When Song Yixiao returned to the Embroidery Compound, Yuan Xue"e just got up. Yuan Xue"e found Song Yixiao came from outside, she felt confused and asked about the latter one"s whereabouts.

"Jinxun felt like hanging around outside, so I took her out for a tour around the apricot forest. Unexpectedly, when we arrived there, Duke Jian had been there. Then we came back." Song Yixiao talked about the ins and outs of the matter lightly, leaving out the person in the pavilion. "We didn"t sit there for long. I"m quite sorry for Meiyan and Qingruo"s effort."

"No need to feel sorry for that. You"ve regarded me as an outsider." Yuan Xue"e, quite simple and candid, didn"t doubt what Song Yixiao said. After scolding her for a bit, she changed the topic then.

However, that night, after Song Yixiao went to bath, served by Jinxun, Qingruo requested permission to meet Yuan Xue"e via Meiyan, saying, "When Miss Song was in the apricot forest today, Duke Jian ordered us to give him and Miss Song some privacy so that they could have a talk."

"After Duke Jian left, Jinxun and I went to the pavilion only to find that Miss Song looked disgruntled."

"On the way back, Miss Song was in a daze and even stopped suddenly."

"You have ordered us to respect Miss Song just like how we do you. Therefore, I shall not hide this from you."

Yuan Xue"e was taken aback, "What did Jian Xubai mean? I was fine that he scolded me. I am not capable indeed. But what wrong has Song Yixiao done?"

The first maid, Meiping asked Qingruo not to spread the words and then sent her away. Afterwards, she proposed to Yuan Xue"e, "How about asking Miss Song about this later?"

"Yet, she didn"t tell me about it. Does she not want me to know for she feels disgraced?" Yuan Xue"e said hesitantly, "I deserved to be scolded but I still felt shamed for that and didn"t feel like meeting others."

Meiping reminded her, "But Miss Song came here for you. Now that she suffers wrong, regardless of the ringleader, you must do something about it. You know, Qingruo was at the spot and Miss Song knew that she would tell you about the incident for sure. If she finds that you"ve learnt about it and do nothing, I"m afraid that you two may become estranged."

She convinced Yuan Xue"e successfully. After Song Yixiao went out of the bathroom, Yuan Xue"e sent away all the maids and asked, "Were you bullied by Duke Jian today?"

"Xue"e, don"t take it wrong. Duke Jian just told me something about my father out of good will." Song Yixiao wanted to find an excuse to leave Marquis Boling"s mansion. Hearing this, she had an idea instantly and gave a worried face, "I haven"t visited him for a long time. If it were not for Duke Jian, I wouldn"t know..."

Speaking of this, she hedged and slightly sighed.

Yuan Xue"e asked with concern, "What on earth happens? What can I do for you?"

"It"s not that I don"t want to tell you, but he is my father regardless. I cannot talk too much about it." Song Yixiao lowered her head and kneaded her napkin, worried and perturbed, "I can only sound out my mother"s opinions later."

"Is it urgent?" A daughter shouldn"t speak ill of her father indeed. Yuan Xue"e wanted to ask Song Yixiao to tell her everything if they were as close as real sisters but she perished the thought instantly. "If you are too worried, how about going back to Prince of Hengshan"s mansion and inquiring your mother about it? After all, Auntie is in charge of the household affairs of Prince of Hengshan and she is well-informed!"

That was exactly what Song Yixiao wanted to hear!

However, she put on an awkward look, "But you are still not well..."

"I am okay now." Yuan Xue"e hastened to say, "Just rest a.s.sured and go home!"

Song Yixiao hesitated for a while again. When Yuan Xue"e was even trying to pack for her, she agreed with a nod reluctantly. In order to prevent Yuan Xue"e from inquiring from Jian Xubai and exposing her lie, she talked to Yuan Xue"e specially before she left Marquis Boling"s mansion, "I have promised to Duke Jian that I will never tell others what he told me. Xue"e, please don"t let anyone else know I have leaked it to you! Otherwise, I will be too embarra.s.sed to meet him again!"

Having obtained Yuan Xue"e"s sincere promise not to leak anything to Jian Xubai, Song Yixiao got in the carriage.

Weak and simple as this girl was, she was trustworthy.

"I am back here finally!" Having returned to Prince of Hengshan"s mansion, Song Yixiao took a long breath and then braced herself up to face the coming war of heir selection.

Unexpectedly, when she just met with Wei Mengying and they didn"t even start to have a private talk, the maid Qiaoqin came in and reported, "Fourth Commandery Princess has arrived and wants to meet you!"

Wei Mengying consolidated the position of Princess Consort of Hengshan with her son and daughter, but the Dowager Consort was still alive. Prince of Hengshan loved her very much. Yet, he had other children with his previous wife and concubines, and moreover, he liked his children as well. Therefore, she didn"t dare to maltreat them.

Particularly, Fourth Commandery Princess, Lu Kou"er, was the legitimate daughter of the Prince"s first wife. She was a pretty and vivacious girl, who was always favored by others. Hence, Wei Mengying treated her quite well.

Now that she came to pay a visit, Wei Mengying didn"t bother to question Song Yixiao and hurried to order, "Let her in now!"

After a while, Lu Kou"er, dressed in purple blouse and pink skirt, entered the hall and made a courtesy. Wei Mengying advanced to support her and said, "You are being too polite. We are a family!"

Wei Mengying talked to her in a warm tone while Lu Kou"er responded in an aloof way. After stood up straight, she didn"t care to sit down as Wei Mengying said but replied, "Mother, I have difficulties in some embroidery techniques. Among all the cla.s.smates, Miss Song is the best at embroidery. Can I invite her to my Shaoyin Villa so that she can teach me?"

Of course, Wei Mengying had sensed that asking about the embroidery was merely an excuse. Lu Kou"er must be up to something. However, these two girls were cla.s.smates but they seldom hanged out. They even scarcely went out together. Although they hadn"t fallen into significant conflict, they were not close at all.

Now Lu Kou"er suddenly wanted to invite Song Yixiao to her dwelling, what was she up to?

Wei Mengying cast a dubious glance at her daughter only to find that Song Yixiao looked so confused too. She became even more puzzled but given the ident.i.ty of Lu Kou"er, she couldn"t reject the request. Therefore, she still nodded her head, "You are about the same age. You should hang out more often. Even if you are married, you can keep each other company."

Since she said so, Song Yixiao had no other choice but to agree.

However, when she followed Lu Kou"er into the Shaoyin Villa, no needlework was brought to them. Instead, Lu Kou"er ordered all the servants to leave and sent the first maid, Guizhi to keep watch for them. Then she said to Song Yixiao who was full of misgivings, "Don"t be afraid. I don"t like you but I don"t need to hurt you for your freeloader at my home."

There was no such thing as a free lunch. Over the past six years, Song Yixiao had been well raised in Prince of Hengshan"s mansion. Now Lu Kou"er didn"t talk nicely to her, but she couldn"t refute either. She asked in depression, "So you ask me to come over here, what do you expect me to do?"

"I want you to send a letter to Jian Xubai for me when you visit Xue"e next time. Is it okay?" Lu Kou"er stared at her and said unhurriedly, "Given the relationship between you and Xue"e, I think it must be quite easy for you."

Song Yixiao really wanted to sigh. She was praying that Jian Xubai could just forget her and especially not suspect her seeing what she had seen. However, Lu Kou"er was requiring her to send a letter to Jian Xubai, which was not a good sign.

"I can do it but I don"t dare to." Song Yixiao pondered for a while and rejected with determination, "You just mentioned that I was a freeloader here. I cannot really help you exchange things in private. If it leaks out, I will be accused of biting the hand that feeds me."

Lu Kou"er was not angry to hear the reply. Instead, she gave a satisfied smile, "Since you don"t dare to send a letter for me, will it be okay to tell me when you are invited to the house of Yuan Family next time? After all, I am Yuan Xuepei"s legitimate cousin. Even if I go uninvited, I will not be shunned out of door, will I?"

Song Yixiao had no idea how to reject her now!

Therefore, she was forced to agree to tell Lu Kou"er when she was invited to the house of the Yuan Family again. Yet, when Song Yixiao returned to the Hanxia Villa, she immediately ordered Ms. Zhao to send a message to Yuan Xue"e. "My lady says that it is pertinent to the Commandery Princess"s reputation, which cannot be disclosed to public. However, the Commandery Princess wants to facilitate her plan with the help of Marquis Yuan and my lady cannot stop her but to send me to give you a reminder."

Yuan Xue"e had been well protected since childhood. Every time she encountered a problem, she would tell it to her brother and ask him to make the decision for her. Now Yuan Xuepei and Jian Xubai were both busy with the court affairs. How could he be in a mood to talk about romance?

After being roughly briefed, he told his sister directly, "Don"t invite Miss Song here recently until everything is quieted down!"

When his message was sent back to the Hanxia Villa, Song Yixiao was finally relieved.

However, she was asked to meet Wei Mengying by Qiaoqin. She thought that Wei Mengying only wanted her to seduce Yuan Xuepei so she got prepared to bluff it out. Unexpectedly, after they met, Wei Mengying told her with an anxious face, "The Dowager Consort requires meeting you. I don"t know why."

Song Yixiao lived in Prince of Hengshan"s mansion for six years but she went to the Dowager Consort"s dwelling only once. It was on the day when she arrived here that they met with each other. And it was because Yuan Xuepei and his sister also came to visit on the same day.

Afterwards, the Dowager Consort didn"t oppose her deliberately, but she didn"t pay attention to her as if Song Yixiao didn"t exist at all.

Now her sudden summoning made Song Yixiao and her mother inevitably astonished!

Especially after they met the Dowager Consort and made a curtsey, they were not allowed to get up. After a while, they felt numb in their feet and sore in their backs but the Dowager Consort seemed negligent of that and only focused on drinking tea casually. She just cast a glance at them coldly once in a while.

Throughout the silenced tension, Wei Mengying still held back her anger. In the end, supported by her son and daughter on her either side, she stood up and questioned in anger, "Mother, what do you mean?"

"How dare you even ask me?" The Dowager Consort put down the tea bowl slowly and unhurriedly, and then cast a grim glance at her, scolding her furiously, "How do you educate your birth daughter? It"s time for her to get engaged now. Yet, you didn"t keep her at home to manifest her value and importance. Instead, you let her go to Marquis Boling"s mansion alone! And she even lived there for several days! Don"t tell me that you don"t know about the situation there! Although Xuepei is disabled, he is a bachelor who is just over 20 years old! Especially Duke of Yan pays a visit to him every day out of his friendship with Xuepei!"

"Even though there is an elder lady in the Yuan Family, don"t you know the relationship between Madam Tu and Xuepei? As for the guest that Xuepei invites, she will not help cover it up. It will be good enough that she doesn"t hit us when we are down! It is well known to all in the imperial city that the family of Marquis Boling is in the charge of a young man! Kou"er is even a real relative of Xuepei and I don"t allow her to pay him a visit. However, you should send your daughter over there!"

"You must do it on purpose to bring shame on Prince of Hengshan!"

The Dowager Consort threw the tea bowl at Wei Mengying but she was still angry. She rose from her seat and walked down to her, pointing at her nose and cursing, "You"ve kept your daughter here for six years and she has been well treated. She is even allowed to go to the girl"s school to study with Kou"er. Undoubtedly, she gains the same benefits as a legitimate commandery princess. Anyway, she has been treated as a lady of high birth. I don"t need her to give back and I will take this good deed as a blessing for my children. However, you"ve let me down! As her birth mother, how can you do that to her?"

Wei Mengying was speechless!

Song Yixiao felt relieved in secret and thought, "It seems that the Dowager Consort also senses my mother"s intention of asking me to the house of Marquis Boling. If she expresses her disagreement, I will have an excuse to reject my mother"s following request of forcing me to show care for Yuan Xuepei!"

Unexpectedly, the Dowager Consort finished scolding Wei Mengying and then said, "I allow your daughter to grow up like a lady in here not to hinder my blood granddaughter! You fail to educate your daughter well and thus bring the blame of others upon her, which has implicated Kou"er and the other girls. She cannot stay in this house anymore. Here are two options for you. You can either send her back to the Song Family right now or make her marry immediately!"

Song Yixiao, who was chuckling to herself, was shocked!