Chapter 108 The painting is her but it doesn’t look like her.
"Bang!"
The young master who was locked in the house finally calmed down for a while, but after half an hour, the sharp sound of porcelain breaking suddenly came from inside.
The two maids guarding the door looked up almost at the same time, looked at each other, and felt uneasy in their hearts.
In just a moment, the room became quiet again, and there was no sense of anyone being inside.
"Nothing will happen, right?" the maid asked her companion in a low voice.
Another maidservant was also worried, "How about we take a look?"
The two of them tiptoed to the window and carefully poked a hole in the window paper.
"Master!"
The two were shocked to see Xie Yuchao picking up the broken porcelain pieces on the ground and cutting his fair forearm with them.
The bloody scratches were shocking.
The maids were terrified. One of them hurried to find a doctor, while the other quickly unlocked the door and went into the room to stop them.
"Master, don't do anything stupid!"
The maid knelt down in front of Xie Yuchao, trying to snatch the porcelain piece from his hand.
Xie Yuchao's eyes were glazed over, his soul lost. "I'm stuck here every day without seeing the sun. I might as well die."
"It's not that we won't let you out, it's the Master who has ordered us to do so. Young Master, please don't make things difficult for us." The maidservant was so anxious she was about to cry. "I think the Master is just angry, so he's keeping you locked up. He'll definitely be fine in a couple of days. Young Master, please wait a little longer and be patient."
"Wait?" Xie Yuchao scoffed, glancing towards the door. "Isn't he coming yet?"
"Who is it?" the maidservant said anxiously, "Master? He's out. I'm afraid he won't be able to make it in time."
The ones who came in a hurry were the doctor of the mansion and the housekeeper Lin.
The doctor wanted to bandage Xie Yuchao, but he dodged and was very stubborn, not giving him a chance to carefully examine his injuries.
"How can you joke with your own body, young master?" Butler Lin had to say, "Let the doctor treat the wound first, and we can deal with other matters later."
Xie Yuchao hid his scratched right arm behind his back, as if he was unaware of the pain, and let the bright red blood drip onto the ground.
"Let me out," he said. "I'm going to die here unless you let me out."
Steward Lin was helpless. "Young Master, since you say you're no longer a child, why are you saying such childish things? How can you threaten your own life like this? Besides, the master is not home right now, and no one can make the decision. Young Master, at least wait for the master to come back. Before that, bandage the wound first."
"I can't wait any longer!" Xie Yuchao shouted angrily, holding the broken porcelain against his neck. "Why does he have to make the final decision on everything? This is clearly my life! You'd better let me out now, otherwise..."
"Master!"
Steward Lin suddenly interrupted loudly, his tone showing a certain hardness that was not usually there.
Xie Yuchao's eyes, filled with anger, gradually showed more grievance.
After all, this was a child he had watched grow up, and Steward Lin couldn't be hardened at all. He had spent much more time with his young master than with his father. Seeing him so agitated, as if on the verge of collapse, his heart felt like it was being cut by a knife.
"I want to go out." Xie Yuchao said firmly, and walked out in full view of everyone.
The servants didn't know whether they should stop him or not. Stopping him was the master's order, but the broken porcelain in the young master's hand looked really sharp and could easily cut flesh and blood. How could they dare to act rashly?
So they all looked at Butler Lin.
Steward Lin stared closely at Xie Yuchao's movements, and even after seeing him cross the threshold, he still did not speak.
As soon as he walked out of the room, Xie Yuchao turned around and ran, quickly disappearing from everyone's sight.
The servant couldn't help but ask, "What should I say to the master?"
Housekeeper Lin thought that even though he had handled the situation improperly, he had been in this family for over thirty years. Even if he was punished, he wouldn't be driven away or beaten to death.
In that case, what's wrong with letting his young master go?
He just said: "Send someone to follow closely and protect him."
*
Towards evening, Song Baoyuan returned home alone.
Although Qiong Niang had heard that the reward was accepted as soon as it was made public, it wasn't a sure thing. Assassinating the Prime Minister of the current dynasty was both far-reaching and difficult. Even if someone dared to accept the huge reward, they might not have the ability to pull it off.
She couldn't just sit there and wait for death.
Since Jiang Keyu said that there was a scroll recording the background information of all officials hidden in her study, could she find someone who could control the situation in it?
Song Baoyuan hasn't returned home for a long time, let alone gone to the study.
The house was unattended and looked a bit run-down, which was like a bad hint, making Song Baoyuan feel depressed.
When you push open the door of the study, the smell of long-forgotten ink and brush hits you in the face. In addition, there is the smell of pigments that has been there for years.
Song Baoyuan's eyes fell on the messy table, and she suddenly remembered the clear sky that day, when the sunlight came through the window and fell on the lifelike painting of a woman on the table.
It was on that day, at that moment, that she developed a knot in her heart that tormented her even more.
Song Baoyuan shook her head, unwilling to think about it anymore.
She walked straight to the easel, reached out and touched the top shelf, only to find her hands were covered in dust. It seemed that not only had no one come in to clean the room in a long time, but the owner of this room had also not painted in a long time.
Song Baoyuan moved out pile after pile of scrolls, and finally when she had moved almost half of them away, she saw the secret compartment at the back.
She reached out and pressed it, and unexpectedly it opened easily. However, with a "click", she accidentally knocked over a scroll.
The painting was spread out at her feet. She squatted down to pick it up, but stopped when her fingertips were just inches away from the scroll.
In the painting, a beauty is sleeping at her desk with her eyes closed. A gentle breeze blows through the open window, ruffling her skirt as blue as the waves of the ocean.
In the lower right corner, there are some beautiful words.
Wife - Baoyuan.
Song Baoyuan remembered that after reading the account book, she would always take a nap on the table in the bedroom. She didn't know which ordinary afternoon it was, but she didn't know when it was drawn on the paper.
But there is something untrue. There is a little cinnabar between her eyebrows in the painting, which makes her look a bit cute and playful, which is different from the real her.
Song Baoyuan was stunned for a long time, looking up and around at the countless scrolls that she had taken down and still left on the easel.
As if possessed by a ghost, she picked up another painting nearby and opened it.
It's still her.
It was she who stood at the door and at the foot of the steps, holding an umbrella, looking forward to it. The raindrops splashed and soaked her shoes and socks.
At the end it also says, Wife - Baoyuan.
There was also her sitting at the dressing table with her hair loose, picking out her hairpins; her squatting in the snow, wrapped in a pink fur coat, drawing circles with branches; her hugging a pillow through the bed curtains, staring blankly; her standing under a tree, tiptoeing to reach a kite...
If all the paintings were unfolded, they would cover the entire study, and she would be everywhere.
Song Baoyuan stood at the table in a daze.
There are countless paintings, except for a small part of Chengcheng and Suisui, most of the rest are her.
But there are also some things that don't look like her, like the cinnabar dot on her forehead, the orchid blossoming on her collarbone, the jade bracelet around her ankle...
But it clearly says on it, Wife - Baoyuan.
Song Baoyuan had an indescribable feeling.
In the past, she always wondered how many young ladies, regrets and unrequited loves were hidden on this easel, but there was nothing.
Not a single one.
She didn't understand why that person drew so many of her, neither hiding them nor mentioning them at all.
*
In the evening glow, the streets are filled with people rushing home.
In the slowly moving carriage, the curtains blocked the light, and Song Baoyuan sat alone in the darkness, dazed.
A flat wooden box was placed on her knees, which was taken out from the secret compartment in the study. As expected, it was the thing left by Brother Chu as Jiang Keyu said.
She was going to the teahouse and wanted to give it to Cen Zhou.
In order to raise cash, the teahouse had to be mortgaged. Song Baoyuan was calculating in her mind that if the reward was successful, she would probably have to leave behind Qianqian Pavilion with heavy losses.
This is not bad. After all, the foundation is still there, and the rest can be earned back sooner or later.
"Miss, we're here." Qiao Yue reminded and lifted the car curtain.
The sudden arrival of the rosy glow dazzled Song Baoyuan. It took her a while to come to her senses and she walked out holding the box.
She lifted her skirt slightly and was about to step on the bench that the driver had just placed to get off the rickshaw when Qiao Yue called her again from behind her.
"Miss!"
She seemed to exclaim in surprise. Song Baoyuan turned around in surprise and asked, "What's wrong?"
Qiao Yue opened her eyes wide and looked across, "That seems to be, Master Xie!"
Song Baoyuan looked up in a daze. Across the street and a few pedestrians, she and Xie Yuchao, who was standing opposite the teahouse, were staring at each other from afar, as if they had not seen each other for several years.
He stood in the rosy glow, his back still straight, his eyes filled with the innocence of a young man. When he saw her, he couldn't wait to run towards her.
There was just a sudden commotion.
“Run!”
“Murder!”
“Run!”
The crowd shouted and pedestrians on the road fled in all directions.
Song Baoyuan frowned slightly and looked in the direction where everyone was running, only to see smoke rising in the distance, blocking people's vision.
Xie Yuchao was blocked by the passers-by who rushed over. Although he didn't know what terrible thing had happened, he had no intention of knowing it. He just wanted to get to Song Baoyuan as soon as possible.
He struggled to navigate the crowd, was bumped into, stumbled, and the pain in his forearm worsened.
He was only a few steps away when someone grabbed his arm and he couldn't break free.
"Oh no, young master!" It was the family servant who caught him. "Master, on the way home, we were attacked by three waves of assassins and hit by an arrow. I don't know if the injury is serious, but I'm afraid there will be chaos at home. Young master, please go back and check!"
"What?" Xie Yuchao was stunned.
"What if, what if, Master..." The servant didn't dare to violate the taboo, "Besides Master, you are the only master left. You have to go back and take charge of the situation!"
Xie Yuchao looked up and met Song Baoyuan's eyes, who was still standing in the carriage.
He had never seen Ayuan like this. In the chaotic atmosphere, she stood coldly on a high place, her eyes calm and unbearable.
Even, it seems a bit cold and indifferent.
When Xie Yuchao was stunned, the servant pulled him hard and took him away.
Song Baoyuan watched helplessly as the person who was about to come to her moved away from her little by little, and finally disappeared from her sight.
It’s so close, just a little bit away.
She had a blank expression on her face, but her palms were red from pinching herself.
"Miss." Qiao Yue stole a glance at his expression. For a moment, the temperament of the person in front of her made her feel that he was not a lady, but a gentleman.
She softly comforted him, "Actually, some things are not what Master Xie wants, nor are they something he can control."
Song Baoyuan lowered her eyes, "I know."
She calmly stepped down from the carriage, seemingly in a different world from the frightened passersby behind her.
"I don't blame him, and I can't blame him." Song Baoyuan whispered.
Maybe, it’s just that our fate is too shallow.
Perhaps, the one who was wrong was her who always relied on luck.
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