When Ji Yunshu heard his words, she started to mull over it as well. There was just one point she didn’t quite understand. “The Ministry of Personnel censuring you was disadvantageous for Prince Yi. Now that the courtiers have all sent in pet.i.tions, it also puts Prince Yi at a disadvantage, but in the process also helped you instead.”
Help? Jing Rong shook his head, expression turning grave. He had the opposite opinion to Ji Yunshu. “This prince doesn’t agree with that view.”
“But at least the confidential edict has allowed you to return to the capital. Regardless of who the mastermind was, he is helping you.”
“This is exactly what this prince is worried about. What is this person’s motive? It is evident that the person he wishes to destroy is Jing Yi, but the person he wishes to aid may not necessarily be this prince.”
“Why do you say that?”
“When the sandpiper and clam fight, the fisherman takes advantage.”
Ji Yunshu’s eyes widened in surprise. She didn’t understand the matters of the imperial court nor those of the struggle between factions, but Jing Rong’s words and especially that phrase, ‘the fisherman takes advantage’, sent a chill down her spine.
Thus, the conversation came to a screeching halt.
After the carriage turned onto the official highway, the path became a lot smoother. The recent weather they had been experiencing was also ideal for speeding up their journey.
“Wah!” Tang Si’s head popped out from within the carriage like a mini explosion and turned her face towards the sun. Her grin was so wide that all her snowy white teeth were bared and even her gums could be seen.
The guard riding by the carriage was startled by her and even his horse shook for a moment. He complained, “Hey Miss Tang, it’s very easy to scare others if you act so erratically. It’ll be troublesome if the horses get startled.”
“Didn’t I just poke my head out of the carriage? How would that be scaring you or your horse?” What a sharp tongue!
The guard surrendered. “Miss Tang, just treat it as if I had said nothing.”
Hmpf! She was going to continue quarrelling, but a large hand suddenly grabbed the back of her collar and dragged her back into the carriage. “Ah!” A tragic scream that sounded like the squeal of a pig being slaughtered rang out.
Mo Ruo was seated inside, trying to take a nap, but his ears were instead besieged by noise. “Could you be a little quieter?”
“Mn.” Tang Si seemed to have turned obedient and really stopped talking. She bit her lips and secretly glanced at Mo Ruo, then shuffled her b.u.t.t across until she was beside him. She then reached out two fingers delicately and gently tugged the corner of his robes. “Ah Mo, do you want to eat some grapes? I brought plenty.”
“No thanks.”
“It’s fine, you don’t need to be shy. I brought it specifically for you. Look at you, your lips are so dry now, poor thing.” As she cooed tenderly over him, she reached out for a quick touch.
The wandering hand was quickly batted away with a slap. Mo Ruo glared fiercely at her. “Don’t you try touching me like that.”
“I’m not touching, I’m not touching. I just want to treat you to some grapes.”
“I already said I’m not eating.”
“Why don’t you just have a taste? Wouldn’t it be even better if you liked it?” Tang Si was stubborn and unwrapped the grapes she brought out from the trunk of the carriage.
The black grapes she drew out were huge. She lifted up a bunch of grapes, plucked one and pinched Mo Ruo’s tightly shut mouth to try and stuff one in. “Open your mouth!”
His lips remained pressed together.
“Are you going to open it or not?”
Never.
Tang Si was incensed. She finally shed that graceful and shy veneer that she had put on, and pinched him by his two cheeks and forced his mouth open to toss a single grape in.
There was a gulp.
It squeezed down his throat, almost choking Mo Ruo to death. His face flushed red as he glowered at the smug woman beside him. “You madwoman, are you insane?”
“That’s right. I must have been insane to go pick grapes late last night just because you liked them. Since I’ve brought them along, you have to finish every last one even if you don’t want them.”
“You…” The minute he opened his mouth, another handful of grapes were shoved in.
The clamor and commotion within the carriage made it sway back and forth. The guards witnessing it from the outside were nonplussed. “What are Young Master Mo and Miss Tang doing inside for them to make such a racket”
“What do you think you could be doing?”
“Haiz, how shameless.” They all looked askance at that carriage. [1]
In the next few days, the train of carriages arrived at Bingjing, the same place where Mingshan Academy was located. However, Jing Rong didn’t disturb them this time and ordered them to hurry on, stopping at an inn within the forest.
By now, the sky was already dark.
Just as the carriages stopped, an enthusiastic waiter from the inn hurried forward to welcome them. The waiter’s cheerful yell could be heard from a distance away. “Dear customers, you’ve arrived at just the right time! A group of people just left our inn and we have a few empty rooms.”
He grinned from ear to ear, as if he could already see gold raining down from above.
Coincidentally, that waiter bowed right beside Ji Yunshu. When she glanced at him, her eyes inadvertently landed on his wrist and she tensed. An alarm bell rang vaguely in her mind, but she didn’t think too much of it.
The group followed the waiter in and booked a few rooms, then brought the carriages and the horses to the stable in the backyard.
There were still plenty of people in the inn, some eating, some drinking, and a few burly men playing a finger-guessing game. Several other waiters were bustling around, taking care of their customers.
When they entered, everyone stopped what they had been doing and turned to stare at them.
Ji Yunshu felt the hairs on the back of her arms stand on end. She deliberately scanned the room to evaluate the occupants. Other than those eating and drinking, there were several tablefuls of people that had neither food nor wine; they were all sitting there with deep frowns on their faces, staring at the bamboo holder full of chopsticks on their tables. Unlike the diners, these people didn’t even turn to give them a glance even though they heard the commotion.
Logically, everyone should be dining at this time, but on those tables, the surfaces were bare of even a single pot of tea. How bizarre!
Ji Yunshu started to be on her guard. When she climbed up the stairs, she b.u.mped into someone by accident. The back of her hand hit something on that person and ached badly. It was almost as if… she had hit a piece of metal. This person wore clothes made of rough linen and looked just like an ordinary pa.s.ser-by. He walked away without saying anything after he b.u.mped into her.
Jing Rong asked, “What’s wrong?”
She shook her head. “Nothing.” And continued up to her room.
Mo Ruo had been hiccupping throughout their entire journey and his complexion was terrible. The minute Jing Rong put a foot into his room, he also quickly slinked in and hurried to close the door, as if he had seen a ghost.
“Hey hey hey, this is my room.” Jing Rong said bossily.
Mo Ruo looked through the translucent paper of the window and only let out a sigh of relief after he saw Tang Si go into her own room. As he relaxed, he hiccuped again. Next, he plonked himself down at the table and started drinking several cups of water in a row.
“Just what is wrong with you?”
“I’m going to die.” He was still traumatised.
Jing Rong looked at him, baffled. Is this jerk possessed?
Mo Ruo pointed at his own mouth, then rubbed at his stomach as he explained bitterly, “You don’t know how I’ve spent the past few days. I have no idea how many grapes that d.a.m.ned woman has shoved down my throat; I can smell grapes even when I hiccup! I don’t know where she heard that I liked to eat grapes either. Tell me, don’t you think she went insane?”
He sounded like he was about to cry.
[1] They were obviously fighting! What dirty minds you have tsk. Also they so deserve each other lol.