Gu Ying did not know what he was thinking. She just looked at his magnificent robes and crown, his smiling face, and could no longer maintain her composure.
She coldly rejected him, her indifferent eyes fixed steadily on his smiling eyes, "No need."
Li Yang felt irritated inside. He laughed and said, "Then what does Second Miss Gu want? This king will oblige."
Gu Ying also laughed. "Nothing much. I just want His Highness the Prince of Shu to come with me for a walk."
Li Yang was curious. "Where to?"
Gu Ying tilted her head and pouted her lips. "You'll know when we get there."
Before Li Yang could react, he felt the presence of three tall figures. He realized something was wrong and was about to yell angrily when their swords and knives slashed down towards him.
He was so frightened that his vision went dark. Then Gu Ying hit him hard on the head, knocking him completely unconscious.
Gu Ying looked at him coldly, her face expressionless. "Tie him up and come with me."
Only then did Huai Bi and the others realize her intentions. They had never imagined that the young mistress would daringly set her sights on the Prince of Shu. While shocked, they also felt somewhat worried.
"Mistress, are you really going to do this?"
"Didn't I already have you guys knock him out?"
"But if this gets out and the people of Bianjing find out that the mistress harmed the emperor's most beloved prince... Even if the Yueyang Plague is cured, I'm afraid the mistress will not escape blame. The Prince of Shu will not let the mistress off either."
Gu Ying laughed lightly and walked outside. "We have long lost our way back. Why bother thinking about what comes after?"
"But this is too—"
"We may all die in Yueyang anyway without caring about emperors or favored consorts. With Li Yang dead, I can at least win him some credit for a heroic sacrifice. It would be my gift to him."
Huai Bi and the others looked at each other, ashamed at their previous disrespect towards the mistress.
Seeing that the three did not follow, Gu Ying turned around. "Why aren't you coming?"
Huai Bi looked up and saw the delicate woman smiling brightly like a flower, her eyes sparkling like stars in the soft daylight.
He immediately put on a smile. "Mistress, coming!"
After the Prince of Shu fainted, his secret guards immediately appeared.
No wonder the Yueyang government office had remained so peaceful for so long. It turned out that so many people were only here to protect this useless prince and were not caring for the commoners at all.
A man like this still wants to enter the Eastern Palace? Wishful thinking.
In this life, Jiang Yin can stop dreaming about entering the inner court. Since the Crown Prince supports Prince Duan, she will naturally do her best to make Prince Duan the Crown Prince.
Let's see what else Jiang Yin can jump around to then.
Gu Ying did not pay them any attention at all. She smiled slightly. "Huai Bi, I heard from the Crown Prince that your martial arts surpass even Huai An's?"
Huai Bi laughed heartily. "Mistress, watch me!"
With that, he swiftly took down over half of the Prince of Shu's guards.
Huai Ying carried the Prince of Shu over his shoulder. "Mistress, let's go first. Huai Bi can cover the rear."
"Mm." Gu Ying murmured softly and looked back before leaving the manor.
She knew Jiang Yin was hiding somewhere in the manor watching her.
But there was no hurry. With the calm disrupted, he would definitely take the initiative to come out.
...
The commotion outside disappeared as quickly as it came, as if Gu Ying had never been there at all.
At this moment, Jiang Yin was sitting on a small couch in a secret room, legs apart, hand propping up his chin, staring steadily at a woman kneeling before him.
Since she had been brought in, he had been staring at her like this for a whole incense stick worth of time, his eyes still fixed on her breathtakingly beautiful and innocent face.
She wore a tea-colored pleated chiffon dress, a pale pink crossover-collared top tucked into a lake blue belt that accentuated her tiny waist. Two light pink butterfly bows hung from her waist. Her figure was enchanting and charming.
A section of snow-white neck, slender and long. Her hair was lightly bundled up without too much ornamentation, only a few cheap velvet flowers pinned in her dark tresses.
Even with such light makeup, it only further accentuated her rosy lips and white teeth, her curved eyebrows, delicate features that were so exquisite it was as if she was a great beauty come to life to captivate the heart.
Jiang Yin stared blankly for a long time, waves of regret and melancholy arising in his heart as he involuntarily recalled memories from his past life.
Back then, Gu Ying was still an inconsequential proper young lady in the rear manor of the Earl of Dongping.
Her father, Gu Boqing, was a general with considerable military achievements. He had been fighting enemies outside for many years and rarely returned home. Losing restraint, she had a younger brother less than ten years old and they barely got by in the rear manor.
Mrs. Liu was in charge of the Earl of Dongping Manor. Old Madam Gu favored the main room's Gu Jia and disliked the second room's Gu family, even pampering the main room's illegitimate daughter more than Gu Ying, her own granddaughter.
Old Madam Gu had forbidden Gu Ying from learning poetry, books and etiquette ever since she was little. By the marriageable age, aside from her beauty, she had become illiterate and uneducated despite being a direct descendant of the prominent Ye family. Rumors spread that Second Miss Gu was an idiot fool, and no one came asking for her hand in marriage. Even the Young Marquis of Yong’an reneged on their engagement.
The Gu family had never allowed her to go out in public, ashamed that she embarrassed the family.
So very early on, aside from him, no one knew that Second Miss Gu was born with exceptional beauty.
His family's downfall forced him to rely on power and connections for advancement, so he set his sights on these prestigious households.
So at Duke Ying's spring banquet back then, when she still silly but ran up and showed a hint of affection for him, he knew—the opportunity had come.
With Gu Jia's help, he deliberately seduced her, advancing and withdrawing to completely toy with her feelings.
She tearfully, angrily broke off the engagement with the Young Marquis of Yong’an, insisting on marrying him instead. Later, he finally married her and won the assistance of the Gu household and the support of his father-in-law Gu Boqing as well.
In over two years of marriage with her, she tried her best to please him. Knowing that he liked refinement in women, she steadfastly loved only light colored clothes. During difficult times in the household, she took out her own dowry as a daughter of an Earl's house to help settle his accounts.
Just to please him, she learned embroidery, reading and writing in two short years what takes most women over a decade to master.
Such an intelligent young lady had indeed gone to waste in the Gu family. With her pleasing, gentle, understanding personality that was fully considerate of him, caring for him, loving him, filled with thoughts only for his sake, even if he tried, how could his heart not be moved?
But from the moment he found out about Crown Prince Zhao Changdu's affair with her in the other courtyard, he only felt hatred and anger towards her. He started treating her coldly, taking pleasure in tormenting her to see her hurt for his sake. He continuously brought in concubines, watching as she anguished and cried over him, a hint of twisted satisfaction rising in his heart for retaliation.
He was unwilling to lose to Zhao Changdu but also disgusted that she was ruined by another man and pregnant with a different man's child. Yet he also couldn't control his feelings for her. Only by seeing her in pain and crying for him could he find evidence of her affection in those tears.
Gu Ying did not know what he was thinking. She just looked at his magnificent robes and crown, his smiling face, and could no longer maintain her composure.
She coldly rejected him, her indifferent eyes fixed steadily on his smiling eyes, "No need."
Li Yang felt irritated inside. He laughed and said, "Then what does Second Miss Gu want? This king will oblige."
Gu Ying also laughed. "Nothing much. I just want His Highness the Prince of Shu to come with me for a walk."
Li Yang was curious. "Where to?"
Gu Ying tilted her head and pouted her lips. "You'll know when we get there."
Before Li Yang could react, he felt the presence of three tall figures. He realized something was wrong and was about to yell angrily when their swords and knives slashed down towards him.
He was so frightened that his vision went dark. Then Gu Ying hit him hard on the head, knocking him completely unconscious.
Gu Ying looked at him coldly, her face expressionless. "Tie him up and come with me."
Only then did Huai Bi and the others realize her intentions. They had never imagined that the young mistress would daringly set her sights on the Prince of Shu. While shocked, they also felt somewhat worried.
"Mistress, are you really going to do this?"
"Didn't I already have you guys knock him out?"
"But if this gets out and the people of Bianjing find out that the mistress harmed the emperor's most beloved prince... Even if the Yueyang Plague is cured, I'm afraid the mistress will not escape blame. The Prince of Shu will not let the mistress off either."
Gu Ying laughed lightly and walked outside. "We have long lost our way back. Why bother thinking about what comes after?"
"But this is too—"
"We may all die in Yueyang anyway without caring about emperors or favored consorts. With Li Yang dead, I can at least win him some credit for a heroic sacrifice. It would be my gift to him."
Huai Bi and the others looked at each other, ashamed at their previous disrespect towards the mistress.
Seeing that the three did not follow, Gu Ying turned around. "Why aren't you coming?"
Huai Bi looked up and saw the delicate woman smiling brightly like a flower, her eyes sparkling like stars in the soft daylight.
He immediately put on a smile. "Mistress, coming!"
After the Prince of Shu fainted, his secret guards immediately appeared.
No wonder the Yueyang government office had remained so peaceful for so long. It turned out that so many people were only here to protect this useless prince and were not caring for the commoners at all.
A man like this still wants to enter the Eastern Palace? Wishful thinking.
In this life, Jiang Yin can stop dreaming about entering the inner court. Since the Crown Prince supports Prince Duan, she will naturally do her best to make Prince Duan the Crown Prince.
Let's see what else Jiang Yin can jump around to then.
Gu Ying did not pay them any attention at all. She smiled slightly. "Huai Bi, I heard from the Crown Prince that your martial arts surpass even Huai An's?"
Huai Bi laughed heartily. "Mistress, watch me!"
With that, he swiftly took down over half of the Prince of Shu's guards.
Huai Ying carried the Prince of Shu over his shoulder. "Mistress, let's go first. Huai Bi can cover the rear."
"Mm." Gu Ying murmured softly and looked back before leaving the manor.
She knew Jiang Yin was hiding somewhere in the manor watching her.
But there was no hurry. With the calm disrupted, he would definitely take the initiative to come out.
...
The commotion outside disappeared as quickly as it came, as if Gu Ying had never been there at all.
At this moment, Jiang Yin was sitting on a small couch in a secret room, legs apart, hand propping up his chin, staring steadily at a woman kneeling before him.
Since she had been brought in, he had been staring at her like this for a whole incense stick worth of time, his eyes still fixed on her breathtakingly beautiful and innocent face.
She wore a tea-colored pleated chiffon dress, a pale pink crossover-collared top tucked into a lake blue belt that accentuated her tiny waist. Two light pink butterfly bows hung from her waist. Her figure was enchanting and charming.
A section of snow-white neck, slender and long. Her hair was lightly bundled up without too much ornamentation, only a few cheap velvet flowers pinned in her dark tresses.
Even with such light makeup, it only further accentuated her rosy lips and white teeth, her curved eyebrows, delicate features that were so exquisite it was as if she was a great beauty come to life to captivate the heart.
Jiang Yin stared blankly for a long time, waves of regret and melancholy arising in his heart as he involuntarily recalled memories from his past life.
Back then, Gu Ying was still an inconsequential proper young lady in the rear manor of the Earl of Dongping.
Her father, Gu Boqing, was a general with considerable military achievements. He had been fighting enemies outside for many years and rarely returned home. Losing restraint, she had a younger brother less than ten years old and they barely got by in the rear manor.
Mrs. Liu was in charge of the Earl of Dongping Manor. Old Madam Gu favored the main room's Gu Jia and disliked the second room's Gu family, even pampering the main room's illegitimate daughter more than Gu Ying, her own granddaughter.
Old Madam Gu had forbidden Gu Ying from learning poetry, books and etiquette ever since she was little. By the marriageable age, aside from her beauty, she had become illiterate and uneducated despite being a direct descendant of the prominent Ye family. Rumors spread that Second Miss Gu was an idiot fool, and no one came asking for her hand in marriage. Even the Young Marquis of Yong’an reneged on their engagement.
The Gu family had never allowed her to go out in public, ashamed that she embarrassed the family.
So very early on, aside from him, no one knew that Second Miss Gu was born with exceptional beauty.
His family's downfall forced him to rely on power and connections for advancement, so he set his sights on these prestigious households.
So at Duke Ying's spring banquet back then, when she still silly but ran up and showed a hint of affection for him, he knew—the opportunity had come.
With Gu Jia's help, he deliberately seduced her, advancing and withdrawing to completely toy with her feelings.
She tearfully, angrily broke off the engagement with the Young Marquis of Yong’an, insisting on marrying him instead. Later, he finally married her and won the assistance of the Gu household and the support of his father-in-law Gu Boqing as well.
In over two years of marriage with her, she tried her best to please him. Knowing that he liked refinement in women, she steadfastly loved only light colored clothes. During difficult times in the household, she took out her own dowry as a daughter of an Earl's house to help settle his accounts.
Just to please him, she learned embroidery, reading and writing in two short years what takes most women over a decade to master.
Such an intelligent young lady had indeed gone to waste in the Gu family. With her pleasing, gentle, understanding personality that was fully considerate of him, caring for him, loving him, filled with thoughts only for his sake, even if he tried, how could his heart not be moved?
But from the moment he found out about Crown Prince Zhao Changdu's affair with her in the other courtyard, he only felt hatred and anger towards her. He started treating her coldly, taking pleasure in tormenting her to see her hurt for his sake. He continuously brought in concubines, watching as she anguished and cried over him, a hint of twisted satisfaction rising in his heart for retaliation.
He was unwilling to lose to Zhao Changdu but also disgusted that she was ruined by another man and pregnant with a different man's child. Yet he also couldn't control his feelings for her. Only by seeing her in pain and crying for him could he find evidence of her affection in those tears.
