Chapter 1044: Perplexed and Smitten (104)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Jin Qingyan stared blankly at the spot above, and the image of An Xiaoning smiling, as well as the sound of her voice, flashed through his mind. It was enough to motivate him and give him the endless power to pull through.
Gradually, Jin Qingyan stopped quivering and slipped into unconsciousness.
The initially-pleasant and sunny weather turned gloomy all of a sudden and it began raining cats and dogs.
Standing by the cave opening, Xiao Chenyang stared into the distance with a heavy heart.
Although centuries had already pa.s.sed, his memory of the past was still fresh and clear.
He recalled the two of them acknowledging the same master when they were children and training together ever since they were young. They used to be the best of buddies and each other’s closest kin.
Even though their master had disowned Jin Qingyan, he still held a special place in Xiao Chenyang’s heart.
He recalled how pale and ghastly the terminally-ill Jin Qingyan had looked when he was talking to him back then.
Ever since his death, they’d been parted for centuries.
Due to the thunderstorm, the sky had already turned pitch dark.
Just as Xiao Chenyang was about to close the gate at the opening of the cave, a luminous ray of light caught his attention.
He lit up a candle and walked toward Jin Qingyan, only to see that the luminous ray was being emitted by the jade ring on his thumb.
Due to the pitch darkness, the patterned streaks on the jade ring could be seen clearly.
Xiao Chenyang took a closer look to see that there was a dragon imprinted on the ring.
He placed the candle onto the table and closed the gate.
He waited quietly for Jin Qingyan to come to.
—
An Xiaoning stayed in the office for the entire day and only returned home at eight in the evening.
As soon as she entered the living room, she was greeted with the sight of her two huskies, w.a.n.g Cai and Fu Gui, sitting on the couch and watching television.
Indeed, the two dogs were sitting side by side and watching the television.
An Xiaoning put on her home slippers and stared at her dogs before glancing at the television. “You two actually know how to watch television?”
The huskies howled like wolves, seemingly responding to her.
“You guys are becoming geniuses.” An Xiaoning petted the gray female husky, w.a.n.g Cai. To her surprise, Fu Gui began to get jealous and stuck its head toward An Xiaoning, hinting for her to pet him too.
The heartwarming antic put a smile on An Xiaoning’s face.
“Young Madam, would you like to eat something? Feel free to tell me what you’d like to eat.”
“I’m not eating, just a cup of milk will do.”
“Okay.”
She made her way upstairs, feeling sore and achy all over after sitting in the office for the entire day.
After An Xiaoning took a warm bath, Auntie Chen delivered the gla.s.s of milk to the door, after which she grabbed it and told the latter to get some rest.
She finished the warm milk, brushed her teeth, and put on a facial serum mask before finally going to bed.
Staring at the spot beside her, she began to feel like Jin Qingyan had been gone for a long time, although he had left only a while ago.
She had no idea what the situation was on his side since she could not contact him.
An Xiaoning gave Fang Erlan a call.
The latter did not pick up.
She tried to call her again but to no avail.
Just as she was about to call for the third time, Fang Erlan returned her call.
“Sis Xiaoning, I just came out of the shower.”
“Since Xiao Chenyang is not around, has Yangyang a.s.signed any bodyguards to you yet?”
“I told Sis Yangyang to instruct them to come in the day instead. Besides, I’m living right opposite Yan Ge and the security is tight within the estate too. I’ll be alright.”
“I’m fine if you’re okay with that arrangement. Try to avoid going out at night as much as possible.”
“I know. Sis, aren’t you going to bed yet?” Fang Erlan asked.
“Not yet, I was a little worried about you. Go to bed early and get more rest during this break.”
“Alright, sleep soon too, Sis. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.”
After ending the call, An Xiaoning put her phone away and began falling asleep.
Right before she dozed off, she prayed in her head not to slip into another long dream again, for she still had to attend to the matters at the company.
However, she was never in control of her subconscious.
Furthermore, it was the peak period where her dreams occurred frequently.
The more she dreaded it, the more likely it would happen.
She was overwhelmed with discomfort while she was asleep.
She opened her eyes wearily, only to discover that she was roped to a wooden peg with a piece of cloth stuffed inside her mouth, completely drenched.
There was a bunch of people standing in front of her, and she was clearly jolted awake by the water that was splashed onto her face.
The person standing at the front of the bunch was none other than Princess Consort Mu.
She really dreaded seeing Bu Xianxian’s face.
Bu Xianxian’s skin was much tanner in the dream compared to her post-plastic-surgery self.
Her skin was so tan and dull that she almost blended in with the darkness of the night.
An Xiaoning had no idea what was going on or how she ended up being tied up.
Before An Xiaoning could even speak, Princess Consort Mu said, “Shove the spicy chili noodles into her mouth!”
“Yes, Princess Consort.”
The two maids immediately walked toward An Xiaoning with the bowls of chili noodles.
“Just what are you trying to do?” asked An Xiaoning, who wished that she could stab Princess Consort Mu to death with the fork.
“Hurry up,” Princess Consort Mu instructed the maids, completely ignoring An Xiaoning.
An Xiaoning’s mouth was forced open and the chili noodles were stuffed past her mouth’s opening. However, the maids were still rather restrained and did not force the chili all the way inside her mouth, although it was still spicy enough to make An Xiaoning sneeze uncontrollably.
Her throat was burning.
It became difficult for her to even speak, and she was practically in a living h.e.l.l.
If this had taken place in real life instead, she would have broken free from the ropes and beat Bu Xianxian into a pulp.
Yet…
An Xiaoning wondered to herself, Why am I restrained when I was in the residence? Where did Princess Consort Tian go? Where’s Yu Jiao?
Wasn’t Princess Consort Tian in cahoots with me?
Could it be that Tian wanted Mu to teach me a lesson and thus decided to show up at the last minute?
To her astonishment, things turned out to be just like she had thought.
Princess Consort Tian rushed over at the last minute before An Xiaoning pa.s.sed out from the chili.
“Sister, what are you doing? What has Miss Jin done wrong? Why do you have to do this to her?” said Princess Consort Tian.
“What has she done wrong? She’s a shameless woman who has no right to stay here. Sister, you probably don’t dare to stand up to His Highness, but I can’t tolerate this outrageousness. I shall wait for His Highness to come back and make a decision. Let’s see if he’ll choose to send this woman away or divorce me!” Princess Consort Mu hollered with a smirk.
Princess Consort Tian knew that she was merely trying to put the Prince on a spot. After all, she was the princess of the neighboring country and had been arranged by the Emperor to marry the Prince. Hence, there was no way the Prince could divorce her.
However, she was also well aware of how much Hua Jin meant to him.
Princess Consort Tian said softly, “Sister, you can’t subject Miss Jin to such treatment, His Highness is going to hit the roof if he finds out.”
She then walked toward An Xiaoning in an attempt to free her from the ropes.
“Stop what you’re doing.”
Princess Consort Tian paused her actions. Although she wanted Princess Consort Mu to teach Hua Jin a lesson, she was also well aware that women were fickle-minded. If she could do this to Hua Jin, she can probably also do this to me in the future…
“Sister, you just married His Highness not long ago and you don’t know his temper too well yet. I think you’d better think twice before you act. You and I are both His Highness’s lawful wives and we’re of equal status. I hope you’ll let Miss Jin off this time on my account.”