Chapter 215: Chapter 215 - I’m the One Who Badgers Him

Jian Xubai also felt that it was a serious problem, “Grandaunt is old now. We shouldn’t stimulate her anymore! Now that she resides in that house and suffers from wandering arthritis, we mustn’t tell her such news recklessly!”

He hesitated for a long while and made a decision in the end, “Changxing described Cousin Qimo’s appearance, but you know her words are not reliable. As to such a serious issue, you cannot only listen to her side of the story. You must confirm it on your own! How about this? Later I will keep Grandmother and the two cousins occupied, and you can find a way to take Cousin Qimo to her room so that you can ask her about the matter!”

Song Yixiao calmed down and agreed with him.

A while later, after the couple greeted Elder Lady Duanmu and had a small talk, Song Yixiao knocked over her tea “accidentally” and the tea was spilt over her dress!

In a hurry she rose and apologized. Elder Lady Duanmu wouldn’t blame her for the breach of etiquette. Instead, she asked with concern, “Are you scalded? Does it hurt?”

“Grandaunt, rest assured. The tea was placed for a while and it has turned cold,” Song Yixiao gave an ashamed look and said, “My dress is so messed up now. I’m so sorry!”

“No need to feel sorry. You are taking me as an outsider!” Elder Lady Duanmu was relieved to hear that she was not hurt. Elder Lady Duanmu spoke before Song Yixiao made the request herself, “Let Qimo take you to her room to freshen yourself up. It is still cold today. You cannot keep wearing the wet dress. Your body shapes are more or less the same. You may as well make do with her dress. Health matters most!”

“You are being too serious. My thanks to Qimo in advance!” Song Yixiao curtsied and then left. Shen Qimo held her arm closely and said grinningly, “Yixiao, come with me!”

While chatting casually, they walked towards the bedroom at the back. To be honest, Shen Qimo didn’t look like a girl who grew up in the imperial mausoleum. She was outgoing, passionate and cheerful, who looked like a local in the imperial capital somehow.

She should be a girl who not only grew up in the imperial capital but also had a loving family with great parents, or she wouldn’t be so outgoing and optimistic.

Even Song Yixiao, who was considering how to talk to her, was amused by her for several times on the way.

“No wonder Grandaunt brought Shen Qimo instead of the other granddaughters to the imperial capital!” Song Yixiao felt surprised and also pondered, “She is such a pleasing girl that I would prefer to let her keep me company even if she is a bit cunning.”

However, no matter how good Shen Qimo was at pleasing others, Song Yixiao wouldn’t forget about her actual business.

Therefore, after a while, when she changed her clothes with an 80% new dress in her room, Song Yixiao just sat down and said gently, “The embroidery pattern of your dress looks quite special. Isn’t done by you?”

“Grandmother said that this pattern was the most popular one in the imperial capital 20 years ago.” Shen Qimo poured a pot of tea for her, asked the maid to retreat with a wave of her hand and then sat down next to her, saying with a smile, “Out of intrigue, I made this piece of embroidery. I’m clumsy. Please don’t make fun of me!”

“How so?” Song Yixiao meant what she said, “You are really good at needlework. The pattern of vines looks simple and yet shows strong vigor, which cannot be done by ordinary people!”

Shen Qimo replied laughingly, “I’m so flattered! My needlework may be good enough to be compared with ordinary ladies, but it is nothing in front of you.”

She covered her mouth bashfully, “When I met the Empress Dowager with Grandmother, I also handed in several handkerchiefs embroidered by myself! The Empress Dowager commented that my skill was still inferior to yours!”

“The Empress Dowager was deliberately trying to smooth things over for me for fear that I would be disgraced for being your elder-sister-in-law and yet outdone by you,” Song Yixiao talked of the embroidery pattern not for chitchat. Then she said without turning a hair, “Speaking of embroidery, I can handle various kinds of patterns but not the pattern of mandarin ducks crossing their necks with twin lotus flowers on one stalk!”

She said as if nothing were on her mind, “But when I went to the mansion of your cousin’s wife, aka, Her Highness Princess Changxing, I happened to see a handkerchief with this embroidery pattern. The pattern looks so vivid and exquisite! Unfortunately, Her Highness Princess Changxing needed the handkerchief for her own use and refused to lend it to me for study!”

Then she pretended to lower her head and have tea. Yet, she successfully caught sight of Shen Qimo’s facial expression.

When she saw that the cousin got shocked with a clear glint of fear in her eyes, how could Song Yixiao not know that Princess Changxing’s words were probably true?

She heaved a long sigh in her heart. She couldn’t tell how she felt now and had to consider what to say next.

However, after her face stayed pale for a while, Shen Qimo spoke first with a forced smile, “I wonder why Changxing invited you to her mansion. Since she showed you the handkerchief, why didn’t she refuse to lend it to you?”

Speaking of that, she was afraid of being seen through, she said with feigned calmness, “After all, Changxing is a princess. What can’t she have? Why did she refuse to lend you a handkerchief? It’s so strange!”

“Qimo!” Song Yixiao slightly opened her mouth and gazed at the cousin nearby. This cousin looked similar to Jian Xubai, with her eyebrows of girlish innocence. Due to her phoenix eyes which took after the Lu Family’s, she naturally appeared somewhat glamorous.

She had fair skin as white as porcelain and lips as red as water caltrop. Clearly, she was in the prime of a girl’s life.

She was so beautiful that no one would stand seeing her ruin or darken though she made a mistake.

She thought of various kinds of remarks and in the end, she still chose to cut to the chase, “Did you send a handkerchief with the pattern of mandarin ducks crossing their necks with twin lotus flowers on one stalk to Yiyou, I mean, the Prince Consort of Her Highness Princess Changxing?”

“Did she tell you about it?” Shen Qimo was not stupid. When Song Yixiao mentioned the pattern of mandarin ducks crossing their necks with twin lotus flowers on one stalk, she had a hunch. Just because Song Yixiao didn’t point it out bluntly, she chose to feign ignorance!

Now that Song Yixiao even mentioned Jian Yiyou and claimed that she saw Princess Changxing had the handkerchief, how could she deny it?

She remained silent for a moment and then gave a bitter smile, said with her head lowered, “I knew it. Changxing is a princess! How can I get to hide the affair between me and Cousin Yiyou from her?”

Song Yixiao took a deep breath and slightly leaned forward to hold her hand, saying sincerely, “Qimo, you are too young now. You may not know that Yiyou’s being with you is actually…”

“Yixiao, you’ve got it wrong!” Unexpectedly, Shen Qimo just interrupted her and shook her head, saying, “It is not Yiyou who came to me. Instead, it was me who fell in love with him at the first sight and went to him myself!”

She hedged and said, “At first, he just ignored me. I chased after his horse and fell accidentally. He was worried about me so he went back to check on me. As my leg was injured and I refused to go back to my grandmother’s residence, he had no other choice but to take me to his side yard for treatment. Anyway, I badgered him first!”

Song Yixiao was so speechless!

She calmed down at first, held Shen Qimo’s hands and continued, “Qimo, you are still too young! And you are new in the imperial capital! Hence, when you met Yiyou, you thought of him as a great man! Let’s put aside the fact that he is married. Actually, there are a lot of single and great young men in the imperial capital! Particularly, due to the top-level national examination, all the talents have converged in the imperial capital from other places within the state. I’m not speaking ill of Yiyou, but he is really not an outstanding man. It is not worthwhile for you to ruin your life for him!”

“I don’t mind at all!” Shen Qimo looked up at her with her phoenix eyes full of sincerity which were really similar to Jian Xubai’s, “Although I haven’t met a lot of people in the imperial capital these days, I think Uncle Limiao and Xubai are excellent talents, right? I know Yiyou is not as outstanding as Uncle or Xubai, but I just have feelings for him!”

While she was talking, her face blushed, with her eyelashes blinking. Obviously, she was bashful but she still said in a low voice, “Yixiao, you don’t know this. When I saw Yiyou for the first time, he was with his wife, but he seemed so lonely when he was paying respects to Grandmother or talking to her on the seat. I found him so…”

Her head was so lowered that it almost reached her chest. She struggled to finish her words, “So pitiful!”

Song Yixiao felt so resigned, “Qimo, Yiyou is the beloved son of the Grand Princess, the legitimate grandson of the Empress Dowager and the legitimate nephew of His Majesty! Since he was born, he has been living an affluent life with so many servants. How can you say that he was lonely? He just didn’t feel like talking!”

Compared with him, Shen Qimo was the pitiful one!

How could a solitary and aloof man successfully win her heart only at the first meeting?

She even chased after him in the street!

Fortunately, disturbances arose repeatedly in the imperial capital, which kept all the people so occupied!

Otherwise, people didn’t need to go to Princess Changxing’s mansion. They could just hear of the rumor spread around that Shen Qimo’s reputation was ruined!

She recalled that she tried her best to defend for Shen Qimo before Princess Changxing and that she suspected that Shen Qimo was the victim after she got out of the princess’s mansion. However, it turned out that Shen Qimo was the one who badgered Jian Yiyou!

Song Yixiao felt so shockingly depressed!

She got so worried. Shen Qimo flushed and yet lowered her head in silence. Obviously, her attitude showed that she knew she was wrong but she just couldn’t help herself. Song Yixiao did her utmost to persuade Shen Qimo. In the end, her mouth became completely dry so she had to drink up the whole pot of tea made by Shen Qimo. However, her cousin just kept silent. Clearly, she wouldn’t listen at all!

No matter how good-tempered Song Yixiao was, she became really furious now. She placed the empty tea bowl on the table and sneered, saying, “Since you don’t listen to my heartfelt words, let me ask you one question. How are you and Yiyou going to cope with Princess Changxing’s condemnation? The prince consort is not legally banned from having concubines, but have you thought about how long you can survive after being taken into the princess’s mansion even if Princess Changxing approves it?”

“I’ve thought about it. I’m fine with not being taken into the princess’s mansion,” Shen Qimo responded hastily, “I can live in the side yard where Cousin Yiyou took me for treatment! I really love him. I won’t care about the legitimate title!”

Song Yixiao really didn’t know what to say to her. After a while, she finally said, “I’m not sure whether you really think in this way or just want to retreat for the sake of advancing. Yet, I can tell you that neither of them will work. Do you think that a princess is exalted and privileged only in the princess’s mansion? Emperors have long arms. Let’s put aside your plan of living in the side yard. If you continue hanging out with Yiyou, the Princess can kill you easily even if you take refuge in the imperial mausoleum.”

She added, “Moreover, the Princess is not alone! This time, it is due to the Empress Dowager’s kindness that Grandaunt was allowed to come to the imperial capital and seek for medical advice! But the Empress Dowager did the favor not to let you hurt her legitimate granddaughter! It is lucky for you that this matter hasn’t been spread into the imperial palace. Otherwise, not only you but also Grandaunt and the two cousins, as long as your family still in the imperial mausoleum won’t end well!”

She softened her tone, “What I said is hurtful but it is true! As a matter of act, Grandaunt has been suffering from wandering arthritis for quite a long time, but she chose to request permission to seek for medical advice in the imperial capital at the end of last year. Have you thought about why?”

Before Shen Qimo answered, she heaved a sigh, “Because of the top-level national examination this spring!”

“In fact, your family name is Shen but not Lu, but you are somewhat related to the imperial family! If Prince of Chengyang were still alive, you would still be a noble lady of an influential family!”

“But Prince of Chengyang is dead. You and your clansmen are still made to guard the imperial mausoleum. Despite your pretty look, how can you marry someone nice since you live there?”

“Therefore, it is fair enough to say that Grandaunt comes to the imperial capital this year not for medical advice but for your prospect!”

“Due to the top-level national examination, all the talents gather in the imperial capital!”

“Certainly, some of the talents are of humble birth. By far, Granduncle hasn’t gained a title, which suggests that the imperial family are still dubious or discontented about Prince of Chengyang and his clansmen! Therefore, no matter how beautiful, sensible and adorable you are, the influential families in the imperial capital won’t pick you!”

“It’s not that you are not good enough but that they are afraid of displeasing His Majesty!”

“Only if you marry one of those scholars of humble birth can you not arouse suspicion from His Majesty!”

“In this case, you can marry someone reliable!”

Song Yixiao said in one breath and then stared at her seriously, “I’ve told enough about what Grandaunt has done for you. You decide what to do next as you see fit!”

After saying that, she stood up and opened the door with a flick of her sleeves.