Chapter 85 Don't Go
When Gu Jinyan returned, he had barely stepped into the courtyard when he was caught by the Duchess of Rongguo. "Where have you been?"
"I didn't go anywhere." Gu Jinyan's voice was clearly irritated and impatient.
Seeing his expression, the Duchess of Rongguo understood perfectly. She sighed, "You went to see the princess again? Didn't Mother say that after the marriage..."
After the marriage, the princess will have already brought her lover into the palace. Is he still waiting to get married and for that lover to become the princess's man?
Now that the princess is protecting him so much, will he still have a place after the marriage? Will he be able to step into the princess's residence?
Gu Jinyan turned and left, impatient to listen to any of this.
"Where are you going?" Seeing that he was about to leave the manor again, the Duchess of Rongguo quickly ordered someone to stop him. However, Gu Jinyan was prepared and did not let anyone grab him.
"This child!" The Duchess of Rongguo was furious. She glared at her two servants and scolded, "What are you all standing there for? Go and bring your young master back!"
"If he does anything foolish again, you two will be held accountable!"
"Yes, madam."
The two servants quickly chased after them.
Gu Jinyan didn't cause any more trouble; he simply invited a few close friends over for drinks.
Seeing his gloomy and irritable expression, his friends dared not say anything more to provoke him.
Remember how excitedly he told them he was going to marry the princess? But look what happened! So few days have passed, and before the wedding even took place, things have turned out like this.
After Gu Jinyan finished pouring out her grievances, her friends advised, "What woman doesn't care about her husband? Take my husband, for example. He seems cold and indifferent on the surface, but in reality, he looks forward to my return every day. If you ask me, you just haven't taken enough concubines. If you take two or three more, I don't believe the princess really doesn't care."
"Get out of here! What kind of terrible idea is this? Taking two or three more concubines? Do you think His Majesty is a pushover? He won't even know how he died."
"What can we do? Apart from being the princess's husband, he doesn't care about her at all. What do you think we can do?"
"I think that having this identity is enough for him."
"What, do you have a good idea?"
"Here you come, and bring that drunkard over too, and let's hear what I think of my idea."
"OK."
Someone pulled the drunken Gu Jinyan up from the table and whispered.
"So, Gu Jinyan thinks the princess doesn't care about him and is worried that someone else will beat him to it? Then why doesn't he just take the initiative and make it a done deal?"
"Once the deed is done, will the princess still not care about him?"
"But, she's a princess. Isn't doing this a bit inappropriate...?"
The man waved his hand, "This is not a problem. Gu Jinyan is the princess's husband, and they are supposed to get married anyway. Even if they did this, it's just like consummating their marriage ahead of time. There won't be any major problems."
"But I still don't feel quite right..."
Some hesitated, but Gu Jinyan suddenly raised his head, his cheeks flushed, and drunkenly shouted, "Good!"
"I think this is a good idea."
He slammed his hand on the table. "Do it this way."
The group exchanged bewildered glances. "You really intend to do this?"
Gu Jinyan mumbled, "The princess and I were going to get married anyway, it's just a little earlier, what's the big deal? It's just that the princess definitely won't agree to it, you all, please help me think of a solution..."
Although everyone was usually quite playful, this was the first time they had done something like this. After discussing it for a long time, they finally came up with a foolproof plan.
*
After Gu Jinyan left, Shen Panyan returned home and saw Lin Xiao, who had been waiting for a long time.
Upon seeing her, Lin Xiao quickly stepped forward, "Your Highness."
Shen Panyan took a step back in front of him. "Didn't I tell you to go back and recover properly? What are you doing here?"
"I just want to ask you, why do you insist that I leave?" Lin Xiao's eyes dimmed when he saw her avoiding him.
He wanted to take another step forward, but fearing that His Highness would resist even more, he stopped and stood an arm's length away from her.
Shen Panyan's gaze fell elsewhere. "Didn't I already tell you the reason?"
Lin Xiao hurriedly said, "But Your Highness, I already told you, it wouldn't be..."
Shen Panyan shook her head. "There aren't that many 'buts' or 'can'ts.' Lin Xiao, I don't want to see you right now. Go back."
Lin Xiao pleaded, "Your Highness..."
"Go back now, before I get angry."
Shen Panyan didn't want to talk to him anymore, so she turned and left.
As he watched that graceful figure gradually disappear from his sight, Lin Xiao's eyes slowly reddened. His Highness had never treated him like this before.
At the Royal Villa, every time she saw him, she was smiling, and she would softly call him, "Lin Xiao."
Seeing him injured would make her so sad that she would cry. He still remembers the way she puffed out her cheeks and angrily ordered him to rest when he was disobedient.
He remembered everything about her: her shyness, her joy, her every smile and frown...
"Your Highness..."
What should he do, what can he do, to stand by her side?
He thought that by leaving the Dark Guard Camp and coming to her side, he could protect her forever, but he never expected that in the end, he would be the only one clinging to the past.
His Highness has no need for him at all.
She doesn't want him anymore.
*
The next day, Shen Panyan received an invitation from Gu Tanghua to go out.
A new rouge shop recently opened in the capital. I heard that the rouge there is all transported from the south and is very famous there. Many noble ladies are willing to pay a high price to have someone bring the rouge back from the south. She invited her to go and buy rouge together.
Shen Panyan knew about that shop, but she didn't like wearing rouge, and after learning that the shop's rouge was in short supply, she stopped paying attention to it.
Gu Tanghua said that she knew the shop owner's daughter and had a slight relationship with her, so she specially asked her to leave some rouge for the two of them to choose from.
After thinking about it, Shen Panyan agreed.
She actually quite liked Gu Tanghua. Gu Tanghua is Gu Tanghua, and Gu Jinyan is Gu Jinyan. She didn't need to take her anger out on Gu Tanghua because of Gu Jinyan and then ignore her.
Gu Tanghua didn't do anything wrong; this isn't her principle of doing things.
Therefore, after having a carriage prepared, Shen Panyan went out and met Gu Tanghua at the rouge shop.
The two were greeted by the daughter of the owner of the rouge shop, a round-faced girl who was very cute.
She smiled and led the two upstairs, letting them choose whatever they wanted; all the rouge the shop still had was there.
Shen Panyan didn't buy much, only a jar of peach-colored lip rouge. Seeing that she bought so little, Gu Tanghua picked out several kinds of rouge to give to her. Shen Panyan couldn't refuse, so she had to accept them.
"Thank you very much, Sister Tanghua."
"We're all family, Sister Mingyue, please don't stand on ceremony with me."
After choosing the rouge, it was almost noon. Gu Tanghua took Shen Panyan to a restaurant to invite her to lunch.
Shen Panyan didn't think much of it, but she was a little puzzled as to why the restaurant she chose was so remote, located in the eastern part of the capital.
When she followed Gu Tanghua into the restaurant and into the private room, Shen Panyan was stunned and her brows furrowed.
"Gu Jinyan?"
What are you doing here?
Her gaze fell on Gu Tanghua. "You deliberately lured me here so that I could meet Gu Jinyan?"
A surge of anger, a feeling of betrayal and deception, suddenly rose in Shen Panyan's heart.
You should know that this is the kind of thing she hates most in her life.
She turned to leave, but Gu Tanghua quickly grabbed her arm. "I'm sorry, Sister Mingyue, it was wrong of me to lie to you, but please don't go yet. Listen to my brother first. He's here to apologize to you."
"He already knows he was wrong."
Gu Jinyan quickly came out at this moment, looking at her with a guilty expression, "I'm sorry, Princess, I was willful before."
"Since you refused to see me, I asked Tang Hua to help me invite you out. I didn't mean to deceive you."
Blocked by the two men, Shen Panyan couldn't leave, so she had no choice but to turn around, sit down, and keep a cold face.
"Okay, go ahead."
Seeing her sit down, Gu Tanghua looked at Gu Jinyan and whispered, "You should apologize to Sister Mingyue properly and don't make her angry again. She has the softest heart and will forgive you."
Gu Jinyan's eyes flickered slightly. "Okay, I understand. Thank you for today. You can go back now."
Gu Tanghua nodded, "Then I'll be going now. Remember, don't make her angry again, or I won't help you next time."
Gu Jin smiled and said, "I understand. You should leave now."
Only after Gu Tanghua's figure disappeared into the restaurant did Gu Jinyan turn around and return to his room.
The princess will be furious if she finds out what he did today, but there's nothing he can do about it.
The princess is his, and he will never let anyone else have her.
He was her rightful husband, her true consort.
Walking to the table, Gu Jinyan resumed his usual demeanor. "Princess, Jinyan knows he was wrong. I invited you here today to apologize."
"I know that I did something before. Even if you don't care, I still want to apologize to you."
"I was drunk that day, I really didn't mean to touch that woman."
Seeing that he had genuinely apologized and was no longer stubborn, Shen Panyan felt a little relieved. "I know, I don't care about this."
"Since you've touched them, you should treat them well."
Seeing that she didn't care at all, and even told him to treat her well, as if he wasn't her husband but someone else's husband, Gu Jinyan's chest clenched into a knot, feeling both stuffy and painful.
He forced a smile. "Yes."
He reached out and poured her a glass of wine, then poured one for himself as well.
"Princess, I know we had a lot of unpleasantness recently. It was Jinyan who was being unreasonable. Today, Jinyan apologizes to you!"
Having said that, he picked up his wine glass and drank it all in one gulp.
"This cup is a token of my apology for asking His Majesty for a marriage decree against your wishes!"
"This cup is for the argument I had with you that day, which made you angry. I'm sorry!"
"This cup..."
Gu Jinyan drank several cups of wine in a row. As the alcohol took effect, his cheeks turned red. When Shen Panyan saw him like this, she pursed her lips and, in the end, softened her heart and stopped him from drinking any longer.
"Okay, I understand, you don't need to drink anymore."
For some reason, she felt that the room was stuffy, so stuffy that it gave her a headache. She also wondered what kind of incense was burning in the room and why the smell was so strong.
"Princess, have you forgiven me?" Gu Jinyan looked up at her, his eyes blurry with drunkenness.
Shen Panyan had only taken a sip of the wine and hadn't drunk much. Perhaps the wine was too strong, because even though she had only taken a sip, she saw double and even Gu Jinyan's face began to blur.
“I…” She shook her head vigorously, trying to clear her mind. “I have never blamed you, so how can I forgive you?”
Upon hearing this, Gu Jinyan's previously hazy eyes instantly cleared.
Because she doesn't love him, doesn't like him, and in fact, he doesn't hold any place in her heart at all, so she doesn't care what he does?
Gu Jinyan suddenly wanted to laugh.
In the end, it turned out that he was the only one who was forcing things.
But it doesn't matter, they were already husband and wife, and were already engaged. From this day forward, he and she will become a real couple.
He will gradually enter her heart and drive away that inexplicable man, whose identity she doesn't know.
She will be his wife.
“Gu, Gu Jinyan..…”
Shen Panyan felt something was wrong. It wasn't like she had never drunk alcohol before, but she had never been so out of control. Her head became strangely dizzy, and her body felt hot and restless. Even her hands and feet felt weak and uncontrollable.
She struggled to stand up, but then the world spun around her and she slumped to the ground. A pair of arms caught her just in time.
"What...what did you do to me...?"
She was both shocked and angry, and reached out to push him away, but her arms were as soft as noodles.
Her eyes welled up with tears, her gaze became unfocused, and her vision blurred. "You, Gu Jinyan, let me go..."
However, the person did not listen.
Shen Panyan felt her body suddenly lift into the air, as if she were being carried horizontally, and Gu Jinyan's calm and gentle voice rang in her ears.
“Princess, don’t be afraid. We are husband and wife. I am your consort. We are one.”
"Although the wedding day has been brought forward, Princess, Jinyan will not shortchange you on anything that is due to you."
"Wh-what?"
Consummating the marriage?
Since the engagement was finalized, Shen Panyan was no longer a clueless woman. She was filled with shock and anger, and opened her mouth to rebuke, but every part of her body was involuntarily controlled, and she couldn't utter a single sound.
Unable to speak, her limbs were weak and powerless. She wanted to call Zhuzhi and Qingdai in, but the scene before her was chaotic. She didn't even know where she had been taken. All she knew was that in the end, there were large patches of red, so bright and dazzling that they were blinding.
She felt as if she had become a ball of fire, desperately needing a piece of ice, but she was unwilling and did not want to be like that.
With almost the last vestige of her weak consciousness, she cried out, "Gu...Gu Jinyan, if you...if you do this, I will hate you..."
Gu Jinyan paused, lowered her eyes, and her gaze turned somber.
“Princess, even if you hate me, I will still do this.”
He couldn't tolerate that she didn't have him in her heart at all.
He was clearly her husband, her consort, but a handsome young man and a man in black of unknown identity held a more important place in her heart than him.
On what grounds?
Even if it's like drinking poison to quench his thirst, he has to have her.
"No...no..."
In a hazy state, she felt herself being placed on a soft bed, and felt a dense, tingling sensation coming from her waist, as if someone was reaching out to untie her clothes.
In a daze, Shen Panyan suddenly remembered the night she was kidnapped by bandits, those disgusting bandits had done the same thing...
No, she doesn't want to!!
The intense fear suddenly brought her back to her senses, and her mind cleared.
She almost cried out, "No, no!! Lin Xiao, Lin Xiao, save me!!"
In an instant, the door was kicked open with great force.
Bang!
The door shattered into pieces in an instant.
"who?"
Before Gu Jinyan could react to who Lin Xiao was, the man from the princess's residence suddenly appeared at the door. He was about to reprimand him when he was suddenly punched to the ground. Before he could even fight back, a sharp blade appeared in his hand and went straight for his throat. The action was decisive and ruthless.
He actually intended to kill him outright!
Upon seeing this scene, Shen Panyan broke out in a cold sweat, and even her limp body regained its strength.
She cried out in panic, "No, don't kill him!"
Gu Jinyan is the son of the Duke of Rongguo's family, and she is also engaged to him. If he dies, the cause of his death will definitely be investigated to the end, and Lin Xiao will definitely be exposed to the Emperor's watchful eye.
Lin Xiao's movements faltered, but his movements were too fast; he had already slashed the man's neck, and blood was seeping out. Just a moment, just a fraction of a second, and he would have slashed the man's throat.
The shadow of death still lingered in Gu Jinyan's heart. His Adam's apple bobbed, his pupils contracted, and his gaze fell on the cold and ruthless man before him. The killing intent emanating from him was undisguised, and he couldn't help but feel fear. "You..."
Shen Panyan, her limbs weak, climbed off the bed and grabbed Lin Xiao's arm. The effects of the drug were still lingering, and she was almost about to faint. "No, don't kill him!"
"He cannot die."
"Your Highness," Lin Xiao said coldly, "His treatment of you..."
“No, we can’t kill him…” Shen Panyan shook her head, interrupting him. “Take me back, back to the manor…”
She gripped his arm tightly with both hands, struggling to stay conscious, "Take me back..."
The next moment, her consciousness snapped completely, everything went black, and she lost all feeling.
Lin Xiao reached out and caught her limp body as she was about to fall to the ground. Then, he kicked Gu Jinyan hard, knocking him unconscious. He bent down, picked up Shen Panyan, and dodged through the crowd, heading quickly towards the princess's residence.
Looking at the princess in his arms, whose fair cheeks were flushed, even though she was unconscious, her brows were still tightly furrowed, as if she was in great pain. Lin Xiao's lips were taut, and he couldn't help but hug her tighter.
Afraid that others would see her like this, he had already taken off his outer garment before leaving, covering her face and clothes. No one except himself could see who he was holding.
The thought of what he had just witnessed filled Lin Xiao with intense killing intent.
If His Highness hadn't stopped him from killing Gu Jinyan, he would surely be dead today.
Gu Jinyan, how dare Your Highness resort to such despicable means! He is utterly unworthy of Your Highness.
He is utterly unworthy to be His Highness's consort.
It's still a long way to get back to the princess's residence from here.
The restaurant Gu Jinyan chose was actually owned by the Rongguo Duke's Mansion, and there was a secret passage inside that led directly to the back door. Just now, he had used this secret passage to take Shen Panyan away from the restaurant and bring her to a small courtyard not far away.
He had planned it perfectly, and the secret passage was indeed well hidden; even Lin Xiao took some time to find it.
Because His Highness did not want him to stay by her side, he always followed her silently. After she went out, he never got close to her, but just followed her at a distance, knowing that she was safe.
Seeing her enter the restaurant, he remained below and did not follow her.
It wasn't until he saw her enter the room and not come out for a long time that Lin Xiao realized something was wrong.
His Highness had clearly made an appointment with Miss Gu today, but Miss Gu left, leaving him alone upstairs. There were also Gu Jinyan's men guarding the room. The more he thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong. He walked out of the restaurant, took a detour, and climbed in through the window of the room, only to find that His Highness had already disappeared.
If he had known this would happen, he should have stayed by His Highness's side the whole time.
Lin Xiao was filled with regret, but it was too late.
The moment Shen Panyan entered the room, incense was lit inside. It was an aphrodisiac commonly used by the pleasure boat for distinguished guests, and Gu Jinyan had chosen the strongest kind. Before they even reached the princess's residence, Shen Panyan slowly woke up.
She felt as if her body was on fire, so uncomfortable that she was almost in pain. When the waves came, it was like a fish out of water, suffocating to the point of death.
And yet, she was held in someone's arms, like fire meeting water, enveloped tightly. Unconsciously, she rubbed against him, reaching out to press her hand against his body, murmuring a low, tearful sob, "Lin Xiao, I feel so bad..."
"Lin Xiao..."
Lin Xiao paused almost imperceptibly, then turned and walked in another direction, his face tense. "Your subordinate will take you to see Physician Lin."
Physician Lin?
Shen Panyan's still somewhat dazed mind began to clear slightly, her knuckles clenching tightly around the front of his shirt. "No, don't go..."
"Take me...take me back to the manor..."
Physician Lin is a man, and even though he is married, how could he let others see her suffering from such a shameful thing?
"I don't want to, please don't go, I don't want to be seen like this by others..." she cried out. Lin Xiao had no choice but to turn back and lower his voice, "Your Highness, please bear with me a little longer, I will take you back to the manor soon."
"We'll be there soon."
The walls of the princess's residence came into view in front of us.
Lin Xiao always traveled to places with few people, and when there was no one around, he would use his lightness skill to leave, making him even faster.
He crossed the wall of the princess's residence and led her back to his room.
When he placed her on the bed, Shen Panyan's cheeks were already flushed and her eyes were misty.
Lin Xiao never intended to take advantage of someone in distress. His fingertips landed on her wrist, and his expression darkened.
He withdrew his hand, his thin lips slightly pursed. "Your Highness, my medical skills are insufficient; I am unable to prescribe the antidote for you."
"I will send someone to prepare some cool water for you to wash yourself."
He tried to leave, but his clothes were grabbed.
"Don't go..."
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