At that time, her heart had been filled entirely with fury and indignation. The thought of avenging her mother had completely taken precedence, leaving her no energy to spare attention for other matters.
She originally could have done better—for instance, like what Song Chuning was able to do with Song Yi, preemptively making herself appear tearful and utterly defenseless to provoke Song Yi’s sense of guilt.
That way, perhaps Song Yi would feel somewhat better.
The corners of Song Chuyi’s mouth pulled into a smile, somewhat forced and somewhat mocking. But why should she make Song Yi feel better? If he hadn’t given Li Shi the opportunity back then, Li Shi would never have been able to move against Madam Cui—the people Madam Cui had brought with her were all from the Cui family. Whether in loyalty or capability, they were all first-rate. If Li Shi hadn’t used Song Yi’s hand to let Madam Cui learn he had an outside mistress, causing Madam Cui to panic and lose her composure, none of what followed would have happened.
So even if Song Yi was unintentional, he was still an indirect murderer who caused her mother’s death.
She didn’t want to divide her attention, nor did she feel she had the obligation to also consider his pitiful self-esteem and sense of guilt.
But now Song Yi and Song Chuning were indeed a somewhat troublesome existence before her that she couldn’t ignore—after all, Song Chuning also seemed to know the matters of the previous life in great detail. If given enough time to catch her breath, who knew how many knives she might stab into her back in the future.
Nanny Xu put away that letter, sighed, and instructed Lüyi to go fetch soup from the kitchen for Song Chuyi. She herself quietly advised: “Why not endure another two months? When the New Year comes, Second Master can’t very well return alone. At that time, then deal with Eighth Miss—”
Qing Tao was also somewhat worried beside her: “I’m truly rather afraid of Eighth Miss. I heard that later she still found that cat that had fortunately escaped, plucked out all its fur, and tied it up alive to roast it—”
Ziyun was just taking clothes to put on the scenting rack when she heard these words and hastily spat on the ground: “Bah, bah, bah! What nonsense are you talking about? Can such words be spoken before Miss?”
They had all been frightened quite badly when they heard about it some days ago. Especially Lüyi, who had always liked to go to Ningde Courtyard to play with that Persian cat—from then on, whenever she saw that cat, she felt fear in her heart and couldn’t help but avoid it. Seeing that cat made her think of the scene of Song Chuning coldly plucking the cat’s fur alive. Lüyi was young and couldn’t quite handle it. The several of them had been horrified for a whole evening and agreed not to bring up this topic in front of Song Chuyi for fear of frightening her.
An ordinary person couldn’t do such a thing. But if it was the Song Chuning from the previous life, doing such a thing would be perfectly natural. She had always been someone who viewed others as ants. Back then, the people around her had either died or been maimed—except for Lüyi whom she desperately protected, there wasn’t a single intact person left.
The cold frost in Song Chuyi’s eyes grew even heavier. She waved her hand indicating for Ziyun not to blame Qing Tao anymore, then turned to ask Nanny Xu: “Has there been word from Tongzhou?”
“Yes, yes there has.” Speaking of this matter, the gloom in Nanny Xu’s heart dispersed considerably, the wrinkles on her face piling into a flower: “I nearly forgot to tell you—in another ten days it will be the full-month celebration. Nanny Xu specifically sent someone to report, fearing we might forget. She also said Lianyi’s body has recovered quite well. When the little baby was weighed on the scale now, she’s already over seven jin, plump and white and very lovable.”
Only now did the atmosphere in the room become somewhat lively. While Ziyun was laying out the clothes, she placed sachets on the four corners of the scenting rack, turning her head to smile: “Speaking of which, An’an wasn’t heavy at birth. My grandmother told me that when I was born, I was a full eight jin.”
Qing Tao chimed in: “After all, she had been frightened and anxious at the Li family estate before, and had to do so much work—how could she have been well-nourished?”
Nanny Xu laughed so hard she could barely catch her breath. After quite a while, she scolded: “That’s nonsense! Over six jin is just right for birth. What do you know? Back when your mother gave birth to you, Ziyun, wasn’t the reason she struggled for two or three days precisely because you were too heavy?”
The roomful of young ladies all listened somewhat bewildered. Song Chuyi kept her head lowered and couldn’t help but smile, asking Nanny Xu softly: “Mama, I heard that attending a first birthday celebration also has particular customs and protocols. Since An’an has acknowledged me as her young aunt, what gifts should this young aunt of hers prepare?”
“Nothing more than a longevity lock, embroidered pouches, silver bracelets, and two sets of new clothes.” Nanny Xu thought for a moment, then said: “According to our family’s customs, there’s also personally making tiger-head shoes. Now that our First Young Madam is pregnant and about to give birth, her maternal family sisters have all sent tiger-head shoes.”
“There are still ten days—starting now there’s still time.” Song Chuyi hastily had the returned Lüyi go find shoe patterns, while having Ziyun go to the main house to ask Li Qingzi for a pair of tiger-head shoes to look at the style.
She furrowed her brow thinking: “As for the other things like longevity locks, I’ll trouble you, Mama, to go to my small storeroom to find them. Choose only the best.”
Nanny Xu agreed with a smile and was about to turn to leave when Song Chuyi called her back again.
“Mama, if you have time this afternoon, please go out.” Song Chuyi smiled: “Go to my maternal uncle’s wife’s manor for me and deliver a message for me.”
Zhou Weizhao and Ye Jingchuan both still owed her a favor—it was about time they repaid it.
Thousands of miles away, Song Chuning yawned again, looking at Madam Fang with boredom, smiling without warmth as she pressed: “In the end, Teacher, give me a straight answer—will you help or not?”
Madam Fang found herself somewhat unable to withstand being looked at by those eyes—this was something that had never happened before. She instinctively turned her face away, her tone showing somewhat forced composure: “I already said that to strike a snake you must strike at its vital point. If you keep using underhanded tricks at the edges like this, you’ll definitely provoke the Song family’s fury…”
Song Chuning laughed, raising her voice and interrupting Madam Fang’s lecture without hesitation: “Don’t give me that line of yours—I understand your meaning perfectly. But there’s a saying: ‘Without long-term considerations, one must have near-term worries.’ Surely you’ve heard this saying too, Teacher? Now her younger brother has also been sent to Shu, my mother is dead, and she’s thriving comfortably in the Song family. Tell me, if I don’t find some trouble for her to deal with, won’t she start remembering this fish that slipped through the net?”
Madam Fang gave a scornful laugh, somewhat dismissive: “Although she’s formidable, she hasn’t reached the point of covering the sky with one hand. You’re staying perfectly well in Changsha City with your father’s protection and ours—she fundamentally can’t touch you. A powerful dragon can’t suppress the local snake—don’t you even understand this principle? You should still settle down.”
Song Chuning looked at her coldly and laughed with disdain: “Naturally she doesn’t have the capability to cover the sky with one hand. But that doesn’t change the fact that her relationship with the Grand Prince is quite deep. Moreover, knowing danger is approaching yet still making no preparations and waiting passively for death—isn’t that too foolish?”