After hearing Zhu Jiayu's words, Gu Jinshu finally calmed down, only ordering people to keep an eye on Yu Wenchao's movements outside the Yu residence every day.
After about half a month, Yu Wenchao finally left the mansion.
In the past two weeks, Gu Jinshu also learned about another matter concerning Yu Wenchao: he seemed to have taken a liking to Miss Liu.
She overheard Yu Qinglan and her close friends talking about this in the teahouse. She was sitting back to back with Yu Qinglan and was about to leave when she recognized her voice, but after sitting for a while, she heard Yu Qinglan talking about her cousin in the mansion.
Gu Jinshu didn't know which Liu family this was, nor did she know when Yu Wenchao had met with the young lady of the Liu family. She could only vaguely glean from Yu Qinglan's words that Yu Wenchao had taken a liking to the young lady of the Liu family after merely looking at her portrait.
Yu Qinglan also said that there were more than a dozen eligible young ladies in the album, but her cousin said there was no need to look anymore, as it was Miss Liu.
Gu Jinshu, listening behind Yu Qinglan, was itching to speak.
She thought that bookworm was different, but wasn't he also someone who was lustful at first sight? Although she didn't know the name or appearance of Miss Liu, Gu Jinshu had already made up her mind.
Upon hearing that Yu Wenchao had left the manor that day, she hurriedly took a carriage and ordered the driver to follow Yu Wenchao's carriage. Later, she followed Yu Wenchao and got off the carriage by the Chunyin River.
She hid behind the willow tree, wanting to see where Yu Wenchao was going and what he was doing since he rarely went out. But to her surprise, Yu Wenchao was standing by the river, gazing into the distance.
She couldn't hold back any longer and drifted off into a daze. When she came back to her senses, Yu Wenchao's figure had vanished right before her eyes.
Before long, a clear male voice sounded from behind her: "Your Highness has followed me all this way, I suppose you have something to say to me?"
Gu Jinshu was caught off guard and startled. After a moment of panic, she turned around and looked at Yu Wenchao with a smile: "I didn't follow Young Master Yu. It was just a coincidence. But since Young Master Yu has said so, wouldn't it be a shame if I didn't say something?"
Without giving Yu Wenchao a chance to interrupt, she broke off a willow branch and played with it in her hand. While tugging at the leaves, she looked at Yu Wenchao with a smile and said, "Young Master Yu has always upheld the etiquette of a gentleman. Didn't the sage also say that a gentleman should remember that men and women should not touch each other?"
Yu Wenchao nodded calmly.
Gu Jinshu smiled, threw away the willow branch, pretended to slip, and fell headfirst into the river.
She frantically struggled.
Before she could even cry out "Help!", she heard the sound of something heavy falling into the water, and then she was caught by a pair of hands.
Gu Jinshu blinked, pulled the hands to the surface, then shook her head to wipe the water off her face. She looked at the owner of the hands, tilting her head mischievously: "Oh dear, Young Master Yu, we've ended up in a matchmaking arrangement. What should we do? Can you still be considered a gentleman now?"
Yu Wenchao then realized he had been tricked. The little girl in front of him showed no sign of panic whatsoever. He then recalled a past event and realized that the little girl could actually swim.
He acted rashly in his anxiety, and his concern clouded his judgment.
However, he asked himself, if she fell into the water in front of him again next time, would he remember this lesson and remain indifferent?
cannot.
He could never remain indifferent whenever she appeared before him.
However, while thinking this in his heart, his face remained indifferent, only a hint of a half-smile flickered in his eyes: "Chunyu Kun asked Mencius, 'Is it proper for men and women not to touch each other when giving or receiving things?' Mencius replied, 'It is proper.' Chunyu Kun then asked, 'If one's sister-in-law is drowning, should one help her with one's hand?' Mencius replied again, 'To not help one's sister-in-law when she is drowning is to be a wolf. It is proper for men and women not to touch each other when giving or receiving things; to help one's sister-in-law when she is drowning is an expedient measure.'"
“Princess, my decision to jump into the water to save you was not based on gentlemanly etiquette, but on the principle of acting expediently in an emergency. Those who see someone in distress but choose not to are not necessarily gentlemen, but they are certainly all beasts. If you try to use this to make trouble for me, I am innocent, but I have no choice but to accept it.”
Gu Jinshu stared at him blankly, as if at this moment she also realized that she had gone too far.
She thought of his affair with Miss Liu again and quickly pulled her hand away from his: "But you and Miss Liu are about to get engaged. Aren't you afraid that if she finds out, she'll be angry with you?"
Yu Wenchao said with a sigh, "That's how the world is. Although I have a clear conscience, I can't help but attract criticism. So it's better to call off the marriage between the Yu and Liu families, so as not to implicate Miss Liu."
Gu Jinshu now truly hated herself. If it weren't for her competitive nature, her insistence on teasing Yu Wenchao about what he cared about most, even going so far as to involve herself in the scheme, she would have regretted it. But ultimately, ruining someone's marriage was a grave mistake. She hesitated and asked him:
"You really like that Miss Liu? Why don't you give up? Outsiders care about reputation, but I don't. Besides, there's nothing between us. How about I speak to the Liu family on your behalf?"
Yu Wenchao shook his head: "It's no trouble for you, Princess. I have no feelings for Miss Liu. It's just..."
Gu Jinshu then understood; it was just that her family was pressuring her.
The more she looked at Yu Wenchao, the more pleasing he seemed to her. She reached out and poked him, saying, "How about this: I caused you to lose your wife, so I'll give you one in return?"
How will compensation be provided?
"I'll give myself to you as compensation, do you want me?"
In the sunlight, the girl looked at him with wet eyes, her hair still dripping water, which inadvertently fell onto the back of Yu Wenchao's hand, but he felt as if he had been burned.
His heart pounded, making a loud thud in his chest, like rocks rolling down a mountain, the wind howling, autumn grass turning green again on the wasteland, and flowers blooming everywhere, stretching endlessly for thousands of miles, everything becoming vibrant and passionate.
He stared intently at Gu Jinshu: "Your Highness's words..."
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