Another Part Of The Residence
"Madam, Young Master has arrived," Yanyu announced then waited before nodding to the guard at the door and the guard quickly step back and opened the doors.
"Wait here." Si Ning said to Jiang Ye before stepping into the room after Yanyu.
The room was bigger than Si Ning thought and it was well lit than he expected. Ge Mengshu back was turned to him since she was closing the window, an unfinished board game was on the table that Si Ning frowned when he got closer.
"Yanyu leave us." Ge Mengshu said when she turned around.
"Excuse me, Madam and Master." Yanyu said before leaving the room.
"How are you feeling?" Ge Mengshu asked as she sat on the sitting mat and carefully carried the board game on the table to prevent the black and white stones on it not to shift, she placed it on the floor and packed the rest of the stones on the table into a pouch.
"I am not sick and I am fine." Si Ning said as he took his seat opposite her. "You have a companion." He stated as he glanced around the room, he noticed a small bookshelf filled with books and a desk at the corner, after his quick survey he directed his attention back to his mother and took a glance at the board game on the floor.
Go was a board game made for two and seeing that there were only a few Go stone pieces on the board and her not packing the pieces left means she was probably going to continue playing the game with the unknown companion.
Si Ning turned to look around, looking for a hiding place or another doorway to exist and enter the room and seeing the one he came in through was the only doorway and another way to leave the room apart from the doors were the windows. Si Ning narrowed his eyes at the window Ge Mengshu closed and he concluded that the person left through the window and the only reason they left was probably to avoid meeting him.
Hmmm, Strange.
For his mother to not hide that a person just left since the unfinished game was the evidence on the table and for her not to hide it was because she didn't expect Si Ning to ask and Si Ning knew he was supposed to ignore it and act like he didn't see a thing and also not ask of the details, yet he was curious about the person that came and stayed till night and most importantly why they were playing a time-consuming game at night.
Ge Mengshu only pulled the teapot and took two small teacups. "I can see you are feeling great." She said as she carefully poured tea for them.
"You have a companion." Si Ning repeated, seeing that his mother didn't meet his eyes and doesn't look like she would talk about it made Si Ning more curious that he leaned forward.
Ge Mengshu placed the teapot on the table after filling their cups. "I heard the Imperial Doctor wasn't able to see you this evening but he left some boiled medicine for you, did you drink it all without leaving a drop?"
"....." Si Ning was able to escape drinking the medicine by telling Ah Dai to take it back, keeping it in mind to pour it away the moment he steps into the kitchen and Ah Dai wasn't looking.
Looking at how determined his mother looked to avoid talking about the companion at all costs by asking him a question made Si Ning more determine to find out and since she didn't deny it meant someone just left.
The person leaving through the window at night and his mother wanting to continue playing the board game means the person was probably coming back.
Does that mean his mother was secretly seeing someone?
Knowing that keeping a secret lover in this era was mostly not possible since it was dangerous, especially if a noblewoman was involved and knowing his mother, Si Ning knew she couldn't keep a secret lover so he shook the thoughts out of his head, he also knew that he could always ask Xiao Pei to find out and finding out takes a lot of time and he doesn't want to wait.
Si Ning sighed and slightly flicked the teacup when Ge Mengshu placed it in front of him making no move to drink the tea as he lightly taps the teacup then he closed his eyes to focus.
"Little Ning..., A-Ning." Ge Mengshu called softy as she reached to hold Si Ning's hand.
Si Ning opened his eyes to see his mother worried gaze on him. "I do not think it is proper for a guest to take the window out, perhaps it's someone from the Ge household, someone from Xilie." He said and when he saw his mother's hand slightly shook and how she quickly retracted her hand then he knew he was on the right track.
Being a useless son was one thing he regretted and being here was his second chance to make it all right and he would do everything in his power to protect his family and to do that he wants to know his mother's friends and sister's friends and to top it all he wants to know the person his mother was playing the board game with and if his guess was right it was someone that might have come from Xilie which means his mother and them were close and this person was probably here to talk her into returning to Xilie, Si Ning couldn't look away because they might be working with Qiu Bai so he wants to know everything about it.
"I never thought my little Ning will be interested in my business." Ge Mengshu said as she reached for her cup and took a sip of her tea. "You have changed."
"In a good way?" Si Ning asked as he also took a sip of his tea. It was bitter than he expected that he quickly placed the cup on the table.
"Take that as me praising you." Ge Menshu told him. "Now what do you want to know?"
Si Ning laughed, it was rare for his mother to compliment him and he was glad. "Mother, I apologize if I sounded rude but I just want to know who came in since I have to protect you and Si Nan." He reached for her hand and held it in his.
"I can see you are finally ready as the head of Si household." Ge Mengshu said as she placed her hand on top of Si Ning's hand.
Si Ning wasn't sure if he could take that responsibility but it seemed he had already been fulfilling his duty as the head of the house. "I also want to know all about you and Xilie." He said as he placed his other hand on top of his mother's hand, holding it firmly because, by all means, he was going to be a good son.