Ji Yunshu followed her over, only to find that a large group of people had already gathered inside.
They were surrounding a girl, though it was unclear what they were doing.
Wei Yuanmin peeked in and asked with a smile, “Have you all started already? Why did no one call for Sister Ji to join you?”
The girl surrounded by the crowd looked up, revealing a face as ethereal as a fairy descended to earth. It was Lu Ningshuang, the daughter of the Left Prime Minister.
She said seriously, “The Commandery Princess should be punished for those words. Miss Ji has already married; she should be addressed as Shizi Furen.”
Wei Yuanmin hurriedly said, “It’s my fault for forgetting. But our Shizi Furen certainly won’t hold it against me, right?”
Ji Yunshu smiled. “Stop being so cheeky. Why did you bring me here? You know I don’t know the first thing about composing poetry or painting.”
Lu Ningshuang, at the center of the crowd, was currently painting. Ji Yunshu was very grateful that the original owner of this body hadn’t liked such things and that the Empress Dowager hadn’t forced her to learn them.
Thus, she could now openly admit her lack of skill.
However, she wondered what Wei Yuanmin was planning by bringing her here, knowing full well she wasn’t good at these things.
Wei Yuanmin said, “I know, of course. Actually, I don’t like these things either. How about we go over there and play Pitch-pot?”
Many people had come today; while some enjoyed poetry and painting, others did not.
This wasn’t Wei Yuanmin’s first time playing hostess, so she could naturally arrange such matters properly.
Ji Yunshu nodded. “That sounds good.”
She cherished her life dearly and had practiced diligently every day recently; the results were quite good.
Zhao Shen had also said she had a great talent for martial arts, though it was a pity she hadn’t worked hard at it before.
While her skills couldn’t compare to Zhao Shen’s, when it came to a game of Pitch-pot, she doubted anyone here could match her accuracy.
Sure enough, Wei Yuanmin led a few young ladies who were uninterested in calligraphy and painting to play Pitch-pot.
This kind of competitive game was excellent for livening up the atmosphere.
Several girls who had previously thought Ji Yunshu was difficult to get along with even took the initiative to challenge her.
After a few rounds, Ji Yunshu had both wins and losses, but she soon realized that these people’s goal seemed to be simply keeping her here.
Scanning the area, she saw that Wei Yuanmin had indeed disappeared at some point.
Acting as if she hadn’t noticed at all, Ji Yunshu played a round with everyone and didn’t leave until the banquet was about to begin.
Lanyin whispered in her ear, “Miss Wei went over to the side where the male guests are.”
Ji Yunshu nodded. At a time like this, she couldn’t go to the male guests’ area.
However, she had repeatedly told Zhao Shen to be careful before they arrived, insisting that his attendants must never leave his side.
Zhao Shen was no easy target either; nothing should go wrong.
Despite thinking this, she still felt somewhat uneasy.
Especially when the banquet began and she did not see Zhao Shen among the male guests.
Zhao Fu also noticed this and asked softly beside Ji Yunshu, “Why isn’t Big Brother here?”
Ji Yunshu shook her head. She noticed that not only was Zhao Shen absent, but Zhao Heng was missing as well.
Madam Yao’s alertness was also high. She immediately noticed her son was missing and sent a mama by her side to inquire about what was happening.
After a short while, the mama returned with a troubled expression and whispered something into Madam Yao’s ear.
Madam Yao’s expression changed. She took a deep breath and said to Ji Yunshu, “Come out with me for a moment.”
Seeing this, Ji Yunshu knew something had happened, and there was an eighty percent chance it involved Zhao Heng.
She quietly followed Madam Yao out of the banquet. As soon as they stepped out, Madam Yao asked her, “What is going on with Shen Ge’er?”
“Ah? What do you mean? What happened to my husband?”
Ji Yunshu easily recognized the obvious attempt to bait her and asked with a look of total confusion.
This wasn’t entirely an act; she truly didn’t know Zhao Shen’s current situation.
Madam Yao’s voice carried a hint of coldness. “You certainly don’t seem worried about him.”
Ji Yunshu replied innocently, “Look at what Mother is saying. This is the Princess Manor, not some dragon’s pond or tiger’s den. What could possibly happen?”
Seeing she could get nothing out of her, Madam Yao stopped wasting words and quickened her pace.
Ji Yunshu followed closely.
The two soon reached a guest room in the male guests’ area, from which the sound of sobbing could be heard.
Princess Chang and Duke Wei sat at the head of the room, both with ashen faces.
Zhao Heng was kneeling below them, his expression also very ugly.
Zhao Shen sat to the side in his wheelchair, looking quite frail.
What happened?
Ji Yunshu looked at Zhao Shen.
Zhao Shen gave her a small smile to indicate he was fine.
But the situation certainly didn’t look “fine.”
Still, as long as it wasn’t Zhao Shen who was in trouble, it counted as “fine” to her.
She followed Madam Yao and performed her salutations to the Princess and the Consort.
Princess Chang truly seemed to have a good relationship with Madam Yao. Even at this point, she did not speak harshly, but merely had a mama by her side recount the events.
The story was simple: Zhao Shen had suddenly felt unwell. Hearing the news, Wei Yuanmin was worried and had gone to check on him.
Who could have known that the person in the room would be Zhao Heng? For some reason, he had suddenly behaved improperly toward Wei Yuanmin, which then attracted the attention of the maidservants.
Fortunately, most people were at the banquet at the time and there were few people in this courtyard, so the matter hadn’t become public knowledge yet.
Ji Yunshu was dumbstruck as she listened. If this was a scheme, it was incredibly crude.
But she quickly recovered and asked Zhao Shen with concern, “You’re unwell?”
Zhao Shen pointed to the incense burner in the room. “There was something wrong with the incense. I felt uncomfortable as soon as I smelled it, so I went outside. I’m not sure when Second Brother entered.”
Zhao Heng said with a dark face, “I heard from Big Brother’s attendants that he was unwell, so I came in to check. Who knew he wouldn’t be there, and then Miss Wei somehow arrived as well?”
Ji Yunshu was still confused.
If Zhao Heng was trying to frame Zhao Shen, how could he not have known something was wrong with the incense?
If Zhao Shen was trying to frame Zhao Heng, he shouldn’t have been so blatant.
The whole thing sounded simple and crude, full of holes, yet upon closer thought, there was something more to it.
At the very least, Zhao Heng was truly trapped.
Wei Yuanmin was weeping piteously; it was impossible to tell if she was truly innocent or just pretending.
Princess Chang didn’t seem to want to untangle the details either. She didn’t let the two brothers continue speaking, but simply said to Madam Yao, “The matter has already happened. There is no use in pursuing how it came to be. How do you think this should be handled?”
Since the Princess had offered such a clear path forward, a person as tactful as Madam Yao naturally knew what to say.
She abandoned her previously grim expression and smiled. “Our families have a good relationship, and I have always thought of doubling our kinship through marriage. I only feared this brat of mine wouldn’t be worthy of the Commandery Princess. Now, it seems it was simply our fate to become in-laws.”
Princess Chang nodded. “I think well of the Second Young Master. Young men are bound to be a bit absurd on occasion, but Min’er is my heart’s blood; she cannot be mistreated.”
Madam Yao agreed repeatedly.
With Princess Chang speaking this way, Duke Wei naturally would not object.
Musing on the phrase “doubling the kinship,” Ji Yunshu suspected that Madam Yao and Princess Chang might have already discussed this marriage long ago.
Now, although it didn’t look good on the surface, no one else knew about it, right?
The two families could proceed with the marriage negotiations normally.
She glanced sideways at Zhao Heng, who was still kneeling.
She noticed his fists were clenched so tightly that blood was even seeping from between his fingers.
But in the end, he did not speak up to object.
With that look on his face… could he have blackened?