The Empress Dowager remained silent for a long time.
Song Chuyu knelt below without moving.
Finally, the Empress Dowager sighed: "Have your father bring the young man into the palace for me to see."
Song Chuyu immediately looked up, gratitude overflowing in her expression—not because her marriage prospects were improving, but because her aunt was willing to give her this opportunity to take charge: "Thank you, Aunt."
"Do you like him?"
Song Chuyu shook her head, having only met him a few times: "Your niece feels he is someone worth reaching out to, and I want to try."
The Empress Dowager nodded with emotion: "Chuyu, you've grown up."
"It's Aunt who gave Chuyu the chance to speak recklessly."
…
Kang Rui hadn't lived in such shabby conditions for many years. The courtyard had seven rooms housing six families, where even the slightest noise could be heard clearly.
The distance from the gate to the windbreak wall was merely a passageway, without carved patterns, let alone playing fish among lotus flowers.
Compared to the Princess Manor's vast partitions and moon gates with porter's lodges and courtyard screen walls—well, there was no comparison.
His room was near the kitchen, where he could smell all sorts of odors during meal times. The kitchen eaves blocked most of the sunlight from his room, making it damp and moldy during cloudy or rainy weather.
Suppressing his temper, Kang Rui hung out the damp clothes to dry.
He would have liked to buy a servant to attend to his daily needs, but educated servants in the capital cost at least ten taels of silver—half a year's salary for him. Given his current circumstances, he simply couldn't afford one.
"Editor Kang, Editor Kang!" An old woman's booming voice echoed in the courtyard: "Any clothes needing mending? Only two coins!"
Kang Rui's expression stiffened at the words. Such ill-mannered commoners! Even the lowest servants in noble households wouldn't be so lacking in propriety.
"Aunt Li, is that you? Wait a moment, we have some here!"
"Alright then, remember to come to me next time! Cheaper than Granny Zhou, and I promise even better rates for bulk orders!"
"Will do, Aunt Li."
"Is Editor Kang not home?"
"Probably not, haven't seen him come out."
"That's the Number One Scholar for you—heard he attended the Autumn Frost Banquet hosted by the Princess."
"Indeed, my husband says the Number One Scholar has better prospects than him. Might not even stay in our courtyard for half a year."
"That would be good. I'm off now—remember to call me for work, my skills are unmatched."
Kang Rui felt a headache coming on. This courtyard was as noisy as a marketplace every day, with people shouting about laundry services and fan pendant repairs.
Yet even such a courtyard was the best accommodation he could get after joining the Hanlin Academy.
When he used to work, he often heard colleagues say they couldn't bring their families to Shangjing City because there wasn't enough space. He had thought they just wanted peace for drinking and convenient access to servants like Ruyi.
Now he understood—with housing conditions like these, it was better not to come to the capital at all.
In the future, he really should improve officials' living quarters. At the very least, random people shouldn't be allowed to shout in the courtyards.
…
Song Chuyu went to the villa, feeling she should indeed seek Lin Qingyuan's opinion.
If he disagreed, she wouldn't force the matter.
"How is his condition?"
Wei Rui nearly cried. The Princess had finally come! As the Princess's personal maid, having to serve a commoner who didn't even cooperate—just thinking about it made her feel wronged, though she dared not show it before the Princess: "Reporting to the Princess, he's much better. The physician says aside from some physical weakness requiring proper recuperation, there are no other major concerns."
Song Chuyu paused her steps inward: "Just a bit physically weak?" She remembered in her previous life when the imperial physician returned, he said Lin Qingyuan's body was severely depleted, with a slow-acting poison deeply entrenched in his organs, beyond the reach of medicine or diet. Now it was just a bit of physical weakness?
Was the Princess dissatisfied? Wanting something more: "Replying to the Princess, it is indeed just physical weakness."
Song Chuyu was puzzled. If she weren't certain something had happened before the imperial examination, and if she didn't have an impression of Cao Zhao, she would have suspected she had mistaken the person.
In other words, his body currently had only minor issues with no major problems—it was later that he became terminally ill?
Who could be so insane! "Understood. You've done well caring for the patient. Go to Zhuang Momo to receive your reward."
"Thank you, Princess."
By the time Song Chuyu entered, Lin Qingyuan had already tidied himself up.
The young maiden, like a blooming lily, walked in surrounded by her maids, serene and noble.
He was but dust, truly out of place here: "This commoner pays respects to the Princess. Thank you for saving my life. This commoner is endlessly grateful." Lin Qingyuan avoided her gaze. If possible, he wished they would never meet again from this day forward. She certainly didn't need to remember, nor would she remember, what to her was an insignificant day. He too would never speak of today's extraordinary encounter.
Compared to never crossing paths, he preferred not to have once been within reach.
Song Chuyu's voice sounded weary: "You may leave."
Lin Qingyuan made to move.
"Not you."
Lin Qingyuan looked up, then stood still, his expression revealing nothing unusual. His attitude was neither humble nor arrogant, his back proud and solitary, while his heart churned with turmoil. He didn't understand why her eyes were red and swollen—had she been crying? Why?
Song Chuyu sat down and came straight to the point: "May I ask if you are betrothed?"
Lin Qingyuan didn't quite hear, or rather, this wasn't a question the other party should be asking.
Song Chuyu naturally knew he wasn't. In her previous life, he had never married. As for whether there were women by his side, it didn't matter—just some personal indulgence, and he could afford such preferences.