Chapter 5:

Cheng Nanyu was taken aback. She didn’t expect Song Yushu to call her back. Unwilling to turn around, she hesitated but had to comply due to her mother’s presence.

She turned around obediently, put on what she deemed the most fitting pursed-lip smile, and stood there looking at Song Yushu. Although her gaze was not very friendly, Song Yushu seemed indifferent.

“Do you have anything else, older brother?”

Song Yushu stood there, staring straight at her, as if there was no room for anything else in his eyes. However, Cheng Nanyu truly felt nothing. At the moment, she just wanted to quickly step into the mansion and return to her courtyard.

“Sister, next time, don’t walk alone at night… to avoid falling.”

He seemed to be smiling, but his face showed no hint of a smile. Cheng Nanyu felt uneasy; she suddenly remembered throwing him to An Yue earlier in the imperial garden. She felt like he was indirectly reminding her of something.

Princess Qingyang was unaware of the intricacies between these two individuals. She was simply delighted to see the seemingly close interaction between the two children. Even Qingluan, standing behind her, was touched when she heard the caring advice from the distant royal highness to her mistress. However, Cheng Nanyu, looking at Song Yushu’s smiling face, couldn’t muster a smile.

“Go on, rest well.”

After giving her one last glance, Song Yushu watched Cheng Nanyu nod dazedly. Unable to control her body, she turned and walked towards the mansion. Qingluan, seeing this, quickly followed. It wasn’t until they crossed the hanging flower gate that Cheng Nanyu slowly reacted. Recalling Song Yushu’s smile just now, she suddenly felt a chill creeping up from the soles of her feet to her heart.

She understood; Song Yushu was probably reminding her of today’s incident in the imperial garden, where she threw him to An Yue.

“Thank goodness you grabbed me in time, Qingluan, or I might have made a mistake again! Song Yushu really holds grudges.”

She hadn’t realized it just now, only knowing that she was angry when Song Yushu threw her to the ground. Now that she had calmed down, she began to feel grateful. Fortunately, Qingluan had stopped her just now; otherwise, she didn’t know how Song Yushu would retaliate.

She admitted that she was a bit timid. Who didn’t have moments of fear?

Qingluan looked at her mistress, who shook her head slightly. She has been serving Cheng Nanyu since she was eight years old. At that time, her little mistress was only two. Over more than ten years of companionship, Qingluan understood her mistress very well, perhaps even better than Princess Qingyang. Her mistress was prone to impulsive mistakes, acting recklessly when her temper flared up but often regretting it when she calmed down. Just now, at the door, Qingluan saw a familiar expression on Cheng Nanyu’s face and rushed forward, fearing her mistress would act impulsively.

So, to prevent Cheng Nanyu from acting impulsively and regretting it later, she didn’t even have time to consider Princess Qingyang. She promptly stepped forward and reached out to stop Cheng Nanyu.

“From what I can see, His Highness is treating the princess well. Could it be that the princess misunderstood something?”

Qingluan hadn’t witnessed the real Song Yushu, but based on tonight’s events, she believed that this Highness treated their mistress well. After all, he even reminded Cheng Nanyu not to walk alone at night. How bad could he be?

“It’s not a misunderstanding at all. Let me tell you, Qingluan, that I have never seen such a petty person such as older brother. He is the legitimate eldest grandson of the ruler of the Song Kingdom. How could he bear a grudge for so long just because I bit him when we were kids? It’s ridiculous! Just now, he deliberately left me alone and caused me to fall. And he kept emphasizing the sister thing. Can you believe he’s my brother?!”

She was so angry when recalling Song Yushu’s actions that she wanted to bite him again. She didn’t even notice she had already entered her own courtyard.

“Who dared to make our princess so angry?”

In the house, Mujin heard Cheng Nanyu’s voice, put down the fruit tray she was holding, wiped her hands, and went out to meet her. Hanxiao, upon hearing the commotion, also came out of the adjacent room. However, before she could stand firm, Cheng Nanyu reached out and playfully flicked her forehead.

“Great! Hanxiao, I haven’t even gotten off the carriage, and you’ve run off? Leaving your mistress alone to face that big monster!”

Hanxiao felt quite wronged upon hearing this, exclaiming her innocence.

“Injustice, Princess! It was His Highness who said that the princess didn’t eat much at the grand feast, so he asked this servant to come back first and prepare some food.”

Her explanation sounded sincere, as she wouldn’t dare to deceive the princess directly. However, this revelation surprised Cheng Nanyu. She now understood that all of this was orchestrated by Song Yushu. Could it be that he went through all this trouble just to trip her up?

“Princess, is there something wrong? Anything inappropriate?”

Hanxiao looked foolishly at her princess, who seemed lost in thought. Mujin also wore a puzzled expression. Only Qingluan, observing the two confused girls, couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

“Both of you, in the future, just listen to the princess more!”

Qingluan inexplicably said this sentence, shook her head, and followed Cheng Nanyu into the room, leaving Hanxiao and Mujin outside looking at each other, completely unaware of Qingluan’s meaning.

“Qingluan, Hanxiao, and Mujin are a bit foolish. You need to teach them more, or one day they might get abducted without realizing it!”

The three maids burst into laughter, but Cheng Nanyu couldn’t find it in her to join.

“Song Yushu, stay away.”

In this uneasy night, Cheng Nanyu felt like she had spent the whole night contemplating Song Yushu. However, the reality was that, even after a whole night, she couldn’t understand how her elder brother intended to avenge the bite incident from years ago.

“Princess, it’s time to get up. Aunt Chang from the princess’s side has come, saying the princess invited you to have breakfast.”

At some point, Mujin had entered the room. With a smile, she followed Cheng Nanyu inside and headed to the washroom. Cheng Nanyu saw that the bed curtains were tied up and was then greeted by the smiling face of Mujin.

After folding the bed curtains, Mujin saw Cheng Nanyu, who had dark circles around her eyes, slowly sitting up. She looked dispirited, and it genuinely startled Mujin.

“Princess, what’s going on with you?”

Even without looking in the mirror, Cheng Nanyu knew her current state. She took the coat from Mujin, put it on casually, and rubbed her tired eyes. She couldn’t help but yawn.

“All was well. Why did my mother ask me to come over for breakfast? Could it be…”

Not knowing what triggered her thoughts, she suddenly turned around, surprising the smiling Mujin, who was handing over a cup of tea.

“Could it be that Father is back?”

Excitedly, she stood there, looking at Mujin. Mujin blinked and handed the hot tea over. Cheng Nanyu took it, and then Mujin shook her head.

“No, it’s the princess and His Highness having their breakfast ahead. The princess asked you to join them.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Cheng Nanyu, who had just been excited, immediately lost her enthusiasm. She looked like a deflated eggplant, unwilling and disgruntled. Suppressing a smile, Mujin endured the laughter.

“You go back and tell Aunt Chang that I’m not feeling well and can’t accompany my mother and brother for breakfast.”

Feeling dejected, she handed the tea cup back to Hanxiao, lay back on the bed, covered her head with the blanket, and with the natural dark circles under her eyes, she appeared as if genuinely ill.

As Mujin didn’t accompany her into the palace yesterday, she wasn’t aware of the complicated relationship between her princess and Song Yushu. Now, observing the princess’s reactions from yesterday until now, she guessed that the princess seemed quite afraid of her newly returned brother.

“Then… I’ll go and inform Aunt Chang.”

After saying this, Mujin reluctantly shuffled toward the courtyard, as if she were afraid Cheng Nanyu might change her mind and get up. However, since Cheng Nanyu had decided to avoid meeting her elder brother, she naturally had no intention of getting up.

In this situation, all Mujin could do was go out and inform Aunt Chang that her princess was unwell. However, Aunt Chang had been watching Cheng Nanyu grow up since the day she entered the mansion, treating her like her own child. Upon hearing that her health was not good, she became anxious to go inside and check. Since Aunt Chang was a close attendant of the princess, Mujin couldn’t stop her and could only follow her inside.

“Princess?”

Aunt Chang, upon entering the room, immediately saw Cheng Nanyu sitting on the bed, swinging her legs. Apart from the prominent dark circles on her face, she didn’t look like someone who was sick.

“Aunt? How did you get in?”

She naturally didn’t expect Aunt Chang to enter, so she was a bit flustered, quickly lying down and pulling the blanket over herself, and even coughing a couple of times as if she were genuinely ill.

But it was too late.

“Cough, cough… Aunt, I’m not feeling well. I can’t join Mother and Brother for breakfast. Please tell them not to wait for me.”

“Princess, don’t try to fool this old servant. Just listen to your cough; it’s full of vitality. It really doesn’t look like someone who is sick.”

Aunt Chang smiled and walked to the bedside, pulling away the blanket covering Cheng Nanyu. She looked at her gently. Seeing Aunt Chang’s face full of tenderness, Cheng Nanyu couldn’t help but feel guilty.

“Aunt, can’t you spare me the embarrassment?”

She sat up slowly, looking at Aunt Chang with a somewhat guilty expression. However, Aunt Chang just smiled and poked her nose. The two of them, unlike the mistress and servant, seemed more like ordinary family members.

“Princess, this old servant has raised you. How can I not understand you? It’s probably not because you’re unwell but because of His Highness, right?”

Aunt Chang, being a servant who came from the palace, was adept at reading expressions and tones. She had observed since yesterday that the princess disliked her brother, even harboring deep resentment. As for the reason, she couldn’t quite figure it out.

These two have only met for the second time. What could make the princess so unwilling?

“However… This old servant can’t figure out why the princess is upset. Is it because of the young master?”

Aunt Chang knew that her little princess, whom she had raised since childhood, had a childlike personality. With Princess Qingyang separated from her biological son for many years, this time having Song Yushu come to the mansion to stay, Princess Qingyang was naturally overly concerned about her biological son, somewhat neglecting her adopted daughter. Perhaps because of this, the young princess was dissatisfied?

However, Cheng Nanyu didn’t catch the meaning behind Aunt Chang’s words. She mistakenly thought that Aunt Chang had also figured out that she was afraid of her unpredictable elder brother. To preserve her dignity, she decisively shook her head.

Joke’s on her; she couldn’t let others see that she was afraid of Song Yushu!

“No, Aunt, how could I be upset because Brother didn’t eat? I just felt a bit of a headache earlier, probably because I didn’t sleep well. It’s fine now. Please, Aunt, go to the front hall and inform Mother. Tell her I’ll be there after freshening up a bit.”

Aunt Chang looked at her with a mixture of belief and doubt. After a moment, she nodded with a smile, turned, and left the room, allowing Cheng Nanyu to breathe a sigh of relief.

At least she didn’t let Aunt Chang see through her. However, now that she had agreed to go, she naturally couldn’t avoid it any longer. She reluctantly tidied up, selected a decent dress, and went to the front hall. Only then did she realize that Princess Qingyang and Song Yushu were already seated at the table, waiting for her.

“Yu’er is here; come, have a seat!”

Princess Qingyang was obviously in a good mood. She didn’t scold Cheng Nanyu for being late but instead happily waved for her to come over and sit. This made Cheng Nanyu even more annoyed.

Usually, her mother was strict with her. In such situations, it was not uncommon for her to be scolded, even in the presence of her father. Yet this time, nothing happened?

“Yu’er is here.”

Song Yushu, too, nodded politely when she approached. Cheng Nanyu, feeling awkward, returned the greeting with a forced smile before sitting down. She absentmindedly picked up her chopsticks, surreptitiously observing him. She even forgot to take any dishes, just lowering her head and absentmindedly shoveling rice into her bowl.

This elder brother of hers was truly unfathomable. Every day, he managed to surprise her. His facial expressions seemed more numerous than the masks used in opera performances! Every day, he presented a different face.

“Sister, why aren’t you eating your vegetables? Why are you always looking at your brother?”

Author’s note: Cheng Nan Yu: Is my brother suffering from amnesia today? This feels like a heavy blow to me T_T