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Chapter 58

He had been too careless. How could he have such idiotic and absurd thoughts in spite of everything?

When Wei Luo had whispered into his ears “because you like me”, he had lost his ability to think rationally. From last night to today, her sweet smile had lingered in his memory. This had been the first time that she smiled at him, but she had wanted to use her hairpin to kill him. The sharp blade had pierced his chest. He was filled with hate for her, but in the end, he still let her go.

Li Song tightly held the wooden armrest. The blue veins on the back of his hand were bursting out and he almost broke the wood into pieces.

He had repeatedly been absent-minded during this conversation. Even Elder Princess Gao Yang had seen that his behavior was unusual. After calling his name a few times, she asked, “Song-er, what are you thinking about? I asked you how did you get injured. Why won’t you answer me?”

Li Song’s injury was on his chest. As long as it was bandaged, no one would be able to tell how he was injured or how badly he was injured. He quietly said, “I was injured by an animal during the hunting competition. It’s only a small injury. Don’t be worried, mother.”

Elder Princess Gao Yang looked at him skeptically and worriedly asked, “Is it really not serious? Your face doesn’t look good.”

He shook head and said it wasn’t serious. Taking advantage of the fact that they weren’t too suspicious yet, he endured the pain, and changed the topic, “Where’s Xiang-er? Why isn’t she here to see me?”

Elder Princess Gao Yang said, “She shut herself in her room since she returned from Xun Mountain. I knocked on her door several times, but she still won’t come out.” Her eyebrows furrowed in the end as she said in displeasure, “I don’t know what that girl is thinking.

What could she be thinking? It could only be that she had injured a person, felt guilty, but was worried that her parents would punish her, and was afraid to see anyone.

Li Song had always loved Li Xiang dearly and couldn’t bear to see her suffer the slightest grievance. However, he thought that she had gone too far this time. Because her family had always spoiled her, she had grown up to have an arrogant and unruly temperament. Even if Wei Luo had framed her, she still shouldn’t have tried to kill Wei Chang Hong.

Li Song thought for a moment before telling the past two days of events to Prince Ru Yang (Li Zhi Liang) and Elder Princess Gao Yang (Zhao Xuan). His voice was mild as he spoke, but Li Zhi Liang and Zhao Xuan’s eyes became wider and wider. In the end, she asked in an incredulous tone, “…. House Wei’s sixth young master’s injury was caused by Xiang-er?”

Li Song nodded.

Elder Princess Gao Yang was utterly shocked. If she hadn’t heard this from Li Song, she wouldn’t have believed this no matter what. Her daughter that she had raised in the palm of her hand was usually pure and cute. How could she do such a vicious thing? She murmured, “How could Xiang-er do such a thing? She… She…”

Elder Princess Gao Yang kept saying “She…” for a long time, but in the end, she couldn’t finish her sentence.

Fortunately, Li Zhi Liang’s mind was clear. He held his wife that was on the verge of collapsing and said to the servant girl outside, “Ask Miss to come here!”

Soon after, Li Xiang appeared in front of the door. She was wearing a white silk top and an olive green crepe skirt. For the most part, Li Xiang had already guessed the reason she was told to come here. There wasn’t the slightest amount of fear or guilt on her face. Instead, there was only a smile. She arrived in front of Elder Princess Gao Yang and asked a question while already knowing the answer, “Mother, why did call me here? I already said I wasn’t feeling well.”

Elder Princess Gao Yang settled her mind. She sat in her beech chair and tried to calmly ask, “Xiang-er, tell me the truth. Did you have something to do with Wei Chang Hong’s injury?”

The smile on Li Xiang’s face froze. She immediately looked at Li Song, “Did older brother tell you?”

Elder Princess Gao Yang’s voice became stricter, “Just tell me yes or no!”

Contrary to expectations, Li Xiang was very candid. Her eyebrows were raised and with a demeanor of willing to accept the consequences of her actions, she said, “I was the one who shot him. Does it matter?”

Li Xiang had injured someone. Instead of having a regretful heart, she acted as if what she had done was right. Her action made Elder Princess Gao Yang feel angry and disappointed, “How could you…” As she said these words, she felt her vision go black. She had to calm down for a long time before she recovered her senses. She had heard about Li Xiang and Wei Luo’s dispute. The matter wasn’t too big or too small. At most, their families wouldn’t be joined together by marriage. But now the matter was completely different. Li Xiang had injured Chang Hong. Not only had they offended House Wei, if the matter became public, this would greatly damage Li Xiang’s reputation and would make it difficult for her to get married! How could this child be so foolish?

Seeing that Zhao Xuan’s face didn’t look right, Li Xiang immediately went forward to support her, considerately poured her a cup of tea, and brought the tea to her. “Mother, don’t be angry. I heard people say that Wei Chang Hong is okay now. He was only injured a little bit. Who doesn’t get hurt during hunting?” After saying this, she looked at Li Song, “Besides, older brother will take responsibility for me. What do I have to worry about?”

Li Song didn’t reply and turned his face away from her.

Li Xiang didn’t think further of his action. She continued saying words to coax Elder Princess Gao Yang. She was born with a clever mouth. As long as she wanted, she would be able to put someone at ease. In addition, Zhao Xuan had always loved her dearly. Even if Zhao Xuan was angry, she wouldn’t give Li Xiang to House Wei to punish. As she placated Zhao Xuang, she logically explained her reasoning, “I didn’t like Wei Chang Hong to begin with. It’s daddy and mommy that insisted on matching us together. The relationship between our two families isn’t good and Wei Luo is sinister and cunning. If I marry into their family, wouldn’t I only be waiting to be suffer grievances? Is daddy and mommy willing for me to be bullied by their family every day? Isn’t the current situation better now? This marriage doesn’t need to happen anymore…”

Although Wei Chang Hong was older than her by a year, she considered him beneath her notice.

She liked valiant Liang Yu instead of a wimpy kid that followed his older sister every day. Wei Chang Hong’s eyes only had his older sister. The woman that married him would have to compete with this sister-in-law for his affection. That would truly be a lifetime of bad luck.

Elder Princess Gao Yang pointed at her, “So you injured him because of this? How do you want other people to describe you? Shrewish and malicious? Or cruel and brutal? Do you still want your reputation?”

Li Xiang acted spoiled by lying down and rubbing against her leg. “Mommy, I know I was wrong… It’s Wei Luo’s fault for scheming against me. I only did it because I was too angry at the time, so I didn’t control myself.” In the end, she didn’t dare to say how Wei Luo had schemed against her and could only ambiguously conceal it. “Besides, I have older brother. Older brother, how did you resolve the matter?”

Li Song didn’t answer her. The injury in his chest was too deep. Yesterday, he had only wrapped up the injury with bandages on Xun Mountain. Now, the injury ached terribly. He clenched his fist, held in his pain, and said, “I’m tired. I’m leaving first to go to my room to rest for a bit.”

After he said, he didn’t wait for their response. He turned around and left.

Li Xiang froze for a moment. She thought that he was only in a bad mood. She caught up with him and called out, “Older brother!”

Li Song didn’t stop his steps. Every step was extremely slow.

Li Xiang finally caught up to him at a vermillion-lacquered verandah. She walked in front of him and anxiously asked, “Older brother, are you mad at me…”

Before she finished her words, she saw blood coming out of his chest. She froze for a moment. Her eyes opened wider as she asked, “You’re injured? When did you get injured? Weren’t you still fine when the hunting competition ended…” She suddenly thought of something. She angrily looked up and asked, “Was it Wei Chang Hong? Or was it Wei Luo? Did they do this?”

Li Song only felt distraught with anxiety. He had a headache on top of his injury aching, so his face didn’t look good. His tone was harsh as he said, “Li Xiang, I shouldered the blame for your actions yesterday. If you continue to be so willful in the future, I won’t help you next time.” He clutched his chest, pushed away Li Xiang, and hoarsely said, “During this time, obediently stay at home. Don’t show your face in public until people stop discussing this matter.”

Li Xiang stood in place and watched his back as he walked further away. Unable to restrain her emotions, she gritted her teeth. Who knew if she had listened to him words and whether or not she would follow them?

Elder Princess Gao Yang loved her daughter too much and also hearing that Li Xiang knew that she was wrong, so she couldn’t bear to punish Li Xiang harshly. In the end, she only punished Li Xiang with kneeling in front of Buddha for six hours and copying scriptures a hundred times before counting the matter as settled. As for the marriage with House Wei, it definitely wouldn’t be able to happen. Not only would the marriage not happen, she was afraid that their resentment would be difficult to resolve.

At Duke Ying’s residence, Wei Chang Hong didn’t fully recover from his injury until half a month later.

During this time, Wei Luo was always nearby to watch over him. She had searched and collected various kinds of expensive medicine for him and wouldn’t feel assured until she watched him drink a large bowl of medicine every day. Sometimes, Wei Chang Hong felt very helpless and tried to struggle against this, “Ah Luo, I’m not as delicate as you. My injury had healed a long time ago. Could I stop drinking these tonics?”

Wei Luo shook her head and rather unreasonably said, “You can’t even defeat Li Song. When you can beat Li Song, you won’t have to continue drinking these tonics.”

Li Song had practiced martial arts since he was a child. Wei Chang had only learned some boxing to strengthen his body and health. Their abilities couldn’t be compared. Her condition was too unreasonable. Wei Chang Hong didn’t have any other methods and could only continue drinking the tonics.

Today, Zhao Liuli had invited Wei Luo to the palace because she had something she wanted to discuss with Wei Luo. So, Wei Luo let Chang Hong off for today. She returned to her room, changed her clothes, and went to the palace.

——-

At the same time, Emperor Chong Zhen had arranged a banquet at Lin De Hall and had invited the top three winners for the hunting competition to confer their rewards to them. A few princes and the sons of imperial officials would also be at the banquet. Zhao Jie and Zhao Zhang were also on the invitation list.

Zhao Jie hadn’t officially participated in this year’s hunting competition. Zhao Jie had only taken this chance to join in the festivity. After all, this type of competition was Emperor Chong Zheng’s method of testing the young men’s abilities. It wasn’t a grand and solemn occasion. There wasn’t a reason for the princes to show off their strengths and steal someone else’s opportunity. Originally, Zhao Jie had wanted to hunt a small fox for Wei Luo, but since that girl didn’t seem interested, he could only drop the subject.

At the banquet, Emperor Chong Zhen was wearing a purple, imperial ceremonial robe and a yi shan guan (a type of Ming Dynasty crown). His smile was good-natured as he allowed everyone to sit down. Zhao Jie and Zhao Zhang sat on his left and right side.

Zhao Jie was wearing an inky grey robe with golden edges and a pattern of dragons that hadn’t yet grown horns. His bearing was noble.

Zhao Zhang was seven or eight years younger than him. He was wearing a dark blue robe with a python pattern and cupping his hands in greeting. His smile was amiable and meek, but his face didn’t show fear.

Liang Yu was sitting below Zhao Jie. Li Song was sitting below Zhao Zhang. The other official’s son sat next to Liang Yu. The other people were sitting respectively on the left and right side of the hall.

During the banquet, Emperor Chong Zhen had heavily praised Liang Yu and the other two winners. He praised them as young men who had outstanding talent, bravery, and strategic ability. His words were very appreciative.

Liang Yu modestly stood up at once and felt somewhat embarrassed hearing these words. However, Emperor Chen didn’t have the same impression. He ordered the palace servants to bring out the rewards that had been prepared in advance to bestow to these three people.

The three people kneeled down, accepted the reward, and sat down in their seats again.

The reward ceremony was followed by drinking and watching the dancers.

The dancers wore rainbow colored clothing. They swayed and whirled their bodies to the sound of the music. Their movements and postures were graceful. Most people couldn’t turn their eyes away from them.

Zhao Jie lowed his eyes. With waning interest, he poured a cup of wine for himself and lifted up the ceramic wine cup. He raised his eyes to look at Li Song, who was sitting on the other side.

The injury on Li Song’s chest wasn’t healed, so he couldn’t drink wine. He had seemed absent-minded since the banquet started and was supporting his chin with his hand. At the moment, everyone was appreciatively watching the colorfully dressed dancers. Although his eyes were looking at the dancers, who knew where his consciousness had disappeared?

Zhao Jie called to a palace servant and whispered a few words to him. The servant nodded, quickly and quietly appeared behind Li Song, and said a few words into his ear.

After Li Song heard these words, Li Song looked at Zhao Jie gloomily.

Zhao Jie raised his wine cup. His thin lips held his smile. He raised his head, drank the cup in one gulp, and placed the cup down on the table upside down to indicate, “I finished. Do as you wish.”

Li Song’s eyes deepened. He could only pour a cup of wine for himself, toast Zhao Jie, raise his head, and finish the cup in one gulp.

Li Song had though this would be done after one cup. Who would have expected that Zhao Jie would deliberately torment him? One cup wasn’t enough. There was a second cup, then a third cup… When he had drunk the seventh cup, it felt as if the injury on his chest had split opened. His heart felt a burning pain. But when he saw that Zhao Jie didn’t have the intention to stop, he could only endure his pain and accompany him in drinking. The two of them were fired up and vowed to not give up until the other person fell over.

Unfortunately for Li Song, his tolerance for alcohol wasn’t as good as Zhao Jie’s. As each cup of wine went down, Zhao Jie’s face didn’t change the slightest amount. Instead, his face became increasingly composed. As for Li Song, the scene in front of him was already somewhat hazy. There was suddenly a sweet-smell in his throat, but he endured it and swallowed it down. He diligently drunk another cup and firmly placed the cup down on the black lacquered table inlayed with gold!

——-

The banquet ended. Everyone returned to their own residences.

Zhao Jie’s steps were steady. Other than his body smelling of wine, he didn’t seem like a person that recently drank twenty something cups of wine. He nonchalantly said his goodbyes to everyone, walked down the steps near the throne, and departed through Xuan De Palace’s entrance.

On the contrary, Li Song’s eyes were red and his gait was careless. With the help of a palace servant, he was barely able to walk out of Lin De Hall. By the time he walked outside to Xuan De Palace’s entrance and felt the cold wind, he felt somewhat sober.

Coincidentally, a bluish-green covered carriage arrived and stopped at the Xuan De Palace’s doorway. One of Wei Luo’s hand held her skirt decorated with a hundred golden butterflies and flowers and her other hand held Jin Lu as she came out of the carriage. When she first looked up, she met Zhao Jie’s line of sight. Her pink lips started to curve up to show a smile. As her line of sight changed, she saw Li Song behind him and the corners of her lips immediately hanged down. She looked away. She didn’t want to see him.

Zhao Jie smiled. He reached her in a few steps. He stroked the top of her head and asked, “Why did you come to the palace? Is Liuli looking for you?”

Wei Luo nodded and plainly said, “Liuli said there was something she wanted to discuss with me and wanted me to come visit her.” As she said this, she smelled the alcohol on his body. She retreated half a step and held her nose. “Did big brother drink wine? The smell is so strong.”

Not only had he drunk, he had drunk a lot.

Zhao Jie couldn’t smell it himself, but he saw the young girl’s face of distaste. He couldn’t resist teasing her, “What? You don’t like it when this prince drinks?”

Far from the question of like or dislike, it was only that she wasn’t used to the smell. She put down hand that was holding her nose, “If I say I don’t like it?”

He curved his lips, looked at her eyes, and said half in jest and half in earnest, “Then, I won’t drink wine anymore.”

Wei Luo blinked and didn’t say anything.

Behind Zhao Jie, Li Song looked away from them, took the reins that a palace servant handed to him, mounted the horse, raised the horsewhip, urged the horse forward, and left without looking back.