Liu Jinhuai visited
Song Guansui left the small courtyard where Jiang Manyan was imprisoned, but the violence in his heart did not subside.
On the contrary, because of Jiang Manyan's act of touching the mask, her whole body burned even more fiercely, as if hot oil had been poured on it.
The low pressure emanating from him was almost tangible; wherever he passed, the warm summer sun seemed to lose its heat.
The servants under the eaves trembled as soon as they saw his figure in the distance. They hurriedly lowered their heads and held their breath, wishing they could shrink into a crack in the ground and not even dare to breathe.
The entire Song mansion fell into a deathly silence, so quiet you could hear a pin drop, enveloped in a terrifying stillness.
Fu Cong, who had been following in the shadows, had observed his master's emotional changes and knew that the young master was prone to acting impulsively and causing a great disaster in such a state of mind.
He dared not hesitate for a moment, and immediately turned around and hurried toward another courtyard in the mansion. It just so happened that today, the young master Liu Huaijin, who might be able to comfort the young master's mind, was visiting his aunt in the mansion.
Liu Huaijin's father, the current head of the Liu family, is a free-spirited man who loves beautiful women and has many wives and concubines, but he dotes on his own younger sister, Liu Shuwan.
When Liu Shuwan married into the Song family, it was a grand wedding procession with a ten-mile-long red bridal procession, a sight that drew envy from all.
However, Liu Huaijin didn't know how to evaluate this aunt. She clearly had the Liu family as her backing and also held the power of the Song family's matriarch.
Yet her life was so oppressive and painful, filled with resentment, quite unlike the aristocratic women in the city center who knew how to enjoy power.
On the other hand, his own mother, though not from a top-tier wealthy family, was able to be married into the family by his father because she resembled "that person".
However, they know how to plan for themselves, manage all affairs in an orderly manner, keep power in their hands, and live a comfortable and pleasant life.
Compared to his lack of understanding of his aunt, he felt a subtle sense of approval, even a touch of sympathy, for his cousin, Song Guansui.
The Song family is internally entrenched and externally showing signs of decline, making it a complete mess.
The fact that Song Guansui was able to govern so well under such circumstances, making everyone from the clan elders to the collateral relatives obedient, was something that he couldn't help but admire in secret.
As for sympathy! He had witnessed his aunt's almost harsh demands on Song Guansui since he was a child.
He remembered when he was a child, he came to play with Song Guansui. He saw that Song Guansui, who was only five years old, was beaten by his aunt with a ruler because his posture was slightly improper. His palms were red and swollen, but he gritted his teeth and didn't say a word.
From that time on, Liu Huaijin felt fear towards this dignified aunt and dared not get close to her.
However, he could not disobey his father's orders. As the eldest son of the Liu family, he still had to visit his aunt on behalf of the family occasionally. He would try to avoid it each time and spend most of his time staying with Song Guansui.
Today, he had just returned from Yancheng in the eastern district after handling the family business. Before he could even wash off the dust of his journey, his father sent him to visit his aunt, Liu Shuwan.
After going through the motions as if it were routine, he immediately went to Song Guansui's courtyard.
Inside the courtyard, Song Guansui sat alone by the stone table, his face mostly covered by a mask, making it impossible to see his expression.
But the low-pressure atmosphere emanating from him and the even greater silence than usual clearly said, "Keep away, strangers."
Liu Huaijin, however, didn't care at all. He sat down opposite him, picked up the teapot on the table, poured himself a cup of tea that had already cooled down, and spoke in a teasing tone.
"I heard that you finally managed to bring your half-brother, who's as beautiful as a fairy, back?"
His tone was light and cheerful, carrying the fresh energy he had just brought from outside, which was completely out of place in the solemn atmosphere of the courtyard.
Song Guansui did not answer, nor did he even move his eyes, like a lifeless sculpture.
Liu Huaijin took a sip of cold tea and continued speaking, his tone carrying the characteristic wit and amusement of a scion of a prominent family when it came to matters of love and romance.
"You've got her, punished her, and locked her up. Since you like her, treat her well. Keeping a mistress in a golden cage should have its own pleasures, right? Why be so bitter and resentful all the time?"
He paused, as if remembering something, his voice lowered, carrying a barely perceptible sigh.
"Don't be like your aunt, who held people tightly in her grasp, only to eventually wear away all affection and leave behind mutual loathing..."
He seemed to realize he had spoken out of turn; after all, she was his own aunt, a pitiful woman who had been betrayed by marriage. So he awkwardly stopped talking and drank the cold tea in his cup in one gulp.
"The person I like!"
Song Guansui, who had been silent all along, finally spoke. His voice was low and hoarse, as if it had drifted from a great distance, carrying a hollow echo.
He repeated those four words, his fingertips unconsciously tracing the rim of the cold teacup.
Liu Huaijin looked up at him, waiting for him to continue.
Song Guansui suddenly chuckled softly, his laughter dry and devoid of any joy, instead conveying an indescribable sense of desolation and distortion.
"Huaijin, tell me... what exactly constitutes 'liking' someone? And how should one 'treat them well'?"
He turned his head, and his deep eyes beneath the mask looked through the cold metal at Liu Huaijin, churning with complex emotions that Liu Huaijin couldn't understand—obsession, pain, and a hint of... bewilderment.
Song Guansui's question made Liu Huaijin's heart tremble, and he immediately thought of Yu Mobai, the city lord of Yancheng—the puppet that the Liu family kept in Yancheng.
That person had a pleasing appearance, with curved eyebrows that seemed to hold a smile, and slightly upturned eyes that added a touch of liveliness and charm. He always looked at people with a sincere and warm attitude, making it impossible for anyone to feel distant from him...
Before the person's figure could even become clearly visible, Song Guansui suddenly asked and answered his own question.
"To keep him by my side, to make him see and love only me, does that count as liking him?"
"Break his wings so he can never fly away again, and can only depend on me for survival, wouldn't that count as treating him well?"
"Or is it like in those plays, letting him go free and watching him laugh and chat with others, that's what true sincerity is?"
His tone was calm, yet every word carried an almost desperate questioning tone. He wasn't questioning Liu Huaijin, but rather interrogating his own conscience.
Liu Huaijin was stunned by his series of questions.
He was used to Song Guansui's indifference, ruthlessness, and even the occasional madness, but he had never seen him so... confused and helpless.
His impression of his cousin was always that he was goal-oriented and decisive.
"Guansui, you..."
Liu Huaijin frowned, put down his teacup, and became more serious.
"This isn't liking, this is being obsessed."
He unusually adopted a serious tone.
"Liking someone means feeling comfortable when you see them doing well. It doesn't mean imprisoning them and torturing each other like you are doing now."
"Although I don't know the specifics of your grudges with Song Manyan, don't you understand the principle that forced relationships are never sweet?"
Song Guansui clenched his fist tightly, his knuckles turning white, and his voice suddenly became sharp.
"I don't understand?! If I didn't understand, I would have devoured him long ago, making him a complete part of me. Why would I go through all this trouble?! If I didn't understand, would he still be sitting in the courtyard reading and drinking tea, perfectly fine?!"
His emotions suddenly spiraled out of control, his chest heaving violently, which startled Liu Huaijin.
The courtyard was deathly silent, with only the rustling of leaves in the wind.
After a long while, Song Guansui seemed to have exhausted all his strength, and slumped back in his chair, his voice lowered again, filled with exhaustion and self-mockery.
"But... Huaijin, what else can I do?"
"Let him go? Watch him go back to Qin Lingfeng's side? I can't do it... Just thinking about it here..."
He raised his hand and pressed it hard against his chest. Even through the clothes and mask, Liu Huaijin could almost feel the excruciating pain that was about to explode.
"It feels like being pricked by a million needles, and like being burned by fire."
"But keeping him around... the way he looks at me, like I'm a monster. Everything I say and do seems to push him further away..."
He seemed to be confiding in Liu Huaijin, or perhaps talking to himself, exposing his deepest inner conflicts and most vulnerable weaknesses to this cousin who was still relatively close to him.
At this moment, he was no longer the shrewd and ruthless young master of the Song family, but a trapped beast struggling in distorted emotions, unable to find a way out.
Looking at Song Guansui like this, Liu Huaijin didn't know what to say for a moment.
He was used to dealing with romance and business dealings, and he felt alienated and powerless when it came to such heavy and extreme emotions.
He finally just sighed and patted Song Guansui on the shoulder.
"Guan Sui, matters of the heart are beyond the comprehension of outsiders. But in any case, don't push yourself too hard, and don't... become like your aunt."
After saying that, he stood up, knowing that any further words would be useless at this point.
"I'll come see you another day."
He then turned and left the courtyard, leaving Song Guansui alone, still immersed in that unsolvable predicament.
Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the branches and leaves, falling on Song Guansui's cold mask and reflecting a dazzling, lonely light.
Liu Huaijin left Song Guansui's oppressive and suffocating courtyard almost hastily.
Until I stepped out of the majestic yet cold gates of the Song Mansion, I was enveloped by the slightly noisy voices of people on the street outside and the warm sunlight.
He seemed to come back to life and let out a long sigh of relief.
His cousin Song Guansui's question, filled with pain and confusion, lingered in his mind like a dark cloud.
"Like", "torture", "monster"... these heavy and extreme words are completely out of place with the romantic and frivolous things he usually deals with and the exchange of interests.
He couldn't understand that almost destructive possessiveness; he only felt it was a terrifying obsession.
However, as his thoughts drifted, that figure unexpectedly entered his mind again—Yu Mobai, the "mascot" city lord of Yancheng.
Thinking of Yu Mobai, Liu Huaijin's tightly furrowed brows unconsciously relaxed a little.
That person was indeed pleasing to the eye, with always curved eyebrows and eyes...
Even when faced with the deliberate harassment and teasing from those arrogant young masters in the city center, he remained composed and even managed to defuse the awkward situation in a clever way that bordered on flattery.
In the end, those who originally wanted to see him make a fool of himself unknowingly started calling him brother.
Liu Huaijin especially remembered the outrageous behavior of Song Chuwu, a member of a collateral branch of the Song family.
That guy kidnapped more than a dozen girls on the streets of Yancheng, intending to play some cruel game of shooting arrows at live targets.
Although he felt it was inappropriate at the time, such behavior by aristocratic children was commonplace, and he was too lazy to step in and stop them, lest he get himself into trouble.
Unexpectedly, Yu Mobai suddenly barged in, and with a few words and jokes, he actually prevented a possible tragedy from happening.
This made Song Chuwu feel that he had been "generous" in letting those women go.
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