Baohe carried a tray of medicine and knocked carefully on the door outside. “Madam, are you awake? If you are, please drink this ginger soup to ward off the cold.”
You Yuji pushed Si Que, who was lying on top of her, off and turned her face to the side, coughing lightly a couple of times. After stopping her cough, she called Baohe in.
Si Que leisurely sat up and picked up the pillow that had fallen to the ground, placing it back on the bed.
Baohe entered with the food tray in her hands, glancing at the two people sitting on the bed. She keenly noticed that Princess Que’s hair was messy!
She couldn’t help but be surprised.
—These two were both so seriously ill, and they still managed to get tangled up with each other?
Baohe dutifully placed the food tray on the small table beside the bed and then handed the two bowls of ginger soup one by one to You Yuji and Si Que. She then stood obediently to the side.
Baohe couldn’t resist sneaking a peek at the two sitting on the edge of the bed. They both had their heads lowered, drinking the ginger soup.
Good-looking people, no matter what they do, are always pleasing to the eye!
You Yuji couldn’t finish the ginger soup after drinking half of it, so she handed the bowl back to Baohe and asked, “Is Hongzan still in the flower hall?”
Baohe nodded and said, “Madam, you must really be ill to forget that Concubine Hongzan is still waiting for you. We didn’t dare to ask her to leave without your instructions. Since you’re not feeling well, should we let her go back for now?”
“No, I never intended to see her in the first place,” You Yuji shook her head. “Let her go back at the end of the hour. If she asks about anything, just say you don’t know.”
Baohe didn’t understand You Yuji’s intentions but nodded in agreement. She added, “Lady Jing brought back Zhuo Wen and Zhuo Wu to report. It is said that Zhuo Wen has found some clues about the time when Concubine Lin was abducted.”
You Yuji was taken aback and immediately said, “Good, I’ll change clothes and go see them.”
Baohe picked up the food tray and left to relay the message.
During this time, You Yuji had been constantly worried about Lin Yingying. Her issues were much more important than Fang Qingyi’s petty schemes.
You Yuji stood up to change her clothes. After taking one step, she stopped and looked back at Si Que.
She still remembered that he had added an aphrodisiac powder to the water they both drank earlier.
Si Que was sitting on the edge of the bed, leaning back slightly with one hand propped on the bed beside him. In his other hand, his long fingers were flipping a copper coin quickly. The dark copper coin spun rapidly between his fair, long fingers.
You Yuji took an extra glance at the copper coin in his fingers; he seemed to enjoy playing with copper coins.
Si Que paused his quick flipping of the coin and suddenly looked up at her, asking, “What is it? Is the drug’s effect kicking in, sister?”
Drug effect?
You Yuji was very certain that there was no abnormality in her body.
“You little liar,” You Yuji glared at him playfully before turning and walking towards the small room. From behind, she heard Si Que’s low, joyful laughter.
Si Que laughed for a while before lazily getting up and following You Yuji to the small room. He leaned against the doorframe, watching You Yuji change her clothes.
You Yuji had just taken off her nightgown and picked up a snow-white chest wrap to bind herself. She glanced over, and Si Que, smiling lazily, asked, “Does sister need help?”
In the past, he often helped her wrap it around her graceful curves.
You Yuji pressed one hand against the chest wrap in front of her chest and pulled the other side with the other hand. She smiled at Si Que and said, “No need. Remember to knock next time.”
Si Que narrowed his eyes slightly.
“Close the door when you leave,” You Yuji added.
She wasn’t going to soften her heart towards this little liar anymore.
Si Que glanced at the nightgown that had slipped from the chair to the floor, then turned and left. He didn’t go far, standing just outside the door, facing away from it, listening to the faint sounds inside.
He tossed a copper coin high into the air and caught it again. The coin lay quietly on the back of his hand—tails.
He glanced coldly at the coin and flipped it to heads.
The door behind him opened, and You Yuji, now dressed, walked out, heading outside to meet Lady Jing, Zhuo Wen, and Zhuo Wu. After she left, Si Que entered the small room. He pulled out a chair and sat down, picking up You Yuji’s nightgown from the floor and pressing it to his face. The nightgown still held her unique light fragrance and warmth.
He wasn’t unable to guess what You Yuji was thinking.
Sudden indulgence wasn’t a matter of conscience.
However, Si Que also wanted to know if he could, as You Yuji wished, possess the ability to love.
“A bit difficult, isn’t it?” he asked himself.
“The lair of that group of bandits is in Pine Tree Mountain. The bandit leader’s surname is Zhang, a demoted minor military officer, so he has quite a bit of power under him. He also has some connections with a few officials in the capital. Therefore, despite robbing and looting multiple times, he has always managed to escape unscathed. Last time, he probably intended to rob a wealthy merchant, but the merchant got wind of it and changed routes. The bandits didn’t catch the merchant but happened to encounter Concubine Lin on her way home.”
Hearing this, You Yuji’s heart tightened, and she hurriedly asked, “And then?”
“Our men from the escort agency have been investigating and confirmed that Concubine Lin encountered Zhang the bandit. But the strange thing is, the bandit lair was wiped out!” Zhuo Wen explained, “For years, Zhang the bandit has been arrogant and reckless because of his connections with officials. No one expected that overnight, the entire bandit lair would be annihilated, with not a single survivor!”
Zhuo Wen still felt a chill recalling the mountain of corpses on Pine Tree Mountain.
You Yuji asked urgently, “What about Concubine Lin?”
How could all these reasons be more important than Lin Yingying’s safety? Listening to Zhuo Wen, she couldn’t help but worry about Lin Yingying, fearing she might have met a terrible fate along with the bandits.
“Madam Lin’s body has not been found,” Zhuo Wen shook his head, frowning. “I had people check each corpse in the bandit lair. There were only a few women there to begin with, so there’s no mistake. We didn’t find Madam Lin’s body anywhere on Pine Tree Mountain.”
The trail went cold again.
“On the other side of Pine Tree Mountain is a steep cliff. If someone fell off, the body would be very hard to find,” Zhuo Wen paused. “If Madam Lin met her end before the bandit lair was destroyed, the bandits might have thrown her body off the cliff…”
You Yuji remained silent for a long time.
In her mind, she saw Lin Yingying’s sweet smile and heard her calling her “sister” in that sweet voice.
The new clothes she had prepared for the New Year were still in the chest, a pink set that Lin Yingying loved.
Zhuo Wen and Zhuo Wu exchanged glances and fell silent too.
Just when the two thought the matter would end there, You Yuji spoke, “Investigate who slaughtered those bandits.”
This was not the old territory of Si Kingdom, and gathering information was far less convenient than before, but she still wanted to follow this lead, to peel back the layers and get to the truth.
Zhenxu came in from outside to report: “Madam, Concubine Cui requests to see you. She seemed to have something urgent to discuss when she came in the morning.”
You Yuji instructed the others to wait for her in the study, then got up to go meet Cuiyu.
Cuiyu stood under the eaves, treading on the snow, deep in thought. Seeing You Yuji come out of the study, she hurried up to her. “I heard Madam was ill, are you feeling better?”
“It’s just a slight cold, nothing serious,” You Yuji replied with a smile.
Hearing the hoarseness in You Yuji’s voice, Cuiyu quickly said, “Madam should rest more.”
You Yuji nodded and asked, “Did you need something?”
Cuiyu’s eyes flickered, and she asked in a low voice, “The things I entrusted to you to send to Yingying’s parents last time, have they been sent yet?”
“Tomorrow is New Year’s Eve. I was planning to send them along with my things tomorrow morning. Why?”
“Well…” Cuiyu explained hesitantly, “I was thinking of delivering them myself after the New Year, during the Lantern Festival.”
You Yuji paused for a moment, then instructed Zhenxu to bring Cuiyu’s box and return it to her.
Cuiyu thanked her, took her precious box, and left quickly.
“They say Concubine Cui loves money. Is she reluctant to part with it now?” Zhenxu remarked casually.
“Maybe she urgently needs the money,” You Yuji replied, then paused. She turned to look at Cuiyu again and instructed softly, “Send a clever maid to keep an eye on her.”
You Yuji returned to the study and inquired about the task she had assigned to Lady Jing.
“Madam, we’ve managed to obtain the items. Since it’s the New Year, under the pretext of cleaning and hanging lanterns and arranging flowers, we had someone secretly soak a cloth in the wine brewed by Concubine Fang. It has already been sent to the Zhao residence at full speed. Madam Zhao had the doctor check the wine while he was examining her pregnancy. The wine indeed has a problem! We still need some time to find out exactly what’s in it, so I came back to report. Madam Zhao said she will bring people over as soon as they find out the specifics.”
Jiang Chun, upon learning that someone was causing trouble for You Yuji, wished she could ride over immediately. However, the afternoon blizzard was terrifying, and being heavily pregnant, Zhao Sheng absolutely refused to let her go out.
You Yuji hesitated whether to inform the princess now. She had no concrete evidence, and Fang Qingyi was the princess’s niece.
Moreover, the suspicion that Fang Qingyi intended to harm the princess was merely You Yuji’s conjecture, with no solid proof.
Should she wait for Jiang Chun to send over the exact evidence before approaching the princess? After all, waiting another day wouldn’t make much difference.
You Yuji asked, “I didn’t get a chance to ask today, is the princess’s pregnancy stable?”
“It seems so. When I went to the kitchen, I heard that the princess had left her room and went to Anxiang Courtyard,” Baohe replied.
You Yuji, looking at the evening glow outside the window, asked in surprise, “Why did she go to Anxiang Courtyard?”
Even if the princess wanted to see Fang Qingyi, she would have summoned her instead of going herself.
“Today is Concubine Fang’s birthday,” Baohe explained, smiling with a hint of admiration, “After all, she is her niece, the princess really cares for her.”
You Yuji frowned and nodded slowly.
Still feeling unwell and fatigued, You Yuji returned to her room after giving some instructions. She was deeply troubled, questioning whether she was being too suspicious of Fang Qingyi. Given her close relationship with the princess, who even personally went to celebrate her birthday, would she really harm her aunt?
Yet, since Fang Qingyi had already targeted Chen Anzhi, it wasn’t impossible for her to target the princess.
You Yuji didn’t want to ignore this suspicion, fearing that overlooking it might cost a pregnant woman’s life.
Returning to her room, You Yuji saw Si Que lazily playing with Baisui by the window.
Suddenly, You Yuji had an idea.
“Si Que, help me with something,” she said urgently.
Si Que stopped playing with the cat and looked at You Yuji in surprise.
You Yuji quickly walked over to him, took out the cloth dipped in wine, and said, “Help me find out what’s in this wine. You must be able to recognize it.”
Si Que glanced at it and said, “Kiss me, and I’ll help you.”
You Yuji hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward and bent down, intending to kiss him. But just as her lips were about to touch Si Que’s, she stopped abruptly and instead brushed her fingertip lightly across his cheek.
She slowly smiled, her eyes slightly upturned, gazing at Si Que with a sparkling look, “Tell me, and I’ll let you kiss me.”
Si Que had been expecting a sweet kiss and was suddenly thwarted by You Yuji. He stared into her eyes, inwardly cursing her as a fox spirit.
Fox spirit, bargaining with me.
But he wasn’t angry. He slowly smiled, tossed Baisui off his lap, lifted one leg, resting his ankle on the other, and leaned back lazily in a relaxed posture. He looked up at You Yuji and asked nonchalantly, “Where do you want to be kissed?”
The discarded Baisui meowed twice, unhappily drooping its tail as it walked away.
