Chapter 140

What she wanted to see was this: if he and the diary's replica were removed, and she simply followed her original temperament in making choices and walking her own path forward, what kind of fate and future would await her.

Without a doubt, she was disappointed.

Not only with Li Xunhuan, but with herself as well.

She began to hate her own weakness.

She should have confessed her heart to Li Xunhuan, even shaken him awake, scolded him awake — anything but silently keeping vigil and waiting for Li Xunhuan to change his mind.

Perhaps this way, the second half of her life would not have been so wretched.

Thinking of this, Lin Shiyin could not wait to begin the second life simulation.

This time, following her own convictions, she persisted and resisted, and even told Li Xunhuan of Long Xiaoyun's plot.

But Li Xunhuan, for whom Righteousness above all, simply did not believe her; he assumed Lin Shiyin did not wish to marry, and so deliberately lied and slandered.

Li Xunhuan was deeply disappointed by this.

No matter how Lin Shiyin explained, he was as if bewitched — foolish and obstinate.

In the end, suffering cold violence, Lin Shiyin, in despair, took poison and killed herself.

Lin Shiyin opened her eyes once more.

Her face was expressionless, yet tears gushed like floodwaters through a breached dike, impossible to stem.

Not until her pillow was soaked through did she slowly recover her composure.

For the last life simulation, she cast aside every assumption, let every factor of reality take part, and clung to no wishful thinking at all.

And she herself, starting from the information she already knew, kept making choices at every fork in the road of life.

Once again it was Li Xunhuan wanting to give her to Long Xiaoyun, willing to debase himself.

This time Lin Shiyin did not go to expose Long Xiaoyun's true face to him, but like a bystander, looked on coldly throughout.

Suddenly one day, Jiang Sishui came.

After ascertaining the current state of Li Yuan, he deliberately engineered a chance encounter with Lin Shiyin, and through a careful design, let her learn the "truth."

Afterwards, he invited her to Mantuo Shanzhuang.

Lin Shiyin agreed.

In the days that followed, although the women by Jiang Sishui's side grew ever more numerous, he always treated her with meticulous care.

Yet in Lin Shiyin's heart, she could never let go of Li Xunhuan.

Even though Li Xunhuan had once treated her so.

Thus, three months later, Jiang Sishui, who had always been unable to break through the final barrier, awoke as if from a dream.

He suddenly realized he had made the same mistake as Long Xiaoyun—

Too much gentleness, too little dominance.

That night, amid Lin Shiyin's silent, wordless resistance, he took her.

Lin Shiyin had thought she would be in unendurable agony, but afterwards she suddenly discovered that deep down she had not actually resisted so very much.

This made her realize that during those three months, she had probably already fallen for Jiang Sishui.

And the Li Xunhuan she yearned for endlessly was, in truth, more a kind of obsession.

An obsession with a past she could not release.

But after that one night, that obsession too was washed away.

And so, Lin Shiyin let go of the past and welcomed a new life.

Yet Jiang Sishui did not know of the change in her heart, and continued to conquer her in his own way — for ten days and ten nights without cease.

Lin Shiyin was utterly transformed into something as pliant as silk wrapped around a finger.

And afterwards, she lived the life of being loved and cherished, just as she had wished.

Although there were many sisters, that man who seemed never to tire always shared his favor equally among them, so they did not need to scheme against one another like the concubines in Shengong's inner court.

At this point, the third life simulation ended.

Lin Shiyin opened her eyes; her cheeks were already flushed scarlet, burning hot, so much so that even her whole body grew warm.

She did not know why, but this simulation had actually played out those shameful matters of the bed with vivid clarity, and burned them deeply into her memory.

She could even... even remember many of the details within.

This had not happened before!

For a maiden of hers, the impact of such images was incomparably immense.

"Ten days and ten nights... who could possibly endure that?" Lin Shiyin muttered under her breath, still shaken.

Yet the moment the words left her mouth, her whole person froze; then, in a panic, she buried her head into the bedding.

And did not dare come out again.

155 Tonight the fire-qi is great — devour them all!

Mantuo Shanzhuang.

Outside the Young Lady's chambers, the four maids on night duty listened to the sounds inside finally settling down, and each heaved a great sigh of relief.

The four maids exchanged glances; by the moonlight they saw that each other's cheeks were redder than ever before, and their steps were unsteady, as if they could barely stand.

Discovering they were all the same — by now probably drained of strength all over — the four maids exchanged a knowing smile.

And secretly marveled in their hearts.

So it turned out that the act between a man and a woman could make one so unable to contain oneself just from listening.

Now that the storm had passed and their hearts had calmed, the four maids could not help savoring it in detail, and a stronger curiosity and longing welled up within them.

And Jiang Sishui was the only man on the island; if...

Thinking of this, the four maids' hearts stirred, and their limbs grew soft and weak once more—by another fraction.

If an enemy were to attack at this moment, they would not even have the strength to cry out for help and raise the alarm, let alone resist — that much was a question.

GLOSSARY:

【Lin Shiyin, Ren Ping, Li Xunhuan, Li Yuan, Long Xiaoyun, Jiang Sishui, Mantuo Shanzhuang, Righteousness above all】

……

At this very moment, in the room separated from the four maids by only a single wall, the pink gradually faded.

Wang Yuyan was already so exhausted she could barely keep her eyes open, not wanting to move even a single finger. She let Jiang Sishui carry her to the couch and fell into a deep sleep.

Looking at the maiden's flushed, lovely face as she slept, Jiang Sishui could not help but steal another kiss on it, his heart filled with contentment.

Being able to fall asleep holding the Fairy Sister in his arms was something every man dreams of.

And every scene of this night would be firmly etched into his memory.

The one flaw was that Wang Yuyan was simply too delicate and weak; even though she already possessed Grandmaster cultivation, she could not let him have his fill.

After about half a quarter-hour, Jiang Sishui, who had tried to fall asleep, found that not only could he not sleep, but he was becoming more and more awake.

Moreover, the fire in his heart that had not been completely extinguished flared up again, burning hotter and hotter.

After a moment's hesitation, Jiang Sishui threw off the covers, got out of bed, left Wang Yuyan's boudoir, and headed straight for Zhao Qiying's room.

One quarter-hour later, Jiang Sishui looked at Bai Feifei, who had fallen asleep beside him, and felt a wave of puzzlement in his heart: "Strange, why am I so restless tonight, unable to calm down?"

"Could it be that the 'Undefeated Body' has side effects? Or is it just my mind playing tricks?"

Jiang Sishui fell into thought.

As he thought, he could not help but think of Dong Shisanniang.

Thinking of her graceful, enchanting figure, thinking of her bewitchingly alluring beauty, thinking of her wild, flirtatious temperament…

In an instant, his gaze grew scorching hot once again.

Jiang Sishui's heart itched unbearably. After a quarter-hour of hesitation, he quietly left.

……

Inside Dong Shisanniang's room, Jiang Sishui leapt in through the open window.

His movements were like a spirit cat; the entire process made not the slightest sound, yet the person inside the room still noticed him.

A faint, drawn-out sigh: "You really did come after all."

Jiang Sishui was startled, but quickly calmed down: "You were waiting for me?"

"Yes."

"You knew I would come?"

"Just a wild guess."

"Why?"

From behind the fragrant bed curtain came a light laugh brimming with coquettish charm: "You men — isn't that all you're after? Apart from my body, I can't think of any other reason you'd spare my life and bring me to this place full of secrets."

Having his inner thoughts exposed, Jiang Sishui no longer tried to hide or dissemble.