“You’re bullying Fairy Sister!”
“Go away!”
“Bad guy!”
Sui Sui scooped up several handfuls of snow and threw them at Song Tingchen. Being young and small, only one handful managed to hit his face while the rest fluttered down around his feet.
That handful of snow carried the unique chill of the frozen landscape, seeping through his cheeks into the depths of his heart.
Bringing wave after wave of icy coldness.
Standing in the wind and snow, Song Tingchen watched Su Tan holding Sui Sui, feeling an inexplicable tightness in his chest.
Su Tan gently put gloves on Sui Sui, “Sui Sui, shall we go look at the flowers?”
Sui Sui gave a loud kiss on Su Tan’s cheek. Fairy Sister wasn’t sad anymore, hee hee, she was really amazing for driving away the bad guy for Fairy Sister. “Yes, look at fwowers!”
“Fairy Sister pwetty, fwowers pwetty!”
As Su Tan carried the child away, Song Tingchen heard her indifferent voice drift through the wind, “Sui Sui shouldn’t have thrown snow at General Song. I apologize on her behalf. General Song has always been magnanimous, surely you won’t hold it against a child.”
Song Tingchen remained expressionless.
Of course he wouldn’t be angry with a child.
He wasn’t like Su Tan.
Su Tan seemed to have endless patience for every child in the world.
She spoke gently to Princess Zhaoyang.
Even moments ago, separated by that closed door, Song Tingchen had heard from outside how Su Tan had spoken kindly even to a Little Child Ghost.
Song Tingchen’s expression gradually tightened.
Su Tan was simply unwilling to spare even a fraction of this gentleness for Song Xiao.
She was good to everyone, yet showed nothing but cold indifference to the child she had carried for ten months.
Song Tingchen stared heavily at Su Tan’s retreating figure.
As the cold wind swept past his ears and Song Tingchen was about to leave, Prince Chen Lu Zhiheng’s casual voice sounded.
“This prince won’t see General Song out. However, do remember to take the items in that box with you. This prince dislikes owing favors.”
A cold glint flashed in Song Tingchen’s eyes. The last Danyao left by Liu Qingyin’s father, which she had carefully and solemnly presented to His Highness Prince Chen, had been treated with complete indifference from start to finish, as if it were merely an object that could be casually purchased with silver.
Prince Chen was like this, and so was Su Tan.
Song Tingchen suddenly laughed, the sound seeming to be infused with ice and snow.
“Your Highness Prince Chen, Qingyin would likely feel undeserving of such treatment.”
Liu Qingyin was different from these people.
One shouldn’t accept rewards without merit. Even if he brought these things back, Qingyin would probably only feel embarrassment and humiliation.
Lu Zhiheng lightly fanned himself with his folding fan, his gaze slowly settling on Song Tingchen before he suddenly curved his lips. “So, General Song insists on making this prince owe you a favor?”
From his casual expression, one could faintly discern the shadow of his former willful and sharp-tongued self, who never cared about anyone’s face.
“I heard this was left to Miss Liu by her father. That makes it truly precious. Does this mean this prince will never be able to repay this debt in his lifetime?”
If this item had actually been effective for Sui Sui’s illness, Lu Zhiheng wouldn’t have minded treating Liu Qingyin as his benefactor for life.
But it didn’t work, did it?
“Now this prince has one more inescapable debt of gratitude.”
“What should be done about this?”
Song Tingchen’s expression tightened.
Lu Zhiheng continued to smile with an air of playful indifference. Judging by his expression, one might think he was merely making a harmless little joke.
Song Tingchen’s gaze was profound as he said indifferently, “Your Highness overworries. Qingyin has always been pure-hearted—she wouldn’t harbor such intentions.”
He understood that Prince Chen intended to settle matters definitively today to prevent future complications. Yet if he accepted the items in this box on Liu Qingyin’s behalf, all of Jingcheng would soon gossip about her shamelessly extorting a large sum from Prince Chen with a useless medicine.
Song Tingchen’s eyes grew colder.
After a moment, he proposed, “If Your Highness feels uneasy accepting it, we could transact according to martial world prices for this Soul Return Pill. A clean exchange of payment for goods would leave no room for criticism.”
Lu Zhiheng raised an eyebrow. “Acceptable.”
Su Tan, holding Sui Sui without glancing toward Song Tingchen, remarked calmly, “I once crossed paths with the Worry-Free Divine Doctor and purchased Soul Return Pills from him.”
“Six hundred taels per pill.”
“Your Highness and General Song may send someone to verify whether the actual price differs from what I’ve stated.”
“No need for verification. I trust Grandmaster Su’s word.” Lu Zhiheng concluded decisively. “General Song’s family operates commercial establishments, so you must understand how prices escalate through multiple transactions.”
“In that case, I’m willing to pay triple the price to purchase this elixir. Does General Song find this agreeable?”
Song Tingchen raised no objections. The pill had originally been obtained by Liu Qingyin’s father from the Worry-Free Divine Doctor before being passed to her. Prince Chen paying eighteen hundred taels for it was perfectly reasonable.
As Song Tingchen accepted the silver notes, he cast a profound glance at Su Tan before departing.
Lu Zhiheng gently fanned himself while directing his gaze toward Su Tan. “Your judgment in men was truly lacking back then.”
Song Tingchen possessed handsome features, military prowess, and treated subordinates like brothers. Superficially, he appeared to be an ideal husband—a seemingly good match for marriage.
“But as a husband, if he fails to protect his wife, allowing other women to disrespect her while blaming the wife for being unreasonable—such a man is utterly foolish and incompetent.”
Su Tan remained silent for a long while.
Eventually she responded with perfect composure, “Perhaps it wasn’t poor judgment. I’ve witnessed how Song Tingchen does protect others.”
His treatment of Liu Qingyin embodied exactly what she had once dreamed he would offer her.
Such is the way of the world—what one desperately seeks but cannot obtain, others acquire effortlessly.
Lu Zhiheng glanced at her and clicked his tongue skeptically. “Did Song Tingchen save your life?”
Su Tan: “…Not exactly.”
“Doesn’t seem like it.” Lu Zhiheng slowly fanned himself. “Considering how he’s been trampling over your dignity, yet you calmly defend him—suggesting the fault lies not with him, but your unworthiness.”
“I shall petition His Majesty to bestow upon you a memorial archway inscribed ‘The Ultimate Devotion: Virtuous Former Wife.’ Henceforth, you needn’t bother with exorcisms—just guard this archway through your days.”
Su Tan: “…”
People always said His Highness Prince Chen had a vicious tongue. Having had little previous contact with him, she hadn’t fully appreciated this—now she understood completely.
Lowering her gaze, she said, “Thank you for Your Highness’ guidance. Should Song Tingchen ever overstep again, I shall promptly slap him back to his senses.”
Lu Zhiheng watched her with leisurely composure. “Even after I’ve mocked you like this, you still thank me? No wonder anyone can prance about before you.”
He said carelessly, “Don’t bother slapping back. You’d be better off begging Song Tingchen to take you back as his lovebird partner—lower your eyes and submit to him, help him take concubines and continue his family line. Who knows, he might suddenly abandon Liu Qingyin and remember your virtues.”
Su Tan took a deep breath, her eyelids twitching wildly and the corner of her mouth quirking slightly. “This is Chen Wang Mansion. How could I possibly slap Your Highness across the face just because you said a couple of unpleasant things?”
Lu Zhiheng contemplated for a moment before suddenly remarking, “That wouldn’t be entirely unacceptable either.”