Best friends dressed up in ancient times to become mistresses? You run, I run too!

There was also a lotus pond, and now, a grove of wisteria has been added. The maid led Liu Zhiyi around a corner of the corridor, where a field of blooming wisteria came into view.

Liu Zhiyi stared, her eyes wide with amazement.

Just then, they heard a muffled laugh behind them. Turning around, they found that Song Hanchuan had appeared behind them at some point.

He was dressed in plain white casual clothes, his long, ink-black hair casually tied up and draped over his back.

Liu Zhiyi hurriedly went to greet her, her expression a mixture of a smile, a hint of reproach, and a touch of worry.

"Weren't you asleep? Why did you come over?"

"With so many injuries, why are you running around instead of resting in bed?"

Song Hanchuan pursed his lips, gently took Liu Zhiyi's hands hanging by her sides, and squeezed them tenderly. Then he tilted his head back, his clear and gentle eyebrows curving into a smile, and his warm voice was like a clear spring striking a stone, which sounded incredibly pleasant.

“I know you’re afraid my wound will reopen, so you put me in a wheelchair. You see, I just need to sit still and I’ll be fine.”

"Moreover," he paused, the tips of his ears turning slightly red.

"I want to see you."

As soon as he finished speaking, the maids beside him all covered their mouths and chuckled.

Qingyun smiled knowingly, "Love makes people fickle," a phrase he no longer wanted to repeat.

His aloof and arrogant master changed completely the moment he first met Liu Zhiyi at the palace banquet that year.

Love at first sight, a glance that lasts a lifetime.

Every day after that, this man changed. Now, the little guard who had grown up with him since childhood hardly recognized him anymore.

Liu Zhiyi glared at him.

"What do you want to see me for?"

Song Hanchuan pursed his lips. Actually, it was the doorman who relayed the message that Pei Yun Chu had come to visit with a bunch of gifts, and he angrily ordered them to be driven away.

That's why I can't lie down anymore.

So he got up, asked about Liu Zhiyi's whereabouts, and rushed here.

Only when he could clearly see the beautiful figure in front of him did his heart feel at ease and settle down.

The man blinked, his mind racing as he quickly came up with an explanation. Suddenly, his eyes lit up, and he coughed lightly to cover his embarrassment.

"I...I get bored when you're not around."

His tone sounded rather pitiful.

Seeing his expression, Liu Zhiyi couldn't bring herself to say anything harsh. She immediately changed the subject and invited him to admire the flowers together.

When Liu Zhiyi learned that he had spent a lot of money to buy these wisteria flowers from Jiangnan, thousands of miles away, she didn't know whether to be moved or scold him for being a spendthrift.

A single tree can cost a thousand gold pieces. There are more than a dozen trees in total, and trellises have been erected for them all. How much will it cost in the end?

To make such a fuss over something as trivial as her casual remark about liking someone is simply outrageous.

Liu Zhiyi narrowed her eyes, staring intently at Song Hanchuan, her gaze unwavering, leaving him looking bewildered and awkwardly tugging at the corners of his mouth.

He said stiffly,

"Why are you looking at me like that, Qingqing? Is there something on my face, or did I say something wrong that displeased you, or is there something wrong with me?"

Liu Zhiyi blinked, then suddenly bent down and leaned close to Song Hanchuan, whispering in his ear, "..."

"You've been an official for many years, but you shouldn't have accumulated such a large fortune, right? Don't tell me you're a corrupt official?"

The more I think about it, the more possible it becomes.

Song Hanchuan had no parents and no family support or protection, so he shouldn't have much wealth.

In the three years since she met him, she and her best friend have worn clothes made of expensive materials for all four seasons. Each piece is worth a fortune, and some are even priceless.

Not to mention the well-tailored cuts, fine stitches, and intricate embroidery.

It's obvious at a glance that these pieces are the work of a master, and each one requires a great deal of time and effort to complete.

Even so, these items were delivered to the two best friends every month, like a mass-produced batch on an assembly line.

Even the most favored concubine in the palace wouldn't dare to squander money in such extravagance.

That must be incredibly wealthy!

Oh, and there was also the jade mine he gave her and Shen Ningzhu a few days ago.

Those two mines are quite large.

All of this is not something a prime minister with an annual salary of a thousand taels of silver should possess.

Thinking of this, Liu Zhiyi's expression grew increasingly grim. She was truly afraid that her food, clothing, and daily necessities were the result of Song Hanchuan's exploitation of the people.

But she quickly came to her senses.

Song Hanchuan is not that kind of person. He is of noble character and cares about the people. How could he do something like preying on the people?

Song Hanchuan quietly observed the changes in her expression. Seeing that her originally pale face gradually regained its rosy hue, he knew that she understood him.

I couldn't help but feel comforted.

He didn't hide anything from her and told Liu Zhiyi about his background in detail.

It turns out that Song Hanchuan was the second son of the Song family, the richest family in Jiangnan. He was dignified and elegant from a young age, self-disciplined and cautious. He knew the surnames of the Hundred Family Surnames at the age of three and could recite the Four Books and Five Classics fluently at the age of five.

He could read ten lines at a glance and had a photographic memory; he was a renowned child prodigy in the surrounding area.

Such a remarkable person had emerged from a merchant family, and the entire clan was overjoyed. In the end, the elders discussed sending the five-year-old boy to study in the capital, where he would become a disciple of a great Confucian scholar of the time.

Unexpectedly, the news leaked out at this time, arousing the jealousy of powerful and influential people.

The day before he was to leave for the capital, a group of men in black, whose origins were unknown, stormed into the Song residence.

That night, flames soared into the sky, and a rain of arrows fell from the heavens. Of the more than three hundred people in the Song household, men, women, and children, regardless of master or servant, not a single one survived.

Afterwards, it was burned to the ground.

In the moment of crisis, the butler threw him into the dry well in the backyard and dressed his five-year-old grandson in fine clothes, so that the grandson would die in his place under the swords of the thugs.

The well was very high, and he couldn't climb out. He fainted from hunger and remained inside for more than ten days before being rescued.

He later learned that it was the former emperor who had saved him.

Song Hanchuan spoke in a low voice, recounting his past in a straightforward manner, his face expressionless and devoid of any emotional change, as if his tragic past were something that had happened to someone else.

But Liu Zhiyi noticed that his hand gripping the wheelchair tightened slightly, and his knuckles turned white.

At this point, Song Hanchuan tilted his head slightly and gave Liu Zhiyi a gentle smile.

"Although the Song family is gone, the managers under its command have been loyal to me for many years and have always followed me. The Song family's business empire is spread all over the world and involves multiple industries."

"The clothes and jewelry I gave you were all from the Song family's business, and those two jade mines are also properties under the Song family's name."

Liu Zhiyi scratched her head somewhat embarrassedly and said,

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring this up."

Song Hanchuan smiled and shook his head. "It's alright. I've already taken my revenge. Let bygones be bygones."

Liu Zhiyi smiled and pursed her lips. "Okay. By the way, since we're free now, how about I play the zither for you?"

A flicker of surprise crossed Song Hanchuan's eyes. He hadn't expected her to know how to play the zither, and he exclaimed in admiration.

"Qingqing, how many more surprises do you have that I don't know about?" (Liu Zhiyi, picture attached)