Chapter 41: Stealing Jiang Yu Back to the Room in the Middle of the Night

Having stayed at the Han Palace Residence alone for so long, He Zhiyi was thrilled to finally have someone of her own age and gender around. She dragged Jiang Yu all around the villa for the entire afternoon—from the swings to the stone steps, and from the rockery to the swimming pool.

It continued until the sun began to set.

Jiang Yu kept a warm smile on her face, following her around everywhere.

Her childhood had come to an abrupt halt when she was fourteen, and she had then been locked away by the Song family for five long years.

Time was finally showing traces of flowing once again.

In front of the floor-to-ceiling window on the second floor, He Lian stood with his hands behind his back, watching the scene in the courtyard. Unconsciously, the corners of his lips curled into a subtle smile before he withdrew his gaze and pulled the curtains closed.

He turned around.

The wall was covered in oil paintings, arranged in neat rows—at a glance, there were at least dozens of them.

All of them were pieces he had collected from major art galleries.

He Lian loved oil painting. If it weren’t for that blood-relative murder years ago, he wouldn’t have abandoned his paintbrush to join the military. Now, his hands were so rough they could only pull a trigger, no longer remembering how it felt to hold a paintbrush.

He took out the piece of drawing paper from his pocket, which bore the random scrawls and marks Jiang Yu had casually poked onto it.

He Lian climbed up the stepladder and compared it with the top row of paintings.

Those were Song Xueyan’s works.

The artistic style was treacherous and unpredictable; those almost grotesque lines seemed as if they would leap off the canvas at any moment, either tearing him into a blurry mess or swallowing him whole.

He Lian quite liked this madness—it felt as though the echoes of his own inner mind were being answered.

After comparing them for a while…

He Lian’s brow gradually furrowed, a strong intuition surging in his heart. He pulled out his phone and called Shen Jin. It took quite a while for the other side to pick up, and the voice on the line sounded quite out of breath.

“…Hello!”

He Lian chuckled. “Heh, spending time with your fiancée? Should I call back later?”

“No need. What is it? Speak… Mmh… hiss .”

“Thank you for your generosity, but I don’t really want to listen to a live broadcast of you two.”

“Get lost!” Shen Jin seemed to push someone away, his voice steadying quite a bit. “Go ahead.”

He Lian stared at the paper. “I suspect that all of Song Xueyan’s paintings were actually painted by Jiang Yu.”

“How is that possible? Jiang Yu knows how to paint?”

“She does, but I’m not entirely sure yet.” He Lian thought for a moment. “Keep a close eye on Song Xueyan for a while. If she looks for a ghostwriter, then this matter will be confirmed.”

“And then? Expose her?”

“That wouldn’t be a bad idea.”

“Why bother? Back then, you praised her so highly with your golden words. Exposing her now seems unnecessary. Besides, the Song family is coming over tomorrow anyway. Giving them some face and using it as an opportunity to keep Jiang Yu—wouldn’t that be great?”

He Lian frowned slightly, hesitating for a moment.

“Alright, anyway, you’ve already got Jiang Yu. There’s no need to push people to the absolute limit…”

On the other end of the line.

Before Shen Jin could finish, a slender hand reached out, snatched the phone, and hung up.

“What are you doing?” he said with dissatisfaction. “He Lian and I weren’t done talking yet.”

Liang Qianyu looked up, her eyes filled with enchanting charm. She took off Shen Jin’s gold-rimmed glasses, placed them on her own nose, and chuckled softly. “Hubby, who’s more important—me or He Lian?”

As she spoke, her hand slid down, brazenly teasing him.

Shen Jin tilted his head back, his fair neck covered in red marks. Grabbing his fiancée’s restless hand, he said raspy-voiced, “Besides using me to satisfy your desires every day, what else do you know how to do?”

Theirs was an arranged family marriage. They had only met three times before their engagement was finalized. He knew that this young lady of the Liang family played hard in private, and he didn’t expect any absurd romantic love to spring up between them either.

Whenever this woman thought of him, she would run over to have a round, and leave as soon as she woke up.

It was no different from playing around.

Liang Qianyu bit his earlobe gently. Shen Jin let out a muffled groan, a hazy expression drifting onto his handsome face.

Every time she saw the refined and gentle Shen Jin like this, she felt exceptionally excited. Blowing a puff of air into his ear again, she continuously seduced him: “I also know how to tease you, hubby~”

Shen Jin swallowed lightly and sneered, “You’ve probably said these words to plenty of men, haven’t you?”

Liang Qianyu raised her head and blinked innocently. “Who said that?”

“The number of ex-boyfriends Miss Liang has had is more than a whole squad in the fortress, isn’t it?”

Liang Qianyu giggled incessantly. Hooking her fingers around his chin, she said word by word, “I do have quite a few ex-boyfriends, but my dearest Mr. Shen, you are my very first man.”

Shen Jin scoffed at her claim, only to have her lightly bite his Adam’s apple.

The woman whispered against the side of his neck, “Who says a woman’s first time always bleeds?”

Shen Jin really couldn’t handle her provocative wildness anymore. He lifted her up directly onto the bed. Just as he was about to unbutton his shirt, Liang Qianyu wrapped her arms around his waist and flipped herself over on top of him.

Liang Qianyu smiled and said, “Hubby, don’t take it off. I just love seeing you in a shirt.”

Shen Jin was amused by her frustration, holding her by the backs of her thighs.

“Fine. You just wait.”

On the other side, seeing the night sky darkening, He Lian asked the maid to call the two people in the courtyard upstairs.

He Zhiyi and Jiang Yu had gone completely wild playing.

He Lian wiped the thin layer of sweat off Jiang Yu’s forehead with his hand and shot He Zhiyi a warning glare.

However, that single glance caused Jiang Yu to be dragged into He Zhiyi’s room right after dinner. She even locked the door behind them, terrified that He Lian would take Jiang Yu away during the night.

He Zhiyi’s bedroom was huge. After taking a shower in the built-in bathroom, she changed Jiang Yu into one of her own silk camisole nightgowns and happily covered them both with the quilt to lie down.

She had seen the injuries on Jiang Yu’s body earlier. Holding the girl’s cold hand under the blanket, He Zhiyi chattered and whispered a lot of things to her.

She told Jiang Yu that even without He Lian, she would protect her too.

She would absolutely never let those people from the Song family take her away.

Listening to her, Jiang Yu’s eyelashes hidden beneath the blanket grew slightly moist.

He Zhiyi babbled for a little longer until she heard soft, steady breathing. She popped her head out to check and realized Jiang Yu was already asleep, so she prepared to sleep as well.

However, the light in the hallway was still on, and through the gap under the door, a dark shadow could be seen pacing back and forth outside from time to time.

“…”

Brother!

With a mischievous look in her eyes, He Zhiyi tiptoed off the bed, grabbed her water cup, and opened the door.

Sure enough, no one was there.

She pretended to turn down the hallway, only to charge back half a minute later.

He Lian, who was currently holding Jiang Yu in his arms: “…”

Like a seasoned hunter, He Zhiyi raised a hand to block He Lian’s path. Looking at Jiang Yu sleeping peacefully in his arms, she cackled slyly.

“Brother, where are you taking little Jiang Yu?”

He Lian tried to intimidate her with his eyes.

Having caught him red-handed, He Zhiyi wasn’t afraid in the slightest. She even sneered, “Believe it or not, I’ll go call Grandpa right now! If the old man finds out you’re taking advantage of her while she’s vulnerable, he’ll definitely kick you out of the family genealogy!”

The corner of He Lian’s mouth twitched.

How did this little brat become so wicked after doing an internship in society for just a few months?

“However,” He Zhiyi shifted her tone, “if you give me your supplementary card to spend freely, I can reluctantly agree to help you cover it up. How about it?”

He Lian raised an eyebrow. Facing her provocation, he turned around, intending to carry Jiang Yu back into the room.

“Brother, brother, brother!”

He Zhiyi didn’t expect her brother to be such a patient stoic. She quickly pulled him back and spoke in a whisper, “I don’t need the supplementary card! Just give me some more pocket money. Two million—how about two million?”

“One million.”

He Zhiyi was no master negotiator, so she had no choice but to droop her head.

“Alright, deal.”

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