Chapter 723 Tell me, what do you really feel about me?
Song Ruyan's curses were still echoing in the yard when a servant came in to report that Master Lin had arrived.
As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Jiayou walked into the courtyard calmly, carrying several exquisite food boxes.
He immediately saw Qian Zhenyun with his arm in a sling in the corridor, and a look of just the right amount of concern immediately appeared on his face.
"Brother Zhenyun, are you feeling better?"
He walked quickly forward, handed the food box to the servant behind him, and bent down to check Qian Zhenyun's injuries.
Qian Zhenyun turned his body to the side and avoided his hand calmly.
Gu Qingchen stood up and stood between Qian Zhenyun and Lin Jiayou.
She said nothing, just looked at him coldly.
The atmosphere in the yard instantly dropped to freezing point.
Song Ruyan and Chu Ruohan looked at each other, and tacitly retreated to the flower hall with their servants, leaving the yard to the young people.
"Qingchen, why are you looking at me like that?" Lin Jiayou's face showed a hurt expression. "I heard that you were in danger and was worried all night. I specially brought some warming and nourishing soups from the best restaurant in the city."
Gu Qingchen twitched the corners of his mouth, but the smile did not reach his eyes.
"You're incredibly well-informed," she asked, emphasizing each word. "You knew about our misfortune the moment it happened. Master Lin, have you planted your spies within the walls of our Duke's Mansion?"
This question was asked bluntly.
The color drained from Lin Jiayou's face, and he staggered back half a step, his eyes full of disbelief.
"You...are you doubting me?" His voice was filled with pain. "I admit, I did send someone to secretly follow you. That night, you and he left the house late at night, heading to the south of the city, where all sorts of people gather. How could I be at ease?"
"I sent people to follow you to protect you! If my people hadn't discovered that something was wrong with that gang of thieves in time, immediately returned to the mansion to report the news, and then sent people to the Jingzhao government office to report and mobilize your family's guards, the consequences would be disastrous!"
He became more and more excited as he spoke, and his eyes became red.
"I did all this for you. But you doubt that I arranged all this?"
This statement turns surveillance into protection and calculation into affection.
Every word stands on the moral high ground and is impeccable.
Gu Qingchen's heart was in turmoil.
Reason was screaming wildly that he was lying, and he was using a bigger lie to cover up the previous lie.
From the rattle, to the chief escort, and then to the assassination last night.
One thing after another, everything is weird.
But emotionally, facing his heartbroken look and the words "it's all for you", she couldn't find a single word with solid evidence to refute him.
She found herself trapped in a giant net, and no matter how hard she struggled, it only got tighter and tighter.
Seeing her silence, the pain in Lin Jiayou's eyes deepened.
He took a step forward, as if he wanted to hold her hand, but stopped halfway.
"Qingchen, calm down and think about this carefully." His voice was tired and hoarse. "I don't want any rift to arise between us because of these groundless suspicions. I'll give you some time, and I'll give myself some time, too."
After saying that, he looked at her deeply. His eyes were extremely complicated, showing hurt, disappointment, and a hint of reluctance.
Then he turned around resolutely and left without looking back.
That back figure carries a sense of loneliness and desolation of being misunderstood.
Gu Qingchen stood there, looking in the direction he left, feeling cold all over.
Lin Jiayou walked out of the Qian family courtyard and turned a corner. All the loneliness and hurt on his face disappeared without a trace in an instant.
The corners of his mouth slowly curled up into a cold arc.
If you push a woman too hard, it will only provoke her resistance.
It will be more effective if you occasionally let go and let her struggle in the quagmire of self-doubt.
He stood at the fork in the road in a good mood, as if waiting for someone.
Not long after, Gu Lanxin's personal maid came hurriedly from another direction, holding a lantern.
"Mr. Lin, the lady is waiting for you."
Lin Jiayou nodded and followed the maid to the boudoir where Gu Lanxin lived as if she was familiar with the place.
Gu Lanxin had already prepared tea and snacks in the room. When she saw him come in, she hurried to greet him.
"Jiayou, you're here." Her voice was still so gentle.
Lin Jiayou sat down at the table, held her slightly cold hand, and asked softly, "What's wrong? You look worried."
Gu Lanxin bit her lip, as if she had made a great decision.
She raised her head and looked straight into Lin Jiayou's eyes.
"My aunt and the others found a family for me."
"That man is the son of Wang Shidu, a tutor in the Hanlin Academy. His family background, character, talent, and appearance are all top-notch. My family is very satisfied and is urging me to...decide on him."
She emphasized the word "settle down".
"Jiayou," Gu Lanxin's eyes were red, and there was a hint of pleading in her voice, "I don't want to marry anyone else. Tell me, what are your feelings for me?"
"If you don't care about me, I'll give up and follow my family's arrangements. If you don't care about me..."
She didn't finish her words, but her meaning was clear.
This is forcing him to express his position.
A hint of imperceptible annoyance flashed across Lin Jiayou's eyes, but it was quickly replaced by deeper tenderness.
He hugged Gu Lanxin in his arms, patted her back gently, and sighed.
"Don't you understand my feelings?"
His voice was low and magnetic, close to her ear, but he never gave a direct answer.
"But right now, I'm still in the officialdom, and my foundation is not yet stable. If I marry you now, it would be an injustice to you."
He began to paint those illusory cakes again and speak those nice but irrelevant empty words.
Gu Lanxin's body stiffened slightly in his arms.
She was not a fool and could hear the perfunctory and evasive tone in his words.
Just when she was discouraged and ready to push him away, Lin Jiayou whispered in her ear in a seductive tone.
"Lan Xin, give me a little more time."
"In a few days, there will be a temple fair at Jingxin Temple outside the city. I'll take you to a place... a place where it's just the two of us."
Doctor Qian changed the dressing on Qian Zhenyun's arm wound every day, and it finally stopped getting inflamed.
But every time his mother Song Ruyan saw him, she would poke him on the forehead and scold him, saying that he had disgraced her.
Gu Qingchen stayed at home these days and didn't go anywhere.
She needed an absolutely quiet place to go over everything from beginning to end, from the fake rattle, to the one-armed chief escort, to Lin Jiayou's carefully planned "heroic rescue of the beauty".
She sat on the steps of the porch, holding a grass stalk in her hand, scratching the ground unconsciously.
Qian Zhenyun sat on the chair behind her, without saying a word, just quietly accompanying her.
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