When Qin Buwen and Zhang Fu returned to the main hall, Ji Junjiao was still waiting.
He lifted his eyes slightly and saw the young woman standing with her gaze lowered, refusing to look at him.
His expression remained placid.
“Have the two of you finished talking?”
Zhang Fu wore an ingratiating grin.
“We have, we have! My lord’s kindness is something this humble man will never forget. I’ll be sure to treat A’Jin well!”
“A’Jin?”
Ji Junjiao set down his teacup and rose, walking slowly toward Zhang Fu.
“You call her ‘A’Jin’?”
Zhang Fu forced an awkward smile.
“Y-Yes…”
Ji Junjiao frowned faintly.
“A’Jin is the name she gave herself. You don’t know her real name?”
“W-Well…”
Cold sweat immediately broke out across Zhang Fu’s forehead. The smile on his face stiffened.
“I… I just thought ‘A’Jin’ sounded like a lovely name. Hahaha…”
Ji Junjiao said nothing.
Instead, his gaze settled on Qin Buwen, who stood there with her eyes lowered in silence.
“A’Jin.”
He called her name.
She didn’t answer.
She kept her head bowed.
“A’Jin.”
His voice was as clear and refined as ever, revealing nothing of what he felt.
“Look at me.”
Only then did Qin Buwen slowly raise her head.
Her tear-filled eyes met his.
That strange, needle-like sensation pierced him again.
Ji Junjiao’s brows drew together as he looked steadily into her eyes.
The rims of Qin Buwen’s eyes were red.
One of her hands, however, remained hidden behind her back.
Ji Junjiao noticed.
He reached out, gently drew her concealed hand forward, and lifted her sleeve just enough to expose her wrist.
Dark purple bruises mottled her fair, jade-like skin.
The contrast was painfully striking.
Her wrist was so slender that even through the fabric, Ji Junjiao scarcely dared exert any pressure, as though the slightest force might snap it in two.
For some reason, his chest suddenly felt tight.
Those bruises…
The moment he saw them, he was genuinely stunned.
Changqing, standing nearby, saw them as well.
Shock flashed across his face before he drew his sword and leveled it at Zhang Fu.
Terrified, Zhang Fu immediately dropped to his knees.
“Spare me, my lord! Spare me!”
Ji Junjiao suddenly found the wrist in his grasp strangely hot against his palm.
His thin lips pressed into a line as he lowered his eyes to Qin Buwen.
She stood with her head lowered, silent.
“My lord, have mercy!” Zhang Fu wailed. “Someone told me I’d get a huge reward if I claimed the girl at Wenyuan Pavilion as my relative! I was blinded by greed! Please spare me! Please!”
“You bastard!”
Changqing exploded with rage.
“You’d even take money earned this way?!”
As he spoke, he started to draw his sword again.
“Changqing.”
Ji Junjiao stopped him.
Changqing glared furiously at Zhang Fu.
Then, all at once, guilt washed over him.
It seemed… he’d been far too harsh toward Miss A’Jin.
“Take him to the authorities,” Ji Junjiao ordered.
“Yes.”
Changqing sheathed his sword and escorted Zhang Fu away.
In the blink of an eye, only Qin Buwen and Ji Junjiao remained in the spacious hall.
“If he hadn’t slipped up just now…”
Ji Junjiao spoke slowly, his tone unreadable.
“…would you really have left with him?”
As though she could bear the injustice no longer, Qin Buwen suddenly looked up.
Her round eyes were wide as she met Ji Junjiao’s gaze.
“Wasn’t that what you wanted, my lord?”
Tears trembled in her eyes.
Ji Junjiao frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“Didn’t you want A’Jin to leave Wenyuan Pavilion as soon as possible?”
Her voice was muffled, her eyelashes trembling.
Ji Junjiao pursed his lips.
“That was never my intention. I only wished to help you find your family.”
“If Your Excellency truly meant to help me…”
Qin Buwen looked straight at him.
“…shouldn’t you have verified Zhang Fu’s identity first?”
Ji Junjiao fell silent.
She was right.
This had indeed been his oversight.
“My lord, I’ve lost my memory.”
Her tears swam in her eyes, stubbornly refusing to fall.
“I don’t remember anything.”
“I don’t even know who I am.”
“I don’t know who I’m waiting for.”
“So when someone appears and says they’ll take me home…”
Her voice grew quieter.
“…no matter how they treat me…”
“…I have no choice but to accept it.”
Her eyes shifted slightly.
Those beautiful almond-shaped eyes seemed to hold an entire galaxy.
“My lord…”
“Do you still think that was for my own good?”
Ji Junjiao lowered his gaze.
His long eyelashes trembled faintly.
“This matter… was indeed my negligence.”
“I assumed that anyone who came to Wenyuan Pavilion claiming kinship would have already proven their identity.”
He had never imagined someone would impersonate a relative simply to claim the reward.
“I owe you an apology.”
As he spoke, Ji Junjiao bowed formally to her, his manner completely sincere.
“I promise this will never happen again.”
“You have my word.”
In truth, Qin Buwen understood.
The real reason Ji Junjiao hadn’t bothered verifying Zhang Fu’s identity was simple.
She wasn’t important enough to justify the effort.
To everyone in Wenyuan Pavilion…
She was the outsider.
Had the person in her position today been Changqing instead, Ji Junjiao would never have acted so carelessly.
It was only human nature.
She couldn’t blame him.
But Qin Buwen had no intention of remaining an outsider forever.
She lowered her head, her voice quiet.
“My lord needn’t apologize to A’Jin.”
“It was my fault.”
“I shouldn’t have spoken to you so disrespectfully.”
A temper, too, had to be measured.
She bowed deeply.
“Please forgive my offense.”
“If there is nothing else, A’Jin will take her leave.”
With that, she turned and walked away, leaving Ji Junjiao no opportunity to stop her.
…
Over the next few days, apart from occasionally chatting with Qingyue, Qin Buwen spent nearly all her time in her room practicing calligraphy.
A few days later, she took Qingyue with her to a street in Chang’an and set up a small stall, offering to write letters and copy books for ordinary people.
To her surprise, business was quite good.
Unable to contain her curiosity, Qingyue asked,
“Miss A’Jin, your injuries haven’t even healed completely yet. Why are you in such a hurry to set up a stall?”
Qin Buwen simply smiled.
“I’d like to become self-sufficient as soon as possible.”
“That way, I can leave Wenyuan Pavilion sooner.”
“I’ve already caused my lord enough trouble these past days.”
By the time Ji Junjiao heard about it, he was reviewing the account books submitted by the court officials.
Changqing stood nearby assisting him.
“My lord,” he ventured, “Chang’an Street is full of all kinds of people. Should we send someone to watch over Miss A’Jin?”
Holding a vermilion brush, Ji Junjiao calmly marked several entries in the ledgers.
“No need.”
Sitting perfectly upright behind his desk, he added,
“Recall some of the men we’ve assigned to watch her.”
“They don’t need to keep such close surveillance anymore.”
“Understood.”
Changqing acknowledged the order, then hesitated before speaking again.
“My lord… what do you think I should buy for Miss A’Jin as an apology?”
Ji Junjiao paused halfway through turning a page.
He looked up, confusion flickering across his face.
“An apology?”
“Yes.”
Changqing scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
“I used to think Miss A’Jin was greedy for money.”
“I even said some pretty awful things about her.”
She hadn’t heard any of it.
Even so, every time Changqing remembered the dark bruises on her wrist, guilt gnawed at him.
“So I thought… I’d buy her something and apologize.”
As though suddenly remembering something, Ji Junjiao’s fingers stilled.
He slowly raised his eyes.
Yes.
There was someone who ought to apologize.