Moved

Inside the room, the flickering candlelight stretched and overlapped the shadows of the two people behind them, like twin lotus blossoms growing together.

"I can't cook, so I can only offer this as a substitute. This is Ding Sheng Gao (a type of rice cake). I heard from your page that you love to eat this." Gu Yu held his hand with its distinct knuckles tightly. "Even if this doesn't count, you will definitely be able to win the top prize again in three years."

"Okay, Ayu, I'm so happy that you trust me." He was pleased by her complete trust and chuckled softly.

"Wait for me at home. Take care of yourself and don't get sick again; it breaks my heart." He stroked her soft, white fingers. "I'm so happy that my father chose you for me; it's the only thing I should thank him for..."

He saw Gu Yu's brows furrowed with worry, and reached out to smooth them away. "Don't think about these things anymore. We'll get married when Marquis Wu'an returns."

After Shen Changqing admitted that he had fallen for Gu Yu, his words and actions became increasingly intimate.

In his view, Gu Yu was destined to become his wife. So when he unexpectedly pulled Gu Yu into his arms, he wasn't surprised at all; instead, he felt somewhat relieved.

It is said that time reveals true character, and adversity reveals true feelings.

He's hit rock bottom, but Gu Yu remains steadfastly by his side. How could he not believe that she truly loves him?

Gu Yu nodded, but stiffened for a moment when he embraced her, and awkwardly wrapped her arms around his waist.

On their way back, Gu Yu still looked somewhat worried. Madam Shen thought she was worried about Shen Changqing, but that was not the case.

Shen Changqing was even smarter and more perceptive than she had expected, so she wanted to meet Xu Qiu tomorrow.

Madam Shen escorted Gu Yu back to the back gate of the Marquis of Wu'an's residence, and Gu Yu asked Qiu Ju to leave the door open for her.

I strolled into the courtyard.

The Marquis of Wu'an's mansion was actually quite large, but Gu Yu rarely wandered around. The places she spent most of her time were the front hall where she ate with Gu Jin and her own small courtyard.

Her body was too weak; she would feel extremely weak after walking just a few steps. She had to take bitter, dark-colored herbal medicine every day, but it still didn't work.

Sometimes she would suspect that this body was actually half-dead, and that she had only come here to keep her on her last breath. If that breath were to dissipate, she probably wouldn't live much longer.

Her courtyard was very quiet, or rather, the entire Wu'an Marquis's mansion was very quiet, because she was the only mistress. She sent many people away, leaving only some necessary stewards.

"Miss, you're back. How is Young Master Shen?" Chun Yue saw Gu Yu return at a glance and quickly asked.

"Fortunately, he will definitely be able to get out of the imperial prison... as long as... the Embroidered Uniform Guard investigates the case thoroughly." Gu Yu's expression was indifferent, her worry faded, and weariness appeared on her brows.

"That's good, that's good." Chunyue patted her chest, looking extremely worried about Shen Changqing. "Miss, please rest assured. Young Master Shen is so talented, he would never do anything like cheating in the imperial examinations."

"Chunyue, I'm a little tired. You woke me up at Shenshi. You and Qiuju should go out first."

Gu Yu rubbed her aching head. If she could, she would wish for him to be locked up for the rest of his life.

If Shen Changqing wants to get out of the imperial prison, Shen Xiuwen will definitely take action.

She sent a beggar to camp near the Shen residence, and she estimated that the beggar would return late at night.

Thinking of those enemies, resentment instantly filled his chest, and the hideous demons seemed about to burst out of his chest at any moment.

Gu Yu suppressed the resentment in her heart and kept comforting herself to wait a little longer, not to rush.

Sitting on the bed, she closed her eyes and rested for a moment. When she opened them again, she found that Qiuju, who had been doing needlework, was still there. She had not left with Chunyue.

"What's wrong?" Gu Yu asked, puzzled.

"Miss." Qiu Ju suddenly knelt down, tears streaming down her face. "Miss, what's on your mind? What have you been doing lately? Tell me, I want to help you."

Qiu Ju noticed, but Gu Yu wasn't surprised. Qiu Ju usually knew when Gu Yu went out, so it was natural that she could guess something.

Moreover, Qiuju is a clever girl.

However, the maids who grew up with their masters were generally very loyal, but Gu Yu dared not gamble with people's hearts, nor did she dare to easily trust others.

So she wanted to see how far the clever Qiuju could guess, and also to test her loyalty. Of course, she couldn't tell her the whole truth.

"Qiuju, tell me, what have you guessed so far?"

"I understand about the poetry gathering. Liu Qingqing was invited by Miss. Miss hates Su Bicheng, so she wants him to suffer the consequences of his actions."

“That’s right.” Gu Yu nodded. “If he behaves himself and stops bothering me, I will naturally ignore him. But he insists on climbing the social ladder, and he climbed so high that falling to his death is the result of his own choice.”

Qiuju nodded, agreeing with her young mistress.

"Miss doesn't seem to like Young Master Shen, but she seems to care about him a lot. Does Miss want to use the imperial examination to break off the engagement with him?"

"That's not bad either."

Although the details were unclear, Qiuju had already figured out her intentions: "The Shen family wants to take advantage of the Marquis of Wu'an's mansion, and Shen Changqing doesn't have much sincerity towards me. I'm just pretending to coax him; I will never marry him."

"But the time isn't right yet, we have to wait a little longer." Gu Yu slightly raised the corners of her lips, the smile not reaching her eyes. "What? Are you scared?"

"Don't be afraid. Qiuju was saved by Miss, and Qiuju's life belongs to Miss."

Why don't you ask me why I did this?

"Miss has her reasons, and she will speak when she wants to."

Gu Yu smiled with satisfaction, "Alright. Don't you think I've become unlike the young lady I used to be?"

After a moment's thought, Qiuju said, "It's a good thing that Miss has become like this; no one can bully her now."

"I don't need you to do anything extra for me. Just keep my whereabouts a secret. You can't even tell anyone if my brother asks. You also have to cover for Chun Yue. That's all."

"Qiuju, whether you believe it or not, I am protecting the Marquis of Wu'an's mansion."

Shen Xiuwen set her sights on the Marquis of Wu'an's mansion. She removed a malignant tumor from the Marquis of Wu'an's mansion that wanted to climb up the social ladder. How could that not be considered protecting it?

"I'm really tired, you should go out too."

"yes."

Qiuju recalled that she was only twelve years old when she entered the manor. The young lady was already ten years old at that time. The lady of the manor had passed away early, and the master and young master had to go out to resist the southern barbarians. Only the old lady was left in the manor.

She eavesdropped outside the window of the young lady's study, listening to the tutor instructing her in poetry and literature.

Unexpectedly, the manager who happened to be passing by saw her and said that she was neglecting her duties and disrespecting her master, and that he would sell her off to a brothel.

The young lady kept her, even letting her study with her and making her the young lady's personal maid.

How could she not be grateful to Miss?

She had already decided before kneeling down that no matter what her mistress asked her to do, whether it was to go down mountains or through fire, or to commit murder or arson, she would do it.

*

"Young Master Xu, come with me. Someone has come to visit you." The jailer's attitude was even more respectful this time than he had been to Shen Changqing.

After all, when there was no imperial edict, the Embroidered Uniform Guard was under the command of the Eastern Depot, and Xu Qiu was that person's adopted son. Although he was not the only one, he was the most valued.

He had occasionally heard about Xu Qiu's deeds in the Eastern Depot; he was a ruthless character with a handsome face.

Xu Qiu was clearly surprised to hear this, but after thinking about it, he realized who the visitor was.

But he still chuckled and asked, "Who did she say she was to me?"

Shen Changqing was in the imperial prison; how could she dare to visit him in her own capacity?

Shen Changqing, who had been keeping his eyes closed, opened them and saw the commotion in the opposite cell, as well as the person at the center of the turmoil.

The jailer was in a dilemma, clearly finding the visitor's identity difficult to reveal. After a long pause, he stammered, "He said he's a servant from your mistress's concubine, and he's come to bring you some food..."

Xu Qiu's smile froze on his face, and he said through gritted teeth, "Fine, take me to see what delicious food my mistress's servants have brought me."

A mistress? Shen Changqing pondered. He was indeed a womanizer, but he dared not cause any trouble before getting married.

Xu Qiu was bold, not afraid that no woman in the capital would marry him, even though his reputation was already bad and he was the adopted son of a eunuch.

As soon as Xu Qiu stepped into the house, he saw Gu Yu, who had gone to great lengths to disguise herself. She had applied dark rouge, stuck on a beard, and was dressed in simple cloth clothes.

Even so, Xu Qiu recognized her at a glance.

"What's your name? Why didn't my mistress come to see me in person?" Xu Qiu leaned against the door with his arms crossed, speaking in an unhappy tone.

“Young master, you can just call me Aning. I’m a new servant that my wife recently bought,” Gu Yu replied in a rough voice. “My wife is very worried about you and is currently bedridden.”

"Young master, are you hungry? Have something to eat first." She opened the food box and brought out all the dishes.

Xu Qiu laughed in anger, but still patiently opened the door behind him and said to the jailer guarding outside, "Zhang Dacheng, you don't need to guard anymore. Here... take this silver and buy some snacks to go with your drinks. Consider the extra as a reward."

"Alright!" Zhang Dacheng smiled broadly, took the silver, and left happily.

Xu Qiu found a long wooden bench and sat down. He glanced at the exquisite dishes in front of him, but found them tasteless. "I've done so many things for you, and this is all you're going to do to get rid of me?"

Gu Yu reached out and patted Xu Qiu's shoulder, causing Xu Qiu to cry out in pain, "Young Master Xu is usually so gentle and polite, why are you being so harsh today?"

She pulled a bottle of wound medicine from her sleeve. "Since you don't want to take it, let's apply the medicine first."

"How did you know I was injured?" This time, Xu Qiu was surprised. Could it be that Gu Yu was a female strategist who knew everything?

"On the first day of the imperial examination, when I was waiting for someone at Chongwen Gate, I saw you carrying the examination basket and you looked a bit off. I guessed you were injured."

As she explained, she took off Xu Qiu's clothes, "You haven't changed your dressing for more than ten days. Aren't you afraid that the wound will fester? I told you not to go to the imperial examination. Why did you still go?"

Xu Qiu thought of the scene where Gu Yu and Shen Changqing were being affectionate that day, and he felt a strange mix of emotions. In the blink of an eye, she had stripped off his upper body, leaving him only in his undergarments.

"you--"

"How can you be so quick?" He pulled at his inner garment to prevent her from taking it off. "I can do it myself. How can a young lady like you do such a thing?"

Gu Yu frowned, looking at his "unmarried young man" appearance, determined to resist to the death, and felt a headache coming on. "Your injury is on your shoulder and back, how can you change your own dressing? Besides, you've done so much for me, I'm just returning the favor. If you really feel bad about it, just treat me like a man, okay?"

Xu Qiu hesitated for a moment, but eventually let go of the hand that was gripping his collar. Gu Yu took off his right shoulder and looked at the crisscrossing marks of sticks and whips on his back. They hadn't been properly treated for more than ten days, and some of them looked even more serious.

She carefully applied medicine to his wound and treated the festering sores. Seeing that he was injured not only on his right shoulder, she simply took off his entire undergarment.

The chill caused goosebumps to rise on Xu Qiu's exposed skin, and the pain from the medication in his back pulled his wandering thoughts back—

"You seem to treat people's wounds quite often."

Despite the large area of ​​the wound on her back, she applied the medicine so quickly and skillfully, causing very little irritation to the wound, as if she had done it hundreds or thousands of times.

Her hand brushed against his back like a feather, causing a slight, painful itch that quickly vanished.

Although Gu Yu knew that he already knew her identity, she was still unwilling to bring up the past, and could only vaguely say, "I learned it from books."

"Miss Gu is truly a prodigy; she learns everything very well."

"You flatter me, you flatter me." Gu Yu quietly lowered her eyes to apply the medicine to him, and then took out gauze from the bottom of the food box and wrapped it around his neck.

The room was quiet, with only slight movements. Xu Qiu turned slightly to her, glancing at Gu Yu's serious expression out of the corner of her eye.

The red mole between her eyebrows, combined with her gentle and submissive expression, made her resemble a compassionate Guanyin, exuding a sacred beauty.

It seemed to be the first time he had looked at her so intently, even though his godfather had given him a death order, demanding that he marry Gu Yu.

He nodded in agreement, but completely let the Gu family's young lady live her life as she pleased, never thinking of approaching her rashly.

He only became interested when he noticed that this gentle and docile young lady of the Marquis's mansion was behaving out of line, wanting to see what great secret was hidden beneath her innocent exterior.

She was clever and good at disguising herself, but unfortunately, there was someone else in the world who was just like her inside, and saw through them at a glance.

"Was that red mole between your eyebrows something you were born with?"

As Gu Yu wrapped the bandage around his neck, she replied as if they were having a casual conversation, "No, it's because I've been weak since I was little. My grandmother lit this for me and prayed to Guanyin for protection."

After replying, she felt strange again, "Aren't you going to marry Gu Yu? How come you don't know anything about these things?"

"Cough cough..." Xu Qiu felt a little guilty, touched his nose, and put his clothes back on one by one.

"Young Master Xu, can we eat now? I have some questions for you after you finish eating." Gu Yu glanced at Xu Qiu's earlobes, which were so red they looked like they were about to bleed, and curiously reached out to touch them.

Xu Qiu almost jumped off the wooden stool. "What...what are you doing? What are you doing...?"

Xu Qiu couldn't bring himself to make any flirtatious or seductive remarks because Gu Yu's expression was so natural.

You shouldn't treat me like this.

“Okay.” Gu Yu blinked, her gaze innocent. She simply thought it would be fun to tease Xu Qiu.

"And about the affair, you shouldn't have ruined my reputation like this. How am I supposed to get married in the future?"

Gu Yu looked at him with a surprised expression that seemed to say, "You actually still have a good reputation," leaving Xu Qiu speechless.

"Do you know the most beautiful courtesan at Yunxian Pavilion? Never mind, whether you've met her or not, from now on she will be your mistress."

"Zhou Yiren, right?" How could he not know someone who had been released from the Eastern Depot's prison?

"From now on, she will just be Xu San Niang, living in the third alley to the left of Xuanwu Gate, the second courtyard on the left. If someone is watching you after you go out, go and see her."

"You've already thought this through before you started labeling me," Xu Qiu sneered. "Miss Gu, with this kind of reputation, I might really never be able to marry a wife."

He picked up the bowl and chopsticks on the table to soothe his stomach. The past few days in prison had been tough, but it was still better than the days after his parents died when he was a child.

The food was really bad; it was barely enough to fill my stomach, and it was a miracle I didn't feel nauseous.

Gu Yu, however, thought of something else: "If you can't marry me, your godfather won't let you enter the palace to become a eunuch, right?"

"Cough..." Xu Qiu couldn't catch his breath. He had just picked up a piece of food with his chopsticks when they suddenly slipped from his grasp, and the food fell back onto the plate. He gritted his teeth and said, "How is this possible?"

"Miss Gu is joking. I'm waiting to be Miss Gu's husband, how could I possibly become a eunuch in the palace?"

He uttered the last sentence almost word by word.

To be fair, Xu Qiu's knife, which had ulterior motives, was indeed very useful.

"You should know that my brother dislikes you very much, not to mention my father. If I were to marry you, I would be taking a huge risk."

She didn't want to rashly break ties with the powerful Marquis of Wu'an's family for a man with impure motives; Xu Qiu's influence was still not significant enough.

Xu Qiu gave a soft "hmm" and wasn't angry; she just continued eating.

"I'm rather curious, what did you do to make your godfather so angry?"

"Do you still remember the day the Yunxian Pavilion caught fire?" He glanced at her expression, which remained calm as ever.

"I sent away the guards stationed at Yunxian Pavilion, waiting to ambush them, but unexpectedly, it was Shen Xiuwen's men who came. They left a little earlier than you. You're really lucky; you just happened to run into me..."

"I didn't expect there were things hidden in Yunxian Pavilion... What a pity..." Gu Yu muttered to herself.

Guan Yiyun really knows how to hide things. She searched Yunxian Pavilion for so long, but couldn't find anything unusual.

Xu Qiu, with his sharp ears and keen eyesight, heard everything clearly: "Back then, too many people were involved. It's enough to stop at Wang Huai'en. Doing more would only alert the enemy."

"But if you want to take action against Shen Changqing, then it will be just the right time for Shen Xiuwen's affair to be exposed."

Gu Yu frowned and remained motionless for a long time.

Xu Qiu suffered such serious injuries while trying to help her.

"Why?" she asked, stubbornly seeking an answer. "You're helping me for the power of the Marquis of Wu'an's mansion, aren't you?"

“That’s true.” Xu Qiu raised the corners of his lips and did not deny it. “If the next imperial examination will be three years away, I need to at least have something to offer so that my adoptive father won’t abandon me.”