Chapter 47 Dust and Light (VI) Don't shout.
The dim yellow lamp by the bedside stood quietly, illuminating the figure behind the gauze curtains. Zhi Rou sat with her legs straight against the edge of the bed, flipping through a stack of notes she had retrieved from the attic.
It was written by Yuan Zhaobi himself, and it reads as if it was written to the same person.
Logically speaking, such books and letters from others should not be in his own possession; they should have been returned by someone else, or he should have asked for them back himself.
Zhi Rou stared at the repeated mention of "two kings" in the text, still pondering its meaning. Unexpectedly, the medicine had worn off, and a dense, dull pain shot through her ankle. She had no choice but to grit her teeth, let go, and slowly collapse, supporting her body.
She comforted herself that she would calm down after a few days of rest. After she finished reading the notes, she would have to return them to Lord Yuan and offer her atonement and apology.
The leg injury was difficult to fake, so Zhi Rou made an excuse, saying that she had lost it while practicing archery and that she hadn't been going to the family school these days.
Upon hearing this, Song Congzhao immediately summoned the imperial physician to her residence to treat her.
It was just past the hour of Yin (3-5 AM), but the room was still as dark as if it were midnight. Zhi Rou's face showed signs of fatigue.
Physician Wang had known Zhi Rou for five years, and he regarded her as his own mischievous child. He fully expected that she was either faking illness or had only slightly injured herself, but to his surprise, she had broken a bone. His gaze turned serious for a moment: "Who treated Fourth Miss?"
"Is there something wrong with it?" Song Congzhao asked from the side.
Physician Wang said, "There is nothing wrong, it's just that the bamboo strips were not yet fixed, and the treatment was further damaged... Fourth Miss should have come to see me last night."
Zhi Rou lowered her eyelashes. She had returned home late last night and dared not disturb her father.
After the physician finished speaking, he used herbs to fumigate and wash her again, then used bamboo strips and cloth strips to help her stabilize herself, and instructed her to calm her mind and rest, and not to run or jump on the ground.
After everyone left, Song Congzhao moved a chair to the bedside, ignored the tea Xinghui brought, frowned and scrutinized Zhirou for a while, then asked, "Were you practicing archery in the courtyard yesterday?"
Zhi Rou nodded.
How were you injured?
Having already spread the word, Zhi Rou had anticipated her father's question and answered fluently: "Yesterday, I thought the target was too low, so I picked one up and hung it on a tree. I was startled by a magpie and fell, getting injured."
They spout nothing but lies.
The men Song Congzhao sent to watch over her had been lurking nearby, and they knew everything she did. Yesterday afternoon, she did shoot arrows in the courtyard, but she was not injured.
That girl must have gone out to do something behind his back again.
Song Congzhao glared at her: "You can't even come up with a decent excuse. Even if I don't ask, do you think your mother will believe you?"
Thinking of her mother, Zhi Rou lowered her head even further.
Song Congzhao wanted to say something to her, but seeing her like this, he sighed and swallowed his words, then shook his sleeves and stood up: "Take good care of yourself, and don't go to the Ling residence again."
Zhi Rou paused for a moment, then asked, "Father?"
Song Congzhao had already walked to the door when he heard this and turned back: "Didn't you already know?"
Those who knew he was around would try to avoid his sight last night.
After speaking, he waited for her a moment, and seeing that she did not seem inclined to speak, he stepped out of the room.
As evening approached, Song Hanjin, accompanied by her maid, went to Longyue Pavilion and had the items placed on the table.
Zhi Rou was holding a teacup, leaning against the corner of the tatami mat, idly playing the game of throwing arrows into a pot with her pen. Hearing her third sister arrive, she turned her head with delight, a smile playing on her lips: "Sister!"
Song Hanjin snorted softly, glanced away, pretending not to look at her, and simply sat down on the couch, pointing to the things the maid had put down: "Wei Yuanzhan gave these to you. I saw them; they are a pile of porcelain boxes."
Zhi Rou frowned, puzzled as to why her third sister was behaving this way. Then she heard Song Hanjin say, "Fourth sister went to bed early last night. Xinghui told me you were dizzy and had gone to rest. I only found out this morning that she had lied to me. But what surprised me even more was..."
Song Hanjin glanced at Zhirou with a look of unwavering faith.
Zhi Rou was slightly surprised upon hearing this and turned to look at Xing Hui. Xing Hui hadn't told her that her third sister had come last night.
The latter also nervously looked back, his hands folded under his sleeves, as if waiting to explain something.
Song Hanjin took in their questioning and said bluntly, "You don't need to hide it from me. Even if you say it's not true, I won't believe you."
By the dim candlelight, she carefully observed Zhi Rou.
The fourth sister has a kind of radiant warmth that makes you want to get closer, but when you actually get close, you feel as if there is another layer.
Sometimes, she couldn't understand whether her fourth younger sister was innocent and pure, or extremely shrewd and calculating. Or perhaps, the two weren't mutually exclusive.
Zhi Rou did not deny it. She gave Xing Hui a "no problem" look and said to Song Han Jin, "I was indeed not in the manor last night. This injury was caused outside. Wei Yuanzhan helped me."
Song Hanjin seemed lost in thought for a long time before finally saying, "You don't act like a woman at all. Is it really not Wei Yuanzhan who dragged you down?"
"What should a woman be like?" Zhi Rou asked, raising her eyes.
Song Hanjin paused, tripped over by her.
"Third sister," she said, her thoughts wandering, and suddenly smiled, "I want to eat braised pork knuckle."
Song Hanjin had no choice but to get up and instruct the people outside to go to the kitchen to serve them.
When we sat back down, we started talking about the news about the eldest son's family.
"I don't know who bewitched my uncle, but a few days ago he even impeached the eldest son of the Duke of Wei, along with several censors. The crime wasn't serious, but the emperor banished him from the capital."
As Song Hanjin spoke, she neatly tidied up Zhirou's pen and handed it to Xinghui. "The marriage between Second Sister and the second son of the Duke of Wei was called off. Now Uncle doesn't even dare to go home, for fear of seeing Aunt."
Zhi Rou was initially taken aback, but then she realized that her second brother had been acting mysteriously last month because he was busy with this matter. Unable to find a way to deal with Lan Wen, she turned her attention to studying her eldest brother.
Sure enough, Second Brother was always the best at finding unconventional solutions. Zhi Rou chuckled softly, then quickly frowned: "How is Second Sister?"
"They said they were going to the Heming Taoist Temple to practice asceticism while still keeping their hair."
"Is it that serious?"
“That’s right,” Song Hanjin said with a hint of disdain. “High branches bear bitter fruit. I don’t think the Duke of Wei’s mansion is a good place. I don’t know what my aunt sees in them… Maybe it’s so that she doesn’t have to marry my second sister off to another place.”
After saying that, remembering something else, Song Hanjin asked, "How long will it take for your injury to heal?"
Zhi Rou raised her index finger.
Song Hanjin asked, "One month?"
Zhi Rou shook her head, her breathing somewhat heavy: "One hundred days." She lowered her hand, her gaze lingering for a moment, "That's what Physician Wang said, I don't think it will take that long."
"Whether it's a month or a hundred days, it seems you've escaped a calamity for the coming-of-age ceremony of the Princess of Jiayang, but now I'll be alone again."
After more than ten days, Zhi Rou disappeared from the family school. People from the Song family could still visit her in their spare time, but Wei Yuanzhan did not have that status.
For the first time, he felt that being a man was so inconvenient; he wanted to visit his friend, but he was an "outsider" and could not enter Longyuexuan.
Has Song Zhirou fully recovered? Why hasn't she sent him any news? Doesn't she know he's waiting for her?
Thinking this, his worry turned into frustration, which gradually transformed into anger. Just as he stepped out of the Song residence and his foot landed in the stirrup, a tall, thin figure chased after him from inside the gate: "Young Master Wei, wait!"
Wei Yuanzhan turned his head to the side and lowered his gaze.
Pei Cheng stepped forward: "Young Master Wei, my fourth young lady asked me to give this to you." He raised both hands and handed it to him.
It is a roll of drawing paper.
Wei Yuanzhan took it, untied it, and a long-lost smile appeared on his lips.
Childish scribbles, nothing special.
Song Zhirou drew many little figures on the paper, some leaning and some sitting, each with a note attached.
Wei Yuanzhan could almost see her features in the strokes of her pen. After a moment's thought, the smile on his lips deepened, and he glanced at Pei Cheng: "Did she say anything?"
"The Fourth Miss asked me to tell you that she didn't have a chance to use those wound medicines, but thank you anyway."
"Alright." Wei Yuanzhan lightly kicked the horse's flank and slowly headed towards Liuli Street.
As the sun sets in the west, the shadows of flowers shift to the corridor. Xing glances back and sees that the tea on the table is empty, so he prepares to brew a new pot for Zhirou.
As soon as she stepped out of the room, she bumped into a broad-shouldered, narrow-waisted figure. Xinghui was startled and paled, but the person said in a low voice, "Don't shout."
Wei Yuanzhan gestured with his chin towards the courtyard outside: "Go do your thing."
What could possibly be wrong? Her top priority was taking good care of the Fourth Young Lady. How could she leave after the Prince Wei's abrupt departure?
The commotion drifted into the room, and Zhi Rou, lying on the bed, turned over: "Sister Xing Hui? What's wrong?"
A short while later, a voice came from outside the door: "It's nothing... Miss, what would you like to eat later? I'll go to the kitchen and tell you."
Zhi Rou sensed something was amiss, but didn't think much of it: "Eat whatever's available, no need to trouble yourself." She had no appetite.
There was a pause outside the door, followed by the sound of footsteps walking away. Zhi Rou stared blankly at the top of the tent.
It's been twelfth day. If that bundle of letters isn't returned soon, will Lord Yuan become suspicious? She doesn't want anything to go wrong, at least not before she's shown her true colors.
As she was thinking, someone knocked twice on her windowsill. She parted the gauze curtains and peeked out, her eyelashes fluttering slightly: "Big brother?"
As dusk fell through the window, it outlined the shoulders of a man. He stood there quietly for a long time before finally saying, "It's me."
The tone of his voice carried a subtle hint of displeasure, which was difficult to discern.
Upon hearing that voice, Zhi Rou's expression changed slightly: "How could you..."
Wei Yuanzhan said, "My master dotes on you and sent me to inquire about your injuries. Has it improved?"
The windows were closed, and their voices were muffled by the paper. Zhi Rou simply asked him, "Did you jump over the wall to get in? Did no one see you?"
"You're worried about this?" Wei Yuanzhan seemed slightly startled. "No one saw me except your maid."
Zhi Rou breathed a sigh of relief, lowered her hand that was lifting the gauze, and curled up in the corner of the bed. She had just answered him, "My injury is much better, but Doctor Wang told me to move around as little as possible, it's so boring. Tell your master not to worry about me, I'm already quite familiar with the place, it's just a matter of resting..."
As she finished speaking, her voice trailed off, and even without seeing her, Wei Yuanzhan could sense her frustration.
Surprisingly, he refrained from making any sarcastic or mocking remarks. He leaned against the window, remaining silent alongside her.
After a while, Zhi Rou thought no one was outside, but she still tentatively asked, "Have you left?"
The response was: "No."
Zhi Rou asked again, "What are you doing?"
After a moment, Wei Yuanzhan asked, "Do you want to open the window?"
His voice was low and clear, like gentle ripples on water.
Zhi Rou paused for a moment, then uttered a seemingly familiar phrase: "You should leave now, don't get me hurt."
The scene in the ancestral hall flashed before his eyes. Wei Yuanzhan recalled that day and smiled: "I am leaving, but I have something for you."
"Just leave it there."
Wei Yuanzhan remained silent.
There was no more sound after that. Zhi Rou didn't know when he left until Xing Hui returned, first serving tea, then running out again to bring back something.
"Fourth Miss, look." She held it to the bedside, and Zhi Rou glanced at it.
It is a book of prints.
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