Love Under the Distant Stars

Chapter 38

"Her? Who is she?" Following his gaze, Shen Jie turned around and her anger flared up instantly.

"Shen...no, Sister Lian'er, I'm sorry!" Ju'er walked to Shen Jie's side with her head down, apologizing before Shen Jie could scold her. She knew she was wrong. She shouldn't have left Sister Shen alone in the wilderness. She was already repenting.

"Never mind, never mind," Shen Jie waved her hand. She also found it strange. She was so angry when she didn't see this girl, but now that she saw her guilty and ashamed little face, all her anger vanished.

"Really? Sister Lian'er, you don't blame me anymore?" Ju'er looked up at Shen Jie with bright eyes.

"Yes! I don't blame you anymore." This little girl is quite cute.

"I knew Sister Lian'er was the best!" Ju'er happily hugged Shen Jie and gulped down her rice porridge. Oh, she remembered the purpose of her visit to Shen Jie today, "By the way, Sister Lian'er, do you still have the bottle of 'Qingyu Pills' I gave you last time?"

"Yes, I'm here." Shen Jie said, pointing to the bundle on the table. She hadn't had time to take the bundle back to her room before Ouyang Tianyu dragged her out.

"Then give me a few," Ju'er said eagerly, knowing that finding Sister Shen would be all that mattered.

"What? Your lover has been poisoned?" Shen Jie teased, taking out a bottle and stuffing it into Ju'er's hand. Judging from her anxious look, that must be it.

"No, that's not it," Ju'er denied. "Sister Lian'er, I'm leaving now, goodbye." After saying that, she turned and left, but when she reached the door, she seemed to remember something. She turned back and waved to Ouyang Tianyu, "Oh, Brother Yu, goodbye."

After she left, Shen Jie couldn't help but burst into laughter. This little girl was so funny and adorable.

"When this girl thinks of her sweetheart, she forgets everything else, no matter how important." Ouyang Tianyu couldn't help but laugh as he recalled the scene.

"Who is her sweetheart?" Shen Jie asked, wondering which guy had captivated this adorable little one.

"Qi Ruiyang, the second young master of the Qi Prince's Mansion." As far as he knew, this should be the guy.

"Qi Ruiyang?" Shen Jie's loud voice drew the attention of the guests nearby. Ouyang Tianyu immediately covered her mouth, telling her to keep her voice down. How could a lowly maidservant be allowed to shout the name of a nobleman in public?

"How could Ju'er fall for a man like that?" Shen Jie asked, puzzled. In her opinion, Ouyang Tianyu was a hundred times better than him. Did her lovely Ju'er have something wrong with her eyes? Giving up such a high-quality man to go after a second-rate one.

"Excuse me, what kind of man is 'this kind of man'?" Ouyang Tianyu looked at Shen Jie curiously, not understanding what she meant. Qi Ruiyang was top-notch in terms of family background, appearance, and character; most unmarried women in the capital hoped to marry him. How did Shen Jie come to call him "this kind of man"?

“A man like him who dares to do something but not take responsibility, I think you should advise Ju’er to leave him as soon as possible. This kind of man is too unreliable. Whoever marries him will be unlucky.” Shen Jie had a very bad impression of Qi Ruiyang.

"Did he offend you in some way?" Ouyang Tianyu asked, knowing Shen Jie as he did, that she wouldn't slander someone without reason.

"Do you know that he was the one who caused my death a year ago?" Shen Jie said irritably. "If he hadn't inexplicably grabbed my hand and wouldn't let go, leading Ouyang Tianyun to believe that I was seducing him and locking me in the room, I wouldn't have been killed by Xiangmei. And what about him? I don't even know where he's hiding."

"Is that so?" Ouyang Tianyu's expression suddenly turned cold. He had always thought Qi Ruiyang was a gentleman, but he never expected him to be such a despicable person, daring to lay a hand on the woman he loved. He would make him pay next time he saw him.

"Alright, let's not talk about that anymore. Let's talk about our operation." Shen Jie changed the subject. It's better not to talk about such meaningless things. The important thing right now is to deal with Lei Shuangxue and Lei Jun. Oh, speaking of Lei Shuangxue, she... "Tianyu, I'm asking you, did you personally witness Su Yuyin's burial?"

"What are you trying to say?" Ouyang Tianyu asked, puzzled. Why would she ask such a question?

"The aura emanating from Lei Shuangxue feels very familiar to me..." She couldn't quite put her finger on the strange feeling, but Shen Jie was certain that they had interacted before.

"You mean Su Yuyin came back after you left?" Ouyang Tianyu exclaimed in surprise. Was that possible? He thought about it carefully, then immediately dismissed it. "No, impossible. I saw you breathe your last, and I also saw Su Yuyin buried. It's impossible for her to come back."

"I'm not sure either." Shen Jie recalled her several meetings with Lei Shuangxue, wondering if it was Su Yuyin or not. "How about... we go to the cemetery tonight?"

"What do you want?" Ouyang Tianyu asked without any hope. Was he being asked to exhume the body and perform an autopsy? That would be a grave disrespect to the deceased; how could he dare to do that?

"Of course, we need to check if Su Yuyin's grave has been disturbed. If it has, we'll have to open the coffin and see if Su Yuyin is still there. If it hasn't been disturbed, then it proves that Lei Shuangxue is someone else entirely," Shen Jie analyzed. After all, she could survive in Su Yuyin's body, so there was no reason not to believe that Su Yuyin could be resurrected. Perhaps it was because she had stayed in Su Yuyin's body for half a year that she felt a sense of familiarity with that face.

"But opening the coffin is... a heinous crime." If his family found out, he would be beaten to death, just as they wanted him to do.

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it. The fastest and most effective way for us to find out if Lei Shuangxue is really Su Yuyin is to go to the cemetery. If you're too scared to go, then tell me where the cemetery is, and I'll go..." Shen Jie rolled her eyes. She really hadn't expected this guy to be such a stickler for rules. Enough already.

“I’ll go.” Ouyang Tianyu seemed to have made a great decision. He could go if he wanted to. After all, he was a “rebellious son” and adding another charge wouldn’t be a big deal to him. But she was the woman he loved, so how could he let her go?

As soon as midnight passed, a dark figure darted out from the back gate of Green Jade Manor and headed straight for the cemetery. By the faint moonlight, he finally found Su Yuyin's tombstone. He lit a candle and carefully examined every inch of the ground around the tombstone, but found nothing amiss. The tombstone was intact, and the ground behind it was exactly as it had been when the burial took place, without any signs of disturbance... Thankfully, he breathed a sigh of relief and, as he had come, left the cemetery silently.

Early in the morning, before dawn, Shen Jie carried a basin of water towards Ouyang Tianyu's room. As the Third Young Master's personal maid, she naturally had to take care of his daily life. In fact, he could do these things himself. Usually, after entering his room, Shen Jie would sit and chat with him without doing anything, and then leave with him after he finished tidying up. She thought she was probably the most relaxed maid in the world.

Reaching the artificial hill, a hand covered her mouth, pulling her behind it. She struggled, about to cry out, but the other person spoke first, announcing his name. Shen Jie stared in surprise at Lei Jun, dressed as a servant. How... how did he sneak in? It seems his abilities are not to be underestimated; they'll have to be even more careful in the future.

Lei Jun questioned Shen Jie about Ouyang Tianyu's latest movements, and Shen Jie answered according to the pre-arranged questions. After getting the information he wanted, Lei Jun left satisfied, threatening her before he left that if she didn't obediently tell him everything she knew, Xiao Min would be in big trouble.

After Lei Jun left, Shen Jie also came out of the artificial hill. Watching Lei Jun's hurried departure, a faint smile appeared on her lips. The game had begun; which side was in control? It was already quite obvious…

^

Chapter Twenty-Six

"Third Young Master, it's time to get up."

Shen Jie knocked on the door a few times as a formality, then pushed it open and went inside. There was no sound. Damn! This guy must still be asleep. She put the wash water aside and tiptoed to the bedside. She saw Ouyang Tianyu lying with his face turned outwards. She smiled and sat down on the edge of the bed, carefully examining his face. She noticed that he looked a lot like the second son, Ouyang Tianji, but only about three-tenths like the eldest son. Perhaps they weren't born to the same mother?

"Hey! Get up, you slept in today." Shen Jie patted his face and woke him up. Usually, he was already awake when she came in.

"Don't make a sound, let me sleep a little longer," Ouyang Tianyu mumbled, continuing to sleep.

"Don't sleep, get up!" Shen Jie grabbed Ouyang Tianyu's hands and forcefully pulled him up.

"Please! My dear young lady, what important matter do you have that requires me to get up now? Do you know that I went to the cemetery last night and didn't get back until almost dawn!" Ouyang Tianyu leaned against the headboard, half-lying on the bed, and complained.

"Of course something happened." Why nag if there's nothing wrong? Shen Jie, having eaten her fill and feeling bored, wore her displeasure on her face. Wait, what did he just say? "You went to the cemetery last night? How did it go?"

Looking at her expectant face, Ouyang Tianyu sighed softly. It seemed he could never refuse her request. "Su Yuyin's grave is intact and has not been disturbed at all." He told Shen Jie the results of his investigation last night. To be honest, seeing that Su Yuyin's tombstone had not been touched made him feel relieved.

"Really?" Shen Jie pondered. This familiar feeling didn't come from "herself," which she had been using for half a year. Then who could it be? She couldn't say. It seemed this matter was complicated, and she needed to think about it carefully.

Afterwards, Shen Jie told Ouyang Tianyu about her encounter with Lei Jun. The two discussed it for a while, then left Lanxuan one after the other. They were both looking around furtively, just as suspiciously as ever, because they knew that someone would follow them.