After the wrong flirtation, I became the villain's favorite

Xie Tan watched the grand secretaries leave, and then called Chen Liang who was waiting outside.

With the approval of the Imperial Household Department, unimportant matters did not need to be submitted to the emperor, but the person in charge of the Imperial Household Department was Chen Liang. Who was Chen Liang? For him, matters concerning the lady living in the harem were of utmost importance.

The memorial submitted by Chen Liang was about a strange thing. The evil and abhorrent Pinga Fu Yu actually gathered together all the orphans without parents in the community and established a charity home.

Since his misfortune, the orphanage had been in increasingly difficult circumstances and eventually could not make ends meet. It sought support from the government, but was, as one might imagine, rejected.

Xie Tan put the letter into his sleeve and asked, "How is the thing I asked you to do before going?"

"The remains of Song Qing and his family have been collected in a charity cemetery outside Beijing," Chen Liang said, without elaborating on the hardship involved.

It is not easy to piece together the remains of a corpse that was separated from its head and body many years ago in a mass grave.

"Okay." Xie Tan said.

At noon, Song Nihuan heard a sound at the door and knew that the noise could only be the arrival of the emperor.

She leaned forward and bowed, "Your Majesty, we are honored."

Xie Tan smiled slightly and held up her arm, "There's no need for this between you and me."

The two of them sat down in the inner room and had their meal together.

Xie Tan felt relieved when he saw that Song Nihuan looked much better than before and had eaten quite a bit.

After rinsing his mouth, he was silent for a moment and said, "Lan Zhi had some things outside the palace before, and I want to hear your opinion."

He told her about the orphanage and simply took out the memorial and showed it to her.

Song Nihuan hesitated for a moment and said she wanted to go and take a look.

Fortunately, the Salesian Institute is not far from the imperial palace.

"Can I go, Brother Tan? I'll put on my veil and be back soon." She asked carefully, "Lan Zhi helped me with everything. At the banquet, in the imperial prison, before the emperor, and when I beat the drum to report to the emperor, he spared no effort to help me... I want to see the people and things related to him."

He himself was stuck in the quagmire, and not only did he try his best to support her, but he also cared about the children like them who had no parents.

Thinking of this, tears welled up in my eyes.

How could Xie Tan refuse? He said, "Of course you can go. If you don't want to make it public, I'll have the Jinyiwei change into casual clothes and escort you there."

Song Ni agreed.

For several days in a row, she left the palace under the escort of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, traveling back and forth between the orphanage and the imperial palace.

Perhaps out of guilt for losing her child, she did everything herself at the charity center. Whenever Xie Tan asked her about it, she said that she felt at ease having something to do.

Xie Tan instructed Lu Xun of the Northern Pacification Division, "Send someone to keep an eye on her, but don't restrict her movements. Why is she coming back later and later recently? Keep an eye on her and don't let anything happen to her."

Hearing his stern tone, Lu Xun replied solemnly: "Don't worry, Your Majesty."

After Xie Tan finished speaking, he leaned over the palace wall and looked at the carriage going away, seeming to be lost in thought.

She didn't come back until the sun went down.

Xie Tan paced back and forth in the palace, his face growing increasingly darker.

At first, she hated herself for pretending to be a gentleman and wondered why she didn't just put aside her political affairs and go with her. Later, she blamed Lu Xun for not restricting any of her actions and not coming back so late.

"Go to the Northern Office and ask Lu Xun why Madam Song hasn't come back yet?" Xie Tan called the eunuch guarding the gate.

As he was speaking, the Jinyiwei outside the door asked to see him.

"Madam Song said that it was too late today and the palace gates would soon be locked, so Ciyou stayed in all the rooms available for him to stay in."

The key to the palace gate?

Xie Tan was no longer angry. She blamed herself for not giving her the privilege. She should make it a rule next time that she must come back to the palace, even if the keys were removed.

Another day passed and Song Nihuan still hadn't returned, so she sent someone to deliver a letter saying that the children in the charity home could not be left without someone to look after them.

Xie Tan finally couldn't sit still anymore.

The sun had never moved so slowly. He anxiously waited for the night to fall, then quickly changed into casual clothes and left the palace incognito.

He had a vague illusion that he was not her brother, but her father.

Always worried that something might happen to her.

*

Song Nihuan felt that the orphanage was the only place where Lan Zhi and she could contact each other now. She felt at peace as he continued to do what he was going to do.

And she wants to atone for the child who was not born yet.

Although I have been tired these past few days, I feel full of energy.

The maid at the orphanage said that Lan Zhi often lived in the home. He was a kind and handsome man, and all the children liked this big brother very much.

Song Nihuan lived in the room where Lan Zhi once lived. She looked around carefully and found that it was indeed the style he liked. Not to mention the fancy things, there were even many wine collections.

The night in early spring was very cold, and the Salesian Home did not have floor heating. Song Nihuan, wearing the thick cloak left by Lan Zhi, squatted down and looked at Lan Zhi's collection of wine curiously.

Her fingers slid across the yellow seal on the wine jar. The handwriting on it was familiar, the date written by Lan Zhi himself. There was also unfamiliar handwriting, the signature below was "Huang".

The Second Prince, Xiao Huang.

Song Nihuan seemed to be able to see the two of them drinking together on a snowy winter night.

How wonderful it is to win one person's heart.

She thought sadly that Lan Zhi was taught by a Jinshi when he was first educated, and later he was taught by a conservative person like his father. She never expected that he would go so far as to become a heretic and fall in love with someone of the same sex.

Deep love does not last long, and no one can escape it.

She sat down on the ground and leaned against the wine jar. It was late at night and everything was quiet, but there was a rumbling sound in her ears and the grief in her heart was clamoring, unbearable.

Xie Yunji's face appeared in my mind.

The wooden horse he made for his children was also destroyed in the fire...

Song Nihuan wiped away the tears that rolled down her cheeks, pressed her aching heart, and felt only shame.

She shouldn't think about him anymore.

But the long night was too hard to endure. Xie Yunji's gentle smile, the promise he made to her, the horrible scar on his chest, and his tears...

Xie Yunji was unwilling to let her go of everything, and he tugged at her heart every moment of silence and loneliness.

Tears blurred her eyes again, and she could only lean over the wine jar and cry silently.

When Xie Tan hurried to the orphanage, he was still a little nervous.

He had experienced the feeling of worry too many times in the North, and now that she was by his side, he didn't want to suffer anymore.

Convinced myself that if I wanted to see her, I should come and see her.

The gatekeeper didn't know who the visitor was, so he looked him up and down and asked, "Who are you looking for so late at night?"

Just as he was about to tell them to go away, he saw the man in black next to that person come over and show his sign.

The ivory brand from the East Factory.

He was allowed to pass immediately.

You should know that the reason why the Charity Home was able to operate again was because it was discovered by the East Factory by chance and the matter was reported to the emperor.

Shuang Hua was quite surprised to see Xie Tan coming over. Just as she was about to kneel, she was supported by Chen Liang, "Miss, this is not allowed outside the palace. Where is Madam Song?"

Shuanghua nodded blankly and said carefully: "Our wife is inside, the second young master... well, at first the wife said that she wanted to drink a little so that she could sleep better, but I couldn't stop her, and she drank too much..."

"What to drink?" Xie Tan asked.

"Wine... Junior Prime Minister Pinga once hid wine here."

Xie Tan lifted his robe and walked into the house.

Song Nihuan happened to open the door and was about to look for Shuanghua. "Shuanghua, why haven't you brought the wine yet?"

She opened her arms with a smile, tripped over the threshold and fell into Xie Tan's arms.

Xie Tan held her waist and looked at Shuanghua with a frown.

How did you get so drunk?

"The wine brewed by Junior Prime Minister Pinga himself... I don't think it smells like fruit wine." Shuanghua whispered, "My lady is depressed and said that she would not think about anything after drinking some wine."

Xie Tan picked her up by the knees, carried her into the house, and closed the door.

He put her on the bed, looked at her flushed cheeks with tears still stained on her face, and said in a deep voice, "Unhappy?"

But she smiled, "I'm happy, so happy."

Xie Tan: “…”

Song Nihuan didn't notice Xie Tan's cold and frosty look, and continued to smile with narrowed eyes: "It's great to be here, every day is happy, it's great!"

Xie Tan: “…Okay, okay.”

Xie Tan gritted his teeth and thought, just be happy.

Song Nihuan felt dizzy, as if she was walking on clouds. The depression in her heart was relieved by the alcohol. She felt much more cheerful. She reached out and grabbed the collar of the person in front of her, "Do you want to drink? It's delicious... Come on, let's drink more!"

Song Nihuan's fingers were slightly cool, rubbing against the exposed skin on his neck. Her breath mixed with the mellow aroma of wine, sweet and intoxicating, making people unable to stop.

Xie Tan's Adam's apple rolled slightly.

As she was about to get up, she felt a figure approaching and pushing her back onto the bed.

She couldn't see who he was, but she could hear his tone of voice, which was slightly suppressed with anger, "If I hadn't come to find you, when would you have known to come back?"

"Is it fun for you to bully me like this?!"