Chapter 15

He turned his head away.

How could anyone be kind to him? He was so insane that people avoided him at all costs.

In this world, besides his father treating him well, there was only Prince Gong. But his father was gone now, and Prince Gong was about to take a husband. There would be no one else in this world who would treat him kindly.

He had clearly warned Yu Yunji every time, yet why did she still come to bother him?

That’s right, Yu Yunji had leverage over him. She wouldn’t be kind to him for no reason. No one would be kind to him for no reason. Yu Yunji just didn’t want him to reveal that she was a wandering ghost, nothing more.

As if to convince himself, Gu Qi coldly cut off the budding thought in his heart.

“Alright, don’t get wet for these days, and eat less spicy and stimulating food.” After finishing grooming Gu Qi, Yu Yunji felt a sense of lightness from completing her task.

She closed the lid of the scar cream and was about to leave when she heard Gu Qi call out behind her: “Wait.” Yu Yunji turned back to look at him, puzzled.

“If you can really cancel Prince Gong’s marriage contract, I won’t tell anyone that you’re a wandering ghost,” Gu Qi said, holding the book in his arms.

Yu Yunji’s cheerful mood instantly vanished. She turned her back and said, “…I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

Duke Dingguo’s Mansion.

Yun Zhuye angrily said, “Mother, are you really going to be so heartless? Doesn’t a woman’s promise mean anything?” Yun Jinxin calmly closed her eyes and rested, “A woman’s promise is worth its weight in gold, but the son of the Yun family cannot degrade himself like this. What’s the point of marrying into such a family? It’s not even enough for people to laugh at.” Hearing this, Yun Zhuye’s eyes reddened, “You promised me before that I could choose my own marriage in the future. Even if I married into a dragon’s den or tiger’s lair, I wouldn’t complain. How come in the past few days, not only did you not refuse the marriage, but you also agreed to it?” He had long had a woman he admired in his heart, and his mother knew it, but she refused to agree no matter what.

He was the last to know about the Emperor’s bestowed marriage. It wasn’t until his mother just said she would take him to attend the palace banquet that he realized the marriage hadn’t been canceled at all.

“Of course this should be agreed to,” Yun Jinxin said slowly. “Do you want me to watch you marry that profligate Zhou Zijing? That would truly disgrace the Duke Dingguo’s family.” “Elder Sister Zhou is not a profligate!” Yun Zhuye stomped his foot in anger.

Yun Mengze said gently, “Zhuye, the Zhou family women are naturally flirtatious. You don’t understand the ways of the world. If you marry there, I’m afraid you won’t have a peaceful day. Mother can’t bear to see you in tears. There are no delicate husbands or beautiful attendants in Prince Gong’s household. If you marry there, we can be more at ease.” Tears fell incessantly from Yun Zhuye’s eyes, “Elder Brother, why won’t you speak up for me? Elder Sister Zhou is not that kind of person. She saved me before.” “Even if you’re willing to marry, she may not necessarily be willing to marry you,” Yun Jinxin said softly.

However, Yun Zhuye was stubbornly venting today. Yun Mengze sighed lightly, “I heard that Zhou Zijing will also return for the palace banquet.” Yun Zhuye immediately stopped crying and stared at him blankly.

He had been confined to the mansion for many days and hadn’t been out for so long. It was truly going to drive him crazy.

He had missed Elder Sister Zhou for many days, but his mother wouldn’t relent, so he couldn’t go out. By this calculation, it had been nearly half a month since he had last seen Elder Sister Zhou.

Yun Jinxin frowned and opened her eyes to look at him, but saw him shaking his head slightly.

It was a royal family banquet. How could Zhou Zijing attend?

“Elder Brother, is what you said true?” Yun Zhuye wiped away his tears, overjoyed beyond measure. “I’ll go. I want to see Elder Sister Zhou.”

Yesterday, she owed Zhou Zijing two plates of chicken marrow bamboo shoots, and today she was pestered to make up for it.

Zhou Zijing stuffed a large mouthful of fruit into her mouth, “It’s good to be favored. Even in spring, there are melons and fruits, no less than the tribute fruits bestowed by Her Majesty. Indeed, you may lack anything, but as the Han Wang, you’ll never lack food and clothing.” “Nonsense,” Yu Yunji smiled, “Now that you’ve eaten the fruits, you must help think of an idea. What do you think, how should we cut off Elder Sister’s thoughts of marrying the Yun family’s second son?” “Good question, you Yu Mi have really asked the right person.” Zhou Zijing stuffed another large mouthful of sweet melon.

After swallowing the sweet melon, she jumped up, “It’s not difficult. In my opinion, this kind of thing still needs someone to stir up trouble.” “Stir up trouble?” Yu Yunji pondered.

She had indeed thought of this method, but for a moment, she couldn’t think of a suitable candidate.

Now that Zhou Zijing mentioned it again, she decided to think for a while and consider the available talents around her.

But before she could think carefully, a small attendant from the prince’s mansion came before her and said, “Your Highness, the Yun family’s eldest young master seeks an audience.” Yu Yunji raised her eyebrows slightly and said, “Please invite the eldest young master in.”

“Yun Mengze?” Zhou Zijing frowned, “What is he doing here?” She had never seen Zhou Zijing like this before. Seeing her expression, Yu Yunji sensed that there might be some grudge between the two.

She teased, “What’s wrong? Have you had some conflict with Young Master Yun before?” “How is that possible? A good woman doesn’t fight with men. It’s not that I had a conflict with him, but rather this person is inexplicably strange. He has sent his attendants to seek me out several times, asking me to stay away from his brother,” Zhou Zijing pouted. “As if anyone could fancy their family.” Speaking of the Yun family, Zhou Zijing was clearly a bit annoyed.

After a short while, Yun Mengze appeared in a bamboo-green robe, “Excuse my disturbance, Your Highness.” Her reputation as a profligate was well-known, and no one wanted to be associated with her. Usually, people would call her Han Wang Your Highness, and rarely would anyone address her so directly as “Your Highness”. Clearly, Yun Mengze had something to ask.

“What brings Young Master Yun here today?” Yu Yunji asked.

Yun Mengze instinctively raised his eyes to look at Zhou Zijing. Meeting her gaze, Zhou Zijing bristled.

She said angrily, “I’m leaving, I’m leaving. I’ll wait in the side hall. I won’t disturb Young Master Yun’s discussion of important matters with Your Highness.” After Zhou Zijing left, Yun Mengze slightly lowered his head and said softly, “I offended Your Highness some days ago, and now I’ve come to disturb you again. Si Yu feels uneasy. If Your Highness needs anything in the future, please feel free to ask Si Yu. If I can help, I will do my best.” Men rarely use their personal names when speaking to others.

For Yun Mengze to refer to himself by his personal name now, he must truly be facing some issue.

“Young Master Yun is too kind. What exactly is the matter?” Yu Yunji asked.

Yun Mengze said in a deep voice, “May I beseech Han Wang Your Highness to bring along the Zhou family’s young lady to this family banquet?” The Zhou family’s young lady, her first reaction was Zhou Zijing.

Yu Yunji met his eyes and saw that he didn’t explain further, so she knew her guess was correct.

But she didn’t understand. Just now, there was clearly some conflict between the two. If there was conflict, why did he come to ask her now, to bring Zhou Zijing along to the family banquet?

Seeming to see her confusion, Yun Mengze continued to explain, “To be honest, my younger brother is young and inexperienced. He has admired Young Lady Zhou for a long time. Now that my younger brother is already betrothed, of course, all previous feelings must be cut off. However, this matter is not convenient to discuss in detail. I hope Han Wang Your Highness can help a little.” He looked somewhat troubled and ashamed, but still maintained a calm appearance.

It was indeed awkward for him, an unmarried young man, to bring up such a matter. Young men’s faces are thin, and by rights, such family matters should be discussed with her by Duke Dingguo Yun Jinxin.

“I understand, but this matter is not for me alone to decide. I still need to discuss it with Zhiyue,” Yu Yunji responded.

Yun Mengze bowed to her, “Si Yu thanks Your Highness here, but this matter should not be known to others.” “I understand your meaning. We’ll communicate by letter when the time comes,” she said.

Hearing that Yun Mengze had left, Zhou Zijing came out angrily.

Yu Yunji didn’t open her mouth to discuss this matter with her first. She was still pondering the “trouble-stirring” Zhou Zijing had mentioned earlier, only to find that someone had delivered themselves to her doorstep.

“There will be a palace banquet in a few days,” Yu Yunji said, “There will be handsome young men attending, and plenty of good food and drink. Do you want to come with me?”

Zhou Zijing, who was about to explode, immediately perked up when she heard this, “My own sister is so thoughtful. The one who knows me best is Yu Mi.”

Yu Yunji took a sip of clear tea, “I also have a suitable candidate for the trouble-stirring you mentioned earlier.”

“That’s great,” Zhou Zijing had no awareness of being used. She chewed on a small date and said, “But I wonder who has such bad luck to have caught your attention.”

The hall suddenly fell silent, with only the sound of her chewing.

Zhou Zijing sensed something was wrong and turned to meet her affectionate eyes.

…This is bad.

She leaned back warily, “Yu Mi, let’s be clear, I’m not going. You can use anyone, but not your own sister.”

At that time, Gu Qi was holding that book.

He had been looking at the book all afternoon, but not at the content he had written before. Instead, he was staring at the binding of the book, lost in thought.

The paper was quite old and easily torn. After Jiao Lang’s tearing, it was even more tattered.

To bind such paper together would require a lot of effort. Putting aside the time consumed, such tedious and repetitive delicate work would not be something anyone would be willing to do.

He determined that Yu Yunji must have done it herself. When she applied medicine for him today, there was still a small piece of dried fish glue on her fingertip. Although it wasn’t obvious, he still noticed it.

Fish glue has strong adhesion, but it has one drawback: once it sticks, it takes several days to fall off on its own.

“Why like this…” Gu Qi pressed on the slightly raised connection, murmuring softly.

Why be kind to him? She could have clearly ordered servants to do these things, but she didn’t. Not only did she do it herself, but she also never told him about it.

The world is cold. After his father’s death, he had never experienced the feeling of being cared for.

Although he was the eldest son of the Minister’s family, he was also the son of the primary husband. Now, the one who received all the love and fame was his stepbrother, Gu Shanlai.

Unlike him, his stepbrother had lived in the love of his parents since birth. Just as his name suggests, Shanlai Shanlai, bright eyes and gentle looks, entirely his mother’s beautiful hope.

His mother favored the concubine and neglected her husband. Less than half a year after his father’s death, Little Father Lin and the others were already scheming with his mother, elevating him to the position of second wife. He and his father were never favored, bearing the name of the primary husband’s eldest son, but in reality living worse than mere attendants.

They, father and son, wished to trample him into the mud, to watch him suffer unbearably.

But it was on that day at the palace banquet that he saw Prince Gong.

At that time, they were both young ladies and gentlemen, just at the age of budding romance. On the day of the palace banquet, Gu Shanlai led a group of young men to slander his deceased father, pushing him to the extreme. He actually took the hairpin from the top of his head, about to stab them fiercely.

He didn’t know how fierce he looked at that time, scaring the group of young men to scatter, but he was stopped by a figure.

He originally thought that this palace banquet affair would cause a great uproar, but unexpectedly, the lady in front of him not only didn’t scold him, but looked at him gently, comforting him and telling him not to be afraid.

That was Prince Gong, his Prince Gong.

Later, in countless difficult days and nights, he thought of Prince Gong countless times. He thought, he must live on well, he wasn’t someone without anyone caring for him, he still had Prince Gong.

But why did Yu Yunji… She clearly didn’t need to be like this. He had already treated her that way, Yu Yunji shouldn’t be kind to him.

“Your Highness, the Yun family’s eldest young master has arrived,” Han Yu said carefully, watching him.

Gu Qi’s hand holding the scar cream suddenly clenched. He smiled coldly and said, “I was just wondering how to see him, and he delivers himself to the door.”

“This comes at the right time. Han Yu, come with me to see.”