The news of the Crown Prince’s awakening was brought to the Song family by Princess Duanhui. Song Chuyi stood in the corridor watching the talking parrot. It jumped up and down, flapping its wings noisily, never having a moment’s peace, immediately splashing water all over Bai Zhi’s face and hair.

Bai Zhi was thoroughly angered and took a small branch to strike it several times. Only then did it settle down, sputtering curses at Bai Zhi’s cruelty: “Bai Zhi bad, wicked heart, tiger granny!”

Bai Zhi was both angry and amused by its scolding. She reached into the cage to grab it and poked its head: “You’re the bad one, you wicked-minded parrot! Just watch me pluck your feathers!”

Yu Lan carried several bougainvillea plants into the room to arrange in vases. Seeing this, she couldn’t help but laugh: “Look at you, such a grown person still quarreling with a bird. You’re regressing with age! Hurry up and clean things up, feed it, and take it out for some air.”

Even Qing Ying found it thoroughly amusing and turned to smile at Song Chuyi: “This really is… Xiao Bai has been taught to be increasingly tricky. I’m afraid when we take it to Jinzhong, instead of auspicious words, it will spout vulgarities…”

Song Chuyi held up her skirt hem as she passed by Xiao Bai. Xiao Bai stretched its throat to call out to her: “Little Sixth! Little Sixth!”

Bai Zhi quickly carried it outside, truly both angry and resentful toward this little ancestor, yet completely helpless against it.

Even Madam Cui and Old Madam Song inside heard the commotion. Seeing Song Chuyi enter, they teased her: “Were you quarreling with Xiao Bai again? We could hear it stretching its throat to squawk even from this far away.”

“Indeed.” Song Chuyi helplessly broke into a smile: “I don’t know who Xiao Bai learned from—its tongue is so sharp. Curse words come effortlessly, but auspicious words depend entirely on its mood. If it continues like this, I dare not take it to Grandmother’s in Jinzhong. What if it accidentally blurts out something unpleasant? Won’t that be embarrassing in front of all the relatives?”

Madam Cui covered her mouth and laughed, reached out to pull Song Chuyi to sit before her, and poked her with a finger: “You can be completely at ease about this. Your grandmother is not someone so unworldly—she can appreciate both the refined and the vulgar. Though Xiao Bai doesn’t like saying auspicious words, it’s interesting and adorable, and won’t embarrass you.”

Old Madam Song also laughed along: “Your maternal aunt speaks truly. Though Xiao Bai is somewhat spoiled, it’s never careless in front of outsiders and has never made a mistake. Probably because…” She laughed: “Probably because it fears truly being plucked and stewed…”

Ever since Song Jue had carried it around a pot of boiling water once, Xiao Bai truly never acted presumptuously before outsiders. Hearing this, Song Chuyi couldn’t help but laugh as well. After laughing, she asked Madam Cui: “Maternal Aunt just said His Highness the Crown Prince has awakened?”

“He woke yesterday.” Madam Cui put away the smile on her face and leaned back: “But no matter how the Empress asks, he refuses to say why he fell ill from anger. He only vaguely says it was Younger Madam Fan committing offense against her superior…”

Song Chuyi smiled knowingly. This Crown Prince had once indulged Elder Madam Fan to the point of forcing Crown Princess Lu to such extremes and even sending Imperial Grandson Zhou Weizhao to Longhu Mountain. His feelings for Elder Madam Fan must certainly be genuine.

Even if Younger Madam Fan had risked her life to expose Elder Madam Fan’s true face, he still refused to believe it. This could be considered human nature’s weakness. Once you’ve determined something and devoted years of effort to it, naturally you don’t want it to be unworthy of your devotion—wouldn’t that make all your decades of dedication a complete joke? That the Crown Prince would cover for Elder Madam Fan now was quite normal.

He had cherished Elder Madam Fan for so many years, willing to endure however much controversy she caused. If he were to neglect Elder Madam Fan now, or even expose everything Elder Madam Fan had done, he himself would become a complete laughingstock. The Crown Prince couldn’t afford to lose that much face. Moreover, after spending so much time with Elder Madam Fan until now, their entanglement wasn’t just emotional anymore—there were countless interests involved and other dependencies. Pulling one thread would move the entire body. The Crown Prince wasn’t someone ruthless enough to act. If Elder Madam Fan were to risk everything for a desperate strike, even the Crown Prince couldn’t bear those consequences.

However, this didn’t mean Elder Madam Fan would pass through this unscathed. Openly, the Crown Prince naturally wouldn’t do anything to her. She should have already prepared her countermeasures.

But this thorn, as she had said before, would forever coil in the Crown Prince’s heart. The Crown Prince could never again trust Elder Madam Fan wholeheartedly as before.

Master Yuanhui had attached himself to Prince Dongping and Fan Liangdi, which was why he wanted to push aside the Song family as an obstructing stone. Old Madam Song still had lingering fears about Elder Madam Fan’s ruthlessness and also felt that Song Chuyi had provoked Master Yuanhui because of Fan Liangdi. Hearing these words, she naturally revealed a cold smile: “The Crown Prince isn’t speaking now for the sake of face, but he may not endure it forever. When the day comes that he can no longer endure it, things will get lively.”

Between husband and wife, the greatest taboo was mutual distrust. Without even trust, what would sustain their relationship going forward? With this incident, the Crown Prince would constantly suspect whether Elder Madam Fan had truly wronged him in the future. Elder Madam Fan would also become increasingly anxious and fearful. With both harboring misgivings, they would easily fall into a vicious cycle. Sooner or later, conflicts would erupt.

Song Chuyi lowered her head, listening to her and Madam Cui discuss for a while longer about what gifts to bring to Jinzhong. Then she heard Qing Ying outside the curtain reporting that Old Master Song and Song Jue were requesting her presence in the study.

At this time, for Old Master Song and Song Jue to summon her, it should be about her being attacked outside. She took leave of Old Madam Song and Madam Cui and went to the study in the front courtyard with Qing Ying.

Old Master Song and Song Jue were discussing matters with Cui Yingshu. Seeing her enter, they all looked at her first, then beckoned to her: “Master Yuanhui has sent people to investigate and has already followed the clues you left to find the residence where you were attacked that day.”

These were clues Song Chuyi had deliberately left for Master Yuanhui. She wanted Master Yuanhui to know the people were in her hands.

Cui Yingshu touched her head, looking at her with some worry: “This way, even a fool would know you saw through him as the mastermind and kidnapped his mother and sister as revenge. I’m afraid Master Yuanhui won’t let this rest.”

Song Chuyi unhurriedly nodded. She had deliberately let Master Yuanhui know, so naturally she had long prepared.

“Grandfather and Uncle, just wait. In the next few days, Master Yuanhui will come knocking.” She wore a mocking smile: “He’s sat fishing from his secure position for so long—it’s time for him to taste what it’s like to be the fish.”