"Mr. Jiang, it's too late."
Jiang Jinzhao's heart sank suddenly, and he looked towards the Crown Prince Xinyi Daoyi who was speaking.
Xinyi Daoyi had an extremely handsome appearance, dressed in white, so clean that it was not stained by dust. He looked like an immortal who had walked out from under the fairy tree in Yaotai. At this moment, his face had an expression as gentle as jade.
He picked up the sachet tied around his waist, shook it gently, and said, "Jiaqing County Princess Jiang Songyi also brought many insect repellent sachets, and she just distributed them to us. She no longer needs you to give her aromatherapy. Your kindness comes too late for her."
His tone was gentle and calm, but every word he said was like a needle piercing Jiang Jinzhao's heart, causing him great pain.
Xinyi Daoyi asked casually, "Why, you are the county lord's brothers, didn't you receive the sachet from her?"
These words made Jiang Jinzhao feel like his heart was stabbed again, and his mouth was full of bitterness.
He even suspected that Jiang Songyi, the Prince's teacher, was deliberately stabbing him in the heart. But when he looked at Xin Yidaoyi, there was only pure doubt and innocence in her eyes.
Jiang Yihan also felt that Xin Yidaoyi's words sounded like a provocation to the two brothers, but looking at the prince's eyes, it didn't seem like he was looking for trouble.
However, the two brothers looked at each other.
Jiang Jinzhao now understood why Jiang Yihan had acted out of character and created such a scene just now.
It turned out that he wanted to get the sachet made by his sister.
He wants it too.
But the sister would rather give it to strangers who were not related by blood than to her biological brothers.
Su Sheng, who was standing next to him, snorted coldly and interrupted, "Brother Crown Prince, you don't know that our Song Yi is just a poor little girl. She was bullied by bad guys and was forced to wander around. She finally returned home, but even though she has so many brothers, not one of them truly treats her like a sister."
Although Su Sheng knew very well that Jiang Songyi was actually very bold, he felt a little sad for her as he spoke. He raised his hand and touched her head with great concentration, and sighed deeply:
"Poor Song Yi, she's suffered so much and now she's completely disappointed. Since they don't treat her as their own sister and are only interested in favoring that fake daughter Jiang Yuyao, she certainly won't try to please them."
Jiang Songyi raised his head expressionlessly and stared at the hand Su Sheng placed on his head.
She didn't say anything, but the meaning in her eyes was clear: You want to die? Take your hands away.
Su Sheng then awkwardly and slowly removed his hand that was stroking Jiang Songyi's head.
But... to be honest, Jiang Songyi's hair feels quite soft.
The sun shone obliquely through the stained glass windows, and Jiang Jinzhao's knuckles turned white as he gripped the teacup. The faded sachet at Su Sheng's waist stung his eyes—it was the item his sister should have tied to his belt.
"Is the county lady truly so wronged?" Prince Xinyi said, tapping lightly on the table, his gaze sweeping over the girl's thin shoulders. The tinkling of the Buddhist beads on his wrist echoed like the ringing of the chains that sealed souls on the city walls of his past life.
Jiang Songyi gazed into those compassionate eyes, and vaguely saw the moon-white robe brushing against the scorched earth. Back then, her soul was trapped within her shattered body, and it was this voice that pierced the chaos: "Don't be afraid." Now, the same rusty taste rose from her throat: "Young Master Su, you are absolutely right."
"Really?" Su Sheng's eyes suddenly lit up, and he deliberately rustled the tassel of the sachet. "If you ask me, you are mistaking fish eyes for pearls." He glanced at the waists of the Jiang brothers, where hung purses embroidered by Jiang Yuyao, and the golden peony shone lightly in the sun.
Yu Huanshen waved his sleeves, as if to reach for a brush and ink. "Why argue with common people? I'll compose a 300-word poem, and let the whole capital know about the county lady." Before he finished speaking, Jiang Yihan abruptly stood up, his dark robe sweeping over the teacup. A brown stain spread across the blue brick floor, remarkably reminiscent of the rouge box Jiang Yuyao had smashed that day.
"Third brother!" Jiang Jinzhao grabbed his brother's wrist, his jade ring tapping against the other's wrist guard. He suddenly remembered that on the day Jiang Songyi first returned home, he had also grabbed her hand when she wanted to play the zither - what did he say then? "Don't touch it, this is Yuyao's zither."
Li Tingzhen silently stepped back. The humble scholar's coarse sleeves brushed against the carved railings as he tucked the "Linglong Collection" at his waist deeper. The copy of Jiang Songyi's poems burned his ribs. He had thought Jiang Jinzhao and the county lord had a deep, brotherly love, but he hadn't expected this.
"You treasure it like a treasure." The prince suddenly chuckled, his fingertips brushing the dark pattern on Jiang Songyi's sleeve. The golden lotus pattern looked just like the cinnabar talisman he had painted on the sealing array in his previous life. "I wonder if Master Su is willing to part with it?" His eyes fell on the sachet. "I'm willing to exchange it for a Hetian jade pendant."
Su Sheng's face flushed immediately: "This is the hand of the county lady." Before he finished speaking, Yu Huanshen rushed to take off his own: "Your Highness, please look! This is double-sided embroidery." Everyone was surprised to find that all the young men in the room had similar sachets hanging around their waists, with coarse linen against the luxurious jade pendants, like pearls covered in dust.
Jiang Yihuan suddenly scoffed, "You thought she was sincere?" The words reached the tip of his tongue, but he swallowed them back. The wristband Jiang Songyi had handed him during the archery competition that day was still in its box. The silver cloud pattern on the dark brocade was so finely stitched. It reminded him of the amulet his mother had embroidered before her death.
As dusk fell, the bronze bells in the corridor were suddenly startled by the evening breeze. Jiang Songyi looked at the crane pattern on the hem of the prince's clothes and vaguely heard the sound of chains breaking in a past life. He had said then, "From now on, your name will be Songyi—" Buddhist beads rolled over her brow, "Sing to praise virtue, suitable for the family."
"County Lady?" the Crown Prince called her gently. Jiang Songyi awoke with a start to see Li Tingzhen leaning over to pick up her fallen veil. The young man's fingers paused at the tassel, then he handed it back through her sleeve. Suddenly, a commotion erupted in the distance. It turned out that Jiang Yuyao's newly created "Ode to the Four Seasons" had been revealed to be plagiarized—the handwriting was identical to the fragments of an anonymous submission to the Linglong Poetry Society.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
