it's over

Cang Jingqi hesitated, but no matter what, Han Jiang consistently avoided his gaze.

"Did you two have a fight?" Cang Jingmo asked.

Neither of them replied.

Cang Jingmo didn't intend to waste time at the door; he had many matters to attend to. So he took the initiative to discuss the matter of finding the Third Prince with Cang Jingqi, and naturally brought up Han Jiang in the discussion.

I couldn't wait for the cold to arrive, so I found an opportunity to sneak back to my room.

She knew that Cang Jingqi used to work in the study until very late every night, but now that Cang Jingmo was back, the person working in the study had become Cang Jingmo.

To be honest, Han Jiang and Cang Jingmo were practically strangers, with very little interaction between them. Therefore, Han Jiang decided to make his presence known first, hoping that they would become familiar with each other over time.

The favorability rating is still stuck at 15%. If you didn't know better, you'd think this was just the beginning of the story, but it's actually almost the end.

Han Jiang changed into a dress. It was late January, and it was very cold. Before leaving, she thought for a moment and decided not to bring a coat. If she got too cold, she would stay close to Cang Jingmo; perhaps he could cast a protective spell on her with demonic energy.

It's a bit unethical to say, but what Han Jiang experienced with Cang Jingqi is now being used as a tactic on Cang Jingmo.

The sooner we finish the strategy, the sooner we can end all of this.

Han Jiang listened carefully at the door, confirming that no one was speaking inside and that it was probably only Cang Jingmo. She then knocked and went in.

Cang Jingmo was surprised by Han Jiang's arrival, as his office was piled high with official documents. He said, "My brother isn't here. Whoever is handling affairs can use the study." He assumed Han Jiang had come to see Cang Jingqi, since it was Cang Jingqi who used the study when he was Amai.

"I'm not here to see His Highness, I'm here to see you." Han Jiang shrank his neck and exhaled white breath.

"I?"

Han Jiang nodded and sat down at the desk. She adjusted her posture, but no matter how she sat, she felt awkward. Even though she was so far away from Cang Jingmo, it seemed that she would feel awkward if it wasn't Cang Jingqi sitting in front of her.

Cang Jingmo lowered his head to annotate the official document and asked, "What do you want from me?"

"Second Prince..." Han Jiang's face flushed red, her hands clasped together awkwardly, nervously picking at her nails, her head lowered, her eyes glancing up every now and then to observe Cang Jingmo's reaction, finally she went all out, "I'm a little cold, could you give me some demonic energy protection?"

After saying that, she almost lowered her head to her knees, not daring to look at Cang Jingmo at all. She squeezed her toes so hard that she almost sank into the ground.

Fortunately, her body warmed up quickly, as Cang Jingmo truly protected her with demonic energy.

"I... thank you, Your Highness..." Han Jiang had to put in all her strength to say each word.

She was terrified that Cang Jingmo would ask her something, because she hadn't thought it through and her mind was a complete mess.

Cang Jingmo was probably waiting for Han Jiang to speak. Like a workaholic, he browsed through official documents, annotated them, and categorized them until midnight.

Han Jiang was on edge, showing no signs of sleepiness. If it were Cang Jingqi sitting there, she probably would have fallen asleep long ago.

Aren't you going back to sleep?

"Ah, good!" Han Jiang seemed to have completed some kind of task and finally made it to the end of the workday. "Your Highness, you should also get some rest."

I couldn't wait to go out when the cold weather arrived, but I didn't expect to run into Cang Jingqi around the corner.

He stood outside, holding a thick cloak.

"I noticed you went out without a cloak, but it seems you don't need it now." Cang Jingqi's tone was dejected, and he could sense the demonic energy emanating from Cang Jingmo around Han Jiang.

Cang Jingmo followed Han Jiang out the door, turned off the study light, and closed the door: "You two talk."

"No, let's not talk about it," Han Jiang said softly. "We're done."

She lifted her skirt and ran away from Cang Jingqi for the second time.

The further she ran, the colder she got. Once she got far away from Cang Jingmo, her demonic energy protection stopped working. Han Jiang stopped to catch her breath, then suddenly felt warm again. She turned around and saw Cang Jingmo holding a cloak right behind her.

"Cang...Your Highness, it's really over." There was no one else in the corridor, and the cold wind swallowed up all other sounds, making Han Jiang's voice particularly clear.

"Hmm." Cang Jingqi nodded, then walked closer and handed the cloak to Han Jiang.

Han Jiang, as if possessed, took the cloak and darted back to her room. The blue and white cloak was thick and stylish. It featured beautiful patterns unique to demons, but such thick cloaks weren't sold in the demon realm.

Besides, Cang Jingqi probably wouldn't use such a cloak.

It goes without saying who this cloak was made for.

Han Jiang hugged her cloak and muttered to herself, "Han Xiaoman, you're such a scumbag, you can't even break things off cleanly."

After much agonizing reflection, she began to run away whenever she saw Cang Jingqi, refusing to meet him. Meanwhile, Cang Jingqi seemed to be preoccupied with something and rarely appeared.

Han Jiang forced herself to spend almost every night in the same room with Cang Jingmo, even though their affection level remained unchanged. It was all fake effort, just going through the motions.

February arrived just like that, and then a new idea popped up during the cold snap.

She went to the kitchen to learn how to cook from the chef. As the saying goes, if you want to win a man's heart, you must first win his stomach.

The cooks were terrified and wouldn't let Han Jiang do anything. They all knew very well that this young lady was someone the Crown Prince personally served in the kitchen, so how could they let her cook?

"Miss Han, please let us go," the group pleaded.

"I wanted to cook for His Highness." Han Jiang didn't specify which prince he was referring to. He had an ambiguous relationship with the First Prince, and now he was cooking for the Second Prince. Han Jiang didn't know what people would say behind his back.

The chefs exchanged glances, those who understood the situation knew what was going on. One of the female chefs suggested, "Why don't we make some desserts? They're simple and delicious."

"Alright."

Hanjiang was taken aside by the female chef for individual guidance, which put the rest of the group at ease, and they continued preparing the dishes.

Since Han Jiang doesn't possess magic and can't control the size of the flames with spiritual power, she can only control them manually, making the production process inevitably difficult.

Perfect timing, it's already late by the time I finish cooking, I'll take it to the study for a late-night snack.

A plate of rice cakes, a plate of peach shortbread.

The extra food was distributed to the cooks, and the feedback was good, giving us a lot of confidence for the upcoming winter.

She carefully selected the most beautiful dish and arranged it on a plate, respecting her own hard work regardless of whether Cang Jingmo liked it or not.

The rice cakes were arranged in two layers: eight on the first layer, four on the second, and one on top. The peach shortbreads were larger than the rice cakes, so they were arranged in two layers: four on the first layer and one on top.

Han Jiang still didn't wear the cloak Cang Jingqi had given her. Instead, she put on her old cloak and brought two plates of pastries to Cang Jingmo.

There was conversation coming from the study. Han Jiang waited at the door for a while, and when she saw Cang Jingqi coming out of the room, she quickly retreated behind the corner. She silently told herself not to come any closer.

What people fear most often comes to pass.

Cang Jingqi turned a corner and saw Han Jiang. He saw Han Jiang carrying a plate of snacks and knew that Han Jiang had been spending every day in the study with Cang Jingmo these past few days.

"Xiaoman, do you like Amo now?"

Han Jiang wanted to nod, but her head was bent over and she couldn't move it. She wanted to say "hmm," but her throat was stuck and she couldn't make a sound. She stood frozen in place, not responding.

She was feeling very wronged. The rhetoric she had painstakingly used to deceive herself and win over Cang Jingmo collapsed the moment she met Cang Jingqi, and she could barely hold onto the plate.

"I'm leaving now," Cang Jing said, walking past Han Jiang.

"Wait, wait a minute..." Han Jiang wasn't sure why she had called out to Cang Jingqi. "Um, a snack... take one..."

She still didn't look up. Noticing that Cang Jingqi didn't move, she added, "I... I made it myself... You should try it..." Her words betrayed her guilt, her ears burned, and she stammered out the whole sentence.

Cang Jingqi took one piece from each of the two plates. Perhaps to avoid disrupting the plating, he took the top piece from each plate.

The remaining Cold Water was given to Cang Jingmo.

She placed the plate on the desk, then quickly returned to her seat, keeping her distance from Cang Jingmo.

"Your Highness, this is what I made. Please try it." Han Jiang was restless.

Cang Jingmo glanced at the pastries out of the corner of his eye but didn't touch them.

"Brother, what did you do to upset you? Tell me, and I'll speak up for you." Cang Jingmo originally didn't want to get involved.

Han Jiang said, "No, really no. He and I have just broken up, we're not together anymore."

"Break up? Why? It's not like we're going to die. If you like each other, why not be together?"

"Who said I like him? I don't like him anymore." Han Jiang suddenly raised her voice. These words were not only for Cang Jingmo, but also for herself, begging herself not to waver anymore.

"If you don't like it, why give him the first piece?"

Han Jiang feigned ignorance: "What, the first piece?"

Cang Jingmo didn't reply, and that night, he didn't eat a single snack.

Han Jiang understood what Cang Jingmo meant, and she didn't want to either. If there was user feedback after the strategy was completed, she would definitely give the system a negative score of 10,000.

Before leaving, Han Jiang, still unwilling to give up, asked Cang Jingmo, "Second Prince, will you definitely be the one to sit on the throne of the Demon Lord in the future?"

"The Demon Lord is not inherited by the eldest son. Instead, the previous Demon Lord chooses from among his descendants. Ah Ye is unwilling, and my brother is not interested, so in the end, it should only be me."

"Thank you, Your Highness. I'll head back now."

The cold weather has just passed, and the gloomy weather is right behind it.

Cang Jingmo pointed to the pastries: "Look, I haven't touched a single bite."

Cang Jingqi walked straight to the table and took all the snacks, plates and all.

Hanjiang didn't sleep well the night before; she hadn't slept well since breaking up with Cang Jingqi. And then, someone knocked on Hanjiang's door early the next morning.

Cang Jingye actually came back and was standing at the door of Hanjiang's room: "Hurry up and get dressed, do me a favor—don't wear a pretty dress, you have work to do! Don't get your pretty dress dirty!"

Forced to go out by the cold, Cang Jingye chattered incessantly behind her: "I heard from the cook that you made some pastries yesterday? Why didn't you save any for me!"

"There should still be some left in the study, go get it." Cang Jingmo probably hadn't eaten a bite yet. "It's probably not tidied up yet."

"What a coincidence, I just came out of the study and everything was gone."

"Those were taken away by the palace servants. What a pity, there were still many left last night."

Cang Jingye said, "Why do you seem so down? Didn't you dump Cang Jingqi? You should be happy! You know what, I was so happy when Cang Jingmo told me about it. It was truly gratifying, a great revenge, and evil getting its just desserts..."

"Hey, hey, that's enough." Han Jiang was afraid that if he didn't stop him, Cang Jingye would utter dozens of words.

"Why aren't you cursing him? I thought you dumped him because you discovered his dark side, but it turns out that's not the case? Or do you still like him? No way, that Cang Jingqi guy actually has someone who likes him!"

"Can we stop talking about him? Didn't you ask me for help? Let's go!" Han Jiang decided to give herself a break and avoid facing Cang Jingmo and Cang Jingqi.

Cang Jingye stopped herself in time and said, "Come on, I'll take you to dig up a grave!"