Underneath A Thousand Skies ✔️

50 Favoring Qie Over Wife (50)

"Wang fei was right, wang ye did stay in Bai shufei's courtyard last night."

When Song Jia heard Ruolan's words, she did not express her surprise. On the contrary, she looked self-satisfied.

Truth to be told, Song Jia was getting confused from Zhao Cheng's actions towards her lately. He was too affectionate, too doting, too sweet, and too...loving. There were many times Song Jia had mistaken his gaze at her to be filled with love.

Fortunately, this report of Ruolan's had managed to calm her heart down.

As expected, he was indeed in love with Bai Mei Lien. Li Jia was still the invisible main wife, just like her previous life. If Zhao Cheng had surprisingly fallen in love with Li Jia...well, Song Jia's plans needed to be changed. Whatever the monarch wanted, Song Jia would willingly give him. Since it was not the case, Song Jia would simply go with her plan A.

Divorce Zhao Cheng, find Li Jia a husband that would dote on her, and peacefully leave this world to get her salary from a job well done.

"From now on, tell the rest of the servants not to bother sister Bai and wang ye with troublesome matters. Whatever it is, just directly report it back to me."

"Yes, wangfei."

"Tell Minglan to bring a basket and a yixing clay pot of pu'er tea in the garden. I want to make some lotus wine."

"Yes, wangfei."

Today, Song Jia was wearing a light yellow robe with a dark four-season pattern of pomegranates, a translucent sash tied around her waist. Her make-up was light, only emphasizing her eyes and lips. Since it was autumn, Song Jia used a light blush to make her cheeks appear slightly flushed—it brought out a sense of youthfulness that blended well with the red, orange, and yellow cluster of leaves that spiralled in the air before piling up on the ground.

It was still early in the morning, so the breeze was cool and in some places, a very thin mist had formed to make the garden appear hazy. Before Song Jia arrived, Minglan and Ruolan were already there, waiting for her beside the koi pond. There was a wooden boat not far away, partly hidden behind a cluster of blooming lotus flowers.

Ruolan went into the boat first and held out her hand. Song Jia raised her skirt, grabbed her hand, and lightly stepped into the boat. It swayed slightly at her weight and the two of them took a moment to steady their footing.

"Wang fei, this kind of thing..." Minglan watched anxiously as Song Jia gracefully sat on the prow of the little boat. "Nubi thinks that it would be better to let us servants make the lotus wine."

Song Jia shook her head and smiled, "Half of the enjoyment comes from doing it yourself. That way, the wine will taste even sweeter."

With that, she instructed Ruolan who was at the back to slowly row the boat forward. Seeing that her mistress couldn't be persuaded, Minglan sighed in acquiescence and retreated.

"Then wang fei, please take care."

Song Jia put her basket on her lap and gathered the lotus flowers one by one. Although the koi pond was called a 'pond', the vastness of a qin wang's estate couldn't be underestimated. It was almost as large as the Hundred Flower Pond of Jinan. Song Jia made sure to pluck off the petals before putting it on her basket, enjoying the darts of koi fish that occasionally swam by.

"Wang fei, it's amazing that almost all of the lotus flowers are red," Ruolan said in amazement, pointing at them. "Aren't they supposed to be very rare?"

Song Jia nodded. The reason she came out to the garden often was because she loved seeing the red lotus flowers. Picking another one and putting it on her basket, she murmured absently, "A wine made purely from red lotus flowers...I wonder how it would taste? It's a shame I wouldn't be able to know if it's delicious."