here for you, he must be worried about you!”
The young man snorted with his eyes gleaming with sarcasm, saying with disdain, “My father only cares about his eldest son. Since when he cares about me? How can he feel worried about me for my not eating for half a day?”
Cuipiao smiled obsequiously, “You’ve thought too much. If Prince Consort doesn’t love you, could he agree on his old lordship’s decision to pass his title of Duke Yanguo to you?”
“Then I have been here for so long. Why hasn’t he come here for me?” The young man hedged and asked her calmly, “I’m afraid that he hasn’t even found that I am not in the residence of Jinguo Grand Princess.”
By now, the strong woman had carried Song Yixiao to the wing-room and closed the door to smear the vulnerary on Song Yixiao’s ankle. In this case, Song Yixiao couldn’t hear the young man’s conversation with his maid.
Yet, she had known the identity of the young man and felt surprised, “Is he the son of Jinguo Grand Princess? He hides in the silk store for being at loggerheads with his father?”
Jinguo Grand Princess and Daiguo Grand Princess were blood sisters of Emperor Xianjia. The former one, who was not as interested in politics as the latter one, only cared about entertainment, so she was more favored by the empress dowager and Emperor Xianjia. Even though she married for three times and her numerous romantic affairs were widespread in the imperial capital, the empress dowager and Emperor Xianjia just turned a blind eye and pretended that they didn’t know.“The maid called Cuipiao said he had inherited the title of Duke Yanguo. Hence, he must be the youngest son of Jinguo Grand Princess, Jian Xubai?” Song Yixiao sat by the bed and left the woman to smear the vulnerary on her foot, thinking in secret, “His father, Jian Likuang is the third husband of the Grand Princess, who is said to be seven or eight years younger than her. I doubt that they are not in good relationship due to the age gap. Yet, they two still have two sons. Jian Xubai is the younger one
Jian Xubai stayed by the door for a while. Then he stepped over the threshold and then closed the door, which made Song Yixiao even more alerted and vigilant.He just walked to Song Yixiao slowly and didn’t mean to do anything against her. With an embarrassed face, he opened his mouth and seemed to say something.“Anything I can help?” Song Yixiao looked at him suspiciously.“Kind of.” Jian Xubai answered with uncertainty and remained silent for a long while. He even blushed and then talked of his intention in a low voice, “My uncle says girls are good at how to act like a spoiled child. I am wondering how you do this to your father.”After he said that, his face was completely red. He kept looking around and yet didn’t dare to look at Song Yixiao. It was too embarrassing for him to ask a girl younger than him how to act like a spoiled child before her father. Even though he was eager to win favor from his father, he felt so awkwar
Song Yixiao heard it and felt surprised. Then she just recalled, “Oh crap! I forgot that my mother expected me to marry into the purple. Today since Lingdang saw me make friends with Jian Xubai, my mother must try her best to set me up with him!”She had a nice conversation with Jian Xubai for a reason. Firstly, she was afraid that he would figure out that she was the real conspirator for the tragedy of the Song Family and Liu Family. Therefore, she went all out to flatter Jian Xubai in case that he would suspect her.Secondly, somehow Jian Xubai felt like fighting for paternal love against his elder brother and sister out of no reason, so he had to inquire Song Yixiao about how to act like a spoiled child! Although Song Yixiao couldn’t teach him how, he must feel disgraced after asking such a question! Even though Song Yixiao didn’t laugh at him, Jian Xubai must have conflicting feelings.Afterwards, once Song Yixiao talked of what happened to
Song Yixiao asked curiously, “Who?”“Cui Jianlian.” Wei Mengying’s face didn’t look good, “She is the legitimate niece of Princess Consort Cui in her maiden line.”Generally, the wife of a second marriage always was inferior before the maiden family of the previous wife, but Wei Mengying feared Miss Cui not for that. “Princess Consort Cui is the youngest aunt of Cui Jianlian and her elder auntie is Noble Consort Cui as well as the birth mother of the crown prince!”Song Yixiao couldn’t help narrowing her eyes, “Since the Cui Family have successfully cultivated a princess consort and a noble consort, why do they send the daughter to the girl’s school of the prince’s residence?”Given such an achievement in terms of girl education, all the other people would feel eager to send their daughters to the Cui Family for study. Why would a daughter of the Cui Family study in the school of Prince of Hengshan?Wei Mengying snorte
Song Yixiao surely didn’t know about the trap that Madam Jin set for her. After arriving back at the Hanxia Villa, she told Ms. Zhao about what happened to her while she was out and then had a rest.Four or five days later, her foot was recovered and her new dresses as well as silk-flowers headwear were all delivered.Wei Mengying got to the Hanxia Villa on her own and dressed her daughter up before she brought Song Yixiao to the girl’s school. The girl’s school in the residence of Prince of Hengshan was set at the corner of the garden, which was a three-entrance courtyard. Upon entering the courtyard, you could see an artificial hill that was about 1.67 meters high and looked like a screen. Behind the artificial hill, you would see the courtyard, in the northwest of which you could walk through a door and find the classroom inside.“I will leave Yixiao at your hands from now on!” Wei Mengying left her daughter to the female teachers sincerely,
The Hanxia Villa was situated in a lonely place. Hence, Song Yixiao and Zhiqin were walking on the desolate path back.Yet, it was in the daytime anyway. Although the path was quiet and secluded with thick forests and grass, they were not frightened, discussing with each other on the way, “Shall we report what has happened today to the princess consort?”“No. Only my clothes have been stained, which can be cleaned later. Moreover, there is no evidence showing that the maid did it on purpose. I can only punish her in the end even if I keep badgering… However, doing so would make me look stingy and ask for trouble deliberately!”Zhiqin’s heart ached with pity, “The ink was specially thick and your stained clothes were lunar white. I don’t think the clothes can be cleaned. It is the first time that you have worn the blouse!”“Then you can have it if you want.” Song Yixiao tried to comfort her, “Don’t you also like this kind of color?”
“Send for Doctor Fu! Now!” Lu Guanlun ordered and yet his manservant still hesitated, “She is only a maid. Doctor Fu is a young man. Is it inappropriate for him to come to the inner courtyard?”“How can we not save such a loyal servant?” Before Song Yixiao replied, Lu Guanlun said in a deep voice, “As to the inappropriateness you mentioned, you just follow him closely. You must adapt your actions to different circumstances if needed!”The manservant took the order and left. Song Yixiao stared at Lu Guanlun with her lips trembling, saying sobbingly after a while, “Thank you so much for your help!”“Young as Doctor Fu is, he is good at healing injuries.” Lu Guanlun came to Zhiqin and took a look. Sympathy crossed his eyes, “I thought she had been dead… She is very lucky anyway!”He took off his coat and put it over Zhiqin, explaining in a soft voice, “One will feel cold after losing blood.”After a while, Wei Mengying ar
Song Yixiao was in a trance. She didn’t pass out with a sense of relief until Doctor Fu said the maid’s life was saved. All the while she didn’t find that she sprained her ankle again. Moreover, her sprain was even more severe than before.After she woke up again, she still had no time to attend to that.Because she learnt that Zhiqin survived indeed but she was severely hurt with irreversible wounds by the instant biting. The injury on her neck with her bone exposed to air had stopped bleeding, but an unrecoverable scar would exist forever. Worse still, she couldn’t speak anymore!Most of her right palm bitten off, she had only two fingers and part of the palm left.Moreover, she even had numerous injuries all over her body.What made Song Yixiao saddest was that Zhiqin also lost one eye. The scratch that crossed most of her face ruined not only her beautiful face but also her left eye!“It’s lucky enough