"Oh!" Song Jiyun sat back down, her eyes wide with confusion as she looked at Yuan Yunzhong. "What did I do? Young Master Yuan, your words are so very strange?"
Yuan Yunzhong, upon seeing this, also widened his eyes and said, "Even you don’t know what you did, I’m even more in the dark. Miss Song, what you said is really odd, isn’t it?"
Damn strange!
Song Jiyun gritted her teeth in anger, also full of perplexity.
Her plan had been simple; it couldn’t possibly have failed. How had he seen through it?
Yuan Yunzhong, however, leaned closer to her and whispered in her ear, "That Luo Zixing, he’s your man, right? Otherwise, that couple wouldn’t be putting on an act with you. I’m just a bit curious, which of the Store Managers and master craftsmen here are also your people? When did you start planning all this?"
Song Jiyun glared at him.
What plan? As if she had been scheming all along.
She was just accustomed to keeping the key matters in her own hands, that’s all.
But had Yuan Yunzhong actually noticed something, or was he just bluffing to trick her?
Since she had already denied any involvement with Silly Girl, she naturally had to keep denying it!
Her expression grew even more innocent. "Young Master Yuan, I really don’t understand what you’re saying."
"You don’t understand?" Yuan Yunzhong sat up straight and smiled, "That’s alright, I’ll explain it to you slowly."
As he spoke, he grabbed a handful of lotus seeds from a dish in front of her, lowered his head, and began to peel them slowly: "Wong Dahai is too shrewd; with someone like that, you’d certainly not choose him. As for Xiang Yang, he seems like the type to bury himself in his work. Even if he were on your side, he would not be of much help when it matters."
He placed the peeled lotus seeds in Song Jiyun’s bowl: "Then there’s Song Li. I’m not sure if he shares the Song surname or he’s a relative of the Song Clan. But he is a man of integrity who admires the painters from the Imperial Kiln Factory, almost dismissive of his own role as a painter at the Song Family Kiln Factory. You’d be even less likely to sway someone like him!"
He picked up a handkerchief, wiping his hands while turning his head to look at her, his gaze sparkling like stars: "Then there’s Zhou Zheng!"
Song Jiyun’s heart thumped wildly.
Where did this devil come from?
It had only been the duration of a meal, and he had already figured out what she was up to.
Could it be that when he had joined her in toasting Zhou Zheng, it was intentional?
When had he realized?
She blinked slowly.
Yuan Yunzhong smiled softly and pointed at the lotus seeds in her bowl. "Try them, they’ll cool you down."
Suddenly, Song Jiyun heard a burst of whispered laughter near her ear.
She couldn’t help but look in the direction of the sound.
She saw the ladies sitting next to Madam Qian, their eyes smiling as they pointed at her and Yuan Yunzhong, talking about something. She could faintly hear phrases like "helping to peel lotus seeds" and "a match made by heaven."
Song Jiyun felt a dark cloud looming overhead.
Yuan Yunzhong, as if oblivious to what those ladies were doing, lowered his head and smiled gently in her ear: "Miss Song, I just want you to know that my departure or stay is never for others to decide!"
The scent of laurel grew stronger as he drew closer.
Song Jiyun only wanted to know who had doused him with such a fragrance. It was truly unbearable!
*
The banquet at the Water Pavilion did not end until the Wei Hour of the afternoon. By the time Song Jiyun escorted Madam Qian back to her own courtyard, it was the early Shen hour.
She went to the east wing room.
The pale-faced "Silly Girl" immediately stood up from the round table, anxiously calling out "Miss".
Song Jiyun, with a stern face, sat down on the Taishi Chair in the Main Hall and coldly said, "Speak! What exactly happened?"
"I really don’t know what happened," said the "Silly Girl", originally named Du Juan, in a murmuring tone, "I followed your instructions and kept talking to Young Master Yuan. But he ignored me the whole time. Then he suddenly got up and accompanied you in the toast. I had no choice, so I followed, but who knew I would trip over my own shoes..."
Song Jiyun was startled and stood up abruptly, her voice sharp as she said, "What did you just say? You tripped over your own shoes?"
So it was purely an accident that Du Juan slipped!
But she suspected him of foul play.
Du Juan nodded like a chick pecking at grains, saying, "Young Master Yuan is my savior. If not for him, my face would have been ruined. I, I can’t harm him! I don’t want the silver from Miss anymore!"
No wonder she stopped pestering Yuan Yunzhong after the chicken soup incident.
Song Jiyun couldn’t quite identify her feelings.
She looked deeply at Du Juan, "Is your mother’s illness not going to be treated?"
Her mother wanted to keep Yuan Yunzhong, she wanted Yuan Yunzhong to leave, and she couldn’t confront her mother head-on.
She had no choice but to resort to a beauty trap.
Find an exceptionally beautiful woman to come and sit at the feast under the pretense of being Madam Luo’s niece, Silly Girl.
If Yuan Yunzhong showed favor to that woman, she had a way to convince Madam Qian that Yuan Yunzhong was tender and protective of beautiful women; if Yuan Yunzhong was cold and distant toward the woman, she had a way to make Madam Qian believe that no matter how beautiful a woman was, Yuan Yunzhong was cold-hearted and lacked the capacity for affection. Not a suitable match.
Originally, she had wanted to find a woman from a brothel, but Zheng Quan had happened upon Du Juan, who had nearly been deceived and sold into a brothel. Finding her more suitable, Zheng Quan brought her back.
Du Juan was silent for a long while, tears rolling in her eyes, and she said quietly, "Or should I sell myself to you?"
Song Jiyun, looking at her face, said, "What happened after I left to make a toast?"
Du Juan, stumbling over her words, told her everything in detail.
Song Jiyun was silent.
Du Juan was supposed to act clueless, yet somehow she knew what ’having impure intentions’ meant. It would have been odd if she had not given herself away in front of Yuan Yunzhong!
A person found randomly outside could never compare to someone she trained herself.
Perhaps this was what they meant by "Man proposes, God disposes"? 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚
Song Jiyun felt that since Yuan Yunzhong had already saved her life, she might as well go with the flow and do him a favor.
She said, "According to our agreement, I shouldn’t give you any silver since you messed up the job. But considering you did put in all your effort before, I’ll give you one hundred taels of silver as your appearance fee. Wherever you go after that is none of my concern. We’re even."
She had once promised to send Du Juan and her mother to Hangzhou to seek refuge with relatives.
Du Juan was immensely grateful, bowing again and again, and even said, "Fifty taels will be enough for me."
To Song Jiyun, there wasn’t much difference between one hundred and fifty taels.
She waved her hand and called for Nanny Zheng to come in, then got up and left.
Yet Du Juan timidly tugged at her sleeve, looking resolute as she said to her, "Miss Song, I think Young Master Yuan is a good man. Even if you don’t want to marry him, you shouldn’t humiliate him like this. You should clear things up with him. Young Master Yuan is certainly not the type to shamelessly insist."
Uh-oh!
She humiliated him? Which of her eyes saw her humiliating him?
Song Jiyun strode away.
When she went to dine with Madam Qian in the evening, Madam Qian affectionately served her a steamed glutinous rice cake with a vegetarian filling and said warmly, "Mother still has some insight, doesn’t she? Young Master Yuan is not bad, right? Not only can he speak on equal terms with those store managers and master craftsmen, but he also has a chivalrous heart and helps others in danger. Plus, he knows how to peel lotus seeds for you. Such a good child is hard to find even with a lantern.
"Not just me, the ladies from the families of those store managers and master craftsmen can’t stop praising him either."
Song Jiyun just kept her head down and ate.
She felt as if she had made a big mistake.
She shouldn’t have tried to scheme against Yuan Yunzhong when she was entertaining the store managers and master craftsmen; she should have picked a time with no outsiders around...
Just then, Madam Qian asked her, "Yun Duo, what do you think of him?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
