Volume 1, Chapter 17: Do You Like Gold, Too?

On the way back to the mansion

“You're talking nonsense. What did you just say?”

“I’m saying that the person you hold so dear is actually someone with a vicious heart, scheming against her own sister. This has spread all over the capital.”

“Shut your mouth.”

“What? You think you can silence me alone, but can you silence everyone in this entire city?”

Shang Yinqiong stopped in her tracks.

That voice sounded so familiar—could it be Cheng Xu?

She glanced sideways. Inside the bustling tavern, in the main hall, Cheng Xu was pinning someone to the ground, his fist pounding the other’s face.

A glint flashed through Shang Yinqiong’s eyes. Although Cheng Xu was usually careless, often gathering a few friends to drink and listen to music, his temper was generally well-mannered. It was rare to see him resort to violence like this.

The person being beaten must have struck a nerve.

Could it be...?

Shang Yinqiong leaned closer and finally caught the words of the man being hit: “That Shang Runyu always puts on an innocent act, but who would have thought she’d scheme so darkly behind the scenes? She looks down on us, but my brothers and I look down on her pretentiousness.”

“I told you to shut up.”

Just as Cheng Xu’s fist was about to fall, the beaten man’s companions arrived, quickly surrounding Cheng Xu and stopping his hand.

The man who had been hit slowly stood up, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth. “Tsk, you hit hard, Cheng Xu. What’s the matter? How dare a scrawny guy like you jump out? Don’t tell me you like her?”

Laughter erupted throughout the tavern.

Cheng Xu’s face flushed between red and blue. “Today, I’m going to teach you a lesson.”

Despite being restrained, he still dared to speak boastfully—only Cheng Xu would be so reckless.

The man sneered disdainfully.

“Throw him out.”

Their statuses were close; naturally, he wasn’t as afraid of Cheng Xu as the others.

Upon hearing this, Shang Yinqiong took several strides and left the tavern.

Sure enough, the next moment Cheng Xu was thrown out.

Shang Yinqiong couldn’t help but laugh inwardly. She never imagined the day would come when Cheng Xu would end up like this.

Since he liked to show off, he deserved this humiliation.

Ever since that day when Cheng Xu spoke those sarcastic words, she no longer felt any love for him—only hatred.

She walked past without looking aside.

Serves him right.

She cursed silently in her heart.

Unable to enter the mansion through the main gate, she took a side alley, looking for a lower wall to climb over. Unexpectedly, someone suddenly grabbed her ankle with a cold grip.

***

Shang Yinqiong shuddered in shock, a cold sweat breaking out on her back.

She didn’t dare look down, only kicking her leg wildly.

A heavy grunt came from the man behind her.

Shang Yinqiong: “...”

It was a man?

Better not get involved.

She didn’t want to deal with this.

But he had no intention of letting go, holding tightly onto her ankle.

“Help... me.”

If it weren’t for the surrounding silence, such a faint voice would have been almost inaudible.

Shang Yinqiong sighed helplessly.

She squatted slightly, using the dim light to see the man before her. Half his face was covered, his chest stained with blood, a large patch dyed red. Blood was also smeared on his face and mask—whether it was his own or someone else’s, she couldn’t tell.

“Tsk.”

She had never seen anyone so badly injured.

Tentatively, she reached out to remove the mask, but the man’s eyes suddenly opened, grabbing her hand in one swift motion.

His black eyes were like a cold spring, his brows tightly furrowed, gaze sharp as a hawk’s. “Don’t move.”

Though his voice was weak, it showed undeniable resilience.

The man’s gaze was intimidating, yet somehow familiar to Shang Yinqiong, as if she knew him—but when she tried to recall, no memories surfaced.

“Let go of me first, I mean no harm.”

No one was passing nearby; all was quiet.

Shang Yinqiong sensed the atmosphere between them growing dangerous.

Jiang Xuanyan’s pupils steadied, and he slowly released her wrist.

She withdrew her hand, no longer curious about the face beneath the mask, and began rummaging through the bottles and jars in her pocket.

Because of her experiences in the palace, often bullied and bruised, she had developed the habit of carrying healing medicines.

Unexpectedly, today they proved useful.

She finally found some blood-stopping medicine and tore a corner off her clothing with force.

“What are you doing?”

Jiang Xuanyan grabbed her wrist.

Shang Yinqiong pressed down her anger, but her tightly knit brows betrayed her displeasure. “You need to understand, you grabbed me and wouldn’t let me go, and now you don’t trust me.”

Her words left Jiang Xuanyan speechless.

But indeed, the facts were as she stated.

This was the first time someone dared speak to him like that.

***

Shang Yinqiong tore open his shirt at the chest. “You’re badly injured. If you don’t get treated soon, you could bleed out and die.”

The night perfectly concealed the blush rising to Jiang Xuanyan’s ears.

He had never seen a woman so uninhibited about gender boundaries.

The figure before him slowly overlapped with a faint memory.

When he came to again, the woman was already applying medicine and binding the wound with the torn cloth.

“I’ve only given you simple treatment. I don’t know why you’re so badly hurt, but if your enemies are after you, it’s unsafe for you to stay here.”

As she spoke, she was preparing to stand and leave.

Jiang Xuanyan’s earlobe twitched; his knife was suddenly pressed against the woman’s throat.

His warm breath brushed her ear. “Take me away from here.”

Shang Yinqiong silently rolled her eyes.

She really shouldn’t have saved him.

She had planned to kick him away, but seeing the large bloodstain on his chest, she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

“It’s inconvenient.”

Shang Yinqiong looked up and met his assessing gaze squarely. “I just arrived here myself, so I don’t know where is safe.”

A dull pain struck Jiang Xuanyan’s chest, making him gasp for breath.

One hand held the knife, the other reached to his waist, pulling out a gold ingot. “If you take me somewhere safe, this is yours.”

He seemed similar to Shang Yinqiong—she carried medicine, he carried gold.

He once had a friend who loved gold, and this time, he offered the ingot on a whim. Unexpectedly, the woman’s eyes lit up just like that friend’s did, even her expression was identical.

“Deal,” Shang Yinqiong answered instinctively.

“You like gold too?” the man muttered, as if talking to himself or asking her.

“Don’t talk!” Seeing him mumbling, she interrupted sharply.

Then she bent down, hoisting his arm onto her shoulder. “You better use some strength yourself, or we’ll both fall in the street.”

She wasn’t joking.

Jiang Xuanyan ignored conventions, putting half his weight on her, murmuring, “Thank you.”

After some thought, Shang Yinqiong recalled an old, abandoned temple on the outskirts of the city—a place deserted for years and seldom visited. It would be a good refuge.

But carrying a bleeding man openly through the streets would attract too much attention.

With this in mind, Shang Yinqiong had no choice but to carry him along a secluded path.