Chapter 264: Chapter 264: Prince Ling Is Quite Good-Looking

Mrs. E looked at the iron chains, then at her.

Song Lianhe moved a little closer. “Ma’am, does that feel any better? Does it still hurt?”

“Ever since my husband passed away, no one has asked me if I’m okay… or if I’m still in pain…” Mrs. E sat on the floor, her expression blank and her eyes vacant, but large tears streamed down her face.

Watching her, Song Lianhe couldn’t help but recall the rumors that E Xianwang was henpecked. No matter how decisive and impartial he was outside, the moment he got home and slightly displeased his wife, he would be thrown out of their room.

The servants in the manor often saw their master in his inner robes, quietly knocking on the door and murmuring a few sweet nothings to coax her.

In Song Lianhe’s eyes, that wasn’t being henpecked at all. It was clearly a sign that he cared, cherishing his wife like the apple of his eye.

And it was precisely this kind of man, Governor E, who earned Mrs. E’s undying devotion in the original story.

She sat down beside her and said with a sigh, “If I could find a husband like Governor E someday, I would wake up smiling from my dreams. Even if we were separated by death now, just knowing someone in this world once loved me so much would still make me happy. And so, I would hold on to that love for him until the day I go to see him again… On that day, I’ll smile and tell him that I lived well every single day after he was gone, because meeting him was a blessing in itself—a great kindness from the heavens. He treasured me so much, so what right would I have not to treat myself well and make him worry?”

As Song Lianhe spoke quietly, Mrs. E turned her head, a flicker of emotion appearing in her eyes as she looked at her.

“Dying is easy, but I can’t do that. Because in this world, I was his most precious treasure, his one and only thought.”

Mrs. E suddenly smiled. She covered her face with her hands, tears streaming through her fingers as her shoulders shook uncontrollably.

“Yes, his most precious treasure… was always me…”

It was just as Song Lianhe had said. Even though the man who loved her was gone, the thought of him still filled her heart with sweetness, just like the fluttering excitement she felt when she first met him.

She could reminisce about these sweet memories every day and still feel it wasn’t enough. So how could she possibly be tired of living?

Just then, the doctor brought over the medicine, whispering a reminder that time was running out.

Song Lianhe knew time was short, but seeing Mrs. E like this, she suddenly wanted to give up.

She just felt that getting a clue didn’t matter. As long as Mrs. E could live on, that was more important than anything else.

She smiled, relieved, and said, “I understand.”

But until the moment she left, she didn’t press her with a single question. Instead, she tended to Mrs. E’s wounds and watched her drink the bowl of medicinal soup before leaving with her mind at ease.

A carriage was waiting in the small alley.

She hopped onto the carriage and looked up to see a man sitting in the center.

Zhou Cangyan watched her with an inscrutable expression. Song Lianhe felt a pang of guilt, gingerly sat down beside him, and lowered her gaze to avoid his. “Heh, I didn’t expect the Prince would still be here waiting for me.”

“Did you find anything out?”

Hearing his question, Song Lianhe gave a couple of awkward coughs and said with a straight face, “You can’t just go up to someone and ask how their husband died, can you? That’s so hurtful and rude! We have to be respectful… I mean, you have to… you have to build a rapport first! Once the rapport is there, they’ll naturally tell you everything! Don’t you… agree?”

Zhou Cangyan’s gaze was indifferent as he seemed to curl the corner of his lips into a smirk before slowly closing his eyes.

“Understood.”

His silence only made Song Lianhe feel even guiltier.

She was the one who had thumped her chest and guaranteed she would get a clue from Mrs. E to help him clear Governor E’s name, but now she hadn’t managed to get a single useful piece of information!

Sigh. ’That backfired quickly.’

She slumped in the corner, hugging her knees dejectedly. The man opened his light-colored eyes, gave her a careful look, and the curve on his lips slowly widened.

After dropping her off at the inn, Zhou Cangyan left.

Back at the inn, Song Lianhe transformed, once again becoming Sun Shangxiang from Chuzhou.

An old maidservant and a young maid came forward, and Song Lianhe played the part of a wealthy woman to perfection.

Just then, a young maid caught up to her side.

“Ma’am, you’ve been drinking again? The old madam doesn’t like it when you drink…”

“Heh, my mother-in-law looks down on me no matter what I do, so why should I care what she thinks? So what if she doesn’t like it? She can just suck it up!”

“I just went to the kitchen to prepare some black chicken soup for you. You always have a bowl before bed.”

Song Lianhe’s steps faltered. She slowly turned around, and her eyes widened in pleasant surprise at the person behind her!

It was Da Xi.

Da Xi was dressed in the clothes of a typical maid from a wealthy household inside the pass, but her skin was somewhat tanned by the sun. She was like a wildflower waving in the prairie wind—beautiful, healthy, and brimming with vigorous life.

Song Lianhe couldn’t hide her excitement. “Da Xi, what are you doing here all the way from Sui Ning?”

“It was the Master’s order.”

The one who replied was Xuan Mei.

If not for her voice, Song Lianhe almost wouldn’t have recognized that the old woman behind her was actually her!

“The Master said that you had no one to look after you on this journey, so he specifically ordered people to escort Da Xi here.”

Song Lianhe froze for a moment. ’If I calculate the time,’ she thought, ’doesn’t that mean he arranged for someone to pick up Da Xi as soon as he found out I was secretly following the merchant caravan?’

A strange feeling welled up in her heart. ’I never thought that someone who seems so indifferent about everything could be so considerate.’

Song Lianhe subconsciously reached out to take Da Xi’s arm, but Da Xi took a step back. “Ma’am, you mustn’t.”

Seeing her strict and proper demeanor, Song Lianhe thought she looked a bit like a stewardess from a prince’s mansion.

“Yes, yes, I mustn’t, I mustn’t.”

She lifted her skirt and walked ahead, asking in a low voice, “Oh, right, if you left, what about the Prince Mansion? Won’t that Nanny Gui start causing trouble again?”

Da Xi replied, “Ever since the Young Master drove Cheng Xidian out of the mansion, Nanny Gui has been much more well-behaved. She’s even been polite to me. She’s the one who personally taught me about my various duties in the mansion. I imagine she understands that if there’s a next time, the Young Master definitely won’t tolerate her.”

Song Lianhe nodded. “That’s good.”

The group walked up to the second floor. A door at the end of the hallway suddenly opened, and a handsome man in white robes stepped out.

Zhou Junlin glanced toward Song Lianhe and blurted out without thinking, “It’s not safe at night. Why are you back so late?”

Song Lianhe was speechless.

In short, she was utterly exasperated.

’Back when I was running around him like a blind donkey, why didn’t I ever see this kind of concern from him?’

Song Lianhe gave him a slight smile. “I. Wanted. To!”

With that, she led her people straight back to her room.

The door slammed shut with a BANG.

Zhou Junlin frowned.

Gu Ha stepped forward from behind him. Zhou Junlin gave a slight lift of his hand, and Gu Ha nodded before quickly disappearing.

Back inside the room, Da Xi asked curiously, “Who was that? From his tone, it sounded like he’s familiar with you, Ma’am?”

“Zhou Junlin,” Song Lianhe answered languidly. There was nothing to hide.

“He’s Prince Ling?!”

Da Xi was shocked. Back in Sui Ning City, she had seen a disguised Zhou Junlin, so she didn’t recognize him.

She said in a daze, “I never imagined… Prince Ling would be so handsome…”

Even Song Lianhe couldn’t deny it. “He is quite good-looking.”

The words had barely left her lips when the window behind them suddenly exploded inward with a BANG, shattering completely…

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