"I already told you, at least for now I can't tell you."
Chen Jingyi glanced at everyone. Just by looking, there was no way to tell which of the other four maids was which. She still needed some time; given time, once she helped them recover their memories one by one, she believed that the incomprehension of this moment would be something they could all understand in the future.
"You came here with bad intentions, you don't even like Tang Rao. I don't care, I absolutely won't allow you two to be together, absolutely not!"
Tang Rao had found so many women, and every time a woman entered the household he had never once met with his family's obstruction. Only this time, when Chen Jingyi wanted to be with Tang Rao, it was as difficult as crossing mountains and rivers.
Facing all the women's opposition, Chen Jingyi remained unruffled. She straightened out her own attitude and did what she was supposed to do; as for how to get along with the other women, that wasn't within her scope of consideration. Chen Jingyi was someone who did real work—before she'd even handled her own affairs properly, she wasn't about to start pondering how to get along with the other women.
"Alright, you all say a bit less. This is something Tang Rao decided himself, we can't stop it. Whatever her motives are, if she wants to stay, then let her stay."
Wang Han said, magnanimous.
Other than agreeing, she really couldn't think of any better solution.
"Sister Wang Han, how can you agree to anyone and everyone? That playboy Tang Rao, he can't even take care of the people at home, and he's still bringing people back whenever he feels like it. Does he even have our family in his eyes anymore?"
You Xiaoxiao pouted; as a mother now, there was a bit of maternal glow on her face. Even so, she still didn't want to suffer losses when it came to the duties of being a woman.
"Xiao Xiao, enough. You should trust Tang Rao's choice. Disperse, I'll take our new sister to go find the place she'll be living in later."
Once she became Tang Rao's woman, her living quarters would naturally change. Wang Han thought for a long time before finally assigning Chen Jingyi a place. You could say there was an element of revenge in that choice; then let's just call it Wang Han taking revenge on Chen Jingyi.
You could also say it was giving Chen Jingyi a show of force, a lesson.
When Chen Jingyi walked into the cold, deserted courtyard, only then did she take the time to ask, "Someone used to live in this courtyard, right?"
Wang Han froze for a moment. New as she was, how could Chen Jingyi know in advance that someone had lived here before?
"Someone did for a while, but it's been empty for a long time now."
Wang Han didn't explain too much. A few Luminous Pearls flew out from her palm, and with their glow, the whole courtyard was as bright as daytime.
"You'll live here from now on. I'll have your maids sent over before the day after tomorrow."
As the household's main wife, Wang Han made sure that whatever the sisters ought to have, they would be equipped with. She wouldn't show favoritism by letting one household have something and another not.
"Thank you. But I'm the sort of person who can't keep some things bottled up. Before you go, I still want to ask: why is it that the other sisters all live in new courtyards, and yet I, a newcomer, get assigned to a courtyard where someone died?"
A courtyard where someone died!
Those few simple words were squeezed out between Chen Jingyi's clenched teeth.
If others bullied her, she could choose to endure it. But sometimes a person's endurance would be seen as a sign of weakness. She wasn't the kind of person who was willing to swallow every loss into her own belly.
"A courtyard where someone died?"
Wang Han feigned ignorance. She was the one who chose this place; if she apologized now, it would mean she'd known everything beforehand. Playing dumb at least left her a way out, an excuse.
"This is the place you arranged for me. Don't tell me you didn't know someone died here?"
It was no big deal if Chen Jingyi lived in a place where someone had died. Her hands were already stained with countless lives; so what if she lived where a dead person had lived?
What she really didn't like was that even the main wife was bullying her.
"How about this—you stay in my courtyard first. I really don't have time today to get a new courtyard cleaned out. Once it's light tomorrow, I'll rearrange things for you. How about that?"
By the time daylight came, Wang Han's brain would have come up with plenty more ideas. If she wanted Chen Jingyi to suffer losses, she had no shortage of methods—she just worried Chen Jingyi wouldn't have the nerve to accept the challenge.
"No need. Since you can assign me this kind of place to live, your heart can't be much better in other ways either. Thanks for walking me over. See yourself out, slowly."
Chen Jingyi actually quite liked this place. So what if someone had died here? She wasn't superstitious about that. Now she was the lady of this house—whatever stray ghosts might be around probably wouldn't dare come and bother her.
Wang Han didn't ask how Chen Jingyi knew someone had died here. She just felt there was something uncanny about Chen Jingyi. After exchanging a couple of perfunctory sentences, she hurried out.
"Come out. You've been hiding in there listening for so long—your back and neck don't hurt?"
Wang Han had left; logically, it should have just been Chen Jingyi in there. Yet Chen Jingyi called toward the inside of the house—she was certain there was still someone hiding inside.
"Sister, I didn't mean to show up here. I just didn't know any other way to get close to Tang Rao and also have a safe place to live, so I chose to stay here temporarily. You won't blame me for occupying this place first, right?"
Rao Linger's eyes were bloodshot. She had told Zhou Zhou that she'd be participating in the Selection Festival, and that she would perform a program there that would amaze everyone. But during that time, Zhou Zhou couldn't disturb her creative process, and absolutely couldn't come looking for her.
Zhou Zhou believed Rao Linger's words, thought she had really gone into seclusion, and never expected that not only had she not secluded herself, she had even secretly come to the North Island and entered Tang Rao's Zijing City.
Even more impressive, Rao Linger had come to the place where Qin Qing had lived before her death, and was living quite peacefully in a house where someone had died.
If Chen Jingyi hadn't been assigned here, no one would have discovered that she was living here better than anyone.
"You like Tang Rao too?"
Chen Jingyi liked Tang Rao, but the one she liked was the man he used to be. The reason she was willing to stay was entirely because of Fang Fang. If it weren't for Fang Fang, she wouldn't even want to be with the current Tang Rao.
What was so great about the current Tang Rao anyway? He wasn't particularly decent, and he was as fickle as a playboy—every woman he saw, he liked, and every one he liked, he brought home. Yet the more he was like that, the more people liked him as if they were clinging to their own lives. Case in point: wasn't there one standing right in front of Chen Jingyi?
"I love him. Even if he's covered in flaws from head to toe, he's still the person I love."
Great, in a house where someone had died, she'd run into a lunatic. Chen Jingyi didn't know whether to be happy at finding some company, or upset about it being someone like this.
"Alright then, you love him, and you're good-looking too. Just tell him straight out—he'll definitely agree to be with you. What are you sneaking around for?"