Song Xilou turned her back to him, the shyness on her face instantly gone. After closing the door, she stood there expressionless, as if the person in the room moments ago had been nothing but an illusion.
She lowered her head, her slightly averted face etched with mockery.
"Still the same as ever." If she were merely an ignorant young lady of a noble household, with tactics like Yinzhen had just employed, she would surely have entrusted her whole heart to him.
"The capital, Niohuru," Song Xilou leaned against the door panel with a soft laugh.
In the forty-third year of Kangxi, Niohuru Lianxin would be betrothed to the Fourth Prince. Calculating the time, it wasn't long from now. The flood would soon be brought under control, and at this rate, Yinzhen would be returning before long.
After Niohuru Lianxin entered the Fourth Prince's household, she lost all reason over him. Later, through her schemes and feigning innocence like a little white flower, she managed to carve out a small place in the Fourth Prince's heart. But in this life, Song Xilou would not give her that chance.
To love and never attain—that was the best way to wound a person's heart.
That naive, innocent face flashed through her mind, and the smile at the corner of Song Xilou's lips grew ever wider. Some people, having been favored for too long, probably forgot their own place.
The sky overhead had cleared, and the somewhat intense sunlight stung her eyes. Song Xilou raised her head and shielded her eyes from the sun with her hand: "Niohuru?"
She tilted her head with an innocent smile: "I'll be going back soon."
The wound on Yinzhen's chest had not struck a vital point, and after a period of rest, he was mostly recovered.
But strangely, the wound that had been on the verge of healing kept bleeding. That night, Su Peisheng summoned a physician to examine him, who said that safflower had been added to his medicine.
"This safflower promotes blood circulation and removes stasis. Since you've been taking it for so long, my lord, your wound has been slow to heal."
After that, his guards secretly delivered medicine every day, and now it had mostly healed—though his head still ached slightly.
Seeing him slumped in his chair, constantly massaging his temples, it was clear he was suffering. Song Xilou promptly went up, stood behind him, and obediently massaged the acupoints for him.
Her slender fingers were soft as boneless silk, kneading his temples with delicate precision, causing Yinzhen, who had been tense, to let out a comfortable sigh. Relaxed, he soon fell asleep.
The man in the chair had his eyes closed, seeming to sleep peacefully, but…
A glint of sharpness flashed in Song Xilou's eyes as she stopped her movements. She stepped forward twice, leaning over Yinzhen's chair, her round eyes sparkling with adoring admiration.
"Nanny said you were injured and collapsed outside. I don't know if you're a good person." She pouted as if complaining about something, yet her hand gently stroked the sleeping man's face, once, twice, as if caressing a beloved treasure.
"But I know you're definitely not a bad person." As if the man in the chair weren't asleep at all, her brows and eyes brimmed with boldness as she spoke, "You're so handsome."
The man's eyelashes twitched slightly, but Song Xilou pretended not to notice, continuing in her innocent tone: "That day you fell on the ground, you really scared me."
She stuck out her tongue, patted her face, and went on: "And you always like to keep a stern face, like there's ice on it."
Pouting, she was full of grievance now. She quietly touched his face, feeling somewhat comforted.
A shy girl would never dare say so much normally, but with her beloved asleep, she boldly traced the closed eyes of the man in the chair with her fingers: "I love your eyes most. When you look at me, they're full of smiles."
She carefully touched them several times before reluctantly letting go. She gently bent down, resting her head against the chair, and was silent for a long while.
Just as Yinzhen was about to give up pretending and feign waking, a sorrowful tone came: "Nanny said a man your age must already have a wife and children."
Tears fell in rapid succession onto the back of his hand. The young girl wept with heart-wrenching sorrow, sobbing as she spoke: "But I just like you. I want to see you every day."
"It's all my fault. I secretly added safflower to your medicine," she said, wiping her tears as she cried. "I just wanted you to stay a little longer. Now that your wound has healed, we'll never see each other again."
The girl didn't even dare cry loudly, her choked sobs unbearably pitiful—like a newborn kitten mewling in grievance, tugging at one's heartstrings.
Still crying, the girl wiped her tears and ran off.
"So that's the reason." After she left, Yinzhen finally opened his eyes, his gaze clear and sharp—there wasn't a trace of sleepiness in them. He had only pretended to sleep to test her reaction, never expecting to learn so much.
His mind was filled with that tear-streaked face. He sighed: "I won't let you suffer any grievance."
When the time came, he would bring her back to the capital and petition Imperial Father to take her as a Gege—nothing too difficult. She was devoted to him with all her heart, not for his status. Though the title might be a bit humble, as long as he favored her, he would look after her well in the future.
By now, Yinzhen had already taken Song Xilou into his household.
Song Xilou wiped her tears dry and ran out. She had barely sat down when Nanny Wu came over holding a cup of tea. "Miss, your eyes are swollen like walnuts."
After she took the tea, Nanny Wu pulled a boiled egg from her sleeve, peeled it, wrapped it in a cloth, and rolled it over Song Xilou's eyes. "Let this sit for a while, so no one will notice later."
Nanny Wu had just gone over to deliver tea and snacks to the two of them when, before she even reached the door, she witnessed her young miss's confession. She sighed and turned back the way she came. She had long since noticed the way her miss looked at that man with such bright, sparkling eyes.
"Miss is a grown young lady now," she said, stroking Song Xilou's hair with a pleased smile. "She's found someone she likes."
"Nanny." Song Xilou held the boiled egg, at a loss for words, but not knowing how to explain, she could only feign shyness and bury her head in Nanny Wu's embrace.
Above her, Nanny Wu's hands gently stroked her hair as she sighed. "Do you know who he is?"
The Fourth Prince of the capital, Aisin Gioro: Yinzhen. But Song Xilou couldn't say that. She shook her head. "No."
"Do you know his age?"
Born in the seventeenth year of Kangxi, now twenty-six. "No."
"Do you know whether he has a wife or concubines at home?"
There was the primary consort Ula Nara, Lady Li, Lady Song, and in the future there would be Niohuru, Lady Geng… She shook her head. "Still no."
"You didn't ask about any of this, and you've already fallen for him?" Nanny Wu pulled her into an embrace. "You should have been the daughter of an official family, worthy of anyone. It's just your misfortune to have ended up with such parents."
Song Xilou had told Nanny Wu about her identity when she first came to Jiangnan, which was why Nanny Wu lamented that her miss had originally been born into a good family, only to be swapped out by the master and mistress of the Song household with their own child.
"If only we could find your real parents, miss wouldn't have to work so hard." Nanny Wu caressed her face with loving hands. "If your birth parents knew, they must be missing you too."
"Yes. Missing me." Song Xilou smiled. "Even if they don't, in the days to come, I'll make them miss me."
Nanny Wu didn't understand her words, only felt they were a bit strange.
But then she frowned, thinking of something else, and suddenly stood up in a panic. "That young man from the Zhou family—didn't he say he'd come in ten days?"
Song Xilou seemed to just remember this, sipping her tea. "Mm—I think so?"
"What do you mean, 'I think so'?" Nanny Wu was frantic. "You promised him you'd move out in ten days. What are we going to do now?"
Without a man in the house, there was no sense of security.
"Nanny," Song Xilou pulled the anxious woman back into her chair. "It's fine. Someone will help us solve it when the time comes."
"There's someone with that kind of ability?" Nanny Wu's brows knitted deeply. "That Zhou boy is sure to bring a bunch of thugs."
"Don't worry." Song Xilou looked outside. "This person—even the officials are afraid of him."