Chapter 3

No one but Jiang Yinxue could see me.

I floated in front of Shen Feng, but his gaze passed through my body and landed on Jiang Yinxue.

I had not seen him for so long. He had grown far more composed. Dressed in a black robe woven with subtle patterns and crowned in jade, he looked every inch a noble gentleman. I could barely remember the gentle, yielding boy he had once been.

Jiang Yinxue had thrown an outer robe over his nightclothes. His unbound hair spilled loosely down his back. Resting his temple against one hand, he did not even look Shen Feng in the eye.

“Speak.”

Shen Feng clenched his hands, angered by Jiang Yinxue’s undisguised contempt. He swallowed it and said coldly, “Songyue’s body is missing.”

Jiang Yinxue’s expression did not change. Either he was unsurprised that my body had vanished or he simply did not care.

Shen Feng waited. When Jiang Yinxue offered no response, his patience broke. He surged to his feet. “I said her body is missing.”

Jiang Yinxue arched a brow. “What does that have to do with me? You could not even protect the remains of your fian—your former fiancée, yet you come here to throw your weight around.”

Shen Feng’s face tightened. He forced the words through clenched teeth. “You truly had nothing to do with it? Then why was your jade pendant found before her empty grave?”

He slapped a jade pendant onto the table. Only then did Jiang Yinxue fully open his eyes.

Mud still clung to the pendant as if it had been ground into the earth, and a crack ran through it. The carving looked familiar. It was Jiang Yinxue’s favorite piece, one he had carved himself. There was no other like it.

I folded my arms and watched him with interest.

Jiang Yinxue showed none of the panic of a man under accusation. He picked up the pendant and looked enlightened. “So that is where it went. Shi Songyue brought me nothing but trouble in life, and she continues to plague me in death.”

Shen Feng snatched it back. “You have no explanation?”

“We were colleagues, after all. What is improper about paying my respects?”

“Anyone else could have gone. You had no right.”

Jiang Yinxue smiled. “And why not? Whatever grievances we had died with her. We feuded for years, but there was no blood debt between us. Vice Minister Shen, do not presume to instruct me.”

The final words landed hard. Jiang Yinxue was angry, though nothing showed on his face.

He disliked Shen Feng. He did not want the man to stir even the smallest emotion in him.

“One more thing. If you cannot let go of General Shi, where does that leave Miss Li? Your wedding is approaching. I suggest you stop doing things that might displease the Minister, lest your career suffer.”

Every word dripped with mockery. He was accusing Shen Feng of climbing through powerful connections.

Shen Feng plainly understood. His face darkened. He stared at Jiang Yinxue, then seemed to realize something.

“Jiang Yinxue, you’re still jealous of me.”

“Clearly, you need sleep.”

Shen Feng’s lips curled into a cold smile.

“Songyue exhausted herself for me. She even gave her life for mine. Jiang Yinxue, does it eat you alive with envy?”