When Ji Shijun carried Zhao Luoyu back home, the house was surrounded by officers and soldiers. The uneaten food on the table had been preserved as evidence.
Ji Shijun carried Zhao Luoyu back to her room and asked the maid, "What's going on?"
"That Brother Fuman insisted that he didn't poison the food and wanted to prove his innocence. So we went to the yamen and found a coroner. The coroner examined it and confirmed that there was indeed poison in the wine. He said that Brother Fuman had poisoned someone and he dared not hide it. He had to report it to the county magistrate."
Fuman was Ji Shijun's page boy.
"Where is Fuman?"
"He's been detained by the government."
Ji Shijun cursed under his breath, "Idiot!"
He had intended to let Fuman off. Even after knowing that Fuman had poisoned the food, he didn't blame him. He just told him to leave. But instead, Fuman rushed to get himself thrown into prison.
Just then, the coroner came out after finishing his examination.
People in his line of work not only had to examine corpses but also deal with cases of poisoning. They were always extremely busy.
"Sir, there is indeed poison in the wine. Fortunately, the amount is not large. Drinking it will hurt the body but not be fatal. But strangely, there was no trace of poison in Lady's cup."
The maid suddenly realized and said, "After you and the young lady left, I saw Brother Fuman alone in the room. I guess he changed the cup at that time. I stopped him when he tried to change the wine jug."
The coroner nodded.
"I've handled many poisoning cases. The murderers think they can be safe after getting rid of the poison. It's really naive. Sir, don't worry. We have a set of procedures for such cases. We will trace the source of the poison. We won't let the poisoner go, nor will we wrong any innocent person."
Ji Shijun nodded. He was physically and mentally exhausted after what had happened at home.
Since Fuman had brought this on himself, Ji Shijun didn't want to bother about him anymore.
Let the government investigate. It was Fuman's own fault, and he should bear the consequences!
Zhao Luoyu had suffered a great deal this time. Ji Shijun stayed by her side all night. The next day, Zhao Luoyu finally woke up completely. Seeing Ji Shijun lying on the edge of the bed, she reached out her hand and smoothed his messy hair.
Ji Shijun woke up quickly.
He opened his sleepy eyes. When he saw Zhao Luoyu, his expression immediately became tense.
"What's wrong? Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere? I'll go and call the doctor right away."
Zhao Luoyu grabbed his hand. "I'm fine, Brother Ji. Fuman... "
"Stop. You just woke up. Don't mention him."
Zhao Luoyu closed her eyelids tiredly.
This was the first time she had schemed against someone. In the past, whenever someone offended her, she would pounce on them, wanting to drink their blood and bite their flesh, determined to fight to the death.
At that time, although she was physically exhausted, she felt relieved in her heart.
But now, she had used her wits and strategies. Although her body had been poisoned, she had taken the antidote before drinking the wine. Most of her fainting was an act. But there was really a heavy stone weighing on her heart.
Not being able to have a good fight was really frustrating.
But Zhao Luoyu was very clear that since she had embarked on this path.
From now on, she had to be such a two - faced person.
Suppressing the little bit of guilt in her heart, Zhao Luoyu raised her eyes and put on a pitiful look again.
"Brother Ji, please let Fuman go, okay?"
"Let him go? He has hurt you so much, and you still want me to let him go?"
"But he's very important to you, Brother Ji. Without him, you'll be like a person without his left arm and right arm. Then what about your business in the future... "
Hearing this, Ji Shijun got even angrier.
"Who told you this?"
"Brother Fuman... "
Zhao Luoyu didn't make it clear, but Ji Shijun had already guessed.
"What exactly did he tell you? To make you want to leave and even risk poisoning yourself? What on earth is going on?"
Zhao Luoyu sighed and said, "Brother Fuman has never liked me. I know I'm a burden. I can understand why he doesn't like me."
"Did he scold you? Why didn't you tell me these things?"
"I didn't want to make things difficult for you, Brother Ji. I thought that as long as I was more obedient and well - behaved, Brother Fuman would accept me sooner or later. But I didn't expect, I didn't expect..."
"You didn't expect that even if you gave your heart, others still wanted to kill you, right?"
Zhao Luoyu turned her face away sadly.
Ji Shijun continued to ask, "When did you know that he had poisoned the food?"
"Before the food was served, the maid told me that she saw Brother Fuman acting suspiciously in the kitchen. I prepared the food myself. I could tell at a glance that the wine jug had been tampered with."
"Are you that stupid? You drank it yourself?"
"I wasn't confident that you would believe me, Brother. If I told you, I might seem like I was making things up. But this meal was bought with the token I sold, the one I shared with my sister. This was the only thing Luoyu could do for you, Brother Ji. I didn't expect to mess it up."
Ji Shijun remembered that token. It was a jade pendant. Zhao Luoyu had held it tightly even when she was seriously injured.
Now, for his sake, Zhao Luoyu had even sold the jade pendant. This was something Ji Shijun had never expected.
Hearing this, Ji Shijun was beyond shocked.
She had really given everything for him, but he hadn't protected her well. He hadn't even trusted her enough, which made her have to prove herself with her life.
"So you were heart - broken? That's why you drank the poisoned wine? How could you be so stupid!"
"It's okay. As long as you're okay, Brother Ji, Nian'er will be happy."
"Silly girl, don't worry. I'll believe whatever you say from now on. Don't do such stupid things again."
There was immediately a glimmer of light in Zhao Luoyu's eyes.
"Brother Ji, are you serious?"
"Yes."
Zhao Luoyu struggled to sit up from the bed. Ji Shijun thought she wanted to get up, so he reached out his hand to help her. But unexpectedly, Zhao Luoyu suddenly threw herself into his arms and hugged him tightly.
"Thank you, Brother Ji."
With the soft and fragrant girl in his arms, the faint fragrance from Zhao Luoyu wafted into Ji Shijun's nose. His hand froze in mid - air. Just as he was about to hug her back, Zhao Luoyu quickly pulled away like she had been electrocuted.
"Sorry... Brother Ji. I was too happy. I was rude."
Ji Shijun had been betrothed since childhood. The girl was a relative of his mother's. So his mother had always been strict with him and didn't allow any women around him, lest his cousin would be wronged after she entered the family.
This was the first time a woman had actively thrown herself into his arms.
And it was a woman he had a good impression of.
At this moment, Zhao Luoyu had shyly hidden herself under the quilt.
She was as cute as a little rabbit.
Ji Shijun's heart was pounding.
If before he had only felt a sense of kinship and taken care of Zhao Luoyu, at this moment, he was sure that he was in love with her.
Ji Shijun walked out of the room. The maid happened to be coming over with the medicine. She bowed to Ji Shijun to pay her respects.
Ji Shijun asked, "Which shop did Nian'er sell the jade pendant to?"
The maid told him the name of the shop. Ji Shijun nodded and walked out.
He had made up his mind.
He would redeem the jade pendant and use it as a betrothal gift for Nian'er.
He would make a lifelong promise and never leave her.
The maid pushed the door open and saw Zhao Luoyu sitting on the bed. Her expression was neither sad nor happy.
"Miss, I saw Master go out. I guess he's going to redeem the jade pendant for you. Miss, I think it won't be long before I have to call you Mistress."
Zhao Luoyu gave a cold smile.
This result was within her expectation. It was quite boring.
Ji Shijun had made his feelings clear, and Zhao Luoyu had also made hers clear.
She didn't like Ji Shijun, so she could scheme against him and use him without any burden.
Just like a dodder attaching itself to a big tree. The big tree loved the dodder and wouldn't drive it away, but the dodder didn't necessarily love the big tree.
She just needed a place to rely on.
Well, anyway, love was not important to her. It didn't matter who it was with.
Zhao Luoyu thought of Zhao Luoning and Zhao Luojing.
These years, they must have been very tired.
She had to take good care of herself and go back to help them as soon as possible.
Love was just an illusory thing.
It was family blood that was really worth caring about.