Gu Zhengwan was truly on the verge of collapse. After being taken out of the secret chamber by the cloaked man, she was led away by his subordinates. Throughout the process, Gu Zhengwan seemed to be in a daze, making no move at all, except that she tightly clutched the piece of skin peeled from Gu Liuru's leg.
Only after Gu Zhengwan left did the man take off his hood. As the cloak fell away, a large part of his face was revealed. He had a gentle and elegant appearance, with a pair of light - brown eyes full of tenderness like spring water. It was none other than the Sixth Prince, Xie Yuwen.
A fierce light glinted in Xie Yuwen's otherwise gentle eyes as he softly said, "I knew it. Keep a close eye on Ji Yunsheng for me."
The guard beside him saluted and retreated. Xie Yuwen stroked his chin, his face showing unconcealable curiosity. It seemed that Xie Jiuan and Gu Jiangyue were not simple either. He would have to be more cautious in the future.
Ji Yunsheng was right. Xie Yuwen indeed had a great connection with the Medicine King Valley, but this relationship was known to no one. Xie Yuwen would not harm Xie Jiuan and Gu Jiangyue, but he was determined to get rid of Ji Yunsheng.
After such an incident, Xie Chengrui was not idle either. He originally thought he could use Gu Zhengwan's matter to talk to the emperor and cancel the engagement. As for marrying Gu Jiangyue back, Xie Chengrui didn't even dare to think about it. After all, he could see the deep affection between Gu Jiangyue and Xie Jiuan. Breaking them up was not something that could be done overnight.
Just as Xie Chengrui was thinking about how to cancel the engagement, he never expected that the Grand Old Lady of the Gu Mansion would summon him there.
In the main hall, the Grand Old Lady sat solemnly on the main seat. Her once - glittering and bejeweled attire seemed dull under her tired face.
Xie Chengrui sat on one side. There were only him and the Grand Old Lady in the hall at the moment. Xie Chengrui didn't dare to look directly at the Grand Old Lady. Every time he did, he would remember the look in Gu Zhengwan's eyes that day. Gu Zhengwan had loved him to the point of madness, and he couldn't escape the blame. He felt a bit guilty sitting there.
The Grand Old Lady let out a long sigh and spoke first, "I failed to educate my daughter properly that day and disturbed the Second Prince. I hope the Second Prince can forgive me."
Xie Chengrui thought the Grand Old Lady would come to blame him, but it seemed she had no such intention. Still, he didn't dare to slack off. He forced a stiff smile and quickly replied, "It's okay, it's okay."
The Grand Old Lady seemed to finally make up her mind. Her hand gripping the walking stick tightened involuntarily. "I have a request. I wonder if the Second Prince could keep the matter that day a secret."
The matter that day referred to Gu Zhengwan's skin - swapping. Even though the Grand Old Lady didn't finish her sentence, Xie Chengrui knew what she meant.
The Grand Old Lady carefully observed Xie Chengrui's expression. Seeing that he didn't speak for a long time, she spoke again, "If the Second Prince can keep this matter a secret for our Gu Mansion today, as long as it's something our Gu Mansion has, the Second Prince can choose whatever he wants."
Xie Chengrui had originally intended to refuse, but after hearing the Grand Old Lady's words, he had a change of heart. Instead of using Gu Zhengwan's matter to try to cancel the engagement, which might not succeed, it would be better to get some wealth and fame. After all, Gu Zhengwan was never coming back.
After making his decision, Xie Chengrui pretended to be polite to the Grand Old Lady for a few words and then pretended to reluctantly accept.
The poisonous powder scattered by Xie Yuwen had caused a lot of trouble for the Gu Mansion. Those with stronger constitutions were okay, but those with weaker ones might not wake up at all. Many people in the Gu Mansion had died.
Gu Liuru was still crazy after waking up. She kept muttering "Save me" and "Let go of me" and wouldn't let anyone get close to her, not even Chen Yanqin. She would push Chen Yanqin away as well.
Chen Yanqin was also greatly affected by this incident. She was the only one left in the Third Branch to hold up the family. Finally, Chen Yanqin decided to send Gu Liuru out of the Gu Mansion and find a quiet temple for her to recuperate.
After this incident, Chen Yanqin had nothing left to be attached to. She didn't want to lose more because of the infighting in the Gu Mansion.
Once Chen Yanqin left, all the affairs of the Gu Mansion would fall back on Shen Menglan of the Second Branch. Although she had gained some benefits this time, they were not much.
Although Xie Chengrui kept saying that it was all for the sake of friendship, he didn't miss out on any benefits. It was extremely difficult for Shen Menglan to extract any more from these meager gains. Now, the Gu Mansion was like an empty shell.
Gu Jiangyue had a few rare days of peace, but before long, Xie Chengrui started causing trouble again.
Early in the morning, Zhiyuan rushed into Gu Jiangyue's room. She ran so fast that she was holding on to the door frame, bending over and gasping for breath.
"What's going on? What's so urgent?"
Gu Jiangyue rubbed her eyes. She had just woken up and was sitting on the couch, her hair casually loose. She looked sleepily at the out - of - breath Zhiyuan.
"M, Miss, there's a letter for you. It's from Xie Chengrui."
Zhiyuan seemed to catch her breath after a while. As she spoke, she picked up the letter in her hand and waved it, then placed it in front of Gu Jiangyue.
A letter from Xie Chengrui? Gu Jiangyue took the letter suspiciously and opened it.
"Miss, I was so afraid that others would see it, so I ran really fast. No one noticed."
Zhiyuan smiled innocently and kept muttering.
This was not the first time Xie Chengrui had written to her. Last time, Gu Jiangyue had exposed the fact that Xie Chengrui had written to her, which made Xie Chengrui be quiet for a long time. Gu Jiangyue looked at the letter in her hand. The handwriting was indeed Xie Chengrui's.
Gu Jiangyue thought she could guess the content of the letter without even reading it. Sure enough, the letter was trying to secretly invite Gu Jiangyue out. Gu Jiangyue was speechless. She wondered why she hadn't noticed before that Xie Chengrui was so bold and wasn't even afraid that she would expose this matter.
"This guy is really annoying. He just won't stop."
While Gu Jiangyue was reading the letter, Zhiyuan also leaned over. Different from other maids, Zhiyuan had learned a lot of characters from Gu Jiangyue, so she could understand the content of the letter more or less.
"Zhiyuan, how did the news get out last time?"
"Miss, do you think Xie Chengrui might think it was Gu Zhengwan who leaked the news last time? After all, she was so petty."
Zhiyuan thought for a while and finally had a reasonable answer. Gu Jiangyue casually nodded. It didn't really matter who had leaked the news. The most important thing now was to reject Xie Chengrui.
Gu Jiangyue quickly got out of bed. She didn't want to entangle with Xie Chengrui any more. This time, Gu Jiangyue wrote the letter very directly, telling Xie Chengrui not to have any more contact with her.
"Zhiyuan, send this letter to him." Gu Jiangyue folded the letter and handed it to Zhiyuan. Zhiyuan nodded, took the letter and went out.
Gu Jiangyue couldn't calm down. She thought about all day how to make Xie Chengrui give up on her and marry someone else. Suddenly, a red figure flashed through her mind.