Xie Yushu walked down from the Water Pavilion’s corridor bridge with Mama, when she suddenly heard the system’s voice.
Song Jie’s current Green Hat Value must be because Xiao Zhen spoke up for her.
If she really wanted to max out Song Jie’s Green Hat Value, it would be all too easy.
She turned back and glanced at the Water Pavilion.
From a distance, she could see Xiao Zhen and his attendant also leaving their seats.
It seemed Xiao Zhen was very anxious about the Jade Hairpin being made public.
Most likely, it was because Song Jie recognized that Jade Hairpin, and in the original story, Xiao Zhen had always pretended to be weak and sickly in front of Song Jie, a puppet little white rabbit who knew nothing of martial arts.
Being mistaken for a petty thief and humiliated was a small matter.
If his years of acting were exposed, that would be a catastrophe.
Now that she had such a handle on him, she was determined to have some fun with Xiao Zhen.
Xie Yushu withdrew her gaze and leaned on Jin Ye.
Suddenly, her body swayed as if she were about to faint.
“Missus!”
Jin Ye and Yin Ya were startled.
The leading Mama hurriedly supported her and, seeing her retch, quickly asked, “Missus, have you gotten heatstroke? Quickly, help Missus to the Western Side Hall and give her some water. I’ll go call the Doctor.”
A few people hurriedly and clumsily helped Xie Yushu towards the Western Side Hall.
Xiao Zhen hadn’t even left the bridge yet when he saw, from afar, several people supporting Xie Yushu toward the Western Courtyard.
Was she truly unwell, or just pretending?
He immediately wanted to order the Imperial Guard to seize Xie Yushu and retrieve the Jade Hairpin, but the attendant behind him whispered, “Master, the Song Prime Minister has also left the Water Pavilion.”
Xiao Zhen turned around and saw, under the blazing sun, Song Jie in full finery, leaning on Cang Shu’s arm as he walked out of the Water Pavilion.
Suppressed coughs came intermittently from behind, making Xiao Zhen feel irritated.
Song Jie cared this much about Xie Yushu?
The moment Xie Yushu left, Song Jie followed right after.
He didn’t understand—if Song Jie only saw Xie Yushu as a stand-in for Xie Jia Ning, why would he be so attentive to a mere substitute?
Even while ill, he stayed to attend the banquet for her, and now, still sick, he followed her out.
Why did Song Jie follow her?
Could it be he was going to find Xie Yushu?
Was he not afraid of being seen in private with a married woman and becoming gossip?
Xiao Zhen clenched his fingers.
If he sent the Imperial Guard to act against Xie Yushu now, they’d surely run into Song Jie, and with Cang Shu by Song Jie’s side, whose skills were unfathomable, his guards would stand no chance.
But he absolutely couldn’t let Xie Yushu meet Song Jie before he got the Jade Hairpin back.
She’d surely hand it over to Song Jie.
“Go and delay Song Jie,” Xiao Zhen ordered in a low voice, and quickly walked down the bridge without further delay.
The attendant acknowledged and hurried toward Song Jie with his head lowered.
As Xiao Zhen stepped off the bridge, he heard Cang Shu’s cold rebuke from afar: “Watch where you’re going, you reckless fool!”
“Forgive me, Prime Minister! I was ordered to search for the Fourth Prince’s lost Jade Pendant and got anxious, not watching my step…”
Without turning his head, Xiao Zhen made his way toward the Western Courtyard.
The Western Courtyard was planted with bamboo, and a vat of ice was set in the Side Hall to keep cool.
The Guogong Mansion’s Mama settled Xie Yushu onto the Beauty Couch in the Side Hall, instructing someone to fetch the Doctor while she hurried to get some iced drinks.
Only Jin Ye and Yin Ya remained to tend to Xie Yushu.
The two young maids were frightened, fanning her constantly and wetting their handkerchiefs to wipe her palms and forehead.
When Xie Yushu saw the Mama leave, she sat up from the Beauty Couch and grabbed their hands, saying softly, “I’m fine. I was only pretending.”
“So Missus was pretending.”
A man’s voice, laced with amusement, came from the doorway.
Jin Ye and Yin Ya thought it was another scoundrel harassing their Missus and turned to scold him, only to see it was the Fourth Prince, Xiao Zhen. Startled, they hurriedly knelt and bowed.
Xie Yushu also rose slowly, leaning on the Beauty Couch, and gave a perfunctory bow.
She asked, “Why is the Fourth Prince here alone, instead of at the banquet?”
Xiao Zhen didn’t let the two maids rise.
He just smiled at Xie Yushu, lifted his robes, and walked into the Side Hall, his tone ambiguous: “Naturally, I was worried about Madam Xie, so I came to check on you.”
Jin Ye and Yin Ya were so shocked their hearts pounded wildly.
How could the Fourth Prince say such things to their Missus! What if someone overheard?
But Xie Yushu didn’t seem surprised at all.
Standing there, fanning herself with a half-smile, she said, “If you say such things, people will surely misunderstand. The Fourth Prince and I only met once, half a year ago, and didn’t even speak—how could I dare trouble the Prince to remember me so?”
Xiao Zhen looked closely at her face.
She didn’t really look like Xie Jia Ning.
Though Xie Jia Ning was arrogant, she never had that mocking, disdainful smile that looked down on everyone.
He was too curious—where did Xie Yushu get such confidence?
“Though we only met once, you left a deep impression on me.”
Xiao Zhen spoke gently, “You look very much like a friend of mine. Seeing you is like seeing her again, so I wanted to visit and speak with you.”
His voice was unusually soft and enticing, his words ambiguous.
Jin Ye and Yin Ya blushed furiously, but their Missus only laughed and said, “Fourth Prince, are you trying to seduce a married woman like me?”
Jin Ye and Yin Ya were dumbfounded, staring in shock.
Xiao Zhen was also stunned, not expecting Xie Yushu to say such bold and direct words.
He sneered inwardly—how could a mere concubine-born daughter dare imagine he would seduce her?
He was nothing like Song Jie, who liked Xie Jia Ning so much he’d treat a substitute as a treasure.
But he wanted to retrieve the Jade Hairpin quickly, so he could only smile and take a few steps closer, lowering his voice: “There are some things I wish to speak with Madam about alone.”
He stopped two steps away from Xie Yushu, gazing at her with a seemingly affectionate look, and reached out to take the Zitan Fan from her palm.
Xie Yushu could clearly see the red rash rising from his Adam’s apple, spreading down beneath his collar like a burning cloud.
In the original story, he was skilled at seducing women—playing the victim to confuse and entice his stepmother, Imperial Consort Zhang, and the heroine Xie Jia Ning, feigning gentleness to bewitch the stand-in Xie Yushu, making all these women willingly become his pawns.
Now he wanted to seduce her, to trick the Jade Hairpin from her hand?
Xie Yushu smiled slowly and instructed, “Jin Ye, Yin Ya, go outside and see why the Doctor hasn’t arrived yet.”
What a frivolous woman.
Xiao Zhen lowered his head and opened the Zitan Fan, catching a whiff of fragrance as light and wanton as the scent on her body.
Jin Ye and Yin Ya obediently retreated outside.
The door closed softly behind him.
Xie Yushu took back the Zitan Fan and sat down in front of him, fanning herself as she said, “Let’s begin, Fourth Prince.”
Xiao Zhen didn’t react—begin what?
He was momentarily confused.
She leaned back on the Side Couch, commanding, “Is this how the Fourth Prince usually seduces women—so foolishly?”
Only then did Xiao Zhen realize she was telling him to start seducing her.
A surge of humiliation washed over him again—how dare she?
A mere concubine-born daughter, sitting before a prince, treating him like a male pet?
Xiao Zhen sneered, not wanting to act anymore.
He braced his arm on the Side Couch and bent down, closing in on her: “Madam said she found a Jade Hairpin in the West Garden. I happened to lose one. Why don’t you show it to me and see if it’s mine?”
“What a coincidence. What does the Fourth Prince’s hairpin look like?”
Xie Yushu’s gaze was fixed on his face, but the Zitan Fan in her hand lightly slid from his Adam’s apple down beneath his collar…
Startled, Xiao Zhen immediately grabbed the Zitan Fan and, in a fury, reached out to choke Xie Yushu’s neck, his face stripped of any disguise, cold as a viper: “Xie Yushu, you’ve got some nerve.”
Her slender white neck was caught in his palm, but she wasn’t afraid at all.
She smiled, looking him in the eye and asking, “Not acting anymore? With acting this poor, how could the Fourth Prince ever get the Jade Hairpin back?”
Xiao Zhen frowned deeply, suddenly realizing, “You knew that the person in the West Garden was me?”
If she knew, why did she dare strip him and humiliate him?
“I didn’t know at first.”
Xie Yushu lied without blinking, “But after hearing your voice in the Water Pavilion, I guessed it might be you. When you chased after me and appeared here, I was sure—the little thief in the West Garden was the Fourth Prince.”
There was not a hint of respect in her words.
So when she looked at him in the Water Pavilion and said those things, she was deliberately provoking him, forcing him to speak up for her and defend her in public.
Xiao Zhen, furious, laughed, “I never would have thought you were this scheming.”
“I never would have thought,” Xie Yushu retorted mercilessly, “that the Fourth Prince would have such a seductive figure.”
“Xie Yushu!”
Xiao Zhen had never met such a frivolous, wanton woman.
Even facing death, she dared to flirt.
“Hand over the Jade Hairpin, or I’ll let you taste the shame of being stripped bare!”
Xie Yushu sneered, “If you beg me nicely, seduce me a little, I might give you the Jade Hairpin. But if you try to scare me, I’ll just have my people give the Jade Hairpin to Song Jie.”
Xiao Zhen’s expression froze.
He hadn’t expected Xie Yushu to know his weakness so well.
How did she know he feared Song Jie seeing the Jade Hairpin?
What else did she know?
Did Song Jie tell her?
For a moment, a murderous intent surged in him, his voice cold as ice: “Xie Yushu, aren’t you afraid I’ll kill you?”
“I am afraid.”
Xie Yushu raised her hand to grip his wrist and said, “But I know you don’t dare kill me right now, because…”
Suddenly, outside the tightly closed door, Jin Ye and Yin Ya’s anxious voices rang out: “P-Prime Minister! Your servants greet the Prime Minister!”
Xie Yushu clearly felt the hand on her neck tremble.
She smiled, looking at the stiffened Xiao Zhen.
Song Jie’s voice came from just outside the door: “Where is Xie Yushu?”