Despite his urgency, Yu Jin silently increased the distance between himself and Jiang Si.
He didn’t care about such social niceties, but Jiang Si did.
After walking a few steps, Yu Jin suddenly stopped, his face changing dramatically as he stared at the young woman’s back.
When Jiang Si suddenly mentioned the Holy Maiden, he was momentarily confused. Now, belatedly, he realized: How could Jiang Si be certain that the two people were referring to him?
First of all, his identity as “Young Master Yu” was an alias, purely created to get close to Jiang Zhan and thereby Jiang Si. Regardless of who those two people were, they would never say they were sending a woman resembling the Holy Maiden to Young Master Yu. If they were referring to him, they would only mention the Seventh Prince or the Prince of Yan.
Didn’t this mean that Jiang Si already knew his true identity?
But another peculiarity arose: if Jiang Si knew he was the Prince of Yan, why hadn’t she shown any sign of it, as if she had known all along?
Yu Jin felt that the urgent problems between them had only multiplied. He wanted nothing more than to abandon the mess at the Zhu manor and whisk Jiang Si away to Quezi Hutong.
The intense gaze of Jiang Ancheng from afar silently brought him back to his senses.
Problems could be solved one by one, but he couldn’t ruin his impression in the eyes of his future father-in-law.
The two walked back, one in front of the other.
Jiang Si remained silent, quietly standing beside Jiang Ancheng. Zhu Shaoqing and the others couldn’t help but look at Yu Jin, curious about what the two had discussed but unable to ask directly.
Yu Jin, with a stern face, said, “I need to question everyone who accompanied the First Madam out today, one by one in private.”
Whether or not he could uncover anything, intimidation was necessary. He had already realized that Jiang Si’s purpose in reporting to the authorities today wasn’t to immediately solve the case but to sound a warning.
Yu Jin swept his gaze around and gave Zhu Ziyu a meaningful smile: “Young Master Zhu, please come with me first.”
Zhu Ziyu, unaware of what Jiang Si had told Yu Jin, nodded with a solemn face and followed him towards the pavilion.
Jiang Ancheng whispered to Jiang Si, “Si’er, look how imposing young Yu is when handling a case. He’s not at all intimidated by facing the son of an official family. Truly neither obsequious nor arrogant.”
He admired such spirited young men. What did it matter if their background was ordinary? As long as they had ability and integrity, those who followed him wouldn’t suffer injustice.
Jiang Si silently rolled her eyes.
If anything, it was Zhu Ziyu who was being neither obsequious nor arrogant…
Next, Yu Jin successively questioned the maids Aya and Azhu and interrogated several people in the Zhu household who were close to the coachman. After a considerable effort, he finally said, “That’s all for today. Lord Zhu, if you discover anything, please inform us promptly.”
Zhu Shaoqing cupped his hands: “Safe journey.”
The plague god was finally leaving. He had no desire to deal with the Shuntian Prefecture again.
Yu Jin smiled and asked Jiang Ancheng, “Are you heading back?”
Jiang Ancheng waved his hand: “No, I still need to discuss some matters with the Zhu family.”
“Then I’ll wait until both parties have finished talking before leaving. In case the discussion becomes heated, as an official, I should be here to maintain order.”
Zhu Shaoqing: “…” Is the Prince of Yan ill?
Jiang Ancheng was silently moved: Young Yu was indeed on his side, staying behind out of concern for his vulnerability.
Ignoring Zhu Shaoqing’s twisted expression, Yu Jin pointed to the pavilion: “Don’t worry, I won’t pry into the private affairs between the two families. I’ll just wait over there.”
After saying this, Yu Jin quickly glanced at Jiang Si from the corner of his eye and headed towards the pavilion with several yamen runners.
Zhu Shaoqing adjusted his mood and sighed to Jiang Ancheng: “My in-law, today’s incident was indeed our fault. We failed to properly manage our servants. If you have any requests, please feel free to voice them. There’s no need to let outsiders laugh at us.”
As he spoke, he glanced towards the pavilion, making it clear who the “outsider” was.
Jiang Ancheng sneered: “It’s not certain who the outsider is here. I know that with the coachman dead if no one in your household admits to anything, nothing can be done. However, let me be blunt: if my eldest daughter suffers any more grievances in the future, I will immediately have her divorce Zhu Ziyu and make these matters public.”
Jiang Ancheng was a rough man, but not a fool. It would be strange if he believed the coachman had acted without someone’s instigation.
“That won’t be necessary, that won’t be necessary,” Zhu Shaoqing repeatedly assured him.
Being in the wrong, Zhu Shaoqing adopted a very humble attitude, but inwardly he shook his head: This is why the Earl of Dongping is considered a simpleton. Saying such harsh words now might force the Zhu family to be conciliatory, but he’s not considering his daughter’s life in their household.
What constitutes a grievance? For a married woman, a husband visiting brothels or taking concubines isn’t considered a grievance, nor is a mother-in-law setting rules for her daughter-in-law. If such things were to happen in the future and the Earl of Dongping made them public, he would only invite ridicule. The one who would truly suffer would be his daughter.
Of course, he had always believed in family harmony above all else. Although his wife was strict, she wasn’t one to deliberately torment her daughter-in-law. They didn’t want to see such things happen either.
“My in-law, I will thoroughly investigate this matter later. If there are any hidden truths, I absolutely won’t shield anyone with ill intentions,” Zhu Shaoqing said, confident in his family’s integrity. He didn’t want official involvement merely because it was embarrassing, not because he believed his wife or children were behind the harm to Jiang Yi. He would certainly investigate once they were behind closed doors.
Zhu Shaoqing’s words somewhat appeased Jiang Ancheng, who called out, “Yi’er, come here.”
Jiang Yi walked up to Jiang Ancheng and called him “Father.”
“In the future, if you suffer any grievances, don’t keep them bottled up inside. Remember, you have a maiden family to rely on.” Looking at his pale-faced eldest daughter, Jiang Ancheng felt deeply concerned.
He had said those words to demonstrate the strong stance of her maiden family, but ultimately, how she lived depended on his eldest daughter herself. This daughter of his was too gentle. If that day truly came, whether his eldest daughter would be willing to divorce was still a question…
Glancing at his second daughter standing beside him with a cold expression, Jiang Ancheng felt somewhat regretful: If only Yi’er had even a fraction of her sister’s temperament, at least she wouldn’t be taken advantage of.
Jiang Yi lowered her head slightly: “Father, don’t worry. Your daughter understands.”
“Si’er, let’s go.”
Seeing that the discussion was over, Yu Jin came over and said with a smile, “Lord Zhu, I’ll take my leave as well.”
Zhu Shaoqing forced a smile and escorted Yu Jin to the door, his face darkening when he saw people outside craning their necks to watch the commotion.
Sure enough, as soon as these officials came to the house, it immediately aroused the curiosity of the neighbors.
Just as he was about to clarify the situation, he heard Yu Jin loudly say, “Everyone, please make way. We’re conducting an official investigation.”
Zhu Shaoqing nearly stumbled.
He wanted to seal the Prince of Yan’s troublesome mouth!
Jiang Ancheng nodded slightly to himself.
Hmm, young Yu was truly considerate.
After all this commotion, by the time they returned to the Earl of Dongping’s manor, the sky had darkened. Jiang Si, using the excuse of being unwell due to the shock, retired to Haitang Residence to rest. After taking a few sips of the tea brought by Aqiao, she asked Aman, “Did you speak to Aya as planned?”
Aman hurriedly replied, “I told her to keep a close eye on Qing’er and to send word to the young miss if there’s anything unusual. But what if Aya doesn’t listen?”