Chapter 5

My sister said all of this right outside our gates.

The street was busy. Everyone heard.

They all pointed at Father and whispered.

“Count Zhongyong has some nerve. I’ve never seen a man live off a woman and act so entitled about it.

“That mistress and her daughter are the shameless ones. Poor Princess Duanyang never knew, right up to her death.

“Still, I have to say, those two aren’t bad-looking. If they went on the books at the Flying Immortal Pavilion, I’d certainly pay them a visit…”

Every scrap of the spectators’ gossip reached the three of them.

Father and Jiang Youwei went livid, then pale with rage.

But they were older and more thick-skinned. Apart from glaring at us in fury, there was little they could do.

Shen Yunzhi had never suffered such humiliation. With tears in her eyes, she shot my sister a hateful look and charged headfirst at the gate.

I couldn’t tell whether anger had gone to her head or whether she truly found this indignity unbearable and wanted to die.

At that speed, with that much force, even an immortal would have struggled to save her.

I buried my face in my sister’s arms, trembling all over.

Not with fear. With excitement.

Was the little faker really about to drop dead, just like that?

What a happy day!

But to my astonishment, at the very last instant, a figure appeared, flew in front of Shen Yunzhi, caught her in his arms, and toppled sideways with her.

“Miss, are you hurt?” he asked anxiously.

Through her tears, Shen Yunzhi opened her eyes in a daze. She froze when she saw the man before her.

“You?”

Then she began to thrash. “Why did you save me? Let me die! Let me die!”

When I got a proper look at his face, I sucked in a breath.

And offered a beautiful example of human speech: “Fuck!”

Wasn’t that my sister’s scumbag husband from her previous life, Prince An, Nangong Xun?

He and Shen Yunzhi had known each other before she even entered our household?

I knew Nangong Xun’s face. After all, according to the information I had received, this body’s original owner had caught him meeting Shen Yunzhi in secret. He had personally thrown her into the water to drown.

My sister knew him even better. In her previous life, this man had cut open her belly himself and dug out her unborn child to make medicine for Shen Yunzhi.

Their cruelty had driven my sister all the way into a second life. Seeing Nangong Xun now, she suddenly tightened her arms around me. Hatred blazed in her eyes.

“Your Highness, Prince An?”

Nangong Xun held Shen Yunzhi with an expression full of concern and tenderness. But his gaze turned colder than ice when it fell on my sister.

“If you know who I am, why haven’t you paid your respects?

“The eldest daughter of Count Zhongyong is very high-handed indeed. You dare treat a human life as worthless in broad daylight! Have you no respect for the law?”

What the hell was this bastard barking about?

My sister probably hadn’t expected to meet Nangong Xun here. Her breathing faltered.

I held her hand and nestled in her arms, asking with a perfectly innocent expression, “Sister, why is Prince An holding Yunzhi? Men and women aren’t supposed to touch so freely. Aren’t they ashamed…?”

That successfully opened up a whole new line of discussion.

Everyone turned to the pair, eager for gossip.

Only then did Shen Yunzhi seem to realize that Nangong Xun was holding her whole body in his arms. His broad hand pressed against her slender waist, and there wasn’t a gap between them.

She gave a little cry, blushed bright red, and pushed him away.

My sister caught my meaning at once. Her eyes chilled as she regarded Nangong Xun and Shen Yunzhi.

“What exactly is Your Highness’s relationship with Shen Yunzhi? Embracing her in broad daylight—where is your propriety?”

Nangong Xun hadn’t expected her to challenge him so directly. His face darkened.

“I’ve only met this young woman once. I saw she was about to take her own life, and in the urgency of the moment… Stop being unreasonable!”

I glanced at him, pouted, and muttered, “Your Highness is so unfair. How come you can criticize my sister, but she can’t criticize you?”

Take your double standards and get lost, asshole!