"Mother Concubine." Song Ran's steps were brisk and her voice was clear and melodious. Her face was full of energy when she entered the palace, and her gold silk beaded hibiscus shoes were still stained with the muddy dust in the courtyard.
Liu Yunqi heard the sound and turned sideways to look in the direction of the sound.
He had just taken the teacup from the servant, holding the bottom of the teacup with one hand and the lid of the teacup with the other, and paused in mid-air.
Song Ran walked into the inner hall facing the light, making him feel in a trance.
My heart, which had been gloomy for a long time, suddenly seemed to have a light shining in. The girl running and playing in my memory was completely different from the one in front of me.
What happened to him today?
Calm, restrained, nothing at all.
His stiff limbs could not move, and it took him a while to put the tea cup back on the table. He stood up and saluted Song Ran respectfully.
"Ran Ran, you haven't seen your brother Yunqi since you came to Beijing, right?" the princess whispered softly.
Before Song Ran could speak, Liu Yunqi said first, "Before this, my nephew and the princess met briefly, and they didn't even have time to say hello."
There was something in her heart that she wanted to ask someone, and that person was right in front of her.
It's just that after a few years, it's so strange again.
"I thought that Brother Qi would miss us very much after not seeing each other for so many years. Instead, he became distant and polite." Song Ran's expression was complicated, and there was a chill in his eyes. Although the corners of his mouth curled up into a slight smile, his words were full of dissatisfaction.
There was a stone stuck in her heart, so stuffy that she couldn't breathe.
Liu Yunqi's eyes twitched slightly, and he was quite surprised that Song Ran would say this.
He and her looked at each other, and time seemed to stand still for a moment.
The atmosphere around her was a bit solemn. The princess frowned slightly and coughed a few times.
"Ran Ran, your brother Yun Qi is a well-educated and sensible brother, how can he be as naughty as you." The princess of the county explained to Liu Yunqi again: "Yun Qi, your sister Ran is naughty by nature, and you also know it. Don't take what you just said."
"Sister Song Ran is just a joke made by my nephew. The princess does not need to blame her."
"You protected her when you were a child, and you still do now." The princess smiled and motioned for them all to sit down.
Yeah, that was when I was a kid.
Song Ran remembered that her brother Qi's face was as soft and handsome as the bright moonlight. The smile is like the warm sunshine, the warmth is like jade and the spring breeze in March.
Five years later, in the blink of an eye, the once famous young man was gone forever.
Liu's father passed away and Liu's mother was seriously ill. He supported the Liu family. He pushed himself to achieve success. He buried himself in the dark swamp, imprisoned his feet, and broke all his wings.
Five months after the Song family left Beijing, Liu Yunqi's father was found dead in a bamboo forest on the outskirts of Beijing. None of the followers who followed him were spared.
Judging from the traces at the scene, the fight must have been very fierce, with swords and swords at each other's throats. The valuable jade pendants and silver coins on Liu's father's body were all there, and it didn't look like the actions of ordinary bandits.
Liu's father was the Crown Prince and Tutor at that time. The late emperor attached great importance to this matter and sent the Ministry of Punishment to investigate the matter together with Shuntian Prefecture.
The case lasted for several months, but in the end only a few bandits were caught. They said they had murderous intentions after trying to steal money. When they chopped off their heads, the rest was left to chance.
As a result, Liu's mother couldn't afford to fall ill. The Liu family, which was once a prosperous family, disappeared and disappeared until Liu Yunqi passed the high school imperial examination and the Liu family returned to the court.
The news reached Nanjun one month after Liu's father died. Prince Nanjun sent someone back to Beijing to visit him with money and medicine. After Liu Yunqi thanked him, he only accepted the medicine and returned all the valuables.
He is a noble person. Even if my family is destitute in the future, I still don’t want to receive charity from others.
Uncle Fu walked in from outside the hall and bowed to everyone.
"Princess Princess, His Royal Highness Prince Xuan is here to visit."
The words have not yet been spoken.
"Yesterday, the royal brother rewarded a powerful horse. I thought the princess would be happy, so I can't wait to invite the princess to go to the racecourse with me today."
Everyone looked outside the palace.
In the backlight, a tall and upright figure appeared outside the door.
Wait until he gets closer.
Chen Chaobai was wearing a dark cyan coat with a dark patterned bottom and emerald carved wristbands on both sleeves. His hands were hanging on his back and he was smiling brightly.
Liu Yunqi and Song Ran stood up together. The princess stood up from her seat and walked toward the door.
Chen Chaobai waved his hand, indicating that they did not need to be polite.
"Master Liu is here too?"
Chen Chaobai raised his eyebrows and looked at Liu Yunqi with a half-smile, looking up and down.
"I came here to visit the princess and the princess on my mother's orders."
Chen Chaobai nodded thoughtfully.
"Since Mr. Liu is here, why not come with us to the racecourse. I heard that Mr. Liu learned riding and archery at Nanjun Prince's Mansion when he was young, and I also want to see the talented man on horseback."
"I have official business to attend to today, so I'm afraid I might refute the prince's elegance."
"Business?"
"The Emperor summons his minister Shen Shi to enter the palace."
"In that case, I won't force it."
"Prince Xuan, how did you know that I, the princess, would be free to go?" Song Ran raised her eyebrows and spoke uninhibitedly.
"Ran Ran." The princess scolded softly.
"Why does the princess have to go to the palace to meet the saint?" Song Ran was caught by Chen Chaobai's eyes for a moment.
"Your Majesty, Princess, Princess, I will retire first."
"Master Liu will no longer sit down to chat with the princess and reminisce about old times." Chen Chaobai's voice was inexplicably jealous.
"Haha——" Bai Qi, who was following Chen Chaobai, couldn't hold back his laughter. I just feel that his prince's jealousy is about to overturn.
Chen Chaobai turned around and glared at Bai Qi fiercely.
Bai Qi covered his mouth with a silly smile, lowered his head and tried to restrain himself.
He had also heard a little bit about the past events between Liu Yunqi and the Song family. At that time, both the Liu family and the Tan family were vying for an engagement with the Song family. If Mrs. Tan hadn't brought Mrs. Tan out to put pressure on her, Song Ran would have been engaged to Liu Yunqi long ago.
Liu Yunqi is different from that idiot from the Tan family. He grew up with the two brothers and sisters of the Song family, childhood sweethearts and childhood sweethearts.
If the marriage had been arranged at that time, I am afraid that if the Liu family fell into decline later, the Song family would not let it go, right?
Besides being jealous, Chen Chaobai also had another thought.
Song Ran took a breath of cold air. He squinted his eyes, wondering why Chen Chaobai was so crazy today, biting people like a mad dog.
"Looking at the time approaching, I still need to go back to my house and change my clothes."
Liu Yunqi said goodbye one by one and bowed to everyone to leave.
He turned and left, his sleeves fluttering.
Chen Chaobai glanced at Song Ran's eyes as he watched Liu Yunqi leave, and said, "It is rumored that Mr. Liu once had a woman he liked. Later, for some unknown reason, the woman married away. From then on, Mr. Liu was alone and not close to women. There have been many people who have been matchmakers for him over the years, but they were all turned away by him. However, Jiang Zhiru, the granddaughter of Grand Tutor Jiang, has been traveling frequently with the Liu family these days."
Song Ran's breathing was stagnant and she clenched her fists. Such a subtle movement was still captured by Chen Chaobai.
"How come the princess knows about that woman?"
A cold light flashed in Song Ran's eyes, she glanced at Chen Chaobai, and said coldly: "Your Highness, King Xuan, are you still riding?"
Song Ran had met Jiang Zhiru twice before.
Once was a family dinner, and another time was when Mrs. Jiang brought her to visit a few days ago.
Song Ran had never associated her with Liu Yunqi. Unexpectedly, there is still such a relationship.
As for what Chen Chaobai said, Liu Yunqi once had a crush on the woman.
Perhaps, that person's name is Arnold - the daughter of the owner of a long street tailor shop.
In the five years since he left the capital, Liu Yunqi only wrote one letter to Song Yuan. A few hasty sentences, the content of which was just asking him to help take care of Arnold, who was married to Zhiqian County.
Zhiqian County is not far from Nanjun. Song Ran later followed Song Yuan to visit several times.
Arnold's husband is a stout butcher who sells pork in Zhiqian County. But because Zhiqian County is a remote and small county, it cannot be compared with the capital. Therefore, his family cannot be said to be wealthy and can only barely solve the problem of food and clothing.
It's really a grievance for Arnold to be the sequel.
After getting married, Arnold became even thinner, and his frail body was about to break. His skin was much darker, his complexion was haggard, and his eyes were sunken.
When Song Ran saw her, she was squatting on the ground wiping the stains on the ground. Her clothes made of burlap were soaked with sweat, and her hair was messy.
"Arno."
Arnold stopped what he was doing, stood up, and looked at Song Ran steadily.
His eyes instantly became moist.
Song Ran reached out to pull her, but she avoided it in embarrassment. She wiped her hand back and forth on her clothes a few times, making sure it was clean before extending her hand.
An old woman was holding a crying child from outside the house. She had an impatient look on her face and was mumbling in a language that Song Ran couldn't understand.
"Princess, this is my mother-in-law. And this is my child."
She took it from the old woman's hand and carried the child to Song Ran. With tears in her eyes, she said with a smile.
But her husband complained: "Don't let him disturb the distinguished guests."
Song Ran carefully took it from her hand, turned to Song Yuan and whispered softly: "I should have bought a longevity lock if I had known earlier."
Song Yuan leaned over and looked at the little guy in her arms. He stretched out a finger and poked the little baby's face, which made the little baby giggle.
"We'll have it delivered later."
Song Ran had never held a child before and was worried that she would hurt him. It didn't take long before she put the child back into the old woman's arms.
Leaving Song Yuan to socialize in the back room, she took Arnold outside to whisper.
"Why not stay in the capital?"
Arnold looked at her with a smile and said nothing.
"Does the Liu family not want you?"
Arnold shook his head.
"Is that because Brother Qi is treating you badly?"
Arnold opened his mouth and swallowed the words that came to his lips.
"Is your husband good to you?" Song Ran's voice was a little urgent when she saw that she had not spoken.
"Don't worry, Princess. I'm fine."
Arnold raised his hand. She spread Song Ran's palm, stroked the hard calluses on her palm, and said distressedly: "Swords on the battlefield have no eyes, Princess, you should be more careful."
Only then did Song Ran notice that Arnold's hands were much older than those of ordinary girls of his age.
Later she learned that Arnold's father had lost all his money in gambling and the tailor shop had been mortgaged. He also asked for a few hundred silver taels from the Liu family, saying that he had sold Arnold to be his maid.
The Liu family was not wealthy at that time. They only gave some money and did not take Arnold back.
Later, Arnold's father sold her here.
