Chapter 68 Why Can't I Feel Hatred For Him?
Gu Nanxiao flipped through the scroll of policy essays and found it very familiar. After a long while, he remembered that Shi Qingchen had once presented the emperor with a similar scroll of policy essays, but it was not as exquisite as the one in Yunxi's hands.
He understood Yunxi's intention almost instantly; the little girl wanted to continue to undermine the Shi family's image as a loyal subject in His Majesty's eyes.
The same method worked well last time, and this time the "Strategies for Governing the Country" has been highly praised by the Emperor. If even this is fake, then Qingchen's career will be over.
Seeing that Gu Nanxiao had fully understood her meaning, Yunxi handed the second item to him and said in a distant tone:
"This is the third chapter of 'The Art of War,' which is about planning for victory, and nine of the 'Thirty-Six Stratagems.'"
Gu Nanxiao took the military treatise but had no interest in reading it. His gaze remained fixed on Yunxi's indifferent face; their discussions of military strategy were usually their most enjoyable moments.
But this time Yunxi still brought out a rare military strategy, which made Gu Nanxiao feel that she was just paying him a reward, as if after paying the reward, they would be even.
Gu Nanxiao placed the military treatise on the desk and reached out to pull Yunxi into his arms. Yunxi had anticipated this and dodged his hand by stepping aside.
Then, he handed over a weapon blueprint and said in his usual cold tone, "This improved bow is specifically designed to fire explosive arrows."
The arrow shaft and the explosive-laden arrowhead are stored separately and only assembled before use. After the fuse is lit, it is fired within a short time.
The explosives indicated by the arrows can be divided into two types: incendiary and explosive. Below are the formulas for both types of explosives.
"Please, my lord, do not reveal this bow and arrow to anyone, especially not to the Emperor. Only have a batch made secretly, for future use in case of danger."
Gu Nanxiao had no time to care about any of that. He set aside the bow and arrow blueprints and the explosive formula, slowly stood up, pulled Yunxi into his arms, and coaxed her gently:
"If you're angry about the contraceptive soup, hit me a few times to vent your anger, but don't be so cold to me, and don't call me Lord Marquis, okay?"
Yunxi shook her head indifferently and said, "There's no need to be angry."
Yunxi's silence—neither crying nor making a fuss, nor getting angry—only made Gu Nanxiao more flustered. He scooped her up in his arms and carried her to the bed.
Yunxi finally reacted, pulling hard on Gu Nanxiao's shirt to stop him, saying, "No, I have no interest in doing that kind of thing right now. I hope you won't force me, Lord Marquis."
Gu Nanxiao remembered that Yunxi had once said that she hated it when he forced her, so he suppressed the restlessness in his heart, nodded and said, "Okay, I won't touch you tonight, we'll just rest."
This time, Yunxi did not refuse. After the two removed their outer robes, they lay down in the brocade quilt wearing only their inner garments. Gu Nanxiao looked at Yunxi, who was lying far away with her back to him, and finally could not resist and pulled her into his arms.
He held Yunxi tightly, trying to bridge the distance between them. But Yunxi remained stiff and refused to cooperate.
This made Gu Nanxiao extremely agitated. He couldn't understand how something as simple as a contraceptive soup could have led to this situation between them.
It felt like everything had returned to square one, or perhaps even worse, but he still couldn't find a solution. Even as the person in his arms began to breathe softly and gently, he still couldn't fall asleep.
The next morning at court, Gu Nanxiao, in the name of Yunxi, presented his "Strategies for Governing the Country" to the emperor. After carefully reading it, the emperor was furious.
The emperor ordered his officials to read the policy proposal aloud in court. Upon hearing it, the chief minister and Shi Qingchen turned pale and then red-faced. Knowing that things were going badly, they immediately knelt down to beg for forgiveness.
Shi Qingchen knew that this was another act of revenge from Yunxi. Although he was happy to confirm that Yunxi had returned, he still needed to find a way to overcome the current crisis.
So he argued, “Your Majesty, please make a clear judgment. This policy essay was not written by Miss Yunxi. She merely made some modifications to my policy essay.”
The emperor obviously no longer believed his words, but there was indeed no evidence, after all, his policy essay had been widely circulated after it was published.
It's not surprising that someone would take it and make changes. But once the Emperor has spoken, he can't admit to any mistake, so he continued to reprimand, "Even if it was modified based on your work, anyone who could achieve this level of skill is a genius beyond compare!"
This time, Shi Qingchen had no words to refute and could only quietly listen to the reprimand. After the tide receded, the Shi family father and son, as if they were too ashamed to face anyone, left quickly.
Gu Nanxiao watched the two flee in disarray, a bitter smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Thinking of his meticulous little girl at home, he felt a headache coming on, wondering how to appease her.
At that moment, he keenly sensed a cold gaze shooting towards him from behind. Gu Nanxiao immediately turned around, only to be met with the Third Prince's gentle and refined smile.
He trusted himself; his feeling from that brief moment couldn't be wrong. Gu Nanxiao politely nodded to the Third Prince, then stepped out of the main hall.
Shifu
Shi Qingchen was summoned to the study by the Grand Secretary and severely reprimanded. In his rage, the Grand Secretary summoned the family's rules and personally lashed Shi Qingchen with a rattan cane until he was panting heavily before finally stopping.
Shi Qingchen, his back bleeding, returned to his bedroom. He bolted the door, and ignoring his pain, took out a rope from the cabinet, stripped Liu naked, and pinned her to the bed. He then tied Liu's hands and feet to the headboard and footboard respectively.
Shi Qingchen now hated this vicious woman to the core. If it weren't for her, Yunxi wouldn't have retaliated against him like this. If he hadn't married her, he would still be that young talent praised throughout the country, how could he have ended up like this?
He forcefully stuffed the handkerchief into Liu's mouth, then opened the chest on the inside of the bed, grinning maliciously as he ran his fingers over the various objects inside.
Finally, he picked up a pair of iron pliers and used them mercilessly on Liu.
The young maids outside the courtyard trembled with fear at the sound of those mournful wails. They had long heard that some young masters from noble families had unspeakable fetishes, and that being born into such a family was a fate worse than death.
All they could do now was try to minimize their presence and pray that the young master wouldn't pay attention to them. As for their young mistress, they couldn't care less.
Yongwang Mansion
After reading the note Feng Xun sent, Yunxi silently lit it on a candle and watched it burn to ashes before letting out a long sigh.
If Liu hadn't killed her, Yunxi should have been grateful that someone had taken away that scumbag Shi Qingchen. But she felt no sympathy for Liu.
Firstly, she willingly jumped into the Shi family's fire pit; secondly, Liu Shi still owes her a life, and Yunxi will get her revenge sooner or later.
The suffering that Liu is currently experiencing is merely interest, far from enough to offset the hatred she felt for Yunxi being burned alive.
She turned her gaze to Gu Nanxiao, wondering why she couldn't feel any hatred towards him. After all, he was the one who caused her to lose her fertility, so why had she never felt any desire to take revenge on him?
Yunxi didn't want to find out the answer; after all, the two of them were destined to have no future together. At this moment, she had no desire to waste her energy on something pointless.
So she began to write and draw again. An hour later, she handed Gu Nanxiao three more things.
Yunxi, holding a scroll titled "The System of Appointment and Removal of Officials," said to Gu Nanxiao, "Please, Your Excellency, present this scroll to His Majesty at the morning court tomorrow in the same manner."
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