Su Yuanyuan glanced at Su Zeqian.
At this moment, he looked utterly devastated, which made her heart sink.
How ridiculous!
She wondered whom he was putting on this act for. It was he who had been cold and heartless to her before, and now it was also he who was relentlessly pestering her. Had he had too many nightmares at night and finally felt remorseful, thinking he owed her an apology?
"So it was Miss Zhang who embroidered it? I'm sorry. I was blind and made a mistake," Su Zeqian murmured. The light that had just kindled in his eyes was completely extinguished, and he felt his heart growing emptier.
Su Huaisheng pulled Zhang Yingxue behind him in a protective gesture, then smiled faintly at Su Zeqian and said,
"If the eyesight of His Highness the Marquis of Pingyang is not good, it's better to see a doctor as soon as possible. Don't delay the illness and affect the special imperial examination."
At Su Huaisheng's words, there was another low murmur of laughter on the scene.
Cang Xuan drawled, "Although it was just a misunderstanding, you two caused a ruckus in the imperial examination hall, which affected the other examinees. This matter must be accounted for. I'd like to know who started the fight first?"
Neither Su Huaisheng nor Su Zeqian said a word. After all, this was related to whether they could continue to participate in the special imperial examination.
Cang Xuan said again, "Who started the fight?"
There was a faint smile on Cang Xuan's face, but there was an invisible sense of oppression on his body, which made people involuntarily lower their heads and submit.
It was so quiet in the room that you could hear a pin drop.
After a long time, an examinee whispered, "It was the Marquis of Pingyang who started the fight first. He tried to snatch Young Master Su's sachet, so Young Master Su fought back."
Cang Xuan looked at Su Zeqian and said mercilessly, "I'm sorry, Your Highness. You've lost the qualification to take this special imperial examination."
Su Zeqian trembled all over and looked up at Cang Xuan in disbelief. The people around were whispering, mostly saying that he was too impulsive and had just thrown away such a good opportunity.
"It's not necessary. It's not necessary," Su Huaisheng unexpectedly pleaded for Su Zeqian. "Sir Cang, in the final analysis, this is all a misunderstanding. Now that it's clear, it's okay. I'm magnanimous and won't argue with the Marquis of Pingyang. We all have the surname Su. Maybe we were from the same family five hundred years ago. Harmony brings wealth."
The onlookers around were saying that Su Huaisheng was generous.
This made Su Zeqian look extremely embarrassed.
Cang Xuan smiled faintly and said, "Since the third young master of the Prince of Qingjun's Mansion has spoken, then this matter will be left at that."
"Wait a minute," Su Yuanyuan said. She looked at Su Zeqian and said, "You hurt my third brother just now. You need to apologize to him."
Su Huaisheng covered his shoulder and pretended to be magnanimous. "Forget it, Yuanbao. I was just punched by him. My shoulder hurts a little. It's nothing serious. I'll just take this loss this time."
Su Yuanyuan said again, "Apologize to my brother."
Su Zeqian looked up at her and found that her expression was cold and her eyes were like looking at a stranger. His lips moved and he said, "Sorry, I lost my composure just now."
Su Huaisheng raised his eyebrows. He was just two words all over - "comfortable".
The young girl left surrounded by people. There were more people around her than before. From afar, Su Zeqian still heard Su Huaisheng say cheerfully, "Yuanbao, don't worry. Third brother will surely defeat him in a fair way in the examination and avenge you."
Then he heard Su Yuanyuan laugh and say, "Yes, Yuanbao believes that third brother will surely win."
It was exactly the same as in the dream.
His heart seemed to be grabbed by a hand, and the blood in his hands and feet seemed to be frozen. It was so cold that his bones ached.
Taking back his gaze, Su Zeqian lowered his head and gave a bitter smile.
On this day when the special imperial examination was opened, Su Yuanyuan, Su Huayuan and others all successfully signed up.
Cang Xuan sent everyone out of the imperial examination hall. It was not until he saw Su Yuanyuan get on the carriage with his own eyes and the carriage of the Prince of Qingjun's Mansion disappear from sight that he turned around and went back into the imperial examination hall.
Back at the Prince of Qingjun's Mansion, after Su Huaisheng sent Su Huayuan away, he stopped Su Yuanyuan outside the Mingzhu Courtyard. He took out the sachet he had specially exchanged from his sleeve and said, "Yuanbao, it was because the Marquis of Pingyang saw the sachet you embroidered today that he made things difficult for third brother."
Su Yuanyuan looked at the sachet in Su Huaisheng's hand and said with a smile indifferently, "Maybe that person thought the sachet in third brother's hand was embroidered too ugly and couldn't bear to see it, so he wanted to snatch it and throw it away."
But Su Huaisheng just shook his head with a smile.
"On the day when Tianbaozhai opened, the Marquis of Pingyang and the Prince of Jin rushed into the shop to look for a woman who had already died, and this woman's name was very similar to yours, Yuanbao."
"Su Yuanyuan," he murmured this name that was both familiar and strange to him. He raised his hand and stroked the top of Su Yuanyuan's head. "Third brother has been thinking for a long time. There are so many people in the world. Why did you choose Master Jiao and Shopkeeper Liao to manage Tianbaozhai for you?"
"Until third brother accidentally heard a story. A story that made third brother heartbroken."
Su Yuanyuan knew that her third brother was very smart and had a quick mind. When she pulled Su Huaisheng into Tianbaozhai, she had guessed that there would sooner or later be a day when she would be completely honest with her third brother.
In the past, she would also worry, worry that her third brother would think that she, a wandering soul, had occupied the body of his younger sister. But all along, her third brother's unconditional trust and support had already dispelled that thought.
Just like now, the palm on her head was strong and warm, constantly transmitting warmth to her.
Her eyes were sore. She took the sachet she had embroidered from Su Huaisheng's hand and sighed,
"Looking back on the first half of my life, I often feel like I'm having a dream. I'm also afraid that the peaceful life I'm living now is just an unrealistic beautiful dream I'm having."
Looking up at Su Huaisheng, Su Yuanyuan asked cautiously, "Third brother, were you afraid when you had doubts in your heart?"
Su Huaisheng shook his head and said seriously, "You were always dull and stupid when you were a child, just like a piece of jade without vitality. No matter how hard we tried, we couldn't warm you up. It wasn't until we came to Shengjing that everything took a turn for the better. Third brother has always believed that you are Yuanbao and Yuanbao is you."
"Third brother will definitely get into the Ministry of Justice," Su Huaisheng said. "If that elder brother can't give you what you deserve, third brother will."
"Even if the sky falls, third brother will protect you. Not only me, but also elder brother, second brother... and our sworn brother. So, silly girl, you don't need to worry. As long as we're here, we'll never let you be wronged like before. We'll never let anyone snatch you away from us again."
Hot tears welled up in her eyes and Su Yuanyuan sobbed uncontrollably.
Su Huaisheng took out a handkerchief and wiped the tears from her eyes. He coaxed her, "Oh dear, why are you crying? Did third brother say something wrong? Don't cry. If you cry and swell your eyes, and mother sees it, she'll think I've bullied you and will whip me with a rattan."
"Hehe, you don't know. When you were little, you couldn't talk or recognize people, but you just liked to eat desserts. In order to make you talk, I hid your osmanthus cake. You couldn't find it no matter how hard you tried and cried anxiously. Mother was so angry that she chased me with a huge mace around most of Xuancheng."
"You also wobbled along behind, shouting 'cake', 'cake' while running. It made others think that mother was beating me because I couldn't grow taller."
Su Yuanyuan was amused by him. While wiping her tears messily, she shrugged her shoulders and laughed.
"Third brother, you're so silly."
He ruffled her hair hard and grinned brightly. "Silly girl, let's work hard together in the special imperial examination!"
Su Yuanyuan nodded vigorously. "Yes!"