There were many reasons behind Jiang Li"s deliberate act of annoying the Grand Marshal. But one of the major ones, apart from wanting to settle some grudges with Jiang Ke from a year ago, was that Jiang Ying Yue wished to roam around the residence by herself without being obstructed by her irresponsible and cold-blooded father.Since the woman rarely requested anything from him, he readily nodded. And actually, when he destroyed her former house, it was in her presence. He had watched numerous emotions flashed across her face before it settled to relief. Before she left, she thanked him, and he knew it was for destroying a place that she would never want to return to, regardless of the good and the bad memories she had there.
"It"s this place..." The villainess stood in front of her father"s own compound, a place she didn"t step a foot once ever since she turned 11. Surprisingly, not many things changed in its appearance, apart from looking a bit older, and with more history in it.
After hesitating for a few moments, she stepped into the place and slowly made way into the hall that she and her mother used to frequent. Now, the strange and unfamiliar details started to appear in her eyes.
The portrait of her mother was gone, replaced by that of the Second Madam. There were also many items removed. For example, the pipa gifted by her mother to the man was no longer displayed on the wall to the left. And the rainbow lamp that she loved and made him promise never to remove in this room was also gone.
She pursed her lips and batted her eyes. She didn"t stay long there and moved towards her real destination, her father"s study room.
"Thankfully, most of the servants are normal people who can be easily mind controlled," she pondered, looking away from the maids that she just ran into. The latter acted like she didn"t see Jiang Ying Yue. With a jar in her embrace, the maid pa.s.sed by her. The others who also caught sight of the villainess acted the same after being stared at into their eyes.
As for the guards guarding the door to the study, all she did was flapped her sleeves and released a few bugs. The unseen little creatures sent the two men slumping down the floor, slowly closing their eyes and yawning.
When a feminine figure pa.s.sed by them, it was already too late, they had already fallen into a deep slumber. Not even the sound of the door being pushed open right next to them managed to awaken them.
"It"s as expected..." The girl stared quietly at the doc.u.ments in hand which she found a minute ago on the huge table there. In particular, her gaze landed on the handwriting there. She had been studying and tracing the brush strokes using her fingers for some time already.Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.
A full five minutes pa.s.sed before she looked away from the pieces of paper. Her eyes wandered around, engraving every detail. The scrolls neatly stacked on a shelf, the paintings of horses and battlefields, the calligraphies, even the dark, and moldy corners...
There was no expression on her face when she left the place and walked down the path leading to her stop. Lady w.a.n.g"s house. The woman who allegedly had a miscarriage due to a jealous concubine.
"Young Miss..." When she was on her way to that place, she crossed paths with a mother and son pair. The mother, another slightly favored concubine of her father had a pale face. It was if she had seen a ghost, or anything as terrifying. On the contrary, her son only showed curiosity towards the sister that he had not seen for quite a long while.
"You are back." Jin Yahui"s voice was slightly shaking.
Chen w.a.n.g informed Jiang Ying Yue of his dealing with the woman so she did not make things difficult for her.
"Concubine Jin, it"s been a while." The villainess smiled, and Jin Yahui became even more afraid. She knew Jiang Ying Yue had been brought back by the prince a couple of days ago. But she never heard of her visiting. None of her people gave her a heads up about Jiang Ying Yue"s appearance too. So how did she come here?
Jiang Ying Yue ignored the look of befuddlement in the woman"s face. She lowered her body on the same level as the kid then stroked his head. After some time again, she stood up and turned to Jin Yahui. "I should be going now."
The concubine summoned her courage and asked after looking around a bit to check if there were unnecessary ears around. "Young Miss, did, did "he" tell to pa.s.s any instruction to this one?"
It was strange that an older lady from an official"s estate was humbling herself before a commoner, but none of the two parties involved said a thing about the status quo.
Jiang Ying Yue threw the other a calm stare. Remembering it was because of her that at least, her name was cleared of false charges, she spoke, "Concubine Jin. No instruction was pa.s.sed to me. He didn"t say anything and he didn"t need to do so. You know for yourself that the capital is already chaotic enough. Sooner or later, whatever he warned would turn into reality. By then, I hope you had already made the correct decision."
After leaving those words, she pa.s.sed by them, leaving Jin Yahui staring at her back with a troubled and complicated expression.
Finally, once done taking a few more turns, tossing sleep gu or hypnotizing those who mistakenly ran into her, she arrived at her destination. It was most likely the most beautiful and maintained courtyard in the whole estate, a compound opposite the one she used to have.
Red lips. Fox-like appearance. Fairy disposition. Lying lazily on her daybed was a mature woman of beauty as devastating as the former Madam or the famous Imperial Concubine Shu. The woman appeared quite stressed by the most recent event that rendered her daughter in a house arrest. However, she still looked as enchanting as ever, especially right now when her figure was in full display due to her current posture.
Jiang Ying Yue walked down the cobblestone pathways, for a moment glancing at the beautiful rows of peonies, roses, and chrysanthemums at the sides. Shortly after, her placid pair of eyes went back to the lazying Madam.
A cold smile blossomed from her perfectly shaped cherry lips. She was just right in front of her. That woman who had repeatedly pushed her to h.e.l.l for the past six years was just right in front of her, waiting like a lamb to be slaughtered.
"They say ghosts can"t appear while the sun is still up?"
The curves on the villainess" lips and eyes became disturbing.
With a wave of a hand, the tenderness of a girl in her eighteenth year disappeared, replaced by an aura of someone who had lived more than two decades.
The body height suddenly increased, the same with the figure which suddenly became fuller and maturer. Her face suddenly changed.
It was that of her beautiful mother who pa.s.sed away, not due to her failing health, but due to a poison created through the mixture of what was known as jealousy and ambition.