Chapter 67 Obedient Puppy: "You're nothing like your mother, you're nowhere near as good as her..."

Li Yuheng's heart skipped a beat: "Sister, Yu'er really knows she was wrong."

"What's done is done, there's no point in saying anything now." Gu Shanyue's tone was indifferent, just like before when they didn't see eye to eye and she was too lazy to say more.

But Li Yuheng could tell the difference. The intimacy between them had completely disappeared. Before, Gu Shanyue ignored him simply because that was her personality, but now it was because she wanted to keep her distance from him.

“I sincerely apologize, sister,” Li Yuheng lowered his posture, squatted down beside Gu Shanyue’s legs, and wanted to reach out and touch her, but seeing her frown, he withdrew his hand and looked up at her, “How can I make you feel better? Just tell me, and I will do it immediately.”

Gu Shanyue glanced at him and scoffed, "What can you do with those skinny arms and legs?"

Li Yuheng approached her eagerly, his clothes brushing against the hem of her skirt. "I'm willing to do anything for you, as long as you're not angry with me."

He looked so sincere, yet Gu Shanyue's expression remained unchanged as she calmly replied, "Is that so?"

She is a very simple person, and also a person who is lazy when it comes to social niceties.

Everyone has a specific place in her heart, and once it's placed there, it's hard to move it again.

The advantage of associating with someone like her is that the friendship will never fade. Old friends from ten years ago will still be old friends when they meet again. Time, distance, and even life and death will not change anything.

The downside is that once it's moved, it's difficult to move it back.

The things Li Yuheng did back then are still vivid in my mind; how could a few words possibly move Gu Shanyue now?

She wouldn't even bother to consider Li Yuheng's pleas; she listened, but it was like water flowing over stone, unmoving.

Li Yuheng understood her, yet he didn't quite understand her. He lowered his head dejectedly: "Sister, why won't you give me a chance?"

“What opportunity do you want? And what use is an opportunity?” Gu Shanyue leaned back in his chair and looked down at him. “Don’t forget, you only have two rockets left. From the moment you returned to the palace, we will only have three chances to meet.”

Li Yuheng's eyes flickered, his straight back slumped, and he gave a bitter laugh: "So, from that time on, you were already planning to abandon me?"

Gu Shanyue's lips twitched slightly: "Think what you want."

She did not agree with Li Yuheng's accusations against her, but if thinking that way would make him feel better, Gu Shanyue didn't care.

Even if Li Yuheng hadn't developed feelings for her, Gu Shanyue would never have been able to stay by Li Yuheng's side forever, as he wished.

Her indifferent attitude deeply stung Li Yuheng, and he suddenly hugged Gu Shanyue's leg, pressing his cheek against her knee.

"Sister, you said you wouldn't abandon me."

Gu Shanyue had seen him with his chin held high and his head held high, and she had seen him fiercely carrying the silver bell... She knew what kind of person he was. At this moment, he was like a venomous snake that had retracted its fangs and was softly coiled around someone's legs, acting cute.

His raised face resembled Wushan jade, yet it wasn't quite like it either.

Gu Shanyue stared at him for a while, then looked out the window, her voice distant and melodious.

“I was raised by my senior sister. She raised me just like I raised you, but I’m not as good as her. The child I raised isn’t good enough,” she said in a very ordinary way, under Li Yuheng’s gaze, which was shocked to the point of panic. “You are not like your mother. You are far inferior to her.”

These words were like a thunderclap in broad daylight, shattering Li Yuheng's clear mind.

He knew better than anyone that Gu Shanyue was not a person who would drift along in the mundane world. If his mother had not been Wu Shanyu, and if he had not had a face that resembled his mother's, he might have already perished in the deep palace, and Gu Shanyue would never have given him a second glance.

He would be just like everyone else down the mountain, never in Gu Shanyue's eyes.

He knew, he knew everything.

So he was very good at using his face and the few similarities he shared with his mother.

This is his get-out-of-jail-free card, his only reliance. If even this similarity is exposed, what difference is there between Gu Shanyue and the millions of other people in this world?

The four words "the son is not like his mother" were like a sharp arrow piercing the clouds, shattering his desperately hidden trump card.

A feeling of drowning washed over him, and Li Yuheng clung tightly to Gu Shanyue's leg, veins bulging on his forehead, his handsome face instantly contorted into a ferocious expression.

"What did you say? You're tired of this face? How could you abandon me! Don't treat me like this... Think about your mother, okay? I'm a gift she left you, and you're a gift she left me. We'll be together forever!"

Gu Shanyue clearly saw his pale face and his fear. Since their reunion, Gu Shanyue had rarely seen him in such a disheveled state.

Li Yuheng is not like her, yet she is like her.

Gu Shanyue could not stand by and watch this face descend into utter panic; she could not remain indifferent.

She sighed: "Your path is to Shengjing, my path is to the martial world. We are on different paths."

"We've walked the same path for ten years, how can we not walk the same path now? When I ascend the throne, I'll give you whatever you want. I'll even build you a Zhuoguang Mountain in Shengjing, okay?"

Li Yuheng's jade crown was askew, his hair was disheveled, and his eyes were red as he shouted at her.

Gu Shanyue shook her head: "Stop fooling around."

She pushed him away, but Li Yuheng stubbornly clung to her legs, tears streaming down his face like a continuous autumn rain.

But he was no match for Gu Shanyue's strength. Gu Shanyue pried open his fingers one by one and pushed him aside.

"Stop fooling around," Gu Shanyue rubbed her temples. "I won't abandon you, but that's all."

Li Yuheng sat blankly on the ground, watching her get up and leave without any hesitation, her back view even carrying a hint of ease. He watched as Qi Baitong reached out and hugged her, glancing at him. Gu Shanyue didn't look at him again, and the two left hand in hand like a sweet couple.

After living for seventeen years, Li Yuheng's belief in eternity was finally shattered.

He thought Gu Shanyue was his, that Gu Shanyue would always be within his reach, that Gu Shanyue was a sword only he could grasp. But now, Gu Shanyue is a moon he can't reach, a wind that mercilessly sweeps through the forest, a bird with outstretched wings that no one can hold in their palm.

During those days together, it wasn't that he held her in his hands, but rather that she rested on his shoulder, like moonlight briefly illuminating his journey.

As dawn broke, the birds flew to the distant mountains, and the moon disappeared into the clear sky.

She was never his.

It was all just his ridiculous wishful thinking.

Li Yuheng opened his mouth, his voice so soft it was almost inaudible: "Sister, don't leave me..."

His voice faded into the wind, and a sharp pain in his chest instantly knocked him down. He clutched his chest and fell, his eyes straining to open as he looked in the direction Gu Shanyue had gone, only able to make out a blurry silhouette.

How could I not want him...

"Your Highness! Your Highness!"

Under the bright sunshine, Qi Baitong and Gu Shanyue held hands tightly, their fingers swaying back and forth.

The valley has a pleasant temperature, is covered in clusters of flowers, and is teeming with butterflies that are not afraid of people. They flutter up to the flowers and fly around people.

Colorful butterflies fluttered their wings in the sunlight, a dreamlike beauty, fluttering and dancing around the two of them. A string of butterflies chased after Gu Shanyue's sleeves as they swayed and fell, circling and lingering in the air.

Gu Shanyue found it amusing, so she lifted her skirt and swayed it back and forth, which amused the butterflies to fly around as well.

Qi Baitong watched her play with a smile: "If I can't be a human in my next life, I'll be a butterfly, flying around you every day."

"Why can't I be a human? Anyway, I'll be a human in my next life. If you want to be a butterfly, then go ahead and be one."

Gu Shanyue flicked her sleeve and then let it fall. A string of butterflies, having lost their target, spun around in place before scattering in all directions.

Qi Baitong: "...You be a person, and I will be a person too."

Even in the next life, there will surely be men who covet Gu Shanyue. If he were a butterfly, wouldn't he be powerless to stop Gu Shanyue from walking with someone else? How could he allow that?

"Tch, all you do is copy me."

Gu Shanyue hummed, her lips unconsciously pouting slightly, just like when she was asking for a kiss in his arms—frank and adorable.

Qi Baitong's gaze lingered on her lips, unable to leave: "A-Yue..."

Gu Shanyue looked up: "What's wrong?"

I want to kiss you...

Before she could finish speaking, he had already wrapped his arms around her waist and lowered his head to kiss her lips.

Just as they were kissing, Bai Yan rushed over and shouted, "Miss Yue, His Highness has fainted and keeps calling your name. You must go and see him!"

Gu Shanyue opened her eyes, which she had just closed, and was about to turn around when Qi Baitong's hand gripped the back of her neck. He opened his mouth and sucked hard, then pulled back instantly. As he pulled away, he lightly licked her lips, as if to soothe this brief lack of gentleness.

Gu Shanyue glared at him and walked towards Bai Yan: "What's wrong with him now?"

"After you spoke with His Highness, he suddenly fainted, but thankfully he didn't vomit blood." Bai Yan quickly explained the situation, even though he knew that Li Yuheng's emotional change was inextricably linked to Gu Shanyue, he dared not show the slightest disrespect.

"He's getting weaker and weaker; it must be because he's been thinking too much and it's ruining his health..."

Gu Shanyue frowned, then cheerful footsteps sounded behind her. Mao Hong'er appeared out of nowhere: "The Valley Master is back!"

Bai Yan thought to himself that something was wrong, and turned to look at Gu Shanyue, who indeed stopped in her tracks.

Turning around, Qi Baitong was still standing in the same spot, while Mao Hong'er was running over from a distance, covered in sweat, and said happily, "Sister Yue, the Valley Master has returned ahead of schedule, you should go and see him for treatment!"

Gu Shanyue didn't answer immediately, so Bai Yan urged her quickly, "Miss Yue, His Highness has been calling your name constantly, and his voice is hoarse. You should go see him. His Highness has put aside the affairs of Shengjing and has been traveling day and night these past few days, unable to eat or sleep properly, all for you..."

He spoke with righteous indignation, but Qi Baitong remained silent, standing there quietly watching her with a faint smile on his lips.

It was a posture of waiting, as if to say that no matter whether Gu Shanyue walked towards him or towards Li Yuheng, he could accept it with tolerance, just like every time before.

He could tolerate things when he thought he was just a substitute, so now that he knows Gu Shanyue's feelings, what is there that he can't tolerate?

He could suppress all his emotions and put on the most magnanimous and tolerant expression. He wanted to be the most obedient little dog in the family.

The best-behaved puppy will naturally receive the best reward.

Bai Yan was still rambling on when Gu Shanyue strode toward Qi Baitong, his eyes fixed solely on him.

"Miss Yue, His Highness..."

Gu Shanyue waved her hand with her back to him: "I'm not a doctor, let Bai Zhen treat him."

Bai Yan was speechless. Gu Shanyue wasn't like this before. She would always stay by Li Yuheng's side whenever he was injured. Now, she left behind a single sentence and went off to do things for others.

No wonder Li Yuheng was so angry that he vomited blood; even he would find it hard to accept such a disparity.

Everything has changed.