The carriage moved through the bustling streets, with the noise of vendors shouting constantly filling the air.
Inside the carriage, Mu Qingyao had stopped crying, leaning silently against Gu Fu’s shoulder, as if lost in thought or perhaps recalling something. Occasionally, her tear-streaked eyes would moisten again, only to be dried with a handkerchief in a continuous cycle.
Gu Xiaowu sat to the side, holding a steaming piece of red date cake, nibbling on it slowly.
Beside her, there were also various treats: candied hawthorn wrapped in sticky rice paper, pink peach blossom pastries shaped like flowers, and snowflake cakes, soft, white, and fragrant.
Suddenly, someone knocked on the carriage window. Gu Xiaowu quickly put down the red date cake and lifted the curtain, only to see her brother handing in another package of food. This time, it was a thin, snow-white tuckahoe pancake.
Gu Xiaowu took the paper bag and, in a childish voice, said, “Thank you, brother!”
Gu Zhu noticed the crumbs of red date cake around Gu Xiaowu’s mouth and muttered quietly, “Don’t just eat by yourself.”
These snacks were actually meant for Mu Qingyao.
Mu Qingyao was a year younger than Gu Zhu, but in her actions, she was more like his elder sister.
Earlier at Prince An’s residence, when he and his uncle Gu Qizheng arrived together, the situation was already under Gu Fu’s control. Gu Qizheng took the lead in deciding to bring Mu Qingyao back to the Gu family, leaving no room for him to speak. Of course, he didn’t dare to speak either, not only because he disliked being the center of attention but also because of the delicate relationship between him and Mu Qingyao. Acting rashly might only bring harm to her.
So, all he could do was buy more snacks on the way home, using the excuse of getting them for his little sister Gu Xiaowu, when in fact, they were for Mu Qingyao. It was his clumsy way of showing concern.
Gu Xiaowu nodded, somewhat understanding.
In truth, when it came to “relationships,” ever since Gu Fu’s mother passed away, the connection between the Gu and Mu families had grown distant. Even though Mu Qingyao was raised in the Gu family, there was no reason for the Gu family to take her away against Mu Heng, her father’s, objections. It could only be said that Gu Qizheng and Gu Fu had been overly forceful this time, so much so that no one noticed anything amiss.
The carriage stopped in front of the Gu residence, and Gu Fu led Mu Qingyao and Gu Xiaowu to the backyard.
After freshening up, Mu Qingyao said to Gu Fu, “Sorry for troubling you and Uncle.”
Gu Fu waved his hand, “There’s no trouble at all. Don’t be fooled by my father’s stern face and strict adherence to rules. I think if it weren’t for my late grandfather’s strict teachings, he might be even less disciplined than I am. This time, he showed your father a cold face. Though it was out of anger, I doubt he’ll regret it. He probably feels quite satisfied, as if he has finally vented his frustration.”
Mu Qingyao replied, “So you think so too.”
Gu Fu: “What?”
Mu Qingyao sat upright in front of Gu Fu’s dressing table. Her eyes were still swollen, and her voice was a bit hoarse, but her tone had returned to its usual calmness: “I’ve always thought you and Uncle are quite similar.”
She continued, “I’ve never seen anyone who, after losing his wife, could stay so devoted to her memory and refuse to remarry for so many years. It reminds me a lot of how you were determined not to marry after returning to the capital. Yet, this is also considered ‘proper,’ regardless of whether there’s someone you love. In many people’s eyes, a man who loses his wife is expected to remarry, even if it’s to someone of lower status. It’s as if a man can’t live without a woman in the house.
“But Uncle managed to do it, so I thought my father would be the same. When I later heard that he remarried in the northwest, I wasn’t just upset; I was curious: Did my father remarry because he ‘loved’ her, or because it was ‘proper’?”
In a soft voice, she added, “It seems now that it was probably out of ‘love.'”
Because of love, he became blindly biased.
Gu Fu raised her hand and patted Mu Qingyao’s shoulder. “Let’s not dwell on this. Think about the future instead.”
“Mm.” Mu Qingyao nodded, took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and then suddenly said, “I want to become a nun. That way, Prince An’s heir won’t have to feel burdened to marry me, and I won’t have to deal with all these messy things anymore.”
It was a shocking statement, only slightly less surprising than if a woman declared she wanted to join the army in the northern borders.
So, as someone who had served in the northern borders, Gu Fu remained calm and asked, “Would you stay in the capital or go to a temple outside the capital?”
Mu Qingyao replied, “I think Zuowang Mountain is a good place.”
Gu Fu recalled that she had stayed at Zuowang Mountain for a few days before returning to the capital, so she remembered something significant and felt the need to inform Mu Qingyao: “The nuns there don’t allow visitors to bring storybooks.”
Mu Qingyao, who had packed a whole cart full of storybooks when she moved, froze.
“Apparently, the nuns there don’t allow storybooks at all. Should I sneak some in for you?” Gu Fu suggested.
Unlike Gu Fu, Mu Qingyao wasn’t the type to break the rules and understood the reasoning behind a convent not allowing nuns to read romance novels, so she changed her mind. “Then forget it.”
Life was already so difficult. Without storybooks, she’d be like a merchant in the desert without water.
However, with today’s events causing such a stir, if she didn’t become a nun, she would have to get married—to Prince An’s heir.
The issue is that Prince An’s heir doesn’t necessarily want her either. He was just helping her out temporarily. If she were to actively pursue marriage, it would be rather tactless. If she pressured him too much, Prince An’s residence might directly come to annul this engagement that never really existed, and she would be the one left humiliated.
Mu Qingyao didn’t feel that Wen Qize, just because he resolved her troubles, was obligated to take full responsibility.
So, she wanted to find a solution that wouldn’t worsen her situation, nor force Wen Qize to risk his marriage prospects to help her. During this time, she was called by the old Madam Gu for some comfort, but since she was preoccupied, she seemed absent-minded, which the old madam took as a sign of lingering fear and pitied her even more.
Before the curfew, Lu Zhu, who had been sent out by Gu Fu, brought back news—
Everything at the Mu residence was as usual. Because Mu Baidi was young and Lady Wu Xiao had been crying heavily, Mu Heng only scolded the mother and daughter pair without pursuing the matter further.
Lady Wu Xiao continued to sow discord in front of Mu Heng, insisting that he should not let Mu Qingyao marry into the Prince of An’s residence, blaming the whole situation on the Prince of An’s heir. She argued that if he hadn’t stopped Mu Qingyao from speaking, Mu Baidi wouldn’t have misunderstood and said something inappropriate.
This time, however, Mu Heng didn’t listen to Wu Xiao. For one, the matter had already spread, and it would be difficult for him to refuse; for another, Prince An’s family was of high standing, and Mu Qingyao wouldn’t be at a disadvantage by marrying into it.
So, in the afternoon, he wrote a letter and sent it to Prince An’s residence, discussing the marriage between the two families and preparing to turn the fake engagement into a real one.
As for Prince An’s residence, Wen Qize hadn’t told Prince An the whole truth. So, in the Prince’s eyes, Wen Qize acted like a rogue by stopping Mu Qingyao to talk and even gave her the jade pendant from the old princess dowager. Seeing that the young lady had been wronged by her stepmother because of him and not wanting to see her ruined, he made up a story that their families had already proposed a marriage.
This infuriated Prince An to the point that he not only punished Wen Qize by making him kneel but also whipped him with a horsewhip.
Wen Qize stubbornly endured the punishment, refusing to reveal the truth.
As for the letter from Mu Heng discussing the marriage, Prince An received it but didn’t show it to Wen Qize. He didn’t want Wen Qize to think he could get away with wrongdoing and still marry the girl. Instead, he took the letter to discuss the matter with Princess An.
After hearing the news about both families, Mu Qingyao also wrote a letter and took out the jade pendant, asking Gu Fu, who was going out at night, to help deliver the letter and the pendant to Wen Qize.
Gu Fu, who had already sent a message to Fu Yan saying she wouldn’t be going to the Qitian Tower that night and would stay to accompany Mu Qingyao, asked, “Do you need me to stay with you longer?”
Mu Qingyao, lying on Gu Fu’s bed while reading the latest storybook, didn’t even lift her head as she responded, “I’m fine. You can go.”
Gu Fu: … As expected of you.
Gu Fu climbed out the window, and Mu Qingyao stared at the pages for a long time without moving before finally closing the book and lying in the dark, lost in thought.
Gu Fu, treading on the rooftops, arrived at Prince An’s residence and found the study where Wen Qize was being punished after searching for a while.
She pushed open the window, and Wen Qize, hearing the noise, thought it was a thief. He tried to get up to catch the intruder, but his knees, sore from kneeling too long, gave out, and he nearly fell to the ground, barely catching himself with his hands.
“Your Highness, it’s me.” Gu Fu jumped into the study, strolled over to Wen Qize, and squatted down to hand him the letter and jade pendant.
Wen Qize was first surprised that Gu Fu dared to break curfew, but then his attention shifted to the jade pendant and the letter.
Wen Qize asked, “What is this?”
Gu Fu pushed the letter and jade pendant closer to Wen Qize. “Read it, and you’ll understand.”
After thinking for half a day about what to do, and hearing the news from Lu Zhu, Mu Qingyao made a decision—to leave the choice to Wen Qize.
Since Wen Qize was dragged into this mess, Mu Qingyao decided to let him decide whether or not he wanted to marry her.
So the letter was straightforward, asking for Wen Qize’s wishes.
However, the letter didn’t state that if Wen Qize was willing to marry her, she would agree, and if he wasn’t, she would find a way out, even if it meant becoming a nun.
Wen Qize, feeling a bit confused, asked, “Can’t I marry her?”
After all this, could he not marry Mu Qingyao?
Gu Fu replied, “She’s worried that you were just acting on impulse to help her and that you never intended to marry her. She’s expecting the Mu family to sensibly come and annul the engagement tomorrow.”
Wen Qize responded, “… I didn’t.”
Gu Fu asked, “Then will you marry her?”
Wen Qize replied, “Yes!”
Gu Fu: “…”
Finally, Gu Fu picked up on something and asked, “Do you like her?”
Wen Qize hesitated for a moment before stammering, “I-I wouldn’t say I like her, but I don’t want to see her unhappy. I think she’s… she’s pretty great.”
Gu Fu paused and then said, “Can I tell you something?”
“Go ahead,” Wen Qize said, looking at Gu Fu with a strange expression, as if he were looking at his future father-in-law.
Gu Fu said, “Qingyao is a clean freak. Even though she won’t say anything if you hold her hand with dirty hands, she will definitely curse you in her heart.”
Wen Qize thought to himself, “She doesn’t have to keep it to herself; she can curse me out loud or even hit me.”
He cleared his throat and said, “Got it.”
Gu Fu then received Wen Qize’s reply, along with the jade pendant, to be returned to Mu Qingyao.
With the letter and jade pendant in hand, Gu Fu headed to the Qitian Tower, intending to check on Fu Yan before returning home.
In fact, what she initially wanted to tell Wen Qize was, “Qingyao is a clean freak. If you take a concubine, she won’t say anything, but she’ll deeply, deeply despise you.”
Later, Gu Fu changed her approach, realizing it wasn’t her place to say such things.
Earlier, Gu Fu had sent a message, so Fu Yan and the Secret Cabinet members assumed she wouldn’t be coming that night. When she suddenly appeared on the rooftop, the guards nearly attacked her.
Gu Fu signaled them to be quiet, then crouched with them outside the rooftop, peeking inside. Inside, Fu Yan was focused on processing reports while instructing Yi Ye to send messages to Weizhou and Huzhou.
After receiving a small note from Fu Yan, Yi Ye left and didn’t return, likely to avoid being a nuisance in Fu Yan’s workspace on the seventh floor in Gu Fu’s absence.
Seeing this as a good opportunity, Gu Fu leaped inside and, without warning, pinned Fu Yan to the ground, restraining his hands.
Fu Yan’s surprised expression reminded Gu Fu of last year’s New Year’s Eve. Back then, she had drunk a bit of wine and came to the Qitian Tower when there weren’t as many guards around. She had similarly pinned Fu Yan against a wall and said—
“You smell so nice,” Gu Fu murmured as she buried her face in the crook of Fu Yan’s neck, inhaling deeply.
Fu Yan softly called, “A’Fu…”
Then he remembered New Year’s Eve last year, when Gu Fu had said the same thing to him.
Back then, they weren’t as close, and Fu Yan, displeased with Gu Fu’s audacity, had bluntly revealed her identity, calling her ‘Marquis Gu’.
However, Gu Fu denied it, pretending to be clueless and flirtatiously asked, “Who’s this ‘Marquis Gu’? Is he your lover? Does he usually come to see you? How about I take his place?”
What was infuriating back then now evoked a different feeling.
Gu Fu seemed to feel the same, mimicking her past words, she asked, “Who’s this ‘A’Fu’? Is she your lover?”
Fu Yan felt a smile tug at his lips but held it back. “Yes.”
Gu Fu released one of Fu Yan’s hands and playfully pinched his chin. “Does she usually come to see you?”
Fu Yan, slowly getting drawn into Gu Fu’s playful act, responded calmly, “She does.”
Gu Fu, now very close to Fu Yan, resembled a rogue seducing a married woman. She whispered seductively in his ear, “Then tonight, how about letting me take her place?”
Fu Yan hesitated for a moment, as if genuinely considering whether to be unfaithful.
Recalling the brief moment they shared in the carriage earlier that day, Fu Yan placed the hand that Gu Fu had freed onto her shoulder and gave his answer: “Alright.”
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