Seeing the pants on her legs untouched and no strange marks on the bedding or bedsheet, Gu Ying finally let out a breath, thoroughly relieved.
"Yin Lan..."
Yin Lan pushed the door open and walked in, teasing with a smile, "Miss is finally awake. Are you still going to pay your respects today?"
Gu Ying knew what she was laughing about and shyly adjusted her forehead.
"Don't laugh. Nothing happened between him and me last night." She brushed away the heat on her face and added, "I won't go. Grandmother probably doesn't have time to pay attention to me anyway. I might as well go to Wu Feng Tea House to massage Jiang Yin's legs and feet."
After all, Jiang Yin was the future young master of the Jiang House. Who in the household would dare let him freeze to death?
If he froze to death, Gu Jia could only remarry, and might even get an ill-fated reputation that would cause problems marrying off later.
How could Mrs. Liu allow this to happen?
Therefore, someone must have gotten Jiang Yin up early in the morning.
But Jiang Ling'er was kicked twice by Yin Lan last night. As a delicate woman, she couldn't compare to Jiang Yin's sturdiness. She must have caught a chill today.
With Jiang Yin's affection for Jiang Ling'er, he had probably quarrelled with the madam early in the morning.
"The prince stayed in the room for an hour before leaving last night," said Yin Lan as she came over to dress Gu Ying. Laughing, she added, "When he left, he told this servant to tell Miss not to worry, he has already found out where Doctor Wang was and would bring him to Bianjing in a few days to treat the young master's illness."
Gu Ying was pleasantly surprised at first, then widened her eyes in shock, her heart skipping a beat. "An hour?"
Yin Lan smiled meaningfully. "That's right."
In an hour, anything could have happened. Although she didn't condone the prince's...lack of restraint, the wedding was only half a month away and she was about to become his woman. So she didn't think too much about it. After all, young people with hot blood, which man could resist such a beauty?
A man who has tasted meat will have plenty of time with his woman to slowly mold her.
Gu Ying bit her lip. Despite the cold winter, her earlobes felt as hot as fire.
"He said...he'd leave after half a stick of incense...how could he...always go back on his word."
Hearing the key point, Yin Lan laughed. "Miss, don't speak nonsense. How could it only be half a stick of incense?"
Gu Ying blinked. She felt they were not talking about the same thing.
With the experience of a married woman, Yin Lan said meaningfully, "Miss probably doesn't know, the longer it takes with this kind of thing, the better it is."
Gu Ying's face turned red and she couldn't help but twitch her temple. "I didn't mean that—"
Yin Lan smiled and teased, "Miss, don't be shy. Which girl wouldn't envy getting a man like the prince?"
Gu Ying's face was red. She wasn't very envious!
Yin Lan added, "And in this servant's opinion, the prince is much taller and bigger than ordinary men in every way."
Gu Ying didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "What kind of reasoning is that?"
Yin Lan smiled meaningfully. "Miss probably doesn't know, but men with long fingers are exceptionally outstanding in every area."
Gu Ying's eyebrows quirked up and her face turned crimson. She hadn't looked closely...last time he was drugged and ravaged her relentlessly.
She was exhausted to death and didn't notice anything, only feeling like her whole body was being torn apart.
The second time she was drugged, dazed and confused, so she didn't notice either.
"Miss!"
Yanzhi's cheerful voice called from outside.
Interrupted, Gu Ying's small face was as hot as a steamed bun. She patted her cheeks and hurriedly rid those indecent thoughts from her mind.
"Come in, Yanzhi."
Yanzhi came in with breakfast, grinning. "Early in the morning, I went to Di Yu Residence and Cang Wu Pavilion with a bag of melon seeds. Guess what, Miss?"
"Let's hear it." Gu Ying picked up a piece of white jade cake and slowly savored it while listening to her.
Yanzhi excitedly said, "Yesterday I told the maids at Cang Wu Pavilion that Jiang Yin and Jiang Ling'er weren't really siblings. Sure enough, those gossipy maids were overheard by the eldest miss this morning, who was very upset and immediately wanted to punish Jiang Ling'er."
Gu Ying's eyebrows rose slightly.
Yanzhi continued proudly, "Jiang Yin argued with the eldest miss to defend Jiang Ling'er, saying if she sold off Jiang Ling'er, he would break off the engagement with the Gu family. The eldest miss was stunned, probably not expecting the usually gentle Jiang Yin to have such a ruthless side. They quarreled bitterly until Mrs. Liu came out to mediate."
Gu Ying's eyes narrowed slightly as she pondered. At the critical juncture, Mrs. Liu definitely wouldn't want Gu Jia's wedding ruined, so she must have played peacemaker.
Jiang Yin took the opportunity to smoothly resolve things.
But it was different for Gu Jia.
Not only did she not know Jiang Ling'er's identity, if she found out that Jiang Ling'er was not Jiang Yin's sister and actually had feelings for him, she would surely seize on it indefintely.
How many times could a man tolerate a woman's antics?
They weren't even married yet but already had a pocketful of contradictions and estrangement. How could they have a good marriage in the future?
Yanzhi complained, "The old madam persuaded Jiang Yin to return for a long time before sending him back with promises to invite an imperial doctor to treat Jiang Ling'er. Miss, it seems we lost."
Gu Ying thought about it, unable to restrain a smile. "Who said we lost?"
Yanzhi was puzzled. She only saw the situation superficially, without considering the deeper implications.
Yin Lan said, "Silly Yanzhi, we didn't just win, we won beautifully!"
"Huh?" Yanzhi was astonished.
Gu Ying finished eating and stood up, patting the little maid's head. "Spend a few more years following Yin Lan. Then I won't have to worry too much about you in the future."
Yanzhi grinned bashfully and twisted her sleeves. "Miss, what should we do next?"
"Next?" Gu Ying's eyes curved. "Naturally, wait for Master Qing Feng to catch ghosts in the mansion in a couple days."
...
Gu Jia never expected that Jiang Yin would dare keep his lover in the residence under the guise of a sister.
"Doukou! Chase away that doctor! Don't let him treat Jiang Ling'er. What is that Jiang Ling'er? How dare she steal my man?!"
As she spoke, the door to Cang Wu Pavilion was kicked open with a bang.
A gust of cold wind blew in.
Gu Jia's body shuddered as she watched Jiang Yin walk in with a pale face, her own expression changing again and again before settling into fury. "Jiang Yin, you still dare show yourself to me?!"
Jiang Yin's handsome face was calm as he entered the room.
He coughed weakly a few times with a fist to his mouth, appearing frail and cold but also vaguely oppressive.
Doukou was so frightened she didn't dare speak, with the clashing auras of her two masters. She had suffered these past few days.
