Yun Jinnian turned his head to look at Chu Yu and started to laugh.
His act was quite convincing.
Chu Yu also laughed along and stealthily moved closer to Yun Jinnian, "Say it!"
"Nothing much, just calling you to see if you’d dare to respond!" said Yun Jinnian, covering her lips and chuckling softly.
Chu Yu was momentarily stunned but then laughed along as well.
He thought that soon, when Yun Jinnian reached the age of marriage, he would be able to officially ask for her hand in marriage.
It seemed better to prepare the betrothal gifts earlier.
When Chu Lilan came outside, she saw Yun Jinnian and Chu Yu standing quite close and immediately felt that Yun Jinnian was seducing Chu Yu.
Chu Lilan called out cheerfully but softly.
She glanced at Yun Jinnian. "Princess Yijia, I really am sorry for earlier!"
Yun Jinnian just smiled.
Chu Yu then asked, "What happened earlier?"
"Nothing much, Cousin, I and Princess Yijia are on good terms!" Chu Lilan hastened to explain.
"Really?" asked Chu Yu, looking at Chu Lilan and then turning his gaze towards Yun Jinnian.
Yun Jinnian smiled slightly, "Indeed, we are!"
She definitely would not openly offend Chu Lilan at this time.
Seeing how arrogantly she had rebuked Mrs. Dai, it was clear this girl was not known for her generous spirit.
She would likely be extremely arrogant in her husband’s family as well.
Chu Yu did not pursue the matter further.
To Chu Lilan, he said, "Princess Yijia is my lifesaver, as well as the lifesaver of little Agen; don’t you bully her!"
"I know, Cousin, don’t worry!" said Chu Lilan, stepping forward to hook Yun Jinnian’s arm and flashing a very fake smile.
But no one called her out on it.
Chu Lilan was jealous of Yun Jinnian; her dowry was generous yet all her properties were outside Capital City, some even too far to visit in a lifetime.
She only had one residence in Capital City, and it was just a four-section compound.
Meanwhile, Yun Jinnian had three large five-section mansions, with a small mountain behind each. At this point, she was the unmarried girl in Capital City with the most silver.
Chu Lilan also wanted a five-section mansion, but her mother said there were several illegitimate daughters to marry off, along with illegitimate sons needing wives, her second brother was to marry, and her younger sister also needed to be married off.
Homes for the illegitimate members could be modest, but her mother definitely would not short-change her second brother and younger sister, so she had to swallow this indignation.
Agen’s first bout with the poison passed without much suffering and he fell back asleep.
Mrs. Dai rocked him gently, comforting him in a soft voice.
Yun Jinnian was in the adjacent small hall having dinner, accompanied by Chu Lilan, while Chu Yu had gone to the front courtyard to join Prince Zhong and his brothers, Chu Xinhuan and Chu Xinkai, to eat and discuss how to catch the mastermind behind the scenes.
This person surely had a lot of nerve, targeting a child this cruelly.
After dinner, the tired Yun Jinnian took a bath, changed her clothes, and when her hair dried, she did her hair bun and made sure everything was tidy before heading to little Agen’s room.
Hearing the low voices of conversation inside, Yun Jinnian entered and saw that apart from Chu Lilan, there were two other girls inside.
"Are you Princess Yijia?" the girl in pink softly asked as she stepped forward.
Yun Jinnian nodded, greeting her with a slight bow.
Chu Lixiu also bowed to Yun Jinnian in greeting.
Chu Lilan quickly said, "This is my second sister, Lixiu!" and pulled the beautiful girl in white towards Yun Jinnian, "And this is my cousin Shuyuan; she is well known for her literary talents!"
Miss Shuyuan, coming from a family whose maternal lineage bore the surname Wa, quickly bowed to Yun Jinnian, "Greetings to Princess Yijia!"
Although Wa Shuyuan was a renowned talent in Capital City, she did not have a title and thus it was proper for her to show respect to Yun Jinnian.