Chapter 154 An Act of Desperation

After leaving Lunong Building, Song Yixiao stood on the path back to Yaohua Venue for a long time before she shrugged off the snow on her coat. Then she just turned around with determination and returned to Lunong Building!

“Why are you back?” Again, just like before, the two guards were guarding the door, who had to report on Song Yixiao’s request of meeting; then the page-boy came to usher her inside. The page-boy’s eyes were full of impatience and resentment. “You’ve kept our Young Master disturbed for that long. I just can’t bother to talk to you. Why can’t you remember all the messages and say them in one time so as not to disturb our Young Master again and again?”

“I’m so sorry.” Song Yixiao knew that she was in the wrong and she just lowered her head with embarrassment.

Hearing this, the page-boy only said coldly, “Follow me!”

Su Shaoge was still in the warm chamber at the moment and felt rather surprised to hear that “Yuedeng” left and returned. Luckily, he didn’t get changed. He adjusted his clothes quickly and ordered, “Please let her in!”

It was Song Yixiao in disguise who came in. Su Shaoge waved at the page-boy to make him leave and then asked in confusion, “Madam, what else can I do for you?”

“Mr. Su, you’ve helped me a lot and I shouldn’t ask for more. After all, you are going to take the imperial exam, and should be left alone now!” Song Yixiao was struggling but upon thinking of Nie Wuying, she couldn’t just let it go. Still, she decided to use Su Shaoge’s kindness. “But Wuying is only 12 years old. If anything untoward happens to her, I will not be able to live in peace for the rest of my life! Therefore, I have no other choice but to beg you for help again!”

Su Shaoge said in surprised, “Apart from Sad-crane, I have no other solution for now!”

“That’s not what I am referring to,” Song Yixiao said in a hoarse voice, “I’m suspecting that Doctor Han’s falling off the horse was not an accident!”

“You want to investigate into this?” Su Shaoge thought for some time. “So you need my help with it?”

“How dare I bother you to do so?” Song Yixiao shook her head. “I’m afraid that the thing that happened to Doctor Han may happen again, so I want to ask you to help send a letter to Xubai. Please?”

Actually, after she was saved from the Chief House Steward’s abduction, she paid careful attention to her own safeness.

However, she was still too inexperienced. Last time, she didn’t expect such an offense to happen within the mansion of Duke of Yan; this time, she had overestimated Commandery Princess Qingjiang’s control over the Zhanchun Venue. In this villa, which was owned by the Commandery Princess for almost 20 years, Daiguo Grand Princess still could manage to let the doctor fall off a horse!

Song Yixiao learnt a good lesson and had to speculate about the aunt in a bad way. She didn’t even dare to send her own people to give a letter to her husband for help just in case the letter could be intercepted!

Since she couldn’t use her own people, she could only turn to Su Shaoge or Jiang Muting for now. The problem was that Jiang Muting was not escorted by any guard but maids, for she was brought here by Princess Yushan. And the royal guards responsible for protecting the princess could never leave their responsibility alone and be her messenger.

Under the circumstance, the only person she could rely on was Su Shaoge, the one who was gentle and nice! Moreover, the Su Family had great military power. Judging from the behaviors of the two guards at the door, Su Shaoge’s guards were no ordinary ones! Even if they ran into the people of Daiguo Grand Princess, they were likely to get away.

It was possible that Su Shaoge might take the chance to set her up although he didn’t side with Daiguo Grand Princess or the Crown Prince. However, Song Yixiao believed that if he really wanted to harm her, he could have just put her in trouble by pulling a trick in Nie Wuying’s medicine.

“Okay.” Su Shaoge meditated in silence for a while and then nodded as Song Yixiao expected.

Song Yixiao was finally relieved. Then she borrowed the writing materials from him to write a letter on the spot. In the letter, she asked for help implicitly. After all, without any evidence, she couldn’t be that stupid to tell her husband that his aunt wanted to kill her. Having sealed the letter, she handed it over to Su Shaoge, expressed her gratitude and left.

After she left, Su Shaoge held the letter for a while and stared at the pretty writing style of Flower Regular Script, as if lost in thought. After a while, he summoned a servant. “Ask a guard who is the best at riding a horse to set off right now and send this to Jian Xubai in the imperial capital!”

“The relationship between Xubai and his wife is so strange.” Now Prince of Zhao happened to hand in his homework to Su Shaoge. Upon seeing the letter, he couldn’t help asking about it. After learning about the ins and outs of the whole matter, he laughed and said, “If she and Xubai don’t get along, why did she write to Xubai for help under threat? However, if they get along, why did she ask you to help send a letter?”

Su Shaoge darted a look at him and said, “Why do you think that she shouldn’t have asked me to help send the letter?”

“Even if she doesn’t know the truth of Cousin Xubai’s being captured, it is not a secret that you and he hold different political views,” Prince of Zhao said confidently, “A husband and a wife should be in rapport with each other. Shouldn’t she stay away from you? Even if it is an act of desperation, she should consider whether you may place obstacles in the way, shouldn’t she? In my eyes, she doesn’t look like a stupid person. Maybe she is just so worried about Nie Wuying that she came up with such an idea!”

Nevertheless, Su Shaoge shook his head and said, “You know the family background of Madam Song. Now that she is in trouble, who else can she turn to but Jian Xubai? Does she have to view me as an enemy and refuse to meet me only because of distinct political views? If she does, she must be too narrow-minded! Besides, she has asked me to treat Miss Nie, which is not different from leaving Miss Nie’s life to me. Hence, to what degree can I harm her as she asked me help send the letter which she wrote in front of me?”

He suddenly smiled. “Actually, it was an act due to desperation, which you mentioned just now!”

Prince of Zhao asked in confusion, “What?”

“I can feel that she is terrified now. And the reason is simple, that is, she is afraid that Daiguo Grand Princess may plot to murder her! However, for one thing, she can’t state it directly in the letter. For another, Jian Xubai has been competing against Qiu Shuxia at the moment. It is fair enough to say that he is terribly busy. How can he put aside his business and rush to Zhanchun Venue only for a slight hint in his wife’s letter?” Su Shaoge said. “But it will be different as the letter is sent by me.”

Prince of Zhao was suddenly enlightened and said, “It turns out that Yixiao is not stupid. Under normal conditions, even if she feels good about you, she will not ask you to help send a letter for her. Now that she asks you for help, the situation must be too urgent for her to consider the relationship between the two families! Thus, after Jian Xubai receives the letter, he will surely guess that something serious has happened or is going to happen without even reading it.”

“In this case, Madam Song won’t let others have something on her and meanwhile, she can make her husband rush here as soon as possible!” Su Shaoge laughed. “Jian Xubai has good taste. She has gone through a lot of ups and downs, but she is really smart.”

“She is lucky too!” Prince of Zhao said grinningly. “It is lucky for her to run into you, who know about her intention, and still pushes the boat along with the current and does her a favor rather than disclose her intention. If she met a narrow-minded man, her plan would never work!”

“It happens that I want to make her take our side, how can I not leave a good impression on her?” Su Shaoge thought to himself.

However, he didn’t intend to tell his plan to Prince of Zhao. He only said, “But I do think that she has considered Daiguo Grand Princess as a person of overbearing disposition. Maybe it is because Commandery Princess Qingjiang exaggerated Daiguo Grand Princess’s domineering manner while advising Song Yixiao to avoid her? Doctor Han is a veteran doctor, who has been the exclusive doctor for Zhuo Ping’an for almost ten years. Even the President of the Imperial Academy of Medicine doesn’t know as much about Zhuo Ping’an health condition as him! If anything untoward happens to him and thus he cannot provide treatment for Zhuo Ping’an anymore, Commandery Princess Qingjiang will surely put up a desperate fight against Daiguo Grand Princess!”

The Commandery Princess was an inferior fellow of Daiguo Grand Princess, but she was pitied and favored by the Empress Dowager, Emperor Xianjia and Jinguo Grand Princess because she was widowed at an early age and her only son was intellectually disabled.

Even Qiu Shuxia who was in favor of Prince of Zhao to be the crown prince loved this niece ardently, who would basically grant all her requests. He just regarded her as his birth daughter.

If she wanted to take revenge on Daiguo Grand Princess at all costs, she could make it even with an internecine fight.

Prince of Zhao said casually, “Anyway, it has nothing to do with us. It’s up to her!”

“Let’s go to Buyue Villa later,” Su Shaoge thought for a while and suddenly said. “After Daiguo Grand Princess arrived, she heard that I was studying here. Therefore, she specially sent words to us that we didn’t have to pay respects to her. We didn’t go there for any delay before. However, now Zhuo Ping’an’s disease has come out and Doctor Han is seriously injured, Commandery Princess Qingjiang doesn’t even have time to go to Yaohua Venue to visit Miss Nie. Obviously, everything must be a mess! Under the circumstance, as a relative, you can’t pretend that you are not aware!”

Prince of Zhao heaved a sigh. “Since it is inevitable, let’s go there and make short shrift of it! Yet, what the page-boy said is correct. We are here to have a quiet moment. How come we are busier than we were in the imperial capital? When this is over, let’s move somewhere further. It is so annoying to be bothered so frequently!”

Su Shaoge answered, “When you are engaged in politics, you will know that the current trouble is nothing.”

When they decided to go to Buyue Villa, Song Yixiao was on the path near Buyue Villa.

She was heading towards Caixia Villa.

Su Shaoge was one of her husband’s political opponents, who was going to take the imperial exam after the spring. It was too disturbing to ask him to help give medical advice to Nie Wuying and send a letter to Jian Xubai.

Song Yixiao couldn’t also entrust him with the investigation into the accident that Doctor Han fell off a horse.

However, although she couldn’t turn to Su Shaoge for this matter, she could discuss with Yuan Xue’e and her brother.

“Shanyao, what brings you here?” Having walked into Caixia Villa, she saw that the place was in peace, which didn’t look like being wrecked before. Song Yixiao felt relieved and took off her hat, showing her appearance.

Yuan Xue’e was asking the “maid” about her intention of coming. When she saw the real face of the “maid”, she was taken aback and hastily stood up. “You are dressed up as your maid… Does anything wrong happen?”

When she asked the question, her voice became stern instantly!

“Where is Marquis Boling?” Song Yixiao didn’t have time to exchange pleasantries with her now, so she said directly, “I have something to discuss with him!”

After a while, Yuan Xue’e and her brother heard Song Yixiao about her speculation in the small living room.

Yuan Xuepei thought for a while and then said slowly, “Doctor Han’s leg is injured and it is cold now. Given that he has been taking care of Zhuo Ping’an for years, Commandery Princess Qingjiang decided to send for a doctor to treat him instead of getting him back to the imperial capital. Therefore, he is still in Zhanchun Venue. Yet, he is only a doctor so he can’t dare to get engaged with such a conspiracy. Even if he senses anything wrong, he will not admit it!”

“We can look into the horse too!” Song Yixiao reminded him. “It has been a few hours since it happened this morning. Some clues may be found then!”

“But Her Highness Daiguo Grand Princess and Princess Consort of Wei live in Buyue Villa now,” Yuan Xuepei said calmly. “And the reason is that they are worried about Commandery Princess Qingjiang and Zhuo Ping’an. I don’t think you can have a chance to put forward the request to Commandery Princess Qingjiang alone. Without her approval, how can you look into the horse?”

Song Yixiao stayed dazed for a while and then said, “Can we investigate in secret?”

“No!” Yuan Xuepei said directly, “The stable is under watch. In terms of ranking, you are half of a ranking higher than her, but she is your sister-in-law and a noble lady, whose connections and power are out of your league. The servant in the stable will probably not let you do what you do! It is not the worst. Worse still, if you are right about the reason why Doctor Han fell off a horse, you will beat the grass and frighten away the snake by looking to the horse rashly!”

His face became stern. “It cropped up too suddenly and we are not prepared at all! If it escalates, we are too outnumbered by them and we will suffer grievance for sure! I won’t suggest you to do so. The priority for now is Miss Nie. As long as she is fine, we can carry out investigation in the future! If anything untoward happens to her…”

Yuan Xuepei sneered. “You don’t even have to ask for investigation. Jinguo Grand Princess will look into it unrelentingly and never let go of anyone responsible!”

Song Yixiao bit her lips for a while and then said helplessly, “Okay!”

She sneaked here only to ask Yuan Xuepei to help investigate the accident that Doctor Han fell off a horse, but now Yuan Xuepei opposed to her plan with determination. Song Yixiao was not a person who wouldn’t listen to others’ advice. Now she decided to give up her thought and then left.

Yuan Xue’e saw her off from the side door. Before saying goodbye, she put a leather bag to her. “You must haven’t eaten anything for the whole day. Don’t catch cold on the way back. Inside the bag is the almond congee that has just been cooked. You can have some if you are thirsty or hungry!”

After leaving Caixia Villa, Song Yixiao gather up her coat and took the shortcut to return to Yaohua Venue.

It was freezing cold with whistling wind and snow. There was no one around in the snow but her travelling alone. She couldn’t help having a feeling of far-reaching hollowness.

Unexpectedly, on the halfway, Song Yixiao suddenly heard a string of roaring barks from behind. She had been fearing animals like mastiffs since she was rescued from the mastiffs by Zhiqin. Now she was greatly frightened and subconsciously quickened her pace, praying that nothing would come for her!

However, things didn’t go as expected. The barks got nearer and Song Yixiao also walked faster. In the end, she was so afraid that she started to run!

Nevertheless, how could a weak woman outrun a four-leg animal? Very soon, she was pushed down by a force behind her!

The hound, gritting its teeth and exposing its white fangs, drooled on her face.

With the horrible scene that happened six years ago flashing through her mind, Song Yixiao was terribly horrified and couldn’t help screaming hysterically. Then she just passed out!