Xiao Shun bowed before retreating the tea room, leaving the two figures alone inside.
"So... You are 3rd prince's older sister from the same mother?"
"Yes, that's right." Qiang Jieyou replied.
Lin Xinglan nodded in understatement, "I see."
When she looked at the gentle smile showing on Qiang Jieyou's face, she felt awkward. Having no clue what to say to break the awkwardness, she stiffly smiled back. Fortunately, Qiang Jieyou didn't make things difficult for Lin Xinglan and began to talk.
"Not only do you look healthy, you also look very beautiful." Examining Lin Xinglan, her smile became wider, "En, it is nice to be young."
Being praised by a princess, Lin Xinglan's cheeks became red. She flusteredly thanked the princess and soon enough, their conversation became smooth and relaxed. Lin Xinglan never thought it would be such a pleasure to interact with a princess. She admitted that she thought princesses were spoiled brats only because she read so many novels that always included such kind of princesses, so much that it was impossible for her to think otherwise unless seeing it with her own eyes.
"As you can see with my weak appearance, I am ill. My health is very poor and it has been like this since the day I was born. Because of that, I have almost always never went out of my place. Rarely do I meet my family. I have heard a lot of things from third younger brother though, so despite being isolated, I am not ignorant of things happening outside." Qiang Jieyou took a sip from her tea cup and continued, "I have heard of you, and fourth younger brother."
Getting to know about Qiang Jieyou, Lin Xinglan felt sorry for her as it must had not been an easy life for her. Qiang Jieyou was a refined woman, and Lin Xinglan admired her, but that admiration only lasted until Qiang Jieyou began to talk about Qiang Jingyi and his childhood.
"That fourth brother of mine seemed to be a cute child back then, but he was quite pitiful. It makes me heartbroken to know what he had gone through. How people in the palace treated him, it was cruel. One can assume he still has the awful scars he received from it."
Lin Xinglan's chest tightened at the last sentence, her small hands slowly clenched into fists as she continued to listen to Qiang Jieyou's words.
"Such things, a child should never experience them. I was angry and upset when I heard about the things that happened to that child. Because of his mother's low status, he was treated such way and he never received love from anyone. No one there for him when he needed help. How I wish he would have a better childhood, that he would have been loved, just like how his siblings were being loved. Unfortunately, the cruelty never stopped."
Qiang Jieyou heaved a sigh, she moved her gaze to the window and watched the birds flapping their wings, "I really pity him. I can never imagine his pain and sufferings." Turning her head, she lowered her eyes towards the table, "He is a sad child."
"Is that so? You were aware of this mistreatment? What do you think of him?" Trying to be calm, Lin Xinglan did her best to ask Qiang Jieyou questions.
"He is my younger brother, I care about him. He's good and talented, it is a pity for him to be born from a low status concubine. Unfortunately, time cannot be rewinded."
Lin Xinglan clenched her jaw during the moment, she has already had enough hearing the first prince badmouthing Qiang Jingyi and now she had to hear about this. She slammed her fist on the table, making the tea set slightly jolt. Although Qiang Jieyou calmly lifted her head, her eyes showed that she was surprised over Lin Xinglan's abrupt action.
She fiercely looked at the person in front of her with distaste, and dropped her formality, "Pity here, pity that... Just stop. Angry? Upset? If you truly care about Jingyi, you would have done something all way back when he was a child. But did you? You didn't, right? You just sat back and did nothing despite knowing what he was experiencing. And you dare to say you were upset and angry...?" Lin Xinglan snorted, "You have no rights, nor do you deserve to pity him!"
Pointing her finger at Qiang Jieyou, she raised her voice, "Don't you dare call him a sad child again, don't you dare to pity him if you're not doing anything about it even though you can!" Taking a deep breath, she continued, "He doesn't need your pity. Never mind helping him, he doesn't need your help, after all, he could do it without you before and he can also do it without you now. You are too late."
Lin Xinglan stood up from the chair, preparing to leave, "You are no different from the other people who only watched him suffer. I hope you are happy with yourself. I just want to say.... Stop pretending like you're a caring person. Who are you pretending for, anyways."
Shaking her head with disappointment towards Qiang Jieyou, Lin Xinglan turned around and walked towards the exit. She didn't want to stay there any longer or else, she would become sick in stomach. Besides, she needed to return, not wanting to imagine what Qiang Jingyi would react if he couldn't find her.
Just as she walked out of the room, Qiang Jieyou's voice rang in her ears, her voice still remained gentle as always.
"Thank you for making his life better. For being with him, for helping him, and for making him happy."
Lin Xinglan stopped moving, not looking back, she coldly stated, "I don't need your thanks. Jingyi is someone important to me, it is naturally that I care about him."
With that, she left the room and planned to go back where Qiang Jingyi had left her. Hopefully, she would return before he would come back.
When Lin Xinglan left, Qiang Jieyou sighed softly, she picked up the cup and drank up the rest of the tea.
"Elder sister Jieyou..."
"Mhm?"
Standing behind Qiang Jieyou was Qiang Rong Kai, he had just appeared after Lin Xinglan was gone. Looking at the elder sister of his, Qiang Rong Kai quietly stood still.
Qiang Jieyou chuckled when she got silence in return, "Rong-Rong, it is bad to eavesdrop."
".... Why did you talk to her about him like that?"
Her smile deepened as she leisurely spoke, "To see how much she cares about our younger brother but of course... " She turned her head to look at him, "That girl wasn't wrong about me. I am quite a pretender."
Qiang Rong Kai knitted his eyebrows as if he was displeased, "Elder sister, you are not like that. Please do not say that kind of things about yourself."
He, whom had been with his eldest sister the most, knew very well what kind of person she was. She was someone who hid her feelings and true intents, having the habit of making people angry on purpose to see their real side.
Even if people disliked that elder sister of his, he would never dislike her, she was his sister and she had always been good to him. When he was sick as a child, his elder sister would always take care of him despite the fact that she was sicker than him. To him, his elder sister was someone he would never abandon and forget her kindness.
A wave of warmth surged her heart, Qiang Jieyou hopelessly smiled, "Rong-Rong.... Aren't you supposed to watch over that girl, what are you doing here, chatting with me? You are going to lose tracks of her."
Upon hearing his sister, Qiang Rong Kai stared blankly at her and when her words finally registered in his head, he swiftly disappeared from the room. Seeing this, Qiang Jieyou shook her head and called her maid to refill her tea cup.
Nearby the tea room, a huge shadow that had always been there ever since Lin Xinglan slammed the table had already disappeared the moment Qiang Rong Kai left.
With a grumpy expression, Lin Xinglan inwardly sulked and when her thoughts moved to Qiang Jingyi, her heart was somewhat in pain. Just as tears were threatened to fall from her eyes, she heard harsh coughing fits not far from the path she was walking on.
Being a curious person as always, Lin Xinglan slowly made her way to where the coughing noise came from. As she walked towards the direction, the coughing became clearer and when she turned around the corner, a blue, white clothed man appeared in her sight.
Sensing someone before him, he swiftly lifted his head up and seeing who it was, his expression immediately turned dark. He recognized the girl in front of him from a painting he received from one of his spies.
Having to see a person holding a handkerchief with blood on, and their mouth oozing blood, Lin Xinglan widened her eyes in shock.
"Hey, are you dying?!"
Instantly, she wanted to slap her mouth for being inappropriate. She coughed and corrected herself, "Sorry, I meant, are you alright? Do you need help?"
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Sorry for late update, I went to a trip with my family like two days ago, and when I came home, I took a 19 hours sleep. Then, I was busy with reading webnovels and eating.