Song Yaozhu cursed under her breath, "You bastard, you're really strong," when she caught a glimpse of Yuwen Wuji walking towards her in his bright yellow robes.
Yuwen Wuji stood in front of the pavilion and saw the woman with tears in her almond-shaped eyes. Her half-raised face was full of astonishment and helplessness. The perfect angle made Yuwen Wuji think that he had seen Xie Wanqing.
However, Xie Wanqing was always as resolute as iron and would never show such a pitiful appearance.
He sighed and waved his hand. Li Wei immediately understood and stepped forward to help the man up.
"Your Highness, please be careful. Are you injured anywhere? This servant will go and fetch the imperial physician for you."
Song Yaozhu stopped, glanced at Yuwen Wuji with pleading eyes, and hurriedly bowed. Large tears slid down her cheeks, making her appear even more frail and helpless, which aroused the man's protective instincts.
Yuwen Wuji felt as if his chest had been struck by the tear, and he suddenly felt a tightness in his chest.
Where is that kid Li Wei?!
"Your Majesty, it seems the Prince of Xiaoyao has headed in the direction of leaving the palace!"
Yuwen Wuji looked at the bewildered Song Yaozhu and said, "Have someone stop him! What kind of behavior is this, a grown man like him!"
Li Wei sighed and, seeing that Song Yaozhu's palm was scraped, sent someone to fetch the imperial physician.
The young eunuch helped Song Yaozhu to rest, and the Imperial Garden returned to its previous liveliness.
Seeing this commotion, Song Wenyue was secretly pleased. It seemed that Song San's life wasn't as glamorous as it appeared!
After thinking for a moment, she said to Madam Song beside her, "Mother, my sister has been frightened. She must be feeling unwell without anyone to keep her company in the palace. I'll go and keep her company."
Madam Song nodded. "Go ahead, but be careful."
She had to ask the Imperial Concubine for permission to leave, and after hearing her reasons, the Imperial Concubine waved her away. The Emperor, who was standing nearby, couldn't help but glance at Song Wenyue a few more times.
Wearing a veil, she does indeed look very similar to Xie Wanqing.
Song Wenyue believed that her portrayal of the deep sisterly affection would win over the Imperial Concubine. Little did she know that the Imperial Concubine was utterly disgusted with the two sisters.
One looked remarkably like Xie Wanqing, and the other was someone the Emperor himself had proposed to take into the harem.
Both of them are making her miserable!
Song Yaozhu rested in the side room. The palace maid served her tea and snacks. When Song Wenyue arrived, the imperial physician had already prescribed medicine for her abrasions.
"Is my sister alright?"
Song Yaozhu knew that she was there to humiliate her, so she naturally wouldn't let her succeed.
"Doesn't my sister have eyes?"
Song Wenyue choked, unsure how to continue her mocking remarks. Ever since Song Yaozhu got married, her mouth had been like a firecracker, always leaving Song Wenyue speechless.
"My brother-in-law is really something, how could he embarrass my sister in front of her?"
"Don't you dare talk about the prince like that! It was clearly my own fault for not standing properly!"
Song Wenyue cursed her inwardly as an idiot for taking the man's side after being humiliated like that, but she said aloud, "Yes, yes, it's good that you think that way, sister! But how did you anger the prince, causing him to abandon you in public?"
When this matter was mentioned, Song Yaozhu's face showed a distressed expression.
"I only told the Prince about my greetings to the Imperial Concubine today. You saw how Consort Shu acted like she'd seen a ghost when she saw me. Do I really look that much like the late Empress?" The Prince got angry after hearing this. Sigh...
Song Wenyue had never met the late Empress, so she naturally didn't know how similar they were. But after her reminder, Consort Shu had indeed been far too out of line this morning.
"How much I resemble the late Empress! The way the Consort, the Emperor, and the Prince look at me is as if they are looking at her through me," she murmured to herself, unintentionally planting a seed in Song Wenyue's heart.
After talking for a while, the little eunuch came in and said to Song Yaozhu, "Your Highness, the Prince has come to take you back to the manor!"
Song Yaozhu immediately stood up with great joy, showing no sign of being wronged. Song Wenyue scoffed inwardly, thinking how pathetic she was to live like that, only knowing how to fawn over men.
Song Yaozhu could easily see through her thoughts, and said to her in a light tone, "I'm leaving now, see you next time, little sister!"
Stepping outside, Xie Liwei stood in the courtyard, hands behind his back, waiting for her. He stood tall and imposing in the sunlight, like a steadfast and solitary tree. But he seemed to have been out in the sun for far too long, his expression melancholic and weathered.
Song Yaozhu walked briskly to his side and took his arm. The little eunuch led the two of them out of the palace, giving them plenty of space to talk.
Song Yaozhu pinched his arm hard, only to find that his arm was as hard as a rock, and she couldn't even twist the flesh.
"Your Highness, what are you doing?"
"Revenge!" she said fiercely. "You pushed me way too hard just now!"
"That's exactly what you wanted."
Song Yaozhu was also looking for an opportunity to assert her presence in front of Yuwen Wuji, since her face was more appealing to him than Song Wenyue's. Only those who can't have something but still want it will settle for second best!
Seeing that Yuwen Wuji had arrived, Xie Liwei "helped" her out.
"Thank you so much, but please don't help me like this next time."
"What, you're starting to look down on me?"
"I could have made a beautiful entrance and a beautiful exit. Now look at my hands!"
She opened her palm; her palms already had a thin layer of calluses, so only the skin was slightly broken and there was no bleeding. The imperial physician went through the motions and gave her a bottle of Jade Bone Regenerating Cream, which was used by the concubines in the imperial harem for skin care.
"Didn't you just get a bottle of ointment worth a hundred taels for free?" Xie Liwei sneered. He had already arrived at the side room and had been listening to this woman brainwashing Song Wenyue in the side room.
"You were eavesdropping?" Song Yaozhu stared at him with exaggeratedly wide eyes. "Your Highness, you shouldn't listen to indecent things!"
Xie Liwei chose to shut up to shut her up.
Even after boarding the carriage to return home, Xie Liwei still felt something was off. How could he and Song Yaozhu have gotten along so well in such a short time?
Like old friends with perfect understanding, when he knocked her to the ground, she immediately understood and fell to the ground in an extremely delicate and graceful posture.
He couldn’t believe that they could understand each other without even saying it outright.
More importantly, and even more terrifyingly, he found himself unconsciously letting his guard down in her presence. Talking to her was easy, and a strange, subtle pleasure welled up within him.
This is utterly unbelievable!
Upon arriving at the Prince's residence, Xie Liwei immediately left her behind and went to his study as soon as he alighted from the carriage. Song Yaozhu shook her head; the child was grown up, but his temper remained as stubborn as ever.
Is it so hard to admit that you get along well with her?
Upon entering the study, Xie Liwei immediately asked Qin Yu, "Has Fang Rao returned yet?"
Qin Yu replied, "I just arrived at your residence. I've already sent him to have dinner."
"Have him come back to me immediately."
Fang Rao brought the results of his investigation over the past few days into the study, where a hush fell over the room. Xie Liwei stared at the words on the paper, falling into an eerie silence.
"Do you think this is reasonable?" he asked Fang Rao, pointing to the words on the paper.
Fang Rao winked and made faces for a while, then said, "Your Highness, I am only responsible for recording, not for analysis."
Qin Yu rolled his eyes, thinking to himself, "You might as well just admit you're brainless."
Qin Yu craned his neck and saw that the paper read: This woman was born with the ability to see ghosts and spirits, and can see all kinds of ghosts.
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