The breath on Bu Zhan's body was hot, but his fingers were cold.

Jiang Ling closed her eyes and her body couldn't stop shaking.

His strength was so great that Jiang Ling could not resist at all. She could only lie there obediently, feeling the hot breath surrounding her. The breath was hot and oppressive, like a vicious, emotionless hand, pulling her away.

All sounds were cut off.

Her neck hurt, she couldn't speak at all, and she didn't dare to look at Bu Zhan.

…

I don't know how long it took, but finally, the man rolled his sleeves and pulled away.

Jiang Ling gasped, her hair was messy, and she slumped to one side.

The night was getting darker, and the surroundings suddenly became colder. She carefully arranged her clothes by the light of the lamp. She almost drowned just now, but now she looked gloomy and her body was weak.

Every part of her body lost strength.

Compared to her, Bu Zhan seemed particularly calm and indifferent.

The man straightened his clothes a little and sat back in front of the case again. He was extremely punctual and trustworthy. He said that he would submit the file to Dali Temple tomorrow, so he could not delay it for a day.

Jiang Ling calmed down his breathing and raised his eyes to look at the figure in front of the desk. The moonlight was bright, meandering on his loose cloak and black hair.

Bu Zhan's expression was as dull as water, and it was impossible to see what he looked like after any kind of joyful indulgence.

On the contrary, it was her.

His eyes were blurry and his cheeks were red.

Extremely confused.

She pinched herself hard and forced herself to calm down.

Bu Zhan sat back at his desk and continued copying the previous file.

The man's breath was steady and his expression was cold. Only his cloak was slightly scattered and his black hair was lightly draped.

Seeing this, Jiang Ling realized that she had destroyed the previous file, and she couldn't help but feel a little ashamed. She got up and walked to the desk to study the ink for Bu Zhan. This time she was extra careful, for fear of making the slightest mistake again.

The moonlight slowly faded, and the girl raised her eyes and saw the man sitting upright, with a cold face, as if he was from heaven.

The night wind blew in, fluttering the man's broad sleeves.

Jiang Ling looked along the cloud pattern on the sleeve, and his eyes suddenly stopped.

Looking behind the bookshelf behind her, there was a painting hanging. From her position, she could only see a corner of the scroll. It was a splash-ink landscape painting, with lush green shadows, vast water vapor, and endless mountains and rivers.

Even though the signature was obscured by the bookshelf, Jiang Ling could still recognize it at a glance—it was painted by the famous Ji Fusheng.

Ji Zheng, courtesy name Fusheng, is the owner of Danqing Building.

He is good at playing music, chess, calligraphy and painting, and he is an unruly person. He is a well-known talent in Beijing.

He is also her favorite painter.

Jiang Ling once saw Ji Fusheng's paintings in his father's study, and he was astonished at just one glance.

His brush strokes are free and unrestrained, and his painting style is free and unrestrained.

But because he was too open-minded and uninhibited, he was not accepted by any decent school, and was often spurned and despised by the so-called "famous people".

But Ji Fusheng didn't care at all.

He still went his own way, painting what he wanted to paint, and even opened a painting studio in the capital.

Perhaps Jiang Ling was too absorbed in looking at himself, which made Bu Zhan stop writing.

After a while, a cold voice suddenly came from my ears: "Do you know how to draw?"

The other party looked a little surprised.

Jiang Ling came back to her senses and said, "I just thought it looked good, and I couldn't help but be fascinated by it for a while."

Bu Zhan nodded lightly and continued to copy the files without saying another word.

What she didn't expect was that the next day, the painting was packed in a brocade box and sent to Tingyun Pavilion.

Manager Sun smiled very flatteringly on one side.

"Madam, the Prime Minister heard that you liked this painting, so he asked me to send it to you. This was painted by Ji Zheng, the most talented man in the capital, and it is called "Water Waves and Mountains". Madam, please accept it."

"Not only that, the Prime Minister also said that if Madam feels bored after listening to the cloud pavilion, she can walk around inside and outside the Prime Minister's Mansion. Although you have married into our Prime Minister's Mansion, the rules in the Mansion are strict, but there are no restrictions on you, Madam. Freedom. As long as you don't stay out too late, everything can go as you wish."

Jiang Ling was stunned for a moment when he heard this.

You know, she has been under strict control in the palace since she was a child. Not to mention going out to the market, she has to ask her father and mother for permission even when she leaves the courtyard.

After Manager Sun finished speaking, he left the scroll and left. Jiang Lingwu took the brocade box containing "Water Waves and Mountains" back to the house. She was as quiet as Bu Zhan. She usually did not leave the envoy in bed, watching There was no one around, so she carefully spread out the scroll.

Spring water immediately overflowed on the table.

The flowing water was unrestrained and flowed all over the table. Jiang Ling looked at the brushstrokes on the painting and was completely infected by the painting for a moment. She lightly explored the painting with her fingers, wanting to touch it but was afraid of staining the painting, so she could only withdraw her hand and screen the painting. Keep breathing.

This was her first time to appreciate Ji Fusheng's paintings at such a close distance.

Jiang Ling forgot when she fell in love with Ji Zheng. Maybe it was the first time she took a quick glance at her father's study. At that time, the painting was hidden in the back of the cabinet by her father. It seemed that collecting Ji Zheng's paintings was a very important thing. A shameful thing.

She still remembered that one year during the Lantern Festival, a banquet was held in the Taifu's mansion, and many famous painters were invited to the banquet.

In the middle of the banquet, people present began to compete in painting skills. Jiang Ling was pushed forward by her father, and a painting of spring snow and cold plums attracted everyone's praise. When others asked her about the painter she admired most, she just said: " At the word "season", my father's expression changed immediately.

That night, she was made to kneel outside the study.

It was raining and snowing in the courtyard, and her father, who was the Tutor, slapped her hard for thirty times.

There was a heavy snowstorm on Lantern Festival night that year. Jiang Ling felt cold all over, but her palms felt hot. She had never seen her father so angry, and no one around her dared to come forward to plead for mercy. Snow beads fell on the little girl. Her eyes were red on her fine eyelashes, but she didn't dare to cry.

She didn't know what mistake she had made.

All she knew was that after that night, she never saw the painting in the study again.

Until now——

The girl lowered her eyes and looked at the painting by Ji Fusheng spread out on the table. She felt that something was faintly breaking free from the shackles in her heart. She opened her lips, but no sound came out. She only felt her heartbeat. It went very quickly. It seemed as if it was about to escape from the skeleton of a walking corpse and jump into this vast and moving sea.

On the screen, thousands of waters are splashing and thousands of mountains are towering.

Jiang Ling closed her eyes.

The next moment, she seemed to see the roaring mountains and rivers rolling up layers of waves. She saw these water drops that never followed the rules. They did not merge into the river planned by fate. She saw them surging, running, and leaping. Enter every part of heaven and earth.

"Creak" the door rang, and the maid Qingju walked in.

Jiang Ling felt inexplicably guilty and hurriedly closed the scroll.

The other party held a piece of plain clothes in his arms, "Madam, in three days it will be the day to worship the Buddha. As the mistress of the Bu family, you have to go to Jinshan Temple to offer incense and worship the Buddha. These are the clothes you will wear on that day. You have to wear these clothes these days. It’s vegetarian, everything is ready in the small kitchen.”

The girl responded gently: "I understand."

On the day of worshiping the Buddha, she got up early early in the morning.

Jinshan Temple was not far from the Prime Minister's Mansion. Halfway through the carriage, Jiang Ling suddenly stopped the carriage while looking at the noisy market. The waiters around saw the eldest lady getting out of the carriage, holding up the corners of her skirts and looking around curiously.

She had never been to a street market, and she had never seen such a bustling crowd.

She had only seen such a lively scene in boring books.

Lu Wu supported her: "Miss, what's wrong?"

Jiang Ling's eyes focused on one place, "I want to buy that candy man."

"But... you will go to Jinshan Temple to worship Buddha soon. Besides, I have said before that you don't want slaves to bring you things from the market, as they are not clean."

The girl's eyes dimmed a bit.

She lowered her eyes, suppressed the desires in her heart, and nodded calmly.

Lu Wu was then satisfied and smiled.

As we walked towards Jinshan Temple, the crowds became thinner and thinner. The road was lined with fallen leaves, and the autumn wind passed through, making a rustling sound.

"What are you looking for, young lady?"

The bleak autumn wind lifted the hem of her skirt.

Jiang Ling tucked her broken hair behind her ears and asked, "I remember that this place was originally full of homeless victims. Why can't you see anyone now?"

Without waiting for Lu Wu to answer, someone with knowledge immediately stepped forward and said proudly:

"Madam, you don't know, this is all the credit of our prime minister. Not long ago, the prime minister took over the Lu family's corruption case. After ransacking the Lu family's house, he used the stolen money to set up a shanty town in the southeast corner of the capital.

, they have resettled many victims of the disaster."

Jiang Ling was slightly surprised when he heard this.

She originally thought that Bu Zhan was a ruthless, hypocritical and selfish villain who would do anything for power, as the rumors said, but she never thought that he actually had such a side.

Although he was indifferent, he did not treat her too harshly, and even allowed her free access to the courtyard study; he was cruel, cold-hearted, and pursued power, but he knew what he was doing.

He's... too meticulous, too impeccable.

Thinking of this, Jiang Ling shuddered unconsciously.
To be continued...