The General's Genius Daughter
chapter-38

Chapter 38: Teased

“Dad, what’s wrong? What is happening?” Ji Jing ran over and asked loudly as she clutched Ji Zhong’s robes.

“There’s something in our food. Dad, my brother and myself all felt unwell after eating the food here. Therefore, we don’t plan on staying here any longer!” Ji Feng said coldly.

They were all well-traveled and thus, they would naturally be suspicious after consuming food that made them unwell.

The Ji family was a well-known family across the plains of Changjing Kingdom. They had never feared anyone and didn’t need to worry about offending Zhou Zhicheng.

“Oh, Lord Medicine Saint, why would I think of doing such a thing? Furthermore… only your stomach hurts, therefore…” Zhou Zhicheng dripped with cold sweat. “Butler Wu, bring 1,000 silver taels as a form of compensation to the medicine saint!”

Zhou Zhicheng did not have the gift of the gab, so a large part of Dong Hai Restaurant’s rise back then could be attributed to Hua Qiyue.

“We do not lack silver taels. We’d like Boss Zhou to seriously investigate this matter. We want to know who put poison into our food!” Ji Zhong scoffed coldly.

Zhou Zhicheng hastily nodded and bowed. “Please wait. I’ll definitely capture the culprit and hand him over to my lords!”

Ji Zhong scoffed, then headed upstairs. Ji Feng walked over and asked, “Miss Hua, you’ve finished your food so quickly?”

“Yes, Brother Ji, if you’ve got some time to spare, shall we take a walk around?”

Hua Qiyue smiled and said without a trace of bashfulness, her eyes flashing brightly. There was nothing wrong with the food but the problem was that the food Hua Qiyue ordered clashed with the food the Ji family was eating, so they had come down with a slight case of food poisoning. This would teach Zhou Zhicheng a small lesson. After she settled the matter of Tianci, she would slowly exact her revenge on Zhou Zhicheng, leaving no stone unturned!

Ji Feng raised his brows and said, “Sure, it is my honor to be invited by Miss Hua!”

Ji Jing was very pleased to see her brother agree so quickly. After all, she was sure that Hua Qiyue was definitely an extraordinary woman and thus, she was willing to make friends with someone like her. She felt proud that her brother liked her friend for this meant that her taste was on par with her brother’s.

They had just stepped out of Dong Hai Restaurant when they ran into Second Madame and Hua Mengshi.

Hua Mengshi naturally recognized Ji Feng since he was the famous medicine saint. She had wavered between Prince Nan and the medicine saint but after one afternoon, she decided that her future husband would be Ji Feng.

This was because the Ji family was a famous family across the plains.

As for Prince Nan, he was only styled as such because the Emperor had bestowed the title upon him. His only family was his mother, so how could he compare to the Ji family?

She was stunned when she saw that both Ji Jing and Ji Feng were with Hua Qiyue, but she quickly hid her shock and approached them with a smile. “What a coincidence, Master Ji. I’m Hua Mengshi, nice to meet you!”

Ji Feng looked at Hua Mengshi’s beautiful face. She was dressed much better than Hua Qiyue in a pink dress and a golden belt tied across her waist that was so slim that it could be held in one hand.

Her brows resembled trimmed willow leaves, her lips were like cherries that shone with pink luster, her oval face was small and exquisite and her lips curved slightly into a bashful smile.

The beautiful peony in her hair enhanced the luster of her tender and smooth skin.

She was extremely gorgeous and countless men lost their hearts to her at first sight.

However, the surprise soon faded from Ji Feng’s eyes. “You are…”

He could not remember Hua Mengshi since 20 women had gone up to the stage and those 20 women were all young and beautiful.

Although those women were not as beautiful as Hua Mengshi, Hua Qiyue was still more gorgeous in comparison.

If Hua Mengshi was like a gorgeous peony, then Hua Qiyue was like a bright, cold moon, a white lotus in the pond. Her brows were like a painting and the natural innocent aura she exuded was not something Hua Mengshi could match up to.

“I… I am the Second Miss of Hua’s Mansion, Hua Mengshi. Sister, were you already acquainted with Master Ji? Well, why didn’t you introduce him to us?” Hua Mengshi deftly changed the topic and made it seem as though Hua Qiyue was trying to keep her relationship with Ji Feng a secret.

The Second Madame smiled and said, “Mengshi, we have already booked a private room. Master Ji, if you have some time, do you want to join us for a meal?”

This was most definitely an invitation and everyone around them could see that the person Hua Mengshi had her eyes on was probably Ji Feng since everyone knew that the top daughter of Changjing would typically not spare men a second glance.

She had even taken the initiative to approach him, which was a rare occasion indeed.

Hua Mengshi lowered her head shyly and Hua Qiyue almost felt like throwing up. Didn’t she feel terrible putting on such an act? Hua Mengshi had always acted so haughtily but now she had humbled herself in front of the man she liked.

The moment she lowered her eyes, it was as though she could charm the birds from trees and all the men who witnessed this sight felt their hearts race wildly.

“I’ll pass since I’ve agreed to accompany your sister on a walk. Second Miss Hua is extremely gorgeous and I’d presume that many other men would love this opportunity. I wouldn’t dare to take this opportunity away from the other men. Madame, Miss, enjoy your meal. I shan’t impose on you any longer.”

Ji Feng said with a smile and immediately headed outside.

Hua Qiyue was shocked. She thought that Ji Feng would have fallen for Hua Mengshi’s charms and didn’t expect him to reject the Second Madame’s invitation. He was truly an oddball.

Hua Mengshi stared at their departing figures and her eyes were full of Ji Feng’s gorgeous looks and voice but the woman beside him was Hua Qiyue.

Hua Mengshi’s grip on Surou’s hand tightened and her nails dug into her flesh. Surou’s face turned pale in pain but did not dare to utter a word. Hua Mengshi’s expression seemed calm but her grip on Surou tightened and the pain only intensified.

“The mistress had suddenly become very frightening…” Surou thought miserably.

Hua Qiyue, Ji Jing and Ji Feng happily spent the entire afternoon touring the capital. The capital was very big and there were quite a few beautiful attractions. Hua Qiyue herself had rarely toured the capital so this felt like a real eye-opener for her.

There was a fukugi tree at the southern part of the capital and according to legend, this tree had been planted a thousand years ago. This tree was now as large as a house and its bark was brown with many big and small cracks on its surface. It looked very ancient.

There were many strips of papers with people’s wishes hanging from the branches of the tree and these multi-colored papers carried the hopes of all these people. A stone statue stood in the middle of this tree. The stone statue looked like a girl but perhaps because such a long time had passed, the girl’s features had blurred.

Some people said that this was a fairy godmother and that if one prayed to her, she would grant their wishes.

“Tsk, I didn’t expect there to be so many attractive sights in the capital. I guess we’ll have to walk around a bit more in the future!” Ji Jing said excitedly as she walked in circles around the fukugi tree.

Ji Feng’s lips curved into a smile as he looked at his innocent sister. He then turned toward Hua Qiyue and saw that she stared at this fukugi tree in fascination, as though she was a three-year-old child.

This was the first time she had been here but for some reason, she had a feeling that she visited this place before many years ago.

Could this be the memory of the original owner of this body?

“Hey, isn’t that the dull-witted girl? Brother Yun, I guess she must have truly found a divine psychic who predicted that we would be here today!” A voice rang out disdainfully.

Everyone turned to see Huangfu Xuan, Yun Shimo and the others approaching them. Princess Mingzhu, Princess Huiya, and Princess Huiling were also part of their group.

Hua Qiyue knew the identities of those two women because of the imperial guards clad in black that trailed after them. These two women’s faces were both covered with light gauze, which was something that only imperial princesses would do.

Furthermore, when Hua Qiyue was competing on stage earlier, she had noticed two women who sat dignifiedly on the imperial side of the audience, so she guessed that it could only be the two princesses.

“Hey, Hua Qiyue, you knew that Brother Yun would be coming today, that’s why you waited here for him, right?”

Huangfu Xuan approached her and glanced coldly at Hua Qiyue, his eyes full of contempt. “You only beat Ouyang Liuer by chance. Hua Qiyue, you should run as far as you can in the future. Otherwise, you might even die without knowing it.”

Hua Qiyue blinked in surprise as she said, “Your Highness, are you expressing concern for me?”

Everyone felt like laughing when they heard those words. Hua Qiyue did not act like she had been insulted but instead twisted his words around, causing Huangfu Xuan to point at her in anger with his face flushed, “Bullshit! Of course not. Why would I show concern to someone like yourself?”

He had been Hua Qiyue’s fiance and despite the fact that this was a broken engagement but when Hua Qiyue claimed that he was concerned about her, it made their relationship seem ambiguous.

“That’s right, why would someone such as myself…. be worthy of your concern? I just can’t understand it myself…” Hua Qiyue stroked her chin naively, then her eyes brightened as she exclaimed, “But you were clearly showing concern for me earlier!”

Ji Feng alternated between feeling like crying and laughing and secretly scoffed at Huangfu Xuan. If he hadn’t treated Hua Qiyue in such a manner, Hua Qiyue wouldn’t be teasing him like this right now.

“You, you, you… I am not concerned about you! I’m just warning you that you might die without even knowing why!” Huangfu Xuan was livid and he was so angry that his face and ears had both turned red. Yun Shimo held him back and said, “Brother Huangfu, why are you wasting time on this person?”

The contempt was clear in his voice. Ji Jing walked over then and glanced at Yun Shimo. She scoffed as she tugged at Hua Qiyue’s arm and said with a smile, “Sister, is someone trying to bully you?”

Hua Qiyue blinked. “No, there isn’t. They are all showering me with concern but they are just too embarrassed to admit it!”

Princess Huiya couldn’t hold back her laughter then but quickly stopped when that earned her a glare from Huangfu Xuan.

Hua Qiyue truly didn’t like those from the imperial household, probably due to Princess Huizhen, but something unexpected happened next.

“Brother Huangfu, you must truly like Miss Hua, right? Is that why you’re concerned about her?” Princess Huiya’s eyes curved into a smile and she looked extremely.

Huangfu Xuan glared at her and wanted to retort but was held back by Yun Shimo. Ji Feng stared meaningfully at Hua Qiyue and thought that this woman’s acting was really great. She might seem dull-witted but she was most definitely not. She looked like she was spouting nonsense but in reality, no one could outtalk her.

She was really clever!

Ji Feng shot a small smile at the group and said, “Greetings, Your Highnesses, I’m Ji Feng.”

Princess Huiya looked at Ji Feng and felt that this young man looked handsome and carried himself with a natural poise. A hint of charm danced in his narrow eyes. A soft breeze blew and Ji Feng’s clothes fluttered in the wind, further enhancing his charm. Princess Huiya’s heart raced wildly.

She didn’t expect this man to look so handsome like he had walked out of a painting. This effect was the same whether she looked at him from afar or closeup. He was exceedingly handsome and his smile was charming and warm, unlike those imperial princes and young masters.

“Brother Ji, why have you taken an interest in this fukugi tree?” Yun Shimo was acquainted with the medicine saint, Ji Feng, so he spoke to him casually. As he spoke, he quickly glanced at Hua Qiyue’s face and saw that she still had that silly expression on her face.