Zhao Shen glanced at her. “I am not him. I would not let things turn out this way.”
Ji Yunshu understood what he meant. If Zhao Heng hadn’t tried to have his cake and eat it too, and had instead firmly insisted on marrying Yao Ruolan, things certainly wouldn’t have reached this point.
Except, if he had done that, he likely wouldn’t have made it past Madam Yao in the first place.
Compared to openly opposing his mother, marrying a noblewoman to serve as a mere decoration while using his in-laws’ influence to enjoy a meteoric rise—all while remaining passionately involved with Yao Ruolan—was naturally a way to have the best of both worlds.
And he truly had succeeded once before.
Unfortunately, he had now run into the Ji Yunshu who had transmigrated into this book.
As the two spoke, the “wind and rain” on the other side had already ceased.
Once she could no longer hear any movement, Ji Yunshu stood up again to take a look, only to find that the two had already departed.
Ji Yunshu was puzzled. “They’re leaving just like that? They didn’t even talk about what they plan to do next?”
Zhao Shen was speechless. “The two of them have already gone this far; what else is there to say?”
“It’s not like they haven’t done this sort of thing before. Didn’t Yao Ruolan still run away from home regardless?”
Ji Yunshu felt that the male and female leads simply couldn’t be judged by common logic.
Right then, a knock sounded at the door.
Ji Yunshu couldn’t help but look at Zhao Shen, her eyes filled with obvious guilt. Had they been caught peeping?
Zhao Shen shook his head helplessly at her and said, “Come in.”
Soon, a dashing young gentleman in scarlet robes walked through the door.
The newcomer looked to be seventeen or eighteen years old, with delicate features and bright teeth. Although he wasn’t as handsome as Zhao Shen, he possessed a certain arrogant and noble aura.
One look was enough to tell he was a young master raised in a prestigious household.
The young man sized her up with great curiosity before saying with a grin, “This must be my cousin-in-law. It’s a pleasure to meet you for the first time. Please look after me.”
Ji Yunshu: “…”
She had no memory of this young master and had no idea where this “younger cousin” had popped up from.
She turned her head to look at Zhao Shen.
Zhao Shen introduced him, “This is the youngest son of my eldest maternal uncle, Shen Qingchuan.”
Ji Yunshu knew that Zhao Shen’s maternal family was named Shen, but in the book, Zhao Shen wasn’t an important character and had died early. The Shen family hadn’t even been mentioned.
Meeting a character who hadn’t appeared in the book for the first time gave Ji Yunshu the illusion of having broken free from the novel’s constraints.
She suddenly realized that these past few days, she had been so focused on Zhao Heng and Yao Ruolan, desperately trying to change the fate of her and her family’s tragic deaths through them, that she might have been putting the cart before the horse.
The very fact that she had transmigrated had already changed the plot.
And the people around her—those who were in the book and those who weren’t—were all real people living in this world.
They had their own emotions and thoughts; they weren’t just “paper people” revolving around the male and female leads to drive the plot.
As long as she was no longer the original Ji Yunshu, everything was fundamentally different.
Having reached this realization, she greeted Shen Qingchuan with a smile: “Hello, Cousin.”
Shen Qingchuan was naturally friendly. Seeing Ji Yunshu’s bright smile and noting that she didn’t seem to have the bad temper rumored of her, he immediately leaned toward her. “Cousin-in-law, you’re truly amazing. For all these years, Cousin Zhao Shen stayed cooped up in his courtyard, more afraid of seeing people than a cloistered young lady. How did you get him to come out?”
Ji Yunshu was surprised. She had heard that Zhao Shen rarely went out over the years, but she had assumed it was simply because he had nothing to do outside.
When she had heard that Zhao Heng and Yao Ruolan were meeting and wanted to come out to watch the excitement, Zhao Shen had only asked if she was sure she wanted him to come along. Upon seeing her nod, he had agreed without any fuss.
She looked at Zhao Shen.
Zhao Shen asked Shen Qingchuan, “Why have you come to the capital? Does the family know? Why wasn’t there a letter to inform us?”
Shen Qingchuan said rather sheepishly, “Well, didn’t I hear that you got married? I just came to have a look.”
The moment Zhao Shen heard this, he knew exactly what was going on.
In principle, the Shen family should have sent someone for his wedding, but his marriage to Ji Yunshu was an accident that no one knew about beforehand.
Afterward, although his father had written to the Shen family to explain the circumstances, Quanzhou—where the Shen family’s ancestral home was located—was a thousand miles away from the capital. The letter might still be on its way.
It was impossible for Shen Qingchuan to have come because he received the letter.
“You ran away in secret, didn’t you?” Zhao Shen said with a darkened face.
Shen Qingchuan was very intimidated by this cousin. He reflexively shrank behind Ji Yunshu and explained in a low voice, “I left a note when I went. My father was dead set on sending me to the academy, but Cousin, you know I have no head for studying.”
Zhao Shen was a genius himself; he excelled at both academics and martial arts without effort. At fifteen, he had achieved Third Place in the imperial examination, becoming the youngest Tanhua Lang in the history of the Daxia Dynasty.
Therefore, he didn’t quite understand why some people simply couldn’t learn things that seemed so simple.
The Shen family was a family of scholars. The younger generations all followed the path of the imperial examinations; even if they didn’t enter officialdom, they would still hold the title of a Juren.
Someone like Shen Qingchuan, who was already seventeen or eighteen and didn’t even want to go to an academy, was practically an anomaly.
However, understanding that everyone has their own ambitions, he didn’t argue with Shen Qingchuan’s words. Instead, he asked, “What are your plans now that you’ve run away on your own?”
Because he disliked studying, he was destined to take a different path than his family, but Shen Qingchuan hadn’t actually thought it through. “I don’t know, so I came to seek refuge with you, Cousin.”
Zhao Shen massaged his temples. “Tell me, what can you actually do?”
At the mention of this, Shen Qingchuan’s eyes lit up. “I’m very good at business! Look at this restaurant I opened when I first came to the capital. You all said I was fooling around, but hasn’t it come in handy now?”
As he spoke, he winked at Ji Yunshu, clearly referring to their recent spying.
Although Ji Yunshu was thick-skinned and didn’t mind Zhao Shen knowing what she was like, facing the bright eyes of this young man made her feel a rare sense of embarrassment.
No wonder the waiter had been exceptionally polite to them when they arrived.
Zhao Shen was also very familiar with this place and knew there was a peephole hidden behind the painting on the wall.
She had thought this restaurant was one of Zhao Shen’s properties; as the Shizi of the Marquis’s residence, it would be normal for him to have some businesses of his own.
She remembered that her dowry also included a restaurant managed by a specific shopkeeper. She had been so preoccupied with the plot lately that she hadn’t had time to check on it.
Ji Yunshu’s eyes flickered. Doing business—that wasn’t a bad idea.
Zhao Shen, however, felt his headache worsening. “How could Uncle ever agree to you doing business?”
In the hierarchy of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants, merchants were at the very bottom.
Even if the sons of the Shen family didn’t study and just idled their lives away, they couldn’t be allowed to sink to the level of merchants.
It would be a laughingstock if word got out.
Shen Qingchuan knew this as well and lowered his head. “I thought you would support me, Cousin.”
“You certainly know how to find trouble for me. If I support you, how am I supposed to face my uncle and aunt in the future?” Zhao Shen said crossly.
Shen Qingchuan kept his head down and didn’t speak, but Zhao Shen could tell he was stubborn.
Zhao Shen didn’t consider himself an unreasonable person; on the contrary, he was quite accepting of Ji Yunshu’s various eccentric behaviors.
Now was also not the time to discipline a child. After some thought, he said, “Fine. Since you’re already here, stay at the restaurant for now. While you’re at it, help me keep an eye on Zhao Heng.”
Ji Yunshu: You really know how to put people to good use.
Shen Qingchuan nearly jumped for joy and immediately provided a useful piece of intelligence: “Cousin, that brother of yours is truly busy. This morning, he also met with another young lady in that same private room.”