Chapter 58 The Handkerchief That Hasn't Been Seen in a Long Time
After welcoming Madam Yi and Master Yi into the house, Madam Cheng began to talk about the younger generation.
Gu Qingxu looked at Yi Mingyu, who was standing neatly, and the question that Cheng Shi had asked earlier came to mind again. She was full of suspicion and felt that his words of liking her earlier were just an excuse to cover up what Cheng Shi had said.
Thinking about it, she couldn't help but ask, her tone filled with a hint of urgency and curiosity: "Yi Mingyu, how exactly did you fall in love with me?"
"I……"
Unexpectedly, Gu Qingxu brought up the same question again. Faced with Gu Qingxu's direct gaze, Yi Mingyu hesitated for some reason, lowered his head slightly, and unconsciously tugged at the hem of his clothes.
"What do you mean, 'what do you mean,' could you be lying to me just now?" Gu Qingxu frowned slightly when she saw him stammering, a hint of impatience flashing in her eyes.
She thought Yi Mingyu would keep quiet, but the next second, she heard him slowly say, "When Miss Gu hit me..."
"Huh?" Gu Qingxu's eyes widened, her face full of disbelief, her mouth slightly open, looking completely stunned.
She had thought that Yi Mingyu was impressed by her personality and amazed by her martial prowess, but she never expected that he would fall in love with her after being beaten.
Yi Mingyu looked at her with a sincere expression and a firm gaze. Ultimately, she must have been flustered when Gu Qingxu pinned her down and beat her.
Yi Mingyu's marriage proposal was quite a grand affair. Starting early in the morning, he arrived with dozens of cartloads of betrothal gifts in a large entourage. The scene was so impressive that it attracted the attention of passersby.
Gu Qingxu was somewhat dazed, never expecting that her marriage would be settled so haphazardly.
In an instant, the entire Gu family was busy, and everyone's face was filled with a festive atmosphere.
Gu Qingsu's matter was like a gust of wind, temporarily blowing away the chaotic thoughts in Ruan Xingzhu's heart. She no longer thought of that absurd dream so often.
That day, as Ruan Xingzhu watched the embroiderer come to take Gu Qingsu's measurements to make her wedding dress, a touch of melancholy welled up in her heart.
She sighed softly. Now even her fifth sister, who originally didn't want to get married, was getting married, but her own marriage prospects were nowhere in sight. Was she really going to stay in the Gu family for the rest of her life?
As Ruan Xingzhu left Gu Qingsu's courtyard, she was about to return to her own when she inadvertently caught sight of a familiar figure on the road to Huaiju, who looked like Liang Yejing.
Feeling uncertain, she jogged along and quietly followed. Finally, she saw the figure walk straight into Gu Yun'an's study.
Ruan Xingzhu rarely visited Gu Yun'an's study, knowing that he usually dealt with important matters there. But she was genuinely curious about what important matter Gu Yun'an and Liang Yejing could be discussing.
She tiptoed to the study, and before she could even stand still, she heard faint sounds coming from inside.
"I have done as the Fourth Young Master said, and made Miss Ruan give up on me completely." Liang Yejing's voice came, and he paused after speaking.
"Then my brother..."
"Don't worry, no one will touch your brother." Gu Yun'an took a slow sip of tea, his tone reassuringly calm.
Liang Yejing breathed a sigh of relief. As he turned to leave, he hesitated for a long time before finally mustering his courage to ask, "I really don't understand why you have repeatedly tried to stop Miss Ruan's marriage."
Stop her? Stop her marriage time and time again? Are you talking about Gu Yun'an? How could that be!
Ruan Xingzhu hid by the door, her face turning deathly pale instantly. Her lips trembled uncontrollably as she unconsciously repeated the words, feeling as if she had been struck by lightning.
A long silence fell over the room until Ruan Xingzhu, worried about being discovered, lifted her foot to leave.
Gu Yun'an's cold voice rang out again: "This is not a matter for you to concern yourself with."
Ruan Xingzhu, standing outside the door, seemed to be frozen in place, her feet nailed to the ground, unable to move an inch.
Her eyes widened in shock and disbelief. She couldn't believe that her brother, who had promised to help her find a suitable husband, was the culprit who was preventing her from getting married.
Just then, a noise came from inside the room. Startled, Ruan Xingzhu hurriedly hid in the corner, forgetting her shock.
Gu Yun'an, who was about to leave the manor, had just stepped out of the door when he caught a glimpse of a white hem flashing by out of the corner of his eye, quickly disappearing from sight. He frowned slightly, a hint of suspicion flashing in his eyes.
Ruan Xingzhu ran back to her courtyard, her mind filled with Gu Yun'an's words about stopping her marriage. She kept telling herself that this couldn't be true, that there must be some mistake.
But those words struck her heart like heavy hammer blows, forcing her to believe them.
After thinking about it all afternoon, Ruan Xingzhu still couldn't figure it out. As if possessed, she came to Huaiju, with only one thought in her mind: to find Gu Yun'an and ask him for clarification.
Thinking that Gu Yun'an should be taking a bath at this time, she inexplicably went to wait for him outside the bathhouse. But when she entered, she found it empty. Just as she was about to leave, her gaze was suddenly drawn to something familiar.
Filled with doubt, Ruan Xingzhu slowly approached, picked up the handkerchief hanging above, and upon closer inspection, realized that it was the handkerchief she had lost for so long.
She remembered asking Gu Yun'an before, and he said he had never seen it. But how did it end up here now, and it's all wet, not at all like something that hasn't been used in a long time?
Ruan Xingzhu's mind was in chaos, her thoughts a jumbled mess. That absurd dream, which she had almost forgotten, resurfaced uncontrollably in her mind.
Just as she was lost in thought, Gu Yun'an's deep voice suddenly came from behind her: "What are you doing?"
Ruan Xingzhu's body trembled violently, as if she had been struck by lightning, and she quickly turned around. At a glance, she saw Gu Yun'an, whose clothes were half open. His hair was a little messy, with a few strands falling beside his cheeks, revealing his muscular chest. In the misty air, he exuded a unique aura.
"Fourth brother..." Seeing him like this, Ruan Xingzhu's face turned red to the roots of her ears, her voice became a little dry, and her throat felt like it was choked by something.
Gu Yun'an's gaze shifted from her flustered, flushed face to her hand, where she was tightly clutching the handkerchief he used frequently.
As he watched the damp handkerchief fall onto her fair little hand, his dark eyes instantly darkened, his Adam's apple bobbed involuntarily, and his lower abdomen tightened inexplicably.
When Ruan Xingzhu saw Gu Yun'an staring motionlessly at the handkerchief in her hand, she felt a sudden panic. Her hand trembled uncontrollably, and the handkerchief slipped to the ground.
Gu Yun'an glanced at the handkerchief that had fallen to the ground, his gaze sharpening slightly. He slowly walked towards her, each step deliberate and deliberate, as if carrying an invisible sense of pressure.
For some reason, as Gu Yun'an approached step by step, Ruan Xingzhu felt extremely uncomfortable. She wanted to back away, but her body seemed to be frozen in place, unable to move. Her hands gripped the hem of her clothes tightly, her knuckles turning white from the force.
Gu Yun'an walked up to her, slowly squatted down, and picked up the handkerchief. As he stood up, his eyes were fixed on her, his gaze probing, as if he wanted to see through every thought in her heart.
Ruan Xingzhu looked at the unfastened clothes in front of Gu Yun'an, her blush deepening. She hurriedly looked away, not daring to look.
Gu Yun'an noticed her evasive gaze, a subtle undercurrent flickering in his eyes. His voice became low and hoarse: "What's Xingzhu doing here?"
“I…” Ruan Xingzhu hesitated for a moment, her eyes subconsciously glancing at the handkerchief he had picked up. After hesitating for a long time, she couldn’t help but speak up.
"My handkerchief... how did it end up in Fourth Brother's bathroom?" Her voice trailed off, trembling slightly without her even realizing it.
Upon hearing this, Gu Yun'an picked up the handkerchief, a faint smile playing on his lips, and a seductive glint in his eyes.
What does Xingzhu think?
Gu Yun'an's reaction instantly threw Ruan Xingzhu into a panic. Her mind went blank, and she was momentarily at a loss.
Not daring to ask any further, he could only stammer and make excuses for himself: "Perhaps...perhaps someone picked it up and left it here."
As she spoke, Ruan Xingzhu couldn't bear Gu Yun'an's intense gaze any longer, so she quickly moved away and said hastily, "Fourth Brother, please take a bath. I'll be leaving now."
After saying that, she turned and hurriedly left without waiting for Gu Yun'an to speak.
The white hem of her dress as she hastily fled gradually overlapped with the white hem that had disappeared in the corner during the day. Gu Yun'an's gaze grew increasingly deep, revealing a hidden threat, as if he would drag her back at any moment.
Ruan Xingzhu left the bathhouse with hurried steps, almost running, as if some ferocious beast was chasing her.
Only after leaving Huaiju did Ruan Xingzhu slow her pace, but her heart was still pounding as if it would jump out of her throat. Everything that had happened today, coupled with Gu Yun'an's unusual behavior, made her feel incredibly unfamiliar and afraid.
Liang Yejing's words, and the handkerchief that had disappeared for a long time but suddenly appeared in the bathroom, weighed heavily on her heart like a large stone, making her uneasy.
She looked at the dampness on her hands, the residue from the handkerchief. She didn't know what it was, but its presence in the bathroom, still damp, filled her with a bad feeling.
Her body swayed, and Ruan Xingzhu couldn't help but recall the places Gu Qingxu had taken her to before, and the absurd stories she had heard.
She shook her head inwardly, "Impossible? How could this be? How could Gu Yun'an do this to me..."
In a state of panic, Ruan Xingzhu hurriedly returned to her courtyard, her heart in turmoil. She was both afraid that what she thought was true and afraid that the truth would be proven true, caught in a state of extreme contradiction and fear.
Glancing over, she saw the bundle beside her. In a panic, she quickly put away the silver notes and hurriedly prepared to leave.
However, as soon as she opened the door, a cold and stern face, as if it had been waiting for a long time, came into her view, blocking the doorway completely.
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