Xie Yin and Song Jinxiu entered the courtyard and immediately noticed the unfamiliar figure standing in front of the door.
Canglang, dressed in dark brocade, leaned casually against the pillar, half-hidden in the shadows, holding the Jade Peak Sword.
“Who are you, and why are you in Tangning’s courtyard?” Xie Yin asked in shock.
Song Jinxiu was startled by his words: “He’s not someone from the Prince Cheng’s mansion?”
“Guards…” Seeing Xie Yin about to call for help, Canglang stepped out of the shadows.
“Is the Young Master Xie blind? We just met at the Qian family’s house this morning, and now you don’t recognize me by nightfall?”
“It’s you!” Xie Yin exclaimed as he recognized the man, immediately recalling the humiliation he suffered at the Qian family’s house earlier today.
If Tangning’s words had shamed him beyond measure, then the master of the person before him was the real culprit. If it weren’t for him, Tangning wouldn’t have gone to the Qian family in the first place. Anger surged through Xie Yin.
“What are you doing here in our mansion? How dare you stay in Tangning’s courtyard in the middle of the night?”
Behind him, Song Shulan, who had just caught up and saw Song Jinxiu’s confusion, whispered, “Brother, he’s someone from Governor Xiao’s household…”
Song Jinxiu’s face immediately darkened. They had entered through the main gate of the mansion. If an outsider had visited, the gatekeeper would have informed Xie Yin. Moreover, Song Jinxiu despised Governor Xiao’s manipulation of power. Tangning’s involvement with him had already displeased him, and now, someone from Xiao’s household appeared in Tangning’s residence in the middle of the night.
He quickly stepped forward, his face stern. “How did you get in here? Where is Tangning? Where is she?”
“Miss Song is inside…”
“Then why are you here!” Song Jinxiu demanded angrily. “This is Prince Cheng’s mansion, not Governor Xiao’s residence. What are you trying to do by intruding into Tangning’s quarters without permission in the middle of the night? Alone with a young woman, do you think this is how Governor Xiao’s household behaves?”
Canglang was taken aback by his words.
Is this eldest son of the Song family out of his mind? Yes, his presence here was inappropriate, but any decent brother would have first tried to distance his sister from the situation.
He wasn’t even inside the house yet, and this eldest Song was already harping on about being alone with a young woman. Was he not concerned about ruining his sister’s reputation?
“Canglang.” Xiao Yan’s voice, cold as ever, just began to speak from within when Tangning suddenly said, “Brother, I want to meet them.”
Xiao Yan turned to look at her. This was the first time she had called him brother on her own accord.
Her eyes were still red, her cheeks flushed, but her expression was particularly serious.
“You said that I could handle the Song family matters on my own. I want to do it myself.”
She had once relied on her elder brother, her cousin, and Lu Zhennian, who she thought would protect her for a lifetime.
She had regarded the Song family as her support, but everyone had abandoned her. Now she no longer wanted to rely on anyone. There were things she wanted to handle on her own, even if the person before her would protect her; she didn’t want to depend on anyone anymore.
Xiao Yan was silent for a moment, the harshness in his expression fading away. “As you wish.”
“If you’re scared, just call for me…”
Tangning used Xiao Yan’s arm for support as she stood up, and he helped her out of the room. The others, who were still facing off with Canglang outside, looked up as they saw her emerge and quickly stepped forward.
Song Jinxiu was the quickest, and as he approached, he first saw the tall figure beside Tangning, then noticed her red eyes and tear-streaked face. He immediately shouted, “Xiao Yan, how dare you enter Tangning’s room? Tangning, are you okay? Did Xiao Yan bully you? Don’t be afraid; I’ll protect you.” He reached out to pull Tangning, but she stepped back to avoid him, leaving him grasping at empty air.
“Tangning…”
“Does the Young Master Song really wish that someone had done something to me?”
“Tangning!” Song Jinxiu was shocked, seeing an unprecedented coldness in Tangning’s eyes. He began to explain, “You know that’s not what I meant. You are an unmarried young woman, and with Xiao Yan and his servant in your room so late at night, if word gets out, it will ruin your reputation. I’m just worried about you.”
“Lower your voice, Young Master Yutai. That might help preserve her reputation. Besides, I’m just a eunuch; who would I ruin the reputation of?” Xiao Yan’s words left Song Jinxiu frozen.
Tangning, however, felt a sudden pang in her heart as she listened to him casually refer to himself as a eunuch, as if it were nothing. A man who should have been free-spirited and honorable was now revealing his own scars for her sake.
Her heart tightened, and when she looked back at Song Jinxiu, her gaze turned completely cold.
“Even though Canglang was outside, I was in the room with the Governor, with the doors and windows wide open. Even if it were just the two of us inside, the Governor is my brother. Who would dare gossip about it? But you, Young Master Song, you know it’s late at night, yet you brought your family’s daughter into Prince Cheng’s mansion to disturb my peace. Why didn’t you worry about her reputation when she was alone with Young Master Xie?”
“You didn’t attend the Qian family’s gathering today, but you let Young Master Xie take her around to socialize without worrying about gossip. Why are you so harsh when it comes to me?”
Song Jinxiu, stung by her words, protested, “That’s different. Xie isn’t an outsider…”
“The Governor is also my brother!” Tangning cut him off sharply, her dark eyes full of ridicule. “You say Young Master Xie isn’t an outsider. Is he family, then? Has Song Shulan married into Prince Cheng’s mansion, or has Young Master Xie already decided to take her as his wife? Have they exchanged betrothal gifts or formalized the engagement?”
“Tangning!” Xie Yin was enraged. “Shulan came to apologize to you. Why do you have to be so harsh?”
“Has Young Master Xie forgotten that you called her a wretch in front of everyone at the Qian family’s house today?”
“You!” Xie Yin, embarrassed and furious, retorted, “That was your fault! If you hadn’t humiliated me in public, I wouldn’t have been angry. And your leg was perfectly fine; why did you pretend it was broken and let yourself be carried into the Qian family’s house, making a mockery of us? You did it on purpose to embarrass me.”
“So what?”
Xie Yin was stunned into silence, expecting Tangning to deny or defend herself, but she admitted it outright.
Seeing his reaction, Tangning suddenly laughed.
“Young Master Xie, it was you who abandoned me in the mountains, you who caused my horse to bolt off a cliff, and you who nearly left me to die in that dark forest.”
“Look at this face of mine.” She suddenly leaned closer, revealing the wounds on her face, covered in medicine, and they were horrifying.
Xie Yin recoiled in fear, and her smile grew wider.
“What’s the matter? Is my face too ugly for you?”
“You say I deliberately embarrassed you, but tell me to my face, what were you doing when I was crying out for help? What were you doing when I was injured and dying?”
“Hmm? My dear cousin?”
Xie Yin’s face turned pale as he stumbled backward.
Tangning then turned to the equally stunned Song Jinxiu. “Young Master Song, what are you doing here tonight? Did you come to see how miserably you’ve made me, or to show me how much you love your sister?”
Song Jinxiu tried to explain, “I didn’t, I’m just worried about you. I know you’re hurt and want to take you home…”
“Take me home for what? To hear you scold me for being reckless, or to hear you tell me how pitiful Song Shulan is?”
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You can read ahead to chapterr 100 here
Give it to em tangning!!
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