Chapter 28 Falling into Xie Qi's arms
"Mother, yes, I got drunk and lost my way, and accidentally fell into the pond," he said weakly, his lips pale.
The makeup on his face had been washed off, revealing a sallow, ashen face with sunken eyes.
Lady Zhongqin was naturally unwilling to believe it so easily. "Really? Then what about that little maid? And Miss Jiang, you really haven't seen her? Don't worry, as long as you tell me, your mother will definitely uphold justice for you and won't let you suffer any injustice."
“No, Mother, please don’t worry about it,” Yan Wenkang said, feeling pain all over his body whenever he heard Jiang Zhi’s name. “I feel terrible, let’s go back to the manor quickly.”
If he doesn't go back now, he'll lose his life here.
Lady Zhongqin wanted to ask more questions, but seeing her son's ashen face, she couldn't help but feel uneasy.
She knew her son's temperament best; if he was bullied, he would never hide it and would want everyone to know so that his family would stand up for him.
Now that he's avoiding the topic, could it be that he really did harass some maid in the Marquis of Wuyi's residence, and that's why he doesn't dare to say a word?
The same thing happened when I returned home covered in bruises last time.
She slapped him hard in exasperation, and when he cried out, she rubbed his arm tenderly. She then ordered her servants to take her waist token to the palace to fetch the best imperial physician, and directed the servants to carry Yan Wenkang onto the carriage and return to the mansion.
Jiang Yunqian hadn't expected the matter to pass so easily. Her face turned pale and then red, and she wished she could rush forward and shake Yan Wenkang's head to see if he had water in it.
Such a great opportunity.
Even if it wasn't Jiang Zhi, as long as Yan Wenkang insisted that she was the one who had a secret rendezvous with him and pushed him into the lotus pond, wouldn't that be just what he wanted—to ruin Jiang Zhi's reputation and take her into the Earl's mansion?
But he turned out to be an incompetent good-for-nothing, which could drive her crazy!
Seeing that the crowd was gradually dispersing, Xie Qi also lifted his leg to leave.
Jiang Yunqian didn't want to lose this rare opportunity to see him, so she gritted her teeth, mustered her courage, and went to greet him, "Please wait, Your Highness."
Seeing Xie Qi so close, she could no longer care about being reserved. She pretended to trip and let out a soft cry of "Ouch!" before falling into Xie Qi's arms.
As a man, Prince Xie shouldn't lack manners and not help her up when she was about to fall, right?
As long as Xie Shizi is entangled with her in public, he won't be able to get rid of her easily.
But who is Xie Qi?
No one can easily get close to him unless he wants to.
He stopped and took two steps back, watching helplessly as Jiang Yunqian lost her balance and fell to the ground with a thud.
"Miss Jiang, please have some self-respect." His voice was cold, and his peach blossom eyes were expressionless as he looked down at her, as if he could see right through her thoughts.
Jiang Yunqian was utterly ashamed and furious.
She had never been so humiliated, especially not in front of the person she had been longing for!
She struggled to her feet, hurriedly brushing the dust off her clothes. She took a sachet from her sleeve and handed it to him. “Young Master Xie, this is a sachet I embroidered myself. It contains herbs that can calm the mind and soothe the spirit. The color matches your jade pendant very well. I hope you won’t find it offensive.”
However, Xie Qi didn't even glance at the sachet, but simply chuckled with his hands behind his back, "I dare not accept anything from Miss Jiang, who knows if there might be some poison hidden inside."
Jiang Yunqian stood there, stunned. "Young Master Xie, why do you think of me like this?"
“I have a piece of advice for Miss Jiang,” Xie Qi’s voice was as cold as ice, “Those who do many unrighteous deeds will surely perish.”
After saying that, he didn't care about Jiang Yunqian's expression and left with a flick of his sleeve.
Jiang Yunqian suffered a series of blows in front of everyone and almost lost her balance.
Why? Why?
What exactly did she do wrong?
Even if Prince Xie has no feelings for her, why does he dislike her so much? They've barely met.
Jiang Yunqian returned to the banquet with the others, feeling utterly lost. The exquisite dishes before her eyes all tasted bland. She attended the banquet in a daze, like a walking corpse, and didn't even know how she got back to the Jiang residence.
As soon as he got off the carriage, Wang Yuru called him to her room.
"Tell me, what exactly has happened recently?" Wang Yuru said with a cold face.
Jiang Yunqian snapped out of her daze and asked in confusion, "Mother, what do you mean? I don't understand."
"Still trying to hide it from me? Then don't come crying to me if anything happens in the future!" Wang Yuru said, exasperated.
When Yan Wenkang got into trouble, she was away with several noble ladies paying their respects to the old lady of Wuyi Marquis. When she returned and heard about the incident, and heard from others that her daughter had been jumping around trying to smear her sister, making a fool of herself in front of everyone, she almost fainted.
What an impatient idiot!
"Mother, daughter, daughter doesn't know what she did wrong, Prince Xie, he..." Seeing her mother's solemn and cold expression, Jiang Yunqian felt the grievances in her heart surge up again, and could only tearfully tell the truth about picking up the jade pendant from Jiang Zhi and having a night meeting with Xie Qi in the teahouse.
Wang Yuru's face grew increasingly grim as she listened. When her daughter finished speaking, she angrily slammed her teacup to the ground, her chest heaving. "That damned bitch, how dare she scheme against us!"
"Does Mother mean that all of this was secretly planned by Jiang Zhi?" Jiang Yunqian's eyes were still wet with tears.
“She must have known all along that the jade pendant belonged to Xie Qi, but she deliberately lured you into making a move because she was certain that the Marquis of Wuyi’s mansion would mistake it for Xie Qi’s.”
Wang Yuru then thought of another possibility, "Perhaps that slut took the opportunity to slander and defame you in front of Prince Xie, making him dislike you, which is why the Lady of Wuyi changed her mind."
"The Lady of Wuyi Marquis has changed her mind?" Jiang Yunqian was startled.
When she came to the Jiang residence that day, the Lady of Wuyi Marquis praised her highly and held her hand, saying many things to her.
"Do you know what Lady Wuyi and I talked about today?"
Looking at her daughter's bewildered expression, Wang Yuru couldn't help but pinch her brow in exasperation.
“When she came to our house last time to deliver the invitation, she couldn’t help but praise you in her words, but today,” Wang Yuru’s eyes revealed a glint of shrewdness, “she couldn’t stop talking about Jiang Zhi, and she kept asking about her character and preferences.”
Outsiders might not know the reason and assume that the two families are on good terms, and that Lady Wuyi was simply concerned about the younger generation of the Jiang family.
Is there anything Wang Yuru doesn't understand?
"Yun'er, you need to be mentally prepared."
Jiang Yunqian realized, "She, does she want Jiang Zhi to...? What should we do?"
Wang Yuru sneered, "I originally wanted to put on a show and deal with her slowly after your marriage was settled. Since she is so unruly, she can't blame me for taking action ahead of time."
"I will go to the Earl of Zhongqin's mansion tomorrow. Don't worry, your mother will definitely clear away any obstacles for you and let you marry into the Marquis of Wuyi's mansion in style!"
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