Every morning, Gu Qingluo liked to go to the Old Desire Building to eat the vegetarian steamed buns there and drink a bowl of their heavily-scented Old Desire Snake Porridge. That gave her quite a bit of satisfaction.
However, just as she was about to leave, Gu Qingluo was stopped.
“Miss Qingluo, Young Master Hong asked Miss to not go out for a few days,” a servant said as he blocked Gu Qingluo’s path.
“What? Do I need your permission to go out?” Gu Qingluo asked, her eyebrows sharply angled.
Even though she had been sent to the main branch of the Gu Clan, Gu Qingluo was still quite free, as the Gu Clan could not control her movements like the disciples directly from their clan. After all, Gu Qingluo was not a disciple of the main branch; instead, she had been brought in from the outside after awakening her bloodline, so her desire for independence was very strong.
The guard chuckled. “Miss Qingluo, you’ve misunderstood me. The situation outside is a bit chaotic right now; a few bandits who infiltrated the border have arrived in New Rain City, attacking everyone wantonly. Quite a few important people have already been wounded by them. Young Master Hong is just thinking of Miss Qingluo’s safety, which is why he is asking you not to go out for a few days.”
Gu Qingluo said, “Is the Gu Clan not strong enough to deal with these bandits?”
The servant said, “Of course we can deal with them easily. These bandits are just like mice, and they are extremely slippery and don’t appear easily. We are just worried that an accident will befall Miss Qingluo, which is why we are taking such drastic measures.”
“But I want to go to the Old Desire Building……”
“The Old Desire Building’s chef has already been invited here. Miss’s breakfast will be brought over shortly.”
“I also had an appointment with the Lin Clan’s Fourth Young Miss to go out on a stroll.”
“Young Master Hong has already sent someone to invite Fourth Young Miss Lin. She will come very soon to chat with Miss Qingluo.”
Gu Qingluo’s expression sank. “Gu Feihong really seems to know a lot about my habits.”
“He just cares about you, is all.” The servant naturally neither denied nor confirmed what she said.
“So how many days must I wait?”
“Not very long. Three to five days should be enough.”
Upon hearing this, Gu Qingluo thought for a moment, then shot that servant a glance. “Yang Chunyan, your eloquence is quite impressive.”
The servant named Yang Chunyan bowed. “Many thanks to Young Miss for her praise.”
Gu Qingluo turned around and returned to her room, shutting the door forcefully behind her.
Upon entering the room, Gu Qingluo said, “Qiu Tang.”
“Your maidservant is here.” One of the maidservants hurried over to Gu Qingluo and bowed.
Gu Qingluo said, “Go out and investigate a bit for me. See if you can find out exactly what happened.”
Since the Gu Clan was refusing to allow her out of her residence under the name of safety, sending out a maidservant wasn’t something they could object to, right?
“Yes.” The maidservant retreated.
Indeed, Yang Chunyan did not attempt to stop her.
After wandering around for a day, the maidservant returned, shaking her head. “Your maidservant wandered the streets for a day and didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. I did hear, however, that a few Spirit Burning Realm experts wandered into New Rain City and were causing mayhem. Young Master Gu should have acted out of consideration for Miss Qingluo, which is why he has asked you not to leave.”
Gu Qingluo shot her a stare. “You aren’t trying to placate me because they paid you off, right?”
The maidservant was stunned. She knelt on the ground and swore, “Your maidservant would never dare lie to Young Miss. There really wasn’t anything strange going on outside.”
Gu Qingluo knew that this maidservant of hers was relatively trustworthy, but she didn’t believe for a second that there wasn’t anything strange going on outside.
She had been with Su Chen for so long that he had left quite an impression on her. She understood the wiles of the human heart quite well at this point. This was especially true after she was set up in the past, which caused her to become aware of how difficult it was to grasp a person’s true intentions. Anything could happen at anytime, and she did not believe Gu Feihong at all.
The maidservant’s report either indicated that she had been bought out or that she had not discovered anything.
Given that Gu Feihong didn’t stop the maidservant from leaving, it was possible that he knew she would not have found anything from the very beginning.
So what was it that the maidservant could not discover that she could if she were to leave? Gu Qingluo spent a long time thinking about this matter.
Her eyes suddenly lit up. “Could it be……”
Neither Su Chen nor Gu Feihong could have antic.i.p.ated that merely stopping Gu Qingluo at the door would give her the answers she needed to figure out the truth.
Having been in a foreign land for some time now, Gu Qingluo’s intelligence had greatly increased. Usually, their intelligence was closely related to her environment; when a husband who would stop at nothing for his wife was present, their intelligence would decrease, and the opposite was true as well.
During the days that Su Chen was not there, Gu Qingluo very rapidly began to mature.
Of course, Gu Qingluo did not know that Su Chen was sitting near the window of a wine tavern right next to her residence. He had been sitting there for the entire day.
Gu Qingluo didn’t appear, but the Gu Clan’s members had searched the wine tavern already. If it weren’t for the fact that Su Chen had quickly a.s.sumed a different appearance, he would have been caught a long time ago.
All that separated the two of them were some walls. They were only a few meters apart, yet that distance seemed as far as the horizon, and they could not meet with each other.
Unlike most couples in such a wretched situation, however, this pair did not feel any self-pity or grief. All they felt was self-confidence, unwavering determination, and a refusal to look back.
Su Chen had chosen to fight the long battle. Patience was his tactic for victory. He believed that, as long as he was willing to wait, he could eventually wait long enough for Gu Qingluo to leave. This was because he was in a foreign land, and the Origin Beast Gu Clan possessed so many powerful individuals that being careful was for the best.
As for Gu Qingluo, this was the place of her residence, so she could afford to take much more initiative…...
In the blink of an eye, three days went by.
These three days, Gu Qingluo quietly remained in the Gu Residence, never taking a step out. Everything seemed quiet and peaceful.
Yang Chunyan sighed with relief. However, every day that Gu Feihong couldn’t find Su Chen was a day that he needed to remain vigilant and watch Gu Qingluo. If time went on for too long, it was impossible for Gu Qingluo to sit still, so he could only hope that his Young Master would succeed sooner rather than later.
Just as he was thinking in this manner, he suddenly heard a cry of “Aiya!” come from the room, then heard a yell from behind him, “Young Miss!”
Gu Qingluo?
Yang Chunyan was stunned. He had been ordered to keep an eye on Gu Qingluo, and this was what he wanted to hear the least. He instinctively charged into the room.
He was greeted by a hazy scene as soon as he charged into the room. His vision was clouded with fog, and he couldn’t see anything clearly.
“Miss Qingluo!” Yang Chunyan yelled as he walked forwards. Suddenly, his foot hit something.
He hurriedly reached down, only to find a soft body beneath him. The skin he touched was smooth and silky, clearly indicating it was a girl’s. He hurriedly picked up the girl and yelled, “Miss Qingluo?”
It was impossible to see her face clearly in the fog, but he could sense that the maiden was leaning into him, tightly embracing him.
Yang Chenyan’s mind s.h.i.+fted into overdrive, but since he was Gu Feihong’s trusted subordinate, he stabilized his will and suppressed his animalistic instincts. He didn’t care who the other party was and said, “Miss, please, act with dignity!”
Upon hearing these words, the other party seemed even more reluctant to let go, but they began to yell, “Ah! Help! Rape!”
“Not good!” Yang Chunyan immediately knew there was a problem as soon as he heard this cry and shoved the woman aside.
At that very moment, however, a sharp jab hit him in the small of the back, temporarily paralyzing him.
It was Gu Qingluo!
Yang Chunyan was both stunned and enraged. Gu Qingluo had actually chosen to use such a tactic to attack him directly, which he felt was a bit unscrupulous and dishonorable.
Even so, it was such an unscrupulous act that was the most effective. A brief moment later, people began pouring into the room from all directions.
A purple-robed elder charged right into the room. At this point in time, the fog had dissipated, and he saw Yang Chunyan entertwined with a maidservant.
When he saw this, the purple-robed elder was infuriated. “Yang Chunyan, look what you’ve done!”
He unleashed a palm strike right at Yang Chunyan.
Yang Chunyan endured the blow as he cried out, “Seventh Elder, I am innocent! If you don’t believe me, you can use the Clearheart Verification Technique on me to make sure!”
The Gu Clan was an old clan that had been around for a long time and had countless secret techniques. The Clearheart Verification Technique was a secret lie-detection technique they possessed. As such, successfully framing someone like this was actually really difficult to do.
Upon hearing these words, everyone trusted Yang Chunyan’s words a bit more.
Only the purple-robed elder remained angry. “You still dare quibble? The evidence is iron-clad and we all see the facts before us. Why would Gu Qingluo harm you for no particular reason?”
Yang Chunyan helplessly said, “Perhaps there was some misunderstanding between me and Miss Gu.”
Of course, he would not admit that Gu Feihong had instructed him to keep a close eye on Gu Qingluo, so he could only say this much.
As soon as he thought of Gu Qingluo, however, his heart trembled as he blurted out, “Not good! Gu Qingluo!”
He whirled around, but no sign of Gu Qingluo could be found. He immediately knew that Gu Qingluo had used this opportunity to run.
Everyone else was drawn over to this place by the commotion, and Gu Qingluo took advantage of the opportunity to slip away. There was no way anyone else would have noticed her.
When he thought of the commission Gu Feihong had given him, Yang Chunyan immediately grew agitated. But even if he wanted to leave, how could the others be willing to let him leave?
Framing someone in the Gu Residence was basically impossible given how many secret techniques the Gu Clan possessed, which gave them a certain amount of omniscience. However, if thy were to let Yang Chunyan leave without even interrogating him, that would have been far too childish of them.
That was exactly what Gu Qingluo wanted.
Yang Chunyan sighed when he realized that he had failed to keep Gu Qingluo from leaving the palace. He had not only failed his Young Master’s commission, but he now also had to explain his way out of his current situation.
On the other side of the clan’s residence, Gu Qingluo had already managed to slip out.
The outside of the residence was bustling with activity. Everything appeared very normal.
Unfortunately, she could not see Su Chen’s figure.
This was not that much of a surprise. After all, he could not possibly appear in such a public forum.
Gu Qingluo didn’t know where Su Chen was, but she did not have too much time to go looking for him. Gu Feihong and his men could appear at any time.
As such, Gu Qingluo made a very simple decision.
She flew onto the roof and yelled loudly, “I’m here! Su Chen, where are you?”
“Su Chen, where are you……”
“Where are you……”
“Where are……”
“Where……”
“......ere……”
Gu Qingluo’s voice echoed through the sky in all directions.
She didn’t know where Su Chen was, but she believed that Su Chen was definitely here. He was definitely nearby.
As long he could hear her own voice, he would definitely come.
However, as this yell echoed through the streets, Gu Qingluo didn’t see Su Chen’s figure appear anywhere. All that she could see were the people around staring at her in shock and confusion.
Was she wrong?
Gu Qingluo’s heart sank.
Had she made a mistake in her a.n.a.lysis? Was Su Chen not here?
Su Chen, when will you come looking for me?
Gu Qingluo’s heart ached as sorrow filled her chest due to the lack of a response.
Suddenly, a voice spoke right next to her ear.
“Hey, what are you doing standing here in a daze?”
Gu Qingluo trembled.
She turned around and found Su Chen standing behind her, smiling broadly at her.
In that instant, Gu Qingluo could no longer control herself and threw herself into Su Chen’s arms.