fear
Ever since she had drinks with He Lin's friend, Jiang Yi has clearly felt that He Lin's gaze towards her has changed. Several times when Jiang Yi looked at He Lin, she found that he was staring at her, which left Jiang Yi full of questions.
At first, she wondered if her makeup was smudged or if she was wearing the wrong clothes, but after thinking about it carefully, she suddenly realized.
Did he say something he shouldn't have when he was drunk last time?!
For example, admitting that you're not from this world?!
That's it!
Thinking about this, Jiang Yi was filled with regret. It was all her fault for being a weak drinker with a big addiction. She couldn't drink, so why did she try to show off? Now look what happened, she's drunk herself into oblivion.
If that's the case, will He Lin think she's a monster? Or will he really regard her as the enchanting demon Qi Shuangyun spoke of?
Jiang Yi felt a growing chill run down her spine as she thought about it. What would He Lin think of her? Would he tell anyone? Would he have her arrested?
All sorts of chaotic and terrifying thoughts kept swirling in her mind. After thinking about it, she finally decided to test the waters. If she was really exposed and couldn't hide it anymore, she had to make plans as soon as possible!
Luoying Courtyard is not large, with several rooms that can be clearly seen from the courtyard. It also includes a small kitchen for cooking.
Most of the people of status in the general's mansion cooked their own meals in their own courtyards and ate separately. They would only gather together for a meal when He Wei returned from the battlefield or during festivals. Otherwise, no one cared what they ate.
After learning about it, Jiang Yi felt that this family was quite strange. Other wealthy families would like to be together as a family, but this family was different. They just wanted to be out of sight and out of mind, and to go their separate ways. They wished they could live separately.
However, this is much more convenient, saving Qi Shuangyun from making things difficult for people and making them lose their appetite.
"He Lin? He Lin, are you there?"
Jiang Yi knocked on the study door, but after waiting for a while without hearing any movement, she pushed the door open and saw that there was no one there. She searched the yard but couldn't find him either, and Gu Ziyu was not there either.
Strange, where did they go?
Jiang Yi was completely bewildered. As she walked, she suddenly stopped, and a terrifying thought arose in her mind.
Holy crap! Did he go and call for help to arrest her?
Run! Run now! It'll be too late if you don't run now!
She didn't want to be treated like a monster and experience being drowned in a pig cage, burned alive, or beheaded!
Jiang Yi seemed to have a little motor installed, rushing straight to the room. On the way, she met Xia Zhi, and without saying a word, she grabbed Xia Zhi's hand and rushed into the room.
"Miss! What's wrong? What happened?"
Jiang Yi took out her usual clothes, stuffed them into her bag without even glancing at them, opened the small box on the dressing table, and emptied out all the gold and silver hairpins inside. Finally, she didn't forget to take the loose silver that He Lin had given her with her...
The set of movements flowed smoothly and orderly, as if they had been practiced a thousand times in the mind.
Xia Zhi was stunned. Why did her young lady act as if she was about to flee a disaster?
"Xia Zhi, don't just stand there! Go pack your things, we have to leave right away."
"Go? Miss, where are we going?"
"Forget where we are, let's run! If we don't run now, it'll be too late!"
"ah?"
"..."
Jiang Yi quickly tied up the package and slung it over her shoulder. She then pushed Xia Zhi and prepared to go to her room to pack her things. Just then, He Lin returned and bumped into Jiang Yi.
The room was in disarray, with things scattered everywhere. A stool next to the table was overturned, and the room looked as if it had been ransacked.
Jiang Yi looked at him as if she had seen a ghost, her eyes wide, and she couldn't help but back away, pointing at him in terror and saying, "You..."
He Lin glanced around at the mess in the room, his gaze settling on Jiang Yi. Noticing the package slung over her shoulder, he frowned and asked, "Where are you going?"
"I……"
Jiang Yi was clearly frightened; she stammered "I" several times but couldn't utter a complete sentence.
Faced with the fear of the unknown, no one can remain calm and unafraid.
Xia Zhi turned around to help her up, her voice trembling slightly: "Miss, what's wrong? Don't scare me."
Jiang Yi stared intently at He Lin, as if she had lost all her strength. Her shoulders gradually slumped down, and the package on her shoulders fell to the ground.
He Lin looked at her for a few seconds and said, "Xia Zhi, you can go out first."
"yes."
As soon as she turned around, Jiang Yi quickly grabbed her arm and said urgently, "Wait, Xia Zhi, don't go!"
"Young master, Miss, she..."
"go out!"
The moment the door closed, the light in Jiang Yi's eyes dimmed, a fact that naturally did not escape He Lin's notice.
After a long silence, she forced a smile and tried to speak: "He Lin, we've known each other for so many days now, could you..."
He Lin approached her step by step, half-closing his eyes and tentatively asking, "Can you... explain yourself?"
Jiang Yi took a deep breath: "Can you please not tell anyone about that? I'm a human being, a living, breathing human being, I'm really not a monster..."
With each additional word she spoke, He Lin's brows furrowed deeper. Finally, unable to bear it any longer, he interrupted her: "What nonsense are you spouting?"
Jiang Yi was stunned for a moment. He... didn't know?
"Haha, well, it's nothing really, just take it as a joke."
"Stop!" He Lin stopped her. "It's fine to joke, but why did you make such a mess of the room? Where are you going with those bags?"
Jiang Yi, shameless and persistent, said with a grin, "Tsk, look at you, I'm just practicing in advance, just in case we encounter bandits in the capital. I'll clean the room later, I promise it will be clean and tidy, exactly the same as before!"
"Really?" He Lin took a step closer to her, and Jiang Yi couldn't help but take a step back until her back was against the door with nowhere left to retreat. "Then why were you so guilty when you saw me just now? Hmm?"
Jiang Yi blinked a few times and stubbornly said, "Who, who's feeling guilty? I made the room like this just because I was embarrassed to see you! Yes, that's right, that's it!"
He Lin raised both hands and pressed them against the door, trapping Jiang Yi between his arms. He remained silent, staring intently at her with an expression that made it impossible to tell whether he believed her or not.
Slowly, Jiang Yi blushed first, turned her head to the side, and muttered, "If you don't believe me, fine, but don't get so close to me."
The two were indeed quite close, their breaths almost mingling. If they weren't still arguing, it would have been a very intimate position.
He Lin let out a soft hum, then withdrew his arm and took a step back, widening the distance between them.
"Nobody thinks you're a monster. Where did you hear these rumors, or is someone actually calling you that?"
Jiang Yi shook her head: "No, I was just imagining things."
At this point, she couldn't help but swallow, and pretending to be casual, she asked, "By the way, last time I drank with your friend, I can't remember what we talked about at all. I don't think I said anything strange, right?"
It would have been better if she hadn't mentioned it, because once she did, He Lin remembered it too.
There's still this issue we haven't settled!
He Lin glanced at her sideways and asked, "What do you think?"
"I don't think so?"
"Heh, going to a brothel? Hmm?"
"Haha, I was planning to do that, but you figured it out."
"You actually want to take my money to that kind of place? That's wonderful."
"Yes, yes, oh no, what I mean is, there's really no harm in taking a look, right? By the way, have you ever been to Mirror Flower Water Moon? Are the girls there pretty? I heard they're all as beautiful as flowers and as lovely as angels."
He Lin said coldly, "I've never been there, so I don't know."
Jiang Yi said "Oh," and secretly curved the corners of her lips where he couldn't see.
"You want me to go to that kind of place?"
Jiang Yi's expression immediately changed, and she said seriously, "No way, absolutely not."
"Then why did you suddenly ask this?"
"Curious!" Jiang Yi bent down to pick up the package from the floor and placed it on the table, then poured herself a glass of water. "Can't I be curious?"
"..."
She put everything back in its place, and then she heard He Lin outside the screen say, "The General's Mansion has family rules: eating and drinking are allowed, but whoring and gambling are absolutely forbidden."
What happens if you break the rules?
He Lin's cold voice came in: "One violation of the rules, thirty strokes of the cane."
Jiang Yi shuddered. Thirty strokes of the cane—wouldn't that leave someone's buttocks ripped open? They'd be half-crippled, if not dead.
"Alright, I was just saying it offhand. Take it with a grain of salt, but don't wrong an innocent person. I didn't go. Don't worry, next time I see Brother Zhaobai, I'll remind him to stay away from places that are harmful to his health."
Hearing Jiang Yi call Yin Zhaobai by that name, He Lin's lips twitched inexplicably. He had almost lost his temper last time, thinking it was just her drunken joke, but he didn't expect that she would still call him that now that she was sober!
He held back for a while, but finally couldn't hold back any longer. He gave a cold laugh with an ambiguous meaning and said, "Zhao Bai calls you sister-in-law, and you call him brother Zhao Bai. I'm very curious, how exactly do you two determine your seniority?"
Jiang Yi was indifferent to the matter, saying, "Oh well, let's each do our own thing. Don't worry about so many details. I believe Brother Zhaobai won't mind either."
"you……"
He Lin gritted his teeth, he was so angry he almost vomited blood.
What's going on in this person's head? How can they be so oblivious to the taboos between men and women?! It's unbelievable how oblivious they are.
She and Yin Zhaobai were sworn brothers, and they had been brothers for many years. So, in the end, he and Jiang Yi went from being a real couple to just sworn brothers?!
Unbelievable!
He Lin didn't want to point this out directly, so he sulked to himself. In the end, he simply snorted coldly and left.
Jiang Yi was separated from him by a screen. Although she couldn't see He Lin's face, she could clearly feel the somber atmosphere. Was he angry?
Peeking out, I saw that He Lin was gone.
She pursed her lips, looking utterly bewildered. It's just a form of address, isn't it? Why get so angry? How petty!
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