“Calm… down.”
The words came out fragmented, barely audible, as sobbing echoed throughout the guest room. Jiang Wangshu was clearly startled by this version of Shen Qing; she had never seen her lose her rationality like this.
Since reuniting with Shen Qing, she had become aware of the other woman’s paranoia and possessiveness, but as long as she expressed her reluctance, Shen Qing would ultimately yield in sadness. Yet tonight was entirely different. Her gaze was morbid, mirroring the nickname “Little Madwoman” that her social circle had given her before she left Haicheng.
Friends had once warned her that Shen Qing was a wolf in sheep’s clothing who only played the part of the good girl in front of her. They warned that if the day ever came when she could no longer keep this mad dog on a leash, she might suffer a devastating backlash.
But Jiang Wangshu had always refused to believe it. She had raised Shen Qing; she knew her better than anyone. Just like tonight, she wasn’t afraid; instead, she believed Shen Qing must have been triggered by something.
During her studies, she had taken a minor in psychology, intending to communicate more effectively with patients. She never expected to use that knowledge to recognize the abnormality of Shen Qing’s current state.
Jiang Wangshu had already given in to Shen Qing’s wandering hands, attempting to soothe the woman who refused to listen. “Be… a good girl.”
Even if it were true, as Shen Qing claimed, that she and Xuan Zhi were not a couple, she still didn’t understand why Xuan Zhi would be willing to cooperate with Shen Qing to complete today’s engagement ceremony.
Perhaps it was for profit, but Jiang Wangshu did not want to ruin their cooperation because of herself. Moreover, they were at the Xuan residence; how did Shen Qing dare to be so ambiguously intimate with her here?
Jiang Wangshu’s conscience was plagued by guilt, but no matter how much she tried to soothe her, Shen Qing refused to let her go.
Her voice was broken and fragmented; she hadn’t expected Shen Qing to have so many tricks up her sleeve.
She tried to escape, sliding off the bed. Without stopping to put on her shoes, she attempted to flee, only for Shen Qing to seize her wrist. With a sharp tug, she was pulled back into an embrace and pressed forcefully against the window.
Outside the massive floor-to-ceiling window lay the Xuan family’s back garden. The vast clusters of roses were dazzling in the night. A sudden evening breeze blew, making the rose stems dance, their petals lush and dripping with beauty. The moonlight sprinkled down in dots, plating the flowerbeds in a silver rim.
Jiang Wangshu had no time to appreciate such beauty; she was terrified that someone passing through the garden might look up and see two overlapping silhouettes.
“Do you like the window that much?” Shen Qing ran her thumb across Jiang Wangshu’s lips, the corners of her mouth curling up as she reasoned stubbornly, “Since you like it so much, let’s just stay here.”
Shen Qing’s words were brazen, but Jiang Wangshu didn’t hear a single word. Her gaze had fallen upon two figures who had suddenly appeared behind the flowerbeds.
She recognized one of them as the protagonist of today’s engagement banquet.
Jiang Wangshu had arrived late and caught them at the wrong moment; she could only see Xuan Zhi being held by the wrist by a woman whose face was obscured, pinned against a corner wall.
What they were doing was self-evident.
“How could Miss Xuan…”
“You know?”
Shen Qing nodded, her breath hot against her ear. “Oh, that? Didn’t I tell you that Xuan Zhi and I aren’t a couple? Who she entangles herself with is her freedom; it has nothing to do with me.” Having said that, she bit down hard on Jiang Wangshu’s lip, as if she wanted to devour her whole.
“Hiss…”
A sharp pain struck, and Jiang Wangshu let out a short cry, quietly trying to retreat backward but it didn’t work. Shen Qing was like a humanoid tracking device for Jiang Wangshu, always able to precisely predict her next move, leaving her no choice but to endure.
The forceful kiss plundered the oxygen from her body without a hint of refusal allowed. Jiang Wangshu unconsciously parted her lips, letting her charge recklessly, until Shen Qing’s consciousness returned and she noticed Jiang Wangshu could barely bear it any longer. Only then did she generously let go.
Both of them leaned against the floor-to-ceiling window, panting heavily. In the darkness, Shen Qing stared straight at Jiang Wangshu’s reddened eyes, flushed from the brief lack of oxygen.
So beautiful.
Just by looking like this, Shen Qing’s heart would lose its rhythm, pounding wildly.
Jiang Wangshu calmed down for a while, regained her strength, and couldn’t help lecturing again: “But you two will end up together in the future. You shouldn’t do this.”
“We won’t be together. I’m yours.”
“Xiao Qing, are you in there?”
A call for Shen Qing came from outside the door, it was Yang Yeming’s voice.
Jiang Wangshu had still wanted to persuade her of something, but it had to be left unfinished. She even covered her own mouth, terrified that her aunt would discover her presence.
The two of them really did look like they were having an affair. Forbidden feelings make one’s adrenaline surge that saying was indeed true. Excitement gradually welled up in Shen Qing’s eyes, while Jiang Wangshu was so nervous she forgot to breathe. What she hadn’t expected was that this room could transmit sounds from outside so clearly.
“The ceremony is about to begin. Your mother sent me to call you. Miss Xuan has already arrived. Are you in there?”
“No answer?” Unexpectedly, Shen Xiaqing had come to the door herself.
All of Haicheng’s elite were waiting downstairs for the ceremony to begin. The union of the Xuan and Shen families was the envy of everyone and of utmost importance. Shen Xiaqing attached extraordinary importance to this ceremony and would tolerate not the slightest mishap. Just now, a glance around had revealed neither Shen Qing nor Xuan Zhi anywhere, which was enough to make her furious.
Later, Xuan Zhi suddenly appeared in the hall, still without Shen Qing by her side and even Jiang Wangshu, who was usually at her side, was nowhere to be seen. When she asked Xuan Zhi, she learned that Shen Qing was feeling unwell and had gone to rest in the guest room, so she had Yang Yeming come up to call her. Yet several minutes had passed, and Shen Qing still hadn’t appeared.
What trick was she up to this time?
At this thought, Shen Xiaqing’s face instantly darkened, and she came to fetch her personally.
Inside the room, from the moment Jiang Wangshu heard Shen Xiaqing’s voice, her eyes darted around searching for a place to hide. If the lights had come on at that moment, Shen Qing would surely have seen Jiang Wangshu’s deathly pale face.
However, Shen Qing was not a feline and had no superb night vision. In that instant, her inner world was once again seized by mischief. She genuinely felt she had to win back a round, or she would be failing herself and the conversation between the mother and daughter of the Jiang family she had overheard at the door half an hour ago.
“What do you think, if Shen Xiaqing saw the state of this room, would she faint from anger?”
“No, really, no.” Jiang Wangshu’s eyes were filled with pleading. Her grip on Shen Qing’s hand was ice-cold, trembling uncontrollably.
Shen Qing should have been pleased after all, this was venting her own anger for her.
But she wasn’t.
Feeling her fear, sensing the pleading in her voice, Shen Qing only felt a suffocating ache in her heart that was unbearable. Her body reacted directly: she pushed her into the empty wardrobe, making sure not a single sound escaped through the door.
She truly didn’t want to see her like this; she wished she could be a cold-hearted lover, deprived of all five senses.
Shen Xiaqing’s patience was about to run out, her expression dark to the extreme.
Shen Qing’s prolonged absence had even drawn out Xuan Lingyi. Xuan Zhi had tried to stop her but failed. Just as Xuan Lingyi was questioning how the nanny could have left this room for Shen Qing to rest in, Shen Xiaqing declared she intended to break down the door, she wanted to see for herself whether Shen Qing was inside.
At that moment, Shen Qing opened the door, looking at the crowd before her with a weary face.
Xuan Zhi spoke up at just the right moment: “See? I told you she was resting.”
Shen Xiaqing didn’t respond. Her scrutinizing gaze didn’t land on Shen Qing but on the room behind her, only to find it pitch dark, unable to make out anything inside.
Just as she was about to step into the room, Xuan Zhi reminded her: “Let’s go. We’ve found her, that’s what matters. The ceremony is about to begin, and Grandmother is waiting downstairs. We shouldn’t waste any more time.”
Inside the banquet hall.
Shen Qing and Xuan Zhi walked behind Shen Xiaqing and Xuan Lingyi, exchanging glances but not daring to say much. The sight of the hall sent her irritation surging again, worse than before, and she had to take several deep breaths to hold it down.
She should have anticipated that Shen Xiaqing would invite reporters. With such a golden opportunity, it would be strange if she didn’t publicize it.
Someone was testing the microphones, and the harsh static made Shen Qing frown. She crossed her arms and looked on indifferently as camera shutters clicked ceaselessly around them.
Xuan Lingyi stood at the front with a microphone, recounting the happy story of how the two families had become connected, grinning from ear to ear. When she got to Xuan Zhi and Shen Qing, Shen Qing felt an unprecedented density of gazes descending upon them, curious, appraising.
Most of Haicheng’s elite had only heard the name Xuan Zhi; Shen Qing was a stranger to them. They only knew the Shen family had two daughters, twins, and nothing else until they connected her with the recent passing of the Shen family’s eldest daughter, at which point their expressions changed.
“Where did you go?” Shen Xiaqing stared at Xuan Lingyi at the front, not sparing her a single glance, her tone icy.
Jiang Wangshu had quietly returned to the center of the hall, deliberately taking a long detour, beads of sweat still glistening on her forehead. Facing the interrogation she had expected, her expression remained calm: “I went to the garden to look at the flowers. The Xuan family’s roses are blooming beautifully, the whole backyard is full of them.”
“Isn’t the backyard planted with tulips?” Shen Xiaqing’s pressure was heavy; an ordinary person couldn’t have withstood it, and it came out in full force. But Jiang Wangshu had lived in this environment for nearly seven years, she was long used to it and handled it with ease.
“Mom, you must be misremembering. The backyard really is planted with roses.”
“The last time President Shen visited the Xuan family was at the old madam’s birthday banquet last year. You may not know this, but those tulips were truly hard to maintain. They were fine under the gardener’s care, but after I watered them just a few times, they withered. So we switched to roses, which happen to be in bloom right now. Any later, and you wouldn’t have gotten to see this splendid sight.”
Xuan Lingyi finished her grand speech and walked over to Shen Xiaqing’s side, just in time to catch their conversation.
“If Wangshu likes them, take some home after the banquet. They’d look just as lovely in a vase.”
Though it was called an engagement ceremony, it was really just a signal to the outside world, the reporters would take their photos, post the story online, and that would be that. The elite mingling with one another was the real business at hand. After Xuan Lingyi and Shen Xiaqing exchanged a few brief words, the guests began chatting about business collaborations.
Seeing the Xuan and Shen families gathered together talking, distinguished guests acquainted with both families naturally came up to strike up conversation. However, some of them had drunk too much and babbled carelessly regardless of the occasion.
Especially after Shen Dai’s funeral, with Jiang Wangshu appearing in public again, the conversation somehow drifted toward her.