Quick Transmigration: The Mad Beauty Refuses to Be the Scapegoat!-Chapter 111 - 22: The Princess Who Refuses to Be Cannon Fodder (Part 22)
Jiang Ling looked at the drunken Jiang Lai, frowning tightly, thinking that her actions just now were indeed those of a drunkard, but why did everything she did seem so deliberate?
Why did she come to the study looking for Jiang Xiong after getting drunk?
Or did she already know that someone would break into the study tonight, and pretended to be drunk to investigate?
Jiang Ling couldn’t make up his mind. Despite being good at understanding people, he couldn’t tell if Jiang Lai was truly drunk or feigning it.
Whether true or false, a simple test would reveal the truth.
With that, Jiang Ling picked up Jiang Lai effortlessly.
"I’ll take her back to rest, you all keep a close guard."
"Yes, Lieutenant General."
Jiang Ling was exceptionally tall and incredibly strong, wielding a nearly hundred-pound lance on the battlefield, so holding the less-than-a-hundred-pound Jiang Lai was as easy as holding a wad of cotton.
Soft all over, particularly the touch under his hand, so incredibly soft it felt boneless, making one want to handle it with ease.
Thinking of this, Jiang Ling couldn’t help but recall Murong Dun’s eagerness to return to his room the night before.
What would Jiang Lai be like on the bed with him?
As pliant as now, letting Murong Dun have his way?
Jiang Lai was half-awake and mumbling incessantly. Abruptly, a cold wind stirred her to struggle in Jiang Ling’s arms, murmuring all the while.
"Dad... kite... I want a kite..."
To prevent her from falling, Jiang Ling held her with one hand, while the other secured her restless legs, quickening his pace.
Unexpectedly, though Jiang Lai looked frail, her legs were surprisingly firm with a doughy feel; Jiang Ling’s palms grew hot, and he smirked mischievously at her drunkenness.
"Jiang Lai?"
"Hmm..."
"Look at me, can you still recognize who I am?"
Obediently, Jiang Lai lifted her head to look at him, though from this angle she could likely only see his chin, not discerning his features clearly.
"You... you are..."
Saying this, Jiang Lai reached to touch Jiang Ling’s chin, finding it smooth and without stubble, then stroking his face, appreciating the fine texture.
"You are quite handsome..."
"Can’t recognize me?"
Jiang Ling couldn’t spare a hand to control Jiang Lai’s restless hands, so he tilted his head back to keep out of her reach.
"So handsome, you must be my husband!"
With that, Jiang Lai wrapped her arms around his neck, nuzzling his chin affectionately and passionately, mumbling aimlessly.
"Husband, husband, I feel terrible, my head is spinning... I want a kite..."
Jiang Ling now almost believed she was truly drunk, mistaking even her beloved husband. Who knows what her expression would be when she recalls this incident upon sobering.
Forget it, questions from a drunkard are not worth trusting. Better to send her back quickly.
Jiang Lai kept nuzzling, instigating a fiery heat in Jiang Ling in the dead of night. Though not related by blood, Jiang Ling had never regarded her as a sister. With a drunken woman attractive indeed, it was most damning that despite avoiding women of the Central Plains for years, Jiang Ling found Jiang Lai particularly enchanting.
This thought arose when he lay injured in her arms after that grave wound.
And every sighting since intensified the feeling.
To the extent that seeing Murong Dun now irked him, especially last night, when he couldn’t sleep a wink.
Jiang Ling frowned, lowly rebuking.
"Jiang Lai! Behave! Look clearly at who I am!"
Jiang Lai sat up in his arms; Jiang Ling had no choice but to support her legs so they could face each other.
"See clearly? Is your husband better-looking than I?"
Jiang Lai’s gaze was hazy, as if veiled in mist, her face exceptionally gentle under tonight’s bright moonlight. Her eyes keenly watched him as if whispering.
"You’re good-looking; that makes you my husband."
"..."
Jiang Ling genuinely wished to place her before Murong Dun to make him hear her words.
Did she like Murong Dun so much just for his civil and handsome face?
Well, he wasn’t lacking in looks either, so why...
Shaking his head, Jiang Ling forcefully dismissed that thought.
Feeling the person in his arms more of a nuisance by the moment, Jiang Ling sped up, rounding the lake to reach the outside of Jiang Lai’s courtyard, then employed Qinggong to impressively vault over the courtyard wall to stand outside her room.
Inside, lights were on, and voices conversed within.
Instinctively, Jiang Ling crouched beneath the window, listening to their conversation.
"If not this time, then the next. Don’t be so disheartened and self-reproaching."
Murong Dun’s tone was laden with tenderness; Jiang Ling instinctively glanced at Jiang Lai in his arms, only to meet bright, beautiful eyes earnestly observing him.
Frowning, Jiang Ling avoided her gaze and opted to shield her face with his sleeve.
"Sanlang, the vendetta torments me day and night. Just thinking that Jiang Xiong lives a day longer agonizes me like boiling oil."
"I understand, it’s my fault for being useless and unable to help you."
"Don’t say that—you’ve helped me tremendously. Without your fortress-like General Mansion, how could I infiltrate? This failure is all due to Jiang Lai. I suspect... she has noticed something."
Promptly, Murong Dun rebutted.
"Impossible, Jiang Lai is naïve and trusts me fully; she won’t doubt me. This, you needn’t worry about."
Naïve?
Jiang Ling unveiled his sleeve, glancing at the woman dozing in his arms, her eyes half-shut, and thick lashes curling adorably.
She did appear foolish at the moment.
This person beside her, exploiting her wholly, blissfully greets all with ignorance and fearlessness; how could someone so daft be Jiang Xiong’s daughter?
"Sanlang, do you like Jiang Lai?"
Silence ensued within, before a response came after a while.
"Not like—a sense of guilt is more prevalent. Once accomplished, I’ll give her a letter of divorce and some money to send her away."
"Yet, being the daughter of a treacherous minister, no matter what, she can’t purge herself of being raised on the fat of the land. Regardless, I can’t bring myself to sympathize with her. Do you find me too callous?"
"Of course not..."
They truly were a despicable pair.
Jiang Ling began to feel sorry for Jiang Lai.
But it was all her own fault for being so infatuated with Murong Dun.
Just as he thought this, Jiang Lai furrowed her brows, murmuring uncomfortably.
"So hot... I want to sleep... Xiao Lian—"
Before she could call out, Jiang Ling instinctively covered her mouth, carrying her swiftly leaping out of the back courtyard, heading towards his own quarters.
His palm felt warm and moist, something slick slipping past it.
