Chapter 238: Hatred Runs Deeper Than Love

Chapter 238: Hate Runs Deeper Than Love

Inside the study of Prince Jing's mansion, the candlelight flickered, casting Xiao Lingchuan's face in shifting shadows.

Jiang Yaozhen, whom Jiang Tianze had brought, stood like a lifeless statue, her eyes vacant, as if nothing around her mattered.

Xiao Lingchuan frowned deeply, his eyes filled with undisguised contempt and disappointment.

"I need a usable chess piece. In this state, what can she do for me?"

"Your Highness, my second sister can do far more for you than you imagine." Jiang Tianze turned to Jiang Yaozhen and commanded, "Second sister, the night is fine. Dance for His Highness!"

At his words, Jiang Yaozhen's body began to move. Her vacant eyes remained blank, yet her limbs flowed into motion with an eerie smoothness.

She performed a dance unique to Nanyue, each spin and twist of her waist extremely seductive and bold.

The initial disappointment in Xiao Lingchuan's eyes gradually gave way to a cold astonishment.

He hadn't expected that even the lowest level of puppet Gu sorcery could control a person so exquisitely.

His gaze toward Jiang Tianze sharpened. "Can you manipulate her to return to Prince Rui's mansion and retrieve something for me?"

Jiang Tianze looked reluctant. "To be honest, Your Highness, this technique has limits. If the mother gu and the child gu are too far apart, I cannot sense and control the host. As for the exact distance... I'm not sure. After all, if she's too far away, I can't see her and can't confirm whether she's still under my control."

"Is that so?" Xiao Lingchuan sneered, his tone leaving no room for argument. "Then test it immediately! Ling Feng!"

"At your command, Your Highness!"

"Open the door. Let the Princess Rui dance her way out. Follow her closely and see precisely how far she dances before she stops on her own."

"Yes, Your Highness!" Ling Feng obeyed and immediately opened the main hall's doors leading to the courtyard.

Sure enough, Jiang Yaozhen, like a tireless dancer, swayed from the study all the way into the courtyard, continuing her eerie yet seductive dance under the cold moonlight.

This bizarre scene was soon witnessed by the night-duty servants in the mansion, and hushed whispers arose from the shadows.

Meanwhile, in Xiao Lingchuan's bedchamber, Jiang Shuning had been in a deep sleep all day because of her illness and now found it hard to fall asleep. Seeing Ling Wu asleep at the bedside, looking exhausted, she didn't want to wake her. She quietly put on a robe and stepped out to get some fresh air.

As soon as she left the bedchamber, her attention was caught by a scene in the courtyard not far away.

Under the moonlight, a slender figure was gracefully dancing.

That dance... She recognized it instantly—it was the same dance Jiang Yaozhen had performed at the Chrysanthemum Appreciation Banquet!

In her previous life, it was precisely this unique dance that made Jiang Yaozhen capture the hearts of princes, including Xiao Lingchuan.

Could it be... Jiang Yaozhen?

Jiang Shuning's heart tightened. She instinctively moved toward the figure, keeping herself hidden in the shadow of a corridor pillar.

In the dead of night, the servants gathered to watch the spectacle didn't notice her, gossiping openly.

"Isn't that Princess Rui? Why is she dancing at our Prince Jing's mansion in the middle of the night? Look at her figure, her moves... quite brazen!"

"What else could it be? Prince Rui is half-dead in prison, and I heard Princess Rui's life is miserable. Perhaps she's at her wit's end and came to perform for our prince, seeking a favor?"

"With just a dance, she wants to plead for Prince Rui? Or maybe she's looking for a way out for herself?"

"Heh, I'd say the latter... After all, our prince is far better than that crippled Prince Rui..."

The servants' leering sneers and speculations stabbed like poisoned ice needles into Jiang Shuning's ears.

She stood frozen in place. The night wind brushed her cheeks, but she felt the biting cold pierce her skin and flesh, straight into her heart, freezing the last trace of warmth.

Xiao Lingchuan had sworn more than once that his feelings toward Jiang Yaozhen were purely instrumental, with no romantic attachment.

Every time he mentioned Jiang Yaozhen, there was indeed hatred in his eyes, not love.

But to Jiang Shuning, every act of using and retaliating against Jiang Yaozhen seemed to weave new bonds between them, eventually locking them both into that endless entanglement.

Perhaps he didn't know that hatred, sometimes, runs deeper and lasts longer than love.

—

Jiang Yaozhen went out of control once she was five hundred steps away from Jiang Tianze.

The test result did not satisfy Xiao Lingchuan.

Prince Rui's mansion was vast, and trying to find something specific within it with a control range of only five hundred steps was like a drop in the bucket.

Jiang Tianze, however, spoke up at the right moment: "Your Highness, this is not difficult. Just find an excuse for me to stay temporarily at Prince Rui's mansion under the guise of visiting my cousin. Then I can control her at close range and retrieve what you need."

"That's not a bad idea." Xiao Lingchuan paused, his voice turning cold. "Since that's the case, I might as well tell you. What I want is the tiger tally that Xiao Xiuzhan has hidden in Prince Rui's mansion, used to mobilize the Xi Yu private army."

The tiger tally!

Jiang Tianze's heart tightened, but he showed even more deference. "Rest assured, Your Highness. I will do my utmost to obtain the tiger tally for you."

"Very good." A satisfied smile curved at the corner of Xiao Lingchuan's lips, but it didn't reach his eyes.

He suddenly changed the subject, speaking in a seemingly close, yet oppressive, tone: "There's no need for such formality between you and me. From now on, you may call me brother-in-law."

Hearing this address, Jiang Tianze felt a surge of resistance inside.

His warm smile instantly froze. His hands by his sides clenched unconsciously, and he blurted out, "This... how can this be! I am of lowly status and dare not presume!"

"I told you to call me that!"

The air seemed to freeze instantly.

Jiang Tianze could clearly feel the overwhelming pressure emanating from Xiao Lingchuan—a power that could crush anyone, the absolute authority of a superior.

He vaguely sensed that Xiao Lingchuan had already seen through the hidden, illicit love deep in his heart, or why else would he insist on such a title?

An indescribable fear seized him.

"... Yes, brother-in-law," he managed to say.

Xiao Lingchuan was finally satisfied. "Go back now, you."

Jiang Tianze lowered his eyes, concealing the darkness in his eyes, and left with Jiang Yaozhen.

Only after the two figures completely disappeared from the study did Xiao Lingchuan's smile slowly fade, replaced by an icy coldness.

He turned to Ling Feng. "What have you found out about Jiang Tianze's background?"

Ling Feng stammered, "Y-your Highness, I have discovered that... more than twenty years ago, Third Master Jiang frequented brothels and drained his body. He was likely... incapable of fathering children. So Jiang Tianze is most likely... not the Jiangs' biological son."

Xiao Lingchuan's eyes burned with intense possessiveness and cunning malice. "No wonder he dared to covet the prince's consort—he must have known his own origin long ago. Give the order: From now on, Jiang Tianze is never to be alone with the consort again!"

"Yes, Your Highness!" Ling Feng shuddered. "I will inform Ling Wu immediately and make sure she keeps a close eye!"

"Good." A flash of vicious coldness crossed Xiao Lingchuan's eyes.

Anyone who dared to covet what belonged to him, even a wolf, would not be shown mercy!