Nonsense! She’s Not a Bad Woman! - Chapter 79

“Wanyan, is Yanran with you?” Joe Yihuan’s voice rang from outside the door.

Joe Wanyan ignored the visitor at first, but the next second, she heard Joe Yihuan speak again.

“Your Highness, Lu Jinye said Yanran was heading toward Wanyan’s courtyard. I figured she’d be here, so I knocked to check.”

Joe Wanyan furrowed her brows. The Crown Prince was also at the door?

Joe Yihuan knocked again, noticing the candlelight flickering inside. There should have been someone—so why did no one answer or come to open the door?

“Perhaps she was just passing by and didn’t come to Wanyan’s place. In the Apothecary Valley, she wouldn’t disappear for no reason, so don’t worry.” He Zhiyu’s tone was calm and detached.

For the first time, Joe Yihuan didn’t heed He Zhiyu’s advice. She knocked again, feeling as if some invisible force guided her hand.

“Wanyan? Are you asleep?”

With a creak, the door opened from the inside. Ziyuan stepped forward, bowing respectfully. “Your Highness, the servant greets you. Greetings, Miss.”

Joe Yihuan’s tone was gentle and kind, as if she didn’t care about any rift with Joe Wanyan. She treated the maid with equal courtesy and warmth.

“Ziyuan, has Yanran come here?” Joe Yihuan asked as she stepped inside.

Ziyuan instinctively blocked her path, heart tight with unease.

“Ziyuan, why are you stopping me from entering?”

Surely something was happening inside that shouldn’t be seen. Joe Yihuan thought this but didn’t rush in recklessly. Instead, her voice carried a hint of anxious curiosity.

He Zhiyu didn’t look inside either. He stood at the door, watching Ziyuan’s forced calm, which now appeared stiff and unnatural.

Something inside could not be seen by others.

Yunheng? No… he had already rested. He wouldn’t appear here.

“Yihuan, it’s late. Liu Yanran isn’t a naïve child. Go back and rest. You’ll see her early tomorrow.”

Seeing this, Ziyuan hurriedly said, “Yes, Your Highness. Miss Liu hasn’t come here. My lady is already asleep; I was about to extinguish the candles.”

Joe Yihuan pressed her lips together. “But Your Highness, this is the Apothecary Valley. I worry Yanran might lose her way.”

He Zhiyu replied calmly, “Don’t worry. I will have someone search around the capital to ensure you see her early tomorrow.”

Joe Yihuan hesitated, wishing she could enter to see what made Ziyuan so flustered. But the prince’s words reminded her that pressing further would appear childish.

She couldn’t let the prince think her impetuous or spoiled.

Joe Yihuan nodded. He Zhiyu didn’t hesitate and turned to leave, escorting her back.

As they reached the door, Joe Yihuan’s cheeks flushed shyly. “Thank you, Your Highness, for seeing me back.”

“There’s no need for thanks. Rest early.”

Joe Yihuan nodded. “You too, Your Highness. It’s late and chilly—best to return and rest.”

In Liuguang Pavilion, Ziyuan looked at the girl lying unconscious on the bed, contemplating what to do with her.

“Miss, should we just end it and kill her?”

Then Ziyuan hesitated. “But the questions you wanted to ask haven’t been answered yet. Killing her now would be a waste. And if we kill her here in the Apothecary Valley, it wouldn’t be proper to dispose of the body. What should we do, Miss?”

Joe Wanyan said, “Ziyuan, did you hear anything in our conversation just now that you want to ask about?”

Ziyuan shook her head. “I don’t understand what you and Liu Yanran were saying, and I am a little curious. But if you wanted me to know, you would have told me. If you didn’t, then it means I’m not meant to know. Why should I ask?”

Her mind was simple. She did whatever Miss asked. But with so much on her mind, even enjoying a big elbow of meat wasn’t appealing anymore!

Joe Wanyan smiled and pinched the soft flesh of her cheeks. “Good girl. Loving you hasn’t been in vain.”

In the scriptbook, Ziyuan had died for her—until her last breath.

Before dying, Ziyuan had held her hand, a sword piercing her chest, pain tearing through her body. Yet, she had smiled, saying,

“Miss, don’t cry. I’m fine, I don’t hurt at all. I’ll go below to see Master and Lady, and take care of them for you in advance.”

A wave of sorrow filled Joe Wanyan’s eyes. In this lifetime, she would never let herself reach such a state.

“People cannot be killed. I still have questions left to ask. It’s not convenient here in the Apothecary Valley. We’ll have to wait until we return to the capital to ask properly.”

Ziyuan said, “But Miss, how can we make Liu Yanran obedient and bring her to the capital? If she speaks recklessly in front of others, won’t it bring trouble to you?”

Joe Wanyan’s gaze fell on Liu Yanran, unconscious on the floor. “For the poor, you can tempt them with wealth. For those who lack nothing, appeal to their ideals and ambitions. For the filial, use their family as leverage.”

“But for someone like Liu Yanran, her own life is what matters most.”

Ziyuan’s eyes brightened. “Miss… you mean—”

Joe Wanyan’s clear eyes fixed on her. “What? Let me hear if what you think is the same as mine.”

Ziyuan pouted, and the spark in her eyes dimmed. She pressed her lips together, embarrassed. “I don’t know~ I was just pretending to understand to make myself look clever.”

Joe Wanyan’s eyes curved with amusement. Ziyuan said, “Miss, you’re teasing me again.”

“You stay here. No one is allowed to enter. I’m going to Tingyu Pavilion to find Yunheng.”

Yunheng felt that in all his twenty years of life, he had never endured such a night. Every time he tried to sleep, someone came to disturb him. Now, he wanted to drive everyone out of the Apothecary Valley—everyone except Wanyan.

Drive them all out!

So no one would disturb his sleep again.

And each of them was annoyingly rude.

A trace of irritation appeared on his handsome face as he stood at the door without opening it. “If you’re here to request medicine, save your breath. Disturbing someone at midnight is extremely annoying.”

It was because he hated trouble that he secluded himself. If not for Ah Yao’s reckless antics dragging everyone along, none of these people would have come.

Judging by now, these outsiders would probably wander around forever without ever getting in.

The wind rustled, then silence fell outside. Just as Yunheng thought his words had warded off the intruders, a faint, plaintive female voice sounded from the door.

“If you dislike me so much, then I’ll leave.”

Yunheng froze, then quickly opened the door. As expected, he saw Joe Wanyan’s figure leaving under the moonlight.

“Wanyan?”