"After all, he is my father. Even though he doesn"t treat me well, I will be accused of being unfilial if I say I don"t miss him!" Song Yixiao thought quickly, "However, if I say yes and he just takes the opportunity to send me back to the Song Family, what shall I do?"

Now the heir selection of Prince of Hengshan was in a mess and it was no longer safe to stay in the prince"s mansion. Wei Mengying was not reliable but compared with Song Yuan, she was much better.

In particular, it was time that Song Yixiao should be engaged. If she went back to the Song Family, she might be forcefully married to Liu Zhiyin!

Even without Liu Zhiyin, in light of Madam Pang"s detestation for her, she wouldn"t be able to marry a good man. Worse still, she would probably be sold again. How could she take the risk?

Thinking of the consequence possibly incurred by an inappropriate answer, she felt so nervous. She didn"t say with a forced smile until a while later, "Thank you for asking. How can I not miss my birth father? Just because I am stupid and can hardly win favor from my father, I don"t dare to go near and disturb him. I"ll be satisfied to pray in the morning and night that he lives healthily and long."

With his head aslant, Jian Xubai rested his chin in the right hand and played with the golden cup in the other hand, as if absorbed in thought.

He looked concentrative and stern in rumination. Everything seemed to fall into peace and silence for him.

At the moment, as the spring breeze blew by, fallen flowers scattered and flew around just like rain.

In the fallen flowers, the young Duke of Yan looked handsome of gentle n.o.bility. He was only a stone table away but somehow, he just felt like staying far up in the air.

This young man was as lofty and handsome as the morning glow; he was as cool and aloof as the rising bright moon. That was what an exceedingly charming man should be.

Song Yixiao, absorbed in a lot of thoughts, couldn"t help staring at him for a while.

Jian Xubai was obviously used to the others" admiring looks, so he didn"t care about her staring at all. He just said in a casual air, "It is said that he is married for a third time and has a daughter with his current wife. This daughter is regarded as the apple in his eye."

Song Yixiao was surprised to hear his words and thought in confusion, "What did he try to say on earth?"

She knew about Song Yuan"s remarriage. After all, she started to hang around at her current age.

Despite her embarra.s.sing family background, she still had a few acquaintances of high birth in the imperial capital thanks to her mild character and good communication skills. Hence, she also had knowledge of some widely known incidents.

Especially because Song Yuan was her birth father, whether out of good will or ill will, others always told her something about her father in the girls" gatherings.

Song Yuan was dismissed from his official post for inability of managing his family and laid low in the house of the suburb area for two years. With the help of a friend of his father, he finally managed to rise four years ago and returned to the Secretariat Department.

His current wife, with a higher cla.s.s origin than Madam Liu, was the daughter of Lu Yicheng, Advisor to Crown Prince. It was said that she was quiet and beautiful of charisma, greatly favored by Madam Pang.

After she and Song Yuan got married, they treated each other with courtesy and she served her mother-in-law thoughtfully. Therefore, even though she didn"t give birth to any boy yet, both Madam Pang and Song Yuan loved her and her daughter very much.

The daughter of Madam Lu was Song Yixiao"s half-sister, named as Song Yibao.

The significance of this second young lady who only started toddling in the Song Family was self-evident.

"I haven"t met my sister but I suppose that she must be very cherubic and lovely." Since she couldn"t figure out Jian Xubai"s intention, Song Yixiao decided to react according to the situation. Regardless, she couldn"t let others hold against her!

She tried to put on a generous look as much as possible, saying with a solemn smile, "I am happy that she can stay with my father and grandma for me."

The minute that she said that, Jian Xubai"s eyes gleamed with a bit of fierceness. He threw away the cup and sneered, "You are lying!"

Song Yixiao had no idea how to respond.

Why did he suddenly turn hostile just like Ji Zifu?

He was so friendly just now!

She felt so grieved and started to ponder how to smooth the matter over when Jian Xubai ordered Ji Su, Jinxun and Qingruo to stay afar.

Ji Su and Qingruo took his order immediately while Jinxun didn"t feel like leaving.

Jian Xubai took on a gloomy look and seemed to lose his temper. Song Yixiao sighed and waved her hand at Jinxun. Then Jinxun couldn"t help but to leave hesitantly.

"Tell me how you truly feel!" Jian Xubai ordered the pertinent people to leave and then stood up to walk towards Song Yixiao, looking at her and saying in a warning tone, "Or do you want to go back to the Song Family and fulfill your filial duty at once?"

He was quite tall. Even though Song Yixiao was taller than most of her peers, she was still a head shorter than him.

Now she was sitting while he was standing, making their height difference even more prominent.

Faced with the overwhelming sense of suppression, Song Yixiao bit her lip for a while and then asked helplessly, "Your lordship, what true feeling do you expect me to talk about? Is it about missing my father? Or his remarriage? Or my half-sister?"

Jian Xubai stared at her for an instant and said, "All of them!"

"Fine!" Given the current situation, Song Yixiao was forced to surrender. She answered with a self-mocking smile, "Firstly, without your generous help, you would surely know what might happen to me. Therefore, even if I miss my father, I will absolutely not want to fall at his disposal. I wonder whether you are satisfied with my answer."

Seeing that Jian Xubai had no comment, Song Yixiao hedged and then continued to say, "Secondly, it is reasonable and also expectable that my father gets remarried. After all, I don"t live in the house of the Song Family. His remarriage is none of my business."

"As to my half-sister," Now she hesitated for quite a while before she said unhappily, "in my opinion, her name fits her perfectly."

"Why does the name fit her?" Jian Xubai narrowed his probing eyes.

Song Yixiao raised her head and gazed at him for a while, saying smilingly, "She"s a treasure and I"m a joke!"

"Hmm!" Jian Xubai remained a grim look for a while and seemed to utter something but in the end, he only sneered. Yet, Song Yixiao still caught sight of the self-mockery crossing his face and asked in surprise and confusion, "Does your father still prefer your elder brother to you?"

Otherwise, what could a gifted man like Jian Xubai mock himself for?

If so, what he really wanted to know by making detailed inquiries must be how she genuinely felt about being the neglected one between her sisters?

Song Yixiao was still absorbed in thought but Jian Xubai stopped sneering soon and said indifferently, "I"m leaving first and you just suit yourself."

Having said that, he left with a flick of his sleeves before she made a curtsey!

In the distance, Ji Su saw Jian Xubai leaving and hastened to go along.

Song Yixiao didn"t know whether her guess was right. She stared at him leaving. As he went afar and vanished among the flowers, she felt that she had left out something somehow and couldn"t help rubbing her forehead.

Jinxun and Qingruo didn"t enter the pavilion until Jian Xubai left. Now seeing Song Yixiao"s perturbed face, they felt a bit frightened.

Jinxun thought for a few seconds and sent Qingruo away by asking her to break a few apricot flowers and bring them back for flower arrangement. Then she asked carefully, "Your ladyship, are you okay? Just now his lordship..."

"He asked me something that happened a few years ago." Song Yixiao waved her hand and asked her not to worry, saying, "Hang around yourself. I will sit here myself for a while."

How could Jinxun feel like playing around? She expressed her apology, "It"s my fault not to make things right. Please punish me!"

"If Meiping knew that Duke Jian was here, she would remind us." Song Yixiao shook her head, "It should be a coincident encounter."

As she found that Song Yixiao was not going to blame her, Jinxun felt relieved and yet still guilty. Hence, when Qingruo returned with flowers, she proposed going back, "It"s time that Miss Yuan wakes up. If she can"t find you, she will be worried."

Song Yixiao knew that she was thoughtful but now that they were not in a mood for appreciating flowers, it was no point staying here anymore. Yet, on the way back to the Embroidery Compound, she finally recalled what she had neglected. Then she stopped with an astonished countenance!

Jinxun and Qingruo were both surprised and also stopped. Jinxun asked flurriedly, "Your ladyship?"

"Nothing!" Song Yixiao took a deep breath and continued walking forward but she still felt perturbed, "There were two persons in the pavilion and the one standing there was Jian Xubai! He looked exactly the same as the figure she saw from the distance! Well... Then who was the one served by Jian Xubai with a pot?"

Jian Xubai was the legitimate nephew of the Emperor. He was not the Emperor"s sole nephew, but he was the only grandchild raised by the Empress Dowager! Only this point was good enough for him to impress a lot of people.

Moreover, he was a duke of super cla.s.s!

Besides, his birth mother was the grand princess and his grandfather was Prime Minister. Even princes and princess wouldn"t dare to take him lightly. There were very few people who were qualified enough for him to be served by him!"

And most of these people lived in the imperial palace, such as the Empress Dowager, the Emperor, the Empress and so forth. Obviously, they couldn"t show up here.

The seniors of the Jian Family were also included. Yet, they didn"t have any reason to come to Marquis Boling"s mansion and be served by Jian Xubai.

After all, the other members of the Jian Family were not close to the Yuan Family. The apricot flowers that the previous Marquis Boling planted for his legitimate wife were beautiful indeed, but similar scenery was also seeable in other places. Yuan Xuepei, the owner of the mansion was not recovered from the critical injury, who could hardly receive coming guests, except Jian Xubai, his good friend and comrade. For those who were not close enough with him, it would be rather inappropriate if they paid a visit to him.

The Jian Family had an even higher threshold than the Yuan Family. How could they do such a disgracing thing?

"If that man was his senior, why did Jian Xubai ask Ji Su to stall for time and cover for him?" Song Yixiao thought back and forth, and felt rather astonished, "Judging from what I have seen, either that man"s ident.i.ty can"t be disclosed or his relationship with Jian Xubai cannot be revealed... Mother said that after Marquis Boling returned with injuries, Jian Xubai came here to pay him a visit every day. It is self-evident that Jian Xubai attaches great importance. Now it seems that his frequent visit may not be for Yuan Xuepei only!"

Probably he came here to meet that man in private in the guise of visiting Yuan Xuepei at his home.

"I must comfort Xue"e well and go back to the house of Prince of Hengshan as soon as possible!" Song Yixiao pinched her eyebrows and looked stern. She made a decision, "Although the Prince"s family is not peaceful, I know the source of that anyway. Even if I can get away with it, I know what is happening! Unlike this place, I am so confused. I don"t even know what I have done wrong if any!"