The day passed just like that.

Jiang Li stayed in this estate. Zhao Ke and Wen Ji naturally had nothing much to say to her. Lu Ji and Ji Heng were not present, and while Wenren Yao was quite talkative, the questions he asked Jiang Li were difficult for her to answer, so she could only pretend ignorance.

In her previous life, Jiang Li had never been to Huangzhou. She only knew it was famous for producing a certain type of wine. Although Ji Heng didn’t say so, Jiang Li also understood that this city was fraught with hidden dangers and was not as peaceful as it appeared on the surface. Prince Cheng might have made some arrangements here as part of his contingency plans. Once he began his uprising, Huangzhou would inevitably be implicated.

She didn’t know when Prince Cheng would stage his rebellion, but Jiang Li believed it wouldn’t be too long. Therefore, when Ji Heng was absent, Jiang Li didn’t suggest going out for a walk on the streets—not only because she hadn’t yet recovered her strength, but also because she didn’t know when she might encounter lurking dangers. Wenren Yao probably understood this as well; otherwise, with his lively personality that loved excitement, he wouldn’t have stayed inside the estate all day without going out.

From daylight to evening, it was Zhao Ke who went out to buy food and wine, from somewhere near the estate. Jiang Li had nothing particular to do, but fortunately there was a study in the estate, and she managed to find some books in it. Although they were just uninteresting storybooks, they were better than nothing.

Reading books, spacing out—in the blink of an eye, evening arrived.

When the lanterns outside were lit, Ji Heng and Lu Ji still hadn’t returned. A maid came over and asked, “Miss, would you like to rest now?”

Jiang Li looked up at the sky. The stars had all hidden behind the clouds. From the nearby street outside, she could still faintly hear the singing and dancing of courtesans from the taverns, but the sound was no longer as loud as it had been at first—as night deepened, everything grew quiet. People were either sleeping or resting, and the entire city of Huangzhou sank into tranquility.

“I don’t want to rest yet. You can go out first,” Jiang Li shook her head. “I’ll get on the bed when I’m tired.”

The maid then withdrew.

Strangely enough, usually at this hour Jiang Li would more or less feel some drowsiness, but today she was exceptionally alert. She didn’t know if it was because of the “Muscle-Softening Powder” or something else, or perhaps simply because Ji Heng’s absence made her feel unsafe. In any case, she didn’t feel sleepy at all. Fortunately, by this time, twelve hours had passed since she’d ingested the Muscle-Softening Powder yesterday, and she had completely recovered, no longer as weak as before.

Unable to sleep, Jiang Li could only pace back and forth in the room. The room had originally been inhabited by ordinary residents of Huangzhou, and this particular chamber should have belonged to a young lady. With its red bed curtains and soft bedding, it was quite comfortable. Jiang Li sat down before the vanity mirror. In the dim lamplight, her face was still covered with spots. Although the redness had faded slightly, it was far too little.

On the vanity was placed a palm-sized crimson basket containing a spool of fine thread and a pair of scissors. The scissors must have been used by the girl for needlework—they were quite delicate. Perhaps Ji Heng had purchased this estate so quickly, and the family had moved out in such haste, that they hadn’t had time to take these scissors with them.

Jiang Li weighed the scissors in her hand. They weren’t very heavy and felt comfortable to use, so she tucked them into her sleeve.

When Prince Cheng’s subordinates had captured her, they had thoroughly cleaned out all her sharply filed hairpins, the dagger Jiang Jingrui had given her, and everything else useful. And because it had been that woman who had done it, the search had been extremely thorough, leaving nothing useful behind. Without anything for self-defense, she felt like something was missing. But she didn’t have time now to look for new hairpins, so she could only make do temporarily.

Although Wen Ji and Zhao Ke were present, it was always better to have an extra layer of protection.

After putting away the scissors, Jiang Li walked to the window. She didn’t know when Ji Heng would return. It was already late at night—perhaps he wouldn’t return at all tonight. Wenren Yao had already retired to his room to rest. The light in his room appeared to have been extinguished as well, but Jiang Li still felt no drowsiness whatsoever.

Moreover, because it was so quiet, she even wanted to wake up Wenren Yao to keep her company and chat.

The candlelight was weak. The candle shed tears, dropping them one by one onto the table with a clearly audible sound. What should have been a peaceful night somehow inexplicably made Jiang Li feel uneasy.

It was simply because the surroundings were too quiet.

On a spring night, even when quiet, one would always hear at least a few scattered sounds—the croaking of frogs, the sound of fish splashing their tails in ponds, the murmuring of birds, or the sound of the evening breeze. These sounds dotted the night, both quiet and lively, full of life and vitality.

But tonight was excessively quiet. Jiang Li heard nothing, as if everything had agreed to come to an abrupt halt at the same moment, and the faint sounds of singing and dancing that had been drifting over earlier had also completely disappeared at some point.

Jiang Li inexplicably felt goosebumps rising on her skin.

Perhaps because she had died once before, she had an instinct for danger. Unlike the wariness assassins felt when facing powerful enemies, this instinct was like a wild beast catching the scent of danger, feeling anxious and unsettled in the moment before disaster struck.

Jiang Li suddenly felt a tightness in her chest. After thinking for a moment, she put on her outer garment and gently opened the door.

As soon as she opened it, she felt the door bump into someone. Outside her door, two people had somehow been crouching there all along. Jiang Li nearly cried out in alarm when one of them immediately spoke, lowering his voice and saying tersely, “Second Miss, it’s me!”

It was Zhao Ke’s voice.

By the candlelight from the room, Jiang Li could finally see clearly that the two people crouching at her door were actually Zhao Ke and Wen Ji. She was extremely surprised. Although she knew that Zhao Ke and Wen Ji were responsible for protecting her safety, when she had entered earlier, she hadn’t seen these two, and why were they crouching right at her door? It would be fine even if they kept watch nearby. Moreover, why did both of them need to keep night watch? When one was on duty, the other could rest and they could take turns—why be so cautious?

Jiang Li’s mind was in chaos and she couldn’t think clearly for the moment, but she deeply understood one thing—something was likely to happen tonight.

Sure enough, just as this thought occurred to her, a delighted voice came from not far away. It was Wenren Yao’s voice, saying, “Second Miss Jiang, why did you come out too?”

Jiang Li was astonished and asked Zhao Ke, “What’s going on?”

“There’s likely to be activity tonight. Prince Cheng may make his move and launch a night raid to occupy Huangzhou. There are troops outside the city,” Zhao Ke answered.

“Prince Cheng has people inside Huangzhou too?” Jiang Li asked.

Zhao Ke seemed not to have expected Jiang Li to think of this point so quickly. He paused briefly before nodding. Then, realizing that Jiang Li might not be able to see him nod in the darkness, he said, “That’s right. We originally didn’t want to disturb Second Miss—once this night passes, it would be over. We didn’t expect Second Miss to come out on her own.” He hesitated for a moment. “Why did Second Miss suddenly come out?”

“I kept feeling restless, like something was going to happen,” Jiang Li said. “You may not believe it, but I just felt tonight was far too quiet. I wanted to go out and look, but didn’t expect to run into you as soon as I came out.”

Zhao Ke understood.

As they were talking here, Wenren Yao seemed dissatisfied at being left out. He actually ran over from the other side, holding two small wooden stools in his hands. He handed one to Jiang Li, saying, “What are you talking about? Second Miss Jiang, why don’t we all sit down here?”

Jiang Li said, “Why not sit inside the room?”

“We’re afraid we might miss the signal,” Zhao Ke explained.

Jiang Li understood. She asked again, “Where is Ji Heng now?”

“He has to deal with the night raid,” Wenren Yao answered enthusiastically. “He went to negotiate with the commander of the city garrison. He’s a Duke, so the city garrison has to listen to him too. If it’s Ji Heng, Prince Cheng’s people won’t be able to get in for the time being. However, the people he left in Huangzhou might take advantage of the chaos to cause trouble—they might kill innocent civilians or take advantage of the disorder to open the city gates wide and let those troops in. So tonight is crucial.”

Jiang Li understood what Wenren Yao meant. She said, “What about those civilians?”

Wenren Yao said, “Apart from the city garrison near the gates, some will remain in the city, but tonight… there will most likely be burning, killing, and looting.”

Turmoil, rebellion—it all came down to one word: “chaos.” The ones who always suffered were the innocent common people. Even Ji Heng couldn’t change this. He couldn’t possibly save everyone. Moreover, Ji Heng wasn’t someone soft-hearted. Perhaps his coming to Huangzhou to defend the city and sabotage Prince Cheng’s plans wasn’t because he wanted to save the lives of the people in this city, but simply to accomplish his own objectives.

Although his objectives weren’t entirely clear yet, Jiang Li could vaguely grasp some clues. But these clues seemed very important to Ji Heng, so it wasn’t convenient for her to ask directly. And asking others, like those close to Ji Heng such as Wenren Yao, they might not know the truth either.

In the end, it was all shrouded in fog, difficult to clear away and see the truth.

“Second Miss Jiang doesn’t need to worry,” seeing Jiang Li fall silent, Wenren Yao thought she was afraid and said, “Although A’Heng isn’t here, I can protect you. Stay with me, don’t worry!”

Jiang Li didn’t feel very reassured, especially regarding Wenren Yao. If Zhao Ke and Wen Ji were standing guard, one could say Wenren Yao needed protection more than she did.

Thinking this, she saw that the pitch-black sky had somehow been lit up. It was as if someone had taken a torch in the sky and painted at random, coloring that area red. Immediately after, the red grew larger and brighter, almost illuminating half of Huangzhou city. Then, a resounding drumbeat sounded.

Enemy night raid!

Jiang Li immediately turned to look at Zhao Ke and Wen Ji. Both men’s expressions were unprecedentedly grave. In the distance, from the neighboring area, panicked footsteps began to be heard. It seemed the drumbeat had awakened many people from their sleep. The common folk hurriedly dressed and came out to see what had happened.

Just then, the candle in Jiang Li’s room also burned out. The flame flickered slightly, then extinguished completely. Not a trace of light remained in the room—only the illuminated sky in the distance was visible.

They had probably begun their attack.