“I'm sorry!” Obviously, the accident gave him a surprise too. Upon seeing the woman falling backwards, he grabbed her arms by instinct. The minute he felt her soft arm and smelt her sweet scent, he realized that his action was rude so he hastened to release his hands.

Then he went backwards for two steps and meanwhile lowered his eyes to avoid eye contact with Song Yixiao as a gesture of respect, apologizing to her, “I have a little knowledge of medical skills. It is said that someone is lying ill in the guest room and the doctor hasn't arrived. Therefore, I want to go there and see whether I can do a favor. Sorry for offending you. Please forgive me!”

While saying, he made a bow with hands folded in front to apologize. His wide sleeves decorated with white ground and embroidered black bamboos were eye-catching, which looked like cranes stretching out. Indisputably, His elegance was beyond words.

Song Yixiao didn't intend to look much at a strange man, but given the gentle demeanor of this man, she consciously peeped at him. This man was one head higher than her, whose figure seemed almost the same as Jian Xubai's. His handsome face was embellished with long and beautifully shaped eyebrows, das.h.i.+ng eyes, a straight nose and red lips.

Undoubtedly, such a romantic appearance was pleasing and yet skittish.

However, his countenance was so soft. With his clear eyes and straight back, he appeared so straightforward.

After greeting, he looked down at the broken jade hairpin on the ground, “It's my fault to have your hairpin broken.”

Song Yixiao was wondering who he was when the old house steward stepped forward and said amicably, “Madam, the doctor that you've sent for hasn't arrived yet. There may be something holding him back. My Young Master is not a famed doctor, but he used to learn from an imperial doctor for several months due to interest, thus able to cure ordinary illnesses. How about letting him treat the ill lady in case that she gets worse?”

“Today we've made so much trouble for you and haven't paid you back yet. If you insist on compensating for the hairpin, I will be ashamed to death then!” Song Yixiao was in a dilemma. She understood what the house steward meant. He would like to lend a favor and also feared that Sikong Yiluo might die here and leave bad luck here. It was reasonable that he thought for his master.

The problem was that a distinction should be made between males and females. Sikong Yiluo was to be Princess Consort of Liang. It would be okay to send for a doctor if she didn't feel well, but a strange young man?

Apart from that, it was still fine that this man could cure Sikong Yiluo. What if he couldn't?

It involved with her reputation and life. How could Song Yixiao dare to make the decision for Sikong Yiluo?

Luckily, she was not only one lady who was accompanying Sikong Yiluo now. Then she expressed her grat.i.tude and then turned grim, “My friend has drunk the honey water the House Steward sent just now and she looks better now…”

The young master took the hint and said, “Okay. Then I'll wait outside the yard. If your friend is fine, I shall not disturb you.”

Song Yixiao felt sorry for the young master. They had helped her and her friends but she just stopped them from entering their own yard due to her fear for liability.

“My two friends are both unmarried. Please allow me to tell them about this.” Song Yixiao remained embarra.s.sed for a while and yet held back her guilt to act rationally. She did have Jian Xubai as her backing now, but Jian Xubai married her not to ask for trouble but to get a good wife.

Unless there was no other way, she had better not take any risk of harboring grudge against the Sikong Family.

Therefore, she gave herself an out, “Please forgive me if any inconvenience caused!”

The young master smiled gently and stopped about 10 meters away from the entrance of the yard.

Song Yixiao puckered her lips and strode into the yard swiftly. She found Wei Yinlian and briefed her about what happened outside. In the end, she asked, “Yinlian, what do you suggest we should do?”

Wei Yinlian got flurried instantly, “The doctor is two blocks away. How come he is still not here? Does anything happen to him? What an unlucky day!”

The maids of Sikong Yiluo were waiting anxiously. Upon hearing the news, they almost burst out crying, “Miss Wei, Madam Song, please make a decision for our young lady! She is so weak now…”

Wei Yinlian and Song Yixiao were both startled to get the unsaid meaning of the maid. In a hurry they rushed inside to take a look. Indeed, Sikong Yiluo's face looked grey and pale, who must be severely sick!

“Please ask the young master to come in!” Wei Yinlian lived on the opposite to Sikong Yiluo with similar family status. They two grew up together too. Therefore, it was easier for Wei Yinlian than Song Yixiao to make a prompt decision.

Now she thought it through and then made up her mind, saying, “Put down the curtain and then place a napkin on Yiluo's wrist before stretching it out… Since the young master dares to offer a help, he must be somewhat confident in his medical skills!”

Instantly, Wei Yinlian ordered the maids to make preparation while Song Yixiao went out to invite the young master in.

They were both afraid that something might happen to Sikong Yiluo.

However, after the young master came in, Wei Yinlian on the other side of the curtain was so surprised that she suddenly stood up, “Mr. Su?”

She even went from behind the curtain and shouted with delight, “This is your house? How fabulous!”

Looking at her s.h.i.+ning eyes, Song Yixiao thought they two were friends. Unexpectedly, the young master saw Wei Yinlian and then instantly lowered his eyes just as he met Song Yixiao before, asking in surprise, “Do you know me?”

It was then that Wei Yinlian realized her improper acts. She couldn't help blus.h.i.+ng but after hesitating for a while, she still didn't feel like going back to the other side of the curtain. Instead, she said in a shy and frightened voice, “My brother, Wei Pi, pa.s.sed the provincial examination on the same year as you. I… have admired…your talent for a long time.”

She hedged and then added, “Last year, in an outing event, my brother greeted you across a river and I happened to be nearby, so…”

It was not a nice thing that an unmarried girl peeped at a man, even if she did it by accident. Despite her affection for Mr. Su, she was too shy to finish the whole sentence.

However, Mr. Su was not in a mood to recall the outing of last year. He nodded at her politely and said, “Oh you are Mr. Wei's sister. What a coincidence!”

Then he looked at the curtain, “I heard that your friend was seriously ill. May I know whether I can take her pulse?”

They were lucky to have him here. He took the pulse of Sikong Yiluo, wrote down a prescription and decocted the medicinal herbs for her. The servants fed her the medicine to stabilize her situation. Afterwards the servant who was asked to send words to the Sikong Family also returned. The doctor didn't arrive, limping in pain until all of these were done. He explained that he fell off the horse due to anxiety and pa.s.sed out by the road!

Song Yixiao was speechless in despair.

People of the Sikong Family brought the carriage of Sikong Yiluo's grandmother. This old lady was Great Grand Princess Zhenyang, half-sister of the late emperor. Her carriage was s.p.a.cious and comfortable with a bed big enough for Sikong Yiluo to lie in. Therefore, after the doctor made sure that the medicine Mr. Su prescribed was proper and that Sikong Yiluo could hold on until she arrived back home, the servants of the Sikong Family hurriedly brought their lady back.

These people were a.s.signed by the Great Grand Princess. Although they were in a hurry to go back and report, someone was left to express grat.i.tude on behalf of the Sikong Family.

Even Mr. Su's servants were kind-hearted due to his indoctrination, so he wouldn't take the credit now.

Wei Yinlian and Song Yixiao were somewhat accountable in terms of Sikong Yiluo's illness. The former one was the prime culprit, who urged Sikong Yiluo to drink; the latter turned a blind eye to the two companions' willful act, who would be inevitably held liable if anything serious happened. Now that they were both anxious, how could they accept the grat.i.tude from the servant?

Without having exchanged a word of explanation, they sent the servant away in a perfunctory way.

Song Yixiao wanted to go back home and tell Jian Xubai about this to see whether any lingering consequence would follow while Wei Yinlian didn't feel like leaving.

It was a pity that Mr. Su said nothing to Wei Yinlian's proactive talking other than some pleasantries. Especially, he behaved just like a perfect gentleman, who just stared at about 0.3 meter away from the tiptoes rather than other places.

Therefore, not long after the Sikong Family left, Wei Yinlian still returned to her own carriage reluctantly.

“Does the young master look like a married man?” Song Yixiao's carriage went neck and neck with hers. From the slit of the curtain, she noticed that Wei Yinlian kept looking backwards with the curtain lifted even if the door was soon closed. She couldn't help feeling amused and yet confused, “Judging from the furnis.h.i.+ngs of the house, this man is not of ordinary family background. Since you've fallen for him, why don't you ask your brother to sound out his opinion? I believe that no one won't like you in terms of your beauty and talent.”

Hearing that, Wei Yinlian smiled bitterly and said, “Shanyao, you did really seldom go out! How can you not know this man?”

“Oh?” Song Yixiao was surprised, “Is he famous?”

“He won the first place in the triennial examination of Qingzhou.” Wei Yinlian stared at her disapprovingly, “Do you know how old he was when he pa.s.sed the provincial examination?”

“How old?”

“14 years old. That is, one year ahead the age for binding the hair!”

Song Yixiao turned serious instantly, “He is such a genius!”

Generally, it was already impressive enough that one could pa.s.s the imperial examination at the age of 50.

From ancient times, the imperial examination was the biggest and hardest among the talent-selecting examination. A 14-year-old student was enough to impress the neighborhood. And he even pa.s.sed the provincial examination when he was 14 years old, which was rarely seen in history!

However, the man was capped now. Why did Wei Yinlian only mention that he pa.s.sed the provincial examination? Was it because he failed the following examinations and still couldn't pa.s.s the imperial examination?

Thinking of this, Song Yixiao found it not strange that she hadn't heard of him before. When this man pa.s.sed the provincial examination, she was only five or six years old and could never know about the examination. Afterwards, when he failed the examination in succession, he would become inevitably unknown, thus making her unable to hear anything about him when she grew up.

“Sure he is!” Wei Yinlian was even more thrilled to hear Song Yixiao complimented on Mr. Su than to get praised herself. “More impressively, after he pa.s.sed the provincial examination, he received numerous congratulations. Even His Majesty compared him to a jade tree of the Su Family and fragrant orchid of Qingzhou. Back then a lot of people advised him to take the imperial examination of the national level. Given His Majesty's compliment on him, as long as he did well, he would surely pa.s.s it! However, do you know what he responded?”

Song Yixiao asked, “What did he say?”

“He said that there were a lot of talented people in the world. There were two reasons why he could win the first place in the provincial examination. First, he has been well educated by his family and teachers. Secondly, it was sheer luck that his article got appreciated by the examiner.” While saying that, Wei Yinlian was extremely excited, “He believed that he still had a lot to learn so he has been dedicated to his studies ever since. It was not until four years ago that he came to the imperial capital under the order of Her Majesty the Empress and Duke of Ji!”

Then she also intended to tell Song Yixiao that after he arrived at the imperial capital, he still buried himself into the books rather than attend the imperial examination immediately, which didn't cover his great talent though. However, amazed by Mr. Su's talent as Song Yixiao was, she was not as obsessed as Wei Yinlian. Instead, she asked, “Her Majesty the Empress and Duke of Ji? Is Mr. Su a descendent of Her Majesty's clan?”

“He is called Shaoge with the style name of Zhiyong, the youngest legitimate son of Duke of Ji.” Wei Yinlian was disappointed by Song Yixiao's sudden question and even looked disgruntled. “He is also the legitimate niece of Her Majesty the Empress. It is said that he will attend the imperial examination held in the coming spring! I am wondering which place he will win!”

Generally, young attendants of the imperial examination always win the third place if they can make it to the top three.” Wei Yinlian even started to worry which place he was going to get before he took the examination, which was so amusing to Song Yixiao. However, thinking of Mr. Su's age and temperament, if everything went right, he was qualified to make it to the top three indeed. Then she said, “By then, you should call him the third-place Winner in the imperial examination!”

Now it happened that they two were about to separate from each other. Wei Yinlian was contented with her prediction, “It is very young for him to get the third place in the imperial examination!” Having said that, she left with a goodbye.

After the carriage marched for a distance, Song Yixiao finally thought of one thing, “She has talked so much about Mr. Su but she still didn't mention why she didn't ask her family to talk about their marriage since she liked him so much. Mr. Su is the nephew of the Empress and she is sister of the Crown Princess. Aren't they a perfect match?”

However, it didn't matter to her much. Therefore, she just stopped pondering over it and started to ruminate about how to tell Jian Xubai about what happened today.

When she returned to Duke of Yan's mansion, she put on a suit of comfortable clothes. On the half way to the study, a servant came to report to her in a hurry, “Words from Prince of Hengshan have been sent that the Princess Consort has given birth to a daughter an hour ago, safe and sound!”

Song Yixiao hastened to order the servant, “Go to the study and tell His Lords.h.i.+p about this. Prepare a carriage for me. I'm going to pay a visit to the prince's mansion!”