Chapter 37 Helping the Unfaithful
The argument outside had reached Zhu Xuanning's ears, but she pretended not to know anything about it. Even after Yan Hengdan came in, she didn't mention it at all, which was unusual for her.
He drank a cup of calming tea that Zhu Xuanning had personally poured, and the remaining anger dissipated as a result.
"We've found it." As soon as Yan Hengdan finished speaking, Zhu Xuanning's hands, which were resting on her knees, tightened around her dress. Her breathing quickened, and she stared intently at Yan Hengdan.
Yan Hengdan thought of the truth and found it difficult to look her in the eye. He lowered his voice and said, "There was no cheating in the Lingchuan Prefecture examination. He earned his reputation through his own abilities. However, the Qin family is the Crown Prince's people. It cannot be ruled out that they were able to get away with it because the higher-ups had thoroughly cleaned up their tracks, which is why I couldn't find out."
However, those who distinguished themselves in the pirate massacre of the village back then did indeed have a roundabout relationship with the Qin family.
Yan Hengdan only shared the evidence she had found, without mentioning her own speculations to Zhu Xuanning, leaving the rest for her to figure out herself.
Zhu Xuanning kept her head down, and Yan Hengdan couldn't see her expression, but his gaze fell on the girl's five fingers that kept clenching and unclenching, and he could still tell her emotions.
Zhu Xuanning remained silent, not uttering a single word. This reaction was rather heartbreaking, and Yan Hengdan felt a pang of sadness. He poured himself a cup of tea, and as he held the cup, he couldn't help but think of his own situation.
Revenge seemed like an impossible task for him.
It seems to be the same for her.
Zhu Xuanning, who had been silent until now, raised her head and looked directly at him because of these words.
There were too many emotions in her eyes. Yan Hengdan only needed to look into her eyes once to feel the surging emotions in the girl's eyes crashing over him like a tidal wave. He was a little overwhelmed and even the tea in his mouth tasted bland.
Before he could speak, the emotions in Zhu Xuanning's eyes turned into mist, condensing into glistening tears that fell down.
She didn't say anything to Yan Hengdan, but Yan Hengdan felt that she had said everything.
The shared sorrow and sympathy ultimately made the young man sigh.
"I'm really scared of you." He complained, closed his eyes, pulled out a handkerchief, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it at Zhu Xuanning.
"I'll wipe it off and then I'll talk to you." Yan Hengdan said this in disbelief, even to herself.
When exactly did he start to have so much patience with this guy?
Zhu Xuanning obediently pinched a handkerchief to wipe away her tears, then looked up at him with her wet, dark eyelashes.
Yan Hengdan glanced at it out of the corner of her eye before hurriedly looking away.
“He is the eldest son of the legitimate wife, and although he is rightfully entitled to the position, he was injured because the late Empress and the Emperor were fighting on horseback and it was difficult to take good care of him. He is not as clever as before.” Yan Hengdan wanted to talk about matters between men and women, but she did not because Zhu Xuanning was a girl.
Apart from the Crown Prince's confidants and the Emperor, few people knew about his lack of personal morality; even he only discovered it by chance.
The emperor did not have only one son, the crown prince, but the crown prince was the most favored son. If the crown prince could truly win people's hearts with his talents, that would be fine, but he could not. Therefore, all the other princes coveted the position.
However, these undercurrents were suppressed because the emperor was determined to let the crown prince inherit the country.
If she wanted to bring down Qin Shi and Zhu Yuli, who were backed by the Crown Prince, then she had no choice but to marry a powerful person who was not part of the Crown Prince's faction.
“Yu Er is actually a good choice. Although the Yu family is part of the Crown Prince’s faction, he is actually at odds with them and does not favor the Crown Prince.” Yu Xuan concealed this very well. Even Song Zhaohan did not know about this. However, Yan Hengdan liked to read books when he was bored. He had read many of Yu Xuan’s policy essays. From that time on, Yan Hengdan understood Yu Xuan’s position.
When Yan Hengdan revealed this news to Zhu Xuanning, her gaze held a rather meaningful quality.
He felt he had said enough, and before leaving, he warned, "This matter came from my mouth and entered your ears; do not let a third person know about it. Don't repay kindness with enmity and implicate me in the future."
Zhu Xuanning showed genuine gratitude on her face. She first thanked Yan Hengdan, then bowed and said, "I would not do that."
Yan Hengdan hummed in agreement, then, thinking of what had happened a few days ago, asked, "Is your foot injury better?"
Zhu Xuanning paused for a moment before answering, "It's all done."
Yan Hengdan listened and smiled. He nodded again, and neither of them mentioned the incident of falling off the horse.
After escorting Yan Hengdan out, Po Mo bowed to Ji Yucheng and politely declined, saying, "Thank you for your concern, Lord Marquis. My young lady is very grateful for your kindness. However, her injuries are not serious, and she is already asleep due to exhaustion."
After saying this to Ji Yucheng, Po Mo turned and left.
The faint light in Ji Yucheng's eyes went out. Upon hearing this, Yan Hengdan laughed out of turn, feeling a sense of relief.
The laughter caught Ji Yucheng's attention. He looked at Yan Hengdan and said, "You did it."
Yan Hengdan wanted to say something sarcastic to him, but after thinking about it, she decided not to.
He glanced at Ji Yucheng dismissively, completely ignoring her, rolled up his sleeves, and turned to leave.
"Has she left?" Po Mo was taking Zhu Xuanning's hair off when he heard her question and glanced at Sui Zhu.
“Young Master Yan has already left, but the Marquis is still here,” Suizhu replied.
Zhu Xuanning unconsciously twirled her drooping black hair with her fingers without making a sound.
Suizhu then asked Zhu Xuanning what to do with the plucked Jade Pavilion Spring flower.
"Let's make them into flower sticks." Zhu Xuanning's attention shifted to the snow-white peony, and her voice lowered.
Only after the lights in the courtyard went out did Ji Yucheng move her legs, which had become a little numb from standing, and walk away with her head down.
When they returned to their own courtyard, Xiyin hurriedly washed Ji Yucheng's face.
"I cried?" He sat on the stool, looking down at the wet handkerchief in Xiyin's hand, still somewhat bewildered.
Fearing she might say something that would displease her master, Xi Yin simply kept her mouth shut and silently served him.
To everyone's surprise, this person, who rarely sheds tears, started crying nonstop after saying those words.
Ji Yucheng cried silently; he bit his lip, and only his shoulders trembled slightly.
After three handkerchiefs were soaked, Ji Yucheng felt a headache coming on and couldn't even breathe properly.
With trembling hands, he opened the medical kit he had been carrying and hadn't put down, and gave himself an injection.
"Master, it's late, you should rest." Xi Yin advised after Ji Yucheng's emotions gradually calmed down.
Ji Yucheng nodded and silently went to bed. Before falling asleep, Xiyin brought over an egg, wanting to roll it on his swollen eyes.
But Ji Yucheng refused.
“When I’m feeling pitiful, she seems to pity me even more,” Ji Yucheng said in a hoarse voice.
After Xiyin walked out with two hot eggs in her pocket, she ran into Jingxin.
Just as Jingxin was about to ask a question, he saw Xiyin silently peel an egg and stuff it directly into his mouth, silencing him.
"Eat up, don't talk anymore, just stay at the door and wait for the master to sleep." After saying that, Xiyin peeled one for herself, stuffed it into her mouth, and chewed it as if venting her frustration.
The next day, Ji Yucheng appeared with slightly red eyes. When others asked her questions out of politeness, Xiyin made up an excuse to brush them off.
Yan Hengdan was stunned when he saw this, but then he understood. Instead of mocking Ji Yucheng, Yan Hengdan remained silent for a while and said to Qiu Man, "I really don't know if this is good or bad. In the past, my mother was worried that he would follow Aunt Gu because he was not attached to worldly affairs. Now he has fallen in love with the wrong person and is suffering."
"I'm despicable too. They're all heartless bastards, but I'm the only one who truly cares about people." Yan Hengdan changed the subject again, reflecting on the events of the past few days and mocking herself.
Qiu Man quickly comforted him, knowing that her young master had taken a liking to Miss Zhu Wu, and naturally dared not blame her in her heart.
Zhu Baoyue was already there when Zhu Xuanning boarded the carriage.
She received a pot of snow peony but had no interest in appreciating it. When she saw Zhu Xuanning come in with a pot of snow-white peony, she completely ignored the peony.
After Zhu Xuanning sat down, Zhu Baoyue, with tears in her eyes, began to tell her about the things that had happened recently.
She wanted Zhu Xuanning to make a decision for her, but Zhu Xuanning had no intention of getting involved in her marriage. She only said, "Sister, ask your own heart if you truly reject this marriage."
Upon hearing this, Zhu Baoyue clutched her collar and fell silent.
The sisters remained silent the entire way. If Zhu Baoyue continued to cry, Zhu Xuanning would hand her a handkerchief. It wasn't until they arrived at the Zhu residence that her emotions calmed down.
When Zhu Xuanning got out of the car, she found Madam Zhu standing in front of the mansion gate.
After Zhu Baoyue came downstairs and saw her mother, she couldn't control her emotions anymore.
"My child." Zhu Baoyue nestled into Madam Zhu's arms like a fledgling swallow, and Madam Zhu embraced her tightly.
Zhu Xuanning simply bowed, knowing better than to disturb the two, and then walked past them into the room.
Zhu Xiyue was originally standing beside Madam Zhu. When he saw Zhu Xuanning enter alone, he felt a little sorry for her and soon followed her into the mansion.
Zhu Xiyue was afraid that she might say something wrong and hurt someone's feelings, so she simply went back to her residence and had her personal servant send over some sweets and jewelry.
"Young Master truly treats Miss like family. He was afraid she would be sad, so he went out of his way to send so many things to show his concern." Po Mo presented the things Zhu Xiyue had sent and praised her happily.
Zhu Xuanning remained silent, moved yet somewhat annoyed. After taking a bite of the pastry, she set it aside: "You and Suizhu should divide the food, and wrap up the jewelry. I don't really want to see it."
Splashed Ink and Shattered Pearl exchanged a glance, unable to figure out why Zhu Xuanning was in a bad mood, but they probably did as instructed.
The two young ladies of the Zhu family stayed at the mansion for five days. Madam Zhu's mind was focused on her own daughters, and she did not have the energy to take care of Zhu Xuanning.
Zhu Xuanning was happy to have some free time, but although she was resting, she wasn't doing nothing.
As she pondered her next move, after Yan Hengdan mentioned that Yu Xuan's relationship with the Yu family was not good, Zhu Xuanning secretly sent Po Mo to inquire about the situation.
Marriage matters are mostly handled by the mistress of the household. If the mistress of the Yu family is resourceful and short-sighted, and despises Yu Xuan, then perhaps there is some hope for her relationship with Yu Xuan.
"Miss, I've found out." After Po Mo came in, he whispered to Zhu Xuanning.
The things that Po Mo talked about were extremely detailed, which surprised Zhu Xuanning, who was somewhat astonished by the source of her information.
After finishing his explanation, Po Mo assured Zhu Xuanning, "Don't worry, Miss, this information is absolutely reliable. I previously made contact with someone who is quite powerful and knows a lot of secrets. Many of the things you wanted to investigate later were found out through that person's connections..."
Po Mo explained a whole host of things to Zhu Xuanning, which finally dispelled her doubts.
After all, Zhu Xuanning had never heard of the fact that the mistress of the Yu family and the prince hated Yu Xuan.
She assumed that Yu Xuanhe and the family had fallen out, but she never expected it to be to this extent.
"Miss." As soon as Po Mo stepped aside, Sui Zhu came to greet her.
Her face beamed with joy, and she whispered to Zhu Xuanning with her eyebrows arched, "The appointment of the Second Young Master Yu has been made, and he has also been granted a large mansion by the imperial family!"
Not all top scholars in the imperial examinations were granted a mansion. Zhu Yuli was also the top scholar personally selected by the emperor, but he did not receive this honor. This shows that Yu Xuan is now favored by the emperor.
Upon hearing the news, Po Mo breathed a sigh of relief, and a look of joy spread across his face.
Zhu Xuanning gave Suizhu a reward, but she was thinking a little more. Just a moment before, she learned that Yu Xuan had fallen out with the mansion, but how come Yu Xuan was granted a mansion the next moment?
She felt it was too much of a coincidence.
Zhu Xuanning suppressed her doubts and, after informing Madam Zhu through Po Mo, left the mansion with Sui Zhu.
She planned to buy some things for Yu Xuan as a congratulatory gift.
But Zhu Xuanning had only been browsing in the shop for a short while when Yan Hengdan had someone call her over.
"Song Ming is back." Yan Hengdan got straight to the point, her short message like a stone thrown into still water, stirring up a thousand waves.
Author's Note: A Transitional Chapter
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
