Song Yihuan's nose turned slightly red, her eyes filled with grievance and confusion, making people instinctively believe that she knew nothing.
After she said this, the scene fell into a deathly silence.
Ji Lingchuan looked coldly at Song Nanxin in front of him and said, "I'll ask you one more time. How did she get the jewelry in her hair? Song Nanxin, tell me the truth."
Song Nanxin never expected things to turn out like this.
She and Baizhi had schemed this together, aiming to confirm the "rumor" that Song Yihuan was a thief.
She thought her plan was extremely ingenious. Throughout her words, she never explicitly said that Song Yihuan had stolen her hairpin. Instead, she protected Song Yihuan and portrayed herself as a kind elder sister.
Who would have thought that Ji Lingchuan would expose the whole thing in front of Song Yihuan? It felt like she had lifted a rock only to drop it on her own foot.
In front of Song Yihuan, how could she admit that she had insinuated something just now?
It seemed that she could only wrong Baizhi for the time being.
Maintaining her gentle appearance, Song Nanxin said with a touch of grievance, "The hairpin and jewelry on Yihuan are naturally given by me. But when I sent the jewelry to Yihuan yesterday, I sent Baizhi to do something else. She didn't know about it. And since she had seen those two things in my place before, she misunderstood Yihuan."
Ji Lingchuan looked at Song Yihuan again. He tried his best not to show any emotion and asked, "Is what your elder sister said true?"
Meeting the man's emotionless eyes, Song Yihuan suddenly felt her nose ache.
Even though she knew that his purpose of exposing the matter was not to clear her name, but just because of his nature to find out the truth, at least at this moment, she had protected her dignity in front of him.
She glanced at Song Nanxin, who was giving her a warning look, and Baizhi, who was kneeling on the ground, then nodded and said,
"It's true. The clothes and jewelry on me were indeed sent by Nanny Zhao on behalf of my elder sister yesterday."
She deliberately emphasized the name "Nanny Zhao".
As soon as she said this, both Song Nanxin and Baizhi heaved a sigh of relief.
It was Baizhi who had sent the clothes and jewelry yesterday. If Song Yihuan had told the truth, it would have proved that Song Nanxin and Baizhi had deliberately set up this scheme today. Not only would Song Nanxin lose the false image she had maintained in front of Ji Lingchuan all along, but Baizhi would also lose her life.
They didn't expect that Song Yihuan would help them hide this matter.
After learning the truth, Ji Lingchuan also relaxed.
This was not the first time Baizhi had insinuated in front of him that Song Yihuan was a "thief".
If it had been before, he might have believed such words. But after seeing her protect a completely unrelated child regardless of everything in the market, he instinctively felt that she couldn't do such a thing.
In front of him, she had always been open and honest. Even when she had feelings for him, she admitted it generously. So he followed his heart and chose to expose the matter in public.
Facts proved that she had indeed been misunderstood.
He looked at Baizhi, who was kneeling on the ground, and said coldly,
"Today is the birthday of the old lady of the Duke of Jiang. I don't want to see blood. You'll kneel here and kowtow three times to the Fourth Miss of the Marquis Mansion. Apologize and promise that you'll never spread rumors in front of the Crown Princess again. Then I'll spare your life."
Baizhi had witnessed how cruel he was to his servants. He could even casually sell off the maid who had served the Princess of Ning for many years, let alone her, a dowry maid.
Frightened by his authority, Baizhi immediately crawled towards Song Yihuan on her knees and kowtowed three times forcefully. Her voice was trembling.
"Fourth Miss, this servant deserves to die. This servant shouldn't have speculated about you without knowing the truth. Please forgive Baizhi this time."
Listening to Baizhi's sobbing confession, Song Yihuan remained calm. She reached up and took out the hairpin from her hair, looked at it in her palm, and then inserted it into Baizhi's hair.
After standing up, she smiled faintly at Song Nanxin and said,
"Sister was kind enough to give me these, but this maid framed me for stealing. This is really strange. Does sister often lose things in her room, which made Baizhi misunderstand? Yihuan thinks that sister should check the people around her. If something is really lost, we can catch the thief as soon as possible."
She didn't finish her sentence, but it made Song Nanxin's expression change.
Ji Lingchuan squinted his eyes and also looked at Song Nanxin, waiting for her response.
Taking a deep breath, Song Nanxin smiled gracefully and said, "Yihuan, don't worry. Sister has always believed in you. Now the most important thing is to go to the Duke of Jiang's Mansion to wish the old lady a happy birthday. After we come back, I'll definitely send someone to investigate this matter thoroughly and clear your name. How about that?"
Song Yihuan knew that her elder sister's words were just a delaying tactic for Ji Lingchuan's sake. She smiled indifferently and nodded, saying,
"I'll follow sister's advice."
Outside the gate of the Princess of Ning's Mansion, the carriages were already ready.
After what had just happened, in front of Ji Lingchuan, Song Nanxin didn't dare to cause any more trouble. Supported by Baizhi, she got into the carriage.
Ji Lingchuan followed closely behind Song Nanxin. Just as he was about to step into the carriage, a figure in pink flashed by behind him. The gentle breeze brought a faint fragrance of apricot blossoms to his nostrils, like the fluttering of a butterfly's wings, making him pause for a moment.
He turned around and met Song Yihuan's bright deer - like eyes.
Song Yihuan didn't say a word. She just curtsied to Ji Lingchuan, expressing her gratitude for his act of clearing her name just now.
When she lowered her head, her slender and fair neck was exposed. It looked so delicate that it seemed as if it would break at any moment.
Remembering how he had left kisses all over that neck in his dream, Ji Lingchuan's throat tightened and his breathing became a bit chaotic.
He told himself in his heart that he helped her not because he pitied her, but just to repay the guilt for the desire he had for her in that dream. There was no other meaning.
Ji Lingchuan didn't say a word, and Song Yihuan didn't make a sound either. After curtsying, she didn't look at him anymore and walked towards the carriage behind.
Watching her get into the carriage with his own eyes, Ji Lingchuan steadied his mind, bent down and got into the carriage. He said to the coachman in a deep voice, "Set off."
The two carriages drove one after another towards the Duke of Jiang's Mansion.
As soon as he got into the carriage, Ji Lingchuan closed his eyes and rested, reducing the chance of contact with Song Nanxin.
Song Nanxin wanted to say something to him, but seeing his aloof and indifferent appearance, she could only swallow the words in her mouth.
In this confined space, all senses were infinitely magnified.
Ji Lingchuan was already used to the fragrance of the apricot blossom perfume on Song Nanxin. However, he didn't know if it was just his illusion, but at this moment, he caught a different smell in it.
It wasn't very pleasant. It was a bit like... the rusty smell he had smelled in the iron workshop when he was casting swords before.
But that smell only appeared for a moment. When he tried to catch it again, it disappeared without a trace.
Was it just an illusion?