A Sudden Change on a Rainy Night

A Sudden Change on a Rainy Night

Winter in the capital had been seldom accompanied by rain. And now, just as Jiang Chaoyu was on a mission, a thunderstorm struck without warning. Thunder roared across the sky, but Jiang Chaoyu remained pressed against the roof beam, letting the rain lash against her body.

Rainwater slid down the edge of her mask and into her collar. She stared at the painting "Summer Outing" in the center of the secret room. This mission was for this painting, and she could only succeed, not fail.

At this moment, she was thinking about the spatial teleportation technique. As long as she could visualize the specific location in her mind, she could instantly teleport. However, there was a distance limit to this technique, otherwise Jiang Chaoyu would not have risked coming here.

Five years ago, she used the same trick to steal hot steamed buns from the imperial kitchen and save the dying boy.

However, this mission was somewhat tricky. She had to steal the priceless painting "Summer Outing" from that heavily guarded secret room, and all she could see were guards.

"Three, two, one," she silently counted the intervals between guard shifts. Just as she was about to activate her skill, the tile suddenly exploded!

The sword's light grazed his ear and struck the wooden beam, while the blade reflected the dragon embroidery on his clothes. The current emperor has only three princes: one is on military campaign, and the other is barely older than a kneeling prince. This must be the second prince—Zeng Chenhua.

Jiang Chaoyu spun and landed, the two of them silently descending from the roof beams into the secret chamber. Jiang Chaoyu's dagger, hidden in her sleeve, was already pressed against the man's throat: "Even royalty act as thieves?"

The stench of blood mixed with the fragrance of sandalwood wafted towards them, but the fragrance seemed to be unable to mask the smell of blood. The man gripped her wrist tightly, with such force that he almost wanted to crush Jiang Chaoyu's bones: "You should ask the second young lady of the Prime Minister's mansion about that."

Lightning cleaved the night sky, illuminating the cinnabar mole at the corner of the man's eye. With the light, Jiang Chaoyu could see the man's eyes clearly. She couldn't help but think of the boy who had huddled under the palace wall eating steamed buns five years ago. It turned out to be Zeng Chenhua, the second prince of the current dynasty!

"Your Highness has mistaken me for someone else." Jiang Chaoyu bent her knee and thrust it into his abdomen, intending to deliver a fatal blow to his back as he groaned. However, she was surprised to find a sticky wound on his back, which seemed to be bleeding continuously. Jiang Chaoyu was shocked, not expecting that this person could hold on until now; it was a miracle.

But this was not something Jiang Chaoyu should think about. She thought to herself, "The mask has not been removed yet, so how does he know that I am the second young lady of the Prime Minister's mansion?"

Alarm bells rang in Jiang Chaoyu's mind. She knew she couldn't easily reveal her identity and had to fight to the death.

With her spatial teleportation technique, she could escape from here instantly, but her master's teachings echoed in her ears: she should never use this skill lightly unless absolutely necessary.

Zeng Chenhua suddenly chuckled, and while Jiang Chaoyu wasn't paying attention, his blood-stained fingers brushed against her neck: "The little beggar who fed me steamed buns back then has really made something of himself now." Then his fingers went behind her back, and his entire palm pressed against the back of her neck, bringing him closer and his breath brushing against her ear, "Let me guess, if the Prime Minister knew that his daughter had stolen the 'Youxia Tu' painting, how would he react?"

As the torrential rain pounded on the roof tiles, Jiang Chaoyu moved closer to Zeng Chenhua and could easily see the scar on his collarbone that rose and fell with his breath.

Five years ago, when his wound became so severe that it festered and even threatened his life, it was Jiang Chaoyu who found some herbs and mixed them with his saliva to heal him.

At this moment, his body temperature was so high that it made the back of her neck feel hot.

"If Your Highness wanted to report this, why wait until now?" Jiang Chaoyu curled her lips, her blood-stained fingers touching his Adam's apple, and whispered, "How about we discuss some terms?"

Zeng Chenhua grasped the blood-stained finger, and for a fleeting moment their eyes met, it was as if time stood still. "What conditions do you want?"

Jiang Chaoyu tried to pull her fingers away, but Zeng Chenhua wouldn't let go no matter how hard she tried. Helpless, she had to give up. Zeng Chenhua pulled her into his arms, and their posture became somewhat ambiguous.

"Let me go!"

"reason?"

Like a cunning fox, Jiang Chaoyu used her other four free fingers to grip Zeng Chenhua's hand, "It seems inappropriate to spread the news of His Highness's injury..."

Zeng Chenhua seemed to have heard a joke, which made him chuckle and press down on the back of her neck even harder. "Then, Second Miss, do you think you can walk out of here alive?"

Seeing that Zeng Chenhua was unwilling to let her go, she tried to deliberately step on the broken tiles on the ground to make the guards notice the movement in the secret room. However, she did not know that Zeng Chenhua had anticipated this move and blocked her movement with his leg.

Jiang Chaoyu was trapped in Zeng Chenhua's arms and couldn't move.

Seeing this, Jiang Chaoyu had no choice but to play the emotional card, "Is this how the Second Prince treats his savior?!"

He looked away, trying to find another way.

"So, Miss Jiang admits it?" Zeng Chenhua noticed that Jiang Chaoyu's wrist was red and realized that he might have used too much force, so he released Jiang Chaoyu.

After Jiang Chaoyu was released, she was an arm's length away from Zeng Chenhua. Then, she felt a pain in the back of her neck, which made her rub her neck.

He thought to himself, "How can you treat your savior like this? You start by grabbing the back of his neck."

"No, I am not the second young lady you are talking about."

As long as Jiang Chaoyu doesn't admit it, it has nothing to do with her no matter what.

He stared at Zeng Chenhua, refusing to admit anything, but his eyes were icy cold, as if he had fallen into a bottomless abyss of ice.

Seeing that Zeng Chenhua didn't speak, Jiang Chaoyu thought that since he was injured, she wouldn't hold it against him, as long as he didn't repay kindness with enmity.

"Since you're injured, I have some medicine here. It's not very effective, but it can still stop the bleeding."

Jiang Chaoyu took out some herbs from her woolen bag and showed them to Zeng Chenhua. She had no intention of harming Zeng Chenhua; she was only trying to stop his bleeding.

The two of them just stared at each other, and the silence only added to the awkwardness.

Zeng Chenhua took out a tinderbox, which instantly illuminated the entire room. Jiang Chaoyu blew out the tinderbox and whispered, "There are still people outside. Are you out of your mind?"

Upon hearing Jiang Chaoyu's words, Zeng Chenhua remembered that there were people outside, and then put the tinderbox back.

He then sat cross-legged, took off his clothes, and revealed the wound on his back.

It looked like it had been slashed with a large knife; the wound was so deep that you could even see some bone. Although the wound had already scabbed over, it was still bleeding continuously.

Seeing this, Jiang Chaoyu thought that since he trusted her so much, she would reluctantly apply the medicine to him.

But when applying the medicine, she had a mischievous idea. He had just squeezed her wrist so hard, so now she would make him feel the pain too.

When applying the medicine, he pressed down a little harder, which made Zeng Chenhua unable to help but hiss. Jiang Chaoyu was pleased to hear the sound, since he had just been so heavy-handed.

Thank you.

I treated him so well, and Zeng Chenhua still thanked me. Is there something wrong with that?

After applying the last bit of medicine to Zeng Chenhua, Jiang Chaoyu thought about going to the pawnshop to pawn some things to get money, so she used her spatial teleportation technique to instantly teleport to the pawnshop while Zeng Chenhua wasn't paying attention.

Zeng Chenhua felt a chill down his spine. When he looked back, he realized that the person had disappeared without him noticing.

Looking to the side, the painting "Summer Outing" has disappeared without a trace.

Jiang Chaoyu had arrived at the pawnshop. Looking at the gold hairpin in her hand, she felt extremely reluctant, but she needed the money. With one last look at the hairpin, she said, "Don't worry, I will definitely redeem you." These words seemed to be spoken to herself.

"Go to the pawnshop and see what she pawned, then redeem it." He had sent his men to distract the guards earlier, also for this painting, but he hadn't expected an uninvited guest. Her abilities were too strong; she had managed to get it without anyone noticing. He wanted to know what her true identity was.

But he regretted it as soon as he said it; he wanted to go and see for himself.

"Never mind, I'll go."

No sooner had Jiang Chaoyu left the pawnshop than Zeng Chenhua entered.

"Has anyone pawned any valuables today?"

When the shopkeeper saw someone asking, he immediately said that Jiang Chaoyu had just come by, "The customer in front pawned his gold hairpin."

Upon seeing this, Zeng Chenhua immediately took out a bag of silver and placed it in front of the shopkeeper, saying, "I'll buy this gold hairpin for twice the price!"

The shopkeeper was naturally overjoyed. He had just acquired the goods and someone was already buying them at double the price. Why not?

After Jiang Chaoyu pawned her jewelry, there was one last step.

When she activated the skill, the dizziness returned, and she clenched her hands, trying her best to stay awake.

After completing the mission, he hurriedly returned to his master You Zhenghong's residence with the crucial painting in his hands.

She gently pushed open the door and saw her master leaning against the desk, asleep, his brows slightly furrowed, as if he were pondering something in his dream.

Jiang Chaoyu's lips curled slightly upward, a mischievous glint in her eyes. She tiptoed to the desk and saw a calligraphy brush casually resting beside the inkstone, the ink still damp. On a whim, she picked up the brush and lightly drew a kitten on her master's face. Seeing the comical expression on her master's usually serious face, Jiang Chaoyu almost burst out laughing. She suppressed her laughter, carefully put down the painting, and turned to quietly leave.

Just as she reached the door, her master's deep voice came from behind her: "Xiaoyu."

Jiang Chaoyu was startled, her body instantly stiffening. She felt like she had been caught doing something wrong, but at that moment, she was indeed doing something wrong.

Alarm bells rang in his mind, but he quickly put on a bright smile, slowly turned around, and said, "Master, you're awake!"

Looking at Jiang Chaoyu's overly bright smile, You Zhenghong immediately understood that this girl must have done something naughty. She glanced down at the painting on the table and knew that her second task had been completed very well. "Well done, but is there anything else?"

Jiang Chaoyu inwardly groaned. She quietly observed where the bronze mirror was placed in the room, and when she saw that it was next to her master, she felt relieved.

She recounted what had happened, but did not mention that she was Zeng Chenhua's savior.

"Did the other side discover anything?" You Zhenghong asked with concern, his expression tightening.

“No.” Jiang Chaoyu quickly shook her head. “It hasn’t been exposed.”

But You Zhenghong still asked with concern, "Are you really alright?"

"No." Jiang Chaoyu sighed softly. This was the first time she had gone out on a mission alone since coming to this world, so it was normal for her master to be a little worried.

Moreover, his master, like himself, did not belong to this world.

She was originally Zhao Siyu, an architecture student in the new world. However, she was late for 8 a.m. and ended up falling into this world, where she was given a different identity. Her family in this world was very indifferent to her.

When he was starving and freezing, he unexpectedly discovered that he had the ability to travel through space. He used this ability to save Zeng Chenhua, who was almost starving to death under the palace walls. He also unexpectedly became the disciple of a master, who, like himself, was from that world.

Here, she kept searching for her way home, asking Taoist priests, who said it was evil magic; asking shamans, who said it was divine magic. There were many conflicting opinions, but no one had a real answer.

"It's getting late, little kitten, you should go home now." You Zhenghong looked at Jiang Chaoyu, whose face was dirty and whose whole body was soaking wet.

Jiang Chaoyu smiled, thankfully her master hadn't noticed her masterpiece.

When You Zhenghong was about to go to bed, she noticed the ink residue on her face and chuckled softly, "This child, so that's what it was about!"

In the backyard of the Prime Minister's residence, Jiang Chaoyu leaned against the wall to catch her breath. Each instant consumed some of her strength, a fact she discovered later when using her skills. Fortunately, no one else knew about this weakness.

She removed her mask and washed it off in the rain, only to see Cui Cui approaching her hurriedly, carrying a bamboo umbrella and a lantern, saying anxiously:

"Miss, the master wants to arrange a marriage for you!"