"What does your Highness mean by that?" Ji Yunshu replied with a question of her own. "If you didn't discover anything, then why do you want to stay here?" Jing Rong completely saw through her. He continued, "You should believe in me. Maybe I can be your assistant." Although Jing Rong was not someone Ji Yunshu was fond of, she did need an assistant. Since it was like that, she might as well be content with it. "Since your Highness has spoken and this was exactly what I needed, I would like to request your Highness to help me with something." "Explain yourself."
"There is no rush. Let's wait until tonight to talk." She raised her eyebrows and left him hanging with her half-explanations. Then, she turned around, sat down and picked up her bowl and chopsticks. "Even though the Zhou family is in mourning, they still sent us such a lavish meal. Their guest's treatment is pretty good."
Jing Rong who was sitting next to her was making a face. He lightly stated, "I'm not hungry."
Without hurrying, Ji Yunshu put a piece of meat in her mouth before she added, "Well, the food here can't be compared with the fine delicacies at the Rong Estate. It's inevitable that your Highness is not used to the taste of it."
When her words came out, Jing Rong became unhappy and his expression sank.
"This prince has eaten wild herbs in the mountains. I'm afraid that I have experienced such meals more often than Teacher Ji has eaten salt."
"Your Highness really can joke."
He was a prince. Who would believe that he ate mountain herbs?
Jing Rong was grim and glared at her. He stated, "Dalin dynasty encompassed Nanjiang kingdom to the south and Beiliang country to the north. I travelled south to north and passed through more than 108 regions. I stayed in small villages deep into the mountains to remote houses built in the middle of nowhere. If everywhere I went there were delicacies, would there be a need for the people of our Dalin dynasty to starve or freeze to death?"
Ji Yunshu halted her hand that was holding the chopsticks and gazed at him with curiosity. "You travelled to so many places?"
"This is not the main point."
"Then, what's the main point?"
Jing Rong glared at her. "I said all of this was mainly to inform you that I am not picky!"
How embarrassing! 'If you don't want to eat then don't eat.' Ji Yunshu was hungry, so she continued to eat her meal with relish.
Jing Rong's mutters floated into her ears. "Thoughtless, he can actually still eat so soon after."
Yeah! Who in the world would be in the mood to eat a good meal less than two hours after examining a corpse? Only Ji Yunshu would be in the mood.
After eating her fill, she rested until the sky gradually turned dark.
"Your Highness, didn't you want to help me? Let's go."
As soon as the words were spoken, she went outside.
Jing Rong was puzzled, but he still followed after her.
Not too long after, they reached their destinations: the attic where Miss Zhou fell off. There were still several lanterns hung on the corner, illuminating the vicinity, giving off a gentle and charming view.
Ji Yunshu had always loved lanterns of ancient times, thus she admired the lanterns for a while. She recovered her mind only after Jing Rong patted her.
"Are we coming here to admire lanterns?"
"It's to investigate the case."
At once, she retracted her gaze from the lanterns.
Jing Rong appeared to guess her intention, so he said, "Are you suspecting that there was someone hiding in the attic at the time of the victim's fall?"
"It looks like your Highness is very sharp."
"Of course."
Ji Yunshu did not explain further and walked around the attic.
The attic is in fact a tall but not big pavilion. There was no partitioned room inside and it was surrounded by mahogany railings and benches. If there was someone hidden inside the attic, it would be obvious to see.
Apart from the furniture, there was nothing else.
No matter how much Yunshu looked, she could not find any place that could hide anyone.
Lost in her thoughts, she turned around and knocked her forehead against a sturdy chest. The collision caused her much pain!
Ji Yunshu subconsciously put her hand to her forehead and frowned. She stayed silent but glared at Jing Rong who was rubbing his chest, feeling dissatisfied.
"Why did you suddenly turn around without a warning? My chest is not a pillow. If you bump into it like that it would break."
"Then why did your Highness stand behind me without a sound?"
Jing Rong frowned. "Are you saying that I need to tell you where I want to go?"
Ji Yunshu clamped her mouth. 'Then, you're telling me that I should schedule with you when I'm going to turn around?' Of course, she would not speak those words aloud, but it did not douse the flames of anger burning in her heart. He was a prince and whatever he said was reasonable. As for her, she was an insignificant painter. How could she dare to argue with him?
She might as well just let it be…
"Everything is my fault!"
She did not feel like arguing, so she moved around him and was about to walk in another direction.
But, who knew that as soon as she passed by him, two big hands seized her waist, and pulled and spun her around. She directly slammed into Jing Rong's chest and lost her balance because of her unstable feet. By the time her body fell, his hands were tightly restricting her waist. Thus, she fell into his firm embrace!
Two grown "men" were holding onto each other in such a way… Under the light breeze, the lanterns gently swayed while the light flickered, projecting and elongating their tall and short shadows on the wooden floor.
Such a beautiful scene to behold!
Grenn’s Rants Corner
Fufufu~ If you think that Ji Yunshu’s interaction with Jing Rong makes you squeal, wait until a certain character is introduced. You will have diabetes when reading their interactions.
Their ambiguous posture greatly stirred the implicated pair. Their eyes met; while one of them had an evil teasing smile, the other had a shocked and embarrassed expression. Naturally, the latter was Ji Yunshu. Jing Rong, who was tightly holding onto Ji Yunshu, intentionally rubbed his hand on her waist. The sensation caused Ji Yunshu's whole body to turn soft and she could not help but lower her star-like eyes. Fortunately, the surrounding lights were a dim pink, which concealed the blush that suddenly crept onto her face.
Jing Rong's eyes encompassed her tightly closed lips. 'This young scholar is really charming!' A desire to tease Ji Yunshu rose in the depths of his heart. He spoke, "Teacher's waist is very thin. If all the lanterns in the attic were extinguished, I would be under the impression that I was holding a woman." His words snapped Ji Yunshu back to reality. She raised her arms, causing her sleeves to wave and used all her strength to push Jing Rong away, freeing herself from his restraints. "Your Highness, please act with propriety!" The bashful Ji Yunshu turned angry in an instant! However, Jing Rong's face didn't even change colors. "In the quiet of a cold winter night… Am I not allowed to joke?" 'Loathsome, shameless!' "Your Highness, shouldn't joking have its limit? For two men to hold each other… If people were to see… You might be shameless, but this humble one's face is thin." Ji Yunshu's tone was terrible. Realizing that hugging her had provoked her ire, Jing Rong frowned but soon revealed a satisfied expression. "At first, I thought that Teacher Ji was taciturn and dull, cold like a frozen pine." Then, he lowered his head closer to Ji Yunshu's face and showed a roguish smile. "Teacher Ji can also gets angry. Ah, how wonderful!" 'Wonderful your sister!' Ji Yunshu's freezing eyes glared at him. Then, she stifled the burning anger in her heart and slumped her shoulders. "Prince Rong, it's getting late, and how can we face the yet to be buried Miss Zhou if we keep bickering here?" "That's true! We still have an important matter to deal with." Prince Rong snapped back to reality and nodded. "Your Highness offered your help earlier, so I'll trouble you to stay in this attic. I'll go down and in the meantime, can you try to find a place to hide? So long as you wouldn't be seen by me, it would be good." "Are you trying to make things difficult to me? There's no place for someone to hide here." Jing Rong refuted. 'This young scholar shouldn't be using this to take revenge, right?' However Ji Yunshu had already went downstairs. Without turning her head, she spoke, "That's your Highness' problem, use your brain." Her voice gradually became distant as she went down the stairs. Ji Yunshu walked to the back of the garden where quite a distance separated her from the attic, standing at the same place Qiaoxin did on that fateful day. She choose a location, then lifted her eyes towards the attic, but the place was empty. Jing Rong was nowhere to be seen. She decided to move to the other end of the garden, but like before, Jing Rong's figure could not be seen! How puzzling! Where could that crafty deity hide? As soon as she thought of it, she saw Jing Rong leaping from the attic. He steadily landed in front of her. Ji Yunshu only batted her eyelids while calmly looking at him. She inquired, "Your Highness, where did you hide?" "You're such an intelligent person, can't you guess?" "I can't guess." Jing Rong lost his interest and pointed to the roof. "This kind of triangular shaped roof had a place protruding which can hide a person. If someone hid in there, no matter the location where people below stood, they won't be able to see that person." The sudden realization hit Ji Yunshu!
A triangular shaped roof structure was the standard construction layout in ancient times. Unexpectedly, she overlooked that point. "That means that the murderer knows martial arts." Even Ji Yunshu was startled at the revelation she came with. However, her surprise was out of Jing Rong's expectations. He lowered her eyes towards her and asked, "Why are you surprised?" "I'm surprised…. Because the murderer is not one person." "How did you come to that conclusion?" Jing Rong revealed a solemn expression. Ji Yunshu pondered a bit before replying. "There were traces of someone lifting Miss Zhou's arms and dragging her away after her death. Consequently, it caused her shoulders to swell. The shape of the swelling revealed that the person who dragged her in such a way must have little strength. However, to be able to jump up to the roof, only a person with martial arts can and that person's strength is far from weak. Moreover, in the time it took to bring Miss Zhou here, that person is unlikely to have exhausted his strength." Jing Rong squinted his long and chilly pair of eyes, and sank into deep contemplation! 'This case is starting to become more and more interesting!'
"What does your Highness mean by that?" Ji Yunshu replied with a question of her own. "If you didn't discover anything, then why do you want to stay here?" Jing Rong completely saw through her. He continued, "You should believe in me. Maybe I can be your assistant." Although Jing Rong was not someone Ji Yunshu was fond of, she did need an assistant. Since it was like that, she might as well be content with it. "Since your Highness has spoken and this was exactly what I needed, I would like to request your Highness to help me with something." "Explain yourself."
"There is no rush. Let's wait until tonight to talk." She raised her eyebrows and left him hanging with her half-explanations. Then, she turned around, sat down and picked up her bowl and chopsticks. "Even though the Zhou family is in mourning, they still sent us such a lavish meal. Their guest's treatment is pretty good."
Jing Rong who was sitting next to her was making a face. He lightly stated, "I'm not hungry."
Without hurrying, Ji Yunshu put a piece of meat in her mouth before she added, "Well, the food here can't be compared with the fine delicacies at the Rong Estate. It's inevitable that your Highness is not used to the taste of it."
When her words came out, Jing Rong became unhappy and his expression sank.
"This prince has eaten wild herbs in the mountains. I'm afraid that I have experienced such meals more often than Teacher Ji has eaten salt."
"Your Highness really can joke."
He was a prince. Who would believe that he ate mountain herbs?
Jing Rong was grim and glared at her. He stated, "Dalin dynasty encompassed Nanjiang kingdom to the south and Beiliang country to the north. I travelled south to north and passed through more than 108 regions. I stayed in small villages deep into the mountains to remote houses built in the middle of nowhere. If everywhere I went there were delicacies, would there be a need for the people of our Dalin dynasty to starve or freeze to death?"
Ji Yunshu halted her hand that was holding the chopsticks and gazed at him with curiosity. "You travelled to so many places?"
"This is not the main point."
"Then, what's the main point?"
Jing Rong glared at her. "I said all of this was mainly to inform you that I am not picky!"
How embarrassing! 'If you don't want to eat then don't eat.' Ji Yunshu was hungry, so she continued to eat her meal with relish.
Jing Rong's mutters floated into her ears. "Thoughtless, he can actually still eat so soon after."
Yeah! Who in the world would be in the mood to eat a good meal less than two hours after examining a corpse? Only Ji Yunshu would be in the mood.
After eating her fill, she rested until the sky gradually turned dark.
"Your Highness, didn't you want to help me? Let's go."
As soon as the words were spoken, she went outside.
Jing Rong was puzzled, but he still followed after her.
Not too long after, they reached their destinations: the attic where Miss Zhou fell off. There were still several lanterns hung on the corner, illuminating the vicinity, giving off a gentle and charming view.
Ji Yunshu had always loved lanterns of ancient times, thus she admired the lanterns for a while. She recovered her mind only after Jing Rong patted her.
"Are we coming here to admire lanterns?"
"It's to investigate the case."
At once, she retracted her gaze from the lanterns.
Jing Rong appeared to guess her intention, so he said, "Are you suspecting that there was someone hiding in the attic at the time of the victim's fall?"
"It looks like your Highness is very sharp."
"Of course."
Ji Yunshu did not explain further and walked around the attic.
The attic is in fact a tall but not big pavilion. There was no partitioned room inside and it was surrounded by mahogany railings and benches. If there was someone hidden inside the attic, it would be obvious to see.
Apart from the furniture, there was nothing else.
No matter how much Yunshu looked, she could not find any place that could hide anyone.
Lost in her thoughts, she turned around and knocked her forehead against a sturdy chest. The collision caused her much pain!
Ji Yunshu subconsciously put her hand to her forehead and frowned. She stayed silent but glared at Jing Rong who was rubbing his chest, feeling dissatisfied.
"Why did you suddenly turn around without a warning? My chest is not a pillow. If you bump into it like that it would break."
"Then why did your Highness stand behind me without a sound?"
Jing Rong frowned. "Are you saying that I need to tell you where I want to go?"
Ji Yunshu clamped her mouth. 'Then, you're telling me that I should schedule with you when I'm going to turn around?' Of course, she would not speak those words aloud, but it did not douse the flames of anger burning in her heart. He was a prince and whatever he said was reasonable. As for her, she was an insignificant painter. How could she dare to argue with him?
She might as well just let it be…
"Everything is my fault!"
She did not feel like arguing, so she moved around him and was about to walk in another direction.
But, who knew that as soon as she passed by him, two big hands seized her waist, and pulled and spun her around. She directly slammed into Jing Rong's chest and lost her balance because of her unstable feet. By the time her body fell, his hands were tightly restricting her waist. Thus, she fell into his firm embrace!
Two grown "men" were holding onto each other in such a way… Under the light breeze, the lanterns gently swayed while the light flickered, projecting and elongating their tall and short shadows on the wooden floor.
Such a beautiful scene to behold!
Grenn’s Rants Corner
Fufufu~ If you think that Ji Yunshu’s interaction with Jing Rong makes you squeal, wait until a certain character is introduced. You will have diabetes when reading their interactions.
Their ambiguous posture greatly stirred the implicated pair. Their eyes met; while one of them had an evil teasing smile, the other had a shocked and embarrassed expression. Naturally, the latter was Ji Yunshu. Jing Rong, who was tightly holding onto Ji Yunshu, intentionally rubbed his hand on her waist. The sensation caused Ji Yunshu's whole body to turn soft and she could not help but lower her star-like eyes. Fortunately, the surrounding lights were a dim pink, which concealed the blush that suddenly crept onto her face.
Jing Rong's eyes encompassed her tightly closed lips. 'This young scholar is really charming!' A desire to tease Ji Yunshu rose in the depths of his heart. He spoke, "Teacher's waist is very thin. If all the lanterns in the attic were extinguished, I would be under the impression that I was holding a woman." His words snapped Ji Yunshu back to reality. She raised her arms, causing her sleeves to wave and used all her strength to push Jing Rong away, freeing herself from his restraints. "Your Highness, please act with propriety!" The bashful Ji Yunshu turned angry in an instant! However, Jing Rong's face didn't even change colors. "In the quiet of a cold winter night… Am I not allowed to joke?" 'Loathsome, shameless!' "Your Highness, shouldn't joking have its limit? For two men to hold each other… If people were to see… You might be shameless, but this humble one's face is thin." Ji Yunshu's tone was terrible. Realizing that hugging her had provoked her ire, Jing Rong frowned but soon revealed a satisfied expression. "At first, I thought that Teacher Ji was taciturn and dull, cold like a frozen pine." Then, he lowered his head closer to Ji Yunshu's face and showed a roguish smile. "Teacher Ji can also gets angry. Ah, how wonderful!" 'Wonderful your sister!' Ji Yunshu's freezing eyes glared at him. Then, she stifled the burning anger in her heart and slumped her shoulders. "Prince Rong, it's getting late, and how can we face the yet to be buried Miss Zhou if we keep bickering here?" "That's true! We still have an important matter to deal with." Prince Rong snapped back to reality and nodded. "Your Highness offered your help earlier, so I'll trouble you to stay in this attic. I'll go down and in the meantime, can you try to find a place to hide? So long as you wouldn't be seen by me, it would be good." "Are you trying to make things difficult to me? There's no place for someone to hide here." Jing Rong refuted. 'This young scholar shouldn't be using this to take revenge, right?' However Ji Yunshu had already went downstairs. Without turning her head, she spoke, "That's your Highness' problem, use your brain." Her voice gradually became distant as she went down the stairs. Ji Yunshu walked to the back of the garden where quite a distance separated her from the attic, standing at the same place Qiaoxin did on that fateful day. She choose a location, then lifted her eyes towards the attic, but the place was empty. Jing Rong was nowhere to be seen. She decided to move to the other end of the garden, but like before, Jing Rong's figure could not be seen! How puzzling! Where could that crafty deity hide? As soon as she thought of it, she saw Jing Rong leaping from the attic. He steadily landed in front of her. Ji Yunshu only batted her eyelids while calmly looking at him. She inquired, "Your Highness, where did you hide?" "You're such an intelligent person, can't you guess?" "I can't guess." Jing Rong lost his interest and pointed to the roof. "This kind of triangular shaped roof had a place protruding which can hide a person. If someone hid in there, no matter the location where people below stood, they won't be able to see that person." The sudden realization hit Ji Yunshu!
A triangular shaped roof structure was the standard construction layout in ancient times. Unexpectedly, she overlooked that point. "That means that the murderer knows martial arts." Even Ji Yunshu was startled at the revelation she came with. However, her surprise was out of Jing Rong's expectations. He lowered her eyes towards her and asked, "Why are you surprised?" "I'm surprised…. Because the murderer is not one person." "How did you come to that conclusion?" Jing Rong revealed a solemn expression. Ji Yunshu pondered a bit before replying. "There were traces of someone lifting Miss Zhou's arms and dragging her away after her death. Consequently, it caused her shoulders to swell. The shape of the swelling revealed that the person who dragged her in such a way must have little strength. However, to be able to jump up to the roof, only a person with martial arts can and that person's strength is far from weak. Moreover, in the time it took to bring Miss Zhou here, that person is unlikely to have exhausted his strength." Jing Rong squinted his long and chilly pair of eyes, and sank into deep contemplation! 'This case is starting to become more and more interesting!'
