For Su Yuanyuan, her past life was a pain she couldn't bear to touch.
If her elder brother, Su Zeqian, was the one who pushed her into hell with his own hands, then the one who completely chilled her heart was this cousin whom she had always held dear and revered as a hero.
Xiao Zisheng was originally the most talented and outstanding among all the princes except the crown prince.
However, in his childhood, an accident crippled his legs, leaving him unable to walk or ride a horse freely like the Prince of Huai, the Prince of Xuan, and others. He even needed the support of servants to walk.
As proud as he was, he couldn't accept such a huge gap. For a while, he secluded himself in the Prince of Jin's Mansion, isolated from the world, and drowned his sorrows in wine all day long.
It was she who barged into his mansion regardless of everything, scolded him awake, and even asked the best carpenter in Shengjing to build him a wooden wheelchair for his outings.
After that, despite his resistance, she took him to all kinds of banquets, poetry gatherings, and flower - viewing parties, hoping to bring back the high - spirited young man he used to be.
At first, he resisted, but as he went to more and more such events, a smile gradually appeared on his face, and he finally stopped drowning his sorrows in wine all day long.
Although his attitude towards her always seemed a bit cold and strict, she could feel that he cared about her.
At banquets, he would block the table corner that was about to hit her; he would tacitly allow her to place her belongings in his study; and he would also cover her with a robe when she accidentally fell asleep.
However, everything changed after Su Qingyu was brought back and assigned by their grandmother to treat his legs.
He had never been very enthusiastic towards her, and gradually, he became more and more distant. Coupled with her increasingly bad reputation, the look in his eyes when he looked at her was not only cold but also full of disgust. At the Qianqiu Banquet, that disgust reached its peak.
She had actually done nothing with that Lu Chuan. It was all just a scheme set up by someone. As long as he asked her, the truth would come out.
But he chose to testify for Su Qingyu and even said the eight words "stubborn and incorrigible" to her in front of the Empress Dowager and the Queen.
She knew that the affection between them was completely buried that night.
Knowing that he might be in the building at this moment, she really wanted to rush in front of him and ask him personally, "Cousin Zisheng, when Yuanyuan died, did you ever feel sad? Are you satisfied with the ending I've got?"
An indescribable pain spread in her heart, making Su Yuanyuan's eyes moist. She felt it extremely difficult to breathe. She couldn't even hear the voices of Mo Shi, Su Huaichen, and others beside her. It was as if she was drowning in a lake, and everything was so far away from her.
She desperately wanted to grab something, to surface. Her fingertips accidentally touched the cloud - patterned token hidden in her sleeve. The deep cloud pattern was like a ray of sunlight shining into the lake or a life - saving floating log, gradually bringing her back to her senses.
She once read in a book that if one couldn't be buried properly, they would become a lonely ghost and never be reincarnated.
In her past life, those people had hurt and abandoned her so much that they were not worth a single bit of her nostalgia! Since they didn't want her, she didn't need to worry about them anymore!
In this life, having the relatives from the Duke of Yongguo's Mansion was enough for her.
And she would surely find her savior and repay him well.
...
In the elegant private room "View of Floating Life", after Su Qingyu left, Xiao Zisheng leaned against the soft cushion behind him and looked out of the window at the bustling and prosperous Shengjing City. His face darkened a bit more.
The Qianqiu Banquet, Qingyi Garden...
Just thinking of these two words, he would remember the embarrassing and scandalous things that had happened there.
That scandal completely buried the little affection left between him and Su Yuanyuan.
He and Su Yuanyuan were cousins. They had grown up together since childhood and had a very deep relationship. If there were no accidents, she would marry him and become his princess.
However, because of his disabled legs, he couldn't walk, run, or ride a horse like a normal person, so he didn't like noisy places. But Su Yuanyuan's personality was too flamboyant. She always took him out, which bothered him a lot.
He had told her more than once to be more dignified and steady, to be like a real gentlewoman of a noble family, just staying indoors, playing the zither, and doing needlework.
But every time he mentioned it, she would be quiet for only two days and then return to her old self, which made him very helpless.
He thought that after they got married and had children, she would surely change into the kind of person he wanted her to be.
However, before that time came, Su Qingyu was brought back by the Pingyang Marquis Mansion.
At the birthday banquet of the Old Madam Tong, Su Qingyu cured the chronic knee pain of the Old Madam Tong with her superb acupuncture skills. The Old Madam Tong was greatly touched and immediately asked Su Qingyu to find a way to treat his legs.
Su Qingyu's medical skills were really excellent. After several acupuncture treatments by her, he could even stand up on his own without the wooden wheelchair that had accompanied him for many years.
This shocked and excited him extremely. Coupled with Su Qingyu's gentle and calm personality, her tone was always neither too fast nor too slow, and she always considered things from his perspective. Naturally, he got closer to Su Qingyu.
Perhaps because of this, Su Yuanyuan actually disregarded their sisterly affection and designed various schemes to frame Su Qingyu regardless of the occasion, trying to ruin her elder sister. She had even gone crazy.
Moreover, she even planned to use that kind of vicious scheme against Su Qingyu at the Qianqiu Banquet of the Empress Dowager.
If his knees hadn't been uncomfortable that day and he hadn't needed Su Qingyu to give him acupuncture, perhaps Su Qingyu would really have fallen into her trap.
He couldn't understand how the girl who had once climbed onto his wall regardless of everything and happily thrown the overly sweet persimmons into his arms for him to taste could have become such a disgusting person.
Recalling all the past events, the stubborn figure and her sad and determined voice seemed to appear in front of Xiao Zisheng's eyes again.
[Since you believe her and not me, then please don't regret it in the future.]
Regret?
The evidence was conclusive, and there were witnesses. The facts were right there. He would never regret it.
As for Su Qingyu, her experience was already pitiful. After returning to the Marquis Mansion, she was treated like this by her younger sister. To whom could she cry about her grievances?
Su Qingyu was not only his cousin to him, but also his benefactor who helped him get rid of the wooden wheelchair, and a bosom friend who could chat with him about the world. Now that she was in trouble, he couldn't just sit back and do nothing.
The Fourth Miss of the Duke of Yongguo's Mansion, right?
Don't let him run into her, or he would surely teach this fool a lesson.
Whether it was the dull pain and swelling in his knees or the memories of the past, he just felt extremely annoyed. Frowning, he poured a full cup of wine into the white jade cup and drank it up in one gulp.
The burning and bitter feeling of the strong liquor going down his throat made Xiao Zisheng temporarily forget his annoyance.
The wine launched by the Zhenman Tower was called "Forget Sorrow". Just as its name suggested, he hoped it could really make him forget his worries.
However, at this moment, he faintly heard a commotion outside. A series of footsteps rushed towards the private room he was in. The door was knocked, and the crying voice of Green Bamboo came in through the crack of the door.
"Your Highness, the Prince of Jin, something terrible has happened! Our young lady has been blocked in the building by the people from the Duke of Yongguo's Mansion and a group of hooligans. Please, please go and save our young lady!"
What?! Xiao Zisheng immediately put down the cup in his hand and stood up from his seat. However, because his legs hadn't fully recovered yet, a sharp pain like a needle prick came from his knees when he stood up.
But he didn't have the mood to care about the discomfort from his legs. He strode towards the door.
The attendant opened the door for him. Green Bamboo was standing outside anxiously. He asked bluntly, "What's going on?"
After learning from Green Bamboo that Su Qingyu had not only been blocked but also splashed all over with hot soup, he said,
"Quickly lead the way for this king."