Ji Ziyan watched her mother's eyes tremble, as if in disbelief.
The third madam, Yin Wenying, continued to talk to herself, "If you ask me, what couple doesn't bicker? Besides, the fault isn't with the Zhao family this time. It's already a blessing that the Zhao family can let bygones be bygones. With the Ji family in its current state, the Zhao family is your best destination."
Ji Ziyan felt an unbearable bitterness in her heart, but in the end, she lowered her head.
"I'm asking you to say something! I'm so worried about you! I'm telling you, you have to go back to the Zhao family. Don't learn those disreputable things from Zhao Jie'er. If you ask me, this whole incident was Zhao Jie'er making a mountain out of a molehill. No matter how big the problem, you shouldn't have snatched you back from the Zhao family!"
The third madam, Yin Wenying, naturally blamed Ji Zizhao. If it weren't for Ji Zizhao's impulsiveness, this matter would not have almost spiraled out of control. Fortunately, the Zhao family was willing to overlook it.
After her complaints and scoldings, the third madam, Yin Wenying, finally remembered to hold her daughter's hand and ask how she had been at the Zhao family.
However, Ji Ziyan remained silent, not saying a word.
Before long, the old madam and the madams from the other households came to visit Ji Ziyan.
Yet, Ji Ziyan still refused to utter a single word.
She slumped listlessly by the bedside, like a lifeless rag doll.
It was only then that the third madam, Yin Wenying, began to feel afraid. If her daughter truly had some lasting issue, perhaps she would never speak again. What if the Zhao family went back on their word and sent a divorce letter?
Upon hearing the news, Ji Zizhao hurried to Yan Yuan.
However, after carefully examining her third sister, Ji Zizhao knew that her third sister's silence was not due to illness, but because she herself did not wish to speak.
When the third madam, Yin Wenying, learned this, she was both angry and anxious.
But facing her daughter, who refused to speak, she was utterly helpless. All she could think about was the Zhao family not sending a divorce letter.
Ji Zizhao patted her third sister's shoulder, "If you don't want to speak, then don't. Just don't force yourself."
Originally, she hadn't expected to get anything from her third sister anyway.
To uncover the so-called truth would undoubtedly be to rip open the scar on her third sister's heart once more.
Therefore, she would rather investigate herself than inflict more pain on her third sister.
As soon as Ji Zizhao returned to Zhao Yuan, she saw Xiang Yin, who was by Ji Zixiu's side, waiting in the courtyard.
Xin Lan, thinking of the difficulties the second young lady had caused her mistress over the years, stared at Xiang Yin like an enemy, afraid that Xiang Yin would do something to harm her mistress.
Ji Zizhao knew Xiang Yin's purpose at a glance. After entering the room, she retrieved a medicinal bottle from the shelf filled with small porcelain bottles and then had Xin Lan hand it to Xiang Yin.
Xin Lan waited until Xiang Yin had left the courtyard before lifting the curtain to enter the room and help Ji Zizhao change clothes.
After helping her mistress to the bed, Xin Lan couldn't help but ask, "Mistress, what did you give the second young lady?"
Ji Zizhao smiled faintly, "Jiu Yu."
Xin Lan: "..."
What was that?
Lying on the bed, Ji Zizhao looked at Xin Lan's bewildered expression and closed her eyes without further explanation.
Xin Lan, consumed by curiosity about her mistress's words, blew out the candle and then found Qing Zhu, who was guarding the courtyard.
"Qing Zhu, do you know what Jiu Yu is?"
Qing Zhu frowned, "Where did you hear that from?"
Xin Lan lowered her voice, "It was the mistress who gave it to the second young lady."
Qing Zhu fell silent.
Jiu Yu was a relatively common soft bone poison.
However, unlike other soft bone poisons, once afflicted with Jiu Yu, a person would instantly become weak and powerless. To completely expel Jiu Yu from the body, one had to control their mind and body, achieve a state of utter tranquility with no extraneous thoughts, and then they could heal themselves without medicine. If they did the opposite, all the bones in their body would ache incessantly under the poison of Jiu Yu, causing pain akin to peeling skin and scraping bone. This is from the Su Dan novel website.
With this thought, Qing Zhu's furrowed brow relaxed.
It was clear that the mistress intended to temper the second young lady's temperament.
Among all the young daughters of the Ji family, only the second young lady's martial arts skills had been directly passed down from her grandfather.
However, the second young lady had a fiery temper and was restless, making it difficult for her to achieve great things.
The mistress, having seen through the second young lady's temper, intended to temper her in secret.
But Qing Zhu was very curious. Given the second young lady's hostility towards her mistress, she wouldn't obediently comply. How did the mistress manage to make her so humbly accept guidance?
As expected, news soon came from Xiu Yuan.
It was said that...
The second young lady had fainted yet again.
Qing Zhu knew that this time the second young lady had likely fainted from the pain...
The night passed quickly.
The next day, as soon as dawn broke, Ji Zizhao got up and stretched her limbs in the courtyard.
By the time the first madam, Lin Wanyun, arrived, Ji Zizhao and Qing Zhu had already exchanged nearly a hundred moves.
The first madam, Lin Wanyun, looked at her daughter, who was covered in sweat, with great concern. She quickly pulled Ji Zizhao into the house, "I never saw you work so hard before. Why have you suddenly decided to practice martial arts?"
Ji Zizhao had indeed not practiced martial arts in this life, but she had never forgotten what she had learned in her previous life, and had been practicing in secret all these years.
"It's just to strengthen my body," Ji Zizhao said as she walked with her mother towards the house. Her dark eyes swept towards Yong Mei, who was guarding the entrance.
Yong Mei guiltily lowered her head, not daring to meet Ji Zizhao's gaze.
As soon as they entered, the first madam, Lin Wanyun, seeing that they were alone, said with a delighted expression, "Today, you should prepare yourself well. The Fifth Prince sent someone to find Yong Mei and said he wanted to meet you at Hong Fu Lou at noon. You can also take the return gift I prepared for you that day."
Ji Zizhao's heart turned cold.
If the Fifth Prince had sent a servant to deliver the message, the news would have come from the gate. But now, Yong Mei had gone directly to her mother...
It was obvious that someone in the Ji family was still secretly in contact with Yong Mei to help the Fifth Prince.
She hadn't expected the Fifth Prince's influence to have extended so far.
With such malicious intentions, it was likely that the Fifth Prince had long been targeting the Ji family.
Ji Zizhao calmly suppressed the rising anger in her heart and nodded, "Don't worry, Mother."
The first madam, Lin Wanyun, was surprised that her daughter agreed so readily. She thought Ji Zizhao had come to terms with things, "It's best that you've come to terms with it. You've done your best regarding the Zhao family matter. Now that your third aunt is taking care of Yan Jie'er, you don't need to worry so much."
Every time Ji Zizhao heard the name "Fifth Prince" now, she felt a nauseating urge to vomit. She almost suppressed the waves of nausea that surged in her heart before sending her mother out.
When Qing Zhu entered, she saw Ji Zizhao with a cold expression. "Mistress, are you feeling unwell?"
Ji Zizhao shook her head and walked a few steps to the window. She saw Yong Mei solicitously escorting her mother out.
"I didn't expect there to be a traitor in my courtyard," Ji Zizhao said with a half-smile, looking at Yong Mei's retreating back. In fact, she should be glad for the Fifth Prince's existence, otherwise she wouldn't have known that Yong Mei had such ambitious and greedy intentions.
Qing Zhu immediately understood, "Does the servant need to discipline Yong Mei?"
Ji Zizhao's smile remained, but her gaze was extremely cold, "Such a back-stabbing wretch would dirty my hands if touched. Since the Fifth Prince is so eager to win Yong Mei over, there's no need for us to waste our effort disciplining a servant."
Qing Zhu saw the glint in her mistress's eyes and understood.
It was likely that the mistress had given up on Yong Mei.