USWHC -Chapter 46 The Ungrateful Wretch Who Can’t Be Raised (Part 6)

Zhu Jie pressed her lips tightly together. Looking at the coldness in Ji Yi’s eyes, she hesitated, wondering whether she should admit it.

“Yes, I do have one,” Zhu Jie finally confessed. She knew that since the two of them lived together day and night, she wouldn’t be able to hide it from him for long.

“Then why don’t you leave?” Ji Yi said coldly. “Even if you can’t leave Liang right now, you could at least go to the town and stay at an inn. You don’t have to keep hiding out here with us.”

“Because I can’t sell this hairpin yet! If this hairpin shows up anywhere in Liang, they’ll definitely find me and drag me back. You know I don’t want to marry that old man!” Zhu Jie gently took a white jade hairpin out from her chest.

Yes, it really was as thick as Sister-in-law You’s thumb—she hadn’t exaggerated at all. What she hadn’t noticed was that the top of the hairpin was also set with colorful gemstones, shaped like a magpie holding a bunch of grapes.

The hairpin had to be extremely valuable. Ji Yi could tell that with just one glance. It was definitely no ordinary item—likely something that an average person would never possess.

“Where did you get this hairpin?” he asked.

“I stole it,” Zhu Jie replied in a tiny voice, biting her lip. “It’s worth a lot, so I wanted to keep it for emergencies. I don’t know if you can tell, but it’s definitely not an ordinary piece. Pawnshops in Liang might not even dare to accept it, and even if they did, they’d probably figure it out very quickly.”

“Who are they?” Ji Yi continued.

Zhu Jie realized that Ji Yi’s mind was very sharp—he always asked the most crucial questions. But this time she couldn’t answer.

“I can’t tell you that. Really. At least not right now.”

“Why?” Ji Yi’s questions became more direct, sharper than before. “Is it because you don’t trust us?”

Zhu Jie froze for a moment and didn’t answer. Her silence was as good as admitting it. Yes, she was afraid that if they knew the truth, they might not dare to keep her here anymore.

“I’ll stay only until the weather warms up. It shouldn’t be long. Please—stop asking so many questions, alright?” Zhu Jie began pleading.

Ji Yi watched her lying on the bed, looking up at him like a pitiful little rabbit, eyes brimming with tears. His heart softened involuntarily, but he took the jade hairpin and examined it closely instead.

On the lower right side of the hairpin there seemed to be a tiny engraved mark, with several small characters carved into it. But the characters were so tiny that they were impossible to read with the naked eye.

Perhaps she was right—this item probably had a special mark. Once it entered the market, it would be easy for someone to recognize it.

As Zhu Jie watched him inspecting the hairpin over and over, she said quietly, “When a woman is popular for a while, men like to give her expensive things. This one belonged to one of our most popular stars.”

“Our most popular star?” Ji Yi looked at her in surprise.

Zhu Jie suddenly chuckled. “Don’t brothels always have a ‘top courtesan’? ‘Most popular star’ means the same thing.” Her smile carried a hint of mischief—even mockery—clearly implying something not very respectable.

A brothel? A top courtesan? A “most popular star”? Those words alone could stir endless speculation. What exactly was her identity? Ji Yi felt a jolt of shock. Could she really have come from such a place?

“Oh,” Ji Yi said calmly on the surface, and simply returned the jade hairpin to her.

Seeing that he only glanced at it without any particular reaction, Zhu Jie finally relaxed. A rural young man probably wouldn’t recognize such a thing anyway.

In fact, she was worrying too much. Even outside remote villages, most men—officials included—wouldn’t recognize a hairpin like this. After all, it was an item used by women.

“So… how did you know I had this?” Zhu Jie asked curiously when he stopped pursuing the matter.

Ji Yi answered expressionlessly, “My mother told me.”

“Your mother told you? Did she send you to ask for it?” Zhu Jie immediately grew tense. She had long suspected that Old Madam Ji might know something—or at least suspect something—because when they were in town, the old woman kept glancing at her and testing her with indirect questions. Zhu Jie had noticed; she just pretended not to.

“My mother told me to steal it,” Ji Yi said bluntly, much to her surprise.

Zhu Jie was stunned. “What? Then you—”

“I wouldn’t stoop to that,” Ji Yi said with a disdainful raise of his brow. It turned out he had just been bluffing Old Madam Ji earlier. Clearly, neither of them was particularly straightforward.

But now Zhu Jie felt nervous again. If Old Madam Ji knew about the jade hairpin, she probably wouldn’t give up until she got her hands on it.

“What are you going to tell her?” Zhu Jie asked.

“I’ll just say there isn’t one,” Ji Yi replied.

Zhu Jie hesitated. That might work—but would Old Madam Ji believe it?

“Could you help me with one more thing?” Zhu Jie pleaded again.

Ji Yi looked at her but didn’t respond. Zhu Jie took his silence as agreement and quickly leaned close to his ear, whispering her plan.

Ji Yi actually laughed when he heard it. “Aren’t you afraid they’ll get angry? Think it through—if you really do this, they won’t treat you so nicely anymore.”

“Tch. I’m not their real daughter anyway,” Zhu Jie said with a careless smile. “So I don’t need their fake kindness.”