GTB Chapter 114

Chapter 114: He Is Actually Yun You Gongzi

Chapter 114: He Is Actually Yun You Gongzi

Although he had never been intimate with her on the bed, they seemed to have been close a few times.

Once, he took the initiative, but it was to punish himself, deliberately feeding her a mouthful of bitter medicine.

And a few other times… it seemed she was the one taking the initiative, either drunk or drugged.

And he just didn’t refuse. Just as he said, he was a man, and since she was taking the initiative, naturally, he wouldn’t pass up a freebie.

But the feeling of being fed medicine last night… if she wasn’t mistaken, then how should she explain it?

He, who was so afraid of bitter medicine, why did he feed her the medicine like that?

At this moment, Jiang Jiuchu’s heart, due to Shí Yan’s deliberate actions, finally started to form thoughts about it.

The sun hung high, and the sky was azure blue.

Jiang Jiuchu, in a moon-white gauze dress, sat gracefully before the *qin* table, looking at the full garden of flowers in the Bamboo Garden, and caressed the *qin* strings.

The *qin* music was deep and shallow, elegant and distant, drifting with the wind along with her swaying skirt. One couldn’t discern joy, anger, sorrow, or happiness, it all depended on the listener’s own interpretation.

The music stopped abruptly when a figure entered the courtyard gate.

“Seventh Sister-in-law, how refined! I heard it as soon as I entered the residence. I was wondering when Seventh Brother’s residence had acquired a musician with such superb skills. It turns out it’s Seventh Sister-in-law.”

Jiang Jiuchu stood up and smiled lightly at Shí Yuanchen, “Eighth Brother, you flatter me. Are you here to look for your Seventh Brother? He’s not here. He went out this morning.”

“Oh, it doesn’t matter if he’s not here. I’ll wait in his study.” Shí Yuanchen naturally knew that Shí Yan wasn’t there. The steward had told him as soon as he entered the residence.

“Alright, then go and wait! But I don’t know when he’ll return to the residence. I estimate that Eighth Brother won’t be able to wait for a while.”

Jiang Jiuchu thought that it would be best for him to wait in the study, otherwise, with Shí Yan not here, it seemed a little inappropriate for just the two of them to be in the courtyard.

Shí Yuanchen didn’t plan to stay long, but thinking that he had already come, he might as well take the opportunity while Shí Yan wasn’t there to steal a painting back, which would be enough for his expenses for a few months.

However, just as he reached the study door, he was stopped by Mu Huo, who suddenly appeared, “Eighth Prince, the master has instructed that you are not allowed to enter the study without permission when he is not here.”

“What? Seventh Brother instructed that? This Prince… isn’t doing anything, why won’t you let me in?”

Seeing his plan fall through, Shí Yuanchen immediately wanted to try again, “I’m telling you, this Prince has important matters to discuss with Seventh Brother. If you don’t let me into the study, where am I supposed to wait?”

“I’m sorry, Eighth Prince, you can wait in the front hall. Moreover, it’s not appropriate for Eighth Prince to stay in this courtyard when the master is not here.”

Mu Huo had heard from Mu Feng that Eighth Prince liked their Wangfei, so he not only couldn’t let Eighth Prince enter the study, but he also had to get him out of this courtyard.

Hearing this, Shí Yuanchen was a little unhappy, “I’m not an outsider. She’s my sister-in-law. Besides, wasn’t I planning to go into the study to wait? You’re the one who won’t let me in. Furthermore, you’re also a man, you can be here, so why can’t I, the younger uncle, be here?”

Compared to Mu Feng, Mu Huo was also quite eloquent, but facing Shí Yuanchen’s sophistry, he didn’t know where to start refuting.

After Shí Yuanchen finished speaking, he suddenly had a flash of inspiration and immediately turned around and ran towards Jiang Jiuchu, who was preparing to return to her room, “Seventh Sister-in-law, can you help me with a favor?”

“What is it?” Jiang Jiuchu glanced at Mu Huo in front of the study, knowing that this Eighth Prince had been stopped by Mu Huo, and she couldn’t do anything about it! After all, that Mu Huo was Shí Yan’s subordinate, not hers.

“Seventh Brother promised me a painting a few days ago, but not only did I come today and find him gone, but this guard won’t even let me in. Seventh Sister-in-law, can you help me get it?”

“Painting? What painting?” Jiang Jiuchu looked at Shí Yuanchen with some suspicion. No matter how she looked at it, this person didn’t seem like someone who liked calligraphy and painting!

“Ah! It’s not anything valuable, just a painting that my Seventh Brother painted himself. He has a lot of them in his drawer. Seventh Sister-in-law can just pick one for me.”

Shí Yuanchen didn’t know if Jiang Jiuchu had heard of Yun You Gongzi, so he didn’t plan to say it, fearing that if she had heard of it and knew the value of the painting, she wouldn’t give it to him.

Hearing this, Jiang Jiuchu was even more confused, “What do you want your Seventh Brother’s painting for? Is he a good painter?”

Shí Yuanchen had already said this much, so he had no choice but to continue making it up, “Well, he paints well, and the Emperor praised him a lot, so I wanted to copy it and also try to get the Emperor to look at me in a different light.”

“I told Seventh Brother about this a few days ago. I was thinking of coming over to find Seventh Brother today and take the painting away, but Seventh Brother is not here. Seventh Sister-in-law, please help me get it!”

“Alright, then you wait here for me.” Jiang Jiuchu thought that a painting was nothing much, so she would take it for him first, and tell Shí Yan about it when he returned to the residence.

“Okay, thank you, Seventh Sister-in-law.” Shí Yuanchen was happy in his heart. His money bag was about to bulge again.

Mu Huo didn’t know what Shí Yuanchen and Jiang Jiuchu had said, but he certainly couldn’t stop the Wangfei from going in.

After Jiang Jiuchu pushed the door open and entered, she walked towards the desk and opened the drawer beside it. As expected, it was filled with paintings.

She was a little surprised. She didn’t expect Shí Yan to actually like painting. She reached out and took a few out, wondering just how well he painted that the Emperor would specifically praise him?

However, she discovered that the paintings in front of her were not only well-painted, but they also gave her a sense of familiarity.

Before she could think too much, a few unrestrained and elegant words in the lower right corner made her pause instantly, her face filled with disbelief.

Yun You Gongzi, these were actually Yun You Gongzi’s paintings. No wonder they felt familiar, the style was exactly the same as the one she had sent to her father last time.

He also had Yun You Gongzi’s paintings. He must also want to learn Yun You Gongzi’s painting style, right? But why didn’t he get them mounted on scrolls? Why were they placed so casually?

Jiang Jiuchu continued to flip through the next one, but the next one was still Yun You Gongzi’s painting.

The expression on her face slowly solidified, and a guess was completely confirmed as she flipped through them one by one.

He… he was actually Yun You Gongzi.

Jiang Jiuchu took out all the remaining paper from the drawer, and also took out a few of the mounted scrolls.

After opening them one by one, without exception, they were all Yun You Gongzi’s paintings…

Looking at the paintings in front of her, she felt a burning sensation on her face.

She couldn’t imagine what kind of expression Shí Yan had when her father talked to him about how she obtained the painting.

He must have thought she was a liar at that time!

Now, recalling Shí Yan’s expression the night before, it was simply a look of watching a good show!

Jiang Jiuchu squeezed out a bitter smile at the corner of her mouth. How could she be so unlucky that she would lie in front of the person himself?

If she had known this, she might as well have said that the old man who sent the hidden weapon was real when he asked her which old man was real the other day!

Now it was all over, she couldn’t explain herself, and she had become a woman who was full of lies, which was really tarnishing her parents’ reputation.

Jiang Jiuchu sighed and put the painting back in its original place. After thinking about it, she pulled out one from the middle, rolled it up, hid it in her sleeve, and came out of the study. There were some things she wanted to ask Shí Yuanchen.

She walked to the stone table and asked Shí Yuanchen, who was waiting, “I’ve brought you the painting, can you answer a few questions for me?”