Song Hui froze. He thought he had misheard.
Wei Zheng wanted to meet him at this time?
He felt very dizzy. He had never been this unrestrained with drinking wine. His entire body didn't feel okay. It took him a long time to think of a reply to her words. He rubbed his eyebrows and his voice was shockingly hoarse as he asked, "Why is younger sister Ah Zheng looking for me?"
Yin Lou glanced at the lake pavilion. The people there were still drinking and laughing. No one was looking over here and there wasn't a servant boy at Song Hui's side. So she mustered up her courage and walked forward to support him, "Miss didn't say, but it seemed urgent. Heir Song, come with me to talk to her..."
Although Song Hui had drunk too much, it wasn't to the point that he couldn't walk. He waved her away, staggered two steps away, and with great difficulty stabilized himself. He lowered his head, tried to become more alert, and said, "Bring me over there then."
Yin Lou's eyes showed an an imperceptible happy expression, properly moved away to led the way, and said, "Heir, please follow me."
Song Hui didn't say much as he followed behind her.
There were lanterns everywhere in Zi Yu Villa. Every one hundred paces, there was a lit lantern on the center of the upright stone pillars in Zi Yu Villa. Every courtyard was brightly illuminated. Even the pebbles underneath their feet could be clearly seen. There was some distance between Jin Tai Courtyard and the lake pavilion. The young women were staying at Jin Tai Courtyard because it was farther away from the lake pavilion. After they passed through a cobblestone path and a long verandah, they reached a beautiful peony flowerbed. Jin Tai Courtyard was right behind the flowerbed.
After this period of walking, Song Hui was more clear-headed, but he still wasn't completely sober.
His head was slightly dropping. His eyes usually held a smile that was as gentle as a spring breeze. But right now, there was only loneliness and loss in his eyes. He thought of the words that Wei Luo has said during the day and his lips curved into a bitter smile.
He had been engaged to Wei Luo since he was a child. His parents had told him about her when he was six years old. When she grew up, she would marry him and become his wife. They would be together for an entire lifetime and reach old age together. At that time, he wasn't sure what marriage meant and only knew that he could never throw her away. They would be together in life and death. She was his little tail that would always be with him. He had to take good care of her and never let her suffer. Later on, when taking care of her gradually became a habit, he endured hardships for her gladly and his heart only had her. No one else could enter his eyes and gain his notice.
From the bottom of his heart, he had contentedly waited for the day they would get married. But, she suddenly told him that she didn't want to marry him and that she never had any romantic feelings towards him.
She has someone that she likes...
That person wasn't him.
Originally, Song Hui had thought that as long as he didn't agree to end their engagement, she would definitely develop feelings for him in the future after they were married and he lovingly took care of her. Unfortunately, he was only dreaming. If it wasn't meant to be, it wasn't meant to be. He didn't even have a chance to try to move her heart. Their engagement had turned into nothing and he remained a single person. All of this had been as futile as trying to scoop up water in a bamboo basket. One person was full of warm feelings and the other person was completely indifferent.
Song Hui continued to be preoccupied with his thoughts during the walk here. His mind was full of Wei Luo and there wasn't any space for anyone else. To the extent that when he heard Wei Zheng was looking for him, he didn't think too much before agreeing.
Yin Lou led him into Jin Tai Courtyard, then she stopped at a banyan tree. There wasn't anyone else next to the tree. She didn't see Wei Zheng and said, "My family's Miss isn't here yet. Heir, please wait here for a moment. She'll be here soon."
Song Hui didn't think twice about her words. His head was feeling more and more painful and there was even a rarely seen exhaustion on his face. He leaned against the tree trunk and closed his eyes without saying a word.
On the side, Yin Lou quietly scrutinized him and probingly asked, "Heir, were you drinking wine before?"
He didn't feel like replying and only quietly made a sound of a agreement.
He was truly a person as gentle as water. No wonder Fourth and Fifth Miss both liked him. Fifth Miss was willing to give up her reputation to obtain him... In her mind, Yin Lou quietly thought, if Fifth Miss succeeded tonight and married him, she would definitely bring her as one of the servant girls that were part of the dowry. The status of a dowry servant girl was high. Perhaps, she would even be able to personally serve him. If she was fortunate enough to gain his interest, she might even be able to become his concubine... Her appearance wasn't bad. Would he be attracted to her? Yin Lou's mind twisted and turned. Soon, her thoughts had traveled far.
She quickly returned to her senses. Right now, she had to focus on helping Fifth Miss accomplish her goal. She would only have a chance if Fifth Miss succeeded. Seeing that Song Hui wasn't speaking, she thought of the words that Wei Zheng had told her to say. She pretended to be anxious as she said, "Why isn't Miss here yet... The distance between here and Xu Shi Mountain is far. Perhaps, she was delayed on the way here. My family's Miss's room is on the eastern side of the courtyard. Heir, please wait here for a moment. This servant will go there to look."
Then, she seemed to suddenly remember something. She tapped her forehead and said, "Fourth Miss didn't seem well after she returned from the back of the mountain today. My Miss went over to her room to check up on her. That's probably why she's a bit late."
Song Hui's body slightly stiffened. He couldn't help asking, "Is Ah Luo sick?"
Yin Lou nodded as if her illness was very serious. She said, "There was something dirty at the back of Xu Si Mountain. I heard that Fourth Miss wasn't well when she came back and her face didn't look good.”
Then, she quietly examined Song Hui's expression. As expected, he looked worried. She internally sighed. Fourth Miss was the one that Song Heir cared about the most. When she recently mentioned that Fifth Miss wanted to talk to him because she had a pressing manner, there wasn't any change in his expression. But as soon as he heard that Fourth Miss wasn't feeling well, he immediately became anxious.
She didn't know if Fourth Miss was truly sick or not. But, she had seen with her own eyes that Wei Luo's face didn't look good when she returned from the back of the mountain.
Yin Lou pointed at one of the rooms and said, "The lights in Fourth Miss's room were put out a while ago. She's probably sleeping because she's not feeling well."
She didn't continue talking about this. She started walking towards the eastern side. "I'm going to go look for Fifth Miss. Heir, please wait here for a moment."
T/N: I feel bad for Song Hui. He thought of Wei Luo as the person he would be with forever since he was six years old. Is this why other authors usually write MC’s original fiancé as a jerk, so the readers don’t have to feel conflicted when their engagement is broken? It’s one thing for Wei Luo to not be interested in Song Hui, but did she have to wait until the very last possible moment to cancel the engagement? She had eight years to at least hint to Song Hui that she only liked him as a brother.