Chapter 3

Chapter 3

But just as I turned the corner of the corridor, my steps came to an abrupt halt.

Jiang Zhi was standing beside a door pillar. I had no idea how long he had been there.

The rain beyond the eaves had soaked half the hem of his robe, yet he seemed completely unaware of it. He only stared fixedly at me.

I curtsied, then turned to leave.

“Second Young Lady.”

He called me back.

I stopped and looked over my shoulder.

Jiang Zhi spoke in a cool voice. “Your elder sister saved my life. I do not know what I have done to cause you to misunderstand me.”

Before I could answer, he continued, “I like Wen Lin, which is why I go to see him more often. But you seem to be… guarding against me as if I were a thief.”

I steadied myself.

“Your Highness is overthinking it. I like Wen Lin too, which is why I visit him every day. I am not guarding against anyone.”

Jiang Zhi suddenly took a step toward me.

He was tall, and the moment he came closer, his presence bore down on me. His heavy gaze fell on the crown of my head.

“Or is it that because I am there, you are there too?”

I lifted my head in astonishment and met his eyes head-on.

He was studying me, as if he meant to see straight through me.

I did not back down. Meeting his gaze, I spoke each word clearly.

“Your Highness, I do not know what I have done to give you such an impression. Tell me, and I will correct it.”

“After all, I have yet to discuss marriage. If people were to mention Your Highness and me in the same breath, I am afraid I would lose sleep over it.”

His brow twitched slightly, as though he had not expected that.

“I said before that I like men younger than me. So Your Highness need not concern yourself with me, because you are not among the candidates for my future husband.”

When I finished speaking, only the sound of rain striking the banana leaves remained around us.

Jiang Zhi let out a derisive laugh, then finally stepped back half a pace.

“Second Young Lady truly has a sharp tongue.”

He turned his head, shifting his gaze away from my face.

“I hope that is the case.”

“What is not yours will never be yours, no matter how much you covet it. Make fewer petty moves, lest you only embarrass yourself.”

I froze for a moment. Was he mocking me for playing hard to get?

“Your Highness, I know my place.”

Leaving those words behind, I turned and walked away.

The gaze behind me prickled against my back like thorns.

After that day, once I reminded my elder sister, she did indeed begin deliberately avoiding Jiang Zhi.

When Wen Lin was awake, she would carry the child back into the inner room and claim he needed to sleep.

When Wen Lin was asleep, she would go to the kitchen to prepare food, never idle for even a moment.

After several such occasions, Jiang Zhi did not visit my elder sister’s courtyard any less often, but he always found himself missing her.

His expression grew darker by the day, the gloom around him thickening.

That day, Jiang Zhi returned from outside with my brother-in-law.

Both of them were injured.

A strip of cloth was wrapped around my brother-in-law’s arm, blood seeping through it.

My elder sister was so frightened her face turned white. In a fluster, she checked his injury while her eyes reddened.

My brother-in-law hurried to comfort her. “It is nothing. Just a flesh wound. Fortunately, I ran into His Highness. If he had not acted in time, I fear I would not have made it back today.”

Bandits?

My heart gave a heavy thud.

In my previous life, my brother-in-law had never encountered any bandits at this time.

All those years, he had carried out his duties steadily and safely. Nothing like this had ever happened.

I quietly glanced toward Jiang Zhi.

He stood by the door, his forearm also wrapped in bandages. A faint crimson showed through beneath the white cloth.

Only then did my elder sister notice he had been injured too. After a moment of hesitation, she still thanked him politely and called for a maid to fetch wound medicine.

But I kept feeling that something was not right.

Was I overthinking it?

After this incident, my elder sister’s attitude toward Jiang Zhi softened noticeably.

After all, he had saved my brother-in-law’s life. If she continued to avoid him coldly, she would seem ungrateful instead.

During the days my brother-in-law recuperated at home, Jiang Zhi came even more frequently.

He was clever about it, too. He chose to visit only when my brother-in-law was present, openly looking in on Wen Lin and keeping my brother-in-law company over tea and conversation.

In private, my elder sister said to me, “Perhaps we were overthinking it. Maybe he simply likes Wen Lin, that is all.”

I did not answer.

If I had not experienced the unforgettable pain of my previous life, perhaps I too would wonder whether I was seeing enemies in every shadow.

But…