That man had run into her dream again.
Exclaiming in surprise, Jiang Ning shyly hugged herself and pouted coyly, “I’ve burned so much joss paper money for you, why are you still coming to pester me?”
The man said nothing. His long, beautiful fingers untied her robe’s sash with singular intent, pinning both her hands high above her head before leaning down to press against her.
Jiang Ning wanted to resist, but the sensation was simply too wonderful, making it impossible to pull away.
She could no longer remember how many times she had fooled around with this person in her dreams.
From initial resistance to falling into indulgence, in the end she only remembered that the man’s skill was poor, but his stamina was extraordinary.
Whenever Jiang Ning tried to see his face clearly, no matter how hard she looked, his face was always obscured by a white mist, never allowing her to catch a clear glimpse of his features. Her attention would inevitably end up drifting to his beautiful eight-pack abs and robust chest…
“My dear lady, still sleeping? Don’t you know disaster is about to strike?!”
The maid Handong’s voice exploded in her ear. Jiang Ning awoke with a start, drenched in cold sweat, and turned her head to look at Handong, who stood by the bed looking somewhat impatient.
She remembered having Handong transferred away from Qingxiang Residence; why had she rushed to her bedside first thing in the morning?
With a somber face, Jiang Ning said, “What matter dares disturb my peaceful rest?”
Handong rolled her eyes. “Peaceful rest? Moaning and groaning like that, who knows what wild dreams you were having.”
Jiang Ning froze.
She felt the awkward embarrassment of someone caught doing something bad.
At that moment, the maid Yan’er knocked on the door from outside, her tone respectful. “Is Concubine Jiang awake? The Master has sent someone with a message requesting you to step over to his courtyard.”
Handong stared at Jiang Ning with a warning gaze and lowered her voice to say, “See? Here it comes. Let me tell you, do not forget your identity or your mission.”
An informant planted in the General of Northern Pacification’s estate by Prince Jing?
Jiang Ning couldn’t help but chuckle softly. “I remember. There’s no need for you to go out of your way to remind me.”
Handong issued another warning—”If you confess about Prince Jing, watch out for your whole family, young and old”—before quietly slipping out through the window.
Jiang Ning let out a long, deep sigh and said to the door, “Yan’er, fetch water for a bath.”
Yan’er was obedient and gentle, quickly preparing the bath barrel.
Jiang Ning got up, took off her sweat-soaked inner garments, and stepped into the tub to soak. Wrapped in the soothing warm water, her whole body finally felt somewhat comfortable.
Jiang Ning asked, “Yan’er, do you know why the Master is summoning me?”
“This servant does not know.”
Yan’er’s eyes flickered slightly, not daring to say more.
Jiang Ning’s heart sank with a thud.
Jiang Ning was originally a modern person who had unexpectedly joined the ranks of time-travelers. As soon as she arrived, she became a beautiful concubine of Gu Jianshen, the Great General of Northern Pacification, while secretly acting as an informant for Prince Jing.
Fortunately, Gu Jianshen guarded the northern border year-round and was not in the capital. The Madam of the household was kind and approachable, treating her to fine clothes and delicious food without any harshness, allowing her to live a joyful life.
One could say she took the money without doing the work, enjoying three glorious years like this.
Gu Jianshen had been impeached by the Prime Minister for relying on his heavy military forces to act independently. It was alleged that Gu Jianshen had an endless supply of money that required no government funding, making his army’s expenses self-sufficient while even allowing him to hand out large sums to starving disaster victims.
How was this discovered? Because a severe drought in the north had caused a famine. Due to the vast distance, by the time news of the disaster reached the imperial court, more than half a month had passed. The Emperor immediately dispatched an Imperial Envoy to deliver relief, only to discover that there were zero casualties in the disaster area. It turned out the Northern Pacification Army had extensively set up porridge stalls, offering service twice a day—morning and evening—occasionally even serving meat porridge, and keeping it up for a whole month.
How much silver must that have consumed?
Where did the Northern Pacification Army get so much silver?
Surely the Great General of Northern Pacification, eager to claim credit, had embezzled military grain and docked military pay—a case of stealing what one was trusted to guard!
When the Imperial Envoy investigated, the Northern Pacification Army’s granaries were completely full, and not a single soldier was missing any military pay.
Was it simply that Gu Jianshen was rich?
Where did he get so much money?!
Had they not failed to find even a single trace of Gu Jianshen communicating with enemy nations, the contents of the impeachment would have turned into treason and colluding with the enemy.
Thus, harbored with suspicion by the Emperor, an imperial edict stripped him of his military power and ordered him back to the capital to retire.
Able to retire at the ripe young age of twenty-eight, Jiang Ning could laugh herself awake in her dreams.
However, she heard that Gu Jianshen had been utterly furious, suppressing bandits along the way and slaughtering his way back to the capital.
Seeing that Gu Jianshen had brought peace to the local people by eradicating bandits, which counted as a great service, the Emperor could not bring himself to turn a blind eye. Thus, he granted Gu Jianshen a title as an official in the capital.
In the High Court of Justice, he was appointed Vice Minister of the High Court of Justice, overseeing archives—a purely clerical job.
Demoted from a Second-Rank Military General to do the work of a Lower Third-Rank Civil Official, Gu Jianshen flew into a rage once again.
However, the capital enjoyed top-tier public security, leaving no bandits for him to vent his anger on. With a face so sour that no one dared approach him, holding it all in was unbearable for him.
And so, Jiang Ning’s good days were coming to an end.
Having changed into gorgeous attire and dressed up beautifully with Yan’er’s assistance, Jiang Ning could not bring herself to smile at all.
“Yan’er, wait outside first.”
Jiang Ning dismissed Yan’er, retrieved a bronze brazier from the corner, along with a large bag of folded paper ingots, and poured them all into the brazier.
After lighting them, she prayed sincerely.
“Dream Man, oh Dream Man, today I don’t ask you to stop harassing me anymore. I beg you for a new favor: the husband I’ve never met has returned. I hope he treats me a bit better and spares my lowly life.”
Watching the paper ingots burn into ashes, Jiang Ning remained filled with anxiety, feeling that the other party was also someone who took the money without doing the work.
After all, whenever she begged the Dream Man not to come, he would still come looking for her. Sometimes he came a few times a quarter, but other times he came once every month. Over the past two months, it was even more excessive—he came every single day.
It scared her into burning paper money every day, yet she couldn’t send him away no matter what.
“Concubine Jiang, are you ready?”
Yan’er urged from outside the door, “The Master is still waiting.”
Jiang Ning called back, “Got it,” and dragged the brazier back to the corner.
The ashes inside the brazier did not need to be cleaned up, because Jiang Ning had discovered that the ashes would vanish automatically—not by blowing around the room, but actually vanishing on their own.
Once, she had watched with her own eyes as the ashes vanished in an instant. Later, she tried it several more times, and the results were always the same.
She had heard that time-travelers all possessed cheat abilities, but after three years, aside from watching the brazier perform magic tricks, the burned paper money had never turned into real silver for her to spend.
On the way to the East Courtyard, Jiang Ning moved sluggishly, taking three steps and pausing for two. She truly did not want to meet Gu Jianshen.
Having lived in the estate for three years, Jiang Ning had never seen Gu Jianshen in person to this day.
Rumor had it that Gu Jianshen was tall and fierce like a tiger or leopard, with a face like a yaksha capable of warding off evil spirits, and that he hated evil with a passion. Wasn’t this unequivocally a tiger’s den and a dragon’s lair?
Now that he had a ox-like strength with nowhere to exert it, he was going to mess with her—a treacherous informant who was “in Cao Cao’s camp with her heart set on Han.”
Waaah, this is literally the road to the execution ground.
Yan’er could no longer help asking Jiang Ning, “Concubine Jiang, do your feet hurt?”
Jiang Ning nodded, wanting to cry but having no tears. “Yes, my feet hurt, my heart hurts, everything hurts.”
Yan’er supported Jiang Ning, “Then Yan’er will support you as we walk.”
Even a journey of a hundred thousand leagues must eventually come to an end. Upon arriving at the East Courtyard, the Managing Housekeeper ordered Jiang Ning to go to the study alone to meet Gu Jianshen.
Trembling with fear, Jiang Ning stepped inside, but saw no one present.
She looked around. Though this place was called a study, there were hardly any books on the bookshelves; instead, quite a few swords, spears, and long arms were displayed.
She reached out and touched a blade’s edge, nearly cutting her own hand. Heart pounding in shock, she realized these were all sharpened weapons.
Gu Jianshen couldn’t possibly be planning to use these swords and blades to butcher her, could he?