Before the chaos at Zhen Bao Ge erupted, Jiang Yi had already quickly exited the main entrance.
As soon as she stepped out, her legs weakened. She leaned against a tree in front of the door, her face alarmingly pale. “Help me into the carriage…”
The maid was startled by Jiang Yi’s pallor. “My lady—”
“Help me into the carriage!” Jiang Yi commanded sternly.
Jiang Yi usually spoke gently to her servants, and this was the first time the maid had heard her raise her voice. Without further delay, the maid half-supported, half-dragged Jiang Yi into the carriage.
Once seated inside, Jiang Yi felt like she could breathe again, but overwhelming fear washed over her.
“My lady, what’s wrong?” The maid asked urgently, seeing Jiang Yi’s distress.
Jiang Yi leaned against the cold carriage wall, her face ashen and her smooth, fair forehead covered in sweat.
She looked as if she had just been pulled from the water, gasping for air with a mixture of fear and relief, too preoccupied to respond to her anxious maid.
What had happened?
She had merely been browsing Zhen Bao Ge. How had she become a target? And who were those two men?
She had been drugged unconscious. If she hadn’t been rescued today, the consequences—
Right, her rescuer had claimed to be one of Prince Yan’s men!
Jiang Yi suddenly remembered something and tugged at her maid forcefully. “Tell the driver… to go directly to Prince Yan’s residence…”
“What?” The maid was stunned by this sudden request.
According to etiquette, even for ordinary families, let alone a household like Prince Yan’s, relatives needed to send a visiting card in advance before calling.
What had come over her mistress?
“Hurry!” Jiang Yi pushed her maid.
The maid, infected by Jiang Yi’s urgency, crawled to the carriage door, lifted the curtain, and called out, “Old Iron Head, go to Prince Yan’s residence.”
The driver turned his head, holding the reins. “Not returning to the Earl’s mansion?”
The maid glared at the driver. “Go where the mistress says.”
“Alright, hold on tight.” The driver cracked his whip, turning the carriage around and speeding off.
Jiang Yi clutched her handkerchief in silence, the atmosphere in the carriage almost solidifying.
The maid wanted to speak several times but didn’t dare break the heavy silence, secretly wondering what had happened.
She suddenly remembered falling asleep at Zhen Bao Ge, and her face turned pale.
The carriage stopped, and the driver’s voice came through. “Miss, we’ve arrived.”
The maid poked her head out. “Old Iron Head, go tell the doorkeeper.”
The driver ran over to knock on the door.
“No visiting card?” The doorkeeper waved the driver away.
Recently, more and more people have been trying to claim connections with the Prince’s household. They couldn’t let just anyone in.
The driver, an honest man naturally intimidated by the Prince’s residence, didn’t dare argue when dismissed and turned to leave silently.
The doorkeeper took another look at the carriage parked nearby, feeling it looked somewhat familiar.
“Wait—” The doorkeeper called the driver back. “May I ask which household you’re from?”
The driver replied, “The eldest miss from the East Peace Earl’s mansion is here to see the Princess Consort…”
The doorkeeper nearly fell over. He grabbed the driver’s wrist and said, “Brother, why didn’t you say so earlier!”
Turning away the Princess Consort’s sister at the gate—if the Prince found out, he’d be finished!
The doorkeeper glared at the driver, thinking to himself: Who knew this man could be so sly? Luckily, he had asked one more question.
Inside, Jiang Si was playing with A Huan.
At just over two months old, A Huan had grown into a chubby, fair-skinned baby with big eyes who loved to smile.
But suddenly, little A Huan’s face scrunched up, and he began to cry.
“Did he wet himself?” Jiang Si, still in the clumsy stage of new motherhood, quickly checked. “He did!”
Before the wet nurse could take the child, Er Niu, who had been lying nearby, suddenly stood up. With practiced ease, he trotted to a low cabinet, picked up a diaper with his mouth, and brought it back, indicating that Jiang Si should change A Huan quickly.
Jiang Si took the diaper, looking at Er Niu’s proud expression with a mixture of amusement and exasperation.
Er Niu had only been observing for a short while, yet he had learned to fetch diapers for A Huan. If he kept learning, wouldn’t he be changing diapers soon?
The wet nurse, deftly changing A Huan’s diaper, praised, “This servant has never seen a dog as clever as Er Niu.”
A Man pouted and said, “Of course not! Our Er Niu is a fourth-rank official of the imperial court!”
Although the wet nurse had heard this before, she was still shocked every time.
Goodness, fourth rank! In an ordinary family, having a seventh-rank county magistrate would be considered a great blessing from their ancestors.
There was no comparison—humans couldn’t even match up to a dog!
As the room was filled with a cheerful atmosphere, a maid entered to report that Jiang Yi had arrived.
Jiang Si quickly ordered to have Jiang Yi brought in.
“Elder Sister, why did you suddenly—” Catching the fear in Jiang Yi’s eyes, Jiang Si swallowed the rest of her words and gestured for everyone in the room to leave.
Seeing the wet nurse carry A Huan away, Er Niu thought for a moment and followed them out.
With only the two sisters left in the room, Jiang Yi even dismissed the maid who had accompanied her.
“Elder Sister, did something happen?”
Jiang Yi gripped her teacup tightly, her knuckles turning white. After composing herself, she said, “Fourth Sister, today someone… tried to take advantage of me…”
Jiang Si’s hand shook, nearly knocking over her teacup.
Fearing she had frightened Jiang Si, Jiang Yi quickly added, “I’m fine!”
Jiang Si took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from Jiang Yi’s forehead. “Elder Sister, take your time and tell me everything.”
Jiang Yi nodded and began to recount the events in a trembling voice. As she neared the end of her story, she found it increasingly difficult to control the fear welling up inside her.
Jiang Si completely understood her sister’s feelings.
Imagine going about your day, browsing a shop, and suddenly finding yourself nearly violated by a scoundrel. What woman wouldn’t be terrified?
“The person who saved me claimed to be one of the Prince’s men… Fourth Sister, do you know anything about this?”
Jiang Si closed her eyes, digging her nails into her palm to suppress the rage threatening to erupt.
Recently, A Jin had been keeping an eye on the Crown Prince. If it was A Jin’s man who saved Elder Sister, there was an eighty percent chance it was the Crown Prince who had tried to harm her!
“Fourth Sister?”
Jiang Si forced a smile at Jiang Yi. “I haven’t seen the Prince yet. When he returns, I’ll ask him if he knows anything about this.”
She took Jiang Yi’s hand; both sisters’ hands were cold.
“Elder Sister, you should return home for now. Don’t go out for a while, at least until we have some answers about today’s incident.”
Even if she confirmed it was the Crown Prince who had targeted her sister, it was better not to let the Elder Sister know until the Crown Prince was dealt with.
If Elder Sister knew she was being targeted by the current Crown Prince, she would surely be unable to eat or sleep peacefully.
Jiang Yi nodded. “Alright, I’ll wait for your news.”
With Prince Yan’s men involved, whoever had tried to harm her was likely not a simple adversary. She didn’t have her younger sister’s ability to seek justice for herself, but she could at least avoid causing trouble and worrying her sister.
As for being afraid… of course, she was afraid. How could she not be?
Jiang Si ordered people to escort Jiang Yi back to the East Peace Earl’s mansion, then immediately commanded, “Bring the Prince back from the government office.”