The lights on the second floor guest room were off.
Tianyan lay with his hands behind his head, listening until the master bedroom fell completely silent before slowly turning his head.
Tianque was still sitting on the single sofa, but those crimson eyes gleamed eerily in the darkness, like a murderous god ready to strike at any moment.
“The soundproofing is top-tier,” Tianyan laughed, with a hint of schadenfreude. “It’s your own ears that are too sharp. You insisted on listening.”
“Who told us we came late?” Tianyan sat up unhurriedly, leaning against the headboard. “That guy has money, and he knew to seize the advantage of being close. We two brothers rule the black market, but here in the capital star, we’re just nobodies with no background. Still…”
“We’re two of them…”
He deliberately dragged out the last syllable. Before he could finish, a sheathed particle blade flew through the air, landing precisely beside his pillow.
Tianyan dodged with a tilt of his head, letting out a low laugh.
“Such a temper. But seriously, we need to get moving too.” Tianyan dropped his playful expression, sat upright, and gazed out at the capital star’s nightscape. “Look at the setup on this capital star. If we keep playing hard to get, soon there won’t even be a floor space left for us in this villa.”
Tianque stood up and walked to the window. His white hair was slightly tousled by the night wind.
“Don’t care,” he threw out three words, his voice harsh and cold. “I’ll always protect her.”
Tianyan was amused by his brother’s stubborn streak. They’d finally found someone they both liked—someone who was legitimately their wife via the main system matchmaking—and this fool just wanted to be a guard dog?
“Fine, you’re noble,” Tianyan laughed, going along with it. “Then you stand guard, and I’ll go inside.”
The figure by the window spun around sharply.
Tianque strode back, looming over his older brother, his crimson eyes churning with pure, undisguised displeasure.
“No,” he bit out heavily.
Tianyan raised an eyebrow. “Why not?”
“I go first.”
The air went silent for two seconds.
Tianyan let out a furious laugh, then kicked Tianque’s shin. “You wish. May the best man win, little brother.”
…
The next morning.
Jiang Lijin woke up being strangled.
The air in her lungs was nearly squeezed out completely. She forced her eyes open, only to see a vast expanse of fair skin right in front of her. Tinia was wrapped around her, arms and legs entangled, treating her like a giant body pillow with absurd strength.
She tried to move her arm but couldn’t pull it free.
“Tinia,” she croaked, her voice wrecked, barely able to form words.
The person on her didn’t react, instead tightening their grip discontentedly, his golden, fluffy hair rubbing messily against her neck.
Jiang Lijin took a breath and directly drove her knee up, unceremoniously jamming it into his inner thigh.
“Sss—”
Tinia yelped in pain, finally letting go and rolling to the other side of the bed, cradling his thigh. His blue eyes blinked, still drowsy and rimmed with red, staring at her pitifully.
“Sister, are you trying to kill me? What if it doesn’t work anymore?”
“If you’d squeezed a little longer, I’d be the dead one,” Jiang Lijin said, sitting up and rubbing her sore shoulders. The blanket slipped, revealing her collarbone covered in marks.
Tinia’s gaze stuck there, his throat bobbing. He was about to lean in when Jiang Lijin shot him a vicious glare.
“Go wash up.”
Ignoring the overdramatic young master rolling around on the bed, she threw off the covers and got up. The moment her feet touched the floor, her thighs gave way, and she nearly stumbled.
She cursed under her breath, bending down to pick up the light-computer that had been tossed onto the carpet the night before.
The screen had barely lit up when notification sounds for unread messages went wild.
After filtering out the junk mail, the top of the list displayed two priority communication windows. One was from Chiron, the other from Baal.
Jiang Lijin leaned back on the soft couch at the foot of the bed and opened Chiron’s message first.
[The starport entry records were erased by the Yuntan Group, but the empire’s informants aren’t that easy to fool. Your return can be kept secret for at most three more hours.]
[The old emperor’s vitals have dropped to the minimum threshold. The cabinet and the nobles had a late-night meeting yesterday and will likely come to the hospital today to force a confirmation of the will. How are you planning to handle it?]
The entire text was in a formal, businesslike tone, laying out the situation clearly and concisely.
But at the very end of the lengthy message, there was a line left separately.
[Last night, the wind was strong. I stood outside the ICU, watching the monitoring curves jump, but my mind was full of you. Lijin, welcome home.]
Jiang Lijin stared at that final sentence, her finger pausing over the screen for a moment.
That was Chiron. He didn’t argue, didn’t compete, didn’t grab—but always at the right moment, in the most restrained way, he carved his presence into your heart.
Jiang Lijin smiled faintly and typed back: [Wait for me. I’ll come to the hospital later.]
Switching out of the window, she opened Baal’s message.
Unlike Chiron’s verbosity, the federal commander’s messages were painfully short, each brimming with personal flair.
Sent at 2 a.m.: [Arrived safely?]
Sent at 3:30 a.m.: [Reply when you’re there.]
Sent at 6 a.m.: [Contact me immediately if you encounter any unsolvable problems.]
Jiang Lijin could picture Baal sitting in the first fleet’s main control room, expressionlessly staring at his communication interface.
She slowly typed back: [Arrived, no problems, very happy.]
Baal replied almost instantly: [Got it. Eat more. You’ve lost weight.]
Rigid, awkward, even his concern came out like a command.
Jiang Lijin looked at the screen and couldn’t help laughing out loud.
[Oh my.] Xiao Yi, after being locked in the dark room all night, finally got a chance to speak, its electronic tone dripping with gossipy sourness. [This love battlefield… just reading the text gives me a thrill. That sly old fox Chiron is playing for sympathy, right? Definitely playing for sympathy! And Baal, the great commander, staying up all night staring at his communicator? Tsk tsk tsk.]
[You’re too idle,] Jiang Lijin shot back in her mind.
“What are you laughing at?”
Tinia had somehow come out of the bathroom. His golden hair was still slightly damp, his collar loose, revealing faint bite marks on his collarbone.
He rested his chin on her shoulder, shamelessly peering over it at the light-computer screen.
The moment he saw the names, the young master’s smile vanished instantly.
“Hmph.” Tinia wrapped his arms around her waist, nuzzling his head against her neck, his voice muffled. “Are they dogs? Their noses are so sharp. You’ve only been back a few hours, and they’re already here drilling their existence into mine.”
“Enough.” Jiang Lijin slapped his wandering hands away from her waist. “Go get changed. You’re coming with me to the hospital later.”
Tinia reluctantly released her and headed to the dressing room.
Jiang Lijin stepped into the bathroom.
She stood before the sink, staring in the mirror at the conspicuous red marks on her neck, and rubbed her temples in frustration.
Going to the hospital like this… With Chiron’s sharp eyes, he’d definitely figure out the story those marks told. He might even be able to deduce exactly when and what position had left them behind.
There is no escaping it now. How to handle this situation was truly a delicate skill.
Whatever.
She was the boss!
