Edited by Lord Immortal
She asked unconsciously. Gu Yusheng answered after a while without changing his smile. "Yes, I knew.
"Xuan, if I could stand out regardless of anything else, I would have. But you know, we"re burdened with much more than ourselves."
Staring at Xie Mengxuan, he looked particularly serious.
Noticing his nervousness, Xie Mengxuan wore a faint smile. "I know. I"m still grateful that you came to save me when I was nearly drowned to death."
She was very polite. The moment she was aware of the ident.i.ty of Gu Yusheng, she was a little excited. However, after a night, when she talked with him again, the old intimacy between them in childhood was somehow gone.
She attributed it to their different experiences over the past years since they got separated and then suppressed the strange feeling.
Gu Yusheng showed a bitter smile. "There"s no need for you to be so polite to me."
A bit embarra.s.sed, Xie Mengxuan touched her nose. Gu Yusheng didn"t want to put her in a dilemma. Instead, he stood up to open the window. "Xuan, what do you think of the Zhou village?"
Looking out, Xie Mengxuan gave a sincere remark. "It"s a small village with a nice view."
Indeed, this was what she thought in earnest. Although what Aunt Cui and others did was against the rules of conduct, it would not affect her mood to enjoy the scenery and her grat.i.tude to Geng Zhishan.
Gu Yusheng raised his eyebrows. "Don"t you think they fretted too much care over your arrival?"
Instead of changing her expression, Xie Mengxuan said with a subtle smile, "I"m afraid there"s already a spy here."
"You knew that?" A flash of confusion shone in the eyes of Gu Yusheng.
Xie Mengxuan nodded. "I"m capable enough of noticing this point. Although a small village tends to be exclusive to newcomers, it"s too apparent that they keep finding faults with me."
"How could I ignore the wisdom of Xuan?" Gu Yusheng sighed and then praised her sincerely.
Looking directly at each other, Xie Mengxuan could not help shifting her look. "Big Brother Gu, now that you"ve appeared in this way…"
"As they have never seen me before, even if they have doubts, I just have to deny it and put on a disguise. Who will insist that I am the young master of the Gu family?" With his hands folded behind his back, Gu Yusheng standing straight appeared to be from a n.o.ble family.
It was beyond the expectation of Xie Mengxuan that she would reunite with him, which was an unexpected surprise.
Outside the room came the clear singing of birds, which was pleasing to ears. Gu Yusheng turned to look at her. "Xuan, you"d better have a good rest these days. I"ll try to contact the crown prince and Uncle Xie."
Xie Mengxuan wore a puzzled look. "It"s weird that I never got a response even after managing to send messages several times. If they were not intercepted by others midway, something pivotal might have happened in the imperial capital."
Gu Yusheng wore a stern look at the right time. He slightly shook his head to deny the inference of Xie Mengxuan. "There"s nothing wrong in the imperial capital. I have also not received any replies, so I prefer that someone has stopped them."
Having done a quick count, Xie Mengxuan became aware that she had wasted almost half a month here, which was enough for the imperial capital to be in chaos.
She looked serious. "We"ve wasted a lot of time here. Big Brother Gu, if you"re in good enough condition, I have something to trouble you."
Gu Yusheng waved his hand. "It"s okay. I"ll settle it."
Having finished speaking, he turned to leave the house. Xie Mengxuan leaned on the bedside and looked at the clean quilt with her trembling eyes.
That man has gone out for a long time. Why doesn"t he come back yet? He is likely to miss lunch.
The man Xie Mengxuan was worried about was marching towards the end of the forest with a basket on his back. Geng Zhishan looked so severe that all the strangers kept away from him. He waved his sickle with full force. The vines in his way were cut into halves to make way for him.
Trees at the end of the forest had a canopy of leaves, which both covered the sun and caused a smell of dampness around. Standing still, Geng Zhishan took off the basket and turned his head slightly. "Come out!" He said in a low voice.
There was a gust of unnatural wind, and a man in black appeared behind him without making any sound. He kneeled on one knee. "I"m here, my young master."
Turning around, Geng Zhishan stared at him with sharp eyes, not speaking a word. Goshawk, the man in black, chose to break the stifling silence. "The master is already aware of what happened yesterday."
Looking up, Goshawk showed no fear, neither proud nor humble. The five-finger mark on his neck became particularly apparent.
A flash of anger shone in the eyes of Geng Zhishan. These people were not only good at martial arts but were also very loyal. Their only weakness was that they blindly followed the rigid rules. Even though they called him the young master, he still had no rights confronting that one.
"Well, I see." Geng Zhishan sneered and raised his hand and gave him a hard slap. Goshawk didn"t change his posture. As a matter of fact, he slid backward for quite a long distance and finally crashed into a trunk.
With a gloomy look, Geng Zhishan was ready to go back after killing Goshawk. It was time for him to prepare lunch.
However, when he retreated, another man in a black robe gradually stepped towards him. Within the blink of an eye, the man was already next to him. "How impressive my young master is!"
"He unexpectedly has never left here!" Geng Zhishan felt a bit amazed.
"My young master, when you intended to look for that girl despite the life of your bodyguard, we showed no opposition. Now you"ve killed Goshawk just because he informed the master. How can we remain loyal to you?"
"Don"t waste these high-sounding phrases since you"re never loyal to me." Geng Zhishan was not timid. Facing the threat, he also showed the momentum of a young master.
The man in a black robe showed a faint smile. "Take it easy. We"ll be loyal to you when you succeed, my young master."
Confronting this man in the black robe, Geng Zhishan sneered. "My teacher lingers in the same place. Is the order from my master or His Majesty?"
"The master has given the order that the man can"t be killed." The black-robed man stood still.
Geng Zhishan was stunned and then furrowed his eyebrows. "What? We can"t kill him even if he"s from an unknown place?"
The black-robed man was aware of the reason why he turned so excited, but he could not tell him everything at present. "He"s only a chessman, who can be replaced by others at any time. We"d better save him as the bait to catch a bigger fish."
He continued before Geng Zhishan responded to him, "According to the master"s order, you must prevent them from returning to the imperial capital until the beginning of the next month."
"Okay." Geng Zhishan frowned and gave a simple response, picking up the basket to leave.
With only two strides, there came the words of the black-robed man. If you continue to act on impulse as yesterday, it will be just a matter of time before you lose the t.i.tle of young master."
"There"s no need for a warning. I have my own judgment."
A threat? The last thing he feared was others" threats.
With an aggressive air, he left the forest. Upon his arrival at the village"s entrance, the boy from the Liang family, who was friendly to him, ran to him while shouting. "Big Brother Geng, Big Brother Geng… Hurry up! Aunt Cui, together with others, is going to arrest your wife!"
Geng Zhishan"s expression changed, and he dashed towards his home, ignoring the basket which had fallen onto the ground.
He would give them no chance to hurt Xie Mengxuan again!