Cui Ying'er and the other actors were performing "Autumn in the Han Palace".
Song Nanxin was sitting openly in the middle of the main hall, watching the show. Tan Qiao, the new maid assigned to her by the Princess of Ningqin, was shelling sunflower seeds for her on the side. Another maid from her courtyard, Yu Zhu, was pouring tea for her. She looked very comfortable.
Song Yihuan's eyes fell on the "Cui Ying'er" on the stage. The figure and those eyes made her feel extremely familiar. It was not only "Bai Shao", but also the killer who had chased her in the mountains!
Whether it was a coincidence or intentional, Cui Ying'er on the stage seemed to look up in her direction when she took a step. When she met those eyes, Song Yihuan's heart skipped a beat, but she did not back away. Instead, she looked back coldly.
Cui Ying'er took another step and shifted her gaze. It seemed that the previous eye contact was just an illusion.
Ji Lingchuan's eyes were deep as he secretly observed everything in the theater, including Cui Ying'er and Song Nanxin.
His fingers tapped the table silently. Ji Lingchuan suddenly said, "Your eldest sister has always been so fond of listening to plays?"
Song Yihuan came back to her senses and nodded. "Eldest sister has been fond of listening to plays since she was young. She is a regular at the Qionglu Troupe. That Chief Actor Cui was even a famous actress promoted by her."
"Oh? A regular at the Qionglu Troupe? When did she come?" Ji Lingchuan seemed to be thinking.
Song Yihuan explained, "In the 15th year of Jinghong, eldest sister became obsessed with opera. At that time, she only listened once a month. Later, it slowly became twice a month. After that, she would go to listen to a play every now and then. She also called her friends to go with her. I also tagged along twice. Even after she married into the Prince Ningqin's residence, eldest sister still did not change this habit. However..."
"However, what?" Ji Lingchuan asked.
"After March, eldest sister stopped listening to plays. She broke off contact with Chief Actor Cui. It was not until the Crown Prince returned to the capital that eldest sister brought me to buy accessories for the Crown Prince. We met Chief Actor Cui again at the Duobao Pavilion."
After a pause, Song Yihuan reminded, "It was the time when I encountered the crazy horse in the market."
Ji Lingchuan looked deeply at Song Yihuan in front of him.
He heard the hint in her words. Song Nanxin and that actor had broken off contact in March. It was not until June or July that they met again. Why did the two suddenly stop contacting each other? Song Nanxin also stopped listening to plays. There was a lot of meaning behind this.
In particular, he already knew that Song Nanxin had been pregnant and had a miscarriage. This three - month gap was indeed thought - provoking.
Song Nanxin claimed that in March, on her way back from the Changyue Nunnery, she was defiled by a scoundrel in the peach grove.
But was this really the case? It was probably not.
Moreover, when Song Yihuan said this, she was also sending him a message.
Song Nanxin would go to the theater to listen to plays every now and then. How could she manage her schoolwork at the Imperial College?
So, this was the reason why Song Nanxin had to find Song Yihuan to replace her in class at the Imperial College.
Previously, although he had obtained the test papers from the Imperial College from Song Nanxin, there were not enough witnesses. It was easy for her to come up with another way to deceive him.
She was actively passing the clues to him bit by bit, and she did it very cleverly. She was indeed the little friend with a lot of ideas who had met him back then.
Ji Lingchuan's eyes were hidden with a smile. He suddenly called out, "Fuzhou, go and invite the Crown Princess up."
Meeting Song Yihuan's eyes, Ji Lingchuan said, "Your eldest sister is coming. Do you know what to say?"
Song Yihuan came back to her senses. She exchanged a tacit look with him and replied, "I know."
Outside the window, they saw Fuzhou walk to Song Nanxin's side. He bent down and said something to her. Song Nanxin turned around and looked upstairs. Then, she got up and brought her people to the private room where the two of them were.
The sound of footsteps got closer. The door was pushed open. Song Nanxin walked in.
"I didn't expect the Crown Prince to have the interest to come to the theater to listen to plays. What a coincidence today."
Her eyes fell on Song Yihuan beside her. Song Nanxin's smile froze on her face. She blurted out,
"Song Yihuan, why are you here too?"
When Song Nanxin looked upstairs just now, from her angle, she could only see Ji Lingchuan. She did not expect that there was still Song Yihuan sitting opposite Ji Lingchuan. After being reminded by Cui Muyuan, she had already guessed that Ji Lingchuan would come, but she did not expect Song Yihuan to be here too.
For a moment, Song Nanxin was a little panicked, but she quickly reacted. She frowned and walked forward to Song Yihuan.
"You are pregnant now. You should stay in the residence to take good care of your fetus. Why are you still running around?"
The two sisters had already fallen out in private, but in front of Ji Lingchuan, Song Nanxin still maintained the appearance of a good elder sister. After all, she was still the Crown Princess of Prince Ningqin.
Song Yihuan stood up and said with a natural smile, "I was going to buy silk thread today. When I passed by the Qionglu Troupe, I heard from others that elder sister was coming here to listen to plays today. When I heard that elder sister went to the other courtyard last night, I planned to come in and take a look. I wanted to say a few words to elder sister. I didn't expect to run into the Crown Prince outside the door."
Ji Lingchuan said indifferently, "I thought the two of you sisters had made an appointment to come and listen to plays together today."
In short, it was purely an accident that the two would meet here.
Ji Lingchuan's eyes looked at Song Nanxin's injured arm. He said, "Yesterday, the Crown Princess was still injured and refused to move to the other courtyard. She said that she wanted to stay and take good care of her injury. Today, she couldn't bear to come out to listen to plays. Why, the injury doesn't hurt today?"
He was so disrespectful. He started scolding her in front of Song Yihuan!
Song Nanxin was angry and wronged in her heart. She replied, "The other courtyard is empty and cold. It's boring to stay there. Besides, the Crown Prince only said that he would not allow this concubine to return to the Prince Ningqin's residence. He didn't say that he would not allow this concubine to return to the capital. This concubine just wants to be more lively. Is this not okay?"
Ji Lingchuan did not say anything after hearing this. Song Nanxin also found a seat and sat down.
The play "Autumn in the Han Palace" ended soon. All the actors on the stage stepped down. After a short rest, they beat the gongs and drums again. Another group of actors came on stage. This time, all the actors were martial artists. They were performing "Su Wu Herding Sheep".
Song Nanxin was still very concerned that Ji Lingchuan was alone with Song Yihuan just now. She asked tentatively, "This concubine heard the sound of a conversation in the room just now. I don't know what the Crown Prince and Yihuan were talking about just now?"
Ji Lingchuan said indifferently, "We didn't talk about anything. I asked her some things about you before."
Song Nanxin was overjoyed. He asked her about some things before? Could it be that Ji Lingchuan did not really want to divorce her?
Who knew that Ji Lingchuan's next sentence would be, "I heard that the Crown Princess was very fond of listening to plays before. She was a regular at the Qionglu Troupe. Before she got married, she would come here to listen to music every three days. Is there such a thing?"