Chapter 153

Chapter 153: Why Is It You?

Hearing him, Yu Zhu froze and asked: “Wh-why is it you?”

“Why can’t it be me?” Gu Yuan Jia’s eyes shifted slightly as he said: “The princess consort went to the study and told the prince about you. I happened to be there, so the prince sent me. What is the matter?”

He did not say that he had volunteered.

Yu Zhu was eager to bring her daughter back. She did not want Gu Yuan Jia to go, but she had already troubled Sister Chun Zhi once and could not trouble her again. She steadied herself, bowed, and said: “Then I must trouble Young Master Gu.”

“It is only a trip to Qingyi Lane, hardly trouble,” Gu Yuan Jia said, lifting his folding fan. “Miss Yu Zhu, please.”

“Please,” she said, forcing herself to stay calm.

They walked together through the covered corridor to the gate of the Prince’s Manor. Because Gu Yuan Jia was going under the name of the Prince of Chang’an Manor to help fetch Yu Zhu’s girl, the steward had arranged the manor’s carriage and four guards to go along. The guards rode on horseback. There was only one carriage, which meant Yu Zhu had to ride with Gu Yuan Jia.

Before getting in, Yu Zhu hesitated.

“Do you need a hand?” Gu Yuan Jia asked, reaching out to her.

Yu Zhu did not dare let the great Young Master Gu help her up. She said quickly: “There is no need.”

She stepped on the carriage stool herself, lifted the curtain, and went into the cabin. Gu Yuan Jia looked at his outstretched hand, raised a brow, drew it back into his sleeve, and followed her in.

The Prince of Chang’an Manor’s carriage was large, yet Yu Zhu took only a tiny corner of the seat. When Gu Yuan Jia entered, he saw her sitting in the farthest corner. He sat down at ease and told the coachman: “To Qingyi Lane.”

“Yes,” the coachman answered. He cracked the whip, and the carriage rolled into the busy street.

The street outside was full of people and noise, which made the inside of the carriage feel especially quiet. Gu Yuan Jia waited a while, but Yu Zhu did not speak. He tapped his palm lightly with his folded fan.

They rode in silence. Soon the carriage turned into Qingyi Lane and stopped in front of the Ji family’s small courtyard. The Prince of Chang’an Manor’s carriage was grand, and the guards looked imposing. The moment they arrived, neighbors leaned out to watch the show.

Mother Ji was startled by the scene. She lifted the door curtain and came out to see what was happening. Yu Zhu got out first and stepped down.

“Why did you come back again?” Mother Ji frowned the moment she saw Yu Zhu and said: “If you must come back, fine, but why make such a big show of it? Trying to scare me?”

Before Yu Zhu could speak, Gu Yuan Jia lifted the curtain and stepped down. A refined noble young master with a fan in his hand, he came forward and said: “My surname is Gu. I am a guest adviser to the Prince of Chang’an Manor. By the prince’s order, I have come to invite the Ji family’s young miss into the manor to be the young master’s playmate. Madam Ji, please make it convenient.”

The moment she saw Young Master Gu, Mother Ji knew he was someone of status. She liked to flatter the high and step on the low, and she had been holding Nian’er to force Yu Zhu to come home on time with money. Even with her wages doubled, Yu Zhu was still a maid, with only so much each month. If Mother Ji could ask a large sum from the Prince of Chang’an Manor, she would gladly be rid of that little money-loser.

“Young Master Gu,” Mother Ji said with a quick smile, “it is a great honor for our Nian’er to go to the Prince of Chang’an Manor as the young master’s playmate. Only, once my precious granddaughter enters the Prince’s Manor, it will be hard for me to see her again. How much silver will the Prince’s Manor pay to have her enter the manor?”

Yu Zhu could not help cutting in: “Nian’er is only going to be the young master’s playmate. She is not being sold as a slave. Why should there be silver?”

“What do you know?” Mother Ji shot her a glare and said: “This is the Prince’s Manor. Finding a playmate for the young master costs a large sum.”

Gu Yuan Jia took a banknote from his sleeve and said: “Here are five hundred taels of silver. Please accept it, Madam Ji.”

“Five hundred taels!” Mother Ji’s eyes lit up at once. She took the note and checked the numbers again and again. It really was five hundred taels. She had never seen such a large banknote. If not for all the people watching, she would have kissed it.

“You cannot take that banknote,” Yu Zhu said, reaching for it, but Mother Ji tucked it into her bodice at once and would not let her touch it.

“I have raised my granddaughter all this time, and now she is going to the Prince’s Manor to enjoy good fortune. What is wrong with me taking some silver? What can you do with those little wages of yours?” After scolding Yu Zhu, Mother Ji turned to Gu Yuan Jia with a fawning smile and said: “Young Master Gu, please wait a moment. I will bring Nian’er out right away.”

Gu Yuan Jia smiled a little and said: “Thank you, Madam Ji.”

“You are most welcome,” Mother Ji said as she went inside and came out holding Nian’er.

Yu Zhu followed, hands out to take her daughter, but Mother Ji refused to hand the child over and instead offered Nian’er to Gu Yuan Jia, saying: “Young Master Gu, here.”

Gu Yuan Jia took the child. The little miss had seen him once before and seemed to remember him a little, her big round eyes staring up at his face. He had never liked children, but this little miss gave him a strange, familiar feeling. Smiling, he asked: “Your name is Nian’er, right?”

Nian’er blinked and made two soft sounds. She still could not talk.

“Yes, Nian’er, the character for longing,” Mother Ji answered at once.

Just yesterday, when Yu Zhu returned saying she would take Nian’er to the Prince of Chang’an Manor, Mother Ji would not agree no matter what, fierce as a fighting cock with its feathers up. Today, in front of Gu Yuan Jia, she was as obsequious as a lapdog, ready to kneel and beg Young Master Gu to take her along to the Prince’s Manor.

“Nian’er is a good name,” Gu Yuan Jia said. He teased the little miss, and she giggled.

Yu Zhu reached out to take her, but Gu Yuan Jia still held the child. Seeing this, Mother Ji even said to Yu Zhu: “Nian’er is blessed. Once she enters the Prince’s Manor as the young master’s playmate, she will have a good future. As her mother, you cannot help with much else, so hurry and give her a younger brother. In the future he can support Nian’er.”

“Enough,” Yu Zhu said, not wanting to hear more. She turned to Gu Yuan Jia and said: “Let us go back.”

“Let us go,” Gu Yuan Jia said, lifting his eyes to signal Yu Zhu to get into the carriage first.

Yu Zhu did not spare Mother Ji a glance and climbed into the carriage. Gu Yuan Jia followed with Nian’er in his arms. Mother Ji walked with them to the carriage and said with a smile: “Young Master Gu, take care on the road, and please treat our Nian’er well.”

Gu Yuan Jia did not answer. The curtain fell, shutting the sharp-tongued woman’s fawning face outside.

Yu Zhu closed her eyes, ashamed, and said in a low voice: “You should not have given her the banknote.”