When Song Ruotang saw Pei Zhiyan looking over, she quickened her steps and walked behind him. Her movements were somewhat cautious, and she only lowered her head to watch the black silk robe with golden trimmings on his hem fluttering with his movements.
A gust of wind blew. The red silk ribbons hanging on the corridor hadn't been taken down yet. They billowed like red waves, and a whiff of sandalwood scent wafted over. Song Ruotang couldn't help but steal glances at the man walking in front of her.
Pei Zhiyan was strikingly handsome and elegant. At this moment, with his lips pursed in silence, he exuded an even more icy aura. However, his fine eyebrows were slightly knitted. After walking for a short while, he curled his fingers and pressed them against his lips, coughing softly.
Song Ruotang took two steps forward and looked at him with concern. "My lord, have you caught a cold?"
Pei Zhiyan waved his hand. Before he could say anything, Song Ruotang had already taken off the snow - colored fox fur cloak on her body. She stood on tiptoe and draped it over him.
A sweet fragrance mixed with warmth assailed him. Pei Zhiyan turned his head to look at the cloak on his body, then lowered his eyes to look at Song Ruotang. Her willow - shaped eyebrows were slightly knitted, and her almond eyes were filled with worry as she carefully tied the belt for him.
"Surely you've been swamped with official duties these days and haven't taken good care of yourself by adding more clothes. The snowstorm has been intensifying since three days ago..."
Song Ruotang's tone was full of concern. But after talking for a while, she noticed that the man in front of her didn't respond. When she looked up, she saw him staring at her. She quickly took two steps back and bowed, saying, "Your humble concubine has overstepped. I hope my lord will forgive me..."
Seeing her return to her cautious self, Pei Zhiyan gently shook his head, reached out his hand to help her up, and said, "You don't have to be so cautious."
Actually, he was quite surprised by Song Ruotang's attentiveness. It had been a long time since anyone had inquired about his illness.
"My lord, your humble concubine will go and boil some warming soup for you." Song Ruotang suggested, but Pei Zhiyan shook his head. "No need. It's just an old ailment."
Hearing this, Song Ruotang knitted her beautiful eyebrows slightly but didn't ask any more questions. Pei Zhiyan smiled at her, and his tone was no longer as cold as before. "Let's go back to the room."
The two returned to the room in silence. Song Ruotang wanted to help Pei Zhiyan take off his clothes, but he refused. He simply took off his outer robe by himself and lay down on the couch.
He closed his eyes quietly, listening to the faint rustling sounds beside him. Someone blew out the candle and slowly approached him.
Pei Zhiyan pursed his lips slightly, turned to the inside of the couch to make room, trying to keep a distance between them.
But before long, he felt something soft pressing against his back. The other person's gentle breath fell on his neck, causing a slight itch.
Not used to it, Pei Zhiyan inched further inside.
Song Ruotang chased after him and boldly wrapped her arms around his waist. Pei Zhiyan stiffened and took a deep breath, about to say something, when Song Ruotang said pitifully, "My lord, your humble concubine is scared..."
Pei Zhiyan paused, then turned over to face her. The room was dim, and only a little light filtered through, allowing him to see Song Ruotang's shining eyes.
"Scared of what?" Pei Zhiyan sighed helplessly.
Taking the opportunity, Song Ruotang buried her head in Pei Zhiyan's arms and said in a muffled voice, "Before I was brought here by my lord, the servants would always ask me to keep watch at night. They took advantage of the situation to bully me. Sometimes, when I was lucky, I would just go hungry, suffer from the cold, and be intimidated. But if I was unlucky, I might fall into their traps and be beaten to death..."
As she spoke, her voice choked with sobs. In fact, what Song Ruotang said was true. Her sixteen years had been even worse than those of a servant. How could it be summed up in just a few words?
But she mentioned it at this moment just because she didn't want Pei Zhiyan to reject her and hoped to arouse his pity.
She must enter the main residence of the Pei Mansion to have a chance to take revenge on that heartless man and that scheming woman...
Pei Zhiyan knew that Song Ruotang had had a hard time before, but he didn't expect that even the servants in the manor would dare to bully her so blatantly. He couldn't help but sigh with emotion. He exhaled and patted Song Ruotang's back. "This is no longer the Song family."
Song Ruotang was wearing thin clothes. Under Pei Zhiyan's fingertips was the willow - shaped scar on her shoulder. It was clearly visible even through the sheer veil. He gently rubbed the scar and slightly lowered his eyes, no longer rejecting her approach.
Song Ruotang finally got to sleep in Pei Zhiyan's arms. But when she woke up, he had already left early. She felt the inside of the bed, and it was already cold.
Xiaoxi pushed the door open and placed the hot water on the wooden stand. She smiled and asked, "Has the mistress gotten up?"
Song Ruotang sat up wrapped in the quilt. A wisp of black hair slowly fell and hung on her slender and delicate collarbone, looking extremely alluring. Xiaoxi couldn't help but sigh in her heart that her mistress was really beautiful.
"Has my lord already gone out?" Song Ruotang lifted the quilt and picked up her clothes to put on by herself. Xiaoxi quickly stepped forward to help and nodded. "My lord got up before dawn."
She paused for a moment and then smiled again. "However, before my lord left, he told this servant to ask the kitchen to make some ginseng soup for the mistress. He said that the mistress is in poor health and needs to be nourished."
There was a hint of teasing in Xiaoxi's words. Song Ruotang blushed when she heard this. Pei Zhiyan's words were misleading, as if something really had happened between them last night.
However, his action was actually telling the servants that Song Ruotang was in favor, so the servants in the mansion definitely wouldn't dare to offend her anymore.
After washing up, Song Ruotang remembered Pei Zhiyan's coughing last night. He had said it was an old ailment at that time, so the servants in the mansion should know about his illness.
Now that she wanted to enter the main residence of the Pei Mansion, she could only start with Pei Zhiyan and get his permission. There was only one way for her, which was to make Pei Zhiyan develop feelings for her. Only in this way could she ensure that Pei Zhiyan would be her helper instead of an obstacle when she took revenge on Pei Yu and the others.
It wasn't an easy task, but she had to try hard.
"Xiaoxi, does my lord have any old ailments?" Song Ruotang turned to ask Xiaoxi. Xiaoxi thought for a while and shook her head. "This servant has never heard that my lord has any old ailments. Why does the mistress ask this?"
Song Ruotang pursed her lips. Probably Pei Zhiyan didn't want his weakness to be exposed. So she shook her head. "It's okay. Go and invite Uncle Pei here."
Uncle Pei, the old steward of this mansion, was an old - timer. He had always followed Pei Zhiyan and should know about his situation.
Xiaoxi nodded and turned to go out. Before long, Uncle Pei also came in. He bowed to Song Ruotang and presented the ledger in his hand. "This old servant greets the mistress. Does the mistress want to look at the mansion's ledger?"
Song Ruotang helped him up and carefully sized him up. Although Uncle Pei was old, he was very shrewd. He had come with the ledger to test her. Was he trying to see how ambitious she was?
Song Ruotang smiled and gently pushed the ledger back into his hand. "Uncle Pei, I'm not good at managing accounts. You can keep the ledger. I invited you here this time because I want to ask you something."
Uncle Pei's eyes flashed, but his expression remained unchanged. "Please ask, mistress."
"My lord coughed badly last night. I'm very worried. I wanted to ask someone to decoct some medicine, but my lord said it was an old ailment. I'm new here. Thanks to my lord's kindness, but I don't know what I can do for him. So I invited you here, Uncle Pei, to ask if you know any way to cure my lord's cough?"