The night was deep, and the green screen door with its carved flowers and grass patterns looked peaceful and quiet under the clear moonlight.
Jiang Si nodded slightly to Ah Man and said softly, “Go ahead.”
Following the instructions, Ah Man took out a key from the pouch at her waist and tiptoed forward to unlock the door.
As the key turned gently, the lock made a faint click and opened.
Ah Man’s palm holding the key was already damp with sweat. While feeling relieved, she felt her heart pounding like thunder.
Seeing this, Jiang Si showed a faint smile.
Not long ago, she had instructed Ah Man to drink with the old woman who kept the key to the second gate. When the old woman was drunk, Ah Man seized the opportunity to find the key and make an impression on several prepared soap bars, then took them outside to make several new keys.
However, whether these homemade keys could open the lock depended entirely on luck. Fortunately, one out of the five keys worked.
Ah Man pushed the door open bit by bit, her eyes bright: “Young Miss—”
Suddenly, there was a creaking sound, which seemed particularly harsh in the night where only bird songs and insect chirps could be heard.
The mistress and maid looked at each other, both seeing fear in each other’s eyes.
Jiang Si quickly reacted, pulling Ah Man down to crouch. They saw the gate-keeping old woman walk out, rubbing her eyes as she headed towards the latrine, without even glancing in their direction.
Jiang Si hurriedly slipped through the side door, with Ah Man following closely behind, gently closing the door.
After the false alarm, Ah Man showed a relieved smile: “That was close!”
Jiang Si had already composed herself and said calmly, “Don’t say much, let’s hurry.”
The mistress and maid walked along the wall corner. After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Jiang Si suddenly stopped.
Ah Man looked around, somewhat confused: “Young Miss, how are we going to get out?”
She could manage to get the key to the second gate, but the main gate was impossible. There was no reason for the young miss’s maid to drink with the old gatekeeper.
“Follow me.” Jiang Si circled a cluster of flowers and trees, bent down to part the lush grass in the corner of the wall, and suddenly revealed a hole.
Ah Man’s eyes widened in surprise: “Young Miss, how is there a hole here?”
Jiang Si didn’t answer, but bent down and crawled through the hole. As the night wind outside the mansion blew over her, she looked up at the night sky, lost in thought for a moment.
Back then, her brother Jiang Zhan seemed uneducated and useless in her eyes. She had always been indifferent to him. Once, she happened to see him crawling out of this hole, obviously sneaking out to play.
At that time, she just sneered, looking down on him even more, and didn’t even think of notifying the steward to seal up the hole.
In her view, her brother was like mud that couldn’t stick to the wall, beyond any hope of salvation. It was better to stay away from him for some peace.
But Jiang Zhan died in the autumn after she got married. When she heard the tragic news, she suddenly realized that she could feel heartbroken.
The brother who, even after being whipped by their father, would still bring her rose-lotus paste cakes he bought from the street was gone.
“Young Miss—” Ah Man, who had crawled out of the hole, saw Jiang Si lost in thought and called out softly.
Jiang Si withdrew from her thoughts and smiled self-mockingly.
She had truly been blinded by prejudice back then. No matter how outstanding her eldest cousin from her second uncle’s family was, he wouldn’t bring her rose-lotus paste cakes. No matter how useless her brother seemed, his love for her was genuine.
“Let’s go.” Jiang Si regained her composure, calculated the time, and quickly led Ah Man towards Mouyou Lake.
Fortunately, the current dynasty had abolished the curfew, and both Mouyou Lake and the Earl of Dongping’s mansion were in the west of the city, providing great convenience for Jiang Si.
The mistress and maid hurriedly arrived there. Under the clear moonlight, they could see two figures standing by the lake in the distance.
Ah Man was shocked and whispered, “Young Miss, there are people!”
Jiang Si, expressionless, pointed to a large rock by the lake with the words “Mouyou Lake” carved on it.
The rock was over eight feet tall, more than enough for people to hide behind.
Ah Man understood and followed Jiang Si to hide there.
Jiang Si’s hand rested on the rock wall, feeling a faint warmth from the heat the rock had absorbed during the day.
Soon, sobbing sounds carried over with the wind from the lakeside. Jiang Si couldn’t help but peek out to look.
The moonlight was clear, distinctly illuminating the appearance of the two people.
The man was slender, nearly a head taller than the woman. It was indeed Jiang Si’s fiancé, Ji Chongyi.
Jiang Si’s gaze swept briefly over Ji Chongyi’s handsome face and landed on the woman’s face.
She had always been curious about what the woman who could make Ji Chongyi ignore his beautiful new bride looked like.
By the time she married into the family, that woman was no longer in this world. Only tonight did she have the chance to see her true appearance.
The woman was petite, with willow-leaf eyebrows above a pair of misty large eyes. Even bathed in moonlight, one could see that her complexion wasn’t particularly fair.
Jiang Si’s emotions became somewhat complex.
To be fair, this woman could be considered a pretty, delicate beauty, but she was still far from being a top-tier beauty. Moreover, Jiang Si had heard later that this commoner girl hadn’t read many books…
Jiang Si’s gaze moved back to Ji Chongyi’s face, seeing the genuine pain and anxiety there. She had to admit, she had lost to true love.
“Yi Lang, you… you should go back to the mansion. It’s very late, and if you’re discovered, it will cause trouble,” the woman said with her head lowered, her voice choked with sobs.
Ji Chongyi reached out to hold the woman’s shoulders, his tone passionate: “I won’t leave. Qiao Niang, don’t you know I’m about to get married? The family is already watching me closely. If I leave now, I’m afraid I won’t be able to see you again before the wedding…”
Jiang Si’s eyes suddenly turned cold.
So Ji Chongyi’s beloved was called Qiao Niang.
No wonder on the second day after their marriage, when Abao came in to serve her and she called out “Abao,” Ji Chongyi’s eyes swept over like a knife before he left abruptly, even delaying the tea ceremony.
The Duchess Anguo, her mother-in-law, naturally wouldn’t blame her son but thought it was Jiang Si who didn’t understand etiquette. During the tea ceremony, she made things difficult for Jiang Si for quite a while before letting it go.
Qiao Niang smiled sadly: “What difference does it make if you don’t leave now? Yi Lang, you’ll have to go home eventually. Whether it’s earlier or later doesn’t make any difference to us. As for the future… since you’re getting married, you should treat your wife well. Forget about me. I… I will forget about you too—”
Ji Chongyi suddenly covered Qiao Niang’s mouth, his voice rising: “I won’t allow it!”
“Yi Lang—” Qiao Niang turned her face away, tears falling incessantly.
Jiang Si watched coldly, starting to feel tense.
By the looks of it, were the two about to commit suicide together?
She hoped everything would go smoothly from here on…
“Qiao Niang, why don’t we elope!” Ji Chongyi’s emotions ran high as he grasped Qiao Niang’s hand and started to walk away.
Qiao Niang struggled and shook her head: “Yi Lang, calm down. Eloping definitely won’t work—”
Ji Chongyi suddenly turned around and lowered his head, silencing her with his lips.
A’man covered her mouth and gasped, inhaling sharply. Seething with anger, she tugged fiercely at Jiang Si’s sleeve.
Yet, Jiang Si remained unmoved, calmly considering the course of action she would take after the two met their untimely end.
The pair, lost in their passionate kiss, exchanged no words other than the increasingly heavy sound of their breathing. Completely engrossed, they took step after step backward—until suddenly, there was a thunderous crash.
Jiang Si couldn’t help but stare in astonishment.
Huh? This isn’t how it was supposed to go!