Married to a Villainous Minister - Chapter 203

Liu Ziqi smiled gently at her. “Miss Yu, no need to be so restrained. Please, feel free to relax.”

His smile was warm and elegant, quite charming, in fact. Yu Jiao’s face flushed slightly, and she lowered her head.

During the meal, Gu Yun didn’t make any more inappropriate remarks. Perhaps it was due to their noble upbringings, but they all adhered to the old etiquette of “no talking while eating or sleeping,” making the meal unusually quiet.

When they finished eating, Gu Yun called for the waiter, paid the bill, and generously tipped him an extra coin.

The waiter beamed with joy. Although this young lord was a bit hard to please, he was generous with his silver. Bowing deeply, he said, “Safe travels to you, young masters and ladies.”

The group exited the restaurant one after another. Just as they reached the street, a woman nearby suddenly twisted her ankle and stumbled into Yu Jiao. Yu Jiao instinctively reached out to steady her.

The woman quickly apologized, “I’m so sorry, my leg gave out for a moment. Are you alright, miss?”

Yu Jiao shook her head and let go of her.

Gu Yun, who had been walking ahead, turned and snapped, “What’s wrong with you? Can’t you watch where you’re going? Why did you deliberately bump into someone?”

The woman looked panicked and hastily explained, “Young master, you’ve misunderstood! I didn’t mean to, my leg just gave out, I swear!”

Sensing Yu Jiao’s kind and gentle demeanor, the woman turned to her with pleading eyes. “Miss, I truly didn’t mean any harm. My leg just gave out, and I lost my balance. Please, forgive me.”

Yu Jiao gave a small nod, indicating she could go.

The woman thanked her profusely, avoiding Gu Yun’s gaze, and hurried off.

Gu Yun still seemed ready to say more, but Liu Ziqi held him back with a sigh. “You’ve been rather irritable these past few days. Now even a stranger on the street can’t escape your temper? I think we should have Miss Yu prescribe you something to cool your temper.”

“That woman was a pickpocket,” Gu Yun muttered as he flicked his sleeve, clearly displeased. “If she ends up missing something, don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he added as he turned toward the carriage.

Hearing this, Yu Jiao, though doubtful of his claim, instinctively patted herself down. To her shock, she discovered that her pouch was gone.

Yu Fuling noticed her change in expression and asked, “Don’t tell me you really lost something?”

Yu Jiao searched herself again, then rasped, “My pouch is missing.”

Yu Fuling looked worried and glanced at Gu Yun. She whispered, “Could it have really been that woman?”

Yu Jiao wasn’t sure. The woman had only lightly bumped into her, and she’d reached out to steady her. There wasn’t much contact. Still, pickpockets were notoriously quick. It wouldn’t be surprising if she hadn’t noticed anything.

She hadn’t carried much in the pouch, just a few taels of silver. But then she suddenly remembered that the jade clasp Liu Sanniang had given her was in there too. Her expression changed drastically as she looked in the direction the woman had disappeared but the street was now empty of her.

Seeing her reaction, Gu Yun stood smugly by the carriage and said with a hint of glee, “Little mute lost something, huh? Now you know who’s the good guy and who’s the bad one, don’t you?”

Liu Ziqi stepped closer, concerned. “What did you lose?”

Yu Jiao recalled how serious Liu Sanniang had looked when giving her the jade clasp. She had a gut feeling it was important. She hadn’t thought much of it while carrying it, but now that it was gone, unease filled her heart.

Hoarsely, she said, “My pouch is gone.”

“The thief seemed quite skilled. We should go report this to the perfect, maybe we can get it back,” Liu Ziqi said gently, seeing her dejection.

Yu Jiao bit her lip, angry at herself for being so careless. Her eyes scanned the crowd.

Gu Yun, still smirking, chimed in mockingly, “Still standing there like a fool? You think the thief’s going to hand your pouch back out of guilt?”

Yu Fuling, now clearly upset, snapped at him, “If you knew she was a thief, why didn’t you say so earlier? Why wait until she was gone?”

Gu Yun shot her a sharp look. Only then did Yu Fuling realize she’d just scolded the infamous Young Lord Gu and fell instantly silent, too frightened to say another word.

Gu Yun had only made a passing remark, he hadn’t truly known the woman was a thief. But now he puffed himself up and declared, “I did it on purpose! What are you going to do about it?”

Yu Fuling didn’t dare argue. She only grumbled inwardly.

Yu Jiao collected herself. As unpleasant as Gu Yun’s words were, they weren’t wrong. Standing there wouldn’t help. The thief had likely targeted her after seeing her walk with the richly dressed Liu Ziqi and Gu Yun, assuming she was wealthy too. They had been harder targets, so she was chosen instead.

She turned to Liu Ziqi and rasped, “Young Master Liu, please… let’s go to the yamen and report the theft.”

Losing the silver wasn’t important, but the jade clasp, she had to get it back.

They boarded the carriage and instructed the servant to head for the local perfect’s office.

Gu Yun, seeing her so distracted, scoffed, “It’s just a pouch. How much silver could it have had? Once General Xiao’s hand is healed, I’ll reward you with a pouch you won’t be able to carry it’s so full of silver!”

Liu Ziqi, more thoughtful, asked, “What exactly was in the pouch? If it’s just money, Miss Yu, there’s no need to be too upset.”

Yu Jiao was about to say it held a jade clasp, but she remembered what Liu Sanniang had said, it wasn’t something that should be shown lightly. So instead, she rasped, “It was something my late father left me.”