Chapter 45 Chapter 45

Jiang Jingchun remained stubborn and did not move.

Gu Huaisheng was not annoyed by this. He just scooped a spoonful of porridge and then put down the bowl.

He clamped his other hand directly under her jaw and, with a little force, forced her to open her mouth.

Then, the spoon unexpectedly fed the porridge in.

Jiang Jingchun didn't expect him to be so tough this time, so he just went straight for it and unexpectedly fed him a mouthful of porridge.

She came back from Chen's house today and was not in a good mood to begin with. She did not expect him to force himself on her. Although he did not say it, she knew that he was angry.

He's angry? What does he have to be angry about?

Jiang Jingchun also wanted to be angry with him on purpose. She pushed Gu Huaisheng's hand away, suddenly stood up and crawled to Gu Huaisheng's legs, and actually spit out the porridge that was force-fed into her mouth onto Gu Huaisheng's body.

Jiang Jingchun really puts into practice what she said, she will make Gu Huaisheng regret marrying her.

Before they got married, she had done something terrible again and again. She thought it would be best if she could make Gu Huaisheng unbearable and stop wanting to marry her.

She knew that he had a serious obsession with cleanliness, so she did these things on purpose to dislike him.

A pool of white porridge was unexpectedly spit onto Gu Huaisheng's body, staining his clean white robe.

The air around him froze instantly. Gu Huaisheng felt the veins on his forehead twitched violently twice, and his eyes seemed to be filled with a dark color.

He lowered his head slightly and saw Jiang Jingchun looking at him with her head slightly raised, with an uncontrollable smugness in her eyes. After she spit a mouthful of porridge on his legs, she lay back down as if nothing had happened, and even crossed her legs happily, not taking the incident seriously at all.

Gu Huaisheng coldly withdrew his gaze, took out a handkerchief to wipe off the porridge she had spit out, threw the handkerchief aside, and even picked up the bowl of porridge again, but this time he did not feed her with a spoon. He drank a sip himself, then held the porridge in his mouth and moved closer to Jiang Jingchun who was lying on the couch.

Gu Huaisheng was getting closer and closer.

Jiang Jingchun was startled by his sudden action. Seeing his face approaching her, she immediately knew what Gu Huaisheng was going to do.

She hated him and spit the porridge mixed with her saliva onto him. Seeing his attitude, she wanted to be disgusted with him back, but this time he wanted to feed it into her mouth mouth to mouth.

In the end, Jiang Jingchun was frightened by Gu Huaisheng's behavior. She quickly reached out and covered his mouth. Her cold lips touched her palm and caused a tingling sensation. But she couldn't care less about that now. She just wanted to push this face and mouth away.

But Gu Huaisheng was much stronger than her, and he only needed a little force to open her wrist.

Jiang Jingchun struggled with both hands, but was immediately restrained by Gu Huaisheng with a large palm clamp.

Her fluttering hands were fixed by him on the railing beside the imperial concubine's bed.

His knees pinned the kicking legs down.

Then the other hand had touched her chin.

Jiang Jingchun was frightened by his action. He only needed to pinch her chin and the porridge would be easily spit into her mouth.

That's disgusting.

Jiang Jingchun couldn't stand it anymore, and finally gave in. She immediately begged, "I was wrong, I won't do it again."

But Gu Huaisheng still didn't move.

She immediately softened her voice and said, "I'm so wrong, cousin, please don't spit in my mouth, it's really disgusting."

He leaned over to look at the face so close to him, and saw that there was indeed some fear in her round eyes.

This was indeed a disgusting thing, and she was indeed scared.

After all, if someone really wanted to hate her, she couldn't hide.

But Gu Huaisheng didn't have that intention. He just wanted to scare her. But he didn't expect that she would surrender so quickly. She was scared to tears before anything happened.

He stopped scaring her, swallowed the porridge, loosened his hand, and then took the bowl beside him and handed it to her.

After what happened just now, Jiang Jingchun became really obedient. He picked up the spoon and obediently drank the porridge. He looked much more docile than before.

She was quite good at reading people's expressions, especially his.

It's always like this. She has been like this since she was a child. She is always so disobedient and has to completely annoy people before she knows how to be afraid.

I am sure that if my voice softens, others will also soften their hearts after hearing it.

Anyway, this trick of hers always works on him.

Gu Huaisheng stood up and went outside to ask the servants to bring ice cubes. After a while, the servants brought ice cubes wrapped in cloth.

He took the ice and walked to Jiang Jingchun's side. She had finished her porridge and put down the bowl. She was sitting on the couch without saying a word, her eyes staring at one place, and no one knew what she was thinking about.

Gu Huaisheng sat back on the couch and asked Jiang Jingchun to lie down.

Jiang Jingchun looked at what he was holding and asked, "What do you want to do?"

What can he do?

Seeing her wary and suspicious look, Gu Huaisheng pursed his lips and explained, "When we return to the Jiang family later, if your grandmother sees you like this, she will inevitably be suspicious."

What if she thinks he bullied her?

After hearing what Gu Huaisheng said, Jiang Jingchun unconsciously retorted. He was right. She ran away without telling her grandmother because she didn't want to worry her.

If she saw me with red eyes, I'm afraid she would think of something else.

Thinking so, she listened to his words and lay back on the couch.

Her eyes were plunged into darkness. Gu Huaisheng gently placed the ice pack on her eyelids and kept rolling it. The cool feeling made her feel peaceful. But not long after, she heard Gu Huaisheng ask, "Are you done with Song Xuanan?"

Jiang Jingchun didn't really want to answer this question, and just sneered at him, "Why do you care whether we are clean or not? If we can't be husband and wife, can't we still be friends?"

Gu Huaisheng didn't say anything after hearing this, but he deliberately used a little more force in his movements. Jiang Jingchun's eyes hurt slightly, and he reached out and hit him randomly. His nails scratched his wrist, and a red mark immediately appeared on his fair skin.

His wrist was very thin, with distinct blood vessels on it. A scratch immediately appeared on his wrist, and the mark was particularly obvious on his porcelain-like skin.

Looking at the red mark, Gu Huaisheng did not move for a long time.

Jiang Jingchun couldn't stand the ice pack staying on his eyes for too long, so he reached out and grabbed Gu Huaisheng's wrist, trying to take his hand away.

She held the red mark.

The red mark was given by my cousin, and my cousin touched it.

For some reason, this realization gave him a strange feeling, and his eyes became somewhat dim.

Jiang Jingchun easily removed his wrist and opened her eyes to glare at him, but was caught off guard by black eyes that were as deep as a pool.

The look in her eyes made him look a little scary.

The overly invasive look made her feel uneasy, and she didn't dare to show it again.

She immediately lowered her eyes and stopped looking at him. She took the ice pack from his hand and applied it to herself.

Fortunately, Gu Huaisheng did not stop it.

After a long while, Jiang Jingchun finally heard him speak in a hoarse voice. He said, "Don't cry for him anymore."

"Don't see him or mention him anymore..."

She always talks about Song Xuanan.

She should have nothing to do with him anymore.

They couldn't be friends, which made Gu Huaisheng feel a little dangerous.

Two childhood sweethearts who were almost married... this relationship is dangerous.

Jiang Jingchun rarely said anything after hearing this. Gu Huaisheng's eyes still made her feel a little scared, so she chose to keep quiet.

Although she said nothing, she didn't take his words seriously in her heart. How could he care about her? She was married, not sold. Why should he care who she met or didn't meet? Besides, even if she met him, what would he know?

The two did not continue talking about this matter.

After the redness in Jiang Jingchun's eyes subsided, Gu Huaisheng got up, changed into clean clothes, and came back. Then they went to Jiang's house together.

Just as he was about to go out, he saw Mrs. Gu also going out, and the three of them bumped into each other.

I don't know if it was Jiang Jingchun's illusion, but I felt that the atmosphere was strange for a moment. In the end, this moment of stagnation was broken by her. She called Mrs. Gu, "Aunt."

Mrs. Gu had a complicated expression on her face, but she finally agreed. Judging from their attitude, she thought they were going to the Jiang family.

She asked, "Are we going to Jiang's house?"

Jiang Jingchun said "hmm".

After getting a positive answer, Mrs. Gu said, "I will go to look for mother soon, let's go together."

Having said this, she no longer cared about Gu Huaisheng and Jiang Jingchun's expressions and walked with them on her own.

Seeing Mrs. Gu's attitude, Gu Huaisheng couldn't figure out what she wanted to do for a moment. Their last conversation was not a pleasant one, so this time he didn't expect her to help him with things like getting married.

Although it was indeed a bit inappropriate for him to go and propose marriage himself, Gu Huaisheng obviously didn't care much about it. He just wanted to get it done as soon as possible so that he could feel at ease sooner.

He was not quite sure what Mrs. Gu intended, but when he saw her following him, he did not say anything.

The three of them got into a carriage.

The carriage drove towards the Jiang family's direction. The atmosphere in the carriage was quiet and no one spoke first. The curtain was slightly opened and Jiang Jingchun's eyes were fixed outside the window.

The scenery of the capital passed by her eyes. Just a few days ago, in order to avoid Gu Huaisheng, she was excited to leave the city. At that time, she didn't know when she could return to the capital, and she wanted to remember the last appearance of the capital. Now looking at the same scene again, she couldn't help but think of her mood that day, with expectations and curiosity about the outside world, but most of all, she was eager to escape from Gu Huaisheng.

But looking back now...the world outside is beautiful, but it is also quite scary.

If she was caught by him, he would probably become even more suspicious and would not allow her to get out again.

She couldn't persuade him, and she didn't understand why he was so stubborn.

She was leaning against the car window, daydreaming, when she heard Mrs. Gu calling her.

Jiang Jingchun came back to his senses and looked at her.

Mrs. Gu was also looking at her, as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.

Seeing that she had something to say, but didn't know why she was hesitating, Jiang Jingchun said, "Aunt, just say what you want to say."

Mrs. Gu hesitated for a moment, then spoke. She asked, "Xiaochun, are you...are you willing to marry your cousin?"

As soon as she said this, Gu Huaisheng also looked at Mrs. Gu. He looked at her with a somewhat indifferent expression, and it was unknown what she was thinking.

Jiang Jingchun was thinking, if she said "I don't want to", would it be useful?

Will Mrs. Gu listen to Gu Huaisheng or her?

You know it without even thinking about it.

She now understood that no matter how hard she tried, it was useless. She couldn't win against Gu Huaisheng. Unless Gu Huaisheng gave in, everything would be in vain. When he caught up with her in just half a day, she should have known that she was no match for him. She couldn't even compare to him in terms of hatred, let alone other things.

She had never seen him so difficult to deal with before. If she had known this would happen, she would not have provoked him.

Forget it. There is no point in thinking about anything else now. She has struggled, run away once, and made trouble so many times. It is time to face the reality. She cannot defeat Gu Huaisheng. Besides, she is going to the Jiang family to propose marriage now. What is the point of talking about other things?

It makes everyone upset.

She was silent for a long time. Mrs. Gu knew that she was probably in great pain, so she did not urge her. Gu Huaisheng, who was standing by, also turned his gaze to her. He unconsciously clenched his palms, waiting for her answer.

The quietness of the carriage made Jiang Jingchun's silence even more obvious.

Finally, they waited for her to speak.

Mrs. Gu asked her if she was willing to marry Gu Huaisheng, and she replied, "Yes."

Just one simple word made her meaning clear.

She means that she would like to.

Even though he knew Jiang Jingchun was reluctant, after hearing this answer, Gu Huaisheng's clenched hands gradually loosened and a smile appeared in his eyes again.

Mrs. Gu didn't expect this answer. She couldn't believe it and asked, "Is it really voluntary? Was there anyone forcing you?"

This is almost like asking directly whether it was Gu Huaisheng who forced her.

After thinking about it, Jiang Jingchun no longer wanted to struggle. He thought that he would see his grandmother soon and didn't want to make her worry.

She laughed and joked, "Of course I volunteered. Auntie, have you forgotten that I used to like my cousin the most?"

These words came out of her mouth with a smile, with a hint of sarcasm. Not only Gu Huaisheng heard it, but even Mrs. Gu noticed it a little.

After hearing what Jiang Jingchun said, Madam Gu looked at Gu Huaisheng again, and finally remembered what Marquis Gu said to her that night. She finally sighed and said, "I understand. Since you all have this idea, I will go and talk to my mother about it today."

As if he had not expected Mrs. Gu's attitude to change so much, Gu Huaisheng frowned and looked at her, not quite understanding what she was thinking.

Seeing his expression, Mrs. Gu could not help but scold him, "What's the matter? Are you not happy about my going? If I don't go, can you go by yourself? Your mother is still alive, and you go to find a husband for yourself. You are really a good person."

Originally, this matter was supposed to be handled by a matchmaker, and she was not supposed to go, but the relationship between the two families was not very close, and seeing that Gu Huaisheng was so anxious, she no longer cared about it.

She didn't know why he was so anxious, but she took Jiang Jingchun to talk to him alone, and he didn't think it was strange.

I had thought that my mother would not be happy to care about this matter anymore, but I didn't expect that she would relax now. Although I don't know why her attitude changed so much, I don't know what she is thinking.

But it's great that she's willing to give in.

Gu Huaisheng said, "I dare not. I thought my mother didn't want to come."

Mrs. Gu heard his normal tone and it was obvious that he didn't take her last scolding to heart.

Yes, he has been like this since he was a child. No matter who scolds him, he will always be like this and never take these words to heart.

Since he didn't care about being scolded, why should she be bothered by it and she stopped thinking about what happened last time.

After a while, the carriage arrived at the Jiang family and they went in the direction of Rongde Hall.

But unexpectedly, he ran into Li and Jiang Jinghui who were returning from outside at the door.

The maids behind them were carrying large and small items, and it seemed that the two of them had just gone out for a walk.

I didn't expect it to be such a coincidence.

Several people got off the carriage and bumped into him.

This was the first time Jiang Jingchun met Li after moving out of the Jiang family.

Li didn't expect them to come at this time. She didn't know why Jiang Jingchun was with the Gu family again. She just hadn't seen them for a few days. Her eyes were fixed on Jiang Jingchun the moment she met her.

Even though he knew it was inappropriate to look at her like this, he couldn't stop staring at her.

Jiang Jingchun already knew the truth about what happened back then. She moved out of the Jiang family, intending to cut off all ties with them. Even if she returns to the Jiang family now, she will never see her.

She was resentful of her for what happened back then.

But even knowing this, she couldn't help but look at her.

Li's gaze was too scorching, Jiang Jingchun just pretended not to see it, lowered her head, and pretended she saw nothing.

Now she saw her, as if she were a stranger.

This look hurt Li's eyes. She didn't expect that she would avoid her like this.

Don't even look at it.

It was Jiang Jinghui who was standing by and asked first, "Why did your sister come with your aunt and cousin?"

A few days ago, I clearly heard the three men who kidnapped Jiang Jingchun say that the person had been sold to a brothel, but now she was standing in front of me again.

She saw Gu Huaisheng standing aside and naturally knew what was going on.

I'm afraid that the person was kicked out before he even spent a day in the brothel.

His movements were quite fast.

No one noticed what Jiang Jinghui was thinking. Mrs. Gu replied, "I came back to ask mother for marriage."

After she said this, the rest of the people fell silent, especially Li, whose face turned ashen.

What's going on? Gu Huaisheng asked to marry her?

Why did Gu Huaisheng ask Jiang Jingchun to marry him, and when did their relationship become so good? Perhaps it was because Jiang Jingchun had not been by her side for too long, so she knew nothing about these things... She knew nothing about her.

But at this moment, Li no longer cared why Jiang Jingchun and Gu Huaisheng were at the stage of discussing marriage. What she was thinking was that she was going to get married, but she knew nothing about it.

Wasn't she her mother? She had clearly raised her for more than ten years, but she was so cruel that she didn't even tell her about her marriage. If she hadn't run into them here today, would she know nothing even after she got married?

Li* felt even more sad. She refused to admit that it was because she was cruel first that Jiang Jingchun was so heartless.

She attributed it all to Jiang Jingchun being too cruel.

Li also seemed to be angry. She tried her best to be calm and said, "Really? Then it seems that we are going to Rongde Hall to look for mother. Jinghui and I have also bought some cakes for her. Let's go together."

Jiang Jingchun refused to let her get involved. She wanted her to be an outsider who knew nothing. But she refused and insisted on going. She was so worried about her marriage in the past, so why couldn't she go and see them discuss the marriage now?

They all looked at Jiang Jingchun, waiting for her reaction, even Li was looking at her.

Jiang Jingchun raised her eyes and met Li's. She chuckled and said, "Go ahead. Who can stop you from going?"

"Who can stop you?"

There was a hint of sarcasm in her tone, a tone she had never spoken to her in before.

The two people who were once the closest to each other now looked at each other with disgust and unkindness in their eyes.

Li was hurt by her words. She seemed to not believe that she could say that. Her lips trembled. She wanted to say something else, but when she came to her senses, Jiang Jingchun had already gone towards Rongde Hall.

Gu Huaisheng had been standing by without saying anything, but now he followed her.

Li looked at Jiang Jingchun's leaving back and thought of what she had just said. Her eyes turned red.

Mrs. Gu didn't know what to say when she saw this, so she could only go up to her and comfort her, "Hey, it's normal for Xiaochun to not accept it now. After all... it's been more than ten years. You don't need to be upset about it."

After all, she had been deceived for more than a decade, and her mother died in such a tragic way. It would be strange if she could accept it.

But it has already happened, and it is futile to worry about it now.

Li didn't want to be in such a state in broad daylight. After hearing what Mrs. Gu said, she took out a handkerchief and wiped her eyes, saying, "It's nothing. Let's go. I was just angry about what she said."

Seeing that she was being stubborn, Mrs. Gu did not say anything else. Every family has its own problems. She was confused about her own affairs and there was no way she could help Mrs. Li with this one.

Jiang Jingchun and Gu Huaisheng arrived at Rongde Hall first.

After Xuezhao returned to Beijing, she reported the matter of Jiang Jingchun to the old lady. She said it according to what Jiang Jingchun taught her.

She didn't say that the person was brought back by Gu Huaisheng. She just covered up the truth and said that Jiang Jingchun was tired from playing outside and found that life outside the capital was just so-so. She thought it was nothing interesting so she just came back. She even covered up the fact that she was sold to a brothel.

The old lady thought it was a little strange, but she didn't ask any further. Although she didn't know what happened, she thought it was good that she came back. She always felt a little uneasy when she was outside, fearing that something might happen to her.

It’s good to be back.

The old lady was lying on a recliner in the courtyard. It was past noon now. She had taken a nap after lunch and woke up at about 3 p.m. The weather was the best at this time. The autumn afternoon sun was warm but not scorching, and it felt warm on people's bodies. The old lady squinted her eyes and looked up at the sky. Outside the four eaves was a vast expanse of blue.

There seemed to be the sound of servants reporting at the gate of the courtyard. The old lady was old and her hearing was not very good. She heard the sound vaguely and looked towards the door.

It was Jiang Jingchun and Gu Huaisheng.

They walked side by side, passed through the hall and came to the courtyard. From dark to bright, the soft light slowly fell on them, which was dazzling. Jiang Jingchun lowered her head and didn't know what she was thinking. Her two hanging buns swayed slightly with her steps. Gu Huaisheng was beside her, walking slowly and in sync with her.

In the past, she always thought that Gu Huaisheng and Jiang Jingchun were the most incompatible people in the world, but she didn't know if it was her illusion, why did she feel that this look had a different feeling.

By the time the old lady came to her senses, the two men had already walked up to her.

They saluted her.

The old lady sat up from her chair. She didn't have time to ask them why the two of them came together. She just grabbed Jiang Jingchun and looked left and right. She was relieved when she saw that he was fine.

Although she heard her story from Xuezhao, she was still not reassured, so she asked her again in person, hoping to get the whole story out of her.

Jiang Jingchun squatted beside her recliner and told her what had happened in the past few days, but her words were similar to what Xuezhao had said. She said, "It's fun outside, but after playing for three days, I found that it's nothing special, so I want to go home."

The old lady laughed and joked, "Girl, you are the one who said you wanted to go out, and you are the one who came back. Others can play outside for a year or so without getting bored, but you are different. You have only been out for three days and you can't help but come back."

Jiang Jingchun changed the subject by acting coquettishly, "You miss your grandmother."

Her words made the old lady very happy, and she never mentioned the matter again.

The old lady laughed twice, then she remembered that she and her cousin came together. She glanced at Gu Huaisheng and asked them, "Why did you two come together? Did you run into each other at the door by chance?"

Just as he was about to answer her, there was a noise at the door again. It turned out that Mrs. Gu and Li's mother and daughter had arrived.

Seeing this situation, the old lady couldn't help but feel a little strange.

The old lady asked, "What's going on today? Why are you all here?"

I didn't expect that Li would appear with Jiang Jingchun.

Madam Gu replied to the old lady's words, "I came here today because Fu Yan wants to propose marriage to Jingchun."

The old lady was stunned when she heard this. Propose a marriage? Gu Huaisheng and Jiang Jingchun? Did she hear it right?

This happened so strangely and suddenly that the old lady couldn't help but be unable to react.

She intuitively felt that something was wrong and subconsciously looked at Jiang Jingchun.

When Jiang Jingchun saw her looking at her, the corners of his mouth curled up into a smile, without any sign of reluctance on his face.

The old lady was really confused and couldn't understand what Jiang Jingchun was thinking. She said nothing, she just asked her, "Are you really willing to marry your cousin?"

She clearly said a few days ago that she wanted to marry Xiao Song.

Jiang Jingchun was afraid that the old lady would notice something was wrong, so she nodded without hesitation and said, "Of course I am sincere and I am willing. My cousin is a romantic, handsome, talented, handsome, and has a noble bearing... Of course I am willing to marry him."

Afraid that the old lady would become suspicious, Jiang Jingchun looked at Gu Huaisheng when he said this.

She was clearly smiling, but to his ears it sounded like gnashing of teeth.

However, he pretended not to understand the hidden meaning of her words and just smiled when he saw her like this.

He looked at her and said, "My cousin is as young and beautiful as a peach tree. I think of her day and night and long for her. I only wish I could hold your hand and stay with you until we grow old."

His smile seemed much more sincere than Jiang Jingchun's. He bent his lips, with a faint smile on the corners of his mouth, and there seemed to be a little starlight in his eyes.

His words were much more serious than Jiang Jingchun's.

But when Jiang Jingchun heard these words, her hair stood on end and her whole body felt tingling.

Why does it sound so much like...he will never let her go even if he dies?