But encountering such a situation, Zhu Yao couldn’t not help.

She said: “Mother, she’s a young girl searching for someone on the street. What if something happens? We can’t just ignore this.”

“Child, this isn’t your business. Why go to such trouble?”

“It’s not my business, but she’s a young girl wandering all over the city. When will she ever find her sister? Mother, let’s help her.”

Madam Zhu truly had no way to deal with her, so she instructed Cai’er: “You take this child to the yamen and have the officials search for her.”

“Yes.” Cai’er was about to lead Liu Yunzhu away.

But—

Liu Yunzhu stepped backward, shaking her head vigorously: “No, I won’t go to the yamen.”

Just thinking about the yamen made her whole body tremble.

She remembered seeing her father die in the yamen with her own eyes, so she would never go to a yamen again for the rest of her life.

But others didn’t understand her thoughts.

Cai’er said in a gentle tone: “Little girl, I’ll take you to the yamen. The officials will help you find your sister. Don’t you want to find your sister? Then come with me.”

“No, I won’t go!”

“This…” Cai’er cast her gaze toward Madam Zhu.

Seeing the child so stubborn, Madam Zhu also lost patience and said: “Why are you such a troublesome little girl? If you don’t want to go to the yamen, then suit yourself.” She tugged at Zhu Yao, wanting to enter the shop: “Yao’er, let’s go in.”

Zhu Yao didn’t move. Still very kind-hearted and patient, she walked before Liu Yunzhu, bent down slightly, reached out and gently rubbed her head: “Since you’re unwilling to go to the yamen, then first come home with me. You tell Cai’er everything you know, and she’ll make a trip to the yamen. If she finds your sister, she can bring you back. That’s better than you searching everywhere here. What if you encounter bad people and something happens?”

Her tone was so gentle.

Liu Yunzhu’s teary eyes looked at her. She didn’t know why, but she felt this older sister before her was a very good person.

“What, you’re unwilling?”

“Okay.”

Zhu Yao smiled.

Hearing these words, Madam Zhu immediately pulled Zhu Yao aside: “Yao’er, what are you doing? How can you casually bring someone home? You don’t even know this child’s background.”

But Zhu Yao held her mother’s hand and said: “Mother, since we’re doing a good deed, we should do it completely. Look how pitiful this little girl is. She’s probably not from Yanjing and is now separated from her sister. No matter what, we must help. Besides, we have such a large Minister’s Manor—can we not accommodate even one little girl?”

“Of course not.”

“Then let’s take her back.”

Madam Zhu truly couldn’t prevail over her daughter and had to agree.

They entered the pastry shop and sat down, ordering many pastries. Meanwhile, Cai’er went to the yamen based on the information Liu Yunzhu provided.

But the information was very limited. She only knew her sister was called Liu Yunyan, that she had small red rashes on her face from being poisoned and was resting, and there was a steward called Uncle Qiao—that was all.

So when Cai’er explained the situation at the Jing Zhaoyin’s yamen, Jing Zhaoyin was momentarily stunned. With just this little information, how could they find someone in the vast Yanjing City? But since she was a maid from Minister Zhu’s manor, Jing Zhaoyin had to give some face and sent people out to search. Cai’er also hurried back to the pastry shop, saying that when Jing Zhaoyin found the person, he would come to the manor to report.

Liu Yunzhu asked weakly: “Can they really find my sister?”

Zhu Yao told her: “As long as your sister is still in Yanjing City now, they’ll definitely find her.”

“Sister must be here. She came to participate in… what was it, the courtesan selection. She must be here.”

The courtesan selection!

Zhu Yao and Madam Zhu exchanged glances, very surprised.

“Your sister came to participate in the courtesan competition?”

“Yes.”

Zhu Yao fell silent!

Madam Zhu thought for a moment, then said softly to Zhu Yao: “In that case, we can’t let her stay at the manor.”

Zhu Yao naturally understood her mother’s meaning.

This time Minister Zhu was the main authority for the courtesan selection. If Liu Yunzhu stayed at the Zhu Manor and Liu Yunyan made it through the preliminary selection, wouldn’t people gossip? Even if nothing happened, it would be spread as if it were true. If other complications arose from this, what would they do?

Better to avoid trouble than invite it!

Madam Zhu would absolutely not take such a risk.

Zhu Yao deeply understood the stakes involved.

But—

She looked at the little girl sitting across from her. After thinking, she said: “Mother, I know this is improper, but I can’t ignore her. Let’s still take her back to the manor. It’s just a small matter—no one will make a big deal of it. Moreover, we’ve already notified the Jing Zhaoyin’s office. When they find her sister, they’ll come to the manor to notify us. We can’t just abandon this now, can we? Since we’ve already done this much, let’s not think about other things.”

“You, child!”

Madam Zhu wasn’t some hard-hearted person either. In the end, unable to withstand her daughter’s repeated entreaties, she had to agree to first take Liu Yunzhu back while waiting for news.

On another side.

Ji Yunshu was also waiting for news—waiting for news from Jingrong.

She had wanted to tell Su Ziluo about Miss Huazheng, but not knowing what had happened in the palace, the Emperor had issued an edict early that morning summoning him to the palace. He still hadn’t returned even by evening. Apparently, the Emperor had summoned many ministers, though no one knew for what matter.

A’Yi said it was because of Prince Jing’an’s matter. Prince Jing’an’s remains had been transported to Yanjing for so long but still hadn’t been buried. It was also said that the body surprisingly hadn’t decomposed and had even swollen.

This had frightened many people, so the remains just kept being left there.

But A’Jiao said it was because of the courtesan selection. To this, A’Yi directly refuted, saying their young master never concerned himself with such frivolous matters, so it must definitely be about Prince Jing’an’s remains.

Put this way, A’Yi’s theory seemed more plausible.

A’Jiao was unwilling to concede and came to ask Ji Yunshu: “Miss, what do you think—what is the young master busy with?”

Ji Yunshu: “…”

Indicating she didn’t know!

Even though she also believed it was about Prince Jing’an’s remains, she couldn’t say so lest she hurt A’Jiao’s feelings. So she said: “How would I know? You two guessing back and forth like this is meaningless. Won’t you know when Master Su returns?”

But A’Jiao said: “Where would the young master tell us? Even if something happened, he’d keep it to himself. At most… he’d tell Sister Qi’er.”

A’Yi said: “That’s right, Qi’er knows many of the young master’s affairs.”

Ji Yunshu’s eyes suddenly shifted as she asked: “Do you know about Lie’er?”

At this question, A’Yi and A’Jiao exchanged glances.

Having grown up in the Su Manor since childhood, they had naturally seen Lie’er.

Seeing them remain silent for a long time, Ji Yunshu asked: “You don’t know?”

“We know.” A’Yi said, “Lie’er used to often stay by the young master’s side. No matter where the young master went, he would take him along.”

“Then why haven’t I seen Lie’er?”

“I don’t know either. Five years ago, Lie’er followed the young master to Dalin. When they returned, he was gone. The young master didn’t say anything, and we didn’t dare ask.”

Strange!

Since Su Ziluo would take Lie’er everywhere he went, then how could Lie’er not have returned together?

A’Jiao suddenly asked her: “But Miss, why are you asking about this? Lie’er has been gone for five years. The young master never mentions him. How do you know about Lie’er?”

She casually found a reason: “Miss Qi’er let it slip.”

The two maids believed her without doubt.

After a while, Ji Yunshu said: “You both go back to your rooms and rest.”

After A’Yi and A’Jiao lit a small brazier in the room, they left.

The room was quiet, and the courtyard was quiet too…

Only the rustling sound of leaves could be heard.

Ji Yunshu wrapped herself in a cloak and stood at the doorway, her gaze fixed on the two swaying lanterns hanging at the courtyard gate.

Now, many matters weighed on her heart unresolved.

What exactly had happened on the road back to Qujiang when Su Ziluo rescued someone years ago?

Why, after saving Jingrong, didn’t he send word to Dalin?

And where exactly had Lie’er gone?

Was there some connection between these three things?

If there truly was a connection, what would it be?

The doubts in her heart grew bit by bit.

Suddenly—

A figure leaped down from the rooftop and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

That figure was very familiar!

They say a woman’s intuition is very accurate. She knew—it was Jingrong!

She rushed into the courtyard and looked around: “Jingrong, is that you?”

No sound came from the surroundings.

Completely quiet!

“I know it must be you. Come out!”

After she spoke, that figure landed behind her.

She turned around and met Jingrong’s deep gaze.