"Guangzhou?"
Shen Qing was stunned, staring blankly at He Fei: "Why am I in Guangzhou? Where is Cheng Zhiwen? Where is Cheng Zhiwen?!"
He Fei looked at Jiang Shen with a troubled expression.
Jiang Shen glanced around and lowered his voice: "Please come inside first, I'll tell you."
Shen Qing turned and went into the room, sitting down at the round table.
I had a vague feeling that something was wrong, and my hands were trembling with nervousness. I could only clench my fingers tightly to force myself to calm down.
With tears welling in her eyes, she looked at Jiang Shen and asked, "Where exactly is Cheng Zhiwen?"
Jiang Shen shook his head, which was hanging low: "We don't know either. When he was taken away by Mr. Cai's men, he was unconscious, just like you. We don't know where Mr. Cai took him."
Shen Qing then remembered.
She was still asleep in Cheng Zhiwen's arms before she opened her eyes.
They had just experienced a truly passionate sexual encounter, and the pain in her lower body reminded her that everything from last night was real.
But why did she wake up in Guangzhou and find Cheng Zhiwen had been taken away?
Too many questions were tugging at Shen Qing's mind. She had a headache and her heart was aching. She raised her hand and patted her chest, trying to stay focused and unravel the mystery.
"So, Cheng Zhiwen and I were both drugged by that Mr. Cai's people?"
The thought of being drugged and taken to Guangzhou, thousands of miles away, while still asleep reminded Shen Qing of the time when Cheng Zhiwu drugged her and tied her up in a dungeon.
Fear gripped them again: "Didn't you have people patrolling the yard? Why would you send someone in to drug us?"
Jiang Shen lowered his head and remained silent.
Standing to the side, He Fei said, "Although we are Mr. Cheng's subordinates, just like Mr. Cheng, when we see Mr. Cai's people, we have no choice but to obey."
Shen Qing was shocked: "So you were the ones who let them in?"
Neither of them made a sound.
With red eyes, Shen Qing questioned, "You just let people in like this? What if something happens? What if Cheng Zhiwen is murdered? What if he's poisoned like Cheng Zhiwu? How will you explain that to me?"
The two remained silent.
Enraged, Shen Qing pointed to the door and yelled, "Get out of here, you two traitors! I never want to see you again!"
Jiang Shen said, "Miss Zhu, please take care of your health so that you can reunite with Mr. Cheng soon."
He Fei seemed to have a sudden realization and nodded quickly, saying, "Yes, yes, you must take care of your health. It would be such a pity if Mr. Cheng came back and you were no longer healthy."
Shen Qing sneered: "Thank you!"
After saying that, he pushed the person out.
She locked the door, sat on the bed for a while, feeling more and more confused, and her heart still ached.
All they know right now is that they are in Guangzhou, but where exactly in Guangzhou, whose house are they staying in, where Cheng Zhiwen was taken, and whether she is in danger...
I know nothing about any of these things.
"Knock knock," someone knocked on the door.
Shen Qing went to open the door, and a maid dressed in a blue-gray maid's uniform with two small round buns in her hair stood outside, her head bowed, and said in a low voice, "Third Miss, Master requests that you go to the study to see him."
Third Miss?
Shen Qing frowned: "I am not anyone's third young lady. Are you sure you have the right person? Also, who is your master?"
The maidservant lowered her head and said meekly, "Our master's name is Zhu Min'an, and you are his third daughter."
After saying that, he turned around and walked into the depths of the corridor.
Shen Qing gazed at the end of the corridor, recalling the name "Zhu Min'an".
It sounds familiar, but I can't remember where I've heard it before.
Jiang Shen, who was waiting by the door, whispered a reminder: "Zhu Min'an used to work with Mr. Cheng. Maybe he knows where Mr. Cheng is now."
Shen Qing snapped out of her daze and rushed out the door.
Jiang Shen and He Fei caught up.
Upon entering the study, Shen Qing saw a middle-aged man with the same short haircut as Cheng Zhiwen and wearing a similar style of suit. He was sitting in a grand chair drinking tea. When he saw Shen Qing enter, he stood up and said, "Awake? Come in."
Shen Qingbai walked in, her face pale, and asked urgently, "Cheng Zhiwen, he..."
Zhu Min'an raised his hand and said, "Wait a moment." He then went to close the study door.
He returned and invited Shen Qing to sit down.
Shen Qing sat down, looking utterly dejected.
Zhu Min'an poured her a cup of tea and said in a low voice, "Zhiwen mentioned you to me. From the moment he saved you, you became my third daughter, Zhu Shining. I've told everyone that you studied in Europe and America for many years and have returned to China to live. You can rest assured that you'll live in the Zhu family for the rest of your life."
Upon hearing the last sentence, a wave of grief suddenly washed over Shen Qing.
Zhu Min'an wasn't saying he was waiting for Cheng Zhiwen to come back and pick her up; he was telling her to feel at ease living in the Zhu family for the rest of her life.
Does this mean that Cheng Zhiwen has already...?
Suppressing her emotions, Shen Qing asked with reddened eyes, "Mr. Zhu, do you know where Cheng Zhiwen is now?"
Zhu Min'an shook his head and poured Shen Qing a cup of hot tea.
"Is he still alive? Is Cheng Zhiwen still alive?" Shen Qing asked, crying.
Zhu Min'an glanced at her and sighed, "I wish he were still alive."
...
Winter has passed and spring has arrived; another year has passed.
Shen Qing stood under the eaves, gazing at the drizzling rain in the garden, and pulled her fur shawl tighter around her.
She has been staying at the Zhu family's house for a month.
During this month, which included the Lunar New Year, Cheng Zhiwen remained missing.
She lived alone in this small garden courtyard, with only a maid assigned to her by the Zhu family and Jiang Shen and He Fei for company.
Zhu Min'an would occasionally come back to see her, and every time she would ask him if he had any news of Cheng Zhiwen. Every time he would say that he would help her find out, but he never brought her any information about Cheng Zhiwen's whereabouts.
I am willing to talk to her about Cheng Zhiwen's past.
They all met Mr. Cai on a ship traveling from the United States to England. At that time, Cheng Zhiwen was studying in the United States, Zhu Min'an was a Guangzhou businessman active in Europe and America, and Mr. Cai was an official stationed in Japan.
The three men spoke with deep sorrow about the increasingly fragmented country under the rule of the Qing Dynasty, and it was then that they made the decision to start a revolution.
They started with only three people, but later, because of their shared ideals, they recruited more ambitious young people determined to build a new country.
Among these people were wealthy businessmen like Zhu Min'an, learned young people like Cheng Zhiwen who were proficient in foreign languages, and officials like Mr. Cai.
They divided the work among themselves, with some providing funding, some in charge of operations, and some coordinating the overall coordination.
They were all risking their lives for the people of this country and for the new nation.
Through Zhu Min'an, Shen Qing learned about Cheng Zhiwen's feelings for her from his perspective.
"People like us live day to day, constantly at risk of assassination or being arrested and beheaded by the Qing government. That's why, after returning to China, Zhiwen broke off his engagement with his fiancée of many years. Half a year ago, to save you, he came to ask me to be your nominal father, to give you a different identity. I asked him—"
“He said—he understood what bringing you back to the Cheng family meant, but he had no other choice. He loved you deeply and had once resolutely let you go, but you still got into trouble. That man couldn’t protect you, and he couldn’t abandon you again.”
After hearing these words, Shen Qing was already in tears.
“I never thought he loved me…” she cried. “I thought he just liked me a little at most. I always felt that after all these years of entanglement, if he really loved me, how could he bear to leave me…”
Zhu Min'an sighed and said, "Do you remember when you encountered pirates on the ship to England?"
Shen Qing nodded: "That's right. Cheng Zhiwen was shot in the back by a pirate."
"Zhiwen and a man named Xu Chong are both under Mr. Cai's command. Zhiwen is in charge of operations in Europe and America, while Xu Chong is in charge of East Asia and South Asia. Over the years, Xu Chong has been trying to find a way to get rid of Zhiwen. When he saw Zhiwen with you on the ship, he guessed that you were very important to him, since no woman had ever appeared by Zhiwen's side in all these years... Xu Chong knew that you were Zhiwen's beloved girl, so he colluded with pirates to use you as bait and shoot Zhiwen when he tried to save you."
Xu Chong...
This long-forgotten name evokes a thrilling memory at sea.
Shen Qing recalled that on the ship, Cheng Zhiwen told Xu Chong in front of her that he could never be interested in a widow.
Looking back now, he did it to dispel Xu Chong's suspicions and eliminate any potential harm to her.
I remember how I was angry with him about this back then, deliberately hiding it from him and acting alone, and being instigated by Xu Chong to mistakenly believe that he was a traitor, and almost killed him!
However, he was shot by a pirate while trying to save himself and almost died on the ship!
Shen Qing raised her hand and slapped herself!
Zhu Min'an stopped him, saying, "This is not your fault. It's just that you were born in the wrong era."
He continued, "After returning from England, Zhiwen saw that your existence had been exposed, and that Xu Chong and his faction already knew you were the girl he loved. He thought that things had come to this point, and whether it was out of a desire to protect you or because he had always loved you deeply, he decided to keep you by his side..."
So after disembarking, at the British hotel, Cheng Zhiwen took the initiative to have intimate physical contact with her.
After returning from England, she stayed at his villa in Shanghai, and he unusually pursued her sexually.
It turns out that at that time, he had already decided that the two of them would be together.
At that time, she mistakenly thought he was a traitor and rejected him, but he never clarified it, because once he did, it would inevitably bring out more secrets.
He was protecting her, and he was also protecting his brother.
"Miss Zhu, it's chilly outside, please come inside and rest," Jiang Shen said.
Shen Qing snapped out of her daze, pulled her shawl tighter, and turned to go inside. Suddenly, a violent wave of nausea surged up from the bottom of her stomach, and the saliva in her mouth instantly tasted different.
Shen Qing instinctively braced his hand against the pillar and bent over to vomit.
"Ugh... ugh..." White liquid gushed down; it was the milk she drank for breakfast.
Jiang Shen was terrified and shouted at the maid not far away, "Go get a doctor! Go get a doctor right away!"
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