Chapter 4: The Governor Does Not Eat People
After a night of heavy rain, the sky cleared up at dawn.
The snow melted at the foot of the mountain, and tender buds of willows began to appear. Occasionally, a kingfisher flew by with a soft cry, breaking the tranquility of the morning.
A ray of sunlight squeezed through the window and fell on Song Tangning's face, startling her awake.
Smelling the rich medicinal fragrance, Song Tangning looked at the carving of a jade book above his head, and for a moment he didn't know where he was.
"woke up?"
A cold voice came, like a stone falling into the lake, awakening Song Tangning's memory before he fell into a coma.
Song Tangning sat up suddenly, and regardless of the pain, he turned his head to look outside the crane screen. He vaguely saw the tall figure over there put down the book in his hand, stood up and walked towards him.
Seeing the little girl pale with fear, hugging the quilt with her eyes wide open, Xiao Yan stopped beside the screen and said, "Watch your hands."
Song Tangning shuddered: "Don't cut my hand."
Xiao Yan: “…”
Puff.
When Madam Qin came over with the copper basin, she heard the noise inside and burst into laughter. She looked at Xiao Yan, whose face was tense. The little girl over there was treating him like a wolf or a tiger. She suppressed her laughter and walked around him and went in:
"Don't be afraid, my lady. Our governor doesn't eat people. Don't listen to what outsiders say about how fierce he is. In fact, he has a kind heart and is very gentle..."
Song Tangning became even more frightened.
Seeing her huddled up in a ball hugging the quilt, her face tense and about to faint from fear, Xiao Yan glanced at Madam Qin and said, "If you can't speak, don't speak."
"That's because the Governor scared them."
Lady Qin was cheerful and cheerful, and was not afraid of Xiao Yan's cold face at all.
When she smiled, fine lines formed at the corners of her eyes. She put down the copper basin and came close to Song Tangning. "Okay, don't be afraid. I was just joking with you."
Madam Qin covered her hand and pulled Song Tangning's tense fingertips away from the quilt.
"Your finger is badly injured. Even though you've applied medicine, it's still painful until the new flesh grows back. Don't exert any force during this period, and don't let it touch water. Also, don't touch the wound on your face."
"I've applied some medicine on you. Once the wound scabs over, I'll use some of the Yurong Powder I made. I guarantee you won't have any scars left."
Song Tangning looked at the smiling woman somewhat helplessly.
Xiao Yan said calmly, "Madam Qin is the descendant of the Cheng family in Shu. Her medical skills are excellent. No one in the Imperial Medical Bureau can compare to her."
"Master, please don't praise me. Even if you praise me, I still have to pay for my medical consultations."
Madam Qin smiled and joked, then changed the subject, "But Miss Song is pretty, so the medicine money can be waived. Otherwise, if this little face is wasted, many handsome men will beat their chests and stamp their feet. I can't bear to let her go."
Song Tangning's face turned red.
She could feel the kindness emanating from Madam Qin. For many years, no one had cared about her beauty or ugliness.
Even though it was just a joke, the hands with rough fingertips holding hers made her feel particularly at ease.
She stammered a little embarrassedly: "Thank you, sister."
Madam Qin was particularly pleased: "Having a fairy sister like you is a great advantage for me."
Song Tangning pursed her lips and smiled softly, revealing faint dimples on her cheeks.
…
Charcoal was burning in the elephant-head copper stove, and the house was warm without any sense of spring chill.
Madam Qin was quite talkative and pulled Song Tangning to talk to her, perhaps with a soothing smile, or perhaps it was because Xiao Yan only walked to the four-legged couch next to the screen and sat down without trying to get closer.
After Madam Qin reapplied the medicine for her, Song Tangning's little face finally showed some color.
Her lips were still pale, her black hair hung down behind her, her curled eyelashes fluttered, and her slightly red and swollen eyes had a spirit, no longer looking as helpless as when she had just woken up.
After Madam Qin left, she and Xiao Yan were the only ones left in the room.
Song Tangning raised his eyes cautiously.
The person opposite was dressed in dark brocade, with his hair tied up in a loose black hairpin. The coldness he had when they first met had faded away, and he leaned lazily on the edge of the couch.
He was clearly a treacherous and treacherous eunuch who was reviled by everyone. His methods were ruthless and feared by everyone, but he did not have any of the feminine air of the eunuchs in the palace. Instead, his eyebrows were bright and clear like a jade spring falling into a mountain stream, and his whole body concealed an elusive awe-inspiring nobility.
Perhaps he noticed that she was looking at him, and he raised his sword-like eyes slightly.
Song Tangning quickly shrank back, lowered his head and grabbed the corner of the quilt.
"You forgot what Madam Qin said, you don't want your hand anymore?"
Seeing her subconsciously retract her hand, Xiao Yan sighed softly, "What are you afraid of?"
Seeing that the girl didn't say anything, he said,
"Your appearance on the mountain was too coincidental. I've offended many people recently. Everyone in Beijing knows that I go to the mountain to pay homage to the deceased every year at this time. You were hesitant to explain the reason, so I thought you were an assassin sent by those people, which is why I almost killed you."
"Now that we have found out, we will not hurt you."
His voice was still calm, but it was different from the way he threatened to kill people on the mountain.
Although Song Tangning was still afraid of him, she also remembered that she had cursed him before she fainted. She raised her head and said cautiously, "Then, Lord Governor, can you let me go?"
"You want to leave?" Xiao Yan looked at her.
Tang Ning muttered, "If I don't come back all night, the people in the mansion will be worried..."
"No one from the Song family has ever gone to Lingyun Temple to look for you, and no one knows that you nearly lost your life in that forest."
His palm suddenly tightened and Tang Ning's face turned pale.
"You went to Lingyun Temple with Song Jinxiu, but he left you alone in the forest. With you went your cousin Xie Yin and your childhood sweetheart, Lu Zhinian, but they only remembered that crying concubine."
"After they returned to the city yesterday, they coaxed the concubine to go to the Treasure House and buy some jewelry to cheer her up. Later, they went boating on the lake. No one remembered that you stayed out of the city all night."
Xiao Yan was not someone who was willing to keep rotten flesh in his body, so naturally he didn't want the child to deceive himself.
"It rained heavily in the mountains last night. If I hadn't happened to pass by, you would have fallen to your death in that snowy valley."
"Your brother knew the dangers of the mountains, but he hasn't left the city to look for you since returning to the city. Even Song Hong and Old Madam Song were unaware of it. Your maidservant wanted to come look for you, but Song Jinxiu beat her with a few sticks for offending the concubine."
"Are you sure you want to go back like this?"
Xiao Yan's words were like a knife, stabbing Song Tangning's face so pale that he couldn't breathe.
After Song Shulan entered the mansion, she was unhappy in every way. Whenever there was a dispute, she would always quarrel with her brother because of Song Shulan.
Yesterday was her mother's death anniversary, and she went to Lingyun Temple with her brother to burn incense.
She had originally made an appointment with Xie Yin and Lu Zhinian to go out and relax together, and to ease the relationship with her brother, but she didn't expect that her brother would bring Song Shulan with him.
She already hated Song Shulan, the concubine, and she didn't like her brother being close to her. When she saw Xie Yin and Lu Zhinian taking care of her everywhere and even ignoring her for the sake of the concubine, she was filled with anger.
After going up the mountain, Song Shulan "accidentally" knocked over her mother's eternal lamp, destroying her mother's well-being.
All her anger burst out, and she slapped her in a rage. Song Shulan ran out crying.
Song Jinxiu rode her horse through the woods with anxiety in her eyes to chase the person back. Her cousin Xie Yin and Lu Zhinian also dragged her over and asked her to apologize to Song Shulan.
Song Tangning naturally refused.
She did nothing wrong, so why should she apologize to Song Shulan?
Song Tangning cursed Song Shulan without thinking, and Song Shulan started crying and said she wanted to go back to Anzhou.
Song Jinxiu was furious at the time and scolded her for being uncultured and lacking the humility of a woman. He said that she bullied Song Shulan, who had a miserable life, and had no tolerance for others.
She got into an argument with him out of anger, and he told her to go back to Lingyun Temple to reflect on herself. Xie Yin and Lu Zhinian, who were supposed to protect her, frowned and said she was too ignorant.
They were only concerned with chasing after the tearful Song Shulan, leaving her alone in the white forest.
In her previous life, she lost her way in the forest, and after dark, her horse was injured and fell down a steep slope.
She was not lucky enough in this life to meet Xiao Yan and be rescued. Instead, she fell and rolled into a bottomless snow pit. She was not discovered until the morning of the third day by a passing farmer.
When he was sent back to the capital in a coma, his legs were lame, his face was disfigured, and his body was completely frozen.
Song Tangning breathed with resentment: "She is not a concubine's daughter."
"Um?"
"I said, Song Shulan is not a concubine's daughter, she is just a concubine's daughter with an unknown identity."
She remembered that in her previous life, when she returned, she was full of resentment and her aunt was furious because of her injury.
Song Jinxiu and the others felt guilty at first, kneeling in front of her and crying and saying sorry to her. Old Lady Song and Song Hong also punished them severely and said that they would send Song Shulan away.
But later, when her aunt got into trouble, the Song family's attitude towards her changed.
They began to persuade her to let go of the past and to pity Song Shulan's misery. They felt sorry for Song Shulan's righteousness in getting blood for her and seeking medicine, and liked her gentle and soft-spoken nature. However, she was trapped in the backyard because of her disfigurement and broken legs, and her personality changed drastically after she lost her beloved aunt. She became a hated existence.
After the initial argument, they slammed the door and left every time.
Her unwillingness and resentment became "ignorance" in their eyes. Later, she realized the Song family's coldness and just wanted to stay away from them, but they came to blame her one by one, saying that her appearance outside would affect Song Shulan's reputation and make the Song family a laughing stock.
They cut off her contact with the outside world, took away the things her mother left her, and locked her in an abandoned yard without seeing the light of day.
Her face was covered with pus-filled sores, and she stayed in the room, barely breathing, "reflecting on herself".
Outside, Song Hong was promoted, Song Jinxiu became famous in the capital, and Song Shulan used the things her mother left her to become a talented woman admired by everyone. Even Lu Zhinian broke off his engagement for her and fell in love with her.
Song Tangning was filled with resentment but had no place to vent: "She said that she was the debt of my father's love affair when he was young, and that she was the concubine my father kept outside."
"Grandmother and the others said that if this matter were spread, it would tarnish the Song family's reputation and my mother would be ridiculed. That's why they told everyone that Song Shulan was a concubine's daughter born to a slave who was close to my mother."
Xiao Yan frowned: "They said so, and you agreed?"
"That's why I'm stupid." Song Tangning's eyes were red.
Xiao Yan was stunned by her words. Seeing the little girl lowering her head with her hair curled up and tears faintly visible, he sighed and tried to keep his voice low.
"Regardless of whether she's a concubine's daughter or not, are you sure she's your father's bloodline?"
Song Tangning looked up.
"Your father and your mother were deeply in love. After giving birth to you, your mother suffered injuries that made it difficult for her to conceive again. Many young women in the capital were fascinated by your father's charm and style, and they vied with each other to marry him, offering to marry him into the Song family as concubines to continue his family line, but he always refused."
"If he really was obsessed with women, why would he keep a concubine who is despised by others?"
Song Tangning opened his eyes wide: "But Third Uncle and Uncle said..."
No.
wrong.
Song Tangning's face suddenly turned pale.
She vaguely remembered that when Song Shulan first arrived at the mansion, her third uncle sent her directly to the main house.
At that time, my aunt's face was extremely ugly, and my grandmother also disliked her very much. The mansion just placed her in a remote courtyard, which made her mistakenly think that she was a relative who came to seek refuge.
It was a few days later that my third uncle suddenly said that she was the blood of my father who had left behind when he was young.
Song Tangning vaguely realized that something was being hidden from her. She bit her lips hard and trembled with anger.
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