Chapter 416: Chapter 401: Hurt Face, Afraid You’ll Mind
On this side
Song Qin was embroidering a small jacket for Lin Ling. Watching the cooling garments being worn at home, she heard footsteps, looked up, and was instantly delighted, saying: "Niu Niu, you’re back?"
"Yes." Song Tingfan glanced at the embroidery in her hands and frowned slightly, "Grandmother, don’t do these anymore."
Being in the mansion every day, what else is there to do but embroider, Song Qin smiled lovingly, "I rest after a little while. Did you visit Qiao’er? You haven’t been back for two days again."
Saying this, she couldn’t help but add a few more words, "No matter how busy you are, find a time to come back and see her. Although Qiao’er doesn’t say anything, she will inevitably have some thoughts."
"I went to see her."
"It’s good you visited, why not stay a bit longer? Are you leaving again soon?"
"Well, once I finish these busy days, it’ll be fine."
"Be careful outside, go see Ling’er, that child misses you a lot, always here saying you haven’t come back."
"Alright."
Song Tingfan took out an emerald bracelet from his sleeve and added, "Grandmother, let me put it on for you."
Song Qin quickly waved her hand, "Let Qiao’er wear it, it looks good on her fair wrists."
"She doesn’t like wearing bracelets." Song Tingfan wasn’t lying, Lin Qiao didn’t like bracelets, so he bent down to help Song Qin put it on.
Although Song Qin said she didn’t want it, she was very happy wearing it. Not because it was valuable, but because even if Niu Niu gave her a blade of grass, she would be happy.
The two talked for a good while before Song Tingfan left the room. Upon coming out, a maid informed him that Madam had fainted.
He pursed his lips, "Take good care of her. If anything happens, there’s no need for you to live."
The people in the mansion were personally chosen by him, even if others knew the news, it was with his permission.
The maid was trembling, kneeling on the ground, "Yes, General."
Afterwards, Song Tingfan went to the study and heard a crisp voice from afar, "Learning without thinking is folly, thinking without learning is peril..."
Entering, he saw through the window a small head with a bun, its mouth opening and closing, the chubby cheeks more noticeable in profile.
Somewhat like him, somewhat not.
Lin Ling couldn’t sit still for long. Spotting him from the corner of his eye, his eyes lit up, "Daddy."
Hearing this, the tutor holding a ruler looked over. Contrary to rumors that General Song did not care for his legitimate wife and son, he found it wasn’t true.
Since he started teaching there, General Song had instructed not to physically punish the child.
He even often visited the child, standing for half an hour at a time.
For someone of General Song’s rank to spend time with his child, it wasn’t merely a fleeting interest.
"Go then."
With the tutor’s permission, Lin Ling happily ran out and pounced onto Song Tingfan’s leg, "Daddy, you’re back."
"Mom misses you, thinking of you day and night. Did you go see Mom?"
Song Tingfan picked him up, "I did."
Hearing this, Lin Ling laughed more joyfully and gave him a peck, "Daddy, I’m happy as long as you’re good to Mom."
A hint of a smile appeared at the corner of Song Tingfan’s mouth, "Okay, take good care of your Mom at home. Once these days pass, we’ll go home."
Lin Ling’s eyes lit up, "Daddy, are we going back to Grandma’s place? Grandma said there are lots of fun things in the village."
He didn’t like this cold, large house; he preferred running all over the village. Mom took him to pick berries on the mountain, Mr. Xu took him to gather bird eggs.
"Ask your Mom." Song Tingfan looked at him and said.
Wherever she wanted to go, they would go. She had sacrificed her former life to him; he wanted to repay her in their later years.
"I’ll ask Mom later."
Lin Ling hugged his neck, chattering about recent things, "Daddy, I saw a red bird the other day, it was so pretty..."
...
Noon
Lin Qiao was serving rice for Song Qin when Lin Ling suddenly asked, "Mom, are we going home?"
At first, Lin Qiao didn’t react, "Where to?"
"Back to Grandma’s place. Daddy said we’d go home in a little while. I asked him where, and he said to ask Mom."
Before Lin Qiao could answer, Lin Ling blinked his big eyes, "Mom, I want to go to Grandma’s place. Grandma said you and Daddy lived there."
Lin Qiao hadn’t thought about where to go; she just wanted to resolve the issue with the Third Prince, "Alright, we’ll go visit Grandma when the time comes."
She wasn’t particularly keen on going back to that village; even if she did, gossip would be inevitable.
Besides, all of Song Tingfan’s unpleasant memories were in that village.
Not knowing where to go at the moment, she stopped thinking about it.
...
For several days in a row, Song Tingfan didn’t return to the mansion, and Lin Qiao didn’t leave either, relying on the steward to learn about the outside situation.
The Third Prince had been captured, but the whereabouts of his military power were unknown.
The entire estate had been thoroughly searched; failure to find it could lead to internal conflict.
