Nan Jin walked to the front door of the main room facing due south, knocked on the door ring, and asked in a flat voice, “The hot water and medicinal soup are ready.”

Jing Hengbo quickly flashed into the room, suppressing her voice and mumbling a vague “Mm.”

Nan Jin’s footsteps departed, and Jing Hengbo came back out, bringing in Gong Yin whom she had thrown in the corner of the wall, stripping off his outer clothes and tossing him onto the bed.

Gong Yin could only be considered half-drunk before, but after several rounds of questions and answers, drinking frequently, he had drained that entire jar clean. This time he was truly drunk, and she could pose him in whatever position she wanted.

Jing Hengbo went to the inner side of Gong Yin’s bed, spread out the blanket, propped it up, and crawled inside. The room had no lit lamps, and inside the bed was completely dark. With the blanket spread and bunched up, it would be difficult to notice someone was there without careful observation.

Someone knocked on the door outside. Nan Jin said: “The water is here.”

Jing Hengbo didn’t answer. It was quiet outside for a moment, then footsteps sounded—Nan Jin had actually left.

This was somewhat unexpected for Jing Hengbo. She had originally guessed that Nan Jin would definitely use bringing bath water as an excuse to enter the room.

After waiting a while longer with still no movement, she had no choice but to lie on the bed, move a candlestick to knock the door open, then move the water bucket inside.

With her teleportation and object manipulation abilities, doing such things seemed like the work of a supreme master—no need to get out of bed, using true power to move objects.

The door closed. The water in the bucket was very hot, with rolling steam and mist. The entire room was immediately filled with thick fog. This scene felt somewhat familiar—it seemed a similar scene had been enacted not long ago at the Yelu estate. But Jing Hengbo had an intuition that tonight’s events would not be the same as last time.

Medicinal substances had also been added to the bath water, creating a heavy medicinal smell. Jing Hengbo knew that Gong Yin was ill, and daily medicinal baths were probably indispensable.

But this medicinal smell was a bit too strong.

Her heart stirred, and she suddenly remembered the medicine packet Nan Jin had hidden. Walking to the water bucket and looking inside, she saw a thick layer of various colored medicinal substances at the bottom. It would be too easy to mix something else in.

Earlier, that doctor had quietly told her that Nan Jin had prescribed two medicines—one to make the body weak and drowsy, causing deep sleep, and another that could make one’s blood boil with rising spring desires, serving as an aphrodisiac and stimulant… Simply put, it was a love potion.

That’s why Jing Hengbo had followed along—her family’s nominal concubine seemed to be planning to scheme against her old Gong.

The medicinal fragrance suddenly seemed to turn somewhat sweet. She sniffed her nose, and a drowsy feeling struck her. Sure enough, it was that sleep-inducing medicine. So the aphrodisiac was also in the bath water?

Soaking in the water versus smelling it from afar had different effects. And Nan Jin was such an indifferent yet principled person—for her to do such a thing was incredible even to Jing Hengbo. If it were Gong Yin, he probably wouldn’t guard against it either.

She found a porcelain ornament and yawned repeatedly while splashing in the bucket, creating flowing water sounds that should sound very much like someone taking a bath.

After a while, she got on the bed and hid back in her original spot.

About half an hour later, when she was almost falling asleep from waiting, the door opened silently.

A tall, thin black shadow stood in the doorway—it was indeed Nan Jin.

But Jing Hengbo’s gaze passed over Nan Jin’s shoulder to look into the courtyard. Another black shadow stood in the courtyard, right behind Nan Jin. At this time, everyone had already extinguished their lights and gone to sleep. That black shadow’s long silhouette stretched in the moonlight—it was Long Zhai.

This feeling was truly bizarre… Her husband’s uncle urging her husband’s nominal concubine to force herself upon him?

The elite circles were truly chaotic.

Jing Hengbo sighed in her heart—no matter how much you guard against external threats, it’s hard to guard against betrayal from within…

Nan Jin walked in step by step, closing the door. At the moment she closed the door, Jing Hengbo saw Long Zhai walk away with satisfaction.

Nan Jin walked silently all the way to Gong Yin’s bedside.

Gong Yin was drunk, and his breathing was different from his usual meditation breathing—he truly looked like he had been drugged.

There wasn’t a sound.

Jing Hengbo, who had already buried her head inside the blanket, waited for quite a while without feeling any movement. Unable to resist, she quietly lifted a small gap and saw Nan Jin standing rigidly in front of Gong Yin’s bed. For the duration of half a stick of incense, she remained in that same position.

There was no romantic feeling at all. Combined with that plain, straight long hair, pale face, and stiff body, she looked more like a female ghost come to claim a life.

Shouldn’t this be the time for her to be full of spring passion, removing her clothes while moonlight bathed the woman’s beautiful body and so forth?

Jing Hengbo felt strange again.

The scent in the air was still that drowsy smell, but there was no sweet, ambiguous aroma of the supposed aphrodisiac. The person about to throw herself into his arms also didn’t seem to be in the right state.

Jing Hengbo suddenly noticed brightness before her eyes. Looking up, she saw Nan Jin’s face covered with moisture.

Those streams of water flowed silently from her eyes, running down her cheeks straight to her chin, yet making no sound and showing no expression. She didn’t even look like she was crying—more like she had simply been splashed in the face with water.

Only Jing Hengbo could see her eyes.

This woman, who had been cultivated by the Long family to have the same restrained and enduring character, at this moment had only her eyes expressing deep, heavy sorrow.

No romantic feelings, no spring passion, no shyness, no anticipation. Those pupils were black as holes, vaguely hiding one part lingering attachment, seven parts determination, and the remaining two parts were perhaps those indescribable emotions.

Then her garments silently slipped off.

Like all melodramatic television dramas, the pure white, smooth garments slid down her body to the floor.

Jing Hengbo was getting confused about this plot.

Every time she thought the plot wasn’t about drugged seduction, Nan Jin’s next move seemed to follow exactly that script.

Nan Jin wore only a pure white one-piece silk undergarment inside—not the curvaceous belly wrap, but straight and stiff like herself, lacking any romantic charm, though it did expose large areas of skin.

Then she lifted her leg, got on the bed, and slithered into Gong Yin’s bedding like a snake.

Jing Hengbo was stunned by this plot development—it was really happening like this?

Just like this?

What should she do? Catch them in adultery?

In the bedding, Nan Jin embraced Gong Yin. Her profile faced directly toward Jing Hengbo’s side. The tears had stopped flowing, but the tear stains weren’t yet dry. Her eyes were so black they were almost hollow.

Her long hair had spread out, brushing right against Jing Hengbo’s nose, making her terribly itchy, yet she dared not make a sound.

Nan Jin was fumbling to remove Gong Yin’s clothes. Jing Hengbo felt the time to act was approaching, but she was still hesitating. She always felt something was wrong.

But Nan Jin didn’t actually remove Gong Yin’s clothes—she only undid a few of his buttons. Then she raised her head, staring fixedly at the ceiling, as if preparing for something or contemplating something. After a moment, she grasped Gong Yin’s palms with both hands, took a deep breath, lowered her head, and kissed toward Gong Yin’s lips.

She had crossed the line!

Jing Hengbo suddenly jumped up, throwing off the blanket—

But the bed frame suddenly shook with a muffled bang. Nan Jin’s body was flung away, first hitting the edge of the bed, then heavily falling to the floor. At the moment of her fall, a series of crackling sounds rang out as a layer of frost formed on her body, sealing her joints so she couldn’t move.

These sounds were violent, and almost immediately, all the lights in the courtyard lit up.

Jing Hengbo stared at Gong Yin in amazement—he was awake?

But Gong Yin hadn’t opened his eyes. A faint blue aura appeared between his brows, looking ominous.

Automatic defense?

Nan Jin suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, and the blood actually sparkled with light. Jing Hengbo was startled and hurried down from the bed to check on her. She had just knelt halfway beside her and hadn’t yet grasped her wrist when the door banged open, and Long Zhai stood in the doorway.

He took in the situation in the room at a glance, his face changing dramatically. Looking at Nan Jin again, his expression was even more shocked. Suddenly he stepped back and shouted loudly: “Form the array!”

Wind rushed rapidly outside from all directions. A series of subtle, familiar crackling sounds arose, the temperature around them plummeted sharply. Jing Hengbo looked up to see countless fine cracks appearing on the roof, growing larger and larger, revealing sinister ice shards.

Long Zhai swept over, glanced at Gong Yin with surprise, but at this moment, Gong Yin opened his eyes.

He frowned as if his head hurt badly. His first glance fell on the floor, and seeing Jing Hengbo, he didn’t show too much surprise. When he saw Nan Jin, his expression trembled slightly.

Jing Hengbo was very puzzled. Hadn’t Nan Jin been thrown out by him? What was the big deal about throwing someone? Why were both of them so shocked?

Gong Yin looked around again, his face suddenly cold, and said sternly: “Get out. Withdraw the array.”

“Wait.” Long Zhai stepped forward, his face iron-blue. “Withdraw the array directly? Don’t you plan to ask what happened first?”

Gong Yin glanced at Nan Jin, then raised his eyes, his gaze as cold and sharp as icicles. “Oh? What happened? Uncle should know more clearly.”

Long Zhai’s expression changed slightly, then he pointed at Jing Hengbo and said: “Yes, I know clearly! Ming Zhu came to bring you bath water. When she was moving the water out, there was suddenly a loud crash. I rushed over and saw this woman had injured Ming Zhu!”

Gong Yin didn’t even look at the wooden bucket. “I didn’t know that when Nan Jin came to help me move bath water, it required such… attire.”

Though he didn’t say it explicitly, Long Zhai naturally knew he was referring to Nan Jin’s disheveled clothing. Feeling guilty, his face reddened slightly, and he coughed, saying: “You seem to be drunk?”

Gong Yin didn’t answer.

Long Zhai said lightly: “If you were drunk and had some improper behavior, it’s actually nothing. You and Nan Jin could originally be considered to have a marriage agreement. This would be quite natural. It’s just that from now on, you need to take responsibility for her.”

As he said this, he stared at Jing Hengbo. Jing Hengbo showed no expression—this news had no impact on her.

Gong Yin’s expression was indifferent, as if he couldn’t even be bothered to argue or acknowledge, and directly said: “It’s late. Everyone should rest.”

“Family Head!” Long Zhai shouted angrily. Seeing Gong Yin’s completely unmoved appearance, he pointed at the unconscious Nan Jin and said urgently: “Fine, even if we don’t discuss this matter now, but Family Head, don’t you see what’s wrong with Nan Jin right now?”

Gong Yin looked carefully at Nan Jin, his gaze flickering.

Jing Hengbo now also noticed something wrong with Nan Jin. The skin exposed between her garments was becoming increasingly white, truly like ice, even slightly transparent. In those slightly transparent skin patterns, faint red sparkles could be vaguely seen.

“This is Ming Zhu’s protective true essence, formed from her dantian after experiencing countless spiritual pills and medicines from our Long family for body cultivation! It should only stay within her dantian. After she… after she becomes your wife, it would merge and exchange with the true qi in your body. Before that, it must never flow backward and break out of her body, otherwise it could cost her life…” Long Zhai seemed to be in a panic, his beard and hair trembling wildly. “How could she end up like this when she was perfectly fine? Can you deny that this woman didn’t cause it?”

Jing Hengbo suddenly understood everything.

Only now did she realize that Nan Jin’s expression had clearly been one of abandonment and farewell!

Last time, Long Zhai must have forced her to offer herself to Gong Yin to help both Gong Yin and herself escape their life-and-death crisis, but she was unwilling. She only pretended to agree, prescribing two medicines at the medical clinic in this town—one was an aphrodisiac, the other a sedative. The aphrodisiac was prescribed for Long Zhai to see, while the sedative was to be used on Gong Yin. Using the sedative wasn’t to take advantage of Gong Yin, but hoping to knock him out, then give him her true essence.

As for herself, forcibly giving up her true essence without proper union would likely endanger her life. From her failure just now and the blood flowing backward, one could tell how serious the consequences were.

Jing Hengbo felt mixed emotions for a moment—for Nan Jin to do this much couldn’t simply be explained as duty and obligation. She clearly had feelings for Gong Yin.

However, the man she loved could only be one, and no matter how moved she was, he still couldn’t be given up.

“Activate the array!” Long Zhai shouted!

Seeing the true essence that Nan Jin had nearly wasted, he was so heartbroken his vision went black. This was a treasure related to the normal continuation of the Long family bloodline! In his rage and panic, he only thought that this woman Jing Hengbo’s existence would definitely be the greatest obstacle to the Long family’s rise. At this moment, with justifiable cause, when would be better to eliminate her?

The crackling sounds overhead grew more intense, the cracks grew larger, and countless sharp ice swords silently extended inward. That cold air became increasingly piercing, making even Jing Hengbo shiver.

She didn’t want to argue at this moment—when someone wants to frame you, they’ll always find an excuse. She also didn’t want to put Gong Yin in a difficult position—it hadn’t been easy for him to find his family. Better to leave herself.

Before her body could move, Gong Yin suddenly floated down from the bed, grabbed her hand, and walked toward the exit.

Long Zhai had originally thought Gong Yin would stop him. He was already prepared—if Gong Yin tried to stop him, he would pretend to comply while secretly acting, taking advantage of Gong Yin’s carelessness to kill Jing Hengbo on the spot!

Who knew Gong Yin wouldn’t play by the rules and would simply turn and leave. This caught him off guard. After a moment of stunned silence, he hurriedly blocked the doorway. “Family Head!”

“The family head has changed. You are the family head,” Gong Yin said coldly. “Move aside.”

“Family Head!”

Gong Yin raised his eyes to look at him. His clear, cold gaze forced Long Zhai to look away.

“Not changing? Then step down.”

“…”

The atmosphere in the room fell into awkward silence.

Jing Hengbo suddenly burst into giggles.

“Old Long, oh Old Long,” she laughed. “Why so tense and confrontational? Do you really think you can stop me? Form an array? You’d need to form a ten-mile array, otherwise, when this lady wants to come, she comes, and when she wants to go, she goes—nobody can stop me. Don’t you know?”

Long Zhai’s expression changed. Only now did he remember certain supernatural aspects of the legendary Queen.

“Stop fooling around.” Jing Hengbo flicked her fingers like dusting off dirt. “You know in your heart exactly what happened here. I’m not criticizing you, but the Long family was once the premier noble house with hundreds of years of glorious reputation. How have they fallen to the point where they must force a woman to sacrifice her lifelong happiness and demean herself to drug and seduce people? Even if you don’t feel ashamed, I’m embarrassed for your old face.”

Long Zhai’s face went white, then turned blue after the white. Suddenly he raised his head and shouted: “Withdraw the array!”

Those words just now couldn’t be heard by the Long family disciples, or the noble pride he’d desperately instilled in them would truly collapse.

The Long family already had almost nothing left—they couldn’t lose face too.

“That’s right.” Jing Hengbo smiled, glancing sideways at Gong Yin. “What are you so nervous about anyway? Who cares about your family head position? Who wants to steal him? Taking on such a mess as your Long family—someone riddled with illness who still insists on keeping face—who would be willing to take on such trouble? But since you value your Long family so much, listen to my advice: your family head isn’t clay for you to mold as you please. What he wants and doesn’t want—you should stop your nagging and stop making decisions for him. Otherwise, it doesn’t matter if I’m missing a man in my palace, but if your Long family loses its family head, that wouldn’t be so easy to handle, would it?”

Long Zhai’s face was iron-blue. Gong Yin’s expression looked even worse. Jing Hengbo didn’t even glance at him—men couldn’t be treasured too much. She understood this now.

Gong Yin silently gestured outside. Long Zhai gritted his teeth and had no choice but to bow and withdraw.

As he left, he gave Jing Hengbo a cold look. Jing Hengbo smiled sweetly and waved goodbye to him.

Another rush of wind swept by, the cracks slowly closed, the cold air gradually dispersed, and the Long family disciples vanished like ice mist.

Gong Yin looked at Jing Hengbo, but Jing Hengbo wouldn’t look at him. She nodded toward Nan Jin on the floor and said: “Go check on your concubine.”

That one sentence choked Gong Yin until his face went white. After a long silent moment, he still swept over to check Nan Jin’s pulse.

Jing Hengbo was pleased that she had choked him, but then she heard him suddenly say: “Mm, thank you for finally acknowledging that you’re my wife.”

This time Jing Hengbo choked on her own saliva…

Over there, Gong Yin patted a few times, and Nan Jin coughed up a mouthful of stagnant blood, finally slowly awakening. Seeing Gong Yin’s face clearly before her, she couldn’t help but freeze. Just as she was about to say something, Gong Yin said coldly: “From now on, you’re not allowed to come within three zhang of my room.”

Nan Jin paused, then asked through gritted teeth: “You threw me away?”

“Naturally. Remember, no matter who approaches me, they’re seeking death.” Gong Yin’s expression was indifferent.

At this moment, his complexion was white as snow, his gaze as if soaked in a frozen cave for three years, cold to the bone marrow. Even Jing Hengbo felt that such an attitude would probably be very stimulating for a patient.

Nan Jin had feelings for Gong Yin, and doing such a thing already filled her with shame, anger, helplessness, and pain. Then encountering this iceberg who was unreasonable to everyone except her, Jing Hengbo…

Sure enough, Nan Jin couldn’t catch her breath after being looked at like that by him. She coughed violently, her face taking on a faint flush, coughing while laughing coldly.

“Good, good, very good—’no matter who approaches seeks death’… Then who was it that got stripped naked and slept with back then!”