Vomiting blood

"Miss, I'm still short of half the silver. Can you tell me when you can give it to me?" The skinny master said to the woman sitting in the private room with a flattering smile.

However, the person called 'Miss' didn't even look at him. Instead, she slowly picked up a piece of pastry.

At this time, the maid next to her sneered: "You old thing, you haven't done anything yet, and you still have the nerve to ask my young lady for money?"

If he hadn't been trying to contact them and causing trouble these days, the master and servant would never have come to the appointment.

The master's face suddenly turned pale, but he still maintained his flattering attitude, not daring to be negligent in the slightest: "Yes, yes, yes."

He bowed quickly, swallowing his anger and laughing, "But I will follow the young lady's instructions and close the hall for a few days."

As he spoke, he looked up at the nobleman in front of him, thinking in his heart that although this girl looked young, her methods of harming people were very powerful, and even he, who had one foot in the coffin, felt ashamed of himself.

The girl glanced at the old man who was bowing his head in front of her, and then looked away with disgust: "Forget it, Xiaotao, give him the silver."

The person who spoke was Liu Qingyue.

She was already upset, and for some reason, the news about her upcoming engagement with Gu Huaizhi in Beijing had been suppressed over the past two days.

Now, there must be a lot of people laughing at her, but she will marry him no matter what, she just needs to find other ways.

Xiao Tao followed the order and handed a bag of silver to the old man: "Take this silver and run away. Don't come to see my young lady again in the future."

After taking the silver, the old man immediately bowed and thanked her, and kept repeating "That girl's death was not in vain", but there was only greed in his eyes, without any regret at all.

His fingers trembled unconsciously as he tightly grasped the heavy bag of silver.

With this money, he could finally live a worry-free life for the rest of his life.

*

"Cousin, what are you looking at so intently?" Gu Huaizhi lifted his coat and sat down, pouring himself a cup of tea.

The weather at the end of May was already a bit hot. He sweated a lot while practicing swordplay and had to change into fresh clothes before coming to the appointment.

Gu Yihan turned his gaze away from the noisy streets and smiled warmly: "I've been waiting for you for an hour."

Apart from his cousin, no one else dared to make him wait so long.

Gu Huaizhi said "Oh" nonchalantly, without any intention of apologizing, and poured himself another cup of tea, as if he was really thirsty.

Gu Yihan smiled helplessly and shook the teacup in his hand, as if signaling the young man in front of him to pour him a cup as well.

However, Gu Huaizhi pretended not to see it, casually turned the empty teacup, and nodded thoughtfully: "Cousin, this tea is good."

Although it's not as flavorful as wine, it's still drinkable.

Gu Yihan chuckled. He was just teasing his cousin and didn't expect him to really pour tea for him. "Ah Huai, when you came here just now, did you notice anything strange?"

Gu Huaizhi raised his handsome eyebrows, turned to look out the window, and the slightly warm wind blew on his face.

The streets were bustling with people, and there didn't seem to be anything wrong.

"Cousin, if you have anything to say, just say it." Gu Huaizhi retracted his gaze and frowned: "Why are you playing dumb with me again?"

Gu Yihan took the initiative to invite him out of the palace for tea today, but he was unwilling to explain why, so he deliberately came an hour late.

Unexpectedly, Gu Yihan was still sitting there waiting for him leisurely, and he didn't know what was going on.

Gu Yihan didn't say anything. He just glanced at his cousin who was still so impatient with a smile in his eyes, then turned to look out the window.

That look seemed to say: Look again.

The corner of Gu Huaizhi's mouth twitched, and he looked out the window again.

After a while, those peach blossom eyes darkened.

He saw several people in strange clothes hiding in the crowd.

If there is anything strange, it is that those people wrapped themselves up tightly even in this hot summer, which is very different from the people around them.

That outfit looks somewhat familiar.

Gu Huaizhi narrowed his eyes, and his originally nonchalant attitude suddenly changed a little: "Cousin means..."

...Are those sneaky men in black from Liang?

But it was extremely strange that they mingled among the crowd so blatantly, as if they were waiting to be discovered.

Before Gu Huai finished speaking, Gu Yihan nodded, looked out the window heavily, and murmured, "Ah Huai, I'm afraid there won't be peace for a few days."

Today he personally left the palace just to test whether that person was still in Chu.

If that person has returned to Liang, it means that there will never be peace in this world again.

But his father was as incompetent as ever. Even though he had suffered several assassination attempts before, he still believed that Liang could not defeat the Great Chu.

Looking at his cousin's heavy expression, Gu Huaizhi couldn't help but frown, recalling what the emperor had said several times before.

The emperor asked him to lead the troops.

Gu Yihan is acting so strangely today. Could it be that Liang and Chu are really going to go to war?

But according to the current situation, the situation should not have reached that point yet.

Seeing Gu Huaizhi's suspicious face, Gu Yihan shook his head and smiled slightly, then calmly sipped his tea: "I'm afraid there will be an unusual movement later, and I still need Ah Huai's help."

"Unusual movement?" Gu Huaizhi glanced out the window again. It seemed that there were indeed more people in strange costumes than before.

Gu Huaizhi raised his eyebrows nonchalantly: "Did you bring those secret guards with you?"

Today Gu Ji was sent by him to do other things, so he did not bring any of his men to the teahouse.

Of course, he asked this not because he had no confidence in his martial arts, but because he was afraid that Gu Yihan would hold him back.

Gu Yihan nodded slightly and took a sip of tea.

Seeing that Gu Yihan looked confident, Gu Huaizhi did not ask any more questions, but his expression unconsciously became serious.

Gu Yihan had not explained it in advance, which meant that today's matter was not as simple as stopping the unusual movement.

What exactly happened? Gu Yihan refused to reveal even a single word to his cousin.

"Don't worry, Ah Huai. It will probably take another half an hour." Gu Yihan glanced at the boy's hand holding the teacup tightly and curled his lips: "Would you like some cakes?"

Gu Yihan frowned and thought for a moment: "I remember that you really liked osmanthus cake."

His cousin is different from him. He likes sweets very much.

He vaguely remembered that when he was a child, Gu Huaizhi was scolded by Princess Anqing for being too fond of sweets.

Gu Huaizhi's face froze, and he immediately remembered the box of osmanthus cake that Luo Zhiyan had given him before he left home for the martial arts training ground.

He didn't know what had suddenly occurred to his cousin, but she surprisingly let him taste her cooking.

Of course he didn't eat it, but in order to prevent her from complaining to his mother again, he asked the servant to put the food box on his table, thinking of throwing it away later.

Thinking of this, the boy's expression became even stiffer.

"No need, I'm not hungry." Gu Huaizhi snorted and said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes: "If cousin wants to eat, just order it yourself."

Mu An Ning had clearly said before that whether he ate it or not, she would make osmanthus cake for him every day.

Even though she was a little too sweet, he just felt that she did it better than anyone else.

But he might never be able to eat it again in the future.

After a while, Gu Yihan laughed out loud. He realized that his cousin was making a fuss about something, so he could only say, "Then don't order. I'm not hungry."

Seeing that they were going to sit here for half an hour, Gu Huaizhi raised his eyes and wanted to say something, but suddenly froze.

The girl he had been thinking about day and night was slowly walking towards him.

She was wearing a moon-white dress today and had a light pink sachet pinned to her waist. Although it was not the sachet that both of them had, it was still very beautiful and dazzling.

The boy's eyes suddenly shrank as he looked downward, and his throat began to tighten slightly.

What Mu An Ning was holding in his hand was the food box from the Mu Mansion.

Something he had seen countless times, without deliberately memorizing it, but it was deeply imprinted in his mind.

So what's inside is the peach blossom cake she made herself?

Gu Yihan, who was sitting opposite the young man, raised his eyebrows and quietly observed his cousin who was sitting upright and seemed a little nervous.

Seeing the girl getting closer and closer to him, Gu Huaizhi felt as if he had even forgotten to breathe, but the thoughts in his mind were still constantly churning.

These days, he has been troubled by one thing: the box he had given her before was now in his room, but the girl had not accepted it.

And now, he suddenly had a guess in his mind about the letter that he had been thinking hard about for a long time but had disappeared inexplicably.

All the items he sent were returned intact, including the osmanthus cake he had worked so hard to make, but the only thing missing was the letter.

So, not only was the letter opened and read by Mu An Ning, but she also...left it in the Mu Mansion?

And because of that letter, she found the teahouse today and made osmanthus cake for him personally?

While he was thinking, the girl following the waiter was about to walk up to him.

Gu Huaizhi didn't care to guess how she knew he was here. His fingers on the table kept stroking until the girl walked completely in front of him.

Gu Huaizhi tried his best to maintain his composure, but his throat kept rolling, revealing the emotions of loss and recovery in his heart.

He slowly stretched out his hand, ready to take the lunch box from her.

However, the bony hand suddenly curled up, and the "Aning" that was about to reach the mouth was stuck in the throat.

Because the girl didn't seem to see him, but walked straight behind him.

So, who is the lunch box for? !

Gu Huaizhi was stunned for a moment, then suddenly turned around and saw that the person he hated most in his life was sitting at the table behind him without him noticing.

The girl was standing in front of the pale-faced scholar, looking a little hesitant.

Gu Yihan, who caught a glimpse of the girl's back, finally understood why his cousin had such a strange expression just now.

Seeing his cousin's eyes filled with anger, he was about to stand up and walk towards the two men. Gu Yihan immediately whispered, "Ahuai, don't be impulsive."

It is not appropriate to make trouble at this moment. If we make some noise and alert the gang, causing them to escape directly, that would be bad.

At the moment when Gu Yihan finished speaking, the girl on the other end finally spoke, calling him exactly the same: "A, A Huai..."

Gu Huaizhi, who had excellent hearing, froze where he was.

Ah Huai?

Who is she calling Ah Huai? ?

She had never called him like this before, but now she called Tan Wenhuai like this.

The boy's brows were tightly locked, and he was about to stand up, when he heard the girl's calm voice say -

"Ah Huai, this is the sweet-scented osmanthus cake I made myself..."

Hearing this, Gu Huaizhi's heart skipped a beat and he suddenly felt a bloody taste in his throat. Under Gu Yihan's surprised gaze, he actually spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Ahuai, you..." Gu Yihan opened his mouth, wanting to say something but stopped.

As a prince, he boasted that he had seen many strange things, but he still found it a little hard to believe.

His cousin vomited blood because his sweetheart made osmanthus cake for someone else?

Gu Huaizhi touched the blood flowing from the corner of his lips and felt a buzzing in his ears. He could not hear the girl's next words.

*

Suddenly, screams were heard one after another outside the teahouse. Mu An Ning and Tan Wenhuai, who were talking, looked at each other and stood up along with the diners at the surrounding tables.

Some people discussed that -

"What happened?"

"From the sound, it sounds like someone is dead!"

"How could someone be so brazen as to act in broad daylight?"

In an instant, Mu An Ning, like everyone else, was in a dilemma, not knowing whether to go downstairs or stay in the teahouse.

While she was thinking, the girl suddenly felt two forces on her wrists, pulling her from the left and right.

"Aning, we should not stay here for long."

"An Ning, let's go."