Chapter 8
After Ji Qingzhou and Tu Dayou returned to their courtyard, they were summoned by Yao Chang’an to the main house.
Previously, since their fight had been interrupted, Yao Chang’an hadn’t had the chance to reprimand them. Now that he had some free time, he naturally wanted to give them a lesson to prevent these two young troublemakers from causing more problems.
“Master, it’s all my fault. Qingzhou has just entered the palace and doesn’t quite understand the rules. Please just let it go this time,” Tu Dayou pleaded, kneeling in front of Yao Chang’an. He attempted to ingratiate himself by patting Yao Chang’an’s leg and continued, “I promise, from now on, I won’t fight with him again.”
Yao Chang’an lifted his foot and gave Tu Dayou a light kick, saying coldly, “Kneel properly.”
Tu Dayou quickly complied, kneeling respectfully, though his expression remained unafraid.
“Ji Qingzhou, tell me, who started the fight?” Yao Chang’an asked, looking at Ji Qingzhou.
Ji Qingzhou lowered his gaze slightly and replied, “It was Tu Dayou who started it.”
Upon hearing this, Tu Dayou was momentarily stunned but quickly regained his composure and agreed, “Indeed, I was the one who started it.”
Yao Chang’an’s gaze grew deep as he looked at Ji Qingzhou. After a long moment, he said, “Dayou, you may leave.”
Ji Qingzhou’s statement seemed like he was shifting the blame to Tu Dayou, but Yao Chang’an was perceptive and recognized the underlying message. While it was true that the two had fought, Tu Dayou had been protecting Ji Qingzhou all along. Yao Chang’an wasn’t blind to the discrepancies.
Ji Qingzhou’s approach, if he had defended Tu Dayou as much as Tu Dayou had defended him, would not only be futile but would seem hypocritical. It was better to keep the issue light and give Yao Chang’an a chance to dig deeper.
Tu Dayou glanced at Ji Qingzhou, seemingly uneasy.
“Hurry up and get out!” Yao Chang’an raised his voice.
Tu Dayou, unwilling to provoke his master further, left the room, frequently looking back. Once outside, Yao Chang’an called after him, “Go to the courtyard and kneel there. Don’t get up until I say so.”
Tu Dayou dared not defy him and knelt obediently in the courtyard.
“If Dayou’s brain were half as good as yours, I wouldn’t have to worry about him,” Yao Chang’an sighed as he looked at Ji Qingzhou. “Ji Qingzhou, do you have any regard for him?”
Ji Qingzhou replied, “He values you highly and often says that you were the one who insisted on choosing me from Yan Court. I appreciate his feelings and intentions… You need not worry, Chief Eunuch Yao. If I cause any trouble, I will go to great lengths to keep him out of it.”
“Did you know all along that it wasn’t our choice to bring you here?” Yao Chang’an asked.
“I wasn’t sure before, but I am certain now,” Ji Qingzhou answered.
Chief Eunuch Yao suddenly chuckled softly and said, “I don’t know what you two are hiding from me, and I won’t pry. Just one thing… handle things properly. I don’t want my kind-hearted apprentice to end up with a death sentence.”
“Yes,” Ji Qingzhou nodded slightly.
Yao Chang’an waved his hand, dismissing Ji Qingzhou.
On that day, Tu Dayou knelt in the courtyard under the scorching April sun for half a day.
After nightfall, he went to the Imperial Physician Courtyard and returned with a bag full of medicine.
“Although you had to endure some hardship, it seems it was a case of fortuitous accident,” Tu Dayou said as he applied ointment to Ji Qingzhou’s face. “Now everyone in the palace knows about our injuries, and it’s only natural for us to get more medicine.”
Ji Qingzhou, illuminated by the dim candlelight in the room, observed Tu Dayou. Despite the dark eyebrows, his eyes gleamed with satisfaction, as if receiving ointment was something to be pleased about.
“Brother Dayou, I want to ask you something,” Ji Qingzhou said.
Tu Dayou looked at him and replied, “What is it?”
“We’ve never met before, and you know nothing about my character. Why are you helping me?” Ji Qingzhou asked.
Tu Dayou’s hand paused, and a fleeting, awkward expression crossed his face. His skin was slightly darker than Ji Qingzhou’s, and though he was not as strikingly handsome, he was still quite attractive in his own way.
“You saved my life at the palace banquet. Have you forgotten?” Tu Dayou said.
“I’m talking about being brought back to the palace,” Ji Qingzhou replied. “It wasn’t Master who chose me; it was you who asked Master to do so.”
Tu Dayou averted his gaze, clearly reluctant to answer the question.
“I’m not trying to force you to tell me the truth,” Ji Qingzhou said. “It’s just that, given our bond now, I don’t want to be suspicious of you. You know… I tend to overthink things.”
“I owe the Ji family a favor, and I don’t know how to repay it. Consider this as giving me a chance,” Tu Dayou said, his eyes reddening slightly. After a long sigh, he continued, “Besides, if it weren’t for your hint at the banquet, I wouldn’t be alive now. Rather than saying I’m helping you, it’s more accurate to say I’m helping myself.”
Ji Qingzhou nodded in understanding and didn’t press further.
For some reason, in that brief moment, Ji Qingzhou felt that Tu Dayou’s gaze carried a hint of dazedness, but it was fleeting, and he didn’t have the chance to dwell on it.
The next day, Ji Qingzhou had thought it would be the day for the written exam.
However, early in the morning, an attendant came to inform them that the exam had been postponed to three days later.
Ji Qingzhou was a bit surprised, but he also felt a sense of relief.
His old wounds had not yet healed, and he had acquired new ones. Now, he could take advantage of these few days to recover.
Tu Dayou had someone inquire about Gao Liang’s whereabouts and learned that after Gaa Liang was taken away by the people from the Regent’s residence that night, he had not returned since. Although Ji Qingzhou believed that Gao Liang wouldn’t betray him so easily, he couldn’t help but feel anxious.
For the next two days, Ji Qingzhou stayed in the small courtyard to recover from his injuries.
The night before the literary examination, Tu Dayou hurried back, his face showing signs of panic.
“Something has happened,” Tu Dayou whispered, barely catching his breath. “This evening, a rumor suddenly spread in the palace that someone saw an attendant having an illicit affair at Fengxian Pavilion on the night of the banquet!”
Ji Qingzhou was shocked and quickly asked, “Who was it?”
“I didn’t dare ask too many questions for fear of drawing suspicion,” Tu Dayou replied. “As soon as I heard, I rushed back to inform you.”
Ji Qingzhou paced back and forth in the room, visibly anxious.
Seeing his distress, Tu Dayou asked, “Think carefully—was there anyone else who might have noticed that night?”
“I don’t know,” Ji Qingzhou admitted.
“You don’t know?” Tu Dayou’s worry grew. “If you had told me earlier, I could have investigated and eliminated any potential threats. But now that the rumor has spread, I’m afraid…”
Ji Qingzhou forced himself to calm down and tried to recall the events of that night.
There had indeed been no one in Fengxian Pavilion at the time, and when he left, he had carefully looked around and hadn’t seen anyone nearby. Even on his way back, he had deliberately avoided the patrolling guards. The only person who knew about this… Could it be that girl?
“What exactly did the rumor say?” Ji Qingzhou asked.
“It said that on the night of the banquet, an attendant was caught having an illicit affair at Fengxian Pavilion. The rest were just some unspeakable slanderous words…” Tu Dayou replied.
Ji Qingzhou, regaining a bit of composure, noticed a potential issue with the rumor.
“Did the rumor mention a certain person?” Ji Qingzhou inquired.
“Which person?” Tu Dayou hesitated for a moment before realizing, then quickly replied, “No, I heard it from several different attendants, and none of them mentioned Wang Ye… Instead, they all speculated that it was with one of the palace guards.”
Ji Qingzhou thought to himself that if the girl had spread the rumor, she wouldn’t have only targeted him while sparing the Regent. Moreover, his intuition told him that the girl wasn’t someone who would betray him. After all, despite being terrified that night, she didn’t just run away to save herself; she even stayed nearby to check on his safety.
Besides, the girl seemed innocent and naive. She had no idea what had transpired between Ji Qingzhou and the Regent, so how could she possibly come up with the term “illicit affair”?
“Qingzhou, say something,” Tu Dayou urged, his anxiety growing.
“Don’t inquire further about this matter, and don’t investigate it,” Ji Qingzhou finally said. “Pretend you never heard anything.”
Tu Dayou was taken aback. “What do you mean by that? What are you planning to do?”
“I was careless,” Ji Qingzhou sighed. “I thought that simply expressing my stance in front of Wang Ye would be enough to get through this, but I forgot…”
He paused before continuing, “I forgot that there’s someone behind all this. If they had gone so far as to poison the drinks at Fengxian Pavilion, how could they not have a backup plan?”
Tu Dayou’s face paled as he realized the gravity of the situation.
Nervously swallowing, he asked, “Is there…any way to turn this around?”
Ji Qingzhou frowned, deep in thought, but didn’t immediately respond.
The situation had developed too suddenly, leaving him unprepared. Looking back, in the original story, the Regent discovered the poisoning attempt at the banquet and executed dozens of palace staff involved that very night. Afterward, there wouldn’t have been any chance for him to return to Fengxian Pavilion.
By warning Tu Dayou and preventing the poisoning at the banquet, Ji Qingzhou had inadvertently triggered a change in events at Fengxian Pavilion.
In truth, these two events were subtly linked, but Ji Qingzhou had overlooked this connection until now.
“Was the person who instructed you to poison the drinks connected to the Qiu family?” Ji Qingzhou suddenly asked.
Tu Dayou was startled by the question. “Why do you ask that?”
Ji Qingzhou looked at Tu Dayou and said, “If my guess is correct, just nod.”
Tu Dayou took a deep breath and shook his head.
“Since the person who directed you isn’t from the Qiu family, it’s highly likely that they were the ones who tampered with Fengxian Pavilion,” Ji Qingzhou said.
“Why? Can you explain this more clearly?” Tu Dayou asked, clearly puzzled.
“Because the person behind you intends to kill *him*, while the one who tampered with Fengxian Pavilion has other motives,” Ji Qingzhou explained, recalling that the Regent had asked about the girl, noting that she was the younger sister of Duke Qiu.
If the person who tampered with Fengxian Pavilion wasn’t from the Qiu family, how could they have known that the girl would sneak a look at the Regent?
Thus, Ji Qingzhou concluded that the mastermind was either from the Qiu family or someone familiar with the girl…
However, no matter how clearly he thought things through, it was too late—the rumor had already spread. Even though it didn’t mention the Regent, the person behind it wouldn’t just let it slide. Regardless of the intention behind spreading the rumor, it had clearly put Ji Qingzhou in a precarious position.
As expected, the rumor reached the Regent’s residence that very night.
When Dong Dong relayed the rumor to Li Zhan, the Regent’s expression remained unreadable, but Dong Dong couldn’t help feeling a chill in the air.
“Did the rumor mention any names?” Li Zhan asked.
“No… it only mentioned that an inner attendant was involved in… that. There was no mention of Your Highness,” Dong Dong replied. “The palace staff are speculating that the inner attendant was involved with a guard…”
Li Zhan’s eyes narrowed slightly as he responded, “I see.”
“Your Highness… should I take care of it?” Dong Dong cautiously inquired.
Li Zhan’s brow furrowed almost imperceptibly, but he didn’t respond.
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