Bone Painting Coroner

Ji Yunshu and Mo Ruo chatted about other subjects. Perhaps due to his inebriate state, Mo Ruo squinted his eyes and leaned back in the rocking chair, using his feet to rock it. He started to speak, but his speech was slurred. “Actually, if you think about it, Jing Rong is quite pitiful.”

“Hm?” Ji Yunshu didn’t quite catch on what he said.

“He probably didn’t tell you that since he was young, he was actually raised outside of the palace.”

‘Raised outside? It’s the first time I’m hearing about it.’ She then attentively listened since this piqued her interest.

It appeared that Mo Ruo was the kind of person that would spit out the truth after some wine. He spoke not caring if Ji Yunshu was listening or not. “Born as a prince, with such a noble identity, he should have enjoyed a life of luxury. Unfortunately, some years ago, his imperial mother committed a crime and ended her life in the Cold Palace. Because of that, he had to shoulder her crime, berated by everyone and unloved. At that time, he was only five years old and had become unfavored by the Emperor. Thus on that very night, he was sent out of the imperial palace to be fostered at the Hanlin Imperial Academy’s dormitory until he was 17 years old. By that time, he was bestowed a king title which allowed him to establish himself and be independent. Yet, his title didn’t grant him much power in the imperial court, so his influence barely amounted to that of a small official.” His voice slowly decreased, becoming mere whisper by the end. He could barely keep himself awake.

He took another sip of wine. Judging from what he said, Mo Ruo felt aggrieved for Jing Rong. The latter was a prince, so why did he have to continue shouldering the sins of his deceased mother? How unfair! As for what crime his mother did, Mo Ruo did not broach the subject.

Then again, the most pitiful one in this world had to be Ji Yunshu. The original owner of this body had not only died of starvation, she was deprived of familial love, and her status was below a servant despite being a miss from a noble family. That certainly was really pitiful. However, who didn’t have a tragic past of their own anyway?

At this time, Wei Yi ran in eagerly while carrying with him a pot of wine. He went next to Mo Ruo and heavily put it down on the small table. “Your wine!”

It took Mo Ruo all his strength to open his eyes and stare at Wei Yi. Then, he laboriously got up from the rocking chair, dragging his feet in a half-asleep state. He beckoned Wei Yi, “Young’un, come here!”

“What do you want?”

“Just come over!”

Wei Yi hesitated a bit, but he obediently came closer in the end. Mo Ruo extended his arm and waved down, hinting at Wei Yi to bend down. Wei Yi did so accordingly.

Next to them, Ji Yunshu had her hands full of sweat. ‘Is he really going to make Wei Yi mute?’ She anxiously watched Mo Ruo reached for his head and lightly patted it in a very gentle way.

Mo Ruo lamented, “Little Wei Yi! Ah, little Wei Yi! If there is ever a day where you fully recover, don’t ever forget that the best things that happen to you in this world are always when you are ignorant, not lucid.”

“What do you mean!?”

“You will understand it… Someday… You will definitely understand it.” As he said that, he collapsed, completely drunk.

Wei Yi scratched his head, still not understanding what he heard. He then turned to Ji Yunshu and asked, “Shu’er, what is he talking about?”

Ji Yunshu stayed silent for a bit before shaking her head.

“He always likes to say incomprehensible things when he drinks a lot.” Wei Yi said and then used his leg to kick him. Seeing no reaction from Mo Ruo, who was akin to a dead fish, he gave up. He then turned around and lively ran away toward the other apprentices, mingling happily with them.

When they saw him coming, their whole faces couldn’t help but twitch. They should probably be praying the same thing in their mind – Great Ancestor Wei Yi, please play somewhere else and stay there! Unfortunately, Wei Yi had an endless amount of energy. He was energetic and enthusiastic. Seeing him so happy, Ji Yunshu felt relieved.

She was planning to return to the Rong Estate, but who could have known that Jing Rong would come instead. Beside him, there was only Lang Po.

Jing Rong’s expression was extremely stern and cold, accentuated by his sword-like eyebrows that seemed as if it was going straight toward his topknot, sharp and imposing. As he approached, his sight landed on the drunk Mo Ruo. In a neutral tone, he instructed Lang Po. “Bring Teacher Ji back first.”

“Yes!” Lang Po seemed to be much more serious than usual. He walked to Ji Yunshu. “Teacher Ji, I’ll be escorting you back to the estate.” Tension suddenly rose in the air.

Ji Yunshu looked at Jing Rong’s profile and saw his hard-to-predict expression that felt as if there was a thunderstorm brewing. She understood that something grave must have happened. Hence, she followed Lang Po out of Yuhua Pavilion without asking too many questions.

Upon returning to the Rong Estate, Ji Yunshu could not resist anymore and asked. “What happened?”

“Teacher Ji, please don’t ask.”

She hazarded a guess. “Something to do with the Qujiang betrothal?”

Lang Po was a frank man, thus his expression sank. He nodded. “In the past two days, the Emperor was selecting someone to betroth to Qujiang, and he finally made a decision today. When his Highness learned of it, he immediately went to find Young Master Mo.”

“So it has been decided? Who was it?”

“Miss Kong.”

‘Kong Yu?’ Ji Yunshu was shocked. So to say, he was worried about being wed to Kong Yu previously, yet how did she end up becoming the bride betrothed to Qujiang? The past two days had given her time to understand a bit more about Kong Yu. A miss born from a noble family, far from being pretentious, she was much more similar to the average girls from a common family. Although her family was the maiden family of Empress Xuanshu, it didn’t make them arrogant or despotic. On the contrary, they were very low-key.

They didn’t connive with the harem and didn’t meddle with court politics. Kong Yu was raised properly with virtue. She was neither pretentious nor vain. In fact, she was a rather good and honest girl. She never hid what she liked and didn’t have the habit of backstabbing people. Her main fault would be her stubborn personality which could be seen from how single-mindedly she loves Jing Rong. However, she was now 25 years old, and she was considered an old girl in this ancient time period.

Between the precious Princess Jing Xuan and the old girl Kong Yu, it wasn’t hard to see who the Emperor would send to Qujiang. In fact, it was a logical choice from the Emperor. According to the relationship of childhood friend between Kong Yu, Jing Rong and Mo Ruo, it was a normal thing for Jing Rong to go to Mo Ruo after finding out about the final decision. It seemed that this matter didn’t concern Ji Yunshu the least.

………

Meanwhile, Jing Rong sat next to Mo Ruo. One of the apprentices came in with a pot of tea. When he saw the imposing bad mood emanating from Jing Rong, he hurriedly left, leaving behind a cup of tea which was still piping hot to the point it was almost scalding to the touch. After a while, Jing Rong used his finger to ascertain the temperature of the liquid.

Splash! The warm content was spilled on Mo Ruo’s face.

“Hey!” Mo Ruo was roused from his drunken slumber. He used his sleeves to wipe his face. He vaguely saw Jing Rong sitting beside him. He slowly sat up and placed his hands on his knees. His brows were wrinkled into a frown with a face covered in gloom. “Are you crazy?”

“If you haven’t woken up yet, I don’t mind splashing you again, not with a cup of tea but rather a pot of tea instead!” His tone was cold and unfeeling.

Mo Ruo did his best to glare at him with wide eyes. He attentively observed Jing Rong and noticed that his friend was somewhat in a bad mood. Hence, he kicked Jing Rong’s thigh and asked, “So, what happened that made you show me such a stingy face? Did you look at yourself? You’re always like that. Remember, if you have too much anger, it will cause your blood circulation to be impeded. You will grow old quickly!” He stopped there, then looked at his surroundings. “The beauty left already?”

‘Seriously?! Couldn’t she at least say goodbye when she left?’

Jing Rong snorted. Then, he reverted back to his serious demeanor. “Imperial Father has decreed that tomorrow, Kong Yu will be titled as Princess Huiwen.”

“What?! They are going to dub Kong Yu as a Princess?” Mo Ruo asked, completely sobered from the shock.

Jing Rong nodded. “Hm! She will be married to Qujiang!”

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