After a moment of tension, Jiang Si relaxed. Though separated by an embroidered peony door curtain and some distance, the familiar scent told her the person behind it was Jiang Qiao.
The curtain was soon lifted, and Jiang Qiao entered carrying a thin blanket, followed by two embarrassed-looking maids.
“Fourth Sister, I really can’t sleep. Let me stay with you tonight,” Jiang Qiao pleaded, quickly approaching Jiang Si.
Jiang Si frowned.
“Fourth Sister, can you bear to see me sleepless all night?”
While Jiang Si hesitated, Jiang Qiao had already unceremoniously removed her shoes and sat on the bed, seemingly determined to stay.
Jiang Si sighed, “Just one night. Tomorrow, Third Sister will return to her room.”
“We’ll discuss that tomorrow,” Jiang Qiao said with a triumphant smile, then glanced at the two maids who had followed her. “Alright, you two can rest outside.”
As it was a short stay, Jiang Qian’s invitation had specifically mentioned that the sisters should come alone, with everything prepared for them. Thus, the four sisters hadn’t brought their maids, and these two were assigned by Jiang Qian.
Neither Jiang Qiao nor Jiang Si was accustomed to sleeping in the same room with unfamiliar maids.
The two maids looked at each other, hesitating.
“What’s the matter?” Jiang Qiao’s expression darkened.
The maids hastily curtsied and withdrew.
Jiang Qiao lay down, complaining, “It’s not as convenient as having our maids.”
Jiang Si smiled, “We’ll have to make do. We may find them inconvenient, but these maids were carefully selected by Second Sister. Third Sister, come sleep on the inner side.”
Jiang Qiao pulled up the brocade quilt and shook her head, “I’m used to sleeping on the outer side.”
“I didn’t know Third Sister had so many requirements for sleeping.”
“Yes, I know it’s not a good habit, but I can’t change it. Fourth Sister, why are you still wearing your outer clothes?”
“I’m not used to sleeping in just my undergarments in an unfamiliar place.”
“It seems we all have our habits. It’s late, let’s sleep.” Jiang Qiao chuckled and blew out the lamp by the bed.
The room was pitch black for a moment, then gradually brightened as moonlight from outside cast everything in a hazy silver glow.
“Fourth Sister.”
“Hm?”
After a moment of silence in the darkness, Jiang Qiao turned to face outward. “Nothing, let’s sleep.”
Soon, the sound of steady breathing filled the unfamiliar, dim darkness.
Jiang Si gazed at the silver hooks of the canopy, silently sighing.
Though she had taken risks, she naturally had the means to protect herself. However, she hadn’t expected Jiang Qiao, with whom she usually didn’t get along, to suddenly become so clingy.
Jiang Qian and her husband’s target was her; with Jiang Qiao constantly by her side, there would undoubtedly be more danger.
She did not doubt the couple’s shamelessness. If they could harm her, they certainly wouldn’t hesitate to hurt Jiang Qiao.
Just this one night—tomorrow night, she absolutely couldn’t allow Jiang Qiao to sleep with her again.
As for tonight—
A cold glint flashed in Jiang Si’s eyes.
If all remained calm tonight, so be it. But if that couple had any schemes, she would never allow them to harm an innocent person.
As the night deepened, Jiang Si closed her eyes, gradually drifting off to sleep.
Faint footsteps sounded, and Jiang Si’s eyes flew open, then quickly closed again.
She had indeed underestimated the shamelessness and boldness of the Chang Xing Marquis’s heir. It was only the first night, yet he was already here, unable to wait!
Was he so reckless as to force himself on her?
This thought flashed through her mind, but Jiang Si quickly dismissed it.
The Chang Xing Marquis’s heir wasn’t insane after all. Sneaking into his sister-in-law’s room in the middle of the night with ill intentions was at least grounds for exile.
Of course, Jiang Si couldn’t cry out to prove his guilt; that would ruin both her and Jiang Qiao’s reputations forever.
As for her previous life—
Jiang Si smiled wryly.
In her previous life, they had merely taken advantage of her status as a new widow, certain she wouldn’t dare speak up if wronged.
Wanting to save face while satisfying his dirty desires—the Chang Xing Marquis’s heir had quite the scheme.
The footsteps drew closer, then stopped. A corner of the hanging gauze curtain was gently lifted.
Jiang Si kept her eyes closed, her hand beneath the brocade quilt lightly caressing the gold bracelet on her wrist.
Though rationally, she believed the Chang Xing Marquis’s heir wouldn’t do anything tonight, she still had to guard against him suddenly losing control.
Living a second life, she had learned one truth: mountains may crumble, waters may dry up, but only oneself can be truly relied upon.
The small inner chamber seemed to grow stifling with the addition of a man—the man Jiang Si despised most. There was a suffocating, nauseating feeling in the air.
Jiang Si remained outwardly calm, silently waiting for his next move.
There was no next move. The Chang Xing Marquis’s heir stood motionless, only his breathing gradually quickening.
To Jiang Si, this breathing sounded like thunder, though in reality, it wasn’t loud enough to wake someone in deep sleep.
The sound of Jiang Qiao’s steady, prolonged breathing beside her slightly reassured Jiang Si.
She couldn’t imagine how Jiang Qiao would react if she suddenly opened her eyes to find a man standing by the bed.
If such an accident were to occur, she would have no choice but to incapacitate the Chang Xing Marquis’s heir first.
Jiang Si didn’t want that situation to arise.
It was too easy to kill a person, but it would implicate them while staying at the Chang Xing Marquis’s mansion. What she wanted was for the Chang Xing Marquis’s heir to lose his reputation and status. Even if he were to die, it should be a death scorned by all.
Cao Xingyu stood for a long time, his eyes long adjusted to the darkness, almost greedily staring at the sleeping girl’s face.
He had waited for this day for far too long—so long that the people and things that used to excite him could no longer stir his impulses.
Cao Xingyu swallowed hard, clenching his fists to resist the urge to reach out and touch her.
His gaze shifted to Jiang Qiao.
If this troublesome girl wasn’t sleeping here, he might have been able to caress that face tonight.
Yes, they were sleeping so soundly; surely a light touch wouldn’t matter.
As this thought arose, Cao Xingyu’s eyes suddenly grew fervent. Even with her eyes closed, Jiang Si could feel those two burning gazes.
Jiang Si lightly tapped the gold bracelet on her wrist.
Cao Xingyu licked his lips and reached out his hand.
The tension only excited him more.
Suddenly, Jiang Qiao, sleeping on the outer side, turned over, mumbling something in her sleep.
Cao Xingyu withdrew his hand, the excitement in his eyes gradually obscured by a thick fog.
Now was not the time!
He would wait patiently until Jiang Si was married and perhaps even had children. It would be easier to make his move when she wouldn’t seek death over losing her purity as a young girl would.
Girls from noble families were so troublesome, unlike those from common families who could be quietly brought into the Marquis’s mansion if he fancied them.
Cao Xingyu irritably raised an eyebrow, cast one last lingering look at the girl’s exquisitely flawless face, and quietly retreated.
Jiang Si slowly opened her eyes, watching the slightly swaying door curtain with a cold gaze.
Since he was so impatient, she decided not to wait any longer. Tonight, she would investigate the garden.
Just then, the supposedly sleeping Jiang Qiao suddenly sat up.