Chapter 019

Chapter 19: I’m Just Telling the Truth, How Is That Slander?

She truly had not known Ji Yi Fei. But she had heard of him. He was You Bing Yue’s number-one, obsessed suitor. Even though he knew You Bing Yue loved someone else, he still played the devoted guardian, willing to fight the whole world for her and give her contacts and money without question. In her past life, this man had often made trouble for Yu Jiao Jiao.

Seeing Ji Yi Fei’s reaction, everyone realized that what Yu Zhi Yi said just now had to be true, and their looks toward him changed. These days, who hasn’t dealt with a few spoiled brats? A brat only has to make a loud scene, and the adults feel they must hand over the toys they love. Even Du Zi Heng, the Chancellor’s Manor young master, had met brats he had to give in to.

With his neck stiff, Ji Yi Fei snapped, trying to save face: “What are you looking at? Those were just little trinkets, not worth anything!” Then he glared at Yu Zhi Yi and tried to steer it back: “Don’t change the subject. My small mistakes are not the same as you stealing someone’s marriage and beloved, right?”

Yu Zhi Yi looked at him steadily and asked in a level tone: “By stealing someone’s marriage, do you mean your mother knew your father had a woman he loved, so she broke up him and his first wife, and when that failed, she sent people to kill the wife, keeping husband and wife and father and son apart for more than ten years?”

The room went quiet for a heartbeat.

“You’re talking nonsense!” Ji Yi Fei exploded.

Du Zi Heng’s face darkened as he chastised Yu Zhi Yi: “What Brother Ji said is unpleasant, and you can be mad, but you must not slander his parents.”

Yu Zhi Yi pushed the bangs on her forehead aside. She had worn these bangs for an hour and still wasn’t used to them. Hearing Du Zi Heng, she chuckled lightly and said: “I’m just telling the truth. How is that slander?”

“Don’t think I won’t hit you just because you’re a woman!” Ji Yi Fei rolled up his sleeves and moved toward her. A few Yao clan cousins rushed up to block him.

Yu Zhi Yi did not flinch and spoke calmly: “Your father, Ji Cong Xin, birth name Ji Huai Li, is from Lingyang. He was born in the countryside, but he was clever and quick, with a strong gift for business. Since childhood he was betrothed to a girl from his village. They married when they turned fifteen, and the next year they had a son.”

She went on in a steady rhythm: “Your father was ambitious and didn’t want to bend his back over the fields all his life. After he married, he discussed doing small business with his wife and family. His wife and parents supported him. Doing business isn’t easy. First you need capital. The two families scraped together five taels of silver, and he carried that start-up money and his dream to Lingyang City.”

“He had a good head. He started small and struggled forward, and step by step he earned more than a hundred taels. With that money, after paying back his father-in-law’s family and keeping some as working capital, he bought a house in the city and brought his wife and family to live there.”

“And to mark buying his first house, one day when he was a bit tipsy he wrote a poem titled ‘On the Residence South of Ling’.”

Ji Yi Fei’s angry expression faltered. His father did have such a poem in his study, not hung on the wall but stored in a special chest for important things. As a child, he had opened that scroll once, and when his father found out, he had almost been beaten half to death. It was the first time his father had ever lost his temper at him, and it left a deep mark.

“But how do you know that poem?” Ji Yi Fei asked, stunned and unsure.

Yu Zhi Yi didn’t answer him. She continued in the same calm tone: “If the story ended here, it would be the rise of a man who was filial and loved his wife, a happy tale. Sadly, in the second month after the family moved to Lingyang City, your father saved a viper.”

She didn’t name the viper, but the way she looked at him made it easy for Ji Yi Fei to guess she meant his mother. He snapped back on reflex: “You’re the viper!”

Yu Zhi Yi ignored the outburst and went on: “The Pang clan is an imperial merchant family. The Pang eldest miss might not be as high as a noble lady from the capital, but to a small merchant in Lingyang, she was someone you could not afford to offend.”

“The Pang eldest miss met bandits on the road and happened to be saved by your father. From then on, she fell for him at first sight.”

“But your father had only his wife in his heart. Whether the eldest miss tried flashing her status to attract him, speaking gently of her feelings, or using threats and bribes, your father did not budge. To avoid her, he decided to take his wife and leave for a while.”

“He thought that if he stayed away for three to five years, it would be fine. A woman can’t decide her marriage alone, and even if the eldest miss was favored at home, once she reached the age and still wasn’t married, her family would get anxious.”

“But the day before he was set to leave, his wife and son disappeared.”

Yu Zhi Yi looked at Ji Yi Fei with quiet eyes.

He denied it on instinct: “Stop making things up! My mother isn’t like that, and my father has only one son, me!”

Yu Zhi Yi sighed: “I’m not done. Why rush?”

“Your father thought they’d met bad people and even suspected the eldest miss. But all the evidence at the time showed the eldest miss and her people had no chance to do it. She had even given up on your father and was preparing to return to the capital.”

“Your father searched for his wife and child for half a year with no news. Day by day, in despair, he grew thinner and weaker, his spirit drained. Just when he was about to break, a clue appeared.”

“An eyewitness saw his wife holding their son, leaving Lingyang with another man. They said his wife and that man were deeply affectionate, and the toddler who had just learned to toddle called that man Father.”

“So people pieced together a so-called truth: your father’s wife had long since betrayed him and ran away with her lover, taking the bastard child.”

“After that, your father sank into gloom for a long time. Your mother stayed by his side. Later, he was finally moved and married her. Soon after, you were born.”

“But the truth is, your mother never needed to lay a hand on anyone. She was the Pang eldest miss and had money. She didn’t need to use her own people. With a little silver, there are always those willing to do anything.”

Ji Yi Fei looked as if his whole world had cracked: “Impossible! You’re lying! You’re slandering my mother on purpose!”

He lunged toward her, but Du Zi Heng held him back and, frowning at Yu Zhi Yi, said sharply: “Say less. Aunt Ji truly is a good person. If you keep spinning baseless tales, don’t blame me for turning against you.”

Yu Zhi Yi stayed cool and answered in a level voice: “If you want to know whether I’m telling the truth, Young Master Ji can go right now to 18 Lin’an Street and take a look. You’ll find the answer there.”