Chapter 8: She Didn’t Come Tonight, and He’s Anxious

Braving the rain, He Lian walked at a brisk pace.

The group behind him, holding umbrellas, couldn’t keep up at all.

When he reached the wooden building, he looked up against the drumming raindrops. Seeing the windows nailed shut with wooden boards, a dense shade of sinister anger welled up in his eyes.

He really hadn’t guessed wrong!

“Mr. He!”

The dense crowd of people finally managed to catch up. Song Xueyan didn’t accept the umbrella offered by a servant; instead, she held her own umbrella over He Lian’s head, saying anxiously, “It’s raining way too hard. You should hurry back!”

He Lian’s suit was soaked by the rain into a deeper, darker black, and the paint smeared onto him by Jiang Yu this morning dissolved. He looked down at Song Xueyan, his tone icy cold: “Who boarded up the windows?”

Song Xueyan froze, looking up at the window.

Truth be told, she didn’t know either.

He Lian turned around, his fierce, sharp glare sweeping across everyone’s face. The Song couple stood stiffly, utterly baffled as to what this golden prince was pulling.

Even if they boarded up Jiang Yu’s window, what did it have to do with him?!

In the end, Housekeeper Gu stepped forward tremulously. Perhaps because the rain was too loud, his voice sounded frail and fragmented: “Mr. He… it was boarded up out of fear that Miss Ah Yu might climb out through the window again and get hurt.”

He Lian scrunched the bridge of his nose like an enraged leopard.

“Tear it down!”

The roar made even his own nephew shudder.

Housekeeper Gu halted: “This…”

He hastily looked toward the Song couple for help.

Song Qian couldn’t care less about anything else now. He Lian’s word was law, so he hurriedly motioned for Housekeeper Gu to find a carpenter. But before the housekeeper could take two steps, He Lian’s voice caught up to him like an ice pick.

“Whoever ordered it boarded up tears it down!”

Housekeeper Gu almost stumbled and fell, replying in horror, “But… but it’s so high up, Mr. He. I can’t tear it down by myself!”

He Lian’s face was three degrees colder than the curtain of rain surrounding them: “No matter what, Jiang Yu was once the granddaughter-in-law Jingyue’s grandfather had his eyes on. Since you, a mere housekeeper, had the guts to board up her window, climb up and tear it down yourself. Don’t make me say it a second time.”

Duan Jingyue also furrowed his brows, displeased.

Even if she was no longer his fiancée, Jiang Yu’s treatment in the Song family was far too terrible. Even he couldn’t stand watching it anymore, so he joined his uncle in flexing power: “Right! Don’t make him say it a second time!”

Hearing this, Song Xueyan felt uneasy, yet secretly let out a sigh of relief.

So that’s how it is.

No wonder He Lian cared so much about Jiang Yu—it was all for the sake of Duan Jingyue’s pride. But thinking about it, that made sense. Why would the dignified prince of Jinzhou care so much about a madwoman?

“Uncle Gu, you should go call someone to help after all.”

After saying that, Song Xueyan turned to He Lian with a helpless plea: “Mr. He, Uncle Gu was only doing it for Ah Yu’s own good. Please don’t make things hard for him. He’s also an old servant left behind by my grandfather.”

He Lian gave the anxious woman a cold glare before barking at the housekeeper, “What are you waiting for? Get moving!”

Housekeeper Gu scrambled away in a hurry.

A gleam of satisfaction flickered in Song Xueyan’s eyes.

She still held a lot of sway with He Lian, after all.

However, He Lian paid her no mind. Rather than spending time making life difficult for someone named Gu, it was far more important to let his little idiot out for some fresh air!

Stepping up to the second floor, the rain blew inside, making the entire building cold and damp.

He Lian looked at the chair wedged under the broken door handle, kicked it aside, and the door swung open from the loss of support. The condition inside the room was better than he had imagined—it wasn’t leaking water, just cold and humid.

Jiang Yu was curled up on her small bed asleep. Her body under the blanket was tightly scrunched up, revealing only a tiny head.

He Lian stared at her for a moment.

At least she isn’t standing around with her mouth open playing in the rain.

He Lian leaned down halfway, his fingertips lightly pinching the edge of the blanket, and pulled it down slightly, exposing the lower half of her hidden face. She was sleeping quite peacefully.

She really was an idiot—such a loud noise hadn’t even woken her up.

Perhaps because the man’s finger temperature was too cold, Jiang Yu’s delicate eyelashes trembled. He Lian instantly snatched his hand back.

“…”

Song Xueyan and the others had just reached the middle of the staircase when they saw He Lian walking down. He dismissed them as if nothing had happened: “The idiot is asleep. Nothing to tease. Let’s go.”

Everyone looked at each other in total astonishment.

He dragged everyone out here just to tease Jiang Yu for fun?

However, given He Lian’s prominent status and his notoriously willful, untamed temper, no one dared to say a word. They simply rushed back in a hurry, clearing the path for this prince.

Song Xueyan walked close beside him, the man’s sleeve brushing against her fingertips, triggering a wave of flutters in her heart.

Ignoring Jiang Yu, she hurriedly kept pace with him.

After that little interlude, He Lian was too lazy to respond to anyone who tried to talk to him. He simply sat in the main hall resting with his eyes closed. Watching his face to read the room while talking and acting was an absolute torture for the group.

Only Duan Jingyue acted completely unbothered, taking his leave directly to go out and play.

Jinzhou was an arid land, while Yangcheng was a water town.

He had never played around with girls from a water town before.

Finally, after dinner, night fell.

He Lian was escorted to his guest room.

After taking a shower, he came out wrapped in a bathrobe. Zhuang Yumian was currently leading a team to search the room.

As He Lian’s special assistant, she was exceptionally mature and cautious. She directed the team of stronghold guards she brought along to conduct a meticulous search, refusing to overlook a single corner.

Sitting on the bed, He Lian also scanned the room.

The layout hadn’t changed; only his personal items had been replaced with new ones.

Zhuang Yumian turned around: “Chairman, there are no issues. You can rest assured and stay here.”

He Lian nodded, but his gaze continued to wander around.

Zhuang Yumian’s delicate brows furrowed slightly: “Is something wrong?”

He Lian didn’t say anything, merely signaling for her to leave with her team.

Once the door closed, He Lian stood up, hands behind his back, walking around and sniffing the air.

That night, Zhuang Yumian had also brought people to search this room. This special assistant of his was the most meticulous of all; if she said there was no issue, there was basically no issue.

So where on earth was that scent coming from?

While he was pondering, Shen Jin called.

“He Lian, when are you coming back?”

“What happened?”

“Those beasts from Sand Worm showed up near the Reclining Buddha Gold Mine. The people from Team 3 are already in a firefight with them at the border.”

“I’ll be back tomorrow.”

“Alright. Did you find that idiot girl?”

“…Not yet.”

“It’s Jiang Yu, right?”

“…You fucking knew and didn’t tell me earlier?!”

“You were the one being dense. What does that have to do with me? You shameless scoundrel, not even sparing your own nephew’s fiancée. I ought to scold you!”

Annoyed, He Lian pressed his fingertips against his forehead: “The engagement has already been called off.”

Shen Jin: “Then you still make me feel utterly disgusted.”

He Lian: “…”

Just as he was about to fire back, his gaze suddenly froze, fixating on a shoe cabinet not far away.

He remembered that on that night, a small picture frame seemed to have been placed on top of the shoe cabinet.

It had been delivered later by Song Xueyan, who said she had just painted it casually for him to appreciate for fun.

“He Lian?” Shen Jin asked suspiciously on the other end, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Hanging up now.”

He Lian walked over and tapped his fingertips against the spot where the frame used to sit.

That painting was truly horrible.

A complete mess.

He had analyzed it for a long time, and right after that, he felt something abnormal.

But a painting… how could anyone tamper with that?

Having no clue, He Lian lay listlessly on the bed. Outside, the rain was still pouring heavily. The rustling sound of the rain gradually brought back memories. He got up, walked to the doorway, and stared at the door lock.

The guest rooms in the old residence all used bizarre wooden locks.

That night, he hadn’t figured it out and thought it was locked, when in reality, he had operated it in reverse.

This time, He Lian tried fiddling with it.

“Chairman?”

Hearing the sound, the guard stationed at the door instantly pulled the door open, shouting with full vigor: “Are you heading out?!”

He Lian, thrown off balance as the door suddenly swung outward: “…”

That’s right.

The night before the funeral, there were quite a few guests staying in the North Courtyard of the old residence. He had specifically ordered the guard not to stand here and scare people, which resulted in the defense falling apart, allowing Jiang Yu to sneak in like a thief.

“It’s nothing.”

Just as He Lian was about to close the door, his movements suddenly froze. After pondering for a few seconds, he turned his head and dismissed the guard with a bad attitude: “Don’t just stand here like an obstacle. You look like you’re guarding a spirit at a funeral—are you cursing me to die early?”

Guard: “…Yes, sir.”

What a psycho.

He Lian pulled the door ajar, even testing it to make sure it would swing open with a single pull.

Then he went back to lie on the bed.

He turned to his left, lay there for a few minutes, then flipped over again. Picking up his phone, he tapped on it aimlessly for a bit before sitting up to stretch his neck. When he lay down again, his long fingertips tapped listlessly against the bedsheet.

It was almost ten o’clock.

Jiang Yu still hadn’t come.

Didn’t this little idiot like his looks very much?

During the day, she had hugged him tightly and refused to let go.

Yet now, she wasn’t coming.

Or did the Song family lock her up again?

Wait!

He Lian sat up abruptly from the bed. Grabbing the clothes prepared by the bedside, he hurriedly put them on, grabbed an umbrella from the rack by the door, and broke into a jog toward the south side of the old residence!

If she really was locked in, Jiang Yu would probably try to climb out the window again.

Who knows if she was currently dangling off the drainage pipe again right at this moment!

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