Chapter 32: When the Person You Like Gets Angry, Coax Them Quickly

Ji Yunwei was furious. She rushed over and grabbed Ying Lan by the collar, demanding loudly, “Are you two insane? Who the hell are you people?”

Anyone would be angry after being inexplicably fed a Gu Worm, especially Ji Yunwei, who didn’t even know these two women!

Ying Lan frowned and swatted her hand away. She straightened her collar and said, “You don’t need to know who we are. As long as you keep quiet, this Gu Worm won’t harm your life.”

Their way of doing things was exactly like Jiang Chenbi’s.

Ji Yunwei’s brow twitched, rage surging to her head. With a flash of cold light, her sword blade was already pressed against Ying Lan’s neck.

“You’re asking for death!”

“Screech—”

The door behind her opened.

“Yunwei, put the sword down.”

Cui Wangshu walked out from the room, her clothes neat and her expression calm. There was no trace of the cold demeanor from moments ago.

Ji Yunwei was unconvinced but had no choice but to obey Cui Wangshu. She gritted her teeth, lowered her sword, and only then turned to look at Cui Wangshu.

Behind her emerged the other woman from the room. Earlier, she had only been seen in profile, but now Ji Yunwei could clearly see the woman’s face.

Vermilion lips and starry eyes, raven hair against snow-white skin.

Jiang Chenbi walked over to Ying Lan and extended her hand. “The antidote.”

Ying Lan frowned. “Miss…”

“The antidote…” Jiang Chenbi repeated patiently. Ying Lan shot Ji Yunwei a glare before handing the vial to Jiang Chenbi.

Jiang Chenbi tossed the vial to Cui Wangshu. A flamboyant smile hung on her sickly pale face, though it didn’t reach her eyes. Her tone was distant. “Lord Cui, hurry up and save her.”

With that, Jiang Chenbi didn’t spare Cui Wangshu another glance. She led Ying Lan back to the left side room.

Ji Yunwei sneaked a glance at Cui Wangshu. The air around her had turned several degrees colder, her eyes clearly suppressing a flicker of anger… and confusion?

Ji Yunwei blinked rapidly. By the time she looked again, Cui Wangshu’s gaze had already turned perfectly serene and cold.

Cui Wangshu handed her the vial. “Let’s go. Check the clay figurine in Yelu Narqi’s room.”

Seeing that Cui Wangshu didn’t want to talk more, Ji Yunwei didn’t dare to ask. She took out a pill from the antidote vial, swallowed it, and hurriedly followed her to the other upper room.

Cui Wangshu surveyed the room’s furnishings and walked to the clay figurine by the bed, examining it closely.

Ji Yunwei followed suit and looked around, but if she had noticed Cui Wangshu’s expression, she would have known that her mind was nowhere near there.

Cui Wangshu frowned, trying to drive Jiang Chenbi’s words from her mind, but she couldn’t.

She couldn’t help recalling how, after Ying Lan closed the door, Jiang Chenbi had coldly told her to let go. That expression was too unfamiliar and distant, her eyes like the cold snow of deep winter.

Cui Wangshu had released her hold and stepped back. Jiang Chenbi silently stowed the Nine Dragons Profound Iron Chain without a word. Cui Wangshu hesitated. “Did I hurt you just now?”

Jiang Chenbi didn’t speak, her face dark, her eyes brewing emotions Cui Wangshu couldn’t read. At that moment, the sounds of Ji Yunwei and Ying Lan arguing outside drifted into the room.

“Lord Minister, look—is there a tiny hole in the center of this clay figurine’s pupil?” Ji Yunwei’s tone was urgent, finally pulling Cui Wangshu’s attention back.

Cui Wangshu looked up. There was indeed a barely noticeable hole in the figurine’s pupil. Ji Yunwei suddenly remembered the needle mark on Yelu Narqi’s finger.

After telling Cui Wangshu about it, Ji Yunwei saw no response for a long time. When she looked at her face, she found Cui Wangshu lost in thought.

Recalling the scene when she had kicked open the door, Ji Yunwei pursed her lips.

The room had been a mess, weapons scattered on the floor.

Lord Minister had one knee pinning that flamboyantly beautiful woman’s thigh, one hand binding her wrists behind her back, and the other pinching her cheeks to force her mouth open.

It was a straightforward kiss laced with desire, nothing like her usual aloof and abstinent demeanor.

Cui Wangshu might not realize it herself, but Ji Yunwei, as an observer, had seen it clearly—that expression was unmistakably that of a woman toward her beloved.

Ji Yunwei couldn’t help recalling the woman’s appearance. She was indeed stunningly beautiful, but also flamboyantly so.

She reminded her of the flower peacocks kept in the gardens of those clan disciples during past investigations.

Noble and beautiful.

No one would believe it: the usually aloof and distant person had a lover who was as flamboyantly beautiful as a flower peacock.

Ji Yunwei knew that at this moment, Lord Minister’s heart had probably flown off to the left side room with that woman.

Ji Yunwei smiled helplessly. “Lord Minister, when the person you like gets angry, you have to go coax them right away. How will it work if you hide here instead?”

Cui Wangshu frowned. “What? The person I like?”

Ji Yunwei: ?

Wasn’t the point that she was angry?

Besides, had she guessed wrong? No, that couldn’t be. She’d read so many romance novels, and she’d seen Lord Minister’s expression clearly.

Cui Wangshu asked again, “You just said that I like her?”

Ji Yunwei tugged at her lips awkwardly. “Isn’t that right?”

Cui Wangshu fell silent, looking as if she were seriously pondering it.

A suspicion arose in Ji Yunwei’s mind, her expression turning subtle. She knew that people like Lord Minister, from prestigious families, often kept male and female favorites in their back courtyards after satisfying material desires, seeking stimulation.

In high society, this was commonplace and tacitly accepted—they even treated beauty jars as ordinary vessels.

But she still couldn’t quite believe Cui Wangshu was that kind of person.

Cui Wangshu seemed to have figured something out, her face showing apology. “Sorry, I have something to attend to. I’ll leave this to you. Be careful.”

With that, Cui Wangshu left.

Ji Yunwei finally breathed a sigh of relief. See? She knew Lord Minister wasn’t that kind of person.

Cui Wangshu knocked on the door of the left side room. Ying Lan opened it, stunned for a moment, her expression subtle—as if recalling the scene she’d witnessed.

Cui Wangshu said mildly, “I need to speak to your Palace Lord alone.”

Ying Lan looked troubled and was about to say that the Palace Lord was in a bad mood when she heard—

“Ying Lan, let her in. You wait outside.”

Jiang Chenbi spoke, and Ying Lan had no choice but to obey.

After Ying Lan left, Cui Wangshu closed the door. Jiang Chenbi was reclining on the couch, her expression languid.

“What does Lord Cui want with me?”

Cui Wangshu didn’t know what Jiang Chenbi was thinking, so she sat down on a chair, keeping her distance. “Why were you angry earlier?”

Jiang Chenbi’s chest rose and fell slightly, as if taking a deep breath or holding back. She finally opened her eyes to look at Cui Wangshu. “Who told you I was angry?”

Cui Wangshu frowned. Wasn’t she?

Jiang Chenbi seemed to have sorted out her emotions. She no longer felt distant and unfamiliar. A familiar smile curved her lips. “Can’t Lord Cui tell? I was jealous.”

That unreliable tone was the Jiang Chenbi Cui Wangshu knew.

Jiang Chenbi rose from the couch, a smile playing on her lips as she walked to Cui Wangshu’s side. She placed a hand on Cui Wangshu’s shoulder and leaned down like a seductive serpent, her breath warm against Cui Wangshu’s ear.

“I’ve been gone so long, and Lord Cui doesn’t care at all. Instead, you’re out drinking late at night with another woman and even staying overnight. Shouldn’t I be jealous?”

Cui Wangshu frowned. What was she even saying?

“That one is the Vice Minister of the Dali Temple. The Kang Kingdom envoy met with trouble in Tongzhou. She and I were ordered to investigate. Tonight, we’re staying here to check the room where the envoy lodged. Besides, we have two separate rooms.”

Cui Wangshu didn’t notice the urgency that had unconsciously crept into her explanatory tone, as if she truly feared Jiang Chenbi’s misunderstanding.

Jiang Chenbi’s fingertip slid over Cui Wangshu’s earlobe, her tone ambiguous. “Is that so? I didn’t know Lord Cui was skilled at investigating cases and capturing criminals. What a surprise.”

Cui Wangshu caught the mischievous hand, wanting to pull her onto her lap, but Jiang Chenbi didn’t budge.

Jiang Chenbi withdrew her hand and sat nearby. “Won’t Lord Cui explain?”

Cui Wangshu lowered her gaze, rubbing the lingering warmth on her fingertip. She explained, “I am the Minister of Rites. With the envoy in trouble, I bear unavoidable responsibility. Solving the case quickly is the only way to give the Kang Kingdom an explanation.”

Jiang Chenbi drawled an “Oh,” prolonging the tone. It was unclear if she believed it.

“Then why aren’t you investigating the case? Why come find me?”

Cui Wangshu pursed her lips, hesitating. “She said that when the person you like gets angry, you have to go coax them quickly.”

Jiang Chenbi’s lips curved upward involuntarily. She teased, “Is that so? Does Lord Cui like me?”

Cui Wangshu looked up, staring at Jiang Chenbi’s familiar, beautiful face.

Truth be told, she still didn’t know.

She just felt this emotion was unfamiliar. She’d never experienced it before. It wasn’t like when the Love Gu had controlled her, making her say strange things beyond her will.

She was clear-headed, so she could feel even more acutely that this emotion was different from any she’d felt before.

But she didn’t know if it could be called “liking.”

She just thought Ji Yunwei made sense, and she didn’t want Jiang Chenbi to be angry alone.

Seeing her silent, with confusion resurfacing in her eyes, Jiang Chenbi sighed inwardly.

As expected, she was still that cold stone that couldn’t be warmed. No wonder Wang Lao said her seven emotions and six desires were incomplete.

After the Love Gu had flared up before, out of concern for Cui Wangshu’s health, Jiang Chenbi had secretly dissolved half of it. So afterward, Cui Wangshu’s emotions were no longer controlled by the Love Gu.

She’d left the other half out of selfishness and possessiveness, not wanting Cui Wangshu to possibly like someone else.

Yet even with feelings stirring, she still couldn’t recognize what “liking” was.

After much contemplation, Cui Wangshu finally managed, “I don’t know, but… I kind of want to see you right away.”

This made Jiang Chenbi raise a brow. She reached out and touched Cui Wangshu’s forehead. “Amazing. Lord Cui isn’t feverish, yet she’s talking nonsense.”

Cui Wangshu: “…”

She’d finally found a phrase to describe her feelings, only for it to be dismissed like this.

Cui Wangshu didn’t want to say more. Whether Jiang Chenbi believed her or not, she’d said it and wouldn’t repeat herself.

What she wanted to know now was why Jiang Chenbi was in Tongzhou and why she’d come specifically to the Great Wind Inn.

Facing Cui Wangshu’s questions, Jiang Chenbi pursed her lips, her expression odd. She didn’t explain, only saying, “It’s about some matters with the Yellow Path Palace that aren’t settled yet. It’s hard to explain right now.”

Since she wasn’t willing to say, Cui Wangshu wouldn’t press. But seeing her unnatural expression, she found it strange.

Recalling her unfamiliar attitude after Ji Yunwei kicked open the door, Cui Wangshu couldn’t hold back. “Why were you so distant back then?”

Cui Wangshu thought carefully. The emotion in Jiang Chenbi’s eyes that she hadn’t understood at the time now seemed like the tension of a secret being exposed, but with something more she couldn’t identify.

Jiang Chenbi’s face stiffened unusually.