Ji Yunshu rose and saluted her. “Greetings, Princess.”
“There’s no need for such courtesy between us.” Finished speaking, she pulled on the corner of Ji Yunshu’s clothes and stuck to the latter. Then, she pouted and complained, “Imperial Mother is too much. She invited you, but she didn’t tell me. If I knew earlier, I would have gone to the palace gate to welcome you.”
‘This…’ Ji Yunshu’s forehead became laced with sweat. At first, she wanted to tug her sleeve back and out of the other’s grip, but Jing Xuan was gripping onto it too tightly and refused to let go.
Bam!
Upon seeing her daughter’s actions, Concubine Xiao fiercely slammed one of her hands on the armrest of her golden lacquered ivory chair. Her anger burst forth. “Servants! Bring the princess out.”
“Yes, your Ladyship!” The palace maids came in and wanted to pull Jing Xuan out.
Jing Xuan turned her body and pushed away the palace maids. She stubbornly resisted and argued with Concubine Xiao. “Imperial Mother, why can’t I attend this feast? Teacher Ji and I haven’t seen each other for many days. If Imperial Mother doesn’t allow me to stay, then I will bring Teacher to the back hall.”
“Don’t talk nonsense! You are a princess, but you can actually say such shameless words.” Concubine Xiao spoke harshly with a severe expression.
“Daughter has always been like this. My words have always been blunt. Since Imperial Mother has to host the banquet, I won’t disturb you any longer.” As soon as she was done, Jing Xuan pulled Ji Yunshu away.
“Xuan’er!”
Jing Xuan quickly went out of the main hall with Ji Yunshu, paying no heed to Concubine Xiao’s reprimanding voice.
Ji Yunshu halted her steps and pulled away from Jing Xuan.
Jing Xuan turned around to look at her. Then, she glanced toward the main hall. Seeing that no one had chased after them, the corner of her mouth curled into a smile. She said, “How can those ordinary and rough women see your appearance before this Princess does? If anything, this Princess has to be the one who sees it first.” Ah! This is what love is like.
If it wasn’t for Jing Xuan’s sudden appearance, there would have been several issues occurring today, and many rumors would have spread about Ji Yunshu’s appearance. If regardless of her ugly appearance, Concubine Xiao still acted as her matchmaker to find a virtuous wife, and she refused, the public would deem her disrespectful of Concubine Xiao’s kind intentions. Yet, if she was to agree, the matter of her identity would become a problem.
After mulling it over, she admitted that Concubine Xiao’s thoughts were incredibly meticulous. Fortunately, just when her scheme was about to succeed, Jing Xuan suddenly came in and threw everything into disarray, giving her an opportunity to escape her predicament. Ji Yunshu still had some lingering fear. It was not worth it to fall into Concubine Xiao’s trap before she could even start investigating the Lin Capital case.
Seeing that Ji Yunshu was slow in her in reply, Jing Xuan swiftly pulled the other’s hand and intimately said, “Since we are already out, you might as well come go to my residence.”
“Many thanks for your invitation, but it’s getting late. I need to take my leave.”
She retracted her arm with an indifferent expression. She was about to leave when the next instant Jing Xuan stated, “Don’t tell me that you don’t want to see Wei Yi?”
‘Eh?’ “What are you saying?” Ji Yunshu stopped and turned around.
Disappointment could be seen on Jing Xuan’s face. “So, what makes you most nervous is Wei Yi!”
“Why did you mention him? What did you do to him?”
“Aren’t you in a hurry to leave the imperial palace?” She turned away while crossing her arms, showing her small temper.
Ji Yunshu was anxious. She seriously answered, “Princess, if you want to make things difficult for me, so be it, but please don’t harm Wei Yi.”
“When did I say that I’d harmed him? I only send people to bring him into the palace. That little idiot is here. He’s leisurely eating pastries at the back hall. So, do you want to go to the back hall with me now?”
Anxiety was written all over Ji Yunshu’s face. She hesitated for a moment, before agreeing. “I’ll go with you to look for him.”
“Good!” Jing Xuan was very satisfied. Thus, she pulled Ji Yunshu and they hurriedly left for the back hall.
On the way, Jing Xuan was a bit worried. She said, “Last time, I spoke to my imperial mother and told her about the matter of the missing girls case I overheard imperial brother and you speaking of. When she heard about it, for some reason, she forbid me from leaving the palace and confined me. I heard that you two were injured and I was very worried.” Her tone was filled with worry.
“So it was you?” Ji Yunshu was flabbergasted.
Jing Xuan didn’t understand. “What do you mean by ‘it was me?’ I wanted to ask you how is your injury?”
Ji Yunshu shook her head. “I’m fine!” Her tone was extremely cold.
She didn’t expect that Jing Xuan was eavesdropping on them and carelessly informed Concubine Xiao about their plan which led to Jing Yi arresting Gan Chuliang before them.