chapter 5
Song Lan’s expression faltered, and he took a step toward me. “Zhenzhen…”
An arm crossed in front of me, and Ji Wenli, who had stayed quiet all this time, finally spoke.
“‘Zhenzhen’ what, Zhenzhen? My little sister said so much, and you didn’t believe a single word of it. So what are you still asking?”
He glanced at the counter and had a shop hand bring over a cup of tea, then handed it to me. “Your elder cousin picked a poor place to bring you. I meant to buy you gifts, and instead you had to waste your breath on someone with no sense of the moment.”
“Young Prince, you may be our cousin, but at the end of the day, this is a family matter between brother and sister. Your interference seems rather inappropriate.”
Song Lan withdrew the trace of surprise that had escaped him a moment ago.
His face hardened back into that impenetrable coldness.
Ji Wenli cast a glance at Song Ruoyun. “Even if it is a matter between siblings, how is it that there’s still an outsider here? Others may not know the details, but as your cousin, I do remember that my aunt bore only one daughter back in the day. This Second Miss…”
Song Lan’s expression shifted dramatically, and he instinctively shielded Song Ruoyun behind him. “Mind your tongue, Young Prince.”
Ji Wenli smiled, leaned in, and whispered a few words into Song Lan’s ear.
Song Lan’s hand at his side clenched tightly, and he turned and led Song Ruoyun away.
Ji Wenli shook his head and glanced at me. “What kind of life do you live at home?”
I stared blankly at Song Lan’s retreating back, thinking of how he had once shielded me too.
He had told our parents that I had just come back and was still learning the rules, that any mistake I made was understandable.
The first time I was punished to kneel in the ancestral hall, it was Song Lan who came to take me out.
The moment I saw him, all my grievances rushed up in a flood, and I choked out: “It wasn’t me.”
My legs were numb from kneeling, and I couldn’t keep my footing. He gathered me into his arms and patted me gently. “It’s all right. In time, Zhenzhen will be able to do well.”
His embrace was so warm, so reassuring.
So warm that I failed to notice that he said I would be able to do well in time.
Not that he believed me.
Song Ruoyun was the sister he had grown up with for over a decade, always thoughtful and obedient, and made uneasy by my return, constantly trying to please and make up to me.
She was so pitiful that my parents and brother all ached for her.
Even in those first few punishments, I hadn’t realized Song Ruoyun was behind them.
It was my parents’ and brother’s repeated trust that emboldened Song Ruoyun’s schemes.
Her tricks were so clumsy that even I could see through her intentions, yet no one believed my defense, and again and again they branded me narrow-minded and despicable.
I looked at Ji Wenli, trying to say “I’m fine” as if nothing were wrong.
But the moment I opened my mouth, my voice was already choked with tears.
Ji Wenli’s expression changed. He shielded me with his sleeve and led me up to a private room on the second floor.
He sat me down in a chair and let out a breath. “All right. Cry.”
I gripped a corner of his sleeve, breathing deep, trying to hold back the tears. “I never hurt anyone… Mama taught me to heal people with medicine. I save people. I, I don’t hurt people…”
“None of them believe me. No one believes me. Father doesn’t believe me, Mother doesn’t believe me, even my brother doesn’t believe me…”
In the days with Mama, I had dealt with people honestly and openly, so when malice struck at me all at once, I never saw it coming.
By the time I realized it, the malice had already left its stain on me, impossible to wash clean. In others’ eyes, I was no different from filth.
Ji Wenli sighed and crouched down in front of me. “I believe you. Your cousin believes you.”
I was puzzled. “You… why do you believe me? We only just met.”
Ji Wenli answered lightly. “A reason? I took one look at you and knew you were a good sister. Forget about you not hurting anyone — even if you said fish fly in the sky and birds swim in the water, I’d believe you.”
He made me laugh again.
He smiled too. “Cry. Have a good cry, and you’ll feel much lighter.”
I had been able to hold the tears back until then, but knowing that this person before me believed me, they came pouring out.
Just as he said, once the tears were shed, my heart felt much lighter.
I let out a long breath and wiped my face dry.
As I followed Ji Wenli out of the shop, I saw a man standing dazed by the door.
Song Lan had actually come back. He stood at the entrance, no one knew for how long.