"If the second master of the Song family and the Empress still wants this marriage to happen, then the Great Prince’s current impulsiveness will not be able to stop it," Xiaoyu said.
"It doesn’t matter if it can be stopped or not, after all, we are cooperating with the main branch of the Song family. But we need to find out the real situation within the Song family, whether they are pretending to be in discord to confuse outsiders or they really are in discord. Is the main branch of the Song family really cutting off all their ways out to follow Marquis Mu Houchu, or are they secretly using the second branch to leave a way out for themselves?"
Xiaoyu listened and was slightly shocked, "Madam, you’ve thought this through."
"Marquis Mu Houchu and I have discussed all this. It’s not that I’ve thought it through, but let’s see, after the Great Prince refused the marriage alliance, what kind of reaction will the main branch of the Song family have? Then things will be clear, won’t they?"
"Then are we going to dispatch someone to keep an eye on their movements?"
Xinhe shook her head, "There’s no need. Mu Houchu has already dispatched someone to do so. We don’t need to."
Xiaoyu then said, "Then this is really a good opportunity to test. If there are problems with the second and third branch’s marriages, one after another, and if the main branch of the Song family is indeed at odds with them, then this incident can serve as a gift to them. But if it’s fake..."
Xinhe curled the corners of her lips, her beautiful eyes emanating a hint of chill, "Then they’ll have to pay the consequences."
Three days passed without any news from Ji Xinhe. In fact, she even stopped replying to the letters after replying once to Song Ya Lan’s previous letter.
In these days, Song Ya Lan was feeling extremely anxious, like sitting on pins and needles. The harsh life at the temple almost drove her mad, and her yearning for her lover was unbearable. She wanted to see him directly, but he had already left on a long journey. Even if she went to his house, she would only face a selfish and greedy tigress!
She didn’t even know where he was now!
And during these days, she kept sending letters out, but there were no replies. Yi Ling comforted her, saying that Master Mu must have been too busy, but how could she continue to wait patiently?
Feeling restless, Song Ya Lan paced back and forth in the room, "It’s been three days! I’ve been stuck in this awful place for three whole days, and Mu Lang hasn’t replied even once. How can I keep my composure?"
She continued her complaints without waiting for Yi Ling to speak, "What should I do? Has something happened to him? I’ve been feeling uneasy these days, wanting to see him, but I don’t even know where he is."
Suddenly, she whirled around and glared at Yi Ling, "You said that if he didn’t come to find me in three days, you’d have a way to force him to. It’s already been three days! There’s no news from him at all, so hurry up and think of a way!"
Yi Ling pondered for a moment, then said, "Alright, please write a letter according to my instructions, Miss."
Looking at Yi Ling’s confident demeanor, Song Ya Lan’s eyes brightened, and she nodded repeatedly, "Okay! Fine, fine, fine!"
——
"Sister! Sister!" Xiao Bei happily ran into the room.
He was stopped by Shulan, "My little ancestor, please slow down. What if you accidentally bump into madam? She’s pregnant, she can’t handle such shocks."
Xiao Bei grinned, "I know, I’ll be careful when I go in, don’t worry!"
With that, he slipped under Shulan’s arm like a little mud loach.
Shulan couldn’t stop him and could only sigh helplessly.
Little Chai Fire walked in calmly behind Xiao Bei, nodding slightly to Shulan as a form of greeting.
Shulan looked at Little Chai Fire’s figure entering the room and couldn’t help pulling Xiaoyu aside, "This child might be a troublemaker when he grows up."
Xiaoyu glared at her, "What are you talking about?"
Shulan hurriedly said, "I mean the kind of troubles like a lady-killer. Haven’t you noticed that Little Chai Fire is growing more and more handsome? He used to look thin and weak, and he was so short. But after madam took care of him for a year, he gained some weight. This year, he also learned martial arts diligently, making him look strong. His face also seems finer than before. Madam mentioned that he is a favorite student of the academy’s teacher and will be a top scholar talent in the future. Just think how many young girls will be smitten by him then."
Xiaoyu snorted with laughter, "Why are you always so observant of these things? I didn’t notice any difference at all. Where did you get all those elaborate ideas?"
"Hey! You don’t believe me, do you? If you don’t, that’s fine. Just wait for five years, and we’ll see then! Want to bet?" Shulan winked and teased.
Xiaoyu ignored her, "Not interested."
Having said that, she walked past her and entered the room. Although she didn’t take Shulan’s mischievous words seriously, she couldn’t help but take a closer look at the two little boys in front of Ji Xinhe when she entered the room. Glancing from left to right, it was true that Little Chai Fire had grown quite a bit, and on closer inspection, he seemed better looking than a year ago.
But their Young Master Xiaobei was not bad either. The two of them actually shared some resemblance in their eyes and eyebrows in the past, and madam had even mistaken them once. But over the past year, as the personalities of the two changed, so did the expressions in their eyes, and their appearances became less similar.
Young Master Xiaobei had always been simple and easygoing, so his eyes were brighter. Little Chai Fire had a heavier mind, was more cautious, and his eyes were naturally a bit deeper. In terms of appearance alone, Xiaoyu felt that Young Master Xiaobei might not necessarily be worse than Little Chai Fire.
"Xiaoyu?" Xinhe called out.
"Yes." Xiaoyu quickly came back to her senses.
Xinhe laughed, "What were you thinking?"
Shulan chuckled, "Perhaps she was thinking about getting married."
"Nonsense," Xiaoyu said.
However, Xinhe laughed, "Speaking of Xiaoyu, she’s already sixteen, and Shulan seems to be fifteen. If you see a man you like, just bring him to me for a look. If I think he’s alright, I’ll marry you off grandly."
Xiaoyu immediately knelt down and said, "This servant doesn’t want to get married. I just want to follow madam."
"Even if you get married, you can still follow me. It’s just that nobody will call you a girl anymore. They’ll respectfully call you ’nanny,’ and behind your back they’ll call you ’this woman’ or ’that woman.’" Xinhe laughed.
Xiaoyu’s face turned red, and she lowered her head without saying anything.
"Alright, don’t kneel down. I’ve always been easygoing. If you really want to get married, just tell me, okay?" Xinhe laughed.
"Yes."
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