The Chief Steward bellowed with all his might, “Princess Consort!”
Although his wife kept erotic paintings in her clothes chest to ward off evil spirits, it was obvious that the Prince and Princess Consort weren’t using such paintings for that purpose!
The Princess Consort was so thick-skinned, that she would lead the Prince astray!
No, that’s not right, the Prince wasn’t exactly a good person to begin with…
The more the Chief Steward thought about it, the darker his future seemed, and his vision began to blur.
Yu Jin turned the corner and cleared his throat, “Why is the Chief Steward making such a commotion here?”
Seeing the tall, jade-like young man striding over with a questioning tone, even the usually composed Chief Steward rolled his eyes in exasperation.
What did he mean by making a commotion? He was simply fulfilling his duty, trying to prevent the Prince and Princess Consort from straying further down the wrong path.
“Your Highness, did you ask the Princess Consort to come to the study?” Despite his extreme irritation, the Chief Steward remembered to bow to Yu Jin.
Yu Jin glanced at Jiang Si and nodded, “Yes.”
“Your Highness!” The Chief Steward took a step forward, his expression as grave as if the sky was about to fall, “The study is a restricted area, how can women enter at will? Even if it’s the Princess Consort, it’s not appropriate! Your Highness, this disrupts the rules and is improper…”
Yu Jin didn’t interrupt, allowing the Chief Steward to speak until he was out of breath. Estimating that the old man’s mouth must be dry by now, he asked with a smile, “Chief Steward, why don’t you come into the study for a cup of tea with me?”
Upon hearing the mention of tea, the Chief Steward’s beard quivered violently, as if someone had suddenly grabbed his throat, rendering him speechless.
Yu Jin glanced coldly at the pageboy, “Why aren’t you helping the Chief Steward into the study? Have you no sense?”
The pageboy, who was most obedient to Yu Jin, immediately grabbed the Chief Steward’s arm and began dragging him towards the study.
The Chief Steward, who had developed a deep-seated fear of “drinking tea,” hurriedly pushed away the pageboy and ran off.
The pageboy hesitated and looked towards Yu Jin, “Your Highness—”
“Guard the door,” Yu Jin said, then took Jiang Si’s hand and led her into the study, heading straight for the living quarters on the east side.
There was a low couch in the living quarters. Yu Jin sat down on the couch and patted the soft cushion beside him, “A Si, I’d like to appreciate the erotic painting you found.”
When did he hide erotic paintings in the study? Was he such an improper person? If he were to hide them, shouldn’t they be under his pillow?
Jiang Si walked over, sat on a nearby brocade stool, and handed him the scroll.
Yu Jin took it, gave the scroll a serious look, and his expression changed slightly.
How did A Si discover this?
After a moment of silence, Jiang Si asked, “Who is the person in the painting?”
Yu Jin didn’t unroll the scroll. Holding the yellowed scroll and looking at Jiang Si, seeing her serious question, he hesitated for a moment before smiling, “Of course, it’s you, who else could it be?”
Jiang Si took back the scroll, slowly unrolled it, and pointed at the figure in the painting, “The girl in the painting is in her early teens. When I was that age, you were in the Southern Frontier.”
Yu Jin couldn’t help but laugh, “A Si, do you suspect I would paint someone else?”
Jiang Si lowered her gaze to look at the girl in the painting, then glanced at Yu Jin with a half-smile, “This person in the painting looks at least ninety percent like me when I was twelve or thirteen. How could I suspect you of painting someone else? A Jin, are you feeling guilty about something?”
Yu Jin coughed violently twice, then honestly said, “A Si, you might not believe this, but there was a woman in the Southern Frontier who looked very much like you.”
Jiang Si pursed her lips slightly.
Yu Jin’s candor undoubtedly eased her mood somewhat, but the tension was still unavoidable.
How could she remain unmoved by the doubts of two lifetimes, past and present?
“Who is it?” she asked.
Though her voice was soft, it carried a sense of gravity.
Yu Jin’s answer, however, was much more casual: “The Holy Maiden of the Wu Miao tribe.”
Jiang Si blinked, “So I look very much like the Wu Miao Holy Maiden?”
Yu Jin nodded, “Yes, indeed very similar. If someone unfamiliar saw you, they would surely think you were the same person.”
“What a coincidence, it’s a pity there’s no chance to meet her now.”
Yu Jin frowned, “Of course, there’s no chance. The Wu Miao Holy Maiden has already passed away and turned to dust, while A Si will surely live a long life.”
Jiang Si remained silent.
“What’s wrong, A Si?”
“I don’t understand.”
“What don’t you understand?”
“You say the painting is of me, but when we first met, I was already of marriageable age…”
A flicker of struggle passed through Yu Jin’s eyes, but seeing Jiang Si’s bewildered gaze, he resigned himself to telling the truth, “Who said that? The first time I saw you, you weren’t even ten years old…”
This answer was completely unexpected, and Jiang Si was truly stunned.
“Don’t you remember saving a twelve or thirteen-year-old girl?”
“A twelve or thirteen-year-old girl?” Jiang Si wracked her brain trying to remember, but still couldn’t find a clue.
Yu Jin prompted, “On the outskirts of the capital, a young girl was being dragged by two men…”
Jiang Si’s eyes lit up as she suddenly recalled this past event, “I remember now! That year, I was going to a temple outside the city to burn incense. On the way, I saw two men grabbing a young girl and not letting go. The girl said the two men were kidnappers, but the men claimed to be her older brothers…”
She remembered clearly that because of what the two men said, the onlookers watched coldly, showing no intention of helping no matter how much the girl struggled.
Perhaps due to a girl’s intuition, she almost immediately determined that the two men were not good people.
Watching the desperately struggling girl, she quickly made up her mind to save her. So she lied, claiming the girl was her maid who had gone missing recently.
Those two men, seeing that although she was young, she was accompanied by quite a few maids and servants, didn’t dare to forcefully take the girl away, but were reluctant to let her go.
She ordered A Man to give the two men some silver to finally settle the matter.
That silver was meant to be donated to the temple, so there was no need to burn incense anymore. She took the rescued girl back to the city.
After returning to the city and reaching a crowded place, she gave the girl a few small silver ingots and sent her away. Soon after, she put the matter out of her mind.
For her, it was just a chance encounter and a small act of kindness, naturally not something to be remembered.
Jiang Si pulled back her thoughts and looked at Yu Jin with a strange expression, “That little girl was related to you?”
Yu Jin’s ears immediately turned red. After a final struggle, he steeled himself and said, “That little girl was me!”
Jiang Si thought she had misheard. She raised her fan to cover her slightly open mouth in surprise. It took her a while to compose herself before she carefully chose her words, “A Jin, I really couldn’t tell… that you had such interests when you were young…”
Yu Jin’s face turned completely red. He hurriedly explained, “I grew up on an estate in the suburbs of the capital. When I was young, I cursed heaven and earth and resented the world. One day, I just wanted to escape those people and see the city. Although I wasn’t favored, I was still a prince, so it wasn’t easy to sneak out. I had a sudden inspiration to disguise myself as a girl, and that’s how I managed to slip away successfully. Who knew I would be targeted halfway…”
After that incident, he put away all his resentment and injustice, vowing to gain powerful strength and never again fall into such a deplorable situation.
It was also after that incident that his cold, hard, and solitary heart first found something to care about…