“You want me to speak? I refuse.”
He reached out: “Think I don’t dare touch you?”
“Let go, or I’ll call for help.”
He loosened his collar: “Try it.”
“Jiang Chengjing, you shameless scoundrel!”
Her cheeks pressed against his chest, beneath the skin, breaths grew increasingly heavy and low.
He scoffed: “Me, shameless? Get this straight, Hai Yunshu—right now, you’re the one begging me.”
“Let me go, you madman…”
“Mad? This is just the beginning.”
Warm lips brushed against her ear, sending a tingling sensation from the nape of her neck down her entire body.
Jiang Chengjing truly lived up to his reputation as a master of romance who could even keep the Little Empress Dowager in his grasp.
Suddenly, urgent knocks sounded from outside the hall—rapid, insistent thuds.
“Your Highness, it’s time to return to the palace banquet.”
“Your Highness, the Empress Dowager is looking for you.”
It was Jiang Chengjing’s personal attendant, Shao Qing, who had served him for over a decade and was a trusted confidant through and through.
With so many eyes and ears in the palace, he likely feared his master’s boldness might stir trouble and felt compelled to remind him.
Jiang Chengjing rose, fastening his belt, and looked down with disdain: “Come to my residence tomorrow. If you’re not there, you can wait to collect Cheng Dalang’s corpse.”
Late at night, Yingge applied ointment to Hai Yunshu’s bruises.
Seeing the purplish-green marks covering her body, Yingge’s heart ached, tears welling in her eyes.
“Second Young Master Jiang used to be so reasonable, always polite to us servants. How did he turn into such a vile, petty man?”
Hai Yunshu endured the pain: “The dogs that bite don’t bark. Perhaps this is who he always was.”
Xiaochan lifted the curtain and entered, announcing: “Madam, the First Madam urgently wishes to see you.”
She certainly had sharp ears.
Hai Yunshu intended to refuse, but her sister-in-law had already barged in, ignoring the maids’ attempts to stop her.
She launched straight into a torrent of accusations: “Sister-in-law, I’ve already cut ties with those Zhao relatives as you demanded. What more do you want?”
“What do you mean, sister-in-law?”
“I sent someone to inquire—Dalang was just beaten with the rod and sentenced to exile two thousand li away. Mother said if I stopped aiding those poor relatives, you’d plead for mercy at the palace. But what kind of plea was that?”
Sister-in-law He, born into a military family, had a fiery temper. She had married into the marquis’ household through a distant connection to Old Madame. Yet even after marriage, she was wed to the eldest son born of a concubine; naturally, Old Madame Cheng couldn’t bear to sacrifice her own son to repay favors to her natal family.
Over the years, He had relied on her status to act domineeringly in the marquis’ household, frequently making things difficult for Hai Yunshu and tarnishing her reputation.
Old Madame simply turned a blind eye, indulging her until she grew utterly lawless.
“Now I’m being cursed by my own family while my husband suffers in prison—all because of you!”
“Elder Brother curried favor with the powerful and embezzled imperial property. A two-thousand-li exile is lenient.”
“You’re gloating over this?”
“I’m just stating facts.”
“Can’t you think of another way?”
“My mind is dull; I can’t think of one. Perhaps sister-in-law can offer some advice.”
If she had a solution, would she be lowering herself to beg like this?
“Now that your own husband is dead, you can’t stand to see others happy, can you?”
“Happiness or misery—life is shaped by one’s own choices, not given by others.”
Sister-in-law He snorted coldly: “If the marquis’ household collapses, you think you’ll fare any better?”
Hai Yunshu feigned surprise: “Ah, I just remembered there might be one more way to save Elder Brother, only…”
He sister-in-law’s eyes lit up: “Only what?”
“Sister-in-law, your Yingjie is naturally beautiful, and Jiang Chengjing is in the prime of his life, a solitary man. If she could go and whisper in his ear more often, your husband would naturally be released.”
“What nonsense are you talking? Yingjie is only fifteen.”
“You were the one who started talking nonsense with me first.”
“Everyone in the capital knows that Jiang Chengjing likes beautiful wives and young women. How can a little girl like Yingjie handle that sort of thing?”
Hai Yunshu covered her face with a round fan: “Then why don’t you accompany her, sister-in-law? With mother and daughter together, you can look out for each other, right?”
“What kind of outrageous talk is that!”
Just as He-shi was about to lose her temper, Yingjie entered from outside.
She knelt on the ground with a thud: “Mother, Second Aunt, let me go to the Prince Regent’s mansion. I’m willing to go and save Father.”
Hai Yunshu covered her mouth and laughed: “See, Yingjie is the one with filial piety.”
He-shi grabbed her and pushed her out: “What business is this of yours? Get out of here!”
Yingjie refused, kowtowing repeatedly: “Second Aunt, let me go.”
This girl, relying on her status as the eldest daughter of the main branch, was arrogant and never paid attention to others.
Yet she was bewitched by Jiang Chengjing, eager to serve him as soon as possible.
In her previous life, she had also taken it upon herself to go to the Prince Regent’s mansion to plead for mercy. As a result, she suffered humiliation, was thrown back at the entrance of the Marquis’s mansion covered in injuries, exposed and disgraced in front of everyone, losing her chastity and never marrying for the rest of her life.
“Foolish girl, the Old Madame is arranging your marriage to the Yue family. If you go to the Prince Regent’s mansion and catch Jiang Chengjing’s eye, and the two families end up fighting over you, what will happen then?”
“I don’t want to marry into the Yue family, I want…”
Xiaochan sneered from the side: “I’m afraid even if Eldest Sister rushes to go, the Prince Regent’s mansion might not be willing to take her.”
Yingjie hadn’t shed a tear when her own father was taken away, but upon hearing Xiaochan’s words, she couldn’t hold back anymore, tears as big as beans falling: “Mother, what should I do?”
“Our fates are so bitter, Ying’er. Who made you end up with such a heartless aunt?”
Mother and daughter clung to each other, crying and complaining for a long time.
When they looked up, Hai Yunshu was already gone.
The next morning, guards from the imperial prison delivered a bundle.
Inside were clothes and bedding for an infant.
Hai Yunshu knew this was Jiang Chengjing reminding her.
She could indeed ignore others, but for Cong’er’s sake, she had no choice but to endure.
Watching Hai Yunshu board the carriage to the Prince Regent’s mansion, the entire Cheng family was as happy as if it were New Year. Except for Yingjie, who hid in her room seething with resentment, everyone else was quite pleased.
He-shi was especially smug.
“My sister-in-law is a cheap, lowly woman with the face of a cunning merchant. If you don’t hit her where it hurts, she won’t cooperate. See? She’s behaving now.”
The Old Madame shot her a glare: “You talk too much.”
He-shi continued arrogantly: “Mother, you give her too much face. A lowly wretch like her, being given the position of mistress is already more than she deserves. Does she really think she can act like the boss in our Marquis’s mansion?”
Xiaochan lowered the carriage curtain, fuming: “What kind of people are they? With such a big incident happening, they can still laugh?”
Hai Yunshu didn’t mind: “I’ll make them cry soon enough.”
The Prince Regent’s mansion was located in Kuanlin Lane in the east of the city. Originally the residence of a prince from the previous dynasty, now that the Jiang family was in favor, the emperor had specially ordered it renovated and bestowed upon Jiang Chengjing as his private residence.
Passing by a side gate, they saw several servants dragging a woman out. The woman was disheveled, bleeding from all seven orifices, her face deathly pale, already lifeless.
This glance instantly dispelled all drowsiness from Xiaochan.
Shao Qing explained, “Don’t be afraid, miss. She attempted to assassinate our prince but failed. The prince showed mercy by leaving her body intact.”
Judging by her appearance, she had likely been beaten to death.
Xiaochan retorted, “Mercy?”
Shao Qing spoke as if recounting a commonplace matter: “Under normal circumstances, she would have been killed and fed to the dogs. But today, the prince was in a good mood and didn’t bother with this lowly servant.”
Xiaochan quickly tightened her grip on Hai Yunshu’s arm.