Chapter 283
Chapter 283
Yelü Can’s proposal was undeniably tempting.
If he could truly keep his word, cooperation was possible.
But trust was the least reliable thing in the world.
Ji Yan’an set down his teacup. “Eighth Prince, why should I trust you? Even if we sign an alliance, how often have grassland tribes torn up treaties?”
Yelü Can looked sincere.
“Look at me. Do I appear ambitious?”
Ji Yan’an and the others stared silently.
Please.
Not even a dog would believe that.
Yelü Can clicked his tongue. “Fine, I have some ambition. At minimum, I want the khan’s throne, because it’s the only way I can survive.”
“If anyone else takes that position, my life will be threatened. Even if I don’t fear death, I don’t want those who have followed me at the cost of their lives to die.”
“I have no desire for further expansion. Words alone may not convince you, but Young Master Ji, you have no better choice, do you?”
“At least I promise peace once I take the throne. The others cannot. Every one of them longs to claim the Central Plains.”
“After all, it is so prosperous.”
Ji Yan’an knew that perfectly well.
“The Central Plains are prosperous, but whether the grasslands can seize them depends on their ability.”
“Still, your proposal does interest me.”
As Yelü Can had said, there were no eternal enemies or friends, but shared interests were dependable.
Ji Yan’an could cooperate so long as it benefited him and harmed neither Great Liang’s people nor its cities.
The two deeply calculating men began negotiating. They drank a great deal of tea before they were done.
Jiang Yunsui could not sit still. At first she understood some of their discussion, but eventually her eyes began spinning.
She could not follow it. Politics was too complicated for a simple-minded Little Mushroom.
She might as well find something else to do.
Jiang Yunsui leaned against the window and watched the bustling crowd below.
It seemed people were fighting in the restaurant hall, so she hurried downstairs to watch.
“Liu! Miss Chunyan clearly loves me! You seized her by force. Give her back!”
“Bullshit! I paid to redeem her, and Chunyan personally told me she admires me!”
Both men were clearly sons of wealthy families and had servants with them.
Their servants fought too.
The manager and waiters could not stop them.
The young masters fought like women tearing at each other’s hair. Equally inept, they resembled two weak chickens pecking one another.
Eventually, elders from both families arrived, dragged their own sons away by the ears, and cursed the other family.
It was wonderfully lively.
Jiang Yunsui watched with great interest.
Chunyan was a brothel woman, and the two wealthy young men had fought over her.
“How disgraceful!”
Many bystanders mocked them.
When Jiang Yunsui wandered back upstairs, Ji Yan’an and Yelü Can were nearly finished.
“We’re leaving.”
Ji Yan’an pressed a hand atop Jiang Yunsui’s head and guided her out.
“Ji Yan’an, listen! Just now in the hall…”
He was accustomed to her telling him everything and listened patiently.
Once on the street, she ran off to buy things again.
Though already full, she remained devoted to street snacks: sugar figurines, candied hawthorns, sunflower seeds, fruit, flatbreads, and more.
She bought a huge pile.
“Ji Yan’an, do you want some?”
He shook his head.
He could not eat another bite.
Jiang Yunsui happily munched a candied fruit herself.
“Huh? What’s happening over there?”
Seeing a crowd, she squeezed closer.
Ji Yan’an followed unhurriedly.
The bystanders noticed their fine clothing and fierce-looking guards and moved aside.
Somehow, the group found themselves at the very front.
A pitiful woman was offering to sell herself to bury her father.
She was quite beautiful and wept heartrendingly.
Ji Yan’an watched coldly, lowering his eyes toward Jiang Yunsui.
“Time to go.”
Jiang Yunsui acknowledged him but considered giving the woman some money.
“Here. Bury your father quickly. It would be awful if he began to smell.”
She gave only five taels-enough for a thin coffin and a few people to carry and bury it.
“Young master!”
As they prepared to leave, the woman lunged toward Ji Yan’an.
“Since you gave this servant money, I belong to you from now on.”
Jiang Yunsui stared in confusion.
Everyone else was shocked.
The crowd began whispering.
“Wasn’t the little girl the one who paid? I saw correctly, didn’t I?”
“Then why is she pursuing that young master?”
Ji Yan’an was thin but handsome, pale-skinned, dressed in brocade, and surrounded by servants. Plainly, his family was wealthy.
He was young, but engagements could begin around fifteen in this era, though men generally married later.
Nanshu pointed at the woman. “Are you blind? Can’t you see who paid? Your scheme is so obvious the abacus beads are striking us in the face.”
The woman’s beautiful, tear-streaked face aroused pity, and some men stared openly.
One immediately screamed like a slaughtered pig.
Standing on tiptoe, Jiang Yunsui saw his wife twisting his ear.
“Stare all you like! Am I not enough for you? Are wildflowers sweeter than the flower at home? Look again and I’ll gouge out your eyes!”
She spat toward the woman and rolled her eyes.
“This isn’t selling herself to bury her father. She’s some shameless vixen here to seduce men!”
Several men jolted and stopped staring.
“But you’re together. This servant is willing to work like an ox or horse to repay the young master,” the woman insisted.
Nanshu looked disgusted. “No, thank you. Bringing someone like you home would mean serving another ancestor.”
They were allowed only one Little Ancestor!
“Young master…”
Ji Yan’an glanced at her coldly.
“Nanmo, seize her and take her to the county office.”
Nanmo moved immediately. The woman panicked.
“Young master, what are you doing?”
Ji Yan’an sneered. “Your father looks like an ordinary farmer. Your family supposedly cannot afford a coffin, yet they raised a daughter with such soft skin?”
The crowd understood at once.
“He’s right. Her clothes aren’t fine, but they have no patches, and that delicate skin doesn’t belong to a poor household.”
The woman’s expression changed. She twisted free of Nanmo, drew a dagger from her waist, and lunged.
“Die!”
She stabbed at Ji Yan’an but was quickly subdued.
“Don’t take her to the authorities,” Ji Yan’an ordered. “Bring her home.”
Jiang Yunsui squeezed through the crowd holding the five taels she had thrown to the woman, her little face furious.
“I nearly wasted my silver! Liar!”
Ji Yan’an could not help laughing.
“Why are you laughing? Has your identity been exposed?” Jiang Yunsui asked.
Young Master Ji was publicly gravely ill. Why would anyone assassinate him here?
“Young Master Ji’s identity may remain safe, but Young Master Ji-the merchant-may have been exposed.”
Jiang Yunsui shook her head and gave him a pitying look.
“Why does everyone want to assassinate you?”
Every identity attracted killers.
He flicked her forehead.
“Show some respect.”
As Ji Yan’an suspected, the identity he used as a wealthy young merchant had been exposed to certain eyes.
Few people had ever seen the true Young Master Ji. Because of his poisoning, he rarely left home even in the Capital City. Apart from officials and imperial relatives, almost no one knew his face.
In Beizhen City, he traveled under his merchant identity and met only trusted people who kept his secret.
With a Truth Pill, they soon uncovered the woman’s identity.
She was an assassin sent from Piao Kingdom in Dali.