Chapter 184: Chapter 184: Big Brother is Here

Outside the window, a light rain had started falling again at some point.

With a crisp sound, the features of the person before her blurred and sharpened in the light of her tears.

Jiang Qingli felt as if she were stranded on a deserted island, amidst lightning, thunder, and a torrential downpour, yet she couldn’t escape—nor did she want to.

She closed her eyes, letting darkness take over, melting into the rain with him, sinking into oblivion.

...

「Early morning, at the Imperial Palace.」

Qin Muye stood before a full-length mirror, ruffling his hair before raising his hand to check his watch.

’It’s almost eight. She should be awake by now, right?’

’But she’s been so busy lately. Maybe I should let her sleep in a little longer?’

The thought of the girl’s soft cheeks and curled lashes as she slept brought an involuntary smile to Qin Muye’s lips.

He glanced around his quarters.

He had already tidied the place yesterday, leaving it cleaner and neater than ever before.

But looking at it now, he thought the throw pillow on the sofa was a bit crooked, so he hurried over to straighten it.

Around nine o’clock, Jiang Qingli arrived in a hurry.

Qin Muye raised an eyebrow, a smile halfway to forming on his face when his gaze suddenly froze.

Her lips seemed a little swollen, her eyes were a bit red, and her perfume was a little stronger than usual. And when she looked at him, her eyes held a trace of guilt.

Qin Muye’s brow furrowed, and he secretly gritted his teeth.

’Did that bastard take advantage of my absence to sweet-talk her again last night? Was it that damned fox’s doing?’

In his mind, Qin Muye cursed Baili Jing thousands of times over, wishing impotence upon him.

He was furious, but he couldn’t let it show too obviously.

He held Jiang Qingli’s hand all the way back to his chambers. Only then did he wrap an arm around her waist, pull her close, and lower his head to bite her lip.

It was a gesture meant to vent his anger.

"Stop it, someone will see."

Jiang Qingli pushed him away and glanced around.

All along the way, she had felt like someone was watching her.

Qin Muye said casually, "My place is the most remote in the palace. Even the Cold Palaces of ancient times were more popular than this. Who would come here?"

"I don’t care, you’re not allowed!" Jiang Qingli pinched the tip of his ear. "You’re becoming a bad influence, you stinky dog."

"Not as bad as you," Qin Muye murmured, his voice low and raspy as he pecked her lips again. "The sofa, the bathroom, the bedroom... I’m all yours."

Just before pulling Jiang Qingli inside, Qin Muye glanced up and toward a spot diagonally behind them.

A figure flashed by, and he only managed to catch a glimpse of a black corner of clothing.

’Strange. Who would come to such a remote place?’

’Dressed like that, too. Almost like they were spying...’

Qin Muye assumed it was someone sent by his imperial sister, imperial brother, or one of his enemies. He dismissed it and focused on pleasing the girl in his arms.

-

On Tuesday afternoon, Ke An dragged Jiang Qingli to the theater again.

A crowd had already gathered by the time they arrived.

It was the fifth rehearsal for the first Chapter of *Miracle*, so it was quite formal. To prevent the actors from getting too nervous, the theater club president had invited many internal members of the student council and the Melt Star Association to watch.

But Jiang Qingli wasn’t there to watch.

Bai Yiyi was absent again and had asked her to fill in.

The club president was still muttering, "Make us wait for her? The nerve! Including the audience, there are almost two hundred people here. If everyone waits one minute, that’s two hundred minutes—several hours..."

The other actors, tired of his rambling, covered their ears. "..."

Gu Nian wasn’t there today, so Jiang Qingli recalled how he had helped her with it last time and put on the costume herself.

Once she was on stage, there were still a few minutes before the start.

Jiang Qingli’s scene was set during a grand festival—a bustling ensemble piece. It was located near a temple, with a group of extras in the background while she stood by a lake, making a wish.

The entire stage set was built with real scenery and was quite luxurious.

The lake in the center had been specially dug. It was seven meters deep for a later rescue scene, allowing the audience a clear view from the side.

"Later, after you make your wish, you just need to release a fish into the water," the president explained with a gesture. "Just hold out your hand. To avoid any ’animal abuse’ controversies, we’re using a holographic fish."

Jiang Qingli nodded.

A few minutes later, Jiang Qingli walked onto the stage, following her directions to move through the crowd.

The lights fell on the girl’s face, her indifferent features as clear as a painting. With her long lashes lowered, she looked like a cool and distant Goddess who had descended to the mortal world.

The president rubbed his chin and mused, "Her line delivery is as stiff as a board, but she really is beautiful... Maybe we should just give her lines to Divine Servant Number Two?"

Just as he was thinking this, a figure rushed over.

Bai Yiyi came running over in a great hurry. When she saw Jiang Qingli, her eyes widened, and she lifted her skirt, about to run onto the stage.

The president jumped in surprise and quickly blocked her path. "Whoa, why are you here?"

"President, I... I told you I’d be here soon..." Bai Yiyi bit her lip. "Why did you let Jiang Qingli go on..."

"If I didn’t have her go on, who would? Miss, we have so many people watching today. We can’t just wait for you like we usually do," the president said, exasperated.

Bai Yiyi frowned with a hint of impatience.

’It was only a few minutes, wasn’t it? What was the big deal?’

’She figured these people were just trying to suck up to Jiang Qingli, so they deliberately started early to steal her spotlight!’

Bai Yiyi had fought hard for this role and certainly didn’t want Jiang Qingli to snatch it away.

She pressed her lips together and said weakly, "Well, I’m here now, so you don’t need a substitute..."

The president’s brow tightened. "We’re just about to get to the wishing part. Do you realize you were twenty minutes late? Twenty minutes for one person, and we have hundreds of people here..."

"I’m sorry, it’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have stopped to rescue that stray cat that got hit by a car..." Bai Yiyi’s eyes welled with tears. "Actually, my dream has always been to be on stage. I don’t need that specific role, I just want to be on stage..."

Faced with this one-two punch of excuses, the president’s expression predictably wavered.

Seeing this, Bai Yiyi raised an eyebrow.

But then she heard the president say, "Alright, how about this? Later, you can put on an extra’s costume and hand a lantern to the Divine Servant. You’ll get some screen time that way."

Bai Yiyi: "..."

She gritted her teeth.

But the play was quickly approaching that part. She glanced behind her, changed into the costume, and hurried on stage.

-

The music soon reached its finale.

Jiang Qingli stood before the lake. Following the prompt on the teleprompter, she turned to get the lantern.

As she turned, her eyes met Bai Yiyi’s.

She took the lantern with some wariness, but the handoff went surprisingly smoothly.

But the moment Jiang Qingli turned her head, a glint flashed in Bai Yiyi’s eyes.

She suddenly stumbled forward as if pushed, and as her footing gave way, she forcefully shoved Jiang Qingli, who was standing beside her!

Jiang Qingli reacted quickly. Before she fell, she twisted around and grabbed Bai Yiyi’s wrist—

SPLASH!

Water sprayed everywhere.

Ice-cold water instantly enveloped Jiang Qingli, filling her nose and mouth. She flailed her arms, trying to swim, but a whirlpool formed at her feet again, dragging her down into the depths!

Her chest felt crushed by a heavy weight. She held her breath and struggled to surface, but suddenly, a mechanical voice sounded—

[BEEP...]

Jiang Qingli froze.

’Is that... the system’s voice?’

’The system is back online?’

In that moment of shock, a stronger force suddenly yanked her ankle, pulling her down.

Jiang Qingli let out a large stream of bubbles. The system’s intermittent voice flashed through her mind, followed by a sharp pain that made it impossible to think or act rationally.

The next second, an invisible Barrier enveloped her. The water was pushed away, and air rushed in again.

In a daze, she saw a white figure swimming toward her out of the corner of her eye.

’It’s Baili Jing...’

Jiang Qingli breathed a sigh of relief and reached out to the figure.

But just as her slender fingers lifted, Jiang Qingli suddenly noticed that Baili Jing’s movements had become extremely slow, like a slow-motion film playing out frame by frame before her eyes.

Then, a powerful arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her upward.

She felt herself being lifted.

Air rushed greedily into her lungs. Jiang Qingli furrowed her brow and instinctively wrapped her arms around the person who had saved her.

The sound of static crackled in her head. She frowned, her consciousness fading.

She didn’t know if it was because of the water, but she was so cold.

All she could do was cling tightly to her rescuer, trying to draw warmth from his body.

A large palm rested on her back, its touch light and filled with a tender strength.

The surroundings were deathly silent.

The sound of splashing footsteps rang out, and the white-fox youth seemed to say something in a worried tone. Jiang Qingli wanted to tell him she was fine, but she couldn’t even lift a finger.

A voice, heavy with suppressed anger, demanded, "Is this how you take care of her?"

It was a cold voice, like an eternally frozen iceberg.

Jiang Qingli heard gasps from the people around them. It seemed the one holding her was a terrifying existence.

But not only did she not feel afraid, she actually felt a sense of peace.

Her fingers unconsciously clenched the fabric of his clothes, tightening their grip as if they had done so many times before.

She murmured unconsciously, in a soft whisper:

"Brother..."

The arm around her faltered for a moment before tightening again.

As if holding a fragile, precious treasure.

A warm touch brushed against her cheek, like an intimate nuzzle between kindred spirits.

A gentle, almost inaudible sigh fell beside her ear—

"Ah Li."

"Brother is here."