“What does Your Highness mean?” she asked in return.

“If you hadn’t discovered something, why would you want to stay the night?” His expression suggested he had seen right through her. He continued, “If you trust this prince, perhaps this prince can even be of help to you.”

Although Jingrong was not particularly likable in Ji Yunshu’s eyes, she truly did need a helper.

She readily agreed, “Since Your Highness offers, naturally this humble one could ask for nothing better. There is indeed a matter for which I’d like to request Your Highness’s assistance.”

“Speak.”

“No rush. We’ll talk after dark.” She raised her eyebrows mysteriously, leaving him in suspense, then turned to sit down and picked up the bowl and chopsticks on the table. “The Zhou family is in the midst of funeral rites, yet they can still send over fish and meat. This shows the Zhou household’s hospitality is truly excellent.”

Jingrong turned his face aside and said coolly, “This prince is not hungry.”

Ji Yunshu unhurriedly picked up a piece of meat with her chopsticks and deliberately said, “True, the Zhou family’s meals naturally cannot compare with the delicacies at Your Highness’s manor. It’s only natural that Your Highness finds them unpalatable.”

At these words, Jingrong became displeased, his gaze darkening slightly.

“The wild mountain vegetables this prince has eaten are probably more numerous than the grains of salt Scholar Ji has consumed.”

“Your Highness is joking.”

A prince eating wild mountain vegetables? Who would believe that?

Jingrong’s expression turned serious as he looked at her sternly and said, “The Great Lin Dynasty has Nanjiang to the south and Beiliang to the north. This prince has traveled from bottom to top, visiting one hundred and eight places in total—remote mountain villages and isolated households in distant ravines. If delicacies were available everywhere, wouldn’t all the subjects of Great Lin never have to endure hunger and cold?”

Ji Yunshu’s chopsticks paused mid-motion, and she looked at him with slight curiosity. “So Your Highness has been to so many places?”

“That’s not the point.”

“Then what is the point?”

Jingrong glared at her. “This prince is telling you all this to make clear that this prince is not a picky eater!”

How embarrassing!

Fine, don’t eat then. Ji Yunshu was truly hungry and began eating the food with relish.

She vaguely heard Jingrong mutter, “Heartless and gutless—she can actually still eat.”

Indeed! Who else could have an appetite for a meal less than an hour after touching a corpse?

Ji Yunshu, apparently, had such an appetite.

After eating her fill, Ji Yunshu rested for a while until the sky gradually darkened.

“Didn’t Your Highness want to help? Let’s go.”

Having said this, Ji Yunshu headed toward the door.

Jingrong was puzzled but still followed.

Before long, they arrived at the pavilion where the Zhou family’s young miss had met her demise. Several red lanterns still hung in the corners, illuminating the surroundings with a bright, enchanting glow.

Ji Yunshu had always loved ancient lanterns and stared at them for a while, lost in thought, until Jingrong tapped her with his hand.

“Did Scholar Ji come here to admire the lanterns?”

“To investigate the case.”

She immediately withdrew her gaze from the lanterns.

Jingrong seemed to discern her intentions. “Are you suspecting that when Miss Zhou fell from the building, there was someone in this pavilion?”

“It seems Your Highness is quite clever.”

“Naturally.”

Ji Yunshu paid him no more attention and walked a circuit around the pavilion.

The pavilion was simply an elevated structure—not large, with no partitions. All four sides had redwood railings connected to long benches. If anyone were in the pavilion, they would be plainly visible.

Apart from these features, there was nothing else.

No matter how Ji Yunshu looked, she couldn’t see anywhere that could conceal a person.

Lost in contemplation, she turned around and her forehead collided with a solid chest, striking painfully!

Ji Yunshu instinctively covered her forehead, frowning. But before she could say anything, she saw Jingrong clutching his chest, complaining.

“How could you turn around so suddenly without making a sound? This prince’s chest is not a pillow—with you ramming into it like that, it’s bound to fall apart.”

“Then why didn’t Your Highness make a sound when standing right behind me?”

Jingrong furrowed his brows. “By your logic, must this prince inform you wherever he goes?”

“…”

So must I inform you in advance whenever I turn around?

Naturally, Ji Yunshu didn’t voice this thought. The fire in her heart merely burned in waves. He was a prince—whatever he said was reasonable. She was just a humble painter—how dare she talk back!

So instead…

“It’s all this humble one’s fault!”

Too lazy to argue further, Ji Yunshu skirted around him, preparing to walk to the other side.

But just as she stepped behind Jingrong, a pair of large hands encircled her waist. With a forceful pull, she spun around and tumbled straight into Jingrong’s embrace. Because her footing was unsteady and her body off-balance, as she tilted backward, those hands at her waist gripped her tightly.

She fell securely into his arms!

Two “grown men” were thus embraced together!

The lanterns swayed faintly in the breeze, their trembling light casting one tall and one short shadow across the wooden floor, stretching them out dramatically.

Quite a beautiful scene indeed!