Jinguo Grand Princess and Daiguo Grand Princess were blood sisters of Emperor Xianjia. The former one, who was not as interested in politics as the latter one, only cared about entertainment, so she was more favored by the empress dowager and Emperor Xianjia. Even though she married for three times and her numerous romantic affairs were widespread in the imperial capital, the empress dowager and Emperor Xianjia just turned a blind eye and pretended that they didn't know.

"The maid called Cuipiao said he had inherited the t.i.tle of Duke Yanguo. Hence, he must be the youngest son of Jinguo Grand Princess, Jian Xubai?" Song Yixiao sat by the bed and left the woman to smear the vulnerary on her foot, thinking in secret, "His father, Jian Likuang is the third husband of the Grand Princess, who is said to be seven or eight years younger than her. I doubt that they are not in good relations.h.i.+p due to the age gap. Yet, they two still have two sons. Jian Xubai is the younger one and yet most favored. He has been raised by the empress dowager since childhood. Rumor has it that he is treated just like an emperor's son!"

According to the little information she heard of accidentally in her previous life, Duke Yanguo, Jian Xubai seemed to live an enviable life. At the age of five, his grandfather, Jian Pingyu submitted his application for retiring and meanwhile pa.s.sing his duke t.i.tle to his youngest grandson.

Actually, even if the request was approved, by law Jian Xubai could only be Count Yan rather than Duke Yanguo.

Nevertheless, the empress dowager loved this grandson most.

Therefore, her imperial decree made an exception, granting him the t.i.tle of Duke and bringing him into the palace to live with the empress dowager. Being raised by the empress dowager was an unprecedented privilege among all the emperor's sons!

"It's said that he is favored by not only the empress dowager but also the crown prince. To sum up, he is handsome and n.o.ble as a duke with the favor among the imperial relatives. No wonder he was the No. 1 Mr. Right among the nieces of Madam Liu in the previous life!" Song Yixiao thought of this and couldn't help smirking, "Yet, they can never be with him this life!"

After all, the Liu Family gained extreme notoriety because Madam Liu dared to sell her husband's legitimate daughter. As a consequence, it would be even harder for the decedents of the Liu Family to get married than the Wei Family. In no way could the girls dream of marrying such a n.o.ble man.

Thinking of the faces of the Liu Family in the previous life and their present devastated faces, Song Yixiao suddenly felt rather pleased.

Now the strong woman finished applying the vulnerary to her sprained ankle and wrapping the ankle with a clean napkin, and then stood up and said, "My lady, your strain is not serious and you will get well in two or three days.

Song Yixiao hastened to stop thinking and thanked her.

The strong woman talked with her smilingly. Noticing that Song Yixiao was sweating, she opened half of the window to let some air in.

Song Yixiao got some air and then asked to leave. Yet, the strong woman advised her to rest for a while and leave, "The vulnerary will take the best effect if you can sit for two or four hours. If you are not in a hurry, you had better not move."

Of course, Song Yixiao was not in a hurry for anything. She was just afraid that Wei Mengying might be worried for not finding her after finis.h.i.+ng her meeting, so she discussed with Zhiqin and sent her back first to report her situation and then come back for her.

The strong woman went out to ask someone to bring in some pastries and then left. After all, given her master's position, she didn't need to fawn on a little girl like Song Yixiao.

Song Yixiao was okay with the cold att.i.tude. Zhiqin would come back for her later. By then it would be inconvenient if a stranger was with them.

She was waiting for Zhiqin, selecting the pastries. Suddenly, she heard a gentle voice from the corridor outside. The voice seemed to belong to a man who was not young and yet amiable. "Xubai, the cabbage rolls are bought from your favorite restaurant, which are still hot. Why don't you have some?"

"Is the man Jian Likuang? Jian Xubai just complained to his maid and now his father has finally come." Song Yixiao didn't expect that the strong woman's thoughtful action accidentally made her able to eavesdrop. She couldn't help feeling amused. Then she fetched two cus.h.i.+ness quietly and leaned against them, pretending to be sleeping with her eyes closed, just in case that she couldn't find any excuse if she was caught eavesdropping.

She just closed her eyes when she heard Jian Xubai say disgruntledly, "Uncle, how come you are here? Shouldn't you be on duty now?"

"Today is your birthday. I have asked for one day off." His uncle said gently, "Your mother has also prepared a feast at your home. Just have some cabbage rolls first and then go back with me, okay?"

Jian Xubai seemed to stay silent for a while before he asked sobbingly, "Where is my father? Where is my brother? Why is it you who comes to find me and bring me back? Why don't they come?"

"Of course they did but they just failed." His uncle sighed and said in a soft voice, "They also asked me to find you. By coincidence, I come to the silk store and find you here…"

"Really?" Jian Xubai's voice suddenly turned a bit cold, "Uncle, don't you lie to me. I will ask my father and brother about this later. You know, if my brother didn't ask you to find me here, he wouldn't mind telling me the truth!"

His uncle was speechless instantly. After a while, he said, "Anyway, a feast has been prepared in your home. You are the apple in the eye of the Jian Family. How can anyone forget about it? Good boy, go back with me. Do you know how many people are waiting for celebrating your birthday?"

Jian Xubai said sorrowfully, "But my father doesn't care about my birthday at all! It was my brother's birthday at the beginning of this year and my father attached great importance to that. He even helped pick clothes and accessories for my brother for that day! Why doesn't he take my birthday seriously at all? Even when I talk about my birthday first, he seemed not to care at all. Uncle, my brother and I are blood brothers of the same parents. I am not saying that my father cannot favor either of us but I just fail to understand what wrong I have done to make him ignore me like this! I am always trying to be a good son!"

He asked in a deep voice, "Is it because I went across my elder brother and inherited the t.i.tle of Duke? But I was five years old by then! I didn't even understand what a duke was. I would never become a duke without the consent of the seniors. I didn't mean to fight for it against my brother!"

"What is that?" Song Yixiao smiled and felt the resentment outside the door, "I thought that it was Jian Likuang who came to reconcile with his son, so it would be fine to listen to their conversation. Out of my expectation, it was the uncle who came. Now they are even talking about the story behind the inheritance of duke t.i.tle!"

She didn't dare to listen more so she nudged the silver vase on the table deliberately so that it could heat the nearby celadon lotus leaf dish. The clear cras.h.i.+ng sound immediately ceased the conversation outside.

After an instant, the patter of steps gradually ebbed away.

Song Yixiao let out a sigh and leaned back against the cus.h.i.+ons.

After a while, she heard the patter of steps and found that only one was coming. She thought that it must be Zhiqin so she hastened to get up. Unexpectedly, as the door was opened, it turned out that Jian Xubai returned alone with his hands at the back!

Looking at his poker face, Song Yixiao couldn't help wondering with fear whether he came back to morganize her.