It only took Song Chuyi one night to recover from her shock and astonishment. The next day, when Yushu came to check on her with concern, she was already sitting by the small table near the window drinking congee.

Today’s congee was all nourishing for qi and blood, eight varieties in total, arranged in the shape of two flowers on the table. Combined with the narcissus blooming splendidly on the table, it made one’s appetite even more stimulated.

Seeing that although Song Chuyi’s lips were still somewhat peeling and there were some dark circles under her eyes, her spirits and appetite were still fairly good, Yushu first breathed a sigh of relief. Holding a crystal bottle, she came before her and sighed: “Last night truly gave us all a terrible fright. Thank goodness you’re better now, otherwise Old Madam would have probably sent to the capital to summon an imperial physician to examine you.”

She opened the stopper of the crystal bottle and poured a full white jade cup of rose dew, smiling as she offered it to Song Chuyi: “You’ve just broken your fever, so your throat must still be quite parched. Old Madam specifically asked me to bring this rose dew.”

Song Chuyi set down her bowl. After rinsing her mouth, she took a sip and smiled with her eyes curved into crescents. How could anyone see yesterday’s distraction: “Thank you, Sister Yushu, for making this special trip. I’ll go pay my respects to Grandmother in a bit.”

Yushu handed the crystal bottle to Ziyun to put away, instructing her to give Song Chuyi more to drink after the midday meal, then quickly smiled and shook her head: “That’s not necessary. When Old Madam came, she specifically instructed that you need to rest well right now. If she gets some free time this evening, she’ll come see you.”

Free time? This evening?

They weren’t returning to the capital today?

As if seeing Song Chuyi’s confusion, Yushu obligingly explained to her: “The Marquis of Jinxiang’s manor sent people to thank our Old Madam. The young master will be returning to the capital today, so Old Madam is quite busy there. By this afternoon, people from Young Master Guo’s family will probably also come. Old Madam will likely stay another day.”

Song Chuyi didn’t show any particular expression. She curved her lips to indicate her thanks to Yushu for the explanation, watching as Ziyun saw her out.

After Yushu left, she stood up and went directly to the long table to stare at the ink monkey brush holder in a daze—the appearance of a child who looked exactly like Ran’geer from her previous life, with Han Zhi specifically going to the villa to bring him over for her to see, obviously indicated impure motives.

Luyi was quick-tongued. Seeing her distracted appearance, she couldn’t help but interject: “Miss, what’s really wrong? How did seeing a child yesterday frighten you so badly?”

This wasn’t at all like Song Chuyi’s usual style of remaining calm even if Mount Tai collapsed before her. Song Chuyi’s appearance at the time—her face deathly pale with her eyes staring blankly—was still etched in Luyi’s mind, frightening her terribly.

Song Chuyi shook her head and turned around to have her fetch a cloak.

Because this villa was managed by Song Chuyi’s close associates, and those serving in her courtyard were all trustworthy people, she didn’t need to avoid anything. After leaving and pulling on her hood, she headed toward Ye Jingchuan’s courtyard—whenever he came now, he always stayed in the courtyard he’d used on his first visit.

When she arrived, Ye Jingchuan had just finished practicing with his sword. Seeing her, he quickly came forward several steps to get closer: “How did you get frightened sick by a child? If word gets out, people will laugh at you.”

Song Chuyi wasn’t afraid of people laughing at her at all. She sat on the stone stool in the courtyard, spacing out for a while, then turned her head to ask him: “How well do you know Han Zhi?”

Ye Jingchuan frowned, somewhat puzzled why she was asking about Han Zhi. But thinking of Song Chuyi’s behavior yesterday after seeing Han Zhi and that child, he felt he might have guessed something, and shook his head: “Not well. Like the Crown Prince’s grandson, he was said from childhood to be in poor health. The Crown Prince’s grandson was sent to Longhu Mountain, and his family followed suit, searching everywhere for famous physicians to treat him. He’s rarely in the capital year-round.”

After a pause, seeing Song Chuyi’s rather expressionless face, he probed: “What’s really going on? Why do you seem particularly interested in his family’s affairs?”

Song Chuyi shook her head. It seemed she couldn’t get anything out of Ye Jingchuan here. What’s more, in her previous life, she had known very little about Han Zhi. Because Han Zhi was constantly traveling, the young ladies in the capital actually didn’t know much about him.

Ye Jingchuan couldn’t bear seeing her disappointed like this. After thinking, he patted his chest and promised: “Although I don’t know, my eldest brother should know. Don’t be in such a hurry to be disappointed. I’ll go ask my eldest brother. When he was studying in Taizhou, he spent several years together with Han Zhi.”

Song Chuyi actually knew the family trees of most families in the capital—any family’s primary wife had to force herself to be familiar with the complicated seven-twists-and-eight-turns relationships behind these people, otherwise someday she might inadvertently offend the second uncle of the maternal aunt of the National Uncle.

But the Marquis of Jinxiang’s manor was indeed somewhat excessively low-key. Apart from being hereditary guardians of Datong for generations, their family seemed to have no other noteworthy features.

But now it appeared that wasn’t the case.

Han Zhi had deliberately chosen the day the Earl’s manor departed to connect with them at Qingzhou courier station and travel together the whole way, then specifically went to Tongzhou to bring his cousin before her eyes.

Obviously, he couldn’t be so idle as to create trouble for himself for entertainment.

He was waiting for her to take the bait.

He was certain she couldn’t possibly let go of this child.

She furrowed her brow and extracted herself from her thoughts, nodding to Ye Jingchuan: “Then I’ll trouble you to help me inquire. By the way, do you know which family’s young lady is now the Princess Consort of the Marquis of Jinxiang?”

As Ye Jingchuan was thinking, he suddenly slapped the table: “Right! His mother has quite an impressive background—she’s the legitimate younger sister of the current Crown Prince’s Consort Fan!”

Consort Fan?! The legendary Consort Fan who had made the Crown Prince defy the Empress’s orders and adamantly refuse to marry the young lady from the Lu family?!

Song Chuyi felt that the direction of her speculation seemed to have gone slightly awry again.

She had originally thought this Han Zhi must be connected to Prince Duan, but the facts seemed not to be so.

But if he had no connection with Prince Duan, how did he learn about her affairs from her previous life? Or was he truly reborn, or perhaps simply playing both sides, stepping on both Prince Duan’s boat and Consort Fan’s boat at the same time?

She couldn’t figure it out. Since the matter hadn’t been clarified yet, she simply didn’t waste more mental energy on it. She smiled at Ye Jingchuan and turned to speak of other matters: “By the way, weren’t you planning to visit Lord Guo after the new year? This time we happened to return together with Lord Guo’s legitimate son, Guo Yantang. He’s also at the estate now. You can interact with him more and become closer.”

Ye Jingchuan then smiled, revealing a mouth full of white teeth: “When I went to pay respects to Old Madam yesterday, she already introduced us. He doesn’t live in the capital either, so there was no previous acquaintance, but after speaking with him for a few sentences, I could tell he’s not a muddle-headed person.”