The address "Miss Rou" made Ji Lingchuan instinctively think of Song Yihuan.
But he immediately denied his own thought.
Song Yihuan was a young lady from the Marquis Ding'an's Mansion. Although she was a concubine's daughter, she still received her monthly allowance. Would she need to go out and work as a copyist? Moreover, now that she lived in the Prince Ning's Mansion, she didn't have to worry about food, clothing, and her younger brother's medicine was also taken care of by Shulan Courtyard. She should not be short of money.
Ji Lingchuan changed the subject and asked, "Why is it so noisy outside? What's going on in the mansion?"
Fuzhou remembered something and said excitedly, "I forgot to tell you, my lord. The Crown Princess invited a troupe to perform in the mansion. She invited the Princess and several other ladies to listen to the opera in the waterside pavilion in the garden. My lord, do you want to go and have a look?"
So that's it.
Ji Lingchuan said coldly, "No need."
Having not slept all night, there was an obvious chill between his eyebrows. Fuzhou didn't dare to say more for fear of angering him, and then quickly left the study. Ji Lingchuan originally planned to sort out the evidence collected by the two people from the yamen, but in such a noisy environment, he couldn't calm down his mind at all.
Letting out a breath, he picked up the nine-ring puzzle on the table and walked out.
In the waterside pavilion in the garden of the Prince Ning's Mansion, the actors in their costumes were swaying their waists on the open ground, performing The Peony Pavilion for the Princess Ning and Song Nanxin and others. The actress playing Du Liniang was extremely beautiful with a charming figure. Her gentle singing, along with her well-controlled expressions and postures, made the audience unconsciously immerse themselves in the story.
The sound of the opera spread from the waterside pavilion to all directions of the mansion, attracting many maids, servants, and guards to hide in the dark and secretly watch.
In Tinglan Courtyard.
Amid the lingering sound of the opera, Song Yihuan, who was in a deep sleep, frowned, with cold sweat on her forehead and her breathing slightly rapid.
In her deep sleep, for some reason, she was once again dragged back to the nightmare that had tortured her for a long time four years ago.
In a small and dim courtyard in the Marquis Ding'an's Mansion, the heart-wrenching howls of a woman in labor resounded.
"Little mother, little mother, please save my little mother! Please..."
The young Song Yihuan knelt beside the bed, her face full of tears, desperately holding the woman's limp hand.
In order to save her little mother, she ran and ran in the Marquis Mansion that seemed to devour people, but she couldn't touch the big door that could let her out.
"Yihuan, I'm just about to go out. I'll take you with me to the city to invite a doctor for Miss Rou." A familiar voice came from beside her ear. The young Song Yihuan followed her elder sister into the carriage.
But somehow she fell asleep.
In the unfathomable darkness, she vaguely seemed to hear the sound of an opera.
"My lord, how was the battle today?"
"Such lovely sights, what a pity for this wasted day. Where can I find a heart's delight?"
No, she couldn't sleep anymore. She didn't have time to listen to the opera and have fun here. Her little mother was still waiting for her to invite a doctor back to save her life!
Song Yihuan struggled desperately, trying to get rid of this darkness completely. But the sound of the opera in her ear unexpectedly became clearer. In panic, she bit her tongue hard. Like a drowning person floating to the surface, she finally managed to open her eyes and sat up straight on the bed.
Gasping for breath, Song Yihuan found that her heart was beating wildly and her forehead was covered in cold sweat.
She looked up at the half-open window. The sound of the opera was floating in from outside.
So it was just a nightmare.
Putting on a robe, Song Yihuan got up, washed her face, and then walked out.
In the courtyard, Song Yixuan was sitting there quietly with his face in his hands, listening intently to the sound from outside. Chunxing was standing beside him. Hearing the noise, the two of them turned their heads. Song Yixuan's eyes lit up. He got up and grabbed Song Yihuan's hand, saying cheerfully,
"Sister Yihuan, quickly listen. It's so lively outside! Chunxing said that it was Elder Sister who invited a troupe to perform today!"
Song Yihuan's face was a bit pale and her fingertips were slightly cold. "I see."
Her elder sister loved listening to operas. When they were in the Marquis Mansion, she often invited troupes to the mansion for entertainment. Song Yihuan often heard these sounds in the small courtyard of the Marquis Mansion. But she had never felt so restless as she did now.
She thought it might be because she had met Cui Taizhu of the Qionglitroupe a few days ago.
Song Yihuan had some resistance towards Cui Taizhu. Back then, her elder sister asked her to learn ventriloquism from Cui Taizhu so that she could imitate her elder sister and go to school. Cui Taizhu was extremely good at ventriloquism. He often played different roles in the opera, so he could imitate many people's voices.
However, perhaps Song Yihuan was just being too sensitive, but she always felt that Cui Taizhu looked at her in a strange way. Every time during the teaching, he would get very close to her. In order to get away from Cui Taizhu as soon as possible, she learned her elder sister's voice in just a short period of time.
And after that, she never saw Cui Taizhu again.
Song Yixuan and Chunxing were both listening intently, but Song Yihuan just couldn't calm down.
Looking at her curious younger brother beside her, she couldn't help but wonder whether the sound of the opera she heard when she fell asleep in the carriage in the dream was just affected by the sound outside, or whether she really heard it back then but had forgotten about it.
She got on her elder sister's carriage and fell asleep soon after. When she woke up, she was already in the medical clinic.
Moreover, she clearly remembered that her elder sister took her to several medical clinics that night.
The sound of the opera made Song Yihuan recall the death of Miss Rou due to difficult childbirth. Unconsciously, she didn't want Song Yixuan to hear such sounds either. Holding her younger brother's hand, Song Yihuan smiled and said,
"Sister Yihuan will take you to a quiet place. How about learning today's lessons there?"
Having been bored in this small courtyard all day long, Song Yixuan was already tired of it. Hearing what his sister said, his eyes immediately lit up and he replied, "Okay!"
Leaving Fuling and Chunxing to watch the courtyard, Song Yihuan picked up a basket filled with their things and then led her younger brother out.
Following the green grass on the ground, they walked step by step away from the annoying sound. It wasn't until they could no longer hear any sound of the opera that Song Yihuan stopped.
The siblings came to a quiet corner in the northwest of the Prince Ning's Mansion.
There were lush trees here, and there was a stone table and a few stone benches under the trees. It was cool and quiet.
"Okay, let's stay here," she said with a smile.
The siblings sat down at the stone table under the shade of the trees. But they didn't know that behind the towering rockery, Ji Lingchuan, who was hiding in the tree to avoid the noise, suddenly opened his eyes.
The woman's voice was like a clear spring in the mountain stream, fresh and pleasant, which instantly swept away the annoyance in Ji Lingchuan's heart caused by the sound of the opera.
He tilted his body slightly and quietly peeked through the gaps in the branches. Sure enough, he saw a beautiful figure sitting at the stone table under the tree with her back to him.
Her hair was casually tied up behind her head. She was slightly lowering her head, revealing a slender and fair neck and small and delicate ears.
Completely unaware that someone was watching her from behind, she took out the things one by one from the basket in her hand and placed them on the table.
Ji Lingchuan reluctantly shifted his gaze from her and looked at the things on the table.
There was a Thousand Character Classic, several pieces of rough paper, a split writing brush, and an inkstone.
Was she planning to teach her younger brother to read and write here?