Miss Truth
Chapter 357 - 225 Xiao Song’s Gift

Chapter 357: Chapter 225 Xiao Song’s Gift

Ran Pingyu and Ran Yunsheng stepped aside, but in fact, they only retreated to a partition that was merely a few screens away.

Ran Yan glanced at the partition, and seeing that no one stopped her, she stood up to follow Xiao Song out of the hall and toward the Inner Gate.

Before she even left the Inner Gate, Ran Yan saw two guards standing outside guarding something. As she approached, she was surprised to find that what lay across the ground was a tree with a trunk as thick as a wrist!

"This tree is called ’blood-sealing throat’, and from its name, you can tell it’s even more potent than poison." Xiao Song explained.

Ran Yan had heard of this type of tree but was seeing it with her own eyes for the first time. However, she didn’t understand, "What are you giving me this for?"

Xiao Song paused for a moment, then said, "I heard Shilang say that you like to prepare your own medicines, so I brought it over for you to see if it’s useful."

In truth, the situation was actually this: Liu Qingsong said that when expressing affection to one’s wife, it is best to pick fresh and beautiful flowers to present in bunches, to help increase the success rate of heartfelt expressions. There was no such custom in the Tang Dynasty, and Xiao Song thought Liu Qingsong was usually unreliable. Besides, those flowers were not very practical, and since Ran Yan was a pragmatic person, it might not work. After much thought, he remembered a colleague once mentioned receiving seeds of a potent poisonous tree years ago and growing the tree on his estate, which even poisoned many domestic fowls to death. So Xiao Song went to his colleague’s estate and dug up the tree.

Ran Yan said, "It’s worth a try, but wouldn’t it be very dangerous to plant this thing in the residence?"

Especially since it was someone else’s residence.

"How about planting it in my residence? It would be convenient for you if you need to use it," Xiao Song suggested.

"Okay," Ran Yan replied without suspicion, "Thank you."

Even though Ran Yan wasn’t particularly surprised by this unique gift, she was still very grateful for his thoughtfulness.

Xiao Song looked at her closely, with her delicate brows, and felt that the weariness of the past few days was swept away, and his heart softened. This was a very comfortable and pleasant feeling.

Thinking back to the first time he met Ran Yan, he thought this wife always had a stern face, serious and earnest, different from others. At the time, he was capturing Su Fu and started approaching her because she protected Su Fu twice. Every time he saw her stern face, he couldn’t help but want to tease her, and her reactions were always intriguing, nothing more.

However, ever since he returned to Chang’an, in order to include Liu Pinrang in his alliance, he paid close attention to the situation in Suzhou. Every time he received news with a hint of her, he felt an inexplicable jolt in his spirits.

Xiao Song sighed inwardly, wondering when exactly he had fallen so deeply...

"Ayan, I was thinking..." Xiao Song reached out his hand, but the latter half of the sentence was cut off before he could finish by a crisp, clear voice.

"Mr. Xiao." Ran Meiyu stood inside the door, giving him a respectful bow.

Xiao Song felt a flicker of annoyance, and his eyes flashed with a momentary chill, but his expression quickly returned to normal as he said, "Lady Ran Shiba is too polite."

After speaking, he turned to Ran Yan and said, "It’s chilly outside, let’s go inside."

Ran Meiyu also had some regrets. She had planned to hold back from coming, to get dressed up nicely the next day to make a good impression on him, but as soon as she heard he was arriving, she couldn’t control herself.

Now that she had seen him, in order not to leave an impression of being frivolous in Xiao Song’s heart, Ran Meiyu pretended to be just passing by, gave Xiao Song a slight bow, and then turned to leave.

Shortly after, a maid came to invite Xiao Song and Ran Yan back to the hall.

Ran Pingyu could turn a blind eye within his own residence, but after all, Xiao Song had not yet proposed marriage, so naturally, he couldn’t let him have too much freedom; otherwise, what would this ambiguous behavior imply?

When Xiao Song and Ran Yan returned to the hall together, Ran Pingyu mentioned that Ran Yan was injured and suggested she go back to rest early.

This meeting had to end inconclusively.

Xiao Song refused Ran Pingyu’s offer to stay for the night, leading his men back over the wall to Pingkang Square under the cover of the dark and windy night. He felt that staying in this residence without being able to meet left him restless, unable to sleep all night. He thought he might as well return to his own cold and quiet residence to toss and turn, and it would be closer when he had to attend the court in the morning.

The moonlight was like water, with each person harboring their own thoughts.

Early the next day, just after the morning drum sounded a few dozen times, Ran Yan was pulled from her warm bed by Mme. Xing. After washing up, she sat drowsily in front of her dressing table while Ge Lan and Wan Lu helped her comb her hair.

"Wife, you never used to be this sleepy even when you got up early. Did you not sleep well last night?" Mme. Xing asked.

Ran Yan hummed in agreement and said, "I stayed up late thinking about things last night."

After finishing with her hair, Ran Yan changed into the lilac dress that had been custom made to fit perfectly. Wearing it softened her usually stern features and her already delicate facial features gained an additional charm.

Mme. Xing styled Ran Yan’s hair into a low chignon. Even though high chignons were fashionable and pretty, they lacked a sense of approachability and were not suitable for someone as young and naturally reserved as Ran Yan.

"Strange," Wan Lu observed as she looked Ran Yan up and down after dressing her, "even though everything seems just right, at first glance she doesn’t dazzle like Lady Zheng."

This suited Ran Yan just fine. In her view, if one didn’t have the power to protect their beauty, it was best not to stand out. Ran Yunsheng was a living example of this. Even though Princess Baling currently had no issues with Xiao Song and hadn’t made a move, it did not mean the danger had passed. Ran Yan didn’t want to put herself in such a position.

"Rather, although she doesn’t stand out at first glance, the more you look, the better she appears," Mme. Xing said, very satisfied with the outfit.

Understated elegance and luxury.

Shortly after breakfast, Ran Pingyu sent someone to call for them.

Attending a banquet was also a laborious affair; one couldn’t arrive too early. With their status, it was impossible for the host to accompany them all the time. Arriving too early would mean awkwardly waiting around; but arriving too late, especially with their lower social rank, could lead to being turned away at the door if the host’s family was not gracious. The gift should not be too modest, nor too extravagant...

There were countless details to consider.

Having struggled in Chang’an for so many years, Ran Pingyu was naturally very familiar with such banquets and had timed their departure perfectly. When their party arrived at the Zheng residence, the entrance was bustling with activity, a scene of lively commotion, with many more guests still arriving in a steady stream.

At the main gate of the Zheng residence stood a young gentleman dressed in crimson official robes, who, together with the butler, was bowed and expressing gratitude to the arriving guests.

"That is General Zheng’s eldest legitimate son," Ran Pingyu said, glancing at Ran Yan, Ran Yun, and Ran Meiyu, then sighed as if pondering something.

The carriage stopped at the entrance, and Ran Pingyu and Ran Yunsheng got out first to present their invitation cards and exchanged a few brief pleasantries with the young Master Zheng. Then Mme. Luo, with Ran Yan and the other two in tow, got out of the carriage, paid their respects to Master Zheng, and followed Ran Pingyu into the residence. (To be continued. If you like this work, feel free to cast your recommendation tickets and monthly tickets at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation.)

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