The Emperor harbored hatred towards them because of his mother’s affairs and deliberately arranged a marriage for Ruan Niang. First, he assigned her to a powerless small county official who, though low-ranking, was still honest and treated Ruan Niang fairly. However, for some unknown reason, he offended the Empress’s maternal family, and the Emperor found an excuse to beat him, after which he went home and died of illness. The deaths of the second and third husbands were more or less related to the Emperor, but people did not blame the Emperor and instead said that Ruan Niang was cursed to bring death to her husbands.
Gu Qingtong finally understood completely and nodded: “So that’s how it was.”
At night, they did not want to return to Nandu and lay embracing on the bed.
Jiang Shangheng held her, and his heart should have been calm, but there was still a faint unease. Facing Shen Yuqing, he seemed to have no chance except for her heart. Because he was not as ruthless as Shen Yuqing, not as decisive as Shen Yuqing. Shen Yuqing had no attachments, while he still had to consider the person in his arms, consider the Zhenyuan Marquis Manor, consider his parents, and consider his siblings.
Gu Qingtong thought about his methods, calculating back and forth, feeling they were all dangerous.
She suddenly turned over and found his lips, holding and lingering for a long time. Her breath was light and gentle, yet warm. Jiang Shangheng began to feel the blood in his body slowly boiling. After being passive for a moment, he immediately pressed her down, restraining her, their tongues entangling tightly.
“Qingqing, what’s wrong?” The moonlight leaked into the room, spreading a white light over Gu Qingtong’s face. Jiang Shangheng looked at her.
“Shangheng, I want it,” Gu Qingtong’s voice carried a coquettish tone, her seductive eyes raising allure in the dark night.
Jiang Shangheng hesitated for a moment, then as if possessed, kissed her eyes, licking her delicate eyelids, intending to calm the fire within him, but to no avail.
Sunlight shot through the window, dancing with the swaying leaves. He gently pulled down the bed curtain, casting the bed into shadow. Because of his movement, Gu Qingtong uncomfortably shifted position, softly rubbing her tender parts against his arm. Jiang Shangheng watched her movements, showing exhaustion from last night. He muttered in dissatisfaction and buried himself back under the covers.
A bright red spot on the exposed bedsheet – he reached out and touched it, already dry. It was their first time.
Last night, they had given themselves to each other. He recalled the sensation of thrusting inside her, still feeling a flutter in his heart. The hot streams he deliberately left inside her body – she hadn’t refused, but instead accepted them to the fullest extent.
He gently caressed her exposed smooth belly: Could there already be his child here?
Jiang Shangheng thought this, with a hint of bitterness and a touch of joy.
“My Lord?” A subordinate’s voice sounded from outside.
He slowly got up, leaving a kiss on her cheek, pulling her blanket up, and quickly went out.
Gu Qingtong vaguely heard voices outside but couldn’t open her eyes. Finally finding it disturbing, she covered herself completely with the blanket and continued sleeping.
When she awoke, everything was still gray. After looking clearly, she realized the bed curtain had blocked the external light, creating an illusion of nighttime.
Gu Qingtong found Jiang Shangheng long gone from her side, yet she still remembered last night’s intimacy. Wasn’t one supposed to linger in bed and savor the moment after the first time? But Jiang Shangheng had vanished as soon as she woke up. Could her charm be insufficient?
She lifted the blanket and sat up, seeing bruises on her body.
She thought Jiang Shangheng’s back must also have several red marks, and feeling this, she felt somewhat relieved.
“Shangheng?” After sleeping so long, Gu Qingtong felt only slight fatigue and soreness, with no other unusual sensations. She tried calling Jiang Shangheng’s name multiple times.
But no matter how many times she called, Jiang Shangheng did not appear.
Last night, he had been hesitant when she begged, but later became resolute. She suddenly recalled Jiang Shangheng’s mentioned strategy and wondered if he had already left.
Gu Qingtong hurriedly dressed and went out, opening the door to see two black-clothed men entering from the courtyard gate.
“Miss.”
“Are you my adoptive father’s people?” Gu Qingtong was extremely surprised, wondering why they would appear here.
“Ji Chen will definitely not have an easy time in Liang Luoqian’s hands. Although I don’t know how Ji Chen fell into her trap, Liang Luoqian is extremely despicable, and I must go to save her. Take me there.” Gu Qingtong hesitated for a moment, thinking that since this Yun Leshi had feelings for her, he wouldn’t harm her. She nodded and prepared to follow him. However, the two black-clothed men beside her refused to give way and blocked her path.
Yun Leshi suddenly walked between the two of them and, with a flick of his sleeve, inserted a thin needle into the waists of the two black-clothed men.
The two black-clothed men seemed to have never expected that this person, who clearly couldn’t fight, would secretly stab them with a needle.
Gu Qingtong watched the men fall and exclaimed in shock, “Yun Leshi, what did you do to them?”
“Nothing, just a little anesthetic. They’ll wake up in an hour,” Yun Leshi said, then reached out to pull her.
Gu Qingtong tried to break free from his hand, but Yun Leshi’s grip was strong, and he dragged her out staggering.
Yun Leshi took her to the back mountain of Yuan Yu Temple.
However, they didn’t see Ji Chen and Liang Luoqian at Liang Luoqian’s parents’ tomb, only a short sleeve that looked like Ji Chen’s. Gu Qingtong became more anxious, looking around but unable to determine where they had gone.
“Over there,” Yun Leshi suddenly pointed to a cave.
Gu Qingtong stopped moving and saw an inconspicuous cave behind a gardenia tree. She hurriedly lifted her skirt and went forward.
“Orange?” As soon as Gu Qingtong entered, she saw Ji Chen being pressed against the wall by Liang Luoqian.
“Tong’er, why are you here?” Ji Chen seemed very surprised.
“Oh, Gu Qingtong, you’re here too,” Liang Luoqian turned around, her tone sinister.
Gu Qingtong quickly stepped forward, standing in front of Ji Chen, blocking Liang Luoqian.
Liang Luoqian took a step back, looking at the two of them, and chuckled: “Yun Leshi, you wanted to die in the same year, month, and day as Gu Qingtong, right? Mission accomplished.”
Gu Qingtong was still puzzled by Liang Luoqian’s words when Yun Leshi suddenly appeared with a black spherical object, jumping over with a twisted face.
“What is this?”
“Not good, it’s an explosive,” Ji Chen pulled Gu Qingtong back step by step. Liang Luoqian and Hong Jie had already retreated outside the cave, but they couldn’t escape as Yun Leshi blocked their way.
Yun Leshi’s face became more and more distorted, more and more hideous, and he had already lit the fuse.
Gu Qingtong wanted to escape, wanted to scream, but she couldn’t move, couldn’t even make a sound.
“Ah!”
Just when Gu Qingtong thought she was about to die, a large hand swept by, causing her pain and making her open her eyes. She looked at the canopy above, where an orange-yellow light and shadow spread out.
Gu Qingtong slowly sat up. She had just been dreaming. She looked down at herself; there were no blue or purple marks, only some red marks left from lovemaking. Although it was their first time, Jiang Shangheng’s strength was not great; on the contrary, he was extremely gentle, and those red marks were not very obvious.
However, Jiang Shangheng was indeed no longer here.
