Zhang Run had been out too long. He had only managed to come out by using the excuse of wanting to find a good burial plot for his father. To make it convincing, he had even staged a suicide attempt before Han Zhi would let him out. If any flaws were discovered this time, it would be even more difficult to contact Song Chuyi in the future. Seeing that the time was about right, he rose to take his leave: “He’s a cautious and suspicious person. I probably won’t be going out again for quite some time. Once I’ve found the place, I’ll figure out a way to notify you, Sixth Miss Song.”
Song Chuyi nodded. From the window, she watched as he was escorted by several people into an unmarked carriage. Suddenly, she felt that things weren’t as simple as she had originally thought.
To move against Han Zhi, it would be impossible not to affect the Jinxiang Marquis Manor and Fan Shi behind him, or even the entire Xingyang Fan family—she had once heard from Old Madam Song about the secret history of the Fan sisters. Rumor had it that back then, it wasn’t the currently favored Consort Fan Liangdi who had stunned everyone seated with a stirring performance of “High Mountains and Flowing Water” from behind the screen, but rather the Marquis’s wife, Little Fan Shi, of Jinxiang Marquis Manor. The Crown Prince had specifically asked to meet the person who played the piece, but it was Big Fan Shi who emerged. Later, Big Fan Shi rose all the way to become the Crown Prince’s Consort, at one point overshadowing even the Crown Princess to the point where she couldn’t hold her head up. And Little Fan Shi and the Fan family never once said from beginning to end that the wrong person had been chosen. Someone with such scheming and cunning—the Fan family pushing her forward and specifically selecting the Crown Prince, the deeper meaning behind it was self-evident.
Now, to move against Han Zhi was really rather untimely. If not handled properly, it could very likely backfire and cause a lot of trouble. The Song family had finally emerged completely from the shadow of Prince Duan. Song Chengru would absolutely not want to get involved in the Eastern Palace’s murky waters again. But if they temporarily avoided Han Zhi, they still had to guard against when he might use underhanded tricks.
She was lost in her own thoughts when Qing Tao knocked and entered, her face full of indignation, biting her lip as she said: “This is too much!”
Both Song Chuyi and Qing Ying were startled by her appearance. Under Ziyun’s training, this young girl had become increasingly composed. She had never been this impulsive before. But at this moment, she looked furious beyond measure, her recent steady demeanor gone, huffing like an angry hedgehog with its quills raised.
“What’s the matter?” Qing Ying glanced outside. Remembering that Song Chuyi had sent her to inquire about Song Chumi’s business, she asked: “Could it be that something else has happened on Fourth Miss’s side?”
Speaking of which, this Fourth Miss was never someone who gave people peace of mind. Yesterday at home she had said incomprehensible things and done inexplicable things, and today she had brazenly run to the teahouse—after all, she was a newly married woman staying at her natal home for the month-long visit. Such behavior was clearly not proper.
Qing Tao’s face reddened as she looked at Qing Ying, then moved closer to Song Chuyi’s side, still carrying some resentment: “Fourth Miss—she, she came to meet Miss Chen and Miss Shen, and they’re talking about you… about what happened to you at the hunting grounds.”
Song Chuyi curiously raised her eyelids and looked with interest at the steam rising from the spout, which scattered when blown by the wind. She softly said “Oh”: “This matter has already spread anyway. What’s there to be angry about? I truly was declared by Master Yuanhui to have the fate of a Heavenly Calamity Lone Star.”
Thinking of this, she paused again. According to normal reasoning, her current fate was exactly what those noble families most feared. If Jinxiang Marquis Manor still rushed forward, wouldn’t they be afraid of being mocked by everyone in the capital for not caring about their lives just for wealth and status? Thinking this way, she could actually work this angle more, trying to delay dealing with Han Zhi as long as possible—at least until Fan Shi and Zhou Weiqi gave up on this chess piece.
Qing Tao was much more restrained than Luyi. She didn’t curse anything harsh, but spat on the ground before continuing: “If they were just gossiping behind your back, that would be one thing! But they—Fourth Miss—actually want to conspire with outsiders to harm you! They’ve agreed that when Fourth Miss returns to the manor, they’ll come to our Guanju Courtyard to have tea with you. They’ll put something in the tea that makes people go mad, and then Fourth Miss will go tell Madam and Old Madam to have a master come look at you, saying you might be possessed.”
Then Song Chuyi’s reputation as a Heavenly Calamity Lone Star would spread even wider.
Chen Mingyu doing this was still somewhat understandable. This person had always been prone to overthinking. After seeing Zhou Weizhao’s close relationship with her at the hunting grounds, her attitude had become increasingly subtle. This time she was doing this to use the opportunity to make her inauspicious fate more solidified, completely cutting off any possibility of competing with her for him in the future.
But what could Song Chumi possibly gain from this?
Song Chuyi had always felt somewhat guilty toward her. After all, Song Chumi hadn’t done anything to wrong her in either this life or the previous one, yet she herself had used her to extract information, following the clues to uncover the deal between the Yun and Zhang families, ultimately causing Old Master Song and Old Madam Song to send her to the estate for three years.
But now she suddenly felt her compassion was rather laughable. Here she was harboring guilt and always giving Song Chumi leeway, yet Song Chumi took it for granted to blame her for all her life’s failures.
Now she was actually joining with outsiders to cause trouble for her. The malice in this was not insignificant—if this bucket of dirty water was truly poured on her, she would be unable to marry into any good family in the future. She could only marry down like Song Chumi had.
Song Chumi’s plan was probably exactly this. She simply found her displeasing to the eye and felt she should pay such a price for what happened back then.
Although Song Chuyi said this fate meant nothing, that was only because she wanted to avoid flies like Han Zhi and Shen Qingrang, and because it was an expedient measure to expose Chen Xiang and Prince Duan’s conspiracy at the hunting grounds. She couldn’t really carry this fate for her entire life—otherwise, if the elder sister’s fate was already so bad, how good could the younger brother’s be?
It took Qing Ying a long moment to come back to her senses. She couldn’t help but be exasperated: “Fourth Miss is really—”
Really seeking her own destruction. Originally, yesterday when she had brazenly gone before Old Madam Song to seek official positions for others, she had already incurred the old madam’s disgust. The old madam simply hadn’t had time to deal with her yet. Today she had actually set her sights on Song Chuyi again.
Song Chuyi tugged at the corner of her mouth. From beginning to end, there wasn’t much angry expression on her face. After waiting a while, she finally spoke: “Let’s return to the manor first.”
Some people’s thinking was severely warped. It wasn’t something that could be corrected by lecturing them a few times. Like Song Chumi—Third Madam had worn her lips raw trying to persuade her, yet she still insisted on getting stuck in a rut. No one could stop her.