Chapter 77 "Lord Ji still cares about you more..."
Yu An was caught off guard and stumbled back several steps. Just as the horse's hooves came crashing down on his head, the immense force swept over him in a flash. By the time he reacted, the horse had already slammed into his hard chest.
Looking up, those deep pupils also revealed worry after the ordeal.
With his chest heaving twice, Ji Jinghe slowly released his grip.
He looked at Duoluo not far away, took a deep breath, and his eyes instantly darkened.
The horse shuddered, let out a short neigh, and then settled down, its ears twitching.
Pei Chengyu quickly stepped forward and looked her up and down with concern: "Are you alright?"
Yu An shook her head, and a barely audible sneer reached her ears.
Ji Jinghe glanced at her coldly, his whole body exuding a chill: "I wonder if the princess has finished buying everything?"
Duo Luo waved with a smile, "Oh no, I just bought it."
"Tell everyone to disperse." With that, he mounted his horse. "My lords, you may follow as well."
Upon seeing this, the two men walked away one after the other.
The triumphant smile on Duoluo's face grew even clearer, while Yu'an stood aside, suppressing her anger.
The other party brandished his whip and lowered his voice slightly: "Lord Ji cares more about you, so choose the position of Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies."
Yu An remained silent and curtsied in response.
Having succeeded in her scheme, Duoluo had no intention of arguing with her. She raised her chin, kicked her horse's flank, and leisurely rode away. Yu'an stood by the street, watching the grand procession of honor pass by her one by one.
A pair of white hooves came into view. Yu An looked up and saw Ji Jinghe.
"If there's nothing else, you can call Shuer over to keep you company. Some people are of noble status, and ordinary people may not be able to handle them, so it's best to keep your distance as much as possible..."
"That's my own business, no need for Lord Ji to worry about it."
Ji Jinghe: ...
The noise almost drowned out everything around her. Yu An didn't look at his expression, let alone know what he was feeling. She couldn't even hear what he said next.
He seemed to pause for a moment, and before leaving, he said again, "Take care."
Once the streets were completely quiet, Yu An finally breathed a sigh of relief and got into the carriage.
Baozhu: "That was really dangerous. If it weren't for you, sir, the horse's hoof would have stepped on you."
It's probably because of the incident where they drank alcohol on the football field last time.
Duoluo knew about her relationship with Ji Jinghe, so she played around like this.
"The old man is quite bold. I was standing right next to him just now. If he hadn't been quick, the horse's hoof would have stepped on his head."
"He brought this trouble upon himself, so he deserves to be dragged down with him..."
Baozhu asked in bewilderment, "Isn't this the Qiang princess's horse? Why are you blaming the old man?"
If he hadn't been constantly by her side, would anyone have known about their relationship? Would anyone have been tempted to play around with them?
That's just sophistry.
Yu An's temper flared up quickly but subsided just as fast. After returning home and watching Duan Chuzhuo'an practice his swordplay, he immediately forgot about the matter.
The next day.
Yunxiu discovered that Cao Bowei had transported several boxes of goods back to the Cao family and sent them to Songshan Temple outside the city.
"But why was that asked?"
Yunxiu: "The other party was very cautious. The items were all transported under cover of darkness last night. I guessed that they were not meant to be seen by others, so I didn't dare to ask any questions easily, lest I alert them."
Yu An nodded: "That's true."
Qi said that Cao Bowei valued family, so logically these things were meant for Qi and her sons. Why send them to the temple?
Feeling that something was amiss, she thought for a while and decided to go to the Cao residence to take a look.
But when I got there, the person wasn't there.
"My lady is out, probably just strolling around the streets. Perhaps you could come another day, Madam Chu."
I just said yesterday that I was done shopping outside, so why did I go out again?
She also said that her youngest son was sick, so how could she bear to leave?
How long have you been gone?
"About half an hour."
Yu An glanced at the courtyard gate again and replied with a smile, "That's really unfortunate. When your wife comes back, give these things to her; I brought them for her."
Yu'an went straight home and immediately asked Yunxiu to find out where Qi had gone that day.
There aren't that many coincidences in the world, at least not in this situation.
Yu-an always felt that there was more to the story than met the eye.
Baozhu brought over a newly sewn padded jacket and advised, "Don't worry, Miss, haven't we already gone to investigate?"
Looking at the embroidery cloth she didn't know where to start, Yu'an sighed and said, "It's not that I'm in a hurry, it's just that my heart is racing and I can't calm down."
Baozhu hung her padded jacket on the clothes rack, brought over a plate of oranges, gave her a few instructions before leaving.
Ji Shu arrived shortly afterward.
Caiqi was carrying a lot of things in both hands, even more extravagant than during the Chinese New Year.
"Why did you bring so much stuff again?"
Ji Shu: "These are some things I picked out for you while I was out having fun. Don't worry, I bought them with my own money. They're not my brother's idea, and they're not his money. You can accept them without worry."
Caiqi put down her things and went out to find Baozhu. Yu'an closed the door and stood by the table as Ji Shu led her to carefully unpack the items.
"Since the delegation arrived, all the shops in the capital have raised their prices. I managed to buy them all by negotiating with the owners."
When it comes to bargaining, the girl's face radiates pride.
She wasn't the type to haggle before; it's only after spending time with her that I've learned to be thrifty and manage a household well.
Yu An joked, "Wow, so you've already learned how to manage a household?"
Ji Shu scoffed shyly, lifted her skirt and sat down. "Oh my, I've finally come to your place. It's been so long since I've been here. Don't you miss me? Just like my brother, you're always running around."
"Your brother was on official business; how can he compare to me?"
"You're always spending time with that Qiang princess, that's practically official business, isn't it..."
Ji Shu remembered something, "Hey, have you seen my brother during this time? I really haven't seen him even once. Could you please talk to him and tell him to come home as soon as possible? His parents are missing him terribly."
To put it bluntly, it all comes down to his official duties. He was both the Censor-in-Chief and the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies.
While handling the affairs of the Censorate, he also had to take care of receiving foreign guests, and Ji Jinghe was unwilling to be unable to pay his respects to the two elders.
"I heard that the Qiang people are going to negotiate with the imperial court. It's going to be going on for the next few months, both inside and outside the court."
Yu An peeled an orange. "The relationship between the two dynasties is pretty good, so why are we negotiating?"
Ji Shu took a petal and said, "I also heard that since half a year ago, there have been occasional disturbances at the border. They are all small battles involving dozens of people, which are harmless, but they are not good if they continue for too long."
"His Majesty also seemed to question the general guarding the border about his crimes. What was that general's name again...?"
“Cao Bowei,” Yu An replied.
"Yes, yes, yes!" Ji Shu suddenly had a flash of inspiration. "How did you know, sister-in-law?"
Yu An smiled and then changed the subject.
She had thought the border region was a peaceful and prosperous place, but it turned out there were problems too.
If it were during this period... then it would be understandable for Cao Bowei to send something to the capital.
Sometimes, military generals couldn't return to the capital because they were afraid of the mouths of the civil officials in the court.
After seeing Ji Shu off, news also arrived from Yunxiu's side.
Yesterday, Qi didn't go shopping at all; she went to the Yan family's house instead.
"Is there anything special about Songshan Temple?"
Yunxiu: "Nothing much, just an ordinary temple, not particularly popular with worshippers."
With all these suspicious things piled up, Yu'an just wanted to go out and see for herself.
"Does my lady really want to go? I'll just send someone to keep an eye on things..."
"I want to go and see for myself. I won't do anything special. Just have the servants prepare a carriage for tomorrow, and I'll go tomorrow."
Yunxiu had no way to stop him and obediently agreed.
"My lady, the men we sent out have found traces of the Sun family. As you wished, I have already sent someone to bring them to the capital."
Sun Jingyuan was deeply loved by the people on the border during his lifetime. After his wife and children were exiled for more than a year, they returned to the border. The local people helped him a lot, and it was very easy for them to send someone to inquire. They could find out the truth with just a few questions. This shows how well Sun Jingyuan was loved during his lifetime.
"When General Sun's wife heard that people from the capital had come to find them, she followed our people without asking any questions."
Indeed, it's likely that he knew Sun Jingyuan was wronged, which is why he was willing to come to this place of trouble.
They were indeed different from Li Yan's family back then.
Yu An: "Arrange for them to live outside the city. Be very careful and take good care of their food, clothing and other necessities. Do not neglect them."
"yes."
The next morning, she set off for Songshan Temple and asked Ji Shu to accompany her, which seemed to be a bit of an attempt to cover up her true intentions.
Ji Shu didn't know why she had suddenly decided to go there, but she went along with her.
As Yunxiu said, there was nothing unusual about it; it was just an ordinary temple, but there were more monks than she had imagined.
The only possibility that the Cao family brought several boxes here is that this place is a meeting point.
She really couldn't think of any other reason.
Even after returning home, my heart remained unsettled for a long time.
I've clearly touched upon some things, yet I can't grasp their true essence; it seems like I'm just a little bit short, just a tiny bit short.
Baozhu tucked the blanket in, turned off the light, and lay down next to Yu'an.
"Don't think about it, girl. Haste makes waste."
Everyone understands the logic, but things have come to this point, and she really can't care about those things anymore.
After getting up during the day, Chu Zhuo'an practiced martial arts in the courtyard. Yu'an watched for a while before Baozhu scolded her and sent her back to her room. Just after they finished eating, a servant from the mansion came to tell them that the Sun family's wife wanted to see her.
"We tried to persuade her for a long time, but Madam Sun wouldn't listen. She said she wouldn't accept charity and insisted on seeing her wife."
Well, calming people down is the most important thing; we'll have to meet sooner or later anyway.
Without much thought, Yu'an took the carriage and left.
In this remote area outside the city, it took half an hour to travel half the distance.
Yu An was resting with her eyes closed in the car when suddenly, the ground shook violently. When she opened her eyes, the car was already tilting uncontrollably outwards, and she was tumbled several times before it finally stopped.
The neighing of horses vanished in no time.
Once everything calmed down, I endured the excruciating pain and crawled out of the car. I staggered to my feet, supporting myself on my knees, and only then could I see the situation outside.
"I was driving the carriage when suddenly a rope appeared in the middle of the road..."
The servant fell to the ground and rolled several times, covered in dirt, gritting his teeth in pain.
Yu An looked around and searched, but couldn't find anything unusual.
A moment later, the sound of horses' hooves came from the other end of the road.
Looking over, it turned out to be Ji Jinghe riding up on horseback.
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