Chapter 1333 - 15: Maid
Shen Junshan’s voice hadn’t gone this high in hundreds of years.
Yun Chu told him her surname was Li, and told the Heir of Duke Chong her surname was An.
She glared at him with knitted brows, but spoke gently and pleasantly to the Heir of Duke Chong.
Obviously, what she told the Heir of Duke Chong was her real surname; with him she was just stringing him along.
If she’d lied to everyone he wouldn’t even be mad.
She lied only to him, and Shen Junshan just couldn’t suppress his temper.
Yun Chu had already forgotten that she’d told Shen Junshan her surname was Li. She had just begged the Heir of Duke Chong to help clear her name, and didn’t yet know whether he would agree when Shen Junshan came over and interrupted the reply. She herself was already full of pent-up anger.
Fortunately, the Heir of Duke Chong agreed.
As soon as her heart relaxed, Shen Junshan’s questioning came at her head-on.
Those eyes that were just about to spit fire left Yun Chu stunned. She said, "Is my surname that important to you?"
Zhao Qian Sun Li, Zhou Wu Zheng Wang—no matter which, they were all just thieves who stole his brocade robe.
Shen Junshan’s throat clogged; the anger on his face froze instead of dissipating and, all at once, sank straight into his heart.
Right.
Her surname wasn’t important to him at all.
So why had he gone off like a string of firecrackers?
"The surname isn’t important. What’s important is that you lied to me!" Shen Junshan said angrily.
"..."
Yun Chu had nothing to say.
He had searched the whole Capital City for her, forcing her not to dare stay at an inn, making her hide away in Ciyun Temple. Could she possibly tell him the truth?
Besides, she had been claiming her surname was Li to everyone.
She took her mother’s surname.
Shen Junshan guessed Yun Chu had no way to explain, and he didn’t keep digging, because he had something he was even more curious about. "What were you just asking the Heir of Duke Chong to help you with?"
As for the matter of Wenyuan Bo Mansion, the fewer people who knew, the better.
Yun Chu refused to tell Shen Junshan.
But anything Shen Junshan wanted to know, he always found a way to figure out.
Because Yun Chu wasn’t the only one who knew about it; Shangguan Ji did too.
Just as Shen Junshan had said, as an outsider he would give Shangguan Ji face, but this younger brother Shangguan Tong might not.
Shangguan Tong knew about Shen Junshan and Shangguan Ji trading blows in front of the Ministry of Justice’s prison.
Shangguan Tong knew very well how high Shangguan Ji’s martial arts were. Although he’d beaten up Shen Junshan, he had definitely held back.
The Sixth Prince had used a scheme to make Shen Junshan run into his fist and send him into prison, and not only did Shangguan Ji refuse to help them, he even interceded for him!
No one was supposed to bend over backward for outsiders like that.
Shangguan Tong went to the Duchess to complain, and the Duchess scolded Shangguan Ji a few times.
Shangguan Ji said, "It was Father’s idea."
With one sentence, he blocked all the words the Duchess had been about to say, leaving her so angry her face turned purple.
The Duchess could pick at Shangguan Ji’s faults, but she truly did not dare say that the Duke had done wrong.
But Shangguan Tong refused to reconcile with Shen Junshan. After Shangguan Ji tried many times to persuade him and failed, he could only give up.
However, even if Shangguan Tong refused to attend the banquet, Shangguan Ji still invited Shen Junshan to eat at Drunken Immortal Pavilion.
With Shangguan Tong not coming, it was just as well; Shen Junshan and Shangguan Ji got along splendidly.
After they had drunk three rounds, Shen Junshan looked at Shangguan Ji, his expression deep, his tone grave. "Regarding Miss An’s case, where do you plan to start?"
Shangguan Ji didn’t think much of it. After all, Yun Chu had been locked up in the same cell with Shen Junshan.
Shen Junshan had personally seen Yun Chu kneel to him, and he also knew Yun Chu had lied to him.
With Shen Junshan’s temperament, he would definitely get to the bottom of it.
He had expected Shen Junshan to ask, but hadn’t expected Yun Chu to be so tight-lipped and tell him nothing, or else Shen Junshan wouldn’t have come fishing for information like this.
Caught off guard, Shangguan Ji answered, "I went to the Ministry of Justice to read the case files. It won’t be easy to overturn the verdict."
Overturn the verdict?
Shen Junshan’s brows knit together.
Thinking of Yun Chu kneeling to Shangguan Ji, it seemed she truly had injustice on her, and wanted Shangguan Ji to overturn the case for her.
Shangguan Ji’s reputation was well-known; seeking his help was a wise move.
But he himself was at least the second young master of Jibei Marquis Mansion. Not only had she not come to him for help, when he had asked her directly, she had kept her mouth tightly shut!
Was she...afraid he’d drag her to the Ministry of Justice and hand her over?
Thinking of the conflict between them, Yun Chu guarding herself against him was actually understandable, and Shen Junshan felt a bit better.
He wanted to ask more, but just then there was a knock at the door.
The servant opened it, and Shangguan Tong walked in.
Shangguan Tong’s face was extremely sour; it was obvious he hadn’t wanted to come but had been forced to.
The Duke had learned that he refused to resolve his conflict with Shen Junshan and had given him a good scolding.
As soon as he came in, Shangguan Tong said with a strange, mocking tone, "To hear it, anyone would think the second young master of Jibei Marquis Mansion and my big brother were the real blood brothers."
He was twisting his words to say Shangguan Ji helped outsiders instead of his own kin.
Shangguan Ji didn’t get angry.
Shen Junshan’s temper, however, could not tolerate him. The more Shangguan Tong tried to rile him, the happier he felt. "Those words are music to my ears. It’s a pity I didn’t manage to have a fight with you earlier—otherwise I’d have become brothers with Brother Shangguan long ago."