Chapter 38 Chapter 37 Moon Chaser Pavilion
Gu Cheng stood up, went to meet Liang Qiulan, took her hand and asked with concern: "Madam, why did you go out today? What happened?" If the ministers in the court saw that the usually decisive Duke of Yingguo was so gentle and delicate at home, they would probably be shocked. However, there were indeed some stories circulating in the capital about the love between the Duke of Yingguo and his wife.
Only the doorman, Jiang Yi, Liang Qiulan and her maid Furong knew that Gu Shiyan had returned. The doorman did not know Gu Shiyan's identity, and Jiang Yi had been with Liang Qiulan all day, running around for Gu Shiyan's affairs, so Gu Cheng did not know about this yet.
Liang Qiulan took a quick look and sent the servants away, "You all go down." The maids serving around bowed and followed Furong away. Before leaving, Furong tactfully closed the door.
Gu Cheng was still a little confused at this time, not knowing what his wife was going to do, "Lan'er, what's wrong? Why did you send the servants away for no reason?"
Liang Qiulan said nothing, simply burying her head in Gu Cheng's chest. Gu Cheng didn't know why his wife was acting so strangely today. He remained silent, simply reaching out to hold Liang Qiulan in his arms, waiting for her to speak. Then, Gu Cheng felt a sudden rush of heat on his palm: Liang Qiulan's tears.
He could only hug her tighter and wipe away her tears. But Liang Qiulan's tears only flowed more violently as she muttered, "Is he wiping my tears like this too?"
Gu Cheng couldn't sit still any longer. He? Which he? Gu Cheng was getting anxious. How could he suddenly have a love rival? Someone who had even brought his wife to tears? He secretly resolved that if he found out who this person was, he would make him suffer.
About half an hour later, Liang Qiulan finally stopped crying. By then, Gu Cheng's chest was already wet, and the food on the table had long since gone cold. Gu Cheng didn't care. Seeing Liang Qiulan stand up and leave his chest, he reached out and rubbed the corners of her eyes, his face full of heartache. "Your eyes are swollen from crying. Who made Liang'er so sad? I will definitely teach him a lesson."
Before she could finish her words, Liang Qiulan punched him in the chest and shouted angrily, "How dare you!" She was completely different from the delicate woman just now.
Gu Cheng's handsome face was filled with grievance. Was this new lover's charm so great? In just one day, she had surpassed him. He had to do something to consolidate his position. "No lesson, no lesson. Madam, please don't be angry. Now, can you tell me what happened?"
"Ayan's back," Liang Qiulan said with a smile. This was the first time Gu Cheng had seen her so full of life since she fell ill. His attention was completely absorbed by Liang Qiulan's appearance, so he didn't hear what she said. He comforted himself in his heart, thinking that if this new lover could please his wife, then it would be fine for him to stay.
Seeing that he didn't react, Liang Qiulan knocked on his chest again, and her tone was already a little angry, "I said A Yan is back, why don't you react at all?"
Gu Cheng finally came to his senses and quickly searched for the person named "Ayan" in his mind. His tone was uncertain but also full of expectation. "Are you saying that Yan'er is back?" It's not his fault that he didn't think of Gu Shiyan the first time. Twenty years was really too long. He had sent people to search for Gu Shiyan countless times. Unfortunately, the knight had left no clues before leaving. His search was like looking for a needle in a haystack, and naturally, he hadn't found any news.
He no longer had any hope in his heart, but he didn't dare tell Liang Qiulan all this. Liang Qiulan had lived like a walking corpse these years, and Gu Shiyan's return was her only hope to survive.
"Of course, there's no other A-Yan besides him."
A flicker of suspicion crossed Gu Cheng's mind. The current situation in the capital was precarious, a truly impending storm. His Majesty was already tyrannical, and even more so after some unknown incident three years ago. Why had he appeared at this very moment, not earlier or later?
He looked at his wife's delighted expression and couldn't bear to voice his suspicions. If it was false, it would be fine as long as it pleased Liang Qiulan. But if it was true, the child would be heartbroken to know that his biological father suspected him so. Regardless of the circumstances, Gu Cheng decided to keep the matter to himself and make plans after meeting Gu Shiyan.
After finishing his meal, Gu Cheng returned to his study. He sent someone to invite Jiang Yi over. The first thing he said when he saw Jiang Yi was, "Did you see the young master today?"
Jiang Yi had been at the Gu residence for quite some time, so he naturally understood the hidden meaning behind Gu Cheng's words. He simply wanted to learn more about Gu Shiyan from him, but he didn't know that Gu Cheng had some doubts about Gu Shiyan's identity. "Master, the young master has indeed returned today. The jade pendant he wears is exactly the same as the one he wore back then, and even his appearance is 80% similar to Madam's."
Gu Cheng remained silent, as if lost in thought. Back then, the incident had been extremely secretive, with only the three masters, Jiang Yi, and Liang Qiulan's companion, Furong, in the entire mansion knowing of it. There was no way these people would betray him. Furthermore, the patterns on the jade pendant were extremely complex and unusual. Was he truly overthinking it?
"I understand. You go down first." Gu Cheng said.
The candlelight outside had gradually been blown out. In the dark night, only some light was still coming from Gu Cheng's study. He had not slept all night, sitting at the desk, not knowing what he was thinking about.
Meanwhile, on the other side.
After the dark figure emerged from the Duke's Mansion, he headed straight for the Imperial Palace. He didn't put on any disguise, swaggering about with complete impunity, seemingly unfazed by the prospect of being discovered. And indeed, the heavily guarded palace was like a deserted place to him.
Gu Shiyan had great confidence in his own cultivation. As long as he didn't want to, no one in this world could discover him. He didn't even need to hide. It wasn't that the defenses in the palace were too sparse. Gu Shiyan had already sensed the presence of no less than ten Linhai Realm experts along the way, including several of his acquaintances.
The palace, with its red walls and golden tiles, was a magnificent sight, shimmering even at night. Countless palaces and chambers filled the space, but the most striking was a towering attic, situated at the center of the palace. While not as dramatic as the saying, "a tower so high you can reach for the stars," it stood out from the surrounding lower-rise chambers.
Gu Shiyan quickly turned around and headed for the pavilion. This was the purpose of his trip. Rumors circulated that the current emperor had built a tower within the palace to store the world's treasures and had sent many imperial masters to guard it. Although Gu Shiyan felt that Mu Congmo would not do such a thing, since there were rumors, and there might be something he needed inside, the trip was not a big deal.
For others, venturing into the deep palace would require many days of preparation, and they might not even be able to escape unscathed. However, Gu Shiyan did not have such worries. For him, coming here was as relaxing as returning home.
Soon, Gu Shiyan arrived in front of the tall building. From a distance, he couldn't spot it, but once he got closer, he realized that the style of the building was completely out of place with the rest of the palace. Instead, it had a distinctly Jiangnan style. Gu Shiyan was puzzled. How could this building suddenly become a Jiangnan style? It was a bit out of place.
His internal energy spread out in all directions, but he didn't detect any trace of a warrior's internal energy. This contradicted the rumors that many experts were stationed here. He didn't think much of it. It was normal for rumors in the martial arts world to be exaggerated, but the news from Fengyu Tower was more credible.
Besides searching for his relatives, he had another purpose in returning to the capital: to find something. Before coming here, he had made a special trip to the Fengyu Tower branch in Jizhou. According to Fengyu Tower, the item he was looking for should be within the palace, and the most likely location was this pavilion.
It was too dark, and Gu Shiyan did not look carefully at the words on the plaque, so he did not know the name of the pavilion. After confirming that there was no one guarding the place, he pushed open the wooden door and walked in.
There were no so-called treasures inside, it was very empty, with only a staircase leading to the second floor. Gu Shiyan stepped up and arrived at the second floor, only to find that the layout here was exactly the same as the first floor, also so empty, with only a staircase leading up.
He climbed up the stairs again and reached the third floor. There were only three floors in this building. If he still didn't find anything on the third floor, then he would have to return empty-handed.
The third floor was different from the lower floor. There was a small room separated by a wall, but it was locked. Gu Shiyan looked at the locked room and thought to himself, this must be the place where the rumored rare treasures were kept. Although the door was locked with a copper lock, it didn't matter to Gu Shiyan. He took a step forward, ready to use his internal energy to blast the lock open.
But then, a sudden noise came from the terrace outside, sounding like a wine jug falling to the ground. Gu Shiyan was interrupted by the sudden sound. He hid behind the wall and stuck his head out to investigate. He was not worried. Firstly, he had already used his internal energy to investigate, but found no trace of internal energy, which meant that the person did not have internal energy. Secondly, he was absolutely confident in his own strength.
What he saw was this scene: a cold bright moon hung high in the sky, and on the terrace there was a man sitting cross-legged with his body slightly leaning back. The wine jug in his hand was made of fine green jade, and there were many empty wine jugs scattered around him.
Gu Shiyan couldn't see the man's expression from this angle, but his back gave people a sense of loneliness. He held the wine jug in one hand and supported himself on the ground with the other, staring blankly at the cold moon in the sky. However, the holy light of the moon spread all over the earth, but not a single drop fell on him.
Gu Shiyan heard his self-deprecating laughter. After a while, probably because of the alcohol, he didn't make any more sounds and fainted.
Gu Shiyan had no intention of interfering in this matter, but just as he was about to leave, he suddenly saw the man's face clearly.
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