The woman in blue was speechless for a moment.
“Whose side are you on? She stole your husband! We’re helping you get justice!”
“There is no need. This matter has nothing to do with her.”
Yue Jingque said calmly.
Li Zhenchun stood beside her in shock. She looked at the noble ladies in front of her and finally understood.
They thought she had switched the bridal sedan?
But why would she do that?
She had finally convinced Wei Xinian to agree to a marriage in name only. She had worked so hard just to marry him. Why would she suddenly switch the bridal sedan?
“How does this have nothing to do with her?” Jiang Qutao said first. “Girls from poor families always have the dirtiest minds. They love using cheap little tricks.”
Li Zhenchun: “…”
Jiang Qutao took Yue Jingque’s hand.
“Forget it. Since you don’t want to argue about it, we won’t say anything more. We finally caught you today. Come with us and set off Spring Fireworks.”
“You there, come too.”
“The one over there” was naturally Li Zhenchun. She wisely followed them.
As she stood beside Yue Jingque, she noticed a quiet young lady in a dark red dress. Under the lantern light, the dress shimmered beautifully.
The girl noticed her gaze and smiled gently at her.
Li Zhenchun tugged on Yue Jingque’s sleeve.
“Who is she?”
“Princess Liang’an from Prince Huainan’s Manor. She has a quiet personality and doesn’t like crowded places.”
After answering, Yue Jingque looked at Jiang Qutao.
“Why is she with all of you?”
Jiang Qutao sighed.
“My father asked me to. She’s alone in the capital and very shy. Prince Huainan wrote to my father and asked me to spend more time with her.”
Jiang Qutao had a straightforward personality. She glanced at Princess Liang’an before whispering to Yue Jingque,
“To be honest, I don’t like taking girls like her out. Today I invited her, but she was afraid of the dark and afraid of people. She didn’t want to leave the house at all. The only reason she’s here is because I dragged her out.”
“I really don’t understand her. She’d rather stay in the manor until mushrooms grow than come outside for a walk. You’re the same! It’s been raining for a whole month. Have you secretly been growing mushrooms in your house too?”
Li Zhenchun burst into laughter.
She thought this girl was really funny.
Seeing her laugh, Jiang Qutao looked at her.
“Wait… do you really treat her as your sister-in-law? Look at you grinning like that. You don’t look very smart.”
Li Zhenchun immediately stopped smiling. She lifted her chin slightly, snorted at Jiang Qutao, and turned her head away.
Jiang Qutao’s eyes widened.
“She snorted at me! She actually dared to snort at me!”
Not only did Li Zhenchun snort at her, she even stuck out her tongue.
Jiang Qutao clenched her fists.
“Get over here!”
Li Zhenchun refused. She hid behind Yue Jingque, only sticking out her head.
“Miss Jiang doesn’t look very smart either.”
“You!”
Jiang Qutao was about to rush over when the female guard behind Yue Jingque stopped her.
Yue Jingque sighed.
“Jiang Si, you’ve practiced martial arts with your family teacher for years. She can’t survive even one punch from you.”
Jiang Qutao stared at Li Zhenchun’s little face for a while.
“I’ll let her go only if she kneels down and calls me Grandma Jiang.”
“Watch your words, Jiang Si!”
Yue Jingque frowned slightly.
“Her grandmother is now Old Madam Wei. Are you trying to put yourself on the same level as Old Madam Wei?”
“I didn’t mean that!”
Jiang Qutao was furious, but with Yue Jingque protecting Li Zhenchun, she couldn’t do anything.
Just then, someone screamed,
“Murder! Wei Er has killed someone!”
Li Zhenchun froze.
Who?
Who killed someone?
Yue Jingque reacted first and hurried toward the shouting.
Li Zhenchun quickly followed.
Jiang Qutao also wanted to go, but someone suddenly grabbed her sleeve.
“Fourth Sister… I’m scared.”
Princess Liang’an held onto her sleeve with trembling hands.
If you’re scared, go find your mother! Why are you grabbing my sleeve?
Although Jiang Qutao was anxious, she still had to take this precious princess back first.
…
Yue Jingque pushed through the crowd.
At first glance, she saw Wei Xinian sitting on the ground.
His white robe was covered with blood, and blood had splashed across his face.
“I didn’t do it! It wasn’t me!”
Wei Xinian staggered to his feet. His eyes were filled with terror.
Standing behind Yue Jingque, Li Zhenchun frowned as she looked at the young woman lying in a pool of blood not far away.
She was about to step forward when Yue Jingque suddenly grabbed her hand.
Li Zhenchun looked at her.
Yue Jingque’s face remained calm, but Li Zhenchun could feel how tightly she was squeezing her hand.
“Jingxin, report this to the authorities.”
Before Jingxin could move, someone shouted,
“By order of the Deputy Magistrate! Everyone unrelated, leave immediately!”
Li Zhenchun saw Wei Nancheng pushing through the crowd with many soldiers behind him.
“Brother! It wasn’t me! I didn’t kill anyone! She grabbed my hand herself—”
Wei Xinian grabbed Wei Nancheng’s hand and forced it toward himself.
“Like this! She grabbed my hand…”
He said excitedly,
“It was her! Not me!”
Wei Nancheng looked at the dagger on the ground, then at Wei Xinian’s blood-covered hands.
It was the Spring Festival celebration. There were people everywhere.
Everyone had seen the blood on Wei Xinian’s hands.
“Take Second Young Master Wei away first.”
Li Zhenchun watched as Wei Nancheng took Wei Xinian away and ordered the officers to disperse the crowd.
On the way back to the Wei Manor, Li Zhenchun turned toward Yue Jingque. She wanted to ask something, but Yue Jingque spoke first.
“Jingxin, find out who that young woman was.”
…
Inside the Wei family’s main hall, everyone had gathered together.
Yue Jingque sat quietly in a rosewood chair while Second Madam paced back and forth.
“How could Erlang possibly kill someone? He may love to fool around, but he’s such a coward that even killing a chicken would scare him. Where would he get the courage to murder someone?”
Old Madam Wei sat at the head of the room, holding her cane.
“Enough. Stop talking. Let’s wait until Dalang returns and hear what he has to say.”
Li Zhenchun sat beside Yue Jingque.
She noticed Yue Jingque’s face had turned pale.
She quickly reached out and held her hand.
Second Madam noticed as well.
“Jingque, don’t be afraid. Erlang will be fine.”
“Young Madam.”
Jingxin hurried inside.
Yue Jingque looked at her.
“Who was that young woman?”
“She was the daughter of a cloth shop owner on West City Street.”
A cloth shop owner?
Li Zhenchun immediately asked,
“Is she the woman in that portrait we saw at noon today?”
Jingxin nodded.
“Yes. She was the concubine Second Young Master intended to marry.”
“Bastard!”
Second Madam slammed the table.
“He still dared to take a concubine! He must be asking for a beating!”
Old Madam Wei snorted.
“That useless grandson will one day be ruined by his love of pleasure and women.”
“Mother, that’s too harsh.”
Chen Runiang stood up.
“We all know Erlang’s personality. He likes to play around and can be arrogant, but he treats the servants in his courtyard very well. He would never kill anyone.”
Just then, Wei Nancheng entered.
The atmosphere in the hall became even heavier.
The moment Li Zhenchun saw him, she lowered her head like an ostrich, not daring to meet his eyes.
“Dalang, have you learned anything?”
Old Madam Wei asked.
“Is there any evidence to prove your brother’s innocence?”
It was raining lightly outside. One corner of Wei Nancheng’s robe was damp from the drizzle.
“The place where Erlang met Miss Chang was very secluded. No one was nearby. We’ve found several witnesses, but they only saw the two arguing from a distance. So far, the testimony is unfavorable to Erlang.”
Li Zhenchun secretly glanced at Wei Nancheng.
Normally, since the case was against Wei Xinian, Wei Nancheng should have stayed at the prefecture office. Why had he come home tonight?
Old Madam Wei had lived long enough to understand.
She looked at him.
“Did you come home to avoid a conflict of interest?”
Wei Nancheng remained silent for a moment.
“The Prefect allowed me to handle ordinary work from home for the next few days. Erlang’s case has been handed over to another official.”
Second Madam quickly asked,
“Which official?”
After a short pause, Wei Nancheng answered,
“Senior Official Cheng Liaowang.”
Li Zhenchun had heard of him too.
Even at his old age, he refused to retire and stubbornly stayed at the Shuntian Prefecture.
Official Cheng had served for decades. He should have been promoted long ago, but because he was too honest and outspoken, he offended many people. As a result, after so many years, he was still serving alongside the rising young official Wei Nancheng.
Li Zhenchun was always as quiet as a quail in front of the elders of the Wei family.
Old Madam Wei waved her hand.
“You and Jingque should go rest. We’ll think of a way to save Erlang ourselves.”
…
After leaving the courtyard, Yue Jingque suddenly swayed.
Li Zhenchun, who was closest, quickly supported her.
“What’s wrong? Why are your wrists so cold?”
Holding Yue Jingque’s slender wrist, she noticed the thin layer of sweat on her forehead.
Nanzhi and Jingxin stepped forward.
Nanzhi quietly asked,
“Young Madam… has your monthly period started?”
Her period?
So she was pale because of menstrual pain?
Li Zhenchun muttered softly,
“I thought she was worried about Wei Xinian.”
Yue Jingque’s weak voice asked,
“What did you say?”
“Nothing, nothing. Since your period has come, I’ll help you back to rest. Nanzhi, go boil some hot water.”
…
Back in Yue Jingque’s room, Li Zhenchun helped her sit on the bed while pretending not to notice the quilt placed at the foot of the bed.
She didn’t need to think to know it belonged to Wei Xinian.
That idiot probably never even held Yue Jingque’s hand, yet he still claimed he was tired of her.
After a while, Nanzhi brought in a bowl of sweet tremella soup with brown sugar.
“Young Madam, drink it while it’s hot. It won’t taste good once it gets cold.”
Just as Yue Jingque accepted the bowl, a loud rumbling sound came from Li Zhenchun’s stomach.
Yue Jingque looked at her.
Li Zhenchun awkwardly sucked in her stomach, wishing she could stuff it back inside.
The soup smelled so delicious that her hungry stomach kept protesting.
Nanzhi covered her mouth and laughed.
“I’ll get a bowl for Eldest Young Madam too.”
Although it was a little embarrassing, at least she got a bowl of soup.
As Li Zhenchun was leaving, she saw Yue Jingque talking quietly with Jingxin.
She immediately turned around and smoothly ran back to the bedside, just in time to hear Yue Jingque say,
“We’ll go tomorrow.”
“Go where? I want to come too!”
Li Zhenchun grabbed Yue Jingque’s hand sincerely.
“I studied with Wei Xinian for more than thirty days. If we’re saving him, I’m going too.”
Nanzhi and Jingxin looked at each other.
After a moment, Nanzhi poked Li Zhenchun on the shoulder.
“Eldest Young Madam, my mistress never said she was going to save the Second Young Master.”
Li Zhenchun blinked.
“Then… where are you going tomorrow?”
Yue Jingque slowly removed Li Zhenchun’s fingers from her hand.
“Wei Xinian is already in prison. I can’t become a living widow.”
Li Zhenchun glanced at the quilt at the foot of the bed.
She says that as if she wasn’t already a living widow even when Wei Xinian slept in the same room.
Yue Jingque could shamelessly lie, but Li Zhenchun was too embarrassed to expose her.
“So… you’re going back to your parents’ home?”
Yue Jingque shook her head.
“If I return to my parents’ home right after my husband is imprisoned, it will damage my reputation.”
But secretly meeting your lover won’t?
…
Li Zhenchun sat nervously in a private room at an inn.
She looked at Yue Jingque beside her, then at the young scholar in blue robes sitting opposite them.
It felt as if there were needles under her seat. She kept fidgeting.
She whispered to Yue Jingque,
“Maybe… I should leave.”
Yue Jingque raised her eyes.
“Weren’t you the one who insisted on following me when we left?”
Yes, she admitted it.
She had clung to Yue Jingque’s carriage like a piece of sticky plaster.
But Yue Jingque should have told her where they were going!
If she had known they were coming to meet her lover, she never would have come.
She couldn’t tell whether Yue Jingque was simply generous and carefree, or trusted her that much.
She was actually willing to bring her along to meet her secret lover.
Yue Jingque dared to bring her.
But Li Zhenchun didn’t dare to hear any of this.
If she learned too much, should she report Yue Jingque… or help hide the truth?
Li Zhenchun half stood up with an awkward smile.
“I’ll go for a walk instead. The peach blossoms are blooming outside today.”
“Then go if you wish. I never wanted to drag my sister-in-law into saving Erlang.”
Yue Jingque replied calmly.
Li Zhenchun immediately sat back down.
She coughed lightly.
“Actually… I don’t like looking at peach blossoms that much.”
The scholar beside them burst into laughter.
Li Zhenchun was speechless.
Could he not laugh so loudly in front of other people?
It was rather embarrassing.
The scholar smiled.
“Jingque’s little sister-in-law is truly interesting. Aren’t you going to introduce us?”
Yue Jingque nodded.
“This is the Eldest Young Madam of the Wei family. Her surname is Li. I’m sure you’ve already heard of her.”
The scholar nodded.
“I’ve heard a little.”
Yue Jingque then turned to Li Zhenchun.
“This is my good friend, Xie Wei’an.”
Li Zhenchun also nodded.
“I’ve heard a little.”
Before marrying into the Wei family, she had often heard that Yue Jingque and Xie Wei’an were the perfect couple of the capital. Their story was famous, and people even wrote storybooks about them.
She had “accidentally” bought one herself.
“Oh?”
Xie Wei’an smiled at her.
“What exactly have you heard?”
“Have you heard about my past with Yue Jingque? Have you read the storybooks about us?”
Li Zhenchun, who had both heard the stories and read the books, immediately shook her head.
“I’ve never heard of it, and I’ve never read them.”
You have the nerve to ask. I don’t have the nerve to admit it.
The heroine is already married. Couldn’t the hero keep a little distance?
“Let’s talk about the important matter.”
Yue Jingque looked at Xie Wei’an.
“Official Cheng is your teacher. You should know more than anyone else about Wei Xinian’s case.”