Volume One, Chapter Fifteen: When the Upper Beam Is Unsteady, the Lower Beam Tilts

Publicly reprimanded by a guard, Song Yunche’s face turned by turns livid and pale.

That Song Qinghuan was something else. In less than an hour, she had somehow found Prince Su again. After all these years in Rongdi, she had certainly learned plenty of cunning tricks.

Knowing the proper etiquette, Song Yunche lowered his head and bowed. “Song Yunche greets His Highness, Prince Su.”

Xiao Xingyu did not respond.

It was late autumn. The air held a faint chill, while the ground was icy cold.

A bone-deep cold crept upward from Song Yunche’s knees until even his marrow seemed frozen.

Only when both his legs had gone numb did Xiao Xingyu leisurely say, “Rise.”

Song Yunche was furious, but he did not dare show it.

Seeing that Song Qinghuan was unharmed, he assumed Lu Yumo had failed to get what he wanted and had left after suffering a humiliating rebuff at Prince Su’s hands.

If he insisted on taking Song Qinghuan away now, he would likely meet the same fate as Lu Yumo.

Song Qinghuan had once been their father’s favorite child. Remembering this, Song Yunche took a cloak from his saddle and said with concern, “How has your maid been looking after you? In weather this cold, she did not even give you a cloak. Fortunately, I brought one especially from the residence.”

As he spoke, he fastened the cloak around Song Qinghuan.

Song Qinghuan eyed him warily. Brought it especially?

She smiled faintly. “Third Brother, you must be confused. This is a man’s cloak.”

Song Yunche’s hands paused. With an embarrassed cough, he said, “I was in such a hurry that I did not see whose it was. I simply grabbed one.”

He narrowed his eyes. Seeing that Xiao Xingyu had no intention of moving aside, he said in a low voice, “It is already late. Father and Mother are terribly worried. Qinghuan, come home with your brother.”

Song Qinghuan clenched her teeth.

Once she returned, she might lose her life.

But sooner or later, she would have to face everything.

Then, suddenly, she remembered something.

At this point in her previous life, the Marquis had received an imperial decree in the palace. Trouble had broken out in Chuanzhou, and the emperor had ordered him to settle it within a month.

Her eyes shifted, and she looked up. “All right. I will return with you.”

Xiao Xingyu’s gaze darkened slightly.

Only moments ago, she had been trembling with fear. Now she was unnaturally calm.

Did she believe the outcome was already decided and no longer wish to struggle?

Yet Song Qinghuan did not look like someone who had resigned herself to fate.

After a moment’s thought, Xiao Xingyu said, “Since it was this prince who saved Song Qinghuan, her life belongs to me today.”

Song Qinghuan was somewhat surprised.

Had he not said that he had merely saved her in passing?

Was he trying to help her now?

“This prince will personally see her safely home.”

Song Yunche nearly ground his back teeth to powder.

He had intended to question Song Qinghuan about the secrets of Rongdi on the way back. Now, he could only set that matter aside for the time being.

He forced a smile. Though he loathed Song Qinghuan, he had not lost all reason.

Prince Su was someone the Song family could never afford to offend. After they had angered him last time, their father had punished them in private. They absolutely could not act recklessly again.

“It is the Marquis’s honor to receive Prince Su at our residence.”

Song Qinghuan cast him a glance. Song Yunche was swallowing his anger entirely for the sake of Rongdi’s secrets. He was, at least, a man with a functioning mind.

The journey back was not long.

After the time it took to drink a cup of tea, they arrived at the gates of the marquis’s residence.

Song Qinghuan’s fingers had turned blue with cold. She gathered the cloak around herself and lifted the curtain.

Prince Su had guards attending him in front.

Beside him, Song Yunche had a personal servant helping him down.

She alone had no one.

Song Qinghuan smiled in sudden relief. Being alone was good. Alone, she had nothing left to fear.

From this night onward, she would no longer live in terror.

She would climb upward, step by step.

And one by one, she would destroy everyone who had wronged her.

Song Qinghuan turned toward Song Yunche.

“Third Brother!”

Song Mingzhu stood in the inner hall wearing a fur coat, tears streaming down her face and her eyes red from crying.

Her delicate, willow-like bearing was so pitiful that even Song Qinghuan could not help feeling a pang of sympathy. No wonder everyone adored her so deeply.

The instant Song Yunche heard Song Mingzhu’s voice, he hurried toward her, forgetting everything else.

“Mingzhu, the wind is fierce outside. Why are you dressed so lightly? What will you do if you fall ill?”

“Mingzhu is not afraid. I am only afraid that something happened to Third Brother and Elder Sister Qinghuan.” Song Mingzhu dabbed at her tears, looking heartbreakingly helpless.

She hurried around Song Yunche and eagerly took Song Qinghuan’s hand. “Elder Sister Qinghuan, are you all right? It is all my fault. If not for me, you would never have been angered into leaving home.”

Song Mingzhu wept with touching misery. From the corner of her eye, she caught sight of a pair of boots embroidered with golden serpents, and a sharp glint flashed through her eyes.

Prince Su had arrived.

“Elder Sister, please do not be angry anymore. Third Brother does not hate you. He was only afraid that I would have nowhere to go if I left this residence, so he said those things in anger. I apologize to you on Third Brother’s behalf.”

Song Mingzhu knelt.

Before everyone’s eyes, an outsider was apologizing to her for her own brother.

Song Qinghuan stared at her without expression.

Her dark eyes were terrifyingly calm.

She looked like a wronged spirit that had crawled out of the halls of the underworld, a chilling menace rippling beneath her stillness.

“What a fine performance.”

Song Qinghuan knew exactly what Song Mingzhu intended. She let out a low,幽? Need no Chinese. "幽幽笑出声" = gave a quiet laugh. “It is a pity I have no interest in watching plays.”

“Elder Sister, please forgive Third Brother. Do not worry—once dawn comes, I will leave the marquis’s residence. Ah!”

Quick as lightning, Song Mingzhu thrust her hand beneath Song Qinghuan’s foot.

In an instant, her hand was crushed, leaving a bloody streak as tiny beads of blood welled from the wound. The sight made Song Yunche’s heart ache.

“Mingzhu!”

Song Yunche lunged forward. His reason was completely overwhelmed by his anguish. He abruptly raised his hand and slapped Song Qinghuan hard across the face.

The crack rang out sharply.

Song Qinghuan was struck dizzy. She collapsed beside the tea table, one cheek swollen high.

“Have you gone mad? How dare you step on Mingzhu? She already said she would leave! How can your heart be so vicious? Are you determined to drive her to her death?”

Song Qinghuan could no longer hear a word.

Her face had gone deathly pale as scenes from her previous life surfaced in her mind—those people taking turns to slap her.

Mockery, curses, and endless humiliation rained down upon her from above, accompanied by salt-soaked whips that lashed brutally across her face and body.

Back then, she had repeated the same words to herself over and over:

Hold on.

Because far away, in the Kingdom of Tianqi, someone was waiting for her to come home.

But she had lost that home long ago.

The Third Brother who had once cherished her was already dead. The man before her was not the person he had been then. She should have stopped clinging to him long ago.

Song Qinghuan came to her senses. Clenching her teeth, she seized a cup and smashed it viciously against Song Yunche’s head.

It happened so suddenly that everyone fell silent, too frightened even to breathe.

Xiao Xingyu was rarely surprised, but even he was taken aback.

He studied Song Qinghuan before him.

A thin line of blood curved from the corner of her mouth. Her face was deathly white. Supporting herself against the wall, she struggled to straighten her back. She resembled a pine branch bent beneath the snow of winter, yet after enduring unbearable pain, she forced herself upright—refusing to let anyone trample her again.

“If you ever want to hit me again, kill me outright. If you leave me even one breath of life, I will take all of yours.”

Song Yunche’s head throbbed violently. After finally recovering, he gritted his teeth. “Song Qinghuan, you are insane—”

“What is all this commotion?”

The Marquis strode in angrily. Seeing that Prince Su was indeed still in the residence, just as the servant had reported, he shot Song Qinghuan an irritable glare.

Then he bowed respectfully. “My daughter is ignorant and ill-mannered. I hope she has not made a spectacle of herself before Your Highness.”

Xiao Xingyu said, “When the upper beam is crooked, the lower beams will be warped. Song Qinghuan is uncultivated only because she has a brother like that.”

As he spoke, he looked meaningfully toward the Marquis.

The Marquis’s face trembled with rage.

Song Qinghuan could not help curling the corner of her mouth.

He was insulting the old man himself: only because he, as their father, was devoid of proper manners had he raised children like these.