Chapter 49 She actually saw her brother in her dream
The sudden news kept Tang Ning awake for half the night. After finally falling asleep, he felt as if he had returned to the dark past.
There was a wedding banquet in the front yard of the Song family. The house was packed with guests and there was noise and laughter. The abandoned courtyard that was always guarded in the past was suddenly empty. The only remaining woman opened the door and came in cursing, eating her food as usual and cursing that she couldn't go to the wedding banquet because of a waste like her.
She complained that she couldn't get the wedding money and asked her why she didn't just die. She even kicked her twice because she was not satisfied. But for some reason, the meal that day gave her diarrhea. After a fishy smell, the old woman left in a hurry with a green face, without even locking the door.
Tang Ning escaped.
It’s a pity that she broke one leg and couldn’t leave the Song family at all.
She was dragged and thrown back into the abandoned yard, where her crippled leg was crushed again and even her intact leg was broken into pieces.
As the night wind howled, she was stepped on the ground and strangled by the neck with a white silk scarf. The desperate suffocation filled the air, and all she could hear was the gloomy voice telling her that she shouldn't go out.
"Hurry up and clean it up, don't ruin the happiness of Madam and Mr. Lu."
"This is a girl from the mansion..."
"What girl? She's just a poor, disfigured cripple. She could have lived a few more days, but she disturbed someone she shouldn't have."
The cold words penetrated my ears, and my cervical vertebrae seemed to be strangled.
Tang Ning's mind gradually became dizzy and her vision became blurry. She knew she was going to die. When the pain in her body disappeared, the voices in her ears became farther and farther away.
At the moment she died, she seemed to hear a sudden noise outside, as if someone had knocked open the door, and a figure walked on the moon from outside.
"Little Begonia..."
call--
Song Tangning suddenly woke up from his sleep and sat on the bed with cold sweat all over his head.
"Girl?"
Hua Wu heard the noise outside and quickly got up from the small couch and walked in quickly.
The bedside curtains were drawn aside, and the dark room was illuminated by the candle in Hua Wu's hand: "What's wrong with the girl? Are you in a nightmare?"
Tang Ning was gasping in his throat and his face was pale, but he sat on the bed hugging the quilt. In his mind, the voice of "Xiao Haitang" that was like jade breaking ice and tinged with anger kept ringing.
For a moment she couldn't tell whether she was just thinking about it or if she really had that scene before she died.
She actually saw her brother in her dream...
"Girl?" Hua Wu was a little worried: "What did you dream about? Why do you look so sad?"
Song Tangning murmured, "I dreamed that I died and my brother killed someone..."
"Pah, pah, pah!" Hua Wu's face turned pale. "Dreams are the opposite of reality. May the girl live a long and healthy life."
She wiped the cold sweat from Tang Ning's forehead with a silk handkerchief, not knowing whether she was comforting Tang Ning or herself: "Girl, nothing will happen. It's just a dream. Don't be afraid."
Tang Ning was a little distracted while holding the quilt.
Seeing that she seemed uneasy, Hua Wu quickly put down the oil lamp and walked aside. She poured some hot water from the four-legged copper stove not far from the bed and brought it to the bed. After Tang Ning finished drinking it, she whispered:
"It's only the morning of the 11th, it's still early. Miss, would you like to sleep a little longer? I will accompany you."
Tang Ning shook her head. The dream just now was a bit scary. She was no longer sleepy after being awakened. Staying in this dimly lit room made her feel suffocated.
"Go get some clothes. I want to go out for a walk."
It was still dark outside and everything was pitch black.
Tang Ning led Hua Wu to walk slowly in the yard for a while, and then asked her to support him as they walked around the corridor and through the backyard, and directly to the wall of the Governor's Mansion.
The Tang Mansion and the Xiao Mansion are adjacent to each other. Although they each have their own gate, they share a partition wall in the middle.
The high wall completely separated the two mansions. Although no shadow of the opposite house could be seen, when Song Tangning stood under the wall, the fear in the dream and the panic before death slowly subsided, and even his violently beating heart gradually calmed down.
"Girl, what are we doing here? There's nothing here."
Tang Ning raised her head: "I want to see..."
have a look?
Hua Wu looked around with some confusion. What was so interesting here?
She followed Tang Ning's gaze to the high wall in front of her, and suddenly realized: "Does the girl want to see the governor?"
Tang Ning hummed a low "hmm", but shook his head after a moment.
She just felt that she was a little crazy. The future of her previous life in her dream had not appeared at all. She returned from the mountain safely and almost broke up with the Song family. She would not fall into the same situation as in her previous life. Everything was completely different from what she knew.
Even if she met Xiao Yan, what would happen? Could she ask him whether the scene in her dream was true or false, or could she tell her whether the person who called her "Xiao Haitang" coldly when she was dying was him?
"Forget it, I was confused in my sleep..."
Tang Ning sighed softly and was about to ask Hua Wu to help her go back when she suddenly heard a voice coming from above her head.
"If you want to see me, why don't you come over?"
Tang Ning's heart suddenly jumped, and he looked up in surprise, only to see a figure appear on the high wall.
The clouds disappeared and the moon rose. In the thick night, he was wearing a white long gown, and the belt on his waist outlined his waist, which was both strong and thin. The moonlight shone on his figure, leaving a long silhouette on the wall.
"Ah...Brother?" Tang Ning looked at the man standing there in astonishment, somewhat at a loss: "Why are you here?"
"Practicing martial arts."
"So early."
Tang Ning couldn't help but look at the sky. Did they get up in the dark to practice martial arts?
Xiao Yan stood on a high place, looking down at her. "Of course, martial arts practitioners must practice diligently, otherwise it will be difficult to improve. But you, since you want to see me, why don't you go through the main gate?"
Tang Ning felt embarrassed upon hearing this. She hadn't thought that what she had just said to Hua Wu would be heard by Xiao Yan. Moreover, it felt a bit strange to squat at the foot of the wall of the Governor's Mansion so early in the morning.
"I……"
She opened her mouth and hesitated, wanting to say that she didn't want to see him either, but she felt that this explanation was even stranger. Her little face tightened a little, and at the same time, she became more and more embarrassed and red.
Before she could figure out how to explain to Xiao Yan, she heard him say this.
"Now that you're awake, come and have breakfast."
"ah?"
Tang Ning was just stunned when she saw Xiao Yan leap down. Before she could react, he picked her up and jumped over the wall, and at the same time reached out and picked up Hua Wu as well.
After landing, Xiao Yan immediately let go and stepped back, avoiding the opponent.
"Let's go."
…
Tang Ning was still in a daze when Xiao Yan led her into the dining room.
The people in the Governor's Mansion were not too surprised to see their master coming back from the backyard with a little girl by his side. Instead, Canglang walked up to him with a familiar look.
"The kitchen has prepared breakfast. What would Miss Song like to eat?"
"I'll just follow my brother."
"Then you can't do that." Canglang laughed.
Tang Ning was puzzled when he heard this.
Xiao Yan glanced at Cang Lang and said, "Go ask the kitchen to make some meat porridge, and add some side dishes and fried cakes."
Canglang took the order and retreated. Tang Ning was particularly confused about what he had just said. It was not until a while later when she saw the servants bringing up the red breakfast that she understood what Canglang meant when he said that she could not follow him.
"Brother, why are you eating something so spicy so early in the morning?"
She knew that Xiao Yan liked spicy food. When the two of them were having hot pot with mutton that day, he had prepared a special red dipping sauce for him. But she didn't expect that he would eat the same way for breakfast.
Canglang, seeing her shocked expression, smiled and said, "This is no ordinary spicy soup. The Governor caught a cold early in life, which blocked his meridians. Although he has since recovered somewhat, eating spicy food regularly is beneficial to the body. However, Madam Qin said that too much spicy food can easily damage the stomach, so she prepared this four-ingredient soup for the Governor. It looks spicy, but it's actually a medicinal dish."
Seeing Tang Ning blink, Xiao Yan explained, "I have to go to the palace on duty during the day, and I don't have many opportunities to eat in the palace. This medicinal meal must be eaten every two days, not every day. You just happened to encounter it today."
Only when he came closer with the bowl of soup did Tang Ning smell a strong medicinal scent.
Seeing Xiao Yan take it without changing his expression, she frowned slightly: "Brother, how did you catch a cold? Is it serious?"
"It happened a long time ago. It doesn't matter anymore."
"oh."
Seeing that he just said it casually as if he didn't want to mention it, Tang Ning tactfully stopped asking and just held the oil cake in both hands and began to eat it absentmindedly.
After she woke up from her dream, many things were on her mind. She had suppressed them after taking a walk in the backyard, but they came to her mind again after she saw Xiao Yan.
Tang Ning had a fried cake in his mouth and was a little distracted.
"Are you worried?"
Seeing her looking up in confusion, Xiao Yan picked up some food with the serving chopsticks and put it in her bowl.
"The chef in the mansion has always prided himself on his unparalleled cooking skills. If he saw you making his fried cakes so unpalatable, he would commit suicide."
Tang Ning quickly swallowed the oil cake in his mouth.
"Don't think about anything while eating, or you might choke."
Xiao Yan's profile was stern, and he didn't look at her when he spoke. However, he calmly scooped a bowl of porridge in front of her, and put the spoon in the bowl. His calm and unsharp expression made people feel inexplicably at ease.
Tang Ning couldn't help holding the fried cake and said, "Brother, can I ask you a question?"
"explain."
"If you hadn't met me on the mountain, and someone with a dragon-patterned pendant pretended to be me and came to you, would you have noticed?"
"Why do you ask that?"
Xiao Yan was surprised for a moment, but still replied, "Although this item is Aunt Xue's heirloom, not everyone can pretend to be Aunt Xue's old friend. Even if I mistakenly protect it for a moment, it's fake. How can I not detect it?"
Although he told Song Tangning that he acknowledged her as his sister because of the dragon-patterned pendant, in fact it was more because she was the child back then.
The two of them had a bond for a long time. If the jade pendant fell into the hands of someone else, he would certainly be deceived for a while, but he would not be so stupid as to keep mistaking it.
Seeing the girl opposite with her thick eyelashes drooping, wondering what she was thinking, Xiao Yan said, "Is it the Song family's affairs that have made you uneasy?"
Tang Ning pursed her lips and said, "Song Tan's concubine's daughter came to see me last night."
Xiao Yan knew about this.
The Tang Mansion and the Xiao Mansion were separated by only a wall, and the gates of the mansions were in the same alley. In addition, almost all the people on the other side had passed through the Governor's Mansion, so he naturally could not hide any movement next door from him.
Xiao Yan already knew about it when the concubine of the Song family came over last night, but he never asked about it and didn't think about making decisions for Song Tangning in everything. He also knew that Hang Li had beaten Song Qin and crippled him, but since the person had been given to Song Tangning, it was natural for her to decide on rewards and punishments.
Seeing Xiao Yan just staring at her without saying anything, Tang Ning hesitated for a moment before saying, "Third sister is different from the other members of the Song family. If the Song family is destroyed, she..."
She would definitely not forgive Song Qin, but if what she guessed was true, Song Ru had done her a favor.
Song Ru is a daughter of the Song family, and she cannot escape if anything happens to the Song family.
"I know that my third sister is innocent, and she came to me last night out of consideration for sisterly love. She is different from the Song family, but I can't let the Song family go just for her."
After she finished speaking in a low voice, she couldn't help but glance at Xiao Yan, "Brother, am I too cruel?"
"If you were cruel, you wouldn't care about her."
"But..." Tang Ning hesitated.
Xiao Yan understood her worries, his eyes softened, and he spoke slowly.
"Song Ru is a concubine of the Song family, but she has no status in the family. Not only does her biological father not care about her at all, but even your brother, who always talks about morality, treats this concubine worse than a concubine who has been in the mansion for less than half a year."
"Song Ru is a disgrace to the Song family, and a stain that Song Qin wishes to erase. Her situation in the Song family is even worse than yours."
"If the Song family is well, she may not be well. If the Song family falls, she may not be poor either."
As long as he wants to investigate what's happening in the capital, nothing can be hidden.
Previously, when he sent people to the Song family to investigate Tang Ning's affairs, the people he sent turned the Song family upside down, and naturally, this concubine's daughter of the Song family who had little presence was not left out.
Xiao Yan raised his eyes and looked at Tang Ning: "You should know why Hang Li hurt Song Qin last night. Your half-sister may look timid and cowardly, but she may not be like that at heart."
"Cowardice is a self-protective cloak she's developed through years of suffering. It's the only way she can survive. But if she's given the chance, she might be bolder than anyone else."
Tang Ning was stunned when she heard what Xiao Yan said. She remembered that in her previous life, Song Ru secretly pointed out a way out for Hua Wu, and that she had secretly "supported" her for a long time. Even later, on the day of Song Shulan's wedding, the old woman suddenly had a stomachache. The chance to escape that fell on her like a miracle was something that no cautious concubine's daughter would ever do.
Song Tangning, who had been panicking, suddenly calmed down: "I understand, thank you, brother."
Xiao Yan said to her, "The people sent by King Cheng to Anzhou are almost on their way back. They should be in the capital in half a month at the latest."
Tang Ning was stunned: "Then aunt..."
"The person Princess Cheng was looking for has already arrived in Suyun Town. Judging from his ability and speed, he should be returning to the capital at the same time as the people from Prince Cheng's Mansion."
Xiao Yan looked at her as he spoke: "The Song family is in a very bad situation right now. If Song Jinxiu wants to return to the presence of the Holy Saint and the Song family wants to restore its reputation, they can only focus on you. Moreover, the Lu family suffered a great loss at my hands, and they may use you to plot against me because of the Song family's affairs."
People from aristocratic families have always been shameless, and there are many who use despicable means. He is not afraid of anything, but he is afraid that Song Tangning will be plotted against.
Tang Ning's expression tightened: "I will be careful."
You must not hold your brother back!
Xiao Yan saw that the little girl opposite him no longer had the previous melancholy look on her face, but was full of fighting spirit, her eyes lit up. He raised the corners of his mouth slightly and pointed at the table with his fingers.
"Can we eat now?"
"able!"
Tang Ning quickly stuffed the oil cake into her mouth, her cheeks puffed up and her eyes became dull and round.
Xiao Yan laughed: "Eat slowly."
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