Before Jiang Si could speak, Yu Jin firmly declared, “Absolutely not!”
He stood up, looking down at Chu Chu with displeasure. “Don’t think you can make such an unreasonable request just because my fiancée is kind-hearted. Since people are chasing you, your whereabouts could be exposed at any time. Do you expect to drag my fiancée into this? Moreover, nothing in this world happens without reason. Those people chasing you must have a reason.”
With a cold smile, Yu Jin continued, “Perhaps you know clearly, but are just pretending to be innocent to gain sympathy.”
“I’m not pretending to be innocent. One of the people chasing me said, ‘Who told you to hear what you shouldn’t have?’ I don’t even know who those people are, how could I know anything…” The anger on Chu Chu’s face dissipated, and she shook her head self-mockingly. “Forget it, I was out of line. This has nothing to do with you anyway.”
She slowly got up and gave Jiang Si a slight smile. “In any case, I’m sorry for what happened today, and thank you for helping me escape temporarily.”
Without saying goodbye or looking at Yu Jin, she slowly walked towards the door.
Jiang Si stared at Chu Chu’s back, and in a flash of insight, she understood that strange thought: If what Chu Chu said was true, could it be… could it be that the two men at White Cloud Temple hadn’t given up on finding the person who overheard their conversation, and for some reason mistook Chu Chu for that person…
Jiang Si’s gaze towards Chu Chu suddenly became complex.
If her guess wasn’t wrong, hadn’t Chu Chu inadvertently shielded her from trouble?
Thinking this way, Jiang Si certainly couldn’t let her leave with a clear conscience, despite her limited sense of guilt…
“Wait.”
Chu Chu stopped and turned back.
“You can stay here temporarily.”
Both Yu Jin and Chu Chu were surprised.
“A Si—”
Jiang Si said softly, “I have my reasons. I’ll explain later.”
Chu Chu, capable of hiding in a stranger’s carriage and taking them hostage, was certainly not a naively righteous person. After a brief hesitation, she accepted Jiang Si’s invitation, solemnly saying, “I owe you a favor. I’ll repay it in the future.”
Jiang Si felt awkward accepting this and simply said, “Follow me.”
The house was a typical small courtyard with four sides. The side rooms were on the left and right, and the main house had three rooms: the central hall for receiving guests, the east room for living, and the west room set up as a study.
Jiang Si led Chu Chu directly to the east room.
“Miss Chu Chu can rest here. The bedding and sheets have been changed and unused.”
Chu Chu hesitated, “Then you—”
Jiang Si smiled slightly, “Of course, I don’t live here.”
Chu Chu expressed her thanks and sat down on the edge of the bed.
Jiang Si returned to the hall, poured a cup of water, and handed it to Chu Chu. “It’s a bit cool. Please make do with it, Miss Chu Chu. I’ll have someone boil some hot water for you later.”
Seeing Chu Chu drink the lukewarm water in one go, Jiang Si asked, “Are you injured?”
Chu Chu’s hand paused, holding the cup with a bitter smile. “After being chased by a bunch of inexplicable mad dogs for so many days, it’s good enough to be alive.”
Jiang Si wasn’t sure if her guess was correct, so she couldn’t admit anything. She offered a few words of comfort before going to find Yu Jin.
Having settled Chu Chu, she still needed to explain things to Yu Qi.
“Let’s take a walk in the courtyard.”
The trees in the yard were already beginning to lose their leaves, and the night wind sent dry leaves rustling to the ground.
A Fei was boiling water in the kitchen, Old Qin was crouching under a tree lost in thought, and Cold Shadow had simply disappeared, as if she had never been there.
Jiang Si and Yu Jin walked towards the stone table under the tree, and Old Qin consciously moved to squat by the wall.
“Why did you let her stay?” Yu Jin leaned slightly forward, hands on the stone table, his eyes dark and bright.
Jiang Si picked up a fallen leaf from the table and played with it, feeling that what she was about to say sounded absurd, but she could probably only say it unreservedly to Yu Qi.
“I suspect that the people chasing Miss Chu Chu are chasing the wrong person. The one they want to chase might be… me.”
Yu Jin wanted to laugh but didn’t have the mood for it, so he silently listened.
Jiang Si crumbled the dry leaf between her fingers and tossed it into the wind, asking Yu Jin, “Remember I told you I overheard two people talking at White Cloud Temple? I managed to hide then, but thinking back, it was raining that day, and no matter how careful I was, it would have been hard not to leave traces. If those two discovered my footprints, they would surely guess that the person who heard their conversation was a woman…”
“So they targeted Miss Chu Chu?” Yu Jin felt Jiang Si was overthinking it.
How could there be such a coincidence in this world?
“A Si, don’t always take responsibility for yourself.”
Jiang Si sighed, “But that day Miss Chu Chu saved a child, showing considerable skill. If those two saw it, it would be easy to misunderstand. In any case, since there’s this possibility, I can’t be indifferent to Miss Chu Chu’s plight.”
She didn’t want to bear the guilt of indirectly causing harm to an innocent person.
“Alright, if you want to keep her here, we will. It’s a good opportunity for me to investigate along this line. If the ones chasing Miss Chu Chu are indeed the two you overheard talking, we might even uncover why they’re plotting against me.”
Having discussed Chu Chu’s situation, Jiang Si remembered what Yu Jin had said earlier, “A flower girl was harmed at Golden Water River?”
Yu Jin hadn’t mentioned the case earlier for fear of frightening Jiang Si, but since she asked, he no longer concealed it. “So far, four flower girls have been harmed, all from medium and small flower boats. One of them had some conflict with Ying Ying, the lead performer of the Yan Chun Troupe. I was asking Ying Ying about this tonight.”
Jiang Si was quite surprised, “The death of four flower girls is no small matter, yet I didn’t notice anything unusual with the madam tonight.”
Yu Jin sneered, “Of course, they don’t want to make a fuss. The recent arson case remains unsolved, and if news of flower girls being harmed spreads, people will be too scared to come for entertainment.”
Life was cheap, and the flower girls of Golden Water River were simply tied to stones and thrown into the river when they died, not even worth a straw mat for burial.
However, with the recent flower boat arson case still fresh in people’s minds, and the Yang family from the Ministry of Rites unwilling to let it become a cold case, they immediately raised the alarm with Zhen Shicheng when another murder occurred. This was why Yu Jin was investigating the Golden Water River at night.
“It’s late. I’ll take you home. Don’t come here for now to avoid getting into trouble. As for Miss Chu Chu, I’ll have someone look after her.”
“Let me just give A Fei some instructions.”
Since the person who redeemed Yu Er was likely a street ruffian, A Fei might have some leads. Although Jiang Si had asked Yu Jin for help, she didn’t want to give up any possibilities.
After sending Jiang Si home, Yu Jin returned to the prince’s mansion only to find that Long Dan had arrived ahead of him.
“You’re back so early?” Yu Jin raised an eyebrow.
Knowing Long Dan, shouldn’t he have waited until tomorrow morning to report?
Long Dan had a strange expression, “Master, I encountered a flower girl…”
“Hmm.” Yu Jin listened with a blank face.
Long Dan’s expression became even more peculiar, “Master, that flower girl looked… a bit like Miss Jiang…”
Yu Jin’s expression immediately became serious as he asked in a deep voice, “Which flower boat?”