Because she was close, Lin Jin"er saw Miss Jun"s angry expression. Involuntarily, she paused in speaking, and astonishment flashed in her eyes.
It couldn"t be...
"What does he mean by seeing me?"
Miss Jun squeezed out this sentence from between her teeth, her anger spreading from her eyes to her whole face, while her voice was filled with resentment.
Anger and resentment were definitely not the same,
Lin Jin"er appraised Miss Jun"s face, then relaxed.
"I don"t know," she replied and lowered her head. "He just met with Xianglan outside."
Miss Jun suddenly realized.
"That"s what Xianglan told you when she came back?"
When Xianglan had whispered to Lin Jin"er before, Lin Jin"er wore a surprised expression.
This was a set-up.
She hadn"t thought that when Xianglan went out, she would go along with the Fang Family servant girl.
Of course, Xianglan didn"t" actually say that to her. In reality, she told her that the Fang Family servant girl had been with her.
But fortunately, Fang Jinxiu had taken her away, leaving Xianglan the opportunity to be alone, and up until now hasn"t returned.
There were no mistakes.
Lin Jin"er thanked Fang Jinxiu again.
"Yes." She nodded. "When he saw Xianglan, he asked her some things, and Xianglan mentioned that we were together."
Miss Jun fell silent for a moment while looking at Lin Jin"er.
"I told you that I was different than before," she said. "You should remember that."
"How mysterious," thought Lin Jin"er, but she nodded.
"I remember," she said solemnly and squeezed Miss Jun"s hand. "He probably just wants to ask you a something."
After saying this, she sighed.
"What"s there to ask. How could he marry a widow? Even if they had a marriage contract before, would the Ning Family or Fang Family allow it?"
She said this with an air of unease.
"Never mind. Don"t speak of it, let"s go."
Miss Jun did not move and looked at Miss Lin.
"Where did you say he was?" she asked seriously.
This question was within her expectations, but Lin Jin"er felt her own expression become somewhat uncomfortable. For some reason, she felt like when their caretaker was standing right in front of her and her sisters.
"What did you say was going on here?"
She would say something like that.
She didn"t really want them to respond, rather just reminded them that she knew what they were thinking, and telling them to think before speaking.
Lin Jin"er looked at Miss Jun, showing her hesitancy on her face.
"Zhenzhen…" She bit her lip. "In the fourth section, room seven."
Miss Jun gave her a penetrating gaze before walking away.
Lin Jin"er reached out to pull her back in alarm.
"Zhenzhen," she pleaded, "just let it go."
Miss Jun gave her a look.
"Now, it"s not nothing," she said with a sigh, then shook of Lin Jin"er"s hands. "If you are scared, then leave."
Such words would hurt a pure-hearted maiden. Lin Jin"er"s eyes sparkled with tears.
"Don"t you know how I feel about you? How could I be afraid; I"m just worried you will suffer," she said, choked with emotion.
"Suffer? Haven"t I suffered a lot?" Miss Juns said in a low voice, eyes flas.h.i.+ng with resentment. "Now I am like this. I"m not afraid of anything; there is nothing I can"t take."
Lin Jin"er bit her lip, seeming like she was making up her mind and grabbed Miss Jun"s hand again.
"Alright then. I"ll go with you."
Miss Jun smiled at her and nodded. The two people went forth, hand-in-hand, before soon arriving in front of a room.
Miss Jun paused. Miss Lin then sighed and opened the door.
The room was empty.
"They"re not here yet, Zhenzhen. You go in and wait; I"ll look around outside," said Lin Jin"er.
Miss Jun made a sound of affirmation before stepping in. As she observed the room, she smelt the intense floral scent.
Floral scent.
Miss Jun"s gaze fell on the plum flowers on the vase by the window, as well as a basin full of blooming lilies of the valley.
Lilies of the valley.
Miss Jun"s eyes flashed with anger.
Lily of the valley wasn"t anything special by itself, but its scent matched the scented tea with the added medicene she just drank. There was also tea on the table. Miss Jun looked, and although she didn"t try it, she could tell what it was
It produced a hallucinatory and arousing effect.
These girls would actually play such a trick. Did they even know what they were doing?
They were young, innocent, with powerful families. Not letting themselves be held down, they were ignorant and fearless.
Since their teachers and fathers did not teach them, it was up to her.
Miss Jun took a deep breath, then grabbed the door.
"Jin"er," she called.
Lin Jin"er had just turned around, but now turned back when she heard her voice, feeling a chill on her neck like a needle had p.r.i.c.ked her.
Miss Jun grabbed onto her and pulled her inside.
The attendant in the hallway caught sight of the scene, but he only saw a girl"s dress vanish in the doorway.
What the attendant just saw was two girls standing in front of the door going in. Just as he was going to turn away, he saw a girl step out from the room.
"Excuse me." Miss Jun waved him over.
The worker hurried to smile and greet her politely.
"What instructions does Young Miss have?"
"I want to play pitch-pot, how can I join?" she asked.
The attendant was surprised.
No way, this young lady wanted to play?
The Jinyun Hall had a special construction. Musicians played songs in the main hall so that every private room could hear it, especially right now in the silence.
The melodious tunes contrasted with the anxious atmosphere.
After all, no one came here to listen to music.
"Why isn"t anyone going up?" complained a young man. Then egged the person next to him, "Brother Chengming, you go up."
The one instigated smiled but did not move.
"Let Yunzhao do it. I don"t want to," he said.
Everyone looked at Ning Yunzhao.
Ning Yunzhao was brewing tea. When he heard what was said, he smiled.
"Are we looking for fame or profit?" he answered, looking at everyone around him. "Do we lack elegance or money? If you just want to play, we don"t have to do it in front of a crowd."
For them who had superior backgrounds and remarkable literary talent, playing pitch-pot was a past time for thirteen-year-old frivolous youths. Now, they were already seventeen or eighteen. Naturally, they would disdain from doing such things.
"Oh, that"s true. We"re already well-off; we should let people who need it have it," joked the friends.
These young men were unconcerned, but there were some people who were not.
Several girls were standing by the window.
"What is going on? Why isn"t anyone playing?"
"We haven"t used all our money yet? Is no one going to play?" they complained.
"These useless people. Were they scared off by our flashy style?" Zuo Yanzhi said in displeasure.
Ning Yunyan"s brows furrowed slightly.
That"s right, why was there such a long gap? Why was it taking so long to find someone? Could it be that no one had good enough skills to play?
Lin Jin"er"s couldn"t be this unreliable, could she?
Or did they play it too far, and Jun Zhenzhen was truly persuaded by her?
How could she be persuaded? Didn"t they drug her?
Or could something have happened?
While her thoughts were in a mess with impatience, she heard the drums outside.
This sound startled everyone to attention.
"Someone"s going on stage!" the girls shouted out in excitement.
One looked through the window, while one summoned the attendant from outside.
The girl by the window suddenly shouted in surprise.
"Ah, it"s a woman?"