Chapter 89: Trap

“Hey, you...” Jin Nana’s little face flushed crimson.

She wanted to argue back, but for the moment she could not think of how.

Jiang Yao gently moved aside the arm blocking her path. “May I leave now?”

With that, she walked out of the restroom.

“Wait.” Jin Nana called after her, a little anxiously.

Jiang Yao stopped in her tracks. “Anything else?”

Jin Nana bit her lip. “Even if what happened before wasn’t your fault, you ought to know you’re a jinx, don’t you? I’ve heard all about it—everyone who gets close to you ends up with no good result. And those injuries on Brother Yunqing... they were because of you, weren’t they?”

“So what if they were?” Jiang Yao’s voice trembled slightly.

“If you really care about him, then please stay far away from him, all right?” Jin Nana said.

“What gives you the right to order me around like this?”

“It’s not an order.” Jin Nana shook her head. “It’s a request. Being with him really brings him no benefit at all. The He family may be powerful and wealthy, but Brother Yunqing has had a hard road to get where he is. Please don’t ruin him.”

Jiang Yao drew a deep breath. “Why don’t you say all this to He Yunqing himself?”

“I...” Jin Nana was left speechless.

“Because you know that even if you did, he wouldn’t listen to you.” Jiang Yao gave Jin Nana a slight bow. “If there’s nothing else, I’m going.”

Watching Jiang Yao’s receding figure, Jin Nana stamped her foot hard.

From childhood to now, what had she ever wanted that she could not have? The people around her had always spoiled her, indulged her, soothed her. This was the first time anyone had spoken to her like that, sharp and biting.

It felt as though a great stone had been lodged in her chest. “Jiang Yao! Just you wait!”

Jiang Yao had always been a little directionally challenged, and the He residence was quite large. After leaving the restroom, she quickly lost her bearings.

She turned around and around several times, but still could not find the small sitting room where they had been before.

When she turned, she nearly collided with a maid carrying drinks.

The two of them both stepped back at once.

“Sorry,” Jiang Yao said with an apologetic smile.

“It’s all right, Miss Jiang. Are you lost?” the maid asked.

Jiang Yao nodded repeatedly. “Yes. Which way should I go?”

The maid smiled. “It’s easy to get lost the first time you come here. Just go straight ahead, then turn left at the first fork, and right at the second fork, and you’ll see it.”

Jiang Yao thanked her. “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it. Could you help me with something?”

“What is it?”

“My stomach suddenly feels a bit off, and these drinks are just for Madam and the young ladies. Could you carry them over for me? Strictly speaking, you’re a guest...” The maid looked troubled.

“It’s fine. It’s no trouble at all.” Jiang Yao took the tray.

Then the maid continued, “The two cups of peanut milk are for Madam and Miss Aileen, and the cup of rose tea is for Miss Jin. Please don’t mix them up. Since this is your first time here, I don’t know what you like to drink, so I made a cup of rose tea for you as well, based on Miss Jin’s.”

Jiang Yao listened carefully to each word, thanked the maid again, and then followed the directions she had been given. At last, she returned to the small sitting room.

Jin Nana had already come back before Jiang Yao and was sitting beside Aileen, the two of them talking about something, looking very much at ease with each other.

“Miss Jiang, how could we let you do this sort of thing?” Aunt Yu maintained only the most basic courtesy and distance.

“It’s nothing.” Jiang Yao set down the cups one by one, then took her own cup of rose tea and took a small sip.

“I haven’t asked yet—how did Miss Jiang and Yunqing meet?” Aunt Yu asked as she lifted her peanut milk and drank.

Jiang Yao said casually, “We met on the road. It was an accident.”

“To think you could just run into such a wonderful man as Brother Yunqing out on the road. Seems I should spend more time walking around when I have nothing to do,” Jin Nana said lazily, sipping her rose tea.

Aileen laughed. “Nana, don’t the men chasing you line up at the door? Why go to all the trouble of searching for one on the street?”

Aileen’s words were viciously unpleasant.

Jiang Yao took a large gulp of rose tea.

With only one mouth against three, there was no need to vie with them for a moment’s advantage.

She yawned. “It’s getting late. I suppose I should be going.”

“Why the rush? We haven’t finished chatting yet,” Aileen said.

“Exactly, we...” Jin Nana had not even finished speaking when the glass in her hand, filled with rose tea, fell to the floor with a sharp crash. Shards flew everywhere, and the remaining tea spilled across the ground.

She leaned back, clutching her chest with both hands, gasping for breath. In only a few seconds, her eyes rolled up, and she fainted.

“Nana! Nana, what’s wrong?” Aileen and Aunt Yu hurried over at once, anxiously checking on her condition.

The commotion drew the attention of the three men seated in the tea room.

They soon arrived as well. He Yunqing was the first to push through the crowd, bending down to examine Jin Nana’s condition. “Looks like a peanut allergy.”

“What? How could that be?” Aileen frowned. “We all know Nana is allergic to peanuts, so we were extremely careful. Everything we gave her was confirmed to be completely peanut-free.”

As soon as she finished speaking, she seemed to remember something. She looked at the cups on the table, then turned to Jiang Yao. “Was it you?”

“What?” Jiang Yao stood to the side, at a loss.

“You were the one who brought the drinks to us just now!” Aileen glared at Jiang Yao in fury. “Are you jealous of Nana, so you mixed peanut milk into Nana’s rose tea?”

Jiang Yao felt like laughing. “Why would I mix peanut milk into rose tea? I didn’t even know Miss Jin was allergic to peanuts!”

“Miss Jiang, speak with some conscience!” The maid who had just given Jiang Yao directions suddenly appeared.

She looked worriedly at Jin Nana, then pointed at Jiang Yao. “I clearly told you just now to be careful and not mix them up, because Miss Jin is allergic to peanuts! You agreed so readily—how could you do something like this? And now you refuse to admit it!”

“When did you ever tell me that?”

“Such an important thing—how could I possibly not have told you?” The maid shook her head. “When you took the initiative to say you’d help me carry the drinks just now, I already thought it was strange. I only thought you didn’t look like such a bad person. I never imagined you’d do something like this!”

Aileen pointed at Jiang Yao angrily. “Do you even know that severe peanut allergies can kill people? No matter how jealous you are, you shouldn’t have done something like this!”

Jiang Yao understood. It was useless to say anything now. This had been a trap laid specifically for her; with one careless step, she had walked straight into it...