Many children, many blessings: Stealing the offspring of powerful figures to cultivate immortality.

Jiang Yining took a deep breath and forced a smile, even though the other person couldn't see it.

"Why aren't you asleep yet?"

She went over, took a tinderbox from the shelf next to her, and lit the candlestick on the table.

The dim candlelight flickered, illuminating Chu Sikong's handsome, bamboo-like face.

He naturally exudes a unique temperament, somewhere between the innocence of a child and the maturity of an adult man, possessing both the vigor of a young man and a touch of composure and restraint.

The white cloth covering Chu Sikong's eyes was slightly askew, revealing a corner of his tightly closed eyelids.

"I'm waiting for my sister-in-law."

Chu Sikong's hand groped in the air, as if trying to grab something, but he didn't dare to be too presumptuous, so he could only hover in mid-air.

"What did His Majesty say in the palace?"

Jiang Yining looked at the hand hanging in mid-air and felt a pang of sadness in her heart.

The men of the Chu family were all guarding the border and died one after another in battle, leaving no one at home to care for the elderly and weak.

To support the Chu family, Chu Jinglan went to the border at the age of fifteen, while Old Madam Chu was bedridden for many years.

Chu Sikong was the youngest. He was actually very intelligent, but his blindness limited him.

Jiang Yining reached out and grasped that cold hand.

"fine."

Jiang Yining pressed his hand back onto his knee and straightened his thin clothes: "His Majesty only asked a few questions. After all, my husband died in battle, and the court has to go through the motions."

You're lying.

Although Chu Sikong was blind, his mind was not.

"Sister-in-law, you smell of blood."

Jiang Yining paused.

"And..." Chu Sikong's nostrils twitched slightly, and his brows furrowed, "there's also the scent of ambergris."

Those were spices that only the emperor could use.

Jiang Yining subconsciously took a half step back.

But Chu Sikong suddenly grabbed her wrist.

He wasn't very strong, but the stubbornness he displayed in that instant made it impossible for Jiang Yining to break free.

"What did that tyrant do to you?"

Jiang Yining's lips moved slightly, and after a long while, she explained, "The fragrance is from staying in the Imperial Study for a while, and the bloody smell is from when I was a little nervous today and accidentally tripped and fell."

Chu Sikong's unseen eyes remained fixed on her face: "Did he force you... force you..."

He couldn't bring himself to say the rest.

That was a desecration of my sister-in-law.

"Second brother, you're overthinking it."

Jiang Yining forcibly pulled her hand away, turned her back to Chu Sikong, not wanting him to "see" the disheveled look on her face.

"His Majesty was just in a bad mood and lost his temper, which is why he made me kneel and listen for a while."

"Cough cough cough..."

Chu Sikong suddenly coughed violently, curling up and bending over as if he were coughing up his lungs.

Jiang Yining was startled and quickly turned around to pat his back.

"What's wrong? Did you catch a cold?"

She poured him a cup of hot tea and held it to his lips.

Chu Sikong did not drink.

He raised his head, his handsome face flushed with a sickly redness from coughing.

"Sister-in-law, you should go now."

Jiang Yining slammed the teacup heavily on the table, splashing tea that scalded the back of her hand.

"I said I wasn't leaving."

"If you don't leave, you're doomed!"

Chu Sikong suddenly became agitated, his voice rising: "The Chu family is finished! My eldest brother is dead, my mother is dying, and I'm just a useless person! What are you staying here for? To be buried with us?!"

"To be buried alive with someone? I don't believe in fate, and I would never be buried alive with someone else."

A subtle calculation flashed in Jiang Yining's eyes, one that she herself was unaware of: "But if we run now, we'll be like stray dogs. The Chu family is a pit of fire, and the outside world is hell."

"I stayed not to become a ghost of the Chu family, but to clear the Chu family's name and live with dignity."

After saying that, Jiang Yining felt a little strange. She should have said that she was a daughter-in-law of the Chu family, and that once she entered this family, she would be a member of the Chu family in life and in death.

Why am I so calmly weighing the pros and cons? It's as if it's an instinct ingrained in my bones.

"Sister-in-law..."

Chu Sikong thought Jiang Yining would refuse to leave even if it meant death, but he never expected her to think this way.

I never expected that my sister-in-law, who usually looks so gentle and weak, would also have such a stubborn and uncompromising side.

"Sister-in-law, come here."

Chu Sikong suddenly calmed down, his voice low and hoarse.

Jiang Yining hesitated for a moment, but still walked over.

"Squat down."

Jiang Yining squatted down in front of him as instructed.

Chu Sikong reached out, his icy fingertips touching her cheek.

Jiang Yining instinctively wanted to hide, but when she saw his eyes covered by a white cloth, she held back.

His hands were cold, without any warmth.

His fingertips slid down her brow bone and bridge of her nose, the movement as gentle as if he were touching a rare treasure.

This kind of contact has crossed the line.

"My sister-in-law is really beautiful."

Chu Sikong's hand stopped at her chin, a bitter smile playing on his lips: "Although I can't see, I can feel."

"With such exceptional bone structure, she must be a beauty."

"pity……"

His thumb gently stroked the corner of Jiang Yining's mouth: "It's a pity that her first marriage was to my eldest brother."

Jiang Yining's heart suddenly skipped a beat.

Chu Sikong leaned forward, his pale face drawing close to Jiang Yining's.

Their breaths mingled together.

Jiang Yining was stunned.

Looking at her blind brother-in-law, she felt a sense of unfamiliarity with him for the first time.

"Jiang Yining, you're still young. Don't let your life be ruined by the Chu family."

Chu Sikong stepped aside and groped for a package on the table next to him.

He stuffed the package into Jiang Yining's hands.

"What is this?"

Jiang Yining felt that he was quite heavy when she hugged him. So, he touched her face earlier because he wanted to remember her appearance so that she could leave?

"Secret stash of money".

Chu Sikong couldn't see her, so he leaned close to her ear.

"Sister-in-law, don't make a sound."

He explained, "Before my elder brother went to war, he taught me some accounting methods and gave me some capital."

"Although I am blind, my hearing is excellent. I can locate casinos and racecourses in Beijing by sound. Over the years, I have managed to accumulate some wealth by relying on this little bit of 'cleverness'."

"My elder brother said that in chaotic times, gold and silver are more reliable than human relationships."

"Here are ten top-grade East Sea luminous pearls; I exchanged the rest for anonymous silver notes."

Jiang Yining felt the purse in her hand was incredibly heavy and burning hot.

Ten top-grade luminous pearls?

That's a priceless treasure!

Where did this brother-in-law, who usually has to be careful with his medicine, get so much money?

"you……"

Don't ask.

Chu Sikong raised a finger and pressed it against her lips.

"Sister-in-law, I know you want to save the Chu family."

"But that tyrant Ye Wuhen is not someone you can deal with."

"Take this money and bribe the guards in the city. We'll leave tonight."

Jiang Yining looked at him.

In the candlelight, his expression seemed to conceal some inexplicable emotion.

He...could it be...?

"And what about you?" Jiang Yining asked.

"I?"

Chu Sikong smiled and said, "I am the only male in the Chu family. I have to stay and accompany my mother on her final journey."

He spoke casually, but Jiang Yining's heart felt as if it had been violently clenched by something.

She was young, but wasn't he young too?

They had only taken a cursory glance at life and the world.

"no."

Jiang Yining threw the purse back into his arms and stood up.

"Keep this money for your wedding."

"Sister-in-law!"

Chu Sikong panicked and reached out to grab her, but only managed to grab her sleeve.

"Sizzle—"

The plain white mourning clothes were torn at the cuff when he grabbed them.

A section of her jade-like forearm was exposed.

The air froze instantly.

Chu Sikong's hand froze in mid-air. His fingertips touched her warm skin, and he withdrew them as if he had been burned.

"I'm...I'm sorry."

His fair face instantly turned bright red, even his ears blushed crimson.

The stubbornness that had been so intense just moments before, as if he wanted to tear a hole in the sky, vanished without a trace, and he reverted to being the well-mannered and principled scholar he once was.

Jiang Yining looked at him like this and suddenly found it a little funny.

You got this scared just from touching my arm?

"Alright."

Jiang Yining rolled up her sleeves to cover her exposed skin.

"It's getting late, let me take you back to your room to rest."

She tugged at Chu Sikong's sleeve and slowly led the way.

The servants had been mostly dismissed, and the vast general's mansion was very quiet.

Looking at the pitch-black surroundings, Jiang Yining thought to herself that it was fortunate that the Chu family still had Chu Sikong, otherwise she would be terrified just walking around like this.

"Sister-in-law, for the sake of the Chu family, did you... promise the Night Emperor something?"

Chu Sikong suddenly spoke.

"I……"

Jiang Yining almost blurted out, "This kid is really clever, launching a surprise attack and trying to get information out of me."

"no."

Jiang Yining withdrew her hand, her tone hardening.

"If I had really promised him anything, I wouldn't be back tonight."

Chu Sikong didn't say anything, but when they reached the door, he suddenly pulled her inside.

Before Jiang Yining could even gasp, his icy fingers were already pressed against her lips.