The Humble Family's Daughter Has A Spatial Pocket! Chapter 784

Chapter 784: Chapter 670, You Came to Find Me_1 Chapter 784: Chapter 670, You Came to Find Me_1 Beijing's citizens truly celebrated the significant military achievements on the Northern Frontier for many days. However, the excitement did not last long, as it was suppressed by the Court of Justice's widespread arrests of members of the Eight Princes Party.

Zhou Residence.

Zhou Jingyun thought about how her mother had been unable to eat or drink lately, so she personally made two kinds of pastries and brought them to her. As she reached the doorway, she heard her mother's suppressed sobs.

“I heard that some officials have already been tortured to death by the Ministry of Justice in the interrogations… Master is a frail scholar… With such fierce torture devices at the Ministry of Justice, how can Master endure… Yet our family can't even come near the Ministry of Justice's doors…”

Hearing the intermittent words from inside the room, Zhou Jingyun's face instantly turned pale. After a moment of silence, she lifted her skirts and ran out of the courtyard.

“Jingwan, I beg you to help me.”

As soon as Zhou Jingyun entered Zhou Jingwan's room, she made as if to kneel.

Zhou Jingwan was startled and quickly helped her stay upright, “What's the matter, what happened?”

Zhou Jingyun hastily relayed what she had just heard to Zhou Jingwan, “Jingwan, the Minister of Punishments' eldest son and your betrothed, Peng Mingchi, are close friends. I'll accompany you to find Peng Mingchi. Please ask him to speak on our behalf, to let me enter the Ministry of Justice to see how Father is. Father has been jailed for over two months, and I'm really worried about him.”

Zhou Jingwan looked troubled. The marriage arranged by her family had been set without her consent. By the time she found out, the Peng Family had already formalized the engagement.

Subsequently, through the matchmaking efforts of her family, she had met Peng Mingchi twice, but they did not see eye to eye. After her second uncle got into trouble, her mother and aunt had taken her to the Peng Family, where she still remembered the cold and distant attitude of Madam Peng.

“Jingyun, even if I ask Peng Mingchi, he might not agree.”

Zhou Jingyun shook her head, “No, our family has been in trouble for so long, but the Peng Family has not broken off the engagement, which shows that he likes you.”

Zhou Jingwan gave a bitter smile, “The Peng Family's decision not to break off the engagement is not because of me, but because the Minister of Works was a former student of Grandfather. They're not doing it out of love; they just don't want to bear the reputation of being unfaithful.”

Zhou Jingyun said urgently, “Regardless, you and Peng Mingchi are engaged, if you go to him, he can't refuse to meet you.”

Looking at her teary-eyed sister and thinking of her uncle and aunt's care for her, Zhou Jingwan's heart softened, and she nodded, “Alright, I'll accompany you.”

Upon hearing this, Zhou Jingyun beamed with joy, “Jingwan, thank you.”

Just as Zhou Jingwan and Zhou Jingyun left in a carriage, a troop of guards came and surrounded the Zhou Residence, “By Imperial decree, from this day forward, the Zhou Family may only enter, not leave.”

Zhou Jingyun, who grew up in Beijing, had her own methods of gathering information. Soon, she discovered that Peng Mingchi was attending a poetry gathering at Yunhe Building.

“Jingwan, let's hurry over.”

Meanwhile, on the second floor of Yunhe Building, Peng Mingchi and several young lords and ladies were engaged in the poetry game of “floating cups along a winding stream.”

The youths were divided into two groups, separated by a folding screen, each seated along a curved water channel. Cups of wine were placed upon the water, allowed to float downstream. Whichever individual the floating cup stopped in front of would compose a poem, which was then critiqued by everyone.

When Zhou Jingyun arrived with Zhou Jingwan, the atmosphere was at its peak.

The reason was simple; someone had created an outstanding poem, and the crowd was enthusiastically cheering.

“The talent of Master Peng is indeed rare amongst heavens and men; I must copy down that last poem and relish it thoroughly,” said Du Qing from the family of the Director of Communications, not stinting in his praise.

To this, Peng Mingchi just smiled and did not react further. Just as he was about to send the cup back into the water stream for the next round, his gaze caught sight of Zhou Jingwan and Zhou Jingyun at the entrance of the building.

Peng Mingchi's heart leapt with joy and he was about to go over to them when he remembered the warnings from his parents and elder brother before he left home. Hesitating momentarily, he sat back down.

He actually quite liked Zhou Jingwan, a young woman who often seemed distracted and lost in thought. Though she had little talent for literature and her looks were not the finest among the Beijing ladies, being around her felt relaxingly comfortable.

Isn't home somewhere one can lay down all armors and masks after a tiring day?

He felt Zhou Jingwan could provide such a home for him.

He had thought that this year he would be able to marry Zhou Jingwan, but alas, Lord Zhou had gotten entangled in the Eight Princes Party case.

He had just learned from friends that the Zhou Residence was now being surrounded by guards.

Although he didn't know how the Zhou sisters managed to leave, he was clear about their purpose in coming to him.

Even though he wanted to help, he was powerless.

Moreover, given the special nature of the Eight Princes Party case, his family had repeatedly warned him that if they became too involved with the Zhou Family, their own family could also be implicated. He had to be responsible for his family!

Peng Mingchi forced himself not to look at the two figures at the entrance; however, Zhou Jingwan, moved by Zhou Jingyun's pleas, mustered her courage and approached.

Just as Peng Mingchi's peripheral vision caught the figure of Zhou Jingwan drawing nearer, suddenly, a pink figure blocked his line of sight.

“Miss Zhou, how come you are here?”

Du Qing looked at Zhou Jingwan with a prideful expression.

Zhou Jingwan glanced at her, “I'm here to find Young Master Peng, please step aside.”

Turning her head to look at Peng Mingchi, who remained seated, Du Qing gave a coy smile and lowered her voice to Zhou Jingwan, “Miss Zhou, one needs to be perspicacious. Can't you see that Young Master Peng doesn't want to meet you?”

Zhou Jingwan also noticed Peng Mingchi's reaction. She couldn't express what she felt in her heart; if she said she was sad, that wouldn't be true since she had no feelings for this man and had held no expectations of him since their engagement. But if she said she wasn't sad, that wouldn't be right either. He was her fiance, and now that the Zhou family was in trouble, his indifference was beyond cold!

Turning her head to look at her cousin who was on the verge of tears, Zhou Jingwan took a deep breath, thickened her skin, and bypassed Du Qing to approach Peng Mingchi.

But before she could take more than two steps, Du Qing blocked her again.

Zhou Jingwan frowned, “Miss Du, what are you doing?”

Du Qing, “Today's poetry gathering was organized by me. I don't wish to see some inappropriate people spoil the mood for everyone. Please leave.”

“Du Qing, don't go too far!”

Zhou Jingyun walked over, glaring at Du Qing with anger.

Du Qing let out a scornful laugh, then glanced around and picked up a wine pot nearby, “To join a banquet, one must bring an invitation. You can't come empty-handed to my poetry gathering. So, if you drink this pot of wine, I will step aside and let you see Young Master Peng.” As she spoke, she handed the wine pot to Zhou Jingwan.

Seeing Zhou Jingwan standing motionless, Du Qing provocatively smiled, “What's wrong, don't you dare?”

At that moment, other people in the crowd began to jeer.

Peng Mingchi felt uncomfortable and wanted to stand up to intervene, but his friend beside him stopped him.

“Do you really want to marry into the Zhou family? You should know of the Emperor's hatred for the members of the Eight Princes Party. It's over for the Zhou family. Listen to me, don't get involved. Let Miss Du drive them away. If you show any sympathy, they'll cling to you like a lifeline and never let go. When the time comes, you won't be able to shake them off.”

After hearing this, Peng Mingchi, who had half-risen, sat back down.

On the other side, Du Qing saw Peng Mingchi's hesitation and her brow furrowed.

She had always adored Peng Mingchi, but before she could express her feelings, the Peng family had arranged a marriage with the Zhou family.

She knew Peng Mingchi didn't like pushy girls. After pondering for a moment, she swept her gaze over to Zuo Meng of the Court of Justice's Vice Minister's family and signaled her to help.

Zuo Meng, receiving her friend's plea for help, immediately went over with some other girls. They looked at Zhou Jingwan with some aggression, “What's wrong, don't you dare to drink? This is not the right attitude for asking a favor, is it?”

The rest chimed in immediately, “Right, it's just a pot of wine, come on Miss Zhou, drink up.”

One of them grabbed the wine pot and tried to pour it directly into Zhou Jingwan's mouth.

Zhou Jingwan naturally didn't want to drink, but with only Zhou Jingyun by her side, she couldn't stop them and could only keep retreating.

The group of girls pushed and shoved each other, unwittingly nearing the railing.

“Ah!”

“Jingwan!”

No one knew who pushed Zhou Jingwan, but her body hit the railing, and leaning backward, she tumbled down.

This scene horrified everyone!

As Zhou Jingwan fell from the second floor, her mind went blank. Watching as the crowd on the second floor stepped back, she closed her eyes in despair.

Just when everyone thought Zhou Jingwan would perish like a fallen flower, suddenly, a figure dashed forward, catching her before she hit the ground.

“Younger Sister Zhou!”

The pain she anticipated never came; instead, she heard the long-missed voice of Brother Yan. Zhou Jingwan thought she was hallucinating, yet she couldn't help but harbor a vain hope.

If Brother Yan were here, he would never allow anyone to bully her.

Zhou Jingwan cautiously opened her eyes, and as Yan Wentao's face–filled with urgent concern–came into view, tears immediately welled up in her eyes. With a mix of grievance and surprise, she called out, “Brother Yan, you came for me?”

Chapter end

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