Chu Yan also thought of Ji Yunwan's appearance just now, shook her head and chuckled, and looked towards the main courtyard.
"Perhaps I'm overthinking it. The princess isn't so easy to bully."
...
In the main courtyard, Yao Youqing had someone put away the things Wei Hong had sent, and then asked Zhou Mama to investigate who had leaked what happened last night.
Soon, Chizhu and another maid in her thirties were brought before her.
The maidservant repeatedly kowtowed and admitted her mistake, saying that she had taken money from Chizhu and that's why she had been keeping an eye on the main courtyard for her.
Chizhu knew she would be punished this time, so she knelt there meekly and said she wouldn't dare to do it again.
Yao Youqing shook her head: "There won't be a next time."
"If you make other mistakes, accidentally break something, or fail to do your job properly, I might give you another chance."
“But you, as servants of the Prince’s mansion, have been inquiring about your master’s private affairs for your own benefit and then telling others about these things. This is disloyalty and betrayal of your master.”
“I would never dare to employ a disloyal person, so I have already sent someone to summon the brokers. From now on, you should all go elsewhere to make a living; I can no longer accommodate you here.”
The maid was startled and cried out in despair. She crawled over on her knees, trying to beg Yao Youqing to spare her, but before she could get close, she was stopped and dragged away.
Chizhu was also dragged away, struggling even more fiercely than the maid, constantly shouting, "You can't sell me! I'm the prince's servant, you can't sell me!"
But her shouts did not make the people dragging her let go, nor did they make Yao Youqing hesitate.
She asked Zhou's mother to find the two people's indentures and hand them over to the brokerage firm later, and then she didn't ask about the matter anymore.
After dealing with the two men, Madam Zhou gathered the other servants in the mansion together and gave them a thorough dressing-down before returning to her room.
When she entered, Yao Youqing was practicing calligraphy, with Qiongyu serving her with brush and ink.
She walked over and took Qiongyu's place, smiling, "Is the Princess angry?"
Practicing calligraphy can calm the mind, so although Yao Youqing doesn't particularly like it, she practices for a while whenever she's angry or unhappy, to help herself calm down and let go of those unpleasant things.
Yao Youqing paused, her hand holding the pen still, and sighed, saying, "I just don't understand how the Ji family could raise such a daughter."
A family steeped in scholarship and a century-old tradition, yet the Ji family has produced a person who is ignorant of manners and shame. Is this the kind of family tradition the Ji family has?
Madam Zhou shook her head: "Although our Yao family and the Ji family don't have much contact, I have met Miss Ji the eldest and Miss Ji the second a few times before."
"Miss Ji is virtuous and kind, and has both beauty and talent. Compared to her, her younger sister is indeed not outstanding, but I have never heard of her having any bad reputation."
"However, since they are both daughters of the Ji family, one is dignified and virtuous, while the other is shameless, it is clear that it is related to their own character, and family tradition and social standing are not the only reasons."
"It's like...like the fruit on the same tree, some are big, some are small, some are sour, some are sweet, and none of them are perfect."
Yao Youqing thought for a moment and nodded.
"Miss Ji is the sweet fruit, and Miss Ji is the sour one."
Mrs. Zhou shook her head again, teasingly saying, "If you ask me, Miss Ji isn't just sour, she's the bitter one!"
Yao Youqing couldn't help but laugh, and Qiongyu suddenly spoke up again: "No, no, it should be the one that was eaten away by insects!"
The atmosphere in the room eased, and Yao Youqing was no longer as angry as before.
When Wei Hong returned and learned of what had happened during the day, his face darkened. He instructed Cui Hao, "Tell the gatekeeper that if Ji Er comes again, don't let her in. Don't even bother to bring her visiting card. Just send it back. Don't allow her to set foot in the Prince's residence again, and don't let her get close to the Princess."
He had already given Ji Er enough face, but Ji Er took advantage of the situation and dared to openly reprimand his princess in the palace.
He himself wouldn't even raise his voice to that girl, so who was she to do such a thing?
Cui Hao agreed and was about to give the order when the servants told them something else.
Upon hearing about this, Wei Hong did not immediately send Cui Hao to deliver the message. Instead, he first captured Chi Zhu, who had already been sold.
...
The following day, Ji Yunwan was invited over by Wei Hong for the first time since arriving in Shangchuan.
The Lu family was overjoyed and immediately prepared the best carriage to send her up.
Ji Yunwan had a vague feeling that something was wrong, but since the people from the Prince's Mansion had already arrived, she had no choice but to go.
She arrived at the Prince's Mansion in the car, feeling anxious all the way. She met Wei Hong in a small courtyard in the front yard that had been renovated.
Wei Hong was handling official business at the time. Hearing the noise, he put away the military report in his hand and pointed to the chair in the room: "Sit down."
Ji Yunwan sat down as instructed and asked, "I wonder what business Your Highness has with me?"
Wei Hong didn't speak, but glanced at Cui Hao beside him.
Cui Hao understood and immediately had someone bring in a half-dead person.
The man was disheveled, covered in blood, and his clothes were tattered from torture, making them unrecognizable.
Ji Yunwan gasped in fright and nearly fell off her chair.
"What...what are you doing?"
Wei Hong said coldly, "What? Don't you recognize him? He's someone you know."
As he spoke, the servants pulled up the hair of the half-dead man, revealing his face, which was none other than Chi Zhu, who had spoken with Ji Yunwan just yesterday.
"This is a servant of my household. I heard that she and Miss Ji are very close, so I gave her to you. You can take her with you later."
He then ordered his men to take Chizhu away and load her into Ji Yunwan's carriage.
Ji Yunwan shook her head, trying to stop them, but she couldn't stop them at all and could only watch helplessly as they took the person away.
As her unease and various speculations were confirmed, the tears that had been flowing almost nonstop since yesterday welled up again.
"Why...why are you doing this to me? You used to be so good to me..."
Wei Hong frowned, his voice deep and cold, devoid of any warmth.
"When have I ever been kind to you? Miss Ji, have you lost your mind?"
Ji Yunwan chuckled softly, her expression sorrowful and cold.
"Now that you've married and fallen in love with your wife, do you deny everything from before?"
“Every time you came back to Beijing, you would bring gifts for my sister and me. They were always the things I liked and wanted the most. You were always so thoughtful and would always call me ‘Little Sister Ji’. Even when my sister went on a trip with you and you took me with you, you never said anything and were always gentle, considerate and caring towards me.”
"Even after my engagement was broken off, you still showed concern. Knowing that I like playing the zither, you went to great lengths to have a guqin sent from Shangchuan to me. Even my sister doesn't have one!"
"If you truly have no feelings for me, then why did you do all these things? Why did you make me misunderstand that you have feelings for me, and why did I go so far as to swallow my pride and chase after you all the way to Shangchuan for you!"
After she finished speaking, not only Wei Hong, but even Cui Hao was shocked and felt completely bewildered.
"Miss Ji, you've really misunderstood. The reason the Prince gave you gifts was entirely because of Miss Ji."
"It's because Miss Ji always talks about you, her younger sister, in front of him. She also said that the Ji family has strict rules and doesn't allow you to play with those frivolous things. That's why she asked the Prince to search everywhere and give them to you under the guise of gifts, so that Lord Ji won't say anything to you."
"As for that zither... it was Miss Ji who wrote a letter and sent a large sum of money, saying that you were rejected by the Qi family and were depressed all day long, but your family didn't care and even scolded you for being unreasonable. She begged the prince to help you find an ancient zither to cheer you up."
"Of course, the prince confiscated the money, but that was because he didn't want to waste Miss Huaji's money, not... for you."
Ji Yunwan's sorrowful expression froze, and after a long while, she shook her head stiffly.
"Impossible... My sister never said that she asked the prince to buy that zither."
“Of course Miss Ji wouldn’t tell,” Cui Hao said. “How much money could an unmarried woman like her have saved up? She took out almost all of it to buy you a zither.”
“You are her most beloved younger sister, how could she tell you? Of course she would only tell you that the prince found out and bought it for you.”
"Even so, most people wouldn't think that their future brother-in-law is interested in them. Instead, they would think that their brother-in-law admires their sister, and that's why he's so fond of her."
Unless one harbors some ulterior motive, such a strange misunderstanding would arise.
Ji Yunwan's face was as white as paper, and tears welled up in her eyes.
"Even if it's because of my sister, did the prince really have no feelings for me at all back then? What kind of man would bring gifts for his fiancée's sister every time he goes out? Didn't you ever think about these things?"
It would have been better if she hadn't said the second half of her sentence; saying it only earned her a cold laugh from Wei Hong.
“My princess has a dog. Although I don’t like the animal, I still often buy it its favorite jerky for the princess’s sake. Does that mean I have feelings for the dog?”
As soon as he finished speaking, Ji Yunwan forgot to shed tears and stared blankly at him, her lips trembling slightly.
"You compared me to a dog?"
“You can’t say that,” Wei Hong said. “Although that dog is stupid, it can at least read people’s expressions and know who likes it and who doesn’t. Also, it never bites people randomly.”
Cui Hao knew he was mocking Ji Yunwan, and couldn't help but lower his head to suppress a laugh.
Ji Yunwan was stunned for a moment, but then suddenly laughed, her voice sharp and piercing, as if she had really lost her mind.
"You say I can't read people's faces? Do you think you can?"
"My sister doesn't like you at all, and she doesn't want to marry you at all! It was only because our parents and the clan unanimously agreed to Emperor Gaozong's decree that she had no choice but to agree!"
"Do you know that every time you come to the capital, she forces a smile? Do you know that the reason she always brings me with her is because she doesn't want to be alone with you! As the wedding date approaches, she sits in her room in a daze every day, not even wanting to embroider her wedding dress. I had to help her finish it! She never wanted to marry you!"
Wei Hong's face, which had just been somewhat gloomy, was now ashen, and his fists clenched tightly.
"You're talking nonsense."
"I'm talking nonsense? Ha..."
Ji Yunwan chuckled: "I am her sister, her closest person. She herself hugged me and said she was not satisfied with this marriage, but she had no choice but to agree because she could not go against her parents."
"If you don't believe me, you can send someone to the capital to investigate. That would be easy for you, wouldn't it?"
"Also, after I broke off the engagement with the Qi family, I wasn't depressed, nor was I scolded by my parents. But she wrote to you in a letter saying this. Why?"
Wei Hong and Cui Hao remained silent, while Ji Yunwan continued with a smile, "Because she just wanted to tell you that I broke off the engagement! She wanted to test whether you were interested in me. If you changed your mind and wanted to marry me instead of her, then everyone would be happy and no one would be in a difficult situation!"
"One of you wanted to use me to please the other, and the other wanted to use me to replace yourself! You made me misunderstand that you had feelings for me, and that I could become the Princess of Qin. It's all your fault!"
Wei Hong's breathing gradually became heavy, his clenched fists cracked, and the veins on his forehead bulged out.
Cui Hao knew he was furious. But after Ji Yunwan finished talking about Miss Ji, she started talking about Yao Youqing, saying that she could tell that Yao Youqing didn't like him either, otherwise she would have taken the initiative to please him long ago, and he wouldn't have needed to use the excuse of repairing the front yard to move back.
Upon hearing this, Cui Hao hurriedly ordered his men to pull her out, fearing that Wei Hong might accidentally kill her there.
Ji Yunwan continued to struggle, and even though she had already been dragged out, her voice could still be heard.
"The women you like don't like you back! The women you like don't like you back!"
Chapter 43 Clothing (700 new words added)