38 Gaze
How can she stand with others?
The fragrance of gardenia lingered in the air. When Shu Yao saw him, she was stunned for a moment, and her tense heart relaxed a little.
Chen Jing'an helped her put on her cloak and said, "Xiaoyao'er, have you been wronged today? I will get it back for you right now."
Shu Yao looked at the handsome man in front of her. At this moment, she thought Chen Jingan was really handsome.
No one present had expected Chen Jing'an to come. They, a merchant family, were like ants in front of the nobles, and they didn't know what to do for a moment.
The old lady had met Shen Jing'an last time and knew his status. She had never expected that the dignified prince would also come to her birthday banquet. She hurriedly got down from the main seat on her crutches and tiptoed towards him, saying ingratiatingly, "It is a blessing for our Ji Mansion that His Majesty has come today." Then she turned to the servants and said, "Set up another table in the main hall and treat His Majesty well."
Ji Dayong walked up to her timidly: "Mom, is he really the prince?"
The old lady hummed, and Ji Dayong stole a glance at Chen Jing'an. He felt that the man was extraordinary in appearance, and his whole body exuded a noble aura. He hesitated for a moment, but still, with a mouthful of yellow teeth, he stretched out his rough hands and said, "Your Excellency, I, Ji Dayong, greet you, Your Excellency."
Chen Jing'an ignored his gesture and sarcastically said, "Rumor has it that after Master Ji passed away, some of his greedy relatives seized the Ji Mansion's assets."
"I think it's not reasonable for the eldest uncle to inherit the estate."
Ji Dayong withdrew his hand awkwardly, touched the back of his head awkwardly, and stepped aside tactfully, feeling a little resentful.
On the other side, Ji Tianbao had already drunk quite a bit of wine. There was a shadowy figure in front of him. He felt that Chen Jing'an looked very familiar, as if he had met him several times in Zui Xiang Fang. However, he did not know Shen Jing'an's identity, and he did not even hear the word "Prince".
Seeing that he had offended Ji Dayong, Ji Tianbao instantly became angry.
It is not his place as an outsider to comment on who will inherit his second uncle's property.
So, he stood up unsteadily, holding an empty bottle, and walked over while burping, standing in front of Shen Jingan: "Who are you? What gives you the right to give me orders?"
Hearing this, the old lady shuddered with fear and quickly asked someone to cover Ji Tianbao's mouth: "My dear, please say less."
But Ji Tianbao got excited, smashed the wine bottle on the ground, pointed at Chen Jingan and said a lot of nonsense.
Shen Jingan's expression changed.
The old lady could only have him dragged away, and then she quickly apologized to Shen Jingan: "My Lord, this boy is ignorant. Please be magnanimous and don't bother with him."
Chen Jing'an suddenly laughed, and the old lady was stunned.
He said very generously: "How could this prince be on the same level as a drunk dog?"
The old lady gritted her teeth, bent over and kept saying "yes, yes, yes."
Chen Jingan continued: "Just now, this prince seemed to have heard that someone poisoned someone. Is this true?"
As they were talking, the banquet was already set. He took Shu Yao in his arms and sat down. The old lady stood beside them awkwardly. When she saw Shu Yao being protected by the prince, a hint of malice flashed in her eyes.
"Your Highness, someone tried to poison me today." She pointed her sharp nails at Shu Yao and said, "Your Highness, she's the one who poisoned me."
Chen Jing'an lowered his eyebrows and looked at the beautiful woman next to him who was frowning tightly. He said softly, "Xiao Yao'er, this old woman is so bold that she dared to frame you. Our Xiao Yao'er is kind-hearted and would definitely not do such a thing."
Shu Yao nodded aggrievedly.
Chen Jing'an curled his lips, and when he looked at the old lady again, there was a hint of sharpness in his eyes: "Do you have any evidence?"
The old lady pulled out Nanny Wang and the little maid again. Nanny Wang and the little maid said in unison that the poison was administered by Shu Yao. However, when facing Shen Jing'an, perhaps because of the disparity in their status, they both felt more or less guilty.
Chen Jingan said calmly: "Witnesses can lie."
The old lady argued vigorously, and her withered hand poked Shu Yao's nose directly: "It's her, she has a vicious heart, my prince, don't be fooled by her."
Shu Yao was angry. She hated being pointed at the most. She stood up and brushed away the old lady's hand.
The old lady fell to the ground, immediately banged her head against the ground, and cried miserably.
"It's terrible! The bride hit someone."
"There's no law anymore. My life is so miserable. I married a jinx who killed my son and grandson, and now she wants to kill me too."
She rolled on the ground, her gorgeous clothes were rolled into a wrinkled ball and were in a terrible state.
The people present just treated it as a joke and no one stepped forward to stop her crying.
Seeing that the people around her were unmoved, the old lady could no longer continue the act and slowly got up by herself.
Shu Yao then spoke: "I have already told you how to find the real murderer, but you, old lady, are here to hinder me. Could the murderer be someone close to you?" She hinted at something, and everyone's eyes turned to Nanny Wang and the little maid.
Old lady: "That's nonsense."
Shu Yao shrugged and looked at Chen Jing'an. "Let the doctor check the suspicious person's clothes and fingernails to see if there is any residual powder. What do you think, Your Highness?"
Chen Jingan smiled and said, "Xiaoyao'er is really smart. I'll do as you say."
The old lady and Nanny Wang on the ground were panicked, but since the prince agreed, there was nothing they could do.
Shu Yao approached Chen Jing'an and said, "Fortunately, you came today, otherwise I wouldn't even have the chance to seek justice."
Chen Jing'an smiled slyly: "How does Xiaoyaoer want to thank me?"
Shu Yao thought about it. She was broke and really couldn't offer anything in return. Seeing her thinking hard, Chen Jing'an gently tapped her head and said, "It's my honor to help Xiao Yao'er. Besides, if a friend is in trouble, I will definitely do my best to help him."
Shu Yao was surprised that he actually treated her as a friend.
The prince is her friend, it would be so prestigious if she could tell others about it.
The doctor came hurriedly with the medicine box. He sniffed carefully between Shu Yao's nails and on her clothes. Then he came to the maid, who was fine.
Finally, it was Nanny Wang's turn. After the doctor smelled it carefully, he fanned his nose, frowned slightly, and then said, "There is no smell of powder."
The whole room was in uproar, as the three most suspected people were not the ones who poisoned the food.
The doctor added, "Maybe Miss Shu held the teacup for too long, so there was a little smell on her body." The implication was that Shu Yao was the most suspicious.
When Shu Yao saw the eye contact between the doctor and the old lady, she instantly realized that the doctor had already been bribed by the old lady. Her mind was working rapidly, thinking of a way to break the spell.
The old lady looked like a smug villain. She looked at Shu Yao and asked, "What else do you have to say?"
At this moment, a crow flew in at an inopportune time, holding a piece of cloth in its mouth. It stood on Shu Yao's shoulder, motionless.
Shu Yao was a little curious. She looked at the crow and the piece of cloth in its mouth. It was exactly the same material as the clothes on Nanny Wang, and it was covered with dust-like powder.
Shu Yao's expression changed, and she quickly took the piece of cloth out of the crow's mouth. The moment she took the cloth out, the crow flapped its wings and flew away.
Shu Yao asked the doctor to smell the powder on the cloth. The doctor's face changed drastically when he smelled it, and he took a big step back. He covered his nose and said, "The powder on this piece of cloth is Crane's Beak Red."
Nanny Wang was sweating profusely as she hurriedly hid the missing piece of her skirt.
When she was poisoning, some powder accidentally fell on her skirt. She knew the medicinal power of the red-crowned crane, so she tore off the stained skirt and threw it between the stove walls. How did the crow find it?
The old lady stared at the thing in Shu Yao's hand.
Shu Yao walked to Nanny Wang and compared the cloth to herself. The copper coin-shaped pattern was exactly the same, and even the stitching was perfectly aligned.
There are thousands of similar fabrics. How can she prove that this piece of clothing belongs to Nanny Wang?
She slowly looked down and saw Nanny Wang holding the hem of her skirt tightly. Could the piece of cloth in her hand have been torn from her skirt?
Thinking of this, she reached out to pry Wang Ma's hand away, but Wang Ma had been doing rough work for many years and her hands were very strong, so she couldn't move them at all.
The old lady at the side raised her cane and was about to hit Shu Yao with all her might. She was so strong that the blow would definitely break Shu Yao's hand.
She was unaware of the old lady's actions, and just as the cane was about to fall on her wrist, Chen Jing'an casually threw a teacup, hitting the back of the old lady's hand. The old lady grimaced in pain, and the cane fell to the ground.
Shu Yao finally reacted and felt a little scared.
Chen Jing'an looked at the old lady coldly. The old lady picked up the crutch on the ground and dared not say anything.
He then said to Nanny Wang, "Let go of your hand."
Nanny Wang asked the old lady for help, still holding on to the hem of her skirt with both hands. She knew that if she let go, the truth would be made public, she would be thrown into prison, and her life would be worse than death for the rest of her life.
The old lady ignored her pleading look and whispered a few words with an implicit warning.
"Your son is still waiting for life-saving money."
Nanny Wang looked pale and slowly loosened her grip.
Shu Yao immediately compared the fabric in her hand with the gap in her skirt, and they were indeed a perfect match.
The truth came to light and Shu Yao was cleared of all charges.
The old lady's expression changed as she assessed the situation. She looked at Nanny Wang lying on the ground with deep sorrow and anguish. "I've treated you well, why are you trying to harm me like this?"
Nanny Wang sat dejectedly on the ground, her lips tightly closed, not opening her mouth to defend herself.
The old lady was afraid that trouble would arise again, so she quickly had Nanny Wang and the little maid taken to the government office.
The little maidservant was very flustered. She crawled over and hugged the old lady's legs: "Old lady, you can't do this to me. It's all your orders..."
"Someone, come and pull out her tongue for me." The old lady interrupted her and shouted outside the door.
Nanny Wang and the little maid were taken away.
The old lady took a deep breath, feeling very unwilling. Such a good opportunity today was ruined by this prince.
Why would the prince help Shu Yao? Could it be that the two of them... An incredible guess slowly emerged in her mind.
Seeing that his plan had failed, Ji Dayong quietly left through the back door. His mother would definitely apologize to Shu Yao later, and he couldn't bring himself to do that, so it was better for him to leave first.
The old lady looked at Shu Yao and smiled very stiffly: "Good girl, I misunderstood you."
Shu Yao snorted coldly and ignored her.
The old lady suppressed her unhappiness and said to Shen Jingan, "Your Excellency, I am not feeling well. I will return to my room first. Please do as you please."
Chen Jing'an stopped her and said, "You have wronged Miss Shu today, so you must apologize."
The old lady was so angry that veins on her forehead were throbbing, but she still said to Shu Yao honestly, "Shu girl, I'm sorry for what happened today. Please don't bother with me, an old woman."
"Not enough." Shen Jing'an spoke again.
The old lady gritted her teeth, took off the gold collar from her neck and handed it to Shu Yao: "This is my apology."
There was no reason for Shu Yao not to take it. Chen Jing'an chuckled and shook his head, what a money-grubber.
The old lady asked the maid to help her back, fearing that she would faint here if she was a step late.
Shu Yao looked at her back and said, "Madam, remember to have the maid clean up Chunhua Pavilion. The Second Young Master and I will be moving in tomorrow."
The old lady tripped over the threshold and almost fell to the ground.
Looking at her shaking shoulders, Shu Yao laughed so hard that she almost choked.
Shen Jingan stood behind her, lowered his head, and his voice came from the back of her neck: "Is it so funny?"
Shu Yao touched her neck and laughed dryly: "Thank you for today."
He straightened up. "If you really want to thank someone, you should thank the crow."
…
Outside the door, Ji Shijing stood quietly in a corner of the corridor, staring at the two people in the room. His eyes were deep and his face was as cold as ice that had been there for thousands of years.
After watching for a while, he turned and left, covering his bleeding right hand.
The cold wind blew the red hairband, making it look desolate and lonely.
Crows flew low around him.
…
Chen Jing'an glanced at the sky outside and suddenly remembered that he had something to do, so he said goodbye to Shu Yao. When everyone saw that the prince had left, they also left in groups of three or two.
The surroundings were empty and Ji Shijing had not been seen for a long time. She sighed and went to the north courtyard.
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