The rain poured down heavily, making a loud patter on the roof. Inside the room, the candlelight flickered, casting shadows on the pale face lying on the bed.
...
"Tangning, you need to be more accommodating towards Lan'er. Her background is unfortunate, and she has had a hard life. You have been precious and esteemed for many years; you should have the grace to tolerate others."
"Tangning, Lan'er just doesn’t understand the rules of the capital. She didn't mean to offend you."
"Tangning, why are you so unreasonable? Lan'er has already made concessions to you. Why are you still pressing her and making things difficult for her?"
...
Song Jinxiu protected the tearful Song Shulan: "Song Tangning, it was your own reckless behavior that caused you to fall off the cliff and injure your face. It was your own mistake that led to your injury."
"If you hadn't hurt Lan'er first, we wouldn't have left in anger. If you had obediently returned to Lingyun Temple, how would you have fallen from such a height?"
"For the past two years, Lan'er has sought medicine for your face, personally collecting heart-blood to help you recover. She wishes she could make up for your losses with her own body. What more do you want?!"
Xie Yin looked at Song Shulan with heartache, then turned to her with a frown of disdain: "Cousin, you used to be so sensible. Lan'er is gentle and kind, always thinking of you. Why have you been so cruel to her, constantly bullying her? How did you become so vicious?"
Lu Zhi Nian, with a cold and mocking expression, said: "She has always had a malicious nature. Her face is ugly and her heart even uglier. She has targeted Shulan, causing unrest in the whole family and turning the Song and Lu families into a laughingstock in the capital. Such a person would have been better off dead on the mountain."
Old Lady Song expressed her disappointment: "Tangning, reflect on yourself."
Song Tangning, with a ruined leg and face full of sores, watched as everyone left, crying out desperately that she had not bullied Song Shulan. But the door slammed shut, and no one wanted her.
They all rejected her...
...
The girl on the bed, with her eyes tightly closed and face pale, cried continuously in her sleep. She seemed trapped in a nightmare, crying and mumbling "Brother."
Madam Qin, who had helped change Song Tangning’s clothes and applied medicine, couldn't help but say, "Master, this young lady is from which family? She seems to have suffered a lot of grievances; even in her dreams, she is crying."
Xiao Yan twirled his fingers, wondering if she had been frightened too much.
"How is her injury?"
Madam Qin replied, "She has many abrasions, but they’re not serious. It’s the nails on her hand that are torn and covered with dirt and mud. Her face has several deep scratches from branches; the wounds are deep, and since she is already frozen, they might turn into sores."
"Take good care of her; she mustn't have any scars," Xiao Yan instructed.
Madam Qin was quite surprised. She had known Xiao Yan for many years, and he was never one to show compassion. It was already unusual for him to bring the girl back, and now he was concerned about her scarring?
"Can’t it be done?"
"Of course. Don’t worry, Master. With me here, I will ensure that the young lady remains as beautiful as a flower." Xiao Yan gave her a glance, then turned and walked around the screen.
The girl on the bed, covered with a brocade quilt but still looking fragile, had her delicate fingers wrapped with bandages. Tears still clung to her face.
Xiao Yan sat by the bed, watching the young girl cry in her troubled dreams. He dipped his fingers in the tears at the corner of her eyes, his face dark with frost.
The look of fear didn’t seem to be caused by him.
Earlier, she had said that "they" had bullied her...
"Cang Lang."
Cang Lang entered.
Xiao Yan coldly ordered, "Have someone investigate the Song family to see if they have mistreated her in the past."
"And today at Lingyun Temple..."
"Also investigate that."
Before Cang Lang could respond, Jinyun, who had come in with him, couldn't help but frown.
He stopped Cang Lang, glancing at the figure lying on the bed: "Master, you are currently investigating the culprits of the granary disaster, which involves several prominent families in the capital. The Song family has close ties with the Cui and Lu families. Suddenly investigating them might alarm these people."
"It doesn’t matter." Xiao Yan’s eyes were stern as he wiped away the tear marks from his fingers. "Lu Chongyuan is very cunning; the granary operations are clean and it’s hard to find clues."
"I intended to find an excuse to deal with his close associates. If he detects that I’m looking into the Song family, it’s just as well. It will make him move and be wary."
Jinyun asked, "And the Song young lady..."
"Leave her here for now."
"Master!" Jinyun was confused.
The Song girl was a member of the Song family and was deeply involved with the Cheng Wang’s household. The Cheng Wangfei was extremely protective. If they left the Song girl here and someone found out, the Song family and Cheng Wang’s household would surely cause trouble for them.
Jinyun delicately said, "Master, the Song young lady is unmarried and staying here would be inappropriate."
"I am a eunuch; what propriety is there?" Jinyun was momentarily speechless.
Seeing his reaction, Xiao Yan scoffed and tossed the half of a jade pendant he had taken from Song Tangning’s neck.
Jinyun quickly caught it: "This is…"
"The dragon-patterned pendant of Aunt Xue."
Xue…
Jinyun’s eyes widened in surprise.
Xiao Yan looked at the half-dragon pendant and said, "Aunt Xue risked her life to protect me, leading the pursuers away and hiding me in a safe place. Not long after, a lady found me with half of Aunt Xue’s dragon-patterned pendant, claiming to be Aunt Xue’s close friend and she was entrusted by Aunt Xue to protect me."
"If that lady had not secretly protected me and sent me out of the capital, I might have already died." He was only eleven years old at the time, facing a sudden upheaval and injury to his eyes, his temperament became dark and uncertain, but that lady was very tolerant towards him.
For a long time, his eyes couldn't see clearly, but he remembered the plum blossom pastries the lady had made with her own hands and her gentle touch when she applied medicine to him carefully.
Later, when he was sullen and wouldn’t speak, a chatterbox of a little girl appeared in the small courtyard, jabbering away incoherently.
As Xiao Yan looked at the person on the bed, the frost in his eyes softened somewhat.
She was round-faced and chubby as a child, with short arms and legs, waddling like a fat duck when she walked. When he was silent, the little girl would cling to him, chattering away.
Despite her unclear speech, he never paid her any mind, but she always liked to nestle next to him, constantly talking. From how nice the sunlight was and how green the grass was, to how the little birds flew by, she could talk all the way to how her father picked pears for her, her mother made delicious pastries, and her brother made her a kite.
He never responded to her, but he enjoyed the lively chatter in her voice.
The first thing he saw when his vision returned was the little girl with her butt sticking up, lying beside him, staring with her big apricot eyes like a clumsy puppy, puffing up her cheeks to blow on his scabbed-over wounds.
Xiao Yan still remembered the day he left, the chubby little girl hugging his leg, crying with snot and tears, enough to drown a person in her grief.
Thirteen years later, she could still cry so much.
As Xiao Yan smiled softly, his eyes softened from their previous coldness, like a spring breeze.
"At that time, to ensure safety, the lady never mentioned her identity nor inquired about who I was. After returning to the capital, I searched for her, but the place where she had lived was long abandoned, surrounded by desolation, and no one knew about the past events."
He hadn’t expected to meet that little girl.
“Xiao haitang…” (Little Begonia) He remembered that the lady had called her by this nickname.
The person on the bed seemed to hear someone calling her, her eyelashes fluttering as if she was about to wake. A slender, powerful hand lightly patted her through the brocade quilt, and she seemed reassured, falling back into deep sleep.
Xiao Yan’s voice turned cold: "Investigate thoroughly to see how the Song family mistreated her." Jinyun and Cang Lang, hearing the Master’s anger, quickly took their leave to carry out the orders.
—------
T/N:
Wang - Prince
Wangfei - Princess / Main Wife of the Prince
Daily updates continue as usual but you can read ahead to chap 100 here
Thank you so much to the first supporter of this novel 🙏 I hope you enjoy the advance chapters
Damn that song shulan, cant wait for ML to find out how badly they treated his little begonia 😈
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