Chapter 3 Little Begonia
The mountain rain was pouring down, making a pattering sound as it fell on the roof.
The candlelight in the room was bright, flickering and illuminating the pale face on the bed.
…
"Tang Ning, you need to be more considerate of Lan'er. She has a miserable life and has not had a good life before. You have been a noble and noble person for many years. You should be more generous and tolerant."
"Tang Ning, Lan'er just doesn't understand the rules of the capital. She didn't mean to offend you."
"Tang Ning, why are you so ignorant? Lan'er has already given in to you, why are you still so aggressive?"
…
Song Jin cared for the tearful Song Shulan: "Song Tangning, it was you who messed around and fell off the cliff and ruined your face. It was you who made the mistake first and got yourself hurt."
"If you hadn't injured Lan'er first, how could we have left in anger? If you had obediently returned to Lingyun Temple, how could you have fallen from such a high place and ended up in such a state?"
"For the past two years, Lan'er has gone everywhere to get medicine for you for your face. She even took her own blood to heal you. She wanted to sacrifice herself to make amends for you. What else do you want?!"
Xie Yin looked at Song Shulan with heartache, and turned his head to face her with a frown of disgust:
"Cousin, you used to be the most sensible. Lan'er was gentle and kind, always thinking of you. Why did you always make things difficult for her and bully her in every way? How did you become so vicious?"
Lu Zhinian sneered coldly, "She is inherently vicious, ugly in appearance and even uglier in heart. She is bent on targeting Shulan, causing unrest in the entire mansion and making the entire capital laugh at the Song and Lu families. It would have been better for her to have died on the mountain."
Madam Song was full of disappointment: "Tang Ning, you should reflect on yourself."
Song Tangning's legs were crippled and his face was covered with pus-filled sores.
She watched them leave one by one, crying and shouting desperately that she didn't do that, she didn't bully Song Shulan.
But the door still slammed shut and no one wanted her.
They don't want her anymore...
…
The girl on the bed had her eyes closed and her face was pale, tears still streaming down her face even in her sleep.
She seemed to be trapped in a nightmare, crying and mumbling "Brother".
After helping Song Tangning change her clothes and apply medicine, Madam Qin came out and couldn't help but say, "Master, whose daughter is this? I don't know how much injustice she has suffered. She keeps crying in her dreams."
Xiao Yan twirled his fingers. Was he really scared?
"How is she hurt?"
Madam Qin said, "The scrapes on her body aren't serious, but the nail on her hand is flipped over, and it hurts just looking at it. Also, the young lady's face was scratched by branches a few times, and the wounds are quite deep. She was already frozen, and there's dirt mixed in, so I'm afraid it will fester."
"Take good care of it and don't leave any scars." Xiao Yan instructed.
Madam Qin was quite surprised. She had known Xiao Yan for many years, and he had never been a gentle man. It was already strange that he brought that girl back with him, but now he was concerned about whether she would have a scar?
"Why, you can't do it?"
"How could that be possible? Lord Governor, don't worry. I am here to keep the young lady as beautiful as a flower."
Xiao Yan glanced at her, turned around and walked in around the screen.
The girl on the bed was covered with a brocade quilt, but her body was extremely thin. Her slender white fingers were wrapped with a curtain to cover the wound, and there were tears on her face.
Xiao Yan sat by the bed and watched the little girl crying in her aggrieved dream. He dipped his fingertips in the tears hanging from the corners of her eyes, and his face was frosted.
This terrified look doesn't seem like she was scared by him.
She said before that they bullied her...
"Canglang."
Canglang walked in.
Xiao Yan said coldly, "Send someone to investigate the Song family to see if anyone in the Song family has wronged her in the past."
"Then what about Lingyun Temple today..."
"Let's check it out as well."
Before Canglang could respond, Jinyun, who came in with him, couldn't help but frown slightly.
He stretched out his hand to stop Canglang and glanced at the figure lying on the bed:
"Master, you have recently been investigating the culprit behind the grain tax. This matter is closely related to several prominent families in the capital. The Song family is very close to the Cui and Lu families. If you suddenly order someone to investigate them, you might alarm them."
"No problem."
Xiao Yan sternly wiped away the tears on his fingertips, "Lu Chongyuan is very cunning and has taken good care of the whole canal transportation. It is difficult to find any clues."
"I was originally planning to find an excuse to attack someone close to him. If he finds out, I'll just go to Duke Song's mansion and alert the old man to something."
Jinyun asked: "What about Miss Song..."
"Stay here for now."
"Lord Governor!" Jinyun was puzzled.
This Song Tangning is a daughter of the Song family, and is deeply involved with Prince Cheng's Palace.
Princess Cheng is extremely protective of her children. If the governor leaves the girl from the Song family here and someone finds out, the Song family and the Cheng Palace will definitely cause trouble for them.
Jinyun said tactfully, "Master, Miss Song Yunying is unmarried, and it is not in accordance with etiquette for her to stay here."
"I am a eunuch, what etiquette do I need?"
Jinyun suddenly choked.
Seeing his appearance, Xiao Yan sneered and threw the half jade pendant that he had taken from Song Tangning's neck over to him.
Jinyun quickly caught it: "This is..."
"Aunt Xue's dragon-patterned pendant."
Xue...
Jinyun suddenly opened his eyes wide.
Xiao Yan looked at the half dragon-patterned pendant and said, "Back then, Aunt Xue risked her life to protect me from the palace. She hid me in a safe place and led the pursuers away. Not long after, a lady found me. She brought Aunt Xue's half dragon-patterned pendant and said she was Aunt Xue's best friend and had been entrusted by her to protect me."
"If that lady hadn't secretly protected me and sent me out of the capital, I would have died long ago."
He was only eleven years old that year. He had suffered a sudden change and injured his eyes, and his temperament had become dark and unstable, but the lady was very tolerant of him.
He couldn't see clearly for a long time, but he still remembered the plum blossom pastry made by the lady herself, and her gentleness when she carefully applied medicine to him.
Later, seeing that he was depressed and unwilling to speak all day long, there appeared a new pink ball in the yard who was chattering and couldn't even speak coherently.
When Xiao Yan lowered his eyes to look at the person on the bed, the frost in his eyes melted a little.
When she was a child, she had a round face, a round body, short arms and legs, and walked like a fat duck.
When he didn't speak, the little girl would chatter to him.
Even though she spoke unclearly, he never paid any attention to her, but she always liked to squeeze next to him and talk non-stop.
From the beautiful sunshine, the green grass, and the birds flying over, she could talk all the way through about how her father picked pears for her, how sweet the snacks her mother made, and how her brother made a kite for her.
He never responded to her, but he liked the liveliness she mentioned.
The first thing he saw when he regained his sight was the pink ball lying next to him with its butt sticking up, its almond-shaped eyes wide open like a clumsy puppy, and its puffed cheeks blowing on the scabbed scar on his hand.
Xiao Yan still remembered the day he left. The little girl hugged his legs and cried so hard that her tears could drown people.
Twelve years later, she can still cry so hard.
When Xiao Yan chuckled, it was like a spring breeze that softened the harshness in his eyes:
"At that time, to protect her safety, the lady never mentioned her identity, nor did she ask who I was. After returning to Beijing, I looked for her, but the place where she lived at that time had long been abandoned. There was no one around, and no one knew what happened back then."
But I didn't expect to meet that little baby unexpectedly.
"Little Begonia..."
He remembered the lady calling her that.
The person on the bed seemed to hear someone calling her, and her eyelashes trembled as if she was about to wake up.
A strong, slender hand patted her gently through the quilt. As if comforted, she fell asleep again.
Xiao Yan said coldly: "Let's investigate thoroughly and find out how the Song family treated her so badly."
Jinyun and Canglang both heard that the governor was angry, and they did not dare to say a word and quickly obeyed the order.
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