When everything finally came to an end, Ji Lingchuan's breathing returned to normal, and his rationality suddenly came back.
He found that the person in his arms had turned her back to him and remained silent, as if extremely angry.
He reached out his hand to touch her shoulder. But just as his fingertips touched her skin, she dodged away.
Remembering what had just happened, indescribable guilt and self - reproach filled his heart, making him feel extremely tormented.
Ji Lingchuan sat up, raising his hand to rub his temples, and let out a heavy gasp.
"I'm sorry. Just now... it was my fault. I apologize to you."
Hearing his apology, Song Yihuan closed her eyes tiredly.
This time, the lovemaking had only brought her forced endurance and pain. There was hardly a part of her body that didn't ache. At this moment, she had no mood to pretend to be her elder sister and perfunctorily deal with him.
"Song Yihuan—"
Suddenly, he blurted out this name.
Song Yihuan stiffened all over. Her fingers tightened hard on the brocade quilt beside her, and her heart was pounding as if it was about to jump out of her chest.
Was she finally discovered by him?
Would he draw out his long sword and pierce her body with a single stroke, sending her to the afterlife?
She was even thinking about how she could hide this from Xuan'er so that Xuan'er's heart wouldn't be affected in any way.
"Your half - sister."
Unexpectedly, Ji Lingchuan changed the subject, his voice extremely hoarse.
"She is no longer suitable to stay in the Prince Ning's Mansion. Tomorrow, you should send the siblings back to the Marquis's Mansion. I don't want to see her in the mansion again."
After saying that, Ji Lingchuan got up, put on his clothes, tied his belt, and was about to leave.
But after taking two steps forward, he suddenly stopped again, as if making a very difficult decision: "Forget it. There's no need to send her away. Let her continue to stay in the mansion."
Listening to the man's footsteps fading away, Song Yihuan propped herself up on her sore arms and sat up straight, with obvious astonishment on her face.
What did it mean?
Could it be that he still regarded her as her elder sister just now?
Did he mention her name just to discuss with her "elder sister" about her whereabouts?
She knew that with Ji Lingchuan's personality, if he found out that she had ulterior motives, he would definitely not tolerate her. She was not at all surprised that he wanted to send her and Xuan'er away.
But why did he change his mind in an instant and decide to let her and Xuan'er continue to stay in the mansion?
Song Yihuan sat there, her complexion changing several times. Finally, she accepted this fact. The feeling of surviving a disaster made a thin layer of sweat break out on her body.
At this time, the maids and old women gradually entered the room and served Song Yihuan to clean herself with hot water.
In the bright light, Bai Zhi saw that Song Yihuan's body was covered with blue and purple marks. One could imagine how much torture the man had inflicted on her just now.
Song Yihuan was completely absorbed in thinking about the reason for Ji Lingchuan's capriciousness and didn't notice Bai Zhi's scrutiny. After getting dressed neatly, she was sent to the side - room at the back.
Song Nanxin was worried that the same situation as last time would happen again, so she didn't dare to fall asleep at all. Seeing Song Yihuan walking in calmly, Song Nanxin was full of confusion: "Has the heir left?"
Song Yihuan was extremely uncomfortable, so her expression was a bit cold. She nodded and replied, "Yes."
"So early today?" Song Nanxin frowned, and couldn't help feeling a bit anxious. She grabbed Song Yihuan's hand and questioned, "Did you not perform well in bed and annoy the heir?"
Song Yihuan couldn't help but want to laugh.
When the heir left late, her elder sister blamed her for being coquettish and clingy. When the heir left early, she was worried that she had annoyed the heir.
If her elder sister was so worried about her, why didn't she serve the heir herself earlier so that she could escape from this cage.
"Sister has misunderstood Yihuan." Song Yihuan said coldly. She untied her belt, took off her clothes, and showed the mottled marks on her body. "The heir was in a bad mood today and didn't have the mood for any tenderness on the couch."
The beautiful and graceful jade - like body was covered with marks after the wanton behavior. Song Nanxin said awkwardly, "I just found it strange and asked casually."
Song Yihuan silently put on her clothes. There was no expression on her soul - stirring face.
Song Nanxin asked again, "Did the heir say anything to you in bed?"
Song Yihuan's hand tying the belt paused imperceptibly, and she replied, "No."
Song Yihuan subconsciously concealed from her elder sister that Ji Lingchuan had planned to send her away but suddenly changed his mind.
If her elder sister knew about it, it might cause a lot of trouble. It was better not to mention it. Since Ji Lingchuan didn't want to see her, in the future, she would reduce her activities in the mansion and just stay in her Tinglan Courtyard.
As time passed, he might forget that there was such a person as her in the mansion.
Seeing her looking tired, Song Nanxin thought for a while, held her hand and said, "Yihuan, I know you were wronged tonight. Bear with it a little longer. As long as you get pregnant as soon as possible, everything will be fine."
Song Yihuan nodded. After seeing her elder sister off, she lay down on the bed in the side - room and closed her eyes.
At this moment, in the Jingtao Courtyard, Ji Lingchuan was also feeling uncomfortable.
Now he was sober, but the more sober he was, the harder it was for him to accept his actions just now. That was why he was angry and wanted to send the siblings away after it was over.
However, when he said that decision, he suddenly realized that if he really sent the person away, it would only confirm his guilt.
Only by letting Song Yihuan stay could he prove that he had never had any thoughts about her and had never been bewitched by her in the slightest.
He was just affected by what happened during the day. He would be fine as long as he calmed down for a few days.
Ji Lingchuan admonished himself like this and sat alone in the study with a gloomy face until dawn.
When he went to the morning court the next day, Fu Zhou was startled when he saw Ji Lingchuan's complexion.
Ji Lingchuan, who hadn't slept all night, had bloodshot eyes under his eyes, and the frost between his eyebrows was even more intense than before. He looked like a King of Hell who came to claim lives.
Fu Zhou thought that the current heir didn't even need to draw his sword when going into battle to fight the enemy. Just standing there, he might be able to scare away some of the enemy troops.
Although Ji Lingchuan tried his best to control himself not to show any inner emotions, during the morning court, the officials around him were still intimidated by his aura. They all looked pale, with cold sweat on their foreheads, not daring to even breathe loudly.
Finally, when the eunuch sang the order to adjourn the court, a large area around Ji Lingchuan immediately emptied. Everyone rushed away as if avoiding some kind of flood and fierce beast.
In the imperial study, when mentioning this scene seen in the court, Ji Zihuan couldn't help teasing: "With cousin's aura, during the autumn hunting, there's no need to draw a bow and shoot an arrow. The birds in the sky will be so scared that they will fall directly from the sky. This may be the so - called 'defeating the enemy without fighting'."
After saying that, thinking of that scene, Ji Zihuan laughed until his stomach ached.
The Empress Dowager also had a bit of a smile on her face and said, "Alright, let's get back to business."