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

Jiang Yining instinctively stepped back, her back pressed against a pillar, with nowhere left to retreat.

"Chu Sikong, have you gone mad?"

She tried to assert her authority as the eldest sister-in-law: "I'm your sister-in-law!"

"Where have all that knowledge of sages and saints you've been studying gone?!"

Faced with her questioning, Chu Sikong's smile not only did not disappear, but deepened.

That pale, sickly face revealed a bewitching allure.

"Big brother?"

He chuckled softly, his tone carrying an undisguised mockery.

"My elder brother is dead."

Chu Sikong tilted his head slightly, the white blindfold fluttering gently in the wind.

"Dead people can't protect Ning'er."

"Even a dead person can't hold Ning'er, can't warm Ning'er's bed, and certainly can't..."

He paused, his voice suddenly becoming hoarse and low, with a sticky, wet quality: "I can't make Ning'er happy."

"But I can."

Jiang Yining's face immediately turned red.

She was about to rebuke him when Chu Sikong, who had just declared with an air of dominance that he could protect her, suddenly turned around and knelt down.

Before she could react, a pair of arms had already wrapped around her waist.

"Sister-in-law..."

The sinister madness that Chu Sikong had just displayed vanished without a trace, replaced by a deep sense of helplessness.

He buried his face deeply in Jiang Yining's arms, his posture so humble it was almost groveling, like a puppy about to be abandoned by its owner.

"Ning'er, I was wrong. I shouldn't have said those things to upset you..."

Jiang Yining was stiff all over, her hands hanging in mid-air, unable to push or hug.

"You...you get up first!" She frantically tried to pry his hands off.

"I'm not getting up!"

Chu Sikong acted like a rogue, snuggling against her and greedily absorbing her warmth like a child.

"I really like you, I've liked you from the first time I met you..."

"Please don't leave the Chu family, okay?"

He choked up, and tears instantly soaked Jiang Yining's clothes around her waist.

"Without you, this family will fall apart... and I won't be able to live..."

Chu Sikong looked up, and even though they were separated by a white silk ribbon, Jiang Yining could almost feel the shattered light in his eyes.

His lips were an unnatural crimson from excitement, which, against his fair face, created a breathtakingly morbid beauty.

The pitiful puppy's crying appearance sent chills down Jiang Yining's spine.

"Ning'er..."

His hand slowly moved up her waistline, pressing her closer to him.

"Please, Ning'er, you're such a kind-hearted person..."

Chu Sikong's voice trailed off slowly, with a ticklish, hooking quality.

"Please have pity on me this once, okay?"

"I'll be more obedient than other men; you can do whatever you want..."

He leaned his head in for a moment.

"Hmm!"

Jiang Yining's legs went weak, and she almost lost her balance and fell to the ground.

"Lord Chu!"

Jiang Yining gritted her teeth, her face flushed with shame and indignation, as if it were about to bleed.

"Let go of me!"

"Don't loosen it!"

Chu Sikong held her tightly, as if she were clutching his last straw.

"Unless my sister-in-law promises me, promises not to leave, and promises to marry me..."

"Otherwise, I'll kneel here and die!"

As he spoke harshly, he buried his face even deeper, greedily inhaling her scent, and tightened his grip on her lower back, as if trying to meld her into his very bones.

Jiang Yining looked at the man at her feet, a man who was both pitiful and hateful, both humble and insane.

Is this a puppy wagging its tail and begging for mercy, or a vicious wolf lurking in the shadows?

The wind under the eaves seemed to carry a sticky dampness.

It took Jiang Yining a lot of effort to pry Chu Sikong off her body, who was clinging to her like an octopus.

"You stand up and speak first."

She took a deep breath, straightened her crumpled clothes, her face still flushed, but she forced a tone of authority as the eldest sister-in-law: "What kind of behavior is this, kneeling here? If people see this, they'll think I, as your sister-in-law, am abusing you."

After being pushed away, Chu Sikong did not pursue the matter further.

He obediently stood up, leaning on a pillar. He swayed slightly, and the bamboo cane lay forlornly to one side.

Chu Sikong lowered his head, the white blindfold glaringly obvious.

"Does Ning'er dislike me?"

"Indeed, I am blind and sickly, how can I compare to that powerful Grand Secretary?"

"What nonsense are you talking about!"

Jiang Yining rubbed her temples, a slight headache forming, bent down to pick up the bamboo cane for him, and placed it in his hand: "If I disliked you, I would have packed my bags and left long ago. Would I be standing here listening to your nonsense?"

The moment their fingertips touched, Chu Sikong grabbed her fingers with his own.

"So Ning'er has agreed?"

"I……"

Jiang Yining choked, looking at his pale, almost transparent face. The words of refusal rolled on her tongue, but in the end, she couldn't bring herself to say no. "This matter is of great importance. Please allow me to think about it some more."

Chu Sikong's lips curled up almost imperceptibly before he resumed his obedient demeanor.

"Okay, I'll do whatever Ning'er says."

Jiang Yining thought it was a delaying tactic, and that if she dealt with it quietly for a few days, this absurd behavior would pass.

But to her utter surprise, Chu Sikong didn't play by the rules at all.

Lunchtime.

Chu Sikong fumbled to pick up the bowl, holding a spoon in his hand. He stumbled and stammered along the rim of the bowl several times, but couldn't scoop up a single spoonful of soup.

Jiang Yining hesitated: "You..."

Chu Sikong put down his spoon, lowered his head to reveal a slender, fair nape, and said in a voice as low as a mosquito's hum, "Ning'er, you eat first. I'm not hungry. Old Zhao can feed me later."

Old Zhao chimed in at the opportune moment: "Oh dear, Second Young Master, this old servant's eyesight is failing; I burned my hand while preparing medicine for the Old Madam just now..."

Jiang Yining: "..."

Are these two, master and servant, putting on a charade?

She looked at Chu Sikong's pitiful expression, as if to say, "I'm very hungry, but I'm sensible and won't say anything."

If he makes a scene, Jiang Yining can still harden her heart and scold him a few times.

But his self-abandonment and even self-loathing touched the softest spot in Jiang Yining's heart.

"Alright."

Jiang Yining put down her chopsticks and bowl, sighed, and picked up the bowl of soup in front of Chu Sikong.

She scooped up a spoonful of soup, blew on it, and brought it to his lips: "Open your mouth."

Chu Sikong's lips curled up almost imperceptibly, and he obediently opened his mouth.

The moment the spoon was in her mouth, whether intentionally or unintentionally, the warm, soft tip of her tongue gently rolled over and brushed against Jiang Yining's fingertips that were holding the spoon handle.

Jiang Yining's hand trembled as if she had been electrocuted.

"Ning'er?"

Chu Sikong looked at her innocently, his lips still glistening with soup, making them appear exceptionally red and tempting: "What's wrong? Did I eat too fast and scare you, sister-in-law?"