The Useless Alpha’s Yandere Wife - Chapter 19

Though the two remained intimate, Jiang Yan couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off between them. Their relationship lacked the sweet, affectionate warmth of a typical young couple.

Despite being freed from prison, Tan Qianyue was constantly busy, rarely even showing her face. Jiang Yan felt like a tool, summoned and dismissed at will. The Eldest Miss had made it clear that Jiang Yan’s fate after this month was entirely up to her.

But even tools needed emotional validation, and Jiang Yan harbored growing resentment toward Tan Qianyue.

With nothing else to do, Jiang Yan threw herself into her livestreaming career. Watching her gold coins climb from 100 to 200, she reveled in the satisfying clink of each new coin.

However, Tan Manor had exhausted all its money-making ventures. Jiang Yan began venturing outside in search of new opportunities. Sometimes she’d stop at a noodle stall, start her livestream, and simply stand by the steaming pot, watching the stall owner’s deft, fluid movements. She’d film the fragrant noodles bubbling in the broth, being ladled into bowls, and finally sit on a bench, savoring each bite with obvious delight.

Yet this daily routine of eating, drinking, and enjoying herself in the streets only reinforced her image as a complete freeloader. Even the servants at Tan Manor began casting furtive, judgmental glances her way.

Xiao Concubine, however, wholeheartedly supported Jiang Yan, even doubling her monthly allowance. She instructed Jiang Yan to remember to bring back treats and trinkets for the Eldest Miss whenever she found something good, hoping to strengthen their bond.

Jiang Yan gladly accepted the money. After all, money was money, and her pockets had been empty lately. Even going out to have fun required funds.

Tan Qianyue seemed to be deliberately avoiding Jiang Yan lately, though she still cooperated well at night. But Jiang Yan couldn’t tell if Qianyue’s compliance was genuine or forced by the medicine.

Jiang Yan didn’t want to force Qianyue to do anything, but she felt obligated to see her mission through—to help the Eldest Miss recover as quickly as possible.

Of course, the pleasure was undeniable. If only the Eldest Miss would smile at her more often, that would make it even sweeter…

Tan Qianyue had no time for Jiang Yan’s petty schemes these days. She had anonymously purchased an inconspicuous courtyard, which conveniently included a spacious, empty cellar.

The dowry her mother had left her consisted of genuine gold and silver, which she had long since converted into gold bars and ingots, storing them securely in sturdy iron chests.

Although her mother believed Xiao Concubine disliked worldly possessions and was a simple, refined woman, Tan Qianyue remained skeptical. Shortly after her mother’s passing, Xiao Concubine had indeed harbored ulterior motives, only to be firmly and forcefully rebuffed by Tan Qianyue.

Even her mother’s pillow talk had proven futile. As long as she had her own silver to spend, she cared little about who managed the household affairs. Moreover, with the Noble Consort’s influence, it was impossible for anyone to transfer control of her mother’s assets to an outsider.

While awaiting Jiang Yan’s return, Tan Qianyue had already hired skilled artisans to completely repair the cellar. In recent days, she had been pretending to convert it into a storage room, secretly stashing gold, silver, and jewelry inside.

The iron boxes came in three sizes—small, medium, and large—totaling ten in all.

Gold bars and ingots were packed into the three smallest boxes, each roughly the size of two palms, and neatly arranged at the bottom.

Next came years’ worth of accumulated gold and silver jewelry: gem-encrusted bracelets, necklaces, earrings, rings, and a box filled with amber and agarwood.

Jade bracelets, coral bracelets, white jade bangles, paired green jade bangles, pearls, gemstones, mandarin duck clasps, jeweled clasps, complete sets of hair ornaments, and various large and small hairpins and hair rings occupied two more boxes.

Finally, two chests containing fifty taels of silver each, packed in units of one hundred, were placed at the very top, totaling ten thousand taels.

Another chest held valuable fabrics, and a third contained precious medicinal herbs. In all, ten chests of varying sizes were neatly arranged at the deepest part of the cellar.

Tan Qianyue and Ying Hong had spent days transferring the silver into egg baskets, carefully placing each piece into the chests as if collecting eggs.

Of course, a wise rabbit has three burrows. Her “eggs” weren’t all in one basket. The house also contained silver notes of various denominations, totaling thirty thousand taels.

Tan Qianyue disguised the mansion as a storage facility, piling large and small earthenware jars both inside and outside, claiming they were for brewing wine in the future.

After Ying Hong wrapped the cellar’s contents in thick oiled paper, Tan Qianyue ordered her guards to fill the cellar from above. They even planted a half-grown crabapple tree. Within a month, no trace of the cellar would remain.

Tan Qianyue didn’t know why she suddenly felt compelled to do this. She simply had an instinctive sense of security from hiding everything away.

The busy and exhausted Eldest Miss returned to the mansion only to face Jiang Yan’s sulky expression, who refused to acknowledge her.

Yet the colder Tan Qianyue became, the more Jiang Yan resisted.

After her bath, Tan Qianyue’s seaweed-like hair cascaded down to her waist. She wore a pale smoky-gray strapless gown that pooled on the floor, draped with a nude-colored sheer robe. Seated gracefully on the Noble Consort’s couch, she resembled a celestial being resting among the clouds.

She flipped through this month’s ledgers with one hand, her porcelain-white skin glowing like fine satin under the candlelight, radiating a soft, luminous sheen.

Jiang Yan, it was time for their “routine business.” She reluctantly climbed the stairs, only to be greeted by a vision of beauty that instantly dissolved her petty grievances.

The woman reclined leisurely, her bare feet resting on the dark crimson Noble Consort’s couch. Her dainty, rounded toes looked as precious as pearls, and the slender ankles and perfect curves made it impossible for Jiang Yan to tear her gaze away.

How could someone be so flawlessly beautiful? Even her toes are exquisitely adorable.

Tan Qianyue glanced up from the ledgers. “Hmm… I’m rather tired tonight. Come here quickly.”

Jiang Yan understood the Eldest Miss’s unspoken meaning: she wanted the pheromones but not the person.

Suppressing the awe in her eyes and the stirrings of her own “secret desires,” Jiang Yan walked over to her.

Tan Qianyue glanced up at her before shifting to make room for her to sit.

As soon as Jiang Yan settled down, Tan Qianyue stared at her with wide eyes, her meaning unmistakable.

“You’re so dry and lifeless—and you still want pheromones?” Jiang Yan asked, looking at her helplessly.

“Then why does it work for everyone else but not for you?” Tan Qianyue suddenly wondered.

“I don’t know! What can I do about it?” Jiang Yan shrugged, looking utterly uninterested in trying harder.

Tan Qianyue huffed, her cheeks puffing out as she glared at Jiang Yan.

Suddenly, before Jiang Yan could react, Tan Qianyue straddled her waist, wrapping her arms around Jiang Yan’s neck and pressing her lips into a seamless kiss.

Jiang Yan was instantly enveloped in a delicate, sweet fragrance, the soft touch leaving her utterly defenseless.

“Mmm!” The Eldest Miss’s curled eyelashes tickled her skin.

Though Tan Qianyue’s actions were bold and flirtatious, her motives were simple: she just wanted to quickly absorb Jiang Yan’s pheromones and go to sleep.

She pressed even closer, swaying her hips and grinding her body against Jiang Yan’s. The thin summer nightgown offered little resistance, and Jiang Yan’s body began to soften, her mind growing dizzy.

Before long, Tan Qianyue bit down on Jiang Yan’s rounded earlobe. A fresh, verdant scent of spring blossoms and herbs, like a clear mountain spring, filled the air around Jiang Yan, vibrant and full of life.

She found Tan Qianyue’s delicate, pale neck and kissed it. Soon, Tan Qianyue’s body went limp, no longer mischievously squirming. Her heart raced as if an electric current coursed through her veins, a primal urge to be held close by Jiang Yan overwhelming her.

“Carry me back to bed. I’m so sleepy,” Tan Qianyue murmured after an indeterminate amount of time, her eyes slanting upward as she glanced sideways at Jiang Yan.

“Very well, this old servant will carry you back,” Jiang Yan sighed, bending down to lift Tan Qianyue and gently placing her on the bed. She even thoughtfully tucked a thin blanket over her.

“Thank you!” The Eldest Miss’s lazy, casual words drifted after Jiang Yan as she turned to leave.

“Hmm,” Jiang Yan replied, a faint smile tugging at her lips. At least she has some conscience left.

Tomorrow was the Lantern Festival. As night fell, the main street would be illuminated with lanterns of all shapes and sizes. Jiang Yan wondered if she should invite the Eldest Miss out to stroll the streets, hoping to deepen their bond. She truly didn’t want a divorce.

The next morning, after breakfast, Jiang Yan meticulously dressed herself. She wore a white, cross-collared robe with subtle lotus patterns woven in silver thread. The delicate designs shimmered faintly against the white fabric, becoming dazzlingly radiant in the sunlight.

Her dark hair was half-tied with a ribbon, revealing her smooth, jade-white forehead. The morning breeze lifted the ribbon, making her look like a celestial being—elegant as an orchid and graceful as a jade tree, yet with a hint of playfulness and charm.

After steeling her resolve several times, Jiang Yan knocked on the second-floor door.

“Oh? It’s you two? Where’s your mistress?” Jiang Yan asked, seeing only the two young maids, Chunhua and Qiuyue, tidying the room.

“The mistress left early this morning. She had an appointment with Doctor Lu to discuss something,” Chunhua, the more talkative of the two, replied quickly.

“Doctor Lu? Who’s that?” Jiang Yan asked suspiciously.

“Doctor Lu is Miss’s childhood friend and close companion,” Chunhua answered truthfully, though Qiuyue shot her a warning glance—to no avail.

Jiang Yan remembered the name and matched it to a face. Her earlier anticipation and excitement now felt like a bucket of cold water had been poured over her.

“Your mistress certainly has many childhood sweethearts!” she remarked sarcastically.