Only after the woman's mouth was also covered did the room become completely quiet, and the annoying noise ceased.
But the quiet didn't last long before it was broken by Wei Hong knocking over a teacup and kicking over tables and chairs.
Cui Hao sighed silently, standing to the side, unsure of what to say.
He had followed the prince for many years and knew that the prince was always proud and concerned about his reputation. Ji Yunwan's words just now undoubtedly hurt his pride.
He was born into a noble family, and countless women flocked to him, but none of them caught his eye. He only set his sights on Miss Ji, believing that she was also in love with him. But in the end, it was all just wishful thinking on his part. Miss Ji never liked him at all; she only agreed to the marriage because of her clan.
Cui Hao carefully recalled the scene when he met Miss Ji with the prince. In his memory, the woman was dignified and elegant in every word and deed, and never showed any dissatisfaction with the prince. Even he could not see that she was dissatisfied with this marriage.
But after listening to Ji Yunwan's words today and thinking about it more carefully, it seems that there is indeed no affection between men and women in this dignified manner.
When she met the prince, she always listened to whatever he said and answered whatever he asked. She rarely showed any girlish coquettishness, and only occasionally would she smile when she mentioned her younger sister.
They all previously thought it was just her upbringing, since she and the prince weren't married yet, and she naturally had to maintain the most proper demeanor in front of other men, unlike how relaxed and at ease she was in front of her family.
In reality, she was merely distant from the prince. Because of this distance, she maintained proper decorum, always acting in accordance with the rules she had been taught since childhood, speaking the most appropriate words, and displaying the most appropriate smile, without making the slightest mistake.
However, Cui Hao believed he was quite good at judging people. Regardless of her attitude towards the prince, she genuinely loved her younger sister, Ji Yunwan.
He remembered that the first time the prince gave Ji Yunwan something was at a Lantern Festival, when Ji Yunshu and Ji Yunwan both saw a glass lamp.
The glass lamp was exquisite, but not particularly unusual. What was unusual was that instead of a candle, it contained a luminous pearl, which was priceless.
Wei Hong had grown up in the palace and had seen even bigger and better luminous pearls. He even had one on his own fief, so he didn't think that pearl was anything special.
But seeing that Ji Yunshu liked it, he wanted to buy it and give it to her.
Ji Yunshu naturally refused, saying that her family had strict rules and never allowed them to touch such extravagant and useless things.
The reason they didn't allow anyone to touch it wasn't because the Ji family was short of money, but because they had strict requirements for their offspring. Everything from the furnishings in the room to the clothes and jewelry, as well as each person's monthly allowance, was fixed, so as to prevent the children from developing extravagant habits.
Wei Hong still had someone buy it, and said to her, "Tell your father that it was a gift from me, and he won't say anything."
After saying that, he shoved the glass lamp into her hand, regardless of whether she refused or not.
Ji Yunshu couldn't refuse him, so she had to take it. Although she knew it wasn't quite appropriate, she couldn't hide her joy when she looked at the glass lamp, which showed that she really liked it.
But her younger sister, Ji Yunwan, also liked the lamp very much. She stood aside and looked at it with envy, and couldn't help but reach out and touch it.
At that time, Ji Yunwan was young and was simply envious. Ji Yunshu always doted on her younger sister and would protect her in her arms even when she was in danger. Seeing this, she hesitated for a moment and turned to ask Wei Hong, "Can I give it to my sister?"
Wei Hong paused for a moment, then nodded.
"Sure, whatever makes you happy."
For him, buying this lamp was to make Ji Yunshu happy. Since giving the lamp to his sister would also make her happy, he might as well let her have it.
Moreover, there are other beads on the ground, and he can buy a glass lamp to put in them and have someone deliver them to her.
Ji Yunwan was flattered and overwhelmed. After declining a few times, she saw that her sister was genuinely being kind to her, so she happily accepted the gift.
So, to be honest, that lamp was actually a gift from Miss Ji.
Upon returning to his fiefdom, Wei Hong did not forget the incident. He had someone put the luminous pearl he had in his hand into another glass lamp and send it to Ji Yunshu. However, she returned it, saying that she had already spent money on one lamp and dared not accept a second one, otherwise she would be scolded by her parents.
Wei Hong's original intention in giving the gift was to make her happy. If it would only cause her trouble, then there was no need for it, so he had the beads put away again.
After that incident, Ji Yunshu would occasionally ask Wei Hong to find things for her sister that she liked but that her family wouldn't buy for her. She would then send them to Wei Hong in his name, and then give them to her sister in return. This way, Ji Huai'an and Madam Ji would allow them to accept them, and then prepare appropriate return gifts for Wei Hong.
Of course, the things she wanted later were not expensive; they were just trinkets, such as a porcelain doll or a set of shadow puppets.
Wei Hong could not live in the capital for long, and he could not even go back often. Since leaving the capital at the age of eleven, he had only returned four or five times, and each time he stayed for no more than a month.
He knew that the Ji family would be ostracized by the court because of his engagement, and Ji Yunshu would likely be implicated and ostracized among the women in the capital. He felt guilty because he was not by their side and could not help them. Therefore, he would try his best to satisfy her and grant her every request, regardless of whether the request was for her or for her sister.
Cui Hao believed that Ji Yunshu was genuinely just feeling sorry for her younger sister and wanted to fulfill her wishes as much as possible. Given her character and her affection for Ji Yunwan, she shouldn't have done anything to deliberately induce her to like the prince.
Besides, if Ji Yunwan herself is not interested in this kind of thing, no amount of coaxing from others will work.
Just like Ji Yunshu herself doesn't like the prince, she still doesn't like him after all these years, no matter how good the prince is to her, and no matter what others say.
So it's highly likely that Ji Yunwan developed feelings for the prince at some point, which Ji Yunshu noticed, leading her to secretly try and bring them together.
He even suspected that Ji Yunwan deliberately revealed something in front of her after she learned that her older sister did not like the prince, which made Ji Yunshu think of having her younger sister replace her.
The prince was unaware of the secret thoughts between the sisters and continued to fulfill her wishes as always. She doted on her younger sister, so he also spoiled her sister. This led Ji Yunwan to misunderstand and believe that he truly had feelings for her.
If, as she thought, the prince had indeed fallen for her, then everything would be a happy ending for everyone.
The prince married the woman he wanted, Ji Yunshu no longer had to marry the woman she didn't want, Ji Yunwan got her wish and married the man she loved, and the Ji family still kept the marriage. It was just a matter of changing their daughter; it was the same for them.
Unfortunately, the prince had absolutely no interest in Miss Ji from beginning to end.
Cui Hao pondered the seemingly simple yet chaotic relationship between the three of them, and the more he thought about it, the more his head spun.
Thinking of Miss Ji again, I feel that she was probably even balder than I was when she was alive.
When the prince wrote to the Ji family saying that he would not cancel the engagement because of her mourning period and would wait until she finished mourning before getting married, she must have felt very desperate.
But Cui Hao didn't have time to think about these things, because the furious Wei Hong suddenly lifted his foot and left the front yard, heading towards the inner yard.
Cui Hao was shocked and hurriedly followed to try to stop him.
"Your Highness, this matter has nothing to do with the Princess Consort. You must not take your anger out on her! Otherwise, it will be difficult to make amends in the future!"
The princess already has no romantic feelings for the prince, and if the prince does anything to hurt her, she may never fall in love again.
If the prince hadn't been moved by her before, and the two of them had lived their own lives, that would have been fine. But now it's clear that the prince has been moved. If the princess gets hurt by him in a moment of impulsiveness, what will they do in the future?
He called out several times, but Wei Hong was in a fit of anger and wouldn't listen to him. He pushed him aside and strode forward.
Cui Hao disregarded the rules and followed closely into the main courtyard, thinking that if anything went wrong later, he would stop him even if it meant fighting with him.
Wei Hong stormed into the room, startling Yao Youqing and Zhou's mother, who were fiddling with something.
He was tall and had long legs. He stood in front of Yao Youqing in a few steps and opened his mouth to question her, "Don't you like me either?"
But he didn't ask the question, because he knew her answer without even asking. Asking would only be humiliating.
He was furious, his face more unsightly than ever before, and his gaze darkened further when he looked at what she was holding.
Are the Yao family really so poor that they can't afford embroiderers or find anyone to make clothes? They already sent one garment, and now she's starting to make a second one?
Just as he was about to make a sarcastic remark, he noticed another garment next to the newly cut, unfinished clothes. It looked very familiar; it was the one he usually wore.
"...What are you doing?"
He asked in a deep voice.
Yao Youqing looked at Zhou Mama, then at him: "I want to make a garment for the Prince, but I don't know your size, so I'll take out your old clothes to compare."
Wei Hong was stunned, and all his anger froze inside him.
Cui Hao, who had been on tenterhooks, breathed a deep sigh of relief and gave Zhou's mother a wink, signaling her to come out with him.
After closing the door, Wei Hong picked up the garment and looked at it, then asked Yao Youqing, "Why did you suddenly decide to make clothes for me?"
Yao Youqing lowered her eyes: "The weather is getting colder, and I think we will be going to Cangcheng soon. I heard it is very cold there, so... so I made a coat for the prince to keep warm."
If it were in the past, Wei Hong would have believed it, but after what just happened, and considering that he had spent some time with Yao Youqing and knew her quite well, he simply didn't believe it.
"Did Zhou's mother ask you to do this?"
Yao Youqing's face stiffened slightly, her gaze darted away, and she pursed her lips, remaining silent.
Wei Hong then asked, "Did Zhou's mother teach you to say that too?"
Upon hearing this, Yao Youqing lowered her head even further and whispered, "Aunt Zhou told me not to say it..."
But the prince had clearly already figured it out; there was no difference between saying it or not.
Wei Hong looked at her slightly furrowed brows and tightly pursed lips, remaining silent for a long while.
Yao Youqing thought he was angry and was thinking about how to explain when he suddenly pushed the sewing basket and unfinished clothes on her lap aside, then covered her up and pressed her down on the daybed.
The sewing basket was overturned, and Yao Youqing exclaimed in surprise, "Needle..."
Wei Hong ignored her, pinned her down, buried his face in her neck, and took a deep breath.
"Have you ever regretted marrying me?"
He whispered in her ear.
Yao Youqing subconsciously shook her head: "No..."
He stopped halfway through his sentence.
Wei Hong's body stiffened again at her pause. He propped himself up slightly and looked directly into her eyes: "You regret it?"
Yao Youqing looked embarrassed and stretched out her hand, pinching her index finger and thumb together, but leaving a small gap in the middle.
"A little bit."
She said.
Wei Hong: "..."
Yao Youqing explained, "Well... before, when I heard Dr. Dou say that you weren't very clean, and also..."
Her face flushed slightly, and she didn't say what she was going to say next, but Wei Hong understood.
And there was the time he smelled her undergarment.
He remained silent for a long time, then his anger suddenly deflated like a punctured balloon. He lay on top of her and buried his face in her neck once more.
"If everyone were like you, that would be great."
"Like me in what way?"
Yao Youqing asked.
"stupid."
"I'm not stupid."
Yao Youqing frowned.
Wei Hong chuckled, lightly pecked her neck a few times, and then moved his hand from her side to her waist, stroking it repeatedly.
When Chu Yan suggested leaving, Yao Youqing was worried that he would ask her to do this kind of thing. Now that she realized it, her body tensed up suddenly. Although she did not push him away, her tension and fear were evident.
Wei Hong's lips traced a path from her neck to her ear, then down to her chin, as he asked in a hoarse voice, "Does the injury on your leg still hurt?"
The girl was about to say something when she suddenly realized what she was saying and quickly nodded, "It hurts, it hurts so much!"
The man pressing down on her paused for a moment, then sighed silently: "You weren't stupid when you should have been."