Unlike Song Nanxin, Song Yihuan flipped through the ledger in her hand very quickly. Before Song Nanxin had even finished reading the third line of small print, Song Yihuan had already turned the page.
Before long, Song Yihuan spotted the mistakes. She circled them with a pen and pointed them out to Song Nanxin, explaining them in great detail.
There weren't many mistakes in the ledger, and Song Nanxin soon memorized them.
Taking Song Yihuan's hand, she said with a smile, "Yihuan, I'm so lucky to have you. I really don't know what I would do without you."
Song Yihuan remained silent, but Song Nanxin didn't mind her silence. She pulled her closer and whispered, "By the way, does it still hurt there?"
Realizing what Song Nanxin was referring to, Song Yihuan's face instantly flushed red, all the way to the tips of her ears, making her look even more charming.
"Why does elder sister ask such a question?"
Looking at her innocent and pitiful appearance, Song Nanxin felt a pang of frustration.
These days, she and Ji Lingchuan would meet during the morning and evening greetings. But for some reason, the man was extremely cold to her. When they met, he would only nod his head and never say a word, let alone summon her to his bed.
It was so frustrating that she couldn't please him now. Otherwise, how could he treat her like this? She couldn't serve him, but Song Yihuan could. If she wanted to win the man's heart, she had to use some means.
Gazing deeply at Song Yihuan, Song Nanxin got up and walked back to the bookshelf. She took out a booklet and stuffed it into Song Yihuan's hand, saying, "Take this booklet back and study it carefully. Learn how to please a man."
Leaning down, she whispered in Song Yihuan's ear, "Next time you serve the heir, you must use what you've learned from the pictures to make the heir happy."
Out of curiosity, Song Yihuan opened the booklet and took a look. Immediately, she was shocked by the bold pictures inside and quickly closed it. She threw it far away on the table, as if she had grabbed a hot potato.
Song Yihuan had lived a proper life for so many years and had never seen such a ridiculous booklet.
She looked at her elder sister with a mixture of shame and anger. "Elder sister! I... I can't do it!"
Song Nanxin stuffed the booklet back into her hand, holding her fingers with astonishing strength.
"Yihuan, only in this way can you get pregnant as soon as possible and get out of the Prince Ning's Mansion. Don't you want to take Xuan'er and leave here?"
In the end, Song Yihuan took the booklet that Song Nanxin had given her back with her. But she was worried that it would be discovered, so as soon as she returned to Tinglan Courtyard, she locked herself in the room and quickly stuffed the booklet under the pillow.
She had a good memory. She would remember anything she had seen even once. Therefore, the pictures in the booklet were deeply engraved in her mind and she couldn't get rid of them, which made her extremely distressed.
It was so absurd!
How could she be asked to learn such things?
She didn't believe that by doing what was drawn in the booklet, she could please the cold and strict Prince Ning's heir.
After a mental struggle, Song Yihuan finally compromised. She took out the booklet again and began to flip through it.
She was now under someone else's control, and her weakness was firmly grasped. Besides doing as Song Nanxin said, she had no other choice.
She just hoped that she could get pregnant soon and leave this cage.
...
In the Pine and Crane Hall, Song Nanxin knelt in front of the Princess of Prince Ning, holding the ledger in both hands and smiling. "Mother-in-law, I've found a few mistakes in the ledger. Please take a look and see if they're acceptable."
The Princess of Prince Ning asked the maid beside her to take the ledger and looked through it. When she looked at Song Nanxin again, there was approval in her eyes. "Why do you think these are mistakes?"
Ji Lingchuan was also in the room. He was sitting on the right side of the Princess of Prince Ning. Hearing this, he also looked at Song Nanxin.
Song Nanxin then told what Song Yihuan had taught her today.
Seeing that she was well - organized and reasonable, the Princess of Prince Ning smiled with satisfaction and handed the ledger in her hand to Ji Lingchuan, saying,
"Look at your wife. She's really good at managing accounts. She's clearly listed where the price was wrongly recorded and where the categories were mixed up."
Ji Lingchuan held the ledger in his hand and saw that the correct categories and prices were marked in delicate small regular script on the paper.
The handwriting was neat and beautiful, refreshing to the eye. It was obvious that a lot of effort had been put into practicing it. His fingertips gently brushed over one of the characters.
The strokes of this character seemed a bit familiar.
He looked up at Song Nanxin, who was chatting and laughing with the Princess of Prince Ning. His eyes darkened a bit.
After serving the Princess of Prince Ning for dinner, Ji Lingchuan and Song Nanxin left the Pine and Crane Courtyard one after another.
Seeing the man turn and head towards the Surge Courtyard again, Song Nanxin felt anxious. She quickly called out, "Heir, please wait!"
Ji Lingchuan stopped and looked back at Song Nanxin. Then he saw his wife walking up to him with her head down. Blushing, she said, "If the heir has nothing else to do, would you like to come to the Shulan Courtyard with me?"
"Thank you for the medicine, my lord. My... my body has recovered."
Ji Lingchuan's sharp eyes fell on Song Nanxin. For some reason, this wife always gave him a strange feeling.
He knew they were husband and wife, and he should fulfill his responsibility as a husband to be kind and loving to her. On the night of their wedding night, they were very compatible, and he had almost lost his composure.
But for some reason, when he saw her during the day, he couldn't feel any pity for her. Instead, he was a bit resistant to getting close to her. It was extremely contradictory.
He thought that perhaps it was because he had never been able to see her face clearly that night, which made it difficult for him to associate her with the woman who had served him in bed at night.
Thinking of the regular and elegant small regular script he had seen on the ledger just now, he finally softened his expression and said, "Not tonight."
Song Nanxin was very disappointed. She had summoned up the courage to invite him, but unexpectedly, he had refused.
But in matters between husband and wife, it was no use if only she was being proactive. She could only curtsy and leave with her maids and servants.
It wasn't a pretext. Ji Lingchuan really had other arrangements tonight.
This spring, there had been severe snow disasters in various parts of the Yu State, so the imperial examination that was originally supposed to be held in the spring had been postponed until June. By the time he led the Xuanjia Army back to the capital, the examination was already over, and now it was the time to wait for the results to be announced.
At this crucial moment, several thefts had occurred in the capital. The items stolen all belonged to the candidates who had participated in this imperial examination. The magistrate of the capital had investigated for three days but hadn't found out anything, so it had alarmed the palace.
The Empress Dowager and the Regent had entrusted this matter to him. He was going to visit the stolen candidates tonight to look for new clues.
After returning to the Surge Courtyard to make some preparations, Ji Lingchuan left the mansion. By the time he finished the interrogation and investigation and returned to the Prince Ning's Mansion, the moon was already high in the sky.
The palace lanterns hung low in the corridor of the Prince Ning's Mansion. When Ji Lingchuan reached the fork in the road and was about to go to the Surge Courtyard, he stopped.
Girls were shy. She had been so proactive today. She must have used up all her courage. Being rejected by him, she might be so sad that she would think wildly and couldn't sleep all night.
Forget it.
"Fuzhou, go and tell the Shulan Courtyard to prepare. I'll go there later."
Fuzhou realized what he was going to do. His eyes widened slightly. He answered with an "aye" and turned to run in the direction of the Shulan Courtyard.
At the heir's order, the whole Shulan Courtyard became busy. Song Nanxin sat up from the bed in surprise.
She didn't expect that her bold invitation today would really move him! Suddenly remembering something, the color drained from Song Nanxin's face. She grabbed Granny Zhao's hand and gritted her teeth.
"Go and call Song Yihuan here. Be careful not to let anyone notice."