Chapter 16 - Give away the Title of Duke

“Send for Doctor Fu! Now!” Lu Guanlun ordered and yet his manservant still hesitated, “She is only a maid. Doctor Fu is a young man. Is it inappropriate for him to come to the inner courtyard?”

“How can we not save such a loyal servant?” Before Song Yixiao replied, Lu Guanlun said in a deep voice, “As to the inappropriateness you mentioned, you just follow him closely. You must adapt your actions to different circumstances if needed!”

The manservant took the order and left. Song Yixiao stared at Lu Guanlun with her lips trembling, saying sobbingly after a while, “Thank you so much for your help!”

“Young as Doctor Fu is, he is good at healing injuries.” Lu Guanlun came to Zhiqin and took a look. Sympathy crossed his eyes, “I thought she had been dead… She is very lucky anyway!”

He took off his coat and put it over Zhiqin, explaining in a soft voice, “One will feel cold after losing blood.”

After a while, Wei Mengying arrived with Doctor Fu. After crying out for a short while, she ordered servants tearfully to send Song Yixiao and Zhiqin back to the Hanxia Villa for treatment.

Then she turned around with an angry face, “Investigate into this now! Find out what on earth happened! I must know who allowed the fierce animals into the inner courtyard to doom Yixiao to death!”

“What do you mean?” Behind the flowers and trees half the lake away, Jian Xubai, playing with his bow, asked his companion in an unfriendly tone, “You told me a few days ago that you intended to send your sister here because you are worried about her safety while you are in Wuhuan. Why did you try to kill your auntie’s birth daughter?”

Now it was dusk. Under the thick leaves, his handsome face contour was blurry in the darkness and yet his eyes were bright and full of dissatisfaction.

Yuan Xuepei answered with a question, “Do you know Miss Song? Or why did you shoot another arrow for Guanlun and kill the mastiff that he failed to kill?”

“I met her once in the silk store on my birthday.” Jian Xubai saw that the investigators were heading towards him so he withdrew the bow and left, asking with a frown, “Did she piss off you and your sister?”

“If I had known you were acquainted with her, I wouldn’t have done this favor for Madam Jin. Luckily, the girl is fine and only a maid is sacrificed.” Yuan Xuepei heard it and felt relieved. While he was trying to catch up with him, he started to explain, “I want to marry Xue’e to Guanlun.”

Jian Xubai felt shocked, “Does Princess Consort Wei intend to set her daughter up with her stepson? Isn’t this a conduct of incest?”

“How is it possible?” Yuan Xuepei said with embarrassment, “I just want to see whether Guanlun is really kind-hearted. After all, going to battle is full of risk. If any accident happens to me this time, my sister can only rely on her future husband. I must select a real noble man to be her husband!”

“I was wondering why you drew our attention to this place. It turns out that you only wanted to see whether Lu Guanlun would do justice for Song Yixiao.” Jian Xubai came to his senses instantly and couldn’t help sneering, “You are right. Song Yixiao lives under the roof of Prince of Hengshan and has no blood relationship with Lu Guanlun. If he could stand up for her, he must do the same thing for your sister.”

Then he gave a disdainful look, “But have you considered this? Since Lu Guanlun is a noble man, how can he choose you to be his brother-in-law? Moreover, your auntie is not easy to handle. If she finds out the truth, your sister will be ruined!”

“I am not the ringleader. Besides, how is it possible that I leave any evidence?” Yuan Xuepei touched his chin and rolled his eyes, “Xubai, somehow I feel that you are fighting for justice for Miss Song.”

“I just can’t stand that you’ve done such a bad thing!” Jian Xubai didn’t want anyone else to know about what happened in the silk store so he changed the subject with faked impatience, “You’ve thought too much. You are I only stay beside the Commander in Chief for gaining experience during the battle. How can we be allowed to charge forward? As long as you don’t run around, what can happen to you? Do you really need to arrange an engagement for your sister in such a hurry?”

Yuan Xuepei narrowed his eyes and suddenly stopped. He looked around and made sure that no one was around. Then he said seriously in a low voice, “Speaking of the matter that you are going out to battle, I must advise you something.”

Jian Xubai said confusedly, “Advise me? What have I done?”

“I don’t think you should give away your title of duke to your elder brother!” Yuan Xuepei said with a sigh, “Neither should you volunteer to go to battle and earn credit on your own just in order to give away your title of duke. You are only 11 years old. Even though Crown Prince must ask his subordinates to give you more credits and keep you out of danger, what if…”

“There is no ‘if’.” Jian Xubai grinned, “Do you really believe that I want to become a duke by suppressing the unrest in Wuhuan? I know what I am capable of. You know, my grandma and other seniors don’t agree to my request of giving away of the title of duke. By coincidence, unrest is happening to Wuhuan and the government must send out a troop to suppress it. In my view, if I go to battle, I won’t be able to come back until I stay there for a few years. By then, my grandma will probably agree to my request so as to get me back to the imperial city because they miss me badly!”

He said with a sigh, “Because of the title of duke, my father and brother resent me for so many years. They treat me even more coldly than strangers. Why is that? I am only 11 years old and learn from famous teachers. Moreover, I am favored by His Majesty and His Highness Crown Prince. If I cannot come to the fore in this case, I must be a wastrel after inheriting the title of duke!”

Seeing that his eyes were beaming with the yearning for making achievement in future, Yuan Xuepei ruminated for a while and said, “Please forgive me for what I am going to say next if you find it hurtful. You inherited the title of duke at the age of five and you have been raised by the Empress Dowager ever since. Her Majesty Empress Dowager favors you very much. His Majesty and Her Majesty Empress also regard you as their birth son. With the honorable favor, you have good luck in everything. The only thing that makes you regretful may be your father’s partiality. And you attach too much importance to this regretful thing.”

“So?”

“So have you ever thought about why your grandfather skipped your father and brother to let you inherit the title of duke?” Yuan Xuepei said casually, “Your father is his favorite legitimate son!”