After everyone returned to their respective residences, it was already afternoon.

Marquis Kangding had just arrived at his estate gate when he saw a servant seeing off a physician.

Why would a physician come when everything had been fine?

He immediately summoned someone to inquire: “What’s going on? Who in the household was injured?”

The young servant hesitated, stammering and stuttering.

Seeing him like this, Marquis Kangding immediately became furious and rebuked: “What exactly happened? Speak quickly!”

“It’s… the heir who was injured, so we summoned a physician.”

“Shiyan was injured?”

“Yes!”

Marquis Kangding’s heart tightened. He immediately headed toward the rear courtyard, asking as he went: “How did the heir get injured?”

“This lowly one doesn’t know what happened. The heir went out early this morning, and when he returned, his arm was injured and bleeding profusely. Fortunately, there’s nothing seriously wrong now, so Master need not worry.”

When he reached Li Shiyan’s courtyard, it was surrounded by people outside. When everyone saw the Marquis arrive, they all stepped aside, not even daring to breathe loudly.

At a time like this, no one dared to rush forward.

The Marquis walked hurriedly to the doorway and was first met with a strong smell of alcohol.

Alcohol!

Why was there such a pungent smell of alcohol?

Then came the smell of blood, quite piercing to the nose!

Little Luzi stood worriedly by the bedside. When he saw the Marquis arrive, his body immediately went rigid, his face filled with fear. His whole body trembled violently, his complexion turning pale, thinking to himself that he was surely doomed.

“Master.” He called out, his voice trembling.

Marquis Kangding walked to the bedside and saw Li Shiyan unconscious, his arm wrapped in thick bandages with considerable blood seeping through.

“What exactly happened?”

His tone was demanding!

Little Luzi lowered his head: “It’s… the heir, he… he…”

He stammered for quite a while!

Marquis Kangding’s face was full of displeasure. He glared angrily: “Speak!”

He roared heavily.

Extremely imposing!

This frightened Little Luzi so much that his legs trembled and he collapsed to his knees.

“Thud!”

His knees hit the ground with a heavy sound that sounded quite painful.

He said: “It’s all this lowly one’s fault. The heir seemed to be in good spirits today, so he said he wanted to leave the estate. This lowly one truly couldn’t stop him, so I followed the heir out. I didn’t expect the heir to drink quite a lot of alcohol. As a result, while drinking… he got drunk, and his arm was somehow injured somewhere, and… the bleeding wouldn’t stop. This lowly one immediately brought the heir back.”

“You wretched fool who doesn’t know life from death!”

“It’s this lowly one’s fault. I beg the Marquis to spare my life!”

“I’ve told you long ago to watch the heir carefully. Did you not hear me? Or did you not take my words to heart?”

“This lowly one wouldn’t dare.”

The Marquis was so angry his teeth were clenched!

But now wasn’t the time to beat and scold servants.

He was both worried and furious. He continued questioning Little Luzi: “What did the physician say?”

Little Luzi lowered his head even further and replied: “The physician said that judging from the heir’s wound, it was caused by a sword, and the injury occurred several days ago. This time, because he drank alcohol and his body movements were too vigorous, the wound reopened.”

Though he was nervous and frightened to death, he spoke these words quite fluently, every word and sentence clear and distinct.

The Marquis was puzzled: “A sword wound? When was he injured by a sword? After returning from Ning’an Manor, hasn’t he been staying at the estate the whole time?”

“…” Little Luzi didn’t dare speak.

A few days ago, the heir had secretly gone out!

Seeing him like this, the Marquis rebuked again: “Speak quickly.”

“The heir… after returning from Ning’an Manor, actually went out twice.”

After hearing this, the Marquis could no longer contain the fury in his heart. He viciously kicked Little Luzi’s shoulder.

Little Luzi was kicked to the ground!

When he crawled back up, he bent over and prostrated himself on the ground, not daring to straighten up.

His body trembled even more violently!

The Marquis was burning with rage and questioned again: “Where did he go? Who injured him?”

“This lowly one… this lowly one doesn’t know. I only know that the heir seemed to have… gone to the Su residence.”

The Su residence?

Su Ziluo?

How could he have been injured at the Su residence?

Also, the wound was inflicted several days ago—why hadn’t Li Shiyan mentioned it at all? What exactly was going on?

But the person was still unconscious, so he couldn’t ask anything even if he wanted to.

Little Luzi kept begging for mercy: “Master, this lowly one truly knows nothing and really couldn’t stop him!”

Actually, this was understandable!

Who could persuade that brat Li Shiyan?

As his father, even he couldn’t persuade him. As a mere servant, Little Luzi wouldn’t dare interfere in the master’s affairs, let alone try to stop the master from doing something—that was even more impossible.

Though the Marquis was angry enough to kill someone, this servant had followed Li Shiyan since childhood after all. The Marquis could frighten him, but he truly couldn’t actually kill him.

Right now, the most important thing was Li Shiyan’s injuries!

The Marquis fell silent, not wanting to speak. He turned and sat by the bedside, looking at Li Shiyan—whose complexion was deathly pale and who reeked of alcohol—and sighed endlessly.

How had he raised such a senseless son?

He’d just barely escaped danger from Ning’an Manor, and immediately something like this happened again!

A troublesome wretch who never let anyone have peace!

…

At the same time

Ji Yunshu had been unconscious for a long while. She awakened from a bout of pain.

Inside her head, it felt like insects were constantly drilling and gnawing. Fortunately, this painful sensation gradually diminished…

The moment she opened her eyes, what met her gaze was gently swaying gauze curtains. Light filtered through the curtains, creating a hazy, intoxicated feeling. She lightly wrinkled her nose and smelled a very elegant jasmine fragrance that refreshed the heart and mind.

Her first reaction was—where is this?

She remembered… at that time, after she heard Liu Yunzhu let out a shriek, she’d hurried over to check. The moment she entered the room, she felt a pain at the back of her neck, and then… she passed out and lost consciousness.

She rubbed her temples and sat up from the bed, only then discovering she was in a very elegantly furnished room. Inside was clean and tidy, the furnishings also very orderly. At a glance, it looked like some young lady’s boudoir.

How did she end up here?

And who had knocked her unconscious?

Her mind was full of questions. She then threw off the covers and got out of bed, only to discover that her clothes had already been changed.

She was currently wearing a light purple inner garment, quite plain and elegant.

As for what had happened during that time, she knew nothing.

She got out of bed barefoot and walked step by step toward the door. But before she reached it, someone pushed the door open from outside.

It was two sweet-looking young girls, about fifteen or sixteen years old!

“Miss is awake.” The blue-clad girl was delighted and immediately had the maid beside her go inform others.

Ji Yunshu instinctively took a step back, asking with vigilance: “Who are you people?”

“Miss, don’t be afraid. We won’t harm you.”

“Who exactly are you people?”

“This…” The blue-clad woman hesitated, then quickly came over to take Ji Yunshu’s wrist, saying affectionately: “Miss has slept for a day and night—you must be hungry, right? Why don’t I go prepare some food for you? You can eat something to fill your stomach first. When Matchmaker Hong comes, she can explain everything to Miss in detail.”

Matchmaker Hong?

Who was that?

She withdrew her hand from the woman’s grasp and took another step back.

Right now, she was completely confused!

She didn’t even know where she was!

However, this blue-clad woman didn’t seem to be a bad person. Her gestures carried a measure of respect, and she posed no threat whatsoever.

But—

Until Ji Yunshu had clarified this matter, she wouldn’t let down her guard. Her gaze looked toward the doorway. What met her eyes was a particularly large courtyard planted full of various flowers, grass, and trees—very elegant.

The blue-clad woman called out: “Miss?”

Ji Yunshu withdrew her gaze and asked again: “Why did you capture me and bring me here?”

“Miss, we mean no harm. You need not be afraid.”

“If you mean no harm, why did you knock me unconscious and bring me here?”

“…” The blue-clad woman didn’t know what to say for a moment. A trace of awkwardness flashed across her face. For some reason, when she looked into Ji Yunshu’s eyes, she felt somewhat afraid.

Just then—

A woman’s strident voice came from outside: “Good that she’s awake, good that she’s awake.”

The voice gradually grew closer to the doorway.

A slightly plump woman walked in, dressed gaudily with bright red lips. Her face was covered in thick powder, her whole body emanating a strong, pungent scent of face powder—just like a madam from a brothel.

This person was the Matchmaker Hong that the blue-clad woman had mentioned.

The moment Matchmaker Hong saw Ji Yunshu, her eyes lit up. She walked straight over, saying: “She really is too alike.”

There was a trace of excitement in her eyes!

Ji Yunshu’s brows furrowed slightly. Her first reaction was that this visitor had ill intentions and definitely had an agenda.

She asked: “Who are you?”

“I’m called Matchmaker Hong. I’m the manager of Cuiyue Pavilion.”

Cuiyue Pavilion? What kind of place was that?