To set up a scheme
Just as Jiang Manyan was about to be crushed by the heavy silence, Song Guansui finally spoke again. His voice was still calm, but it carried a chilling sense of control.
"Since you enjoy playing, then play it well."
He turned his head slightly, and his cold gaze finally fell on Jiang Manyan's pale and bewildered face, the corners of his lips seeming to curve slightly.
"Just don't overdo it."
He added slowly and deliberately, his fingertips lightly brushing against the string of cool silver bells around Jiang Manyan's waist.
"I'll set the rules of the game. Understand?"
This is not an inquiry, but a declaration.
This indicates that he had already seen through his trick.
In his eyes, all of Jiang Manyan's thoughts and schemes were perhaps just a slightly more interesting game that he allowed, but with pre-defined boundaries.
Jiang Manyan's heart sank to the bottom.
...
Seeing Liu again completely stirred up Jiang Manyan's deepest hatred.
That night, Jiang Manyan couldn't sleep at all, her mind filled with thoughts of her beautiful yet incredibly pitiful mother, Jiang Yan.
The woman who was abandoned by her lover, cruelly abused by Liu Shuwan for five years, and died a tragic death.
His mother...
Jiang Yan was originally the daughter of a wealthy family in Jinxi Town in the southeast. Due to a devastating flood that destroyed her family and left her homeless, she was rescued by Song Yu, the young master of the Song family, who was away on a training trip years ago.
A young man, chivalrous and spirited, and a beautiful young woman, accompanied by each other throughout their journey, develop feelings for one another, ultimately leading to a romantic marriage between a talented scholar and a beautiful woman in the martial arts world.
But once he returned to that man-eating mansion in the city center, Song Yu, despite his handsome appearance, had no real power in the family.
Faced with the predicament of the family's financial resources running out, he easily succumbed to the family's arrangements and turned his attention to Miss Liu, who controlled most of the money shops in the central area.
A hollow promise of "one life, one love" was exchanged for a generous dowry, relieving the Song family's urgent financial crisis.
Jiang Yan, who was brought back to the city center by Song Yu, was hastily settled in a separate courtyard, as if their past friendship had never existed.
Jiang Yan was disheartened, but she still had her own pride. She barely made a living in the villa by weaving and embroidery, living cautiously and rarely interacting with outsiders.
The two servants left behind by Song Yu, seeing that their master had disappeared after his marriage, also absconded with their valuables.
Forced by the need to make a living, Jiang Yan had no choice but to go out to buy things herself. However, her appearance was too striking. Even with a light veil covering her face, her slender figure and soft, sweet voice were enough to attract unwanted attention.
Without Song Yu's protection, she was no different from a lamb to the slaughter in this central urban area full of powerful and wealthy people.
Five years later, driven to desperation by the arrogant Wang family sons, she swallowed her pride and had no choice but to once again beg Song Yu for protection.
When they met again, Song Yu discovered that Jiang Yan, now twenty, was more charming than she had been at fifteen. She was no longer a budding flower, but a peony in full bloom, which had become even more beautiful after being wet by the rain.
That delicate, pitiful face, that pale complexion from years of lack of sunlight, and that lingering melancholy in her eyes—enough to stir any man's heart, let alone the woman he had once truly loved.
This plea for help rekindled their relationship.
Song Yu eventually kept Jiang Yan as his mistress, keeping her in a golden house. This led to the creation of Song Manyan.
However, the truth will eventually come out.
When Madam Liu learned of this, she was so angry that she fainted on the spot.
The Liu family exerted forceful pressure, and Song Yu once again revealed his inherent cowardice and incompetence.
He brought Jiang Yan and her son back to the Song residence, but instead of granting them the status of masters, he treated them as lowly servants, subjecting them to the whims of his stepmother, Liu...
In the lonely room, the resentment that had been forcibly suppressed surged in from all directions like icy water, soaking into Jiang Manyan's entire body.
Song Guansui's warning echoed repeatedly in his mind, eroding his will.
Exhaustion and mental strain eventually dragged him into the abyss; he had a long and cruel dream…
When little Jiang Manyan saw Jiang Shi again, she was being held down on a torture bench by several nannies. Her lake-colored trousers were stained with dark water, which was from salt water that had been splashed on them.
This was done so that the sound of the board hitting the victim would be crisper, and the pain would be doubled.
Jiang's mouth was gagged with burlap, and her thin face was covered with tears. When she saw Song Manyan rush in, she struggled desperately on the torture bench.
The old woman in charge of punishment bowed towards the main house: "The mistress is merciful. This lowly maid broke the rouge-colored porcelain. By the mistress's grace, she will only be punished with thirty."
A wooden staff, about three fingers wide, was raised high, and a loud, powerful voice rang out. The frail Song Manyan was seen kneeling in front of the main house.
"Please, Mistress, spare Jiang Shi! Please, Mistress, spare Jiang Shi... Song Manyan is willing to serve you like a slave for the rest of her life to repay your kindness..."
Little Song Manyan's forehead slammed heavily against the stone floor again and again...
Jiang, lying face down on the torture bench, had eyes filled with despair...
Considering Song Manyan's filial piety, the punishment of thirty strokes was reduced to twenty. The tattered trousers were embedded in her flesh, leaving her bloody and mangled. Before ten strokes were even complete, Jiang Shi had already fainted.
She was already frail; thirty strokes of the cane would likely kill her. Song Yu hadn't shown up at all during this whole farce—what a heartless beast… Song Manyan suppressed her anger, her honey-brown eyes gleaming with a chilling light.
...
The moonlight, like water, shone through the window and fell on Jiang Manyan's pale face.
He lay on his side on the couch, his long eyelashes trembling like butterfly wings. His lips, which were full during the day, were now pressed into a pale arc because of pain, and an almost inaudible sob escaped from his throat.
Then, his brows furrowed even more, his fingertips unconsciously gripping the pillowcase, and tears, which he could no longer control, streamed down his face like broken pearls, continuously soaking his dark hair. His sleeping face was tinged with a heartbreaking fragility.
Song Guansui sat stiffly by the bed, his knuckles white from clenching his fists.
My gaze fell on the person's tightly closed eyes, tears streaming down their face, and my heart felt like it was being pricked by needles soaked in ice water.
His Adam's apple bobbed, and he reached out to smooth the furrowed brow of the cigarette, but stopped abruptly just as his fingertips were about to touch it...
I tossed and turned until the wee hours last night before finally closing my eyes, and the faint blue light under my eyes hasn't faded yet.
In the end, she gently withdrew her hand, only bending down to lift the slipped brocade quilt, her voice so soft it was as if she were afraid of disturbing the moonlight.
"...Go to sleep. I'll take you out for a walk to relax in a while!"
After Song Guansui closed the door and left.
The person on the bed slowly opened their eyes, their gaze devoid of any sleepiness...
— — — —
Since the Wangyu Lake incident, Song Guansui has become even busier.
Jiang Manyan could vaguely sense that the atmosphere in the mansion had become much more tense, and the guards patrolling back and forth had sharper eyes.
He guessed that Qin Lingfeng might have started to make moves, constantly trying to plant spies or exert pressure on the Song family, while Song Guansui was busy dealing with and purging them.
Jiang Manyan returned to a life that seemed to be all alone.
Liu was indeed unwilling to give up, and secretly sent several more groups of people to the vicinity of the courtyard, either to spy on them or to cause trouble.
Without exception, they were all silently driven away or disposed of by people placed in the shadows by Song Guansui.
Jiang Manyan knew that although he seemed to be the only person in the courtyard, countless eyes were actually hidden in the shadows around him.
It was both surveillance and protection—protecting Song Guansui's "possessions" from being touched or destroyed by others.
Only when Song Guansui himself arrived, or when he returned to his room and closed the door tightly, would those ever-present gazes temporarily disappear.
That day, the mute servant brought lunch as usual.
The food was laid out on the table, seemingly no different from usual: three dishes and a soup, all looking very appealing.
But as soon as Jiang Manyan picked up her chopsticks, her nose caught a faint, unusually bitter taste that was masked by the steam from the dish.
Jiang Manyan paused almost imperceptibly.
Then, as if nothing had happened, he picked up a piece of food with his chopsticks, but instead of putting it in his mouth, he took a closer look and took a deeper sniff.
It seems that Liu Shuwan does have some tricks up her sleeve.
Jiang Manyan thought to herself, a barely perceptible smile playing on her lips, revealing a hint of cold mockery.
I'm afraid you don't have the means!
Jiang Manyan put down her chopsticks, got up and walked to the vase in the room, which was filled with various flowers that she had picked herself when she went to the garden.
Among them was a bunch of extremely inconspicuous wildflowers, the bunch less than half a foot tall, with slender willow-leaf-shaped leaves, a layer of white down on the back of the leaves, and sparse, pale purple, rice-grain-sized flowers at the top - Dream Silk.
Within half an hour of taking the medication, the patient fell into a deep coma, resembling poisoning, with weak breathing, low body temperature, and a slow pulse.
The period of unconsciousness can last from three days to a month.
It is extremely difficult to detect any trace of it in the blood or internal organs. The physical sign that will appear after swallowing is that the lips will turn purplish-black.
This flower only grows in the humid and hot southeast and is extremely rare, but it appeared in a remote corner of the Song family's back garden—this was the work of An Zhuang of Jincheng.
When picking the flowers, Jiang Manyan even tested Song Guansui to make sure he didn't recognize the flower before she felt at ease about her current plan!
Jiang Manyan calmly picked the pale purple rice-like flowers one by one, put them in her mouth, and chewed them carefully.
It tasted bitter and slightly spicy, but he swallowed it without changing his expression.
After doing all this, he clapped his hands, returned to the table, and looked at the poisoned food on the table, a fierce glint flashing in his eyes.
Jiang Manyan suddenly raised her hand and threw the food out the window one by one.
"Crackling and popping—!"
The sound of a porcelain bowl shattering rang out, and food and soup were spilled all over the courtyard, leaving it in a mess.
The loud commotion immediately attracted the attention of those in the shadows, but Jiang Manyan ignored it.
Not long after, a steady sound of footsteps came, and Song Guansui appeared at the courtyard gate.
He looked at the mess on the ground, the broken porcelain shards, the scattered food, and the sparrows that had been attracted by the aroma and were pecking at it. His handsome brows furrowed slightly.
Song Guansui turned his gaze into the room and saw Jiang Manyan sitting on the couch with her back to the door, her shoulders slightly undulating, looking sullen.
This rare outburst of temper actually struck Song Guansui as somewhat novel and interesting.
He walked slowly into the house, his voice devoid of emotion.
"Yan'er, why are you so angry?"
The young man on the couch trembled slightly, but stubbornly refused to turn around or speak.
Song Guansui walked behind him, reached out and turned his shoulder, forcing him to turn around.
What came into view was a pair of honey-brown eyes filled with tears, the eye sockets were red, and the long eyelashes were wet with tears, sticking together pitifully, exuding an indescribable grievance and touching charm.
"Brother, I want to go back to Jincheng."
Jiang Manyan's first words, spoken with a heavy nasal tone, were like an icicle, instantly piercing the thin sliver of amusement on Song Guansui's face.
Song Guansui's face suddenly darkened, and a chilling coldness surged in his eyes. He tightened his grip on Jiang Manyan's chin, and the intense pain made Jiang Manyan's tears fall even more fiercely.
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