Chapter 38 "I know I was wrong, can you believe me just this once?"

"How has Lord Ji been lately?"

"The patriarch is well."

The prefect said, "It's getting late. Why don't you stay here and rest at the prefectural office for the night before you leave?"

As he spoke, he took out a silver ingot from his sleeve and stuffed it into the servant's hand.

The servant was stunned, staring wide-eyed, momentarily terrified: "Sir, this is unacceptable."

"Why not?" the prefect said. "If you give me the money, you can put in a good word for me with Lord Ji, and let me have a word with him. That would be good."

...

Ji Jinghe did not ask Qingque to come with him. He arrived in Changping Prefecture alone, on horseback, with his sword, before the city gates were locked.

It was really late, so he led his horse straight to the Changping Prefecture government office, hoping someone would arrange for him to rest at the local post station for the night.

He knocked on the yamen door, and when a yamen runner peeked out and saw what he looked like, he said, "Whose young master are you? This is a yamen, you can't just knock on it randomly. Go back now."

Ji Jinghe took out a gold medal and gestured: "Quickly inform your prefect that the Left Vice Censor-in-Chief Ji Jinghe has business to attend to."

Another member of the Ji family?

The constable squinted at the gold medal before him, but his mouth moved faster than his brain, cursing, "Where did all these people from the Ji family come from? Lord Ji just sent someone, and now another one has appeared. If anyone dares to impersonate him, watch out for your dog's life..."

He uttered half of his harsh words, but after seeing everything clearly, he was completely dumbfounded.

A gold medal with the character "仁" (ren, meaning benevolence/kindness)!?

Looking up at the person before him, whose calm demeanor, without even a frown, exuded an air of authority that commanded respect, he immediately closed the door and ran towards the backyard, shouting, "My lord, my lord, Lord Ji is here!"

The prefect was engrossed in his conversation and only caught half of what the yamen runner was saying: "What's the rush? Have you no manners..."

The constable, panting, said, "Sir, just now there was a man dressed in very fine clothes. He was carrying a gold medal with the character 'Ren' on it. He said he was Ji Jinghe, the Left Vice Censor-in-Chief, and that he had business to attend to in Changping."

The prefect was surprised. He glanced at the servant boy beside him who claimed to be from the Ji family and asked in bewilderment, "Are you sure you're not mistaken?"

"I am absolutely certain that I have not made a mistake."

Only dukes, marquises, earls, and imperial sons-in-law have the "Ren" (仁) mark on gold medals. There are only a few in the entire capital.

How did he manage to see all of the Ji family's tokens today?

The prefect paused, strode into the room, glanced at the crouching figure, and his anger, which had been mocked, suddenly flared up.

"Men, seize him!"

Before the constables could react, the prefect kicked around violently, yelling, "Brainless idiots, why aren't you arresting the imposter right now? Are you waiting for the real person to come and ask for your head?!"

Upon hearing the threat of beheading, the constables were immediately alarmed and quickly drew their swords to confront the attacker.

Seeing this, the servant hurriedly ran over to find Yu'an, "Madam, we've been exposed! They said the master has arrived..."

Yu An kept her head down, her hands already trembling uncontrollably. "We'll play it by ear later. Even if something goes wrong, I'll take the blame. If he questions you, just put the blame on me."

Time waits for no one. His fingers flew across the pages, his gaze hastily sweeping over a page before he was eager to move on to the next one. In the end, he tucked one of the two he had chosen into his pocket and had his servant hide the other one with him.

"If the old man doesn't point it out, we'll pretend we don't know anything and keep up the act in front of outsiders."

"Hurry up and put those things down!"

The constable swung his knife, and Yu'an had no choice but to put down what she was holding. When she looked up, her eyes were met with that tall and imposing figure.

A deep, suppressed voice rang out, "Put the knife away."

Yu An squatted on the ground, looking at the various account books piled up at her feet. Suddenly, all her energy dissipated, and her whole body felt as if all her strength had been drained, making her feel weak.

In the candlelight, the shadow enveloped her, pressing down on her and making it hard for her to breathe.

With the danger to her neck gone, Yu'an had no choice but to stand up, chin raised, looking at those eyes with a death-defying expression.

Like a calm born of extreme anger, Ji Jinghe remained expressionless. He reached out and pulled the ledger from her bosom, staring at her intently. Though he said nothing, it was as if he had said everything.

The prefect behind him saw that Yu An was a female prime minister and, after observing Ji Jinghe's reaction, boldly guessed that it was a family matter. He didn't say anything, but he couldn't stand the somber aura emanating from Ji Jinghe. After considering his options, he carefully said, "Lord Ji, it's late now. Why don't I have someone arrange accommodation for you first, and we can talk again tomorrow at dawn?"

Ji Jinghe threw the ledger on the ground and said coldly, "Take these to my room."

The prefect readily agreed.

The constable beside him asked in a neither too loud nor too soft tone, "Um... sir, should we prepare one room or two?"

The prefect was speechless, glared fiercely at the yamen runners behind him, and quickly led the others away.

Terumaru fell into a deathly silence, leaving only the two of them facing each other.

Yu An endured the gazes fixed on her, her expression no better than that of a dead person.

Ji Jinghe looked around helplessly, feeling as if there was a wad of cotton stuck in his chest, leaving him speechless.

He turned and made a move to leave, but after taking two steps and seeing no movement behind him, he exhaled to calm himself down, then turned back, grabbed her arm, and pulled her outside.

Yu-an tried to break free, but found that the hand was much stronger than before.

His control, tinged with a domineering air, made her feel a little repulsed.

Regardless of how many rooms the prefect had prepared, Ji Jinghe only led her into one room, closed the door, and isolated her from the world.

Ji Jinghe sat at the head of the table, having endured the cold wind all night. Only now was he able to drink a sip of warm tea, but he couldn't drink it smoothly, feeling uncomfortable all over.

"Didn't you say you were going to Huairou? How did you end up here?" He asked, trying to keep his voice down and soften his tone.

Silence followed behind.

Ji Jinghe turned around and casually tossed the two tokens he was carrying onto the table. "No explanation?"

Yu An: "There's nothing to explain."

As soon as he finished speaking, seeing her self-righteous demeanor, he should have been angry, but instead felt no emotion, only a pang of guilt and heartache.

Yu An: "I know I made a mistake. If it gets exposed in the future, you can divorce me with a letter of divorce."

What a carefree remark! He said it without even blinking.

Divorce seemed to be the least important thing to her.

He sighed helplessly and raised his hand, saying, "Take the things out."

Yu An stiffened, then reluctantly took out the fake seal from her bosom and placed it in his hand.

Ji Jinghe didn't even glance at her. He took her hand back and placed the two genuine seals in her palm.

Ji Jinghe understood: "So you came here just to find documents with my fake seal. Your talk about wanting to visit relatives is all a lie."

Yu An remained silent.

Ji Jinghe: "Fortunately, it's Changping. If it were in the capital, you'd probably be locked up in jail by now. Aren't you afraid?"

"Alone, what is there to fear in death?"

She uttered a single sentence softly, and the two objects in her palm seemed to burn her hand; she placed them on the table moments later.

In the silence, a sharp pain shot through my chest.

What kind of heart could utter such words?

He paused for a moment, then said, "Now that we've found it, why not just take it? Why go through all the trouble of making a fake one?"

Yu An sneered, "Sir, you can give way?"

"nature."

After a moment of silence, Yu An, too lazy to verify the truth, said, "I need to go back to the inn. Baozhu is waiting for me, and I'm afraid she'll worry."

Ji Jinghe rubbed his eyes. "I'll sleep here tonight."

"I'm going back," she said firmly.

Ji Jinghe frowned, noticing the frustration in her heart, and softened his tone.

"There's a curfew now, so we can't leave. We'll go tomorrow."

Whether it was the guilt of being exposed or the fact that she hadn't fully recovered, when Yu An looked up at people, she realized that her cheeks were burning and her vision was as if covered by a thin mist, just like the current relationship between them.

Her eyes stung, and she squinted to rub them. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a hand reaching out to her. Before she could think, she raised her hand to block it.

Before she could react, the figure had already moved closer to her without her noticing.

“I was angry with you that day not because of anything else, I was just angry…” He opened his mouth, his lips trembled for a moment, and then said, “You let me take a concubine, and you didn’t seem to care at all.”

Silence hung over them like a dense, enormous net, seemingly silent yet dizzying. Perhaps too many barriers separated them; a single, heartfelt word would bind them together, forcing them to confront themselves and examine each other.

Those eyes no longer held what Yu'an was familiar with.

“Previously, I acted recklessly and believed a forged letter from someone else, mistakenly identifying your father as the murderer who killed the teacher. In order to overturn the case as soon as possible, I did not hesitate to make a secret deal with your father and deceive him to gain his trust.”

"But by the time I realized something was wrong and went to investigate, the scheme had already been set up, and I was powerless to stop it..."

What happened next is self-evident.

Yu An also knew.

"It wasn't that I didn't want to save them, it's that I really couldn't."

Ji Jinghe's throat moved slightly, and he raised his hand slightly, but then lowered it again.

"I know I was wrong, can you believe me just this once?"

They never sat down properly to talk about their inner thoughts, so each person presumptuously responded to others based on their own assumptions.

She made the divorce sound so simple, as if she had never considered his thoughts. How much of this marriage was actually tainted by something that shouldn't have been there?

"I……"

The candlelight in front of him suddenly brightened for some reason, and Ji Jinghe then noticed the blush on her cheeks. Hesitantly, he reached out to feel the temperature on her forehead and discovered that she still had a fever.

The unfinished words were completely forgotten.

"I'm still sick, I really shouldn't have come."

He reached out and wiped her eyes, then picked up his sword, called the yamen runners to prepare a carriage, and the two eventually returned to the inn.

"Did you bring any medicine with you?" Ji Jinghe asked.

Baozhu was surprised to see Ji Jinghe. She glanced at Yu'an's poor complexion and her heart clenched instantly.

"What's wrong, young lady?"

With just a glance, Baozhu stopped talking and went out to brew the medicine.

"Sir, please go out. You don't need to trouble yourself here..." Yu An broke free from his hand, turned around, and hugged the account book she had found to her chest.

Ji Jinghe, feeling helpless, didn't reply but turned and left. A short while later, the shop brought over a basin of hot water and some congee.

"Get up and eat."

-----------------------

Author's Note: Ji Jinghe: Cried?

Yu An: What are you crying for? My eyes are just sore.

Qingque: I've never seen you so diligent, sir. Why are you in such a hurry as soon as Madam leaves the house...?

Ji Jinghe: Say that again?