When Song Yihuan woke up again, it was already broad daylight.
She opened her eyes and saw a small figure sitting beside the bed, sleeping with his side face pressed down. Her finger was being held in his hand. She moved slightly, and the little one woke up, looking at her in surprise.
"Fourth Sister, you're finally awake."
But then the little one started to cry, holding onto her hand tightly. "Fourth Sister, Xuan'er thought you were going to abandon Xuan'er too."
Song Yihuan stroked her younger brother's little head and said with a smile, "How could I? Sister still wants to watch Xuan'er grow up, get married and have children. How could I leave Xuan'er behind?"
Only then did she realize that her voice was extremely hoarse.
Hearing the noise inside, Chunxing pushed the door open excitedly and walked in, followed by Fuling. Seeing Song Yihuan wake up, Fuling obviously let out a sigh of relief.
After drinking some water to moisten her throat under Chunxing's service, Song Yihuan felt much better. She didn't know if it was because the medicine bought from the medical center was effective. Now she didn't feel any pain at all. It was just that after being sick, she always felt weak and in a very poor mental state.
Looking out of the window, she asked, "What time is it?"
"It's already a quarter past seven o'clock," Chunxing chirped like a sparrow. "Miss has been sleeping for three days. You must be starving. Wait, Chunxing will go and cook a bowl of noodles for you!"
Without waiting for Song Yihuan's reply, she lifted her skirt and ran out.
Three days?!
Song Yihuan was shocked. She didn't expect to be sick for three days. She subconsciously looked at Fuling and asked, "During these three days, did Eldest Sister send someone to look for me?"
Fuling glanced at the little one leaning in Song Yihuan's arms and said very subtly, "Someone did come. But when they learned that Fourth Miss was sick, Nanny Zhao went back. It wasn't anything urgent. Eldest Miss wanted to invite Fourth Miss to take a look at the newly bought portraits for her."
Song Yihuan vaguely remembered that Song Nanxin had mentioned asking her to help check the account books a few days ago, and she understood.
At the same time, she secretly let out a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, the prince didn't mention asking someone to serve him in the past three days. Otherwise, in her current condition, if she went to serve the prince in place of her eldest sister, she would surely be detected by the sensitive prince. Then her and her younger brother's lives would be in danger.
Song Yihuan ate a bowl of clear noodle soup. After filling her stomach, she regained some energy and her complexion became much rosier. But because of the illness, her chin looked even sharper, making her look even more pitiful.
Chunxing moved a chair into the courtyard and then helped Song Yihuan lie down. Song Yixuan hadn't been with his sister for several days, so he snuggled closely beside Song Yihuan and pestered her to tell him stories.
Fuling looked at the siblings huddled together. She wanted to remind Song Yihuan to go to Shulan Courtyard quickly, but she was afraid that Chunxing and Song Yixuan would notice something. So she could only pick up a broom and sweep the fallen leaves in the courtyard.
"Fourth Miss, you were in a daze during your illness these days and didn't know. People outside and in the mansion are all saying that Eldest Miss has got a wonderful marriage," Chunxing sat beside Song Yihuan, fanning her and chatting with her about the gossips she had heard.
"I heard from the maids in the Prince Ning's Mansion that our future brother - in - law has always been clean - living and not interested in women. He didn't like to be served by maids since he was a child. All the maids who tried to get close to him were sold off. When he went to the border to lead troops in battles, there was a dancer who tried to sneak into his tent to serve him. She was beheaded before she even got close! Such a man who is not interested in women is said to have been lingering with Eldest Miss until dawn on their wedding night and was very affectionate to her. It really made those little maids in the Prince Ning's Mansion envious."
Song Yihuan's body stiffened imperceptibly, and her heart was pounding. The words of Fuling kept echoing in her ears, "All the maids who got close to him were sold off, and the dancer who tried to get close to him was beheaded."
Her eldest sister was right. A man like him who was decisive in killing and couldn't tolerate any flaws would surely show no mercy if he found out that it was her who served him.
"By the way, Miss was invited to the welcoming banquet for the prince that day. Did you see the prince at the banquet? Is he as heroic and strong as the rumors say, able to kill a tiger with one punch?" Chunxing looked at Song Yihuan curiously.
Song Yixuan opened his eyes wide in surprise. "Is Big Brother - in - law really that powerful?"
Song Yihuan said indifferently, "I didn't see him. There were too many people at the banquet."
Chunxing didn't suspect anything. She was about to say something else to Song Yihuan when someone came from Shulan Courtyard.
When Nanny Zhao saw Song Yihuan sitting in the courtyard in good condition, she said sourly, "Fourth Miss is really a precious person. It took this old servant three days to see Fourth Miss. Since Fourth Miss is fine now, please go with this old servant to see Eldest Miss."
Sighing silently, Song Yihuan stroked her younger brother's head and said, "Xuan'er, stay in the room obediently and don't run around. Fourth Sister will go to Eldest Sister's place for a while. I'll bring you some snacks when I come back, okay?"
Song Yixuan said reluctantly, "Sister got sick after going to Eldest Sister's place a few days ago. Xuan'er doesn't want sister to go see Eldest Sister anymore."
Since she couldn't tell her younger brother the real inside story in detail, Song Yihuan could only say, "But Eldest Sister needs sister's help. We are a family, and we should help each other."
Song Yixuan kept his head down silently, with a look of unhappiness on his face.
Song Yihuan sighed softly, put on a cloak and walked towards Shulan Courtyard with Fuling.
Song Nanxin had been really irritable these days. After Princess Ning gave her those account books, she would casually ask her every morning and evening how she was getting on with the account books and if there was anything she didn't understand.
She did. She didn't understand anything!
There were so many courses in the Imperial College, but she was completely at a loss when it came to arithmetic. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't learn it. As a result, she felt dizzy whenever she saw the account books. Even her mother, Lady Ding'an Marquis, couldn't do anything about her.
She couldn't let Princess Ning find out that she couldn't read the account books. So she had to pin her hopes on Song Yihuan. But that little girl Song Yihuan had fallen ill and had been sick for three days, which made her have to come up with all kinds of excuses to fob Princess Ning off.
Just now when she went to pay respects to Princess Ning, the way Princess Ning looked at her had changed. And Princess Ning even asked her to send the checked account books to Songhe Courtyard in the afternoon!
She couldn't wait any longer! Even if she had to tie Song Yihuan up today, she would do it!
Song Nanxin was in a sweat with anxiety when she saw a familiar figure walking into the door of Yixiang Pavilion.
Song Yihuan had been sick for three days, and her face looked even smaller than before. Her steps were unsteady. When her clothes fluttered, she looked so light, like a willow swaying in the wind and could be blown down at any time.
Song Nanxin paused for a moment. She carefully sized up Song Yihuan's figure and found that Song Yihuan had only lost some weight on her face and her figure hadn't changed much. Then she secretly let out a sigh of relief. She put on a surprised look and stepped forward to grab Song Yihuan's hand.
"My dear younger sister, I've finally waited for you!"
Song Nanxin pressed Song Yihuan onto a chair and pushed the account books in front of her. "Yihuan, you promised me before. Now that you're better, you can start helping me look at these account books."
Her eldest sister hadn't shown any concern for her during her three - day illness but only cared about these account books. Song Yihuan couldn't help but feel heart - chilled.
But then she thought that it was good this way. The more useful she was to her eldest sister, the more her eldest sister would rely on her. Only in this way could she and Xuan'er live well in the Prince Ning's Mansion.
Song Yihuan lowered her eyes, picked up a pen and opened the account books to look at them carefully.