Song Chengming stared at the woman in front of him.
Inside and outside the green screen window, the fragrance lingers.
It is already late summer and early autumn.
Outside the window, the light golden osmanthus branches were mottled, and Cao Xiwan fell all over him.
Her white robe seemed to have dark gold lines through it, and her oval face and beautiful eyebrows seemed to be wearing a devil's mask with gold powder on a silver background.
Song Chengming knew that the Heavenly Witch in the Mengyuan Palace of the previous dynasty was enchanting and charming, but there was a murderous intention hidden under the mask.
He wanted to take a moment to see her eyes clearly. Are there any traces of the past?
He also didn't believe that she had lost her strength.
But the royal doctor said so.
The female doctor said this.
The shadows of osmanthus and gold shone through the window, and her eyes were as clear as amber, just like the changing surface of a lake under the sun. He couldn't see clearly.
She chose this hidden corner when she entered the room without revealing any flaws.
This is the person he cultivated with more than ten years of hard work...
Going back to the inner house to be a maid?
Song Chengming hit the table with his palm, and his anger surged: "You——"
She suddenly covered her mouth and started coughing, then turned aside awkwardly: "I'm sorry, slave..."
It was rare for him to see her so weak, so he was startled and sighed.
He couldn't help but think of her usual heroic appearance, often dressed in men's clothing and a bright red flying fish suit, wearing a black palace sword, riding flowers and riding horses in the streets. Thinking of her elegance and pride back then, Song Chengming finally sighed in despair.
"That's all..."
How much sincerity she has and how much she has some agenda, why should he care?
She did this for him.
"Think again. Don't make a decision in a hurry."
"Master Hou..." Cao Xiyang looked at Song Chengming. She had no choice, right?
He seemed to have given her three choices. Let her become a maid to his future wife, which was the lowest choice. The best choice among the three choices was that he promised to give her a life as a good girl.
He took her into his house as his concubine.
She didn't respond.
Why does she want to be a concubine?
She put on the veil, walked two steps forward, held tea, and delivered it to Mr. Marquis. She said softly: "Madam, Mr. Marquis, your future Mrs. Hou will have the same monthly income as the old lady in front of you."
Mr. Marquis, you know that I am not in good health now, so I can only go back to the inner house. The old lady likes to use old people to accompany her, and I cannot please her. It is my great blessing to be able to serve my wife."
She sighed, thought deeply, wiped the corners of her lips with a handkerchief, and said thoughtfully, "Master Marquis, I heard that my wife's dowry is very generous, and she must be generous to her servants."
It would be great if she could earn a little more. With Mr. Marquis, she could no longer earn as much monthly money as before.
It is better to change the master as soon as possible.
Moreover, as a girl, there is a 50% chance of redeeming her in the future, but this is not the case for a concubine.
She thought to herself and put down all her previous loyalty to Song Chengming.
She should also withdraw and retreat.
At this time, Marquis Nankang stopped eating his tea and looked at her doubtfully.
She was slightly startled, seeing his barely gentle eyes, how could she not know him?
Song Chengming could also see through the twists and turns of his thoughts at a glance.
She quickly lowered her head again, showing a sad look: "Since it is the emperor's order, this marriage must be honorable. My wife heard some rumors and doesn't like me. If I go to serve her, she will naturally understand that I am not that kind of person."
Song Chengming's face softened slightly, and after thinking about it, it was better to take her as his concubine. Of course it would be good if she was willing to do so. He nodded slightly: "I have wronged you."
"Don't dare."
What she disliked was that the Marquis thought that her body was weakening and she had become a useless person, so her mind was also stupid?
If she had not collected the old love between Song Chengming and Miss Lou Liu that had been secretly entangled for many years, she might have believed that the Marquis' marriage was really a last resort.
"My marriage to Mr. Lou is the emperor's order. Please bear with it for the time being and it will be fine in a year. I still have room for you to be reused."
——Whoever is stupid will believe it.
Mr. Hou will never reuse a piece of trash.
Only then did Manager Lian Er speak and asked her about official matters: "How will we arrange the arrangements for the people outside?"
"Second manager, don't worry. Even though I've done my best, I haven't fought against any enemies before, and I haven't been seriously injured. They can't believe it." She whispered a few words, saying that she had already made arrangements for the past two years.
Song Chengming thought, even he couldn't believe it.
The imperial doctor said that she became ill due to overwork. That's all.
The female doctor in the Yuan Palace of the previous dynasty said something even more sinister: "Nine changes in the underworld have violated the harmony of heaven. The time has come, and the fate is over."
How could Song Chengming believe this?
However, he also knew a little about Qihuang Zhishu, who was born in a military household, and had personally diagnosed her pulse and explored her inner Dantian.
Unparalleled talent, once dispersed, leaves no trace like a spring dream.
He was also ill in those days.
She bowed and exited the outer study room, retreating through the green screen window and stepping on the slanting shadow of osmanthus branches on the corridor.
She knew that there were shadows lurking inside and outside the study.
Although she was a disabled person, her sensitivity was better than that of ordinary people. As she turned the corner of the corridor, she felt that the oppression and solemnity around her behind her suddenly became lighter.
The ambush masters of Jinyiwei retreated.
She thought to herself, if she just answered a wrong question in the study room, she would be surrounded and killed, right?
"It's a pity that I have been cultivating it for more than ten years——"
In the chair, he looked up and sighed, almost crying, "I originally wanted to be with her forever, and get to know each other with our gray hair."
But in the past ten years, she has gone through life and death for him. For him, she even cut her lover's throat with a sword and abandoned her body in the street.
What else is he dissatisfied with?
She walked on the green lacquered corridor and looked at the Merlin outside the house from a distance.
Queen Merlin is setting up a stage to celebrate the Marquis's double happiness.
Song Chengming was finally able to inherit the title as a concubine, and was ordered to marry Lou Shuluan, the legitimate daughter of General Lou's mansion, as his stepmother.
Isn’t it great joy?
An actor played a sad tune in the wind. The Marquis loved to listen to the Wenzhou opera in Shuimo accent, as if he was rehearsing a great drama in which a loyal minister was betrayed.
The cunning rabbit is dead, the running dogs are cooked, the birds are gone, and the good bow is hidden.
She couldn't help but hurt herself while reciting these four sentences. She thought to herself that there were three times as many people on duty in the four corridors of the outer study today.
If she didn't know what to do, would she have forced the Marquis to throw a cup as a sign of honor, and let the jackals from the Jinyi Guards rush out to surround her and hack her to death?
After working as an errand outside the government for ten years and traveling in government offices, she knows the rules.
The scent of cinnamon beside the eaves of the corridor was sweet. She calmed down, broke a branch in her hand and sniffed it. The aroma calmed her doubts.
She thought, why is she so unlucky? She also thought, at this time, she should take medicine.
But she didn't want to accept it.
I'd rather die.
Just as she was thinking that there was a wisp of early autumn chill among the petals, she quickly abandoned the flower branch, covered her mouth with a handkerchief, and coughed endlessly.
——As expected, my body is not as good as before.
No, she has not lived enough of the joys and sorrows of this world.
A few boys in the corridor were hanging red silk.
Their lips were red and their teeth were white, and they were pink-faced and blue-robed. They were pleasing to the eye, especially the young boy whose eyes were shy and evasive, as if he was looking at her secretly.
She thought, are you laughing at her?
The new boys didn't dare. They peeked at the rumored eldest daughter-in-law in the outer study room, but they were frightened by Sister Meiren'er's sharp eyes and ran away.
She had doubts on her face. Do these boys look down on her as a useless person?
She coughed again.
Someone behind him laughed and said, "What are you thinking, young lady? It's not good to stand in this wind."