The corners of her lips lifted into an extremely faint, icy curve.
How dare she lay a hand on her daughter? Today, Ji Yunzhan would learn exactly what it meant to wish she were dead.
Madam Shen picked up the white jade teacup on the table and took a light sip. Her voice was not loud, but it was enough for the several madams beside her to hear clearly.
“Speaking of which, I’ve long heard that the white lotuses in the pavilion at the center of the lake in the Duke of Changguo’s Residence bloom with exquisite elegance. Since today is such a beautiful day, I wonder if Madam Wu would do us the honor of taking us there to have a look?”
As soon as she finished speaking, several madams who were on friendly terms with the Shen family immediately chimed in.
“Yes, yes! We’ve heard about them for a long time. Today just happens to be the perfect opportunity.”
Among them was even Madam Ji. Upon hearing this, she immediately smiled and said, “I was just thinking the same thing.”
Madam Shen looked up and swept a cool glance at Madam Ji. Her gaze was as cold as ice.
Madam Wu said, “Since everyone is interested, I would naturally be happy to accompany you.” With that, she rose and led the way.
The group passed through the winding corridors. As soon as they reached the lakeside, they saw Du Yixian hurrying toward them with several noble young ladies. Her expression was panicked, and her skirt was still stained with wet water, as though she had been terribly frightened.
Du Yixian was secretly delighted.
She had never expected to run into all these madams here. Heaven was truly helping her.
That wretched Ji Yunzhan today, she would definitely make her reputation utterly ruined.
When she caught sight of her mother, Madam Du, among the crowd, tears immediately welled up in her eyes, and she looked as though she were about to cry.
“Mother!”
Du Yixian rushed toward her with a trembling, tearful voice.
“We… we were playing in the garden just now and accidentally got our dresses wet. We thought we would go to that secluded guest room over there to change into another set, but who would have thought… who would have thought that inside the room… in the room…”
At this point, she clutched tightly at Madam Du’s sleeve, looking as though she had suffered an enormous fright.
The madams present were all seasoned women who had seen plenty of the world. Seeing Du Yixian looking frightened and deliberately hesitating, and then taking in the disheveled state of her and the other noble young ladies, how could they not realize that something improper had happened?
For a moment, everyone exchanged different looks, while faint whispers of discussion began to spread.
Madam Ji’s heart stirred.
The Ji family had long been at odds with the Duke of Changguo’s Residence. If today’s incident could make the Duke of Changguo’s Residence lose face, that would be even better.
She immediately composed herself and deliberately raised her voice with concern.
“Oh dear! No matter what happened in that room, we should hurry over and take a look. We can’t let the children suffer any injustice.”
As soon as she said this, the other curious madams became even more eager to see what had happened and began agreeing that they should go and find out.
Madam Wu inwardly cried out that something was wrong. She wanted to stop them, but she was surrounded by the others and could not get a word in.
She glared resentfully at Madam Ji, who was fanning the flames, but could only grit her teeth and follow.
Madam Shen deliberately stayed at the back of the group. Looking at Madam Ji’s impatient expression, the corners of her lips curled into a cold, mocking smile.
Fool.
The group soon arrived in a grand procession outside the guest room.
Madam Ji rushed to the very front, a triumphant smile on her face, as though victory was already within her grasp. She reached out and abruptly pushed open the door
The moment the door swung open, everyone froze at the sight inside.
On the bed, Ji Yunzhan lay there with her clothes in disarray, her hair tousled. And beside her lay an unfamiliar man who was similarly disheveled!
The smile on Madam Ji’s face froze, as though she had been struck by a spell. The color slowly drained from her face.
The madams behind her also sucked in sharp breaths, followed by a chorus of gasps and cries of shock.
Madam Wu was stunned for a moment before quickly realizing what had happened. She could not help laughing inwardly.
Although this had happened at the Duke of Changguo’s Residence, at most it could be blamed on poor management, causing the residence to lose some face.
But the ones who had truly been humiliated were the Ji family!
“Qier!”
Madam Ji finally came to her senses and let out a shriek. She rushed inside like a madwoman, grabbed the brocade quilt from the bed, hastily covered her daughter with it, and shook her violently.
“Wake up! What on earth happened?!”
Ji Yunzhan was jolted awake by her mother’s violent shaking. She opened her eyes groggily.
The first thing she saw was the room full of gazes some shocked, some contemptuous, and some gleeful as well as her mother’s eyes, reddened by rage and despair.
Her mind went “buzz,” and everything went blank.
How had things turned out like this?
She suddenly tried to sit up. She wanted to scream. She wanted to tell everyone that Shen Tinghe had done this to her.
But at that very moment, her gaze passed over the crowd and met Madam Shen’s icy eyes at the doorway.
There was not the slightest trace of warmth in those eyes, as though she were looking at a lifeless corpse.
A faint, almost imperceptible smile lingered at the corners of Madam Shen’s lips. Yet that smile was filled with undisguised mockery and… murderous intent.
Ji Yunzhan’s heart suddenly clenched, and every word became lodged in her throat.
Yes. How could she have forgotten?
Shen Tinghe was not alone.
Behind her stood Prince Ding Shan, the noble Grand Princess Zhaorong, and the powerful Minister of Revenue.
Her mother, Commandery Princess Hualan, was the younger sister who had grown up together with the Emperor in the palace, and the two shared a deep bond.
If she dared to say Shen Tinghe’s name today, with the power of the Shen family, she would certainly die.
Cold sweat instantly soaked her back.
She even began absurdly praying that this scandal before her eyes would be enough to offset what she had done to Shen Tinghe earlier.
The scandal surrounding Ji Yunzhan spread throughout the entire Duke of Changguo’s Residence as though it had grown wings.
The male guests in the front hall soon learned of it as well, and discussions erupted among them.
Naturally, Madam Shen had secretly played a part in fanning the flames.
What should have been a splendid Qianhua Banquet ultimately ended hastily in such a farce.
When Shen Tinghe woke again, she was already being held in Xie Yanzhao’s arms.
She did not even open her eyes. The clear, pleasant fragrance of dragon’s-breath incense lingering beneath her nose was already etched into her very bones.
Her head rested against his shoulder. The left sleeve of her clothing had been pulled down to her forearm, exposing a small patch of delicate, fair skin.
Xie Yanzhao’s large hand was covering the back of her neck, his fingertips cool with medicinal ointment as he carefully rubbed it over the bruised area.
“Brother…”
A wave of grievance welled up inside Shen Tinghe. She wrapped both arms around his waist.
The response she received was Xie Yanzhao’s silence, his anger tightly restrained.
He said nothing, merely dipping his fingertip into the ointment and gently rubbing it in circles over the bluish-red mark.
Shen Tinghe wanted to turn her head to look at him, but the moment she moved, he pressed his palm against the back of her head.
“Don’t move.”
His voice was low and hoarse. There was little emotion in it, yet it inexplicably made Shen Tinghe’s heart tighten.
Shen Tinghe obediently stopped moving.
She could imagine what his expression must look like right now.
It was unLady Doubtedly covered in frost.
Deep within Xie Yanzhao’s dark eyes surged a cold fury so intense it seemed capable of devouring everything in its path.
His precious Jiaojiao had grown up without ever suffering such a serious injury.
Just thinking about it was enough to make Xie Yanzhao unable to suppress the urge to tear the culprit into pieces and scatter their bones to the winds.
“Brother, don’t be angry with me anymore…”
Shen Tinghe softened her voice. Her little hand slipped beneath the hem of his robe and gently caught hold of the fabric at his waist, giving it a slight tug like a kitten begging for forgiveness.
“From now on, I’ll make sure Qinglan and Qingdai stay by my side every step of the way.”