After Song Yihuan voiced this question, the person behind her fell silent for a moment before speaking:
"A fascinating young acquaintance I met by chance. It's been years since we last saw each other. I don't even know if he's still alive in this world. I've lost all traces of him, so I can only keep some mementos."
Song Yihuan was extremely intelligent. From just her elder sister's fragmented words and Ji Lingchuan's reaction, she pieced together what had happened during the day.
Presumably, her elder sister must have sneaked into Ji Lingchuan's study without permission in an attempt to please him and touched something she shouldn't have.
That item belonged to an old acquaintance of Ji Lingchuan's, someone he held in high regard. That was why he was so angry.
Song Yihuan asked again, "Was that old acquaintance a man or a woman?"
Ji Lingchuan paused for a moment and replied, "It doesn't matter."
After that, neither of them said another word.
The man's palm rested on Song Yihuan's lower abdomen. The continuous warmth from his palm made her feel drowsy.
Just then, the man's deep and slightly hoarse voice sounded in her ear, "I've encountered a difficult problem these days. I wonder if you can help me solve it?"
Song Yihuan didn't dare to fall asleep easily beside the man. She forced herself to stay awake and softly said, "I'm just a weak woman. I'm afraid I can't help the young master."
Ji Lingchuan insisted, "I just want to hear different opinions. You don't need to worry. Just say whatever comes to mind. I won't blame you if you say something wrong."
Since he said so, Song Yihuan had no choice but to give a soft response.
Ji Lingchuan told Song Yihuan about a rather complicated case.
He said that there was a merchant in Yuzhou. He was a very kind - hearted man. Not only did he personally help ordinary people, but he also opened his granaries to distribute food and porridge to relieve the refugees and beggars. He was a well - known philanthropist in the area.
However, one day, the government accidentally discovered that he used to be a bandit. Even after he started doing business in Yuzhou, he never stopped killing.
But the people he killed were all corrupt officials who exploited the common people and playboys who bullied women. The money he used for his good deeds was all taken from these corrupt officials and playboys.
Regardless of who he was or what good deeds he had done, killing was killing, and he had to pay with his life.
The prefect led the yamen runners to arrest the man and detain him in the prison. However, every day, ordinary people, refugees, and beggars would kneel outside the prefectural yamen to plead for him.
Naturally, the relatives of those he had killed refused to accept this and got into a fight with the pleading common people, which gave the prefectural yamen a huge headache.
How to handle the man and convict him had become a difficult problem.
If the sentence was too light, the relatives of the deceased might be dissatisfied. If it was too heavy, it would hurt the feelings of the common people.
"If you were the prefect, how would you judge this case?" Ji Lingchuan asked the woman in his arms.
Song Yihuan frowned and pondered the case he had just mentioned.
The difficulty of this case lay in the balance between justice and the law. As long as a solution that satisfied both sides could be found, it would be fine. She had seen a similar case before and had given her own answer. Although it wasn't the same case, the nature was the same. Presumably, the same method could be used to solve it.
She opened her mouth to tell Ji Lingchuan, but at that very moment, a chill ran down her spine.
No, something was wrong.
She wasn't Song Yihuan now, but "Song Nanxin".
With her elder sister's background and knowledge, she would surely side with the powerful and want to get rid of the man once and for all. She would never consider the man's act of relieving beggars and refugees as a good deed.
She turned around, wrapped her arms around Ji Lingchuan's neck, buried her face in his chest, and complained in a soft voice,
"I don't understand these things. Young master, are you deliberately making things difficult for me? I just think that a murderer should pay with his life. He used ill - gotten gains to do good deeds. That's just hypocrisy. He should be punished by law."
Ji Lingchuan held the slender waist of the little woman in his arms. His eyes were full of disappointment.
Although he had never met that person, he believed that she would never say the word "hypocrisy".
Forget it. Maybe he was really going crazy. He had missed her back then. There couldn't be so many coincidences in the world. How could he just happen to meet her and marry her as his wife?
Ji Lingchuan closed his eyes and said, "Go to sleep."
Song Yihuan was no longer sleepy. Leaning in the man's arms, listening to his steady heartbeat, her mind was extremely clear.
It was actually disadvantageous for her that Ji Lingchuan didn't leave as usual tonight.
If she really slept with Ji Lingchuan in the same bed for a whole night, not only would she be exposed immediately the next morning, but her elder sister would surely never forgive her.
Last time, the man had just detained her for a little longer, and her elder sister had almost smashed a teapot on her head. If she really slept with him until dawn, would she still be alive?
Gently breaking free from Ji Lingchuan's embrace, Song Yihuan propped herself up and whispered, "Young master, I... need to leave for a moment."
Ji Lingchuan opened his eyes. "What for?"
Song Yihuan remained silent. Ji Lingchuan understood her intention, closed his eyes, and said indifferently, "Go."
Avoiding him, Song Yihuan got out of bed carefully. She casually put on a robe, opened the door, and walked out.
Baizhi was guarding outside. The two of them exchanged a glance under the eaves lamp. Baizhi gave her a reassuring look and deliberately said loudly, "I'll hold the lamp for the young lady."
Song Yihuan followed Baizhi and left in a hurry. As they walked, they nervously looked around, afraid that someone would suddenly appear and block their way. Baizhi led Song Yihuan to a side path and circled around to the side room behind Yixiang Pavilion.
There was a hidden chamber between this side room and the main house, which served as a passage connecting the two rooms. Usually, it was where the maids, old women, or wet - nurses rested. If there was too much noise, the people in the main house would notice.
To avoid making any noise, Song Yihuan opened the door very gently. There was no lamp lit in the room. Following her memory, she found the small bed in the room and pushed Song Nanxin who was sleeping on it.
Song Nanxin opened her eyes and was almost scared to death by Song Yihuan in the darkness. She was about to let out a scream, but luckily Song Yihuan covered her mouth in time.
Song Yihuan whispered something in Song Nanxin's ear. Song Nanxin looked surprised, and her face turned a little pale.
Ji Lingchuan was going to spend the night in Yixiang Pavilion. From now on, Song Yihuan couldn't return to Yixiang Pavilion, or she would risk being exposed.
The two sisters immediately silently exchanged their clothes in this small side room. Before leaving, Song Nanxin gave Song Yihuan a deep look. Then she followed Baizhi back the same way and returned to the front door of Yixiang Pavilion.
Realizing that Ji Lingchuan was inside, Song Nanxin swallowed hard. Her heart was pounding with fear.
It was her idea to ask Song Yihuan to replace her for the wedding night. Relying on the fact that this half - sister looked extremely similar to her and had often dressed up as her to go to school without being noticed by the teachers or other classmates, Song Nanxin had been fearless.
She always thought she had everything under control, but Ji Lingchuan's unpredictable actions during these three nights of serving him had made her feel extremely nervous. She always had a sense of crisis that she might be exposed at any time.
Calm down. As long as they were careful enough, they would surely be able to get away with it. Song Nanxin comforted herself like this.
She was just about to raise her hand to push the door when the door was suddenly pulled open from the inside. Ji Lingchuan's figure appeared behind the door. Song Nanxin let out a scream and involuntarily took two steps back, hiding behind Baizhi.