Chapter 200: No, Your Highness, please let me go back on my own
"Don't misunderstand me, Your Highness. It's true that what I said was for my own benefit, but think about it, Your Highness. If you marry into the Xiangfu at this time, it's like having the Xiangfu behind you. Maybe His Majesty will be wary of you, right?"
Gu Siqing tried her best to make Chi Hongyuan give up the idea of marrying her, and it would be best if this idea never appeared again.
She scratched her head, trying to distance herself from Chi Hongyuan, forgetting that such a simple truth, how could Chi Hongyuan not know it?
Unexpectedly, Chi Hongyuan did not refute what she said, but looked at her with increasingly complicated eyes.
Today, Gu Siqing saw a Chi Hongyuan who was completely different from before, and she was a little confused about the look in his eyes.
Chi Hongyuan took a sip of tea, and when he lowered his eyes, he saw the herbal sachet on Gu Siqing's waist. He thought of Bai Ziyu who came to see him on her behalf that day. To be honest, the two of them were inseparable before and seemed to have a very good relationship.
According to what he had investigated, Gu Siqing and Bai Ziyu had known each other for a long time, before they got married. After Gu Siqing married into the Marquis's Mansion, she was not on good terms with Tan Zhuoyan. Was it because she had already fallen in love with Bai Ziyu before that?
If she didn't have someone in her heart, why did Gu Siqing treat Tan Zhuoyan so coldly after marrying into the Marquis's Mansion? Chi Hongyuan couldn't think of any other reason.
Gu Siqing wanted to hear what Chi Hongyuan had to say, but Chi Hongyuan neither refuted her nor agreed with her.
"I may be busy next, but if there is anything, you can give me a signal and I will come. I hope that our cooperation can last a little longer. Miss Gu should not think of severing the relationship between us immediately, right? That would be too heartless."
Chi Hongyuan smiled, but Gu Siqing could hear the test in his words. She thought that she did have an idea but had no way to implement it.
"Your Highness, you are joking. The monk can run away, but the temple cannot." Gu Siqing said these polite words, hoping that Chi Hongyuan would be too busy to pay attention to her.
"Zui Xiang Lou has been in some trouble recently, and I'd like to ask Miss Gu for a favor." Chi Hongyuan changed the subject quite quickly, and Gu Siqing was stunned for a moment because she couldn't keep up with his thoughts.
"What's the matter?" Gu Siqing subconsciously looked through the window towards the lobby downstairs. On the surface, Zui Xiang Lou was still bustling with activity.
"Someone is investigating Zui Xiang Lou's background. They can't find anything, but I was negligent before. The comprador of Zui Xiang Lou was my person. There are some unclear things on the account. I am afraid that person will get suspicious. Even the slightest clue will cause enough trouble to give me a headache."
Chi Hongyuan held his chin in his hand and spoke in a lazy manner. After Gu Siqing refused to marry him, he no longer sat upright.
"Your Highness wants me to do this?" Gu Siqing thought about it for a while and it didn't seem to be a difficult matter that he couldn't help with.
"Ms. Gu's shop sells clothing, rouge, powder, and jewelry. You only need to provide the relevant goods to Zui Xiang Lou privately, and then pretend to be accidentally exposed and let that person find out, and that'll be it."
Chi Hongyuan took out a stack of banknotes and pushed them in front of Gu Siqing: "This is the deposit. Miss Hong will give you the rest after the deal is done."
It is somewhat difficult to expose the business of a brothel in public. Gu Siqing only needs to pretend to have business dealings with Zui Xiang Lou in secret, and if anyone finds out any clues, this matter will not endanger her personal safety.
Chi Hongyuan's purpose was just to make the operation of Zui Xiang Lou look no different from that of an ordinary brothel in order to dispel the suspicion of some people.
"Okay, no problem. I'll tell my men to do it when I get back." Gu Siqing thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.
"In this case, I owe you a favor. If there's anything you need me to do in the future, just ask."
Chi Hongyuan looked elsewhere when he spoke. When he wasn't looking at Gu Siqing, she could actually breathe a sigh of relief.
After discussing the plan, Gu Siqing felt so sleepy that she asked to leave. Chi Hongyuan saw that she was not feeling well and offered to take her back home.
Gu Siqing, who was a little dozed off, immediately perked up and waved his hands repeatedly: "No, Your Highness, please let me go back on my own."
Seeing Gu Siqing's reaction, Chi Hongyuan's smile became a little bitter. He did not force her, and the two of them left.
After returning home, Gu Siqing felt weak and tired. She was worried that her illness would be triggered, so she washed up and went to bed.
In the second half of the night, the woman who was sleeping soundly on the bed suddenly opened her eyes. She broke out in a cold sweat. The candlelight on the table swayed gently in the summer breeze. Gu Siqing looked towards the half-open window and heard the sound of her own drum clearly.
She had a nightmare.
She had always thought that she had concealed her identity well, but first Xuanyuan Yu, then Chi Hongyuan, the reality of their identities being discovered one after another slapped her in the face. She had not handled her identity cleanly enough after all.
If someone who is truly powerful and has the means wanted to investigate her background, it would be easy to do so without even having to put in much effort.
The cover-up she did was just to hide it from the people in Zhou Mansion. As for Hou Mansion, they never thought there was any problem with her identity. Thinking of the poor way she covered up, Gu Siqing felt angry and amused.
"Miss?" Guihua walked in from the outer room holding a lamp and saw Gu Siqing who had woken up. "Are you feeling unwell?"
"I just had a nightmare and just woke up. You go down and rest. I want to be alone for a while." Gu Siqing waved his hands weakly.
Gu Siqing didn't think much about it when she was in Zui Xiang Lou, but at this moment, Chi Hongyuan's words and actions flashed through her mind like a kaleidoscope, especially the ambiguous look in Chi Hongyuan's eyes when he looked at her, which made her feel frightened.
Guihua did not retreat. Seeing that her young lady's face was not very good, she was relieved. She walked forward lightly to help Gu Siqing tuck in the quilt: "Young lady, you are alone, is it really okay?"
"I'm fine, I'm just a little confused. I need to calm down and think about it alone. You can leave."
Gu Siqing took the handkerchief and wiped the sweat off her face, looking solemnly at the candlelight on the table. Guihua could see that her master was worried. Although she was anxious, she couldn't help much here, so she had to hold the oil lamp and retreat: "Miss, call me if you have anything."
The door closed with a slight sound, and Gu Siqing lay back on the bed, staring at the gauze curtain with empty eyes. Chi Hongyuan looked at her with an unfrank look. Judging from his demeanor today, he might not have proposed marriage just for the Xiangfu.
Maybe he's after her as a person.
Chi Hongyuan is not someone who would sacrifice his marriage for the sake of family support, unless he himself has no objection to the person he marries.
She could still refuse the private face-to-face discussion, but if Chi Hongyuan became emperor in the future and an imperial decree was issued, she would have to accept the marriage. She was afraid that she would inevitably need to enter the palace as a concubine in the future.
For Gu Siqing, entering the palace as a concubine was no less than a nightmare. She had just escaped from a wolf's den and didn't want to fall into the tiger's mouth again.
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