Chapter 20: Calm Down

Song Huan’s lip was bitten raw.

System: [The target, Pei Yan’s, favorability toward you has changed. Favorability -44.] 

Song Huan: “…?!”

After all that enthusiastic biting, his favorability dropped to -44?

Is he a demon?!

Furious as a pufferfish, Song Huan shoved Pei Yan away. “What kind of animal are you?!”

Pei Yan’s eyes darkened, a bloodthirsty killing intent flashing within them.

Song Huan’s anger flared, leaving her utterly fearless.

You want to kill me? Go ahead!

If you kill me, I’ll fight you to the death! Worst case, I’ll go back to fighting dinosaurs and zombies!

But Pei Yan suddenly turned and strode away, his steps swift and decisive. In the blink of an eye, he had vanished from Ming Song Hall.

Song Huan glared at his retreating figure, her eyes practically spitting fire. Lucky he ran so fast.

She licked her lip, tasting the faint metallic tang of blood. It stung slightly.

After calming down in the corridor until the bleeding stopped, Song Huan turned back toward the study.

Just as she reached the door, Qin Chengyu emerged.

“Uncle Qin, are you leaving?” Song Huan asked in surprise.

Qin Chengyu smiled, tapping his folding fan twice. “Uncle Qin was worried Marquis Pei might mistreat you, Huan’er. But seeing you two so reluctant to part just now, I suppose my concerns were unfounded.”

Just now? Reluctant to part?

Song Huan’s face flushed crimson. “Uncle Qin, you—you were watching us?”

Qin Chengyu waved his fan hastily. “Uncle Qin didn’t mean to intrude on your private moment. I merely wanted to see if Marquis Pei’s concern for you in private matched how he acts in front of me. Who knew you two would… ahem, let’s not dwell on it. But seeing that Marquis Pei truly cares for you has put my mind at ease.”

Song Huan: Where did you see any caring?

That bastard Pei Yan clearly wanted to kill me just now…

“Huan’er, Marquis Pei is no ordinary man,” Qin Chengyu said. Though he claimed to be reassured, he couldn’t resist offering more advice. “If you were marrying into a common family, just your mother’s dowry alone would let you walk all over the household. But Marquis Pei… he’s a man even the imperial family fears. In daily life, you can indulge your temper over small matters. But when it comes to serious things, Huan’er, you must avoid getting involved.”

Song Huan paused, moved by the Manor Lord’s heartfelt words.

“Uncle Qin, I’ll remember your advice,” she replied sincerely.

To those who treated her sincerely, she would return the same in kind.

“Good girl,” Qin Chengyu nodded, then swiftly pulled a pre-folded slip of paper from his robe and pressed it into her hand, glancing around before whispering, “This is how to contact Uncle Qin. Don’t let Marquis Pei find out. If you ever face a problem you can’t solve, reach out to me. I may not have great power, but I have money. Sometimes that’s all it takes to handle what seems impossible, right?”

Song Huan nodded vigorously, like a chick pecking at grain, and whispered, “Uncle Qin, you’re absolutely right!”

The atmosphere between them suddenly felt like a clandestine meeting between spies.

“Alright then, Uncle Qin will take his leave now.”

“Mm, I’ll see you out.”

***

No sooner had Pei Yan left the Marquis’s Estate than Song Huan escorted Qin Chengyu to the main gate.

Qin Chengyu wasted no time. After leaving the estate, he immediately ordered Qin Huai to drive the carriage to Baoyun Street to meet with the head managers of several major shops.

Afterward, he met privately with Qin Zhi, giving him detailed instructions.

By the time he finished handling matters on Baoyun Street, it was already late. Yet Qin Chengyu didn’t instruct Qin Huai to return to the Qin Family Villa for the night. He had just received word from Qin Zhi that trouble was brewing in the north. “Qin Huai, leave the capital. Head to Ning County.”

“Ning County?” Qin Huai looked puzzled. “Master, we don’t have any major business there, do we?”

A folding fan extended from behind the carriage curtain and tapped Qin Huai firmly on the head. “Stop asking questions and just go where I tell you.”

***

After Song Huan returned to Huichun Courtyard,  Jinle brought her medicine from Doctor Chen.

The young girl had woken early, but upon hearing that Song Huan was going to Ming Song Hall to see Pei Yan, she volunteered to fetch the medicine from Doctor Chen’s pharmacy.

Song Huan empathized completely. That Pei Yan was truly sick in the head!

If she had a choice, she wouldn’t want anything to do with that scoundrel!

“Thank you, Jinle,” Song Huan said, patting Jinle’s soft, fair cheek. Her mood brightened considerably, and she downed the medicine in one gulp.

Jinle grinned and cupped her face, asking, “Then, Madam, what shall we have for breakfast today?”

Song Huan: “……” Had she raised a little glutton?

Moreover, Jin Yue had mentioned that Jinle had become increasingly picky about her food lately. Each meal she took from the kitchen was smaller than the last.

The young girl was at a crucial stage of growth, she couldn’t afford to skip meals.

Setting down the medicine bowl, Song Huan said, “Come, let’s go to the kitchen.”

Jinle’s eyes lit up instantly. “Madam is the best!”

Song Huan chuckled softly. The little girl was even learning to flatter her now.

While Song Huan had no trouble borrowing the kitchen or preparing meals herself, every attempt to communicate with Master Li met with stubborn resistance.

At breakfast, communication failed.

At lunch, communication failed.

By dinner… Master Li flatly refused to communicate at all.

Song Huan lay in bed, tapping the System: “Dear System, do you have any items that can detect other people’s favorability toward me?”

She wanted to use it on Master Li to see if her persistence was helping. What if she was just annoying him and actually lowering his favorability?

System: [“Dear user, no such item exists.”] 

“Really? You won’t tell me tomorrow that it does exist?”

System: [“…Dear, this time it’s really not available.”]

“Fine. Let me know if it ever becomes available. I’ll reserve it now.”

System: [“Dear, this item will never exist. No need to reserve it.”] 

“……”

Was the System trying to pick a fight with such bluntness?

Furious, she blocked the System’s messages.

Time to sleep!

But she tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.

Favorability at -44… That didn’t make sense. Before, every time she and Pei Yan kissed or hugged, his favorability would rise. Why had it decreased this time?

Song Huan opened the favorability page again.

Huh? What’s going on?

She blinked in disbelief. The favorability had actually recovered—returning to +15?

Ever the fickle one, Song Huan pulled the System out of her blocked list. “This morning, was there an error with the favorability values?”

System: [Darling, I’ll say it again: please do not question this System’s professionalism!] 

Song Huan: …What do I do if the System suddenly gets temperamental?

…Okay, okay, I won’t question it. I was just asking, calm down.

If the System’s favorability values weren’t wrong, then… why did the favorability decrease after the kiss?

When they hugged earlier, the favorability hadn’t changed at all.

And this time, Pei Yan had even initiated the kiss…

Song Huan licked her lips, utterly baffled by where things had gone wrong.