Chapter 718 Collaboration - Bare House

Yun Yichen had always felt sorry for her, but now that he had made her cry instead, he felt extremely guilty.

"Okay, okay, I'm not blaming you! I'm just worried about you being too tired because I see you're having a hard time during your pregnancy. Okay, okay, don't cry, don't cry!"

Yun Yichen quickly pulled Gu Shuyan into his arms and comforted her for a while.

Gu Shuyan continued to sob upon hearing this, but the tears eventually stopped.

After crying until she was exhausted, Gu Shuyan finally raised her head with red eyes.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what's wrong with me, I just suddenly feel very sad."

As a renowned physician, Yun Yichen naturally knew the reason for Gu Shuyan's lack of concern, so he comforted her again before sending the exhausted Gu Shuyan back to the courtyard to rest.

Two flowers bloom, each representing a different branch.

After leaving the Marquis's residence in a hurry, Ji Wenjin immediately wanted to go to the Prince Xian's residence.

But as they approached the Prince Xian's residence, Ji Wenjin gradually regained consciousness.

At this juncture, everyone was closely watching the slightest movement in each household. As a powerful military family, the Ji family was also under intense scrutiny. Most importantly, the Ji and Gu families had always maintained their integrity in the court because they remained loyal only to the emperor.

If someone were to see him rushing to the Prince Xian's residence after returning from the Marquis's residence, then by tomorrow, the secret report that the Ji and Gu families had colluded with the Prince Xian would likely appear on the Emperor's desk.

But now that they had already gone halfway, returning to the Ji residence would inevitably attract attention. Ji Wenjin was caught in a dilemma.

"Young master, where are we going now?"

As soon as Ji Wenjin stopped walking, the servant beside her hurriedly asked her questions.

You should know that the general's carriage had already returned. Originally, Ji Wenjin could have had the marquis's carriage take her back, but because of Ji Wenjin's sudden departure, not only did they lose the carriage that would take them, but they also walked for half an hour and were even further away from the general's mansion.

As Ji Wenjin looked at the towering walls around him, pondering how to end things, a slightly dilapidated gate caught his attention.

The somewhat old-fashioned typing of "Geng Mansion" made Ji Wenjin pause in her steps.

If he wasn't mistaken, this should be the residence of Vice Minister Geng.

Go knock on the door.

Ji Wenjin gestured to the servant, who asked with some confusion, "Young master, what do you want with Minister Geng?"

Upon hearing this, Ji Wenjin turned around and glared at the servant. Only then did the servant realize that he had said the wrong thing and hurriedly went forward to knock on the door.

The Geng family's residence was not as magnificent as the neighboring houses. The wooden gate sounded somewhat weathered. If it hadn't been a courtyard bestowed by the emperor himself, the Geng family probably wouldn't have been able to afford such a large residence.

Who is it?

A somewhat aged voice rang out, and then the door creaked open from the inside.

An elderly man who looked to be in his fifties, with a gray beard, glanced at the newcomers and asked, "Who are you looking for?"

Because the Geng family was so poor, the local officials rarely associated with them, let alone any distinguished guests. So the old man immediately assumed that the two had knocked on the wrong door.

Ji Wenjin had worked with Vice Minister Geng in Suzhou for a long time. At that time, he only knew that Vice Minister Geng was a diligent and frugal person and a rare honest and good official.

Unexpectedly, his family was so poor. Thinking of the three thousand taels he had donated to disaster relief, Ji Wenjin suddenly had a different understanding of this elder who held the same official rank as her.

"I wonder if Lord Geng is at home?"

Ji Wenjin lowered her voice, afraid that she might frighten the old man who didn't seem to have experienced much.

Upon hearing that Ji Wenjin had come to see Vice Minister Geng, the old man immediately nodded and led the two inside, saying, "The sir is indeed in his study right now. Please follow me, my two guests."

The old man led Ji Wenjin to Minister Geng's study. Along the way, apart from the ground in the courtyard being swept clean, the decorations in the entire courtyard were also spotless, just like the floor.

Because Vice Minister Geng was busy working on the Ministry of Works' design drawings, he was so focused on sketching something that he was completely unaware of the arrival of the visitor.

Seeing this, the old man wanted to call for Minister Geng, but Ji Wenjin interrupted him. The old man then gestured for his leave and went to prepare tea.

Ji Wenjin took advantage of the break to carefully examine the entire courtyard.

Geng Shilang focused intently on drawing the blueprints, and only after finishing the last stroke did he slowly straighten up and tap his back.

"Lord Geng, you've worked hard."

Ji Wenjin suddenly spoke up, which startled Vice Minister Geng. When he turned around and saw that it was Ji Wenjin, he quickly bowed to him.

"Lord Ji, I have been rude."

Just as Minister Geng was about to order someone to prepare tea, the old man brought out the brewed tea.

"Master, these two young masters said they came to see you, so I brought them here."

The old man explained to Vice Minister Geng the reason why Ji Wenjin and the other man had come in. Vice Minister Geng nodded upon hearing this, "It's alright. This is Vice Minister Ji of the Ministry of War, my colleague."

The old man was clearly surprised that Ji Wenjin, who was so young, was actually a colleague of Vice Minister Geng, and immediately addressed Ji Wenjin as "Lord Ji".

"My master has never had a colleague come to visit him in all these years. Now that Lord Ji is here today, he must stay for a meal before he leaves."

The old man was very excited. After speaking, he looked at Minister Geng and said, "Sir, I'll have to catch and kill the old hen you're feeding later."

"That won't do, I need to save it for laying eggs!"

Just moments ago, Vice Minister Geng had been humble and polite, but upon hearing that his old hen was to be killed, he immediately exploded.

However, the old man didn't care whether he agreed or not. "Master, Lord Ji is an honored guest. It's just an old hen. It should be killed."

The old man, fearing that Vice Minister Geng might disagree with his pursuit, quickly slipped away.

Behind him, Vice Minister Geng shouted, "If you're going to kill someone, kill the one that didn't place an order, not my old hen!"

However, his words were like a gentle breeze; the old man listened and let them go in one ear and out the other, pretending he hadn't heard them at all.

After the old man left, Ji Wenjin gave a signal to the servant beside him, and the servant immediately followed him out.

"Lord Ji, is there anything I can do for you at my humble abode today?"

Although Ji Wenjin was young, Vice Minister Geng treated her with the courtesy due to an equal.

Speaking of this, Ji Wenjin hesitated slightly. Could he say that he had impulsively taken the wrong path and wanted to go back but was afraid of being suspected, which was why he entered the Geng residence?

The truth is, he can't say that.

Fortunately, yesterday, he overheard his mother talking about his marriage, and she happened to mention the name of Vice Minister Geng.