"princess!"
Zhou's mother called out softly and shook her head at her.
Yao Youqing was puzzled, but seeing that both she and Wei Hong looked unwell, she ultimately said nothing and nodded in agreement.
Ji Yunwan suppressed her pride and curtsied to Yao Youqing, saying, "Then thank you very much, Your Highness."
Then she looked at Wei Hong, her eyes filled with joy, shyness and timidity: "Thank you, Your Highness."
Chapter 32 Repair
"Miss Ji, it's all here."
Cui Hao pointed to the two carts of goods and said.
Besides the two carts of goods, there were other items placed to the side that had not been loaded. Ji Yunwan glanced at them, but didn't ask any further questions. She nodded, got into her own carriage, and left.
After the carriage left the Prince's residence, Panxiang frowned and muttered, "Miss, didn't the Prince say he would give you all the things from the capital? Why did Lord Cui leave some behind?"
She had wanted to ask earlier, but seeing that her young mistress hadn't spoken, she didn't dare to say anything more, afraid that the King of Qin would think that their young mistress was a greedy person.
Ji Yunwan said, "Those bear the imperial mark. If someone with ulterior motives takes them and sells them outside, and someone reports it to the palace, it will cause trouble for the prince."
Panxiang nodded knowingly, then muttered, "The prince is too cautious. Does he think you're going to harm him, Miss? Who in the world would harm him? You wouldn't either."
Ji Yunwan chuckled: "These are the rules, and they have nothing to do with who I am."
Panxiang laughed when the topic of rules came up.
"According to the rules, gifts bestowed by the Emperor cannot be given away casually. The Prince broke the rules for Miss! And in front of the Princess!"
Ji Yunwan's expression, which had been rather unpleasant since arriving in Shangchuan, finally softened, and she once again wore her usual gentle smile.
"I told you I wouldn't come for nothing."
The prince may not care about her as much as she imagined, but she is still in his heart.
Panxiang nodded: "Now I'm relieved. The Lu family is very snobbish, and they've become increasingly disrespectful to us lately. Let them see what the Prince gave you when we get back today, and open their eyes!"
The Lu family is the one where Ji Yunwan is currently staying. They are not actually related to the Ji family at all. They were just a concubine's daughter from a distant branch of the Ji family who was married decades ago. That concubine's daughter died less than two years after she entered the family.
The reason they helped take in Ji Yunwan this time was twofold: firstly, out of respect for Ji Huai'an, and secondly, because they believed that if Ji Yunwan could truly enter the Prince's mansion as a concubine, it would bring benefits to the Lu family in the future.
Of course, the latter is more important to them.
No matter how much influence Ji Huai'an has, it's only in the capital, and it's useless to them in Shangchuan.
But the status of a concubine of the King of Qin is different!
To curry favor with the King of Qin's concubine is to curry favor with the King of Qin himself, and to curry favor with the King of Qin means a bright future.
So when Ji Yunwan arrived, they treated her as an honored guest. However, three months passed and she went to Hucheng several times, but she never even saw the King of Qin. The King of Qin knew that she had come to Shangchuan, but he never sent anyone to look for her. He had no intention of taking her as a concubine, let alone making her a secondary consort!
Having served them good food and drink for so long without seeing any benefit, their attitude was naturally not as good as before. As Ji Yunwan's servant, Pan Xiang had been given the cold shoulder quite a few times these days.
The thought of winning back the favor with the Lu family today made her feel very comfortable. She asked, "Miss, will the Prince be taking you to his residence soon?"
When this was mentioned, Ji Yunwan's expression darkened.
She used to think that she would wait for the prince to take the initiative to invite him into the manor, but now it seems that... the prince may not be willing to make that request.
His feelings for her were not as deep as his feelings for his sister.
Besides... he already has a face that resembles his sister next to him.
"Soon."
She answered casually, but her mind was already wandering to other things.
...
Although Wei Hong said that Yao Yuzhi had only injured her leg, Yao Youqing was still worried.
Now that she is the Princess Consort of Qin, she cannot leave Shangchuan at will. She can only ask Zhou Mama to send someone back to the capital on her behalf to check if her father is well.
Knowing her worries, Madam Zhou immediately made the arrangements. As she left, Qiongyu followed her and, taking advantage of the fact that no one else was around, whispered, "Madam Zhou, is it alright that Miss Ji took those things sent from the palace?"
She wasn't worried that Ji Yunwan had taken Yao Youqing's things, but rather that there was something wrong with those things, just like... the pills that His Majesty had personally given to the young lady before.
Mrs. Zhou shook her head: "I don't know if it's alright, but in any case, we can't let the Princess take it! As for Miss Ji..."
She said, her eyes turning slightly cold, "She asked for it herself, it wasn't forced on her by someone else. Whatever happens to her is her own fate!"
She had noticed that Miss Ji had ulterior motives towards the prince, but since the prince had no such intentions towards her, she could not pose any threat to Yao Youqing, so she did not mention it to Yao Youqing.
I never expected Miss Ji to be so shameless. She couldn't see the prince several times, and when she sent someone to the military camp to deliver a message to the prince last time, she was directly turned away. Yet she still had the nerve to come again!
Not only did they come, but they also deliberately sowed discord between the young lady and the prince.
Having lived for over thirty years, how could Zhou's mother not realize that she deliberately claimed to have been in the Prince's room and that she liked the imperial rouge, all in an attempt to get the Prince to give it to her and embarrass her young mistress?
The only reason she didn't stop her was because she didn't want her mistress to keep these things.
Qiongyu nodded: "But... the prince actually asked the princess to send the things away. Although we don't want those things either, it's really disrespectful to the princess."
"When he gave the princess such an expensive coming-of-age gift before, I thought he was starting to like her a little."
Upon hearing this, Zhou's mother chuckled softly, her annoyance and worry vanishing from her face. She reached out and tapped her forehead.
"You...you don't understand anything!"
After saying that, he turned and walked away.
Qiongyu scratched her head, looking completely bewildered.
"How could I not understand?"
...
The things Ji Yunwan brought back did indeed appease the Lu family, making them believe that she still had a chance to enter the Prince's Mansion. They began to flatter her again, and even spent a lot of money to search for and buy her a painting.
After obtaining the painting, Ji Yunwan immediately went to Lintong and personally placed it in front of Wei Hong.
"Your Highness, I have found the original of this painting for you."
She smiled and slowly unfurled the scroll in front of him, revealing a pastoral scene by Master Feng.
Wei Hong's eyes twitched: "...An authentic work?"
“Yes,” Ji Yunwan said, “Although it took some effort, I finally found it after all.”
"The seller initially refused to sell no matter what, but I had to use all my persuasion to get him to reluctantly part with the painting and resell it to me."
Looking at the painting, Wei Hong asked, "How much silver did you spend?"
Ji Yunwan said, "What do you mean by silver? As long as Your Highness is happy, that's all that matters."
Wei Hong: "...This is a fake."
Counterfeit?
Ji Yunwan suddenly raised her head: "How is this possible? This..."
"I drew this."
Wei Hong interrupted him directly.
“I really like this painting. I’ve made many copies of it. I gave one to a friend a few years ago, and it seems he…didn’t take good care of it.”
Ji Yunwan: "..."
Her face was burning hot, and she remained silent for a long time before finding her voice.
"I never expected it to be painted by the Prince. I've had many people authenticate it, and they all say it's genuine. It seems the Prince's painting skills are truly remarkable, to the point that they can be mistaken for the real thing."
"It's not so bad that it's indistinguishable from the real thing."
Wei Hong continued.
“This is a painting I made a few years ago. If you look closely, it’s not hard to tell that it’s a fake. The people you contacted were probably arranged by that seller to deliberately deceive you.”
In other words, she was caught in someone else's trap from the very beginning, and was kept in the dark without even realizing it.
Ji Yunwan had never been so humiliated. She could only awkwardly force a smile and say that she had learned her lesson and would not be so easily fooled again. She added, "If I find the original of this painting, I will send it to the Prince immediately."
"No need, the original is in my hands."
Wei Hong pointed to the wall and said, "That's what the princess gave me."
Ji Yunwan's eyes widened again: "Impossible, that painting is clearly fake!"
Wei Hong raised an eyebrow: "This painting was personally appraised and collected by Grand Tutor Yao. It was included in the Princess's dowry before her marriage and was brought to Shangchuan by her."
Yao Yuzhi's reputation for calligraphy and painting is known to everyone in Beijing. How could his collection be fake? Ji Yunwan understood this as well.
"But...that rabbit..."
"That was added by the princess when she was young and didn't know any better. Although the writing style is indeed a bit immature, once you get used to it, you'll find it has a unique charm."
He chuckled as he spoke, seemingly not finding the rabbit an eyesore at all.
Ji Yunwan gritted her teeth, pressed her lips tightly together, and after a long while, managed to force an ugly smile.
"So it is indeed an authentic work, but it is still a bit of a pity that such a masterpiece has been ruined like this."
Wei Hong did not deny this point; if possible, he would prefer the painting to remain as it was.
But since things have already come to this, it's not so hard to accept if you try to think more positively.
Especially when you think about how Yao Yuzhi hasn't eaten for three days because of this rabbit, the rabbit becomes especially adorable.
Ji Yunwan's face was still burning. At first, she felt embarrassed and annoyed, but now she felt resentful and unwilling.
She wanted to go back and ask the Lu family how they handled things, actually buying a fake as a genuine work and then having her present it to the prince.
And this fake was actually painted by the prince himself!
She bowed and prepared to take her leave. Before leaving, she glanced at Wei Hong's house and said with a smile, "Your Highness, why hasn't the front yard been repaired for so long? I saw that the Princess Consort had renovated the back yard so elegantly before, and I thought that once the back yard was finished, the front yard would be repaired. I didn't expect that there would be no movement for so long."
"Although we don't live in the front yard often, we still need to receive guests. It's the face of the Prince's Mansion, so it's best to repair it."
This means that Yao Youqing only cared about living comfortably, but disregarded the reputation of the Prince's Mansion.
Wei Hong frowned upon hearing this, then suddenly relaxed, his expression brightening: "You're right."