The measuring tape in the study late at night: Is it measuring clothes or people's

The rain was still falling in front of the Chu family mansion gate, splashing up muddy water as it hit the ground.

Chu Jinglan carried Jiang Yining down from the carriage. Facing the group of servants holding torches and looking menacing, as well as the old lady standing at the front with a cane and a livid face, he did not stop.

"Jinglan! What are you doing!" The old lady slammed her cane on the ground, pointing at the person wrapped up tightly in his arms. "This shameless woman stole first and then seduced, and you're still protecting her? Put her down!"

Chu Jinglan stared straight ahead, his eyes behind his glasses as still as a deep well, uttering only two words: "Get out of the way."

The voice was neither loud nor harsh, yet it caused the servants blocking the way to instinctively step aside and make way.

"If Mother has the time, perhaps she should put some thought into Shuwen's affairs." Chu Jinglan paused slightly as he passed the old lady. "They can't even protect their own wife, allowing outsiders to humiliate her. Is this the Chu family's tradition?"

The old lady clutched her chest in anger, but dared not utter another word. The Chu family now relied entirely on this regent; who dared defy him?

Back in the East Courtyard, Chu Jinglan kicked open the bedroom door and placed the person in his arms on the bed.

Jiang Yining was delirious with fever, her hands still tightly gripping his clothes.

Chu Jinglan bent down and pried open her fingers, one by one, with great force.

The moment they separated, he felt a void in his heart.

"Uncle..." Chu Shuwen rushed in, covered in sweat. Seeing the scene on the bed, he shrank back. "This... this time, we are so grateful to you for getting us out of trouble."

Chu Jinglan straightened up, looking down at his nephew with disgust in his eyes.

He pulled out a handkerchief and slowly wiped his fingers, which Jiang Yining had just grabbed, and said coldly, "Keep an eye on your people. If there's a next time, I won't hesitate to write you a letter of divorce."

After saying that, he threw the handkerchief on the ground and turned to leave.

Chu Shuwen looked at the handkerchief on the ground, his face turning pale and then red.

He turned to look at Jiang Yining, whose cheeks were flushed red from the fever, showing no pity whatsoever. Instead, he kicked the bedpost, yelling, "You jinx! You only cause me trouble!"

……

Two days later, just as Jiang Yining's cold was getting better, Chu Shuwen summoned her to the front hall.

On the table was a very precious piece of Yun brocade, along with a measuring tape and scissors.

"My uncle is going to participate in the sacrificial ceremony to Heaven in a few days, and the sacrificial robes sent by the Ministry of Rites don't fit him." Chu Shuwen rubbed his hands and paced back and forth in the room. "My uncle doesn't trust the tailors outside, so he won't let them get close. You're a member of the family, so be more careful. Go and take my uncle's measurements."

Jiang Yining froze, clutching her handkerchief. "Husband, this...this is against the rules. I'm my niece-in-law, how can I enter my uncle's bedroom..."

"What rules or regulations!" Chu Shuwen interrupted her impatiently, his eyes flashing. "You saw it yourself that day, your uncle... your uncle is kind to you. I'm currently at a crucial point in my promotion in court. As long as you keep your uncle happy, everything will be fine. Just go when I tell you to, why all the nonsense!"

All he wanted to do now was curry favor with Chu Jinglan. Since his uncle was willing to offend the Ruan family and his mother for this woman that night, it meant that this woman held some weight with his uncle. He might as well go with the flow and do her a favor.

Jiang Yining was forcibly shoved with a measuring tape and a tray and pushed out the door.

The childish voice in my mind started calling out again: "Hungry...go...want to go..."

She couldn't control her feet and walked step by step toward the heavily guarded pavilion in the west courtyard.

The study was brightly lit.

Chu Jinglan was sitting at his desk reviewing memorials when he heard the door open. Without even looking up, he said, "Put your things down and get out."

"Uncle... Uncle."

Jiang Yining's voice was very soft, with a hint of hoarseness from illness.

Chu Jinglan paused, a drop of vermilion ink falling onto the memorial, its red color glaringly bright.

He slowly raised his head and looked at the woman standing awkwardly at the door.

She wore a plain white dress today, with an extremely slender waist, making her appear even more frail, as if she would be blown away by a gust of wind.

"Who sent you?" He took off his glasses, pinched the bridge of his nose, and spoke in an unfriendly tone.

He wouldn't have been affected if she hadn't appeared in front of him.

Do we really have to kill this woman who's messing with my mind?

"My husband said... your mourning robe doesn't fit, so he asked me to take your measurements."

Jiang Yining lowered her head, not daring to look at him, but instinctively moved two steps towards the desk.

It smells good.

That rich imperial dragon aura hooked at the cravings in her dantian like a bait.

Chu Jinglan watched her approach little by little, like a rabbit oblivious to its fate being offered up to a wolf.

He should have kicked her out, but the words that came out were: "Come here."

Jiang Yining walked to his side and unfolded the soft measuring tape in her hand.

"Thank you for your understanding, Uncle," she said softly.

She raised her hand, and the measuring tape wrapped around his shoulder.

To see the markings clearly, she had to stand on tiptoe, practically pressed herself against him.

too close.

Chu Jinglan could smell the faint scent of soap in her hair and feel her warm breath on the nape of his neck.

He sat still, but his muscles were taut like iron.

"Shoulder width... 1.3 feet..." Jiang Yining's fingers seemed to be acting out of control, and her fingertips accidentally brushed against his Adam's apple.

Chu Jinglan's Adam's apple bobbed suddenly.

Jiang Yining felt an alarming heat where her fingertips touched. A pure power flowed into her body through her fingers, making her legs go weak and she lost her balance, falling directly onto Chu Jinglan's lap.

"Um……"

A soft, seductive moan escaped her lips.

The air in the study froze instantly.

Chu Jinglan did not push her away.

His hand had somehow gripped her lower back, the force so strong it felt like he was going to crush her bones.

"Jiang Yining," he gritted his teeth in her ear, "Chu Shuwen sends you here, and you come? If he sends you to my bed, would you go too?"

Jiang Yining's mind was foggy, and she couldn't hear what he was saying at all.

Driven by instinct, she climbed onto his shoulders and rubbed her cheek against the front of his shirt, searching for the source of his warmth.

"Uncle... I feel unwell..."

Her eyes were red-rimmed, and she looked at him with hazy, watery eyes. "Help me..."

This seemingly easy prey completely shattered Chu Jinglan's dam of reason.

He suddenly grabbed the back of her head and leaned down to press her down.

"Report—!"

Suddenly, a palace eunuch's shrill, anxious voice came from outside the door: "Your Highness, Regent! His Majesty summons you urgently! A urgent message from the border is urgent; the northern barbarians are at the gates. Please come to the palace immediately to discuss this!"

Chu Jinglan paused for a moment.

A momentary struggle flashed in those burning eyes, but they forcibly regained their clarity.

He took a deep breath, straightened Jiang Yining who had gone limp in his arms, and pushed her away.

"Stay here and don't move."

He stood up, straightened his disheveled clothes, and said in a low voice, "Wait for me to return."

Chu Jinglan gave her a deep look, then turned and strode into the rain.

The study door closed again.

Jiang Yining leaned back in her chair, panting heavily, trying to calm the turmoil caused by the "fasting" of the divine wood within her body.

However, Chu Jinglan had only been gone for less than a quarter of an hour.

"Bang!"

The study window was broken open from the outside.

Jiang Yining turned around in horror and saw several men in black jump in and, without saying a word, pin her down.

Immediately afterwards, the study door swung open, and Ruan Linlang swaggered in with Marquis Anping.

"As expected, she was here." Ruan Linlang looked at Jiang Yining, her eyes filled with resentment. "Taking advantage of the Prince's absence, she dared to sneak into the study and steal the border defense deployment map! Jiang Yining, this is a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of your family!"

"I didn't..." Jiang Yining was pinned to the ground by the man in black, her cheek pressed against the cold floor tiles. "I came to have my clothes measured..."

"To measure clothes?"

Marquis Anping sneered, pulled a letter from his sleeve, and casually tossed it in front of Jiang Yining. "The evidence is overwhelming, yet you still dare to deny it? Guards, take this Northern barbarian spy to the Ministry of Justice prison!"

Jiang Yining struggled desperately, but could only watch helplessly as she was dragged out of the study.

……

One hour later.

Chu Jinglan rushed back from the palace, his body radiating coldness.

The so-called "urgent report from the border" was just a ruse, a trap deliberately set up by someone to distract him.

A sense of foreboding rose in his heart, and without even dismounting, he rushed straight into the study.

"Jiang Yining!"

No one responded.

The study was deathly silent.

The chair overturned on the ground, and the precious brocade was trampled to pieces.

Under the desk lay a broken ruler, still stained with a trace of undried blood.

That was the one she had just used.

Chu Jinglan bent down to pick up the soft ruler and rubbed his fingertips hard across the bloodstains.

"Your Highness..."

The steward knelt tremblingly at the doorway, his head kowtowing to the ground. "Lord Anping just brought men here... saying that the young mistress stole secrets and has been... arrested and taken to the Ministry of Justice prison..."

"Click."

The measuring tape turned to dust in Chu Jinglan's hands.

He slowly straightened up, and the last trace of humanity in his eyes behind his glasses vanished completely, replaced by a murderous intent as vast as mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

"Prepare the horses."

"I'm going to break him out of prison."