The next morning, Lu Zhao left early just like the previous few days. When Shen Qingyao woke up and looked at the empty inn room, she felt a moment of confusion.
What surprised her was that shortly after Lu Zhao left, Hong Yun hurried in, saying someone was looking for her outside.
Shen Qingyao was somewhat surprised. After all, she didn’t know many people in this Ning City. But after hesitating for a moment, she nodded and let the person in.
Hong Yun went out for quite a while before a person limped in at the door. Shen Qingyao sat at the table in a daze, feeling touched by the perseverance of this friend despite his disability, but then she was shocked. How could someone change so much overnight?
Indeed, the person who came in was Gu Ziyan, whom she had only briefly met the day before. Just by looking at him covered in injuries, with his once handsome face swollen and bruised, she could tell that whoever attacked him had been ruthless.
Shen Qingyao widened her eyes in astonishment, struggling to find her voice after a while, “Young… Young Master Gu? What’s happened to you?”
Before she could finish her sentence, Gu Ziyan gave her a glare, the accusation and dissatisfaction in his eyes were so obvious that they were almost tangible. Unfortunately, one of his charming peach blossom eyes was swollen, diminishing its intimidating power.
Shen Qingyao’s head filled with question marks. From the defiant gaze, she gathered a bit of useful information and asked in astonishment, “Does this have something to do with me?”
She really had no clue.
Gu Ziyan snorted in confirmation, leaving Shen Qingyao greatly surprised. Really?
As he finally limped over to the table, Shen Qingyao watched him warily. He might be a bit of a tyrant, but she had learned some things about him from Lu Zhao the night before and knew that Gu Ziyan, despite being unreliable, wasn’t reckless. However, she couldn’t help feeling a bit anxious. What if his condition was her fault? What if he was seeking revenge?
“You don’t need to be so afraid! I won’t do anything to you!” Gu Ziyan was both angry and speechless at her attitude. What did she take him for? “Rest assured, I won’t lay a hand on a woman.”
Shen Qingyao awkwardly smiled and pushed a cup of tea toward him.
“Is there something you came to see me about, Young Master Gu?” After a moment, Shen Qingyao broke the silence and asked.
Gu Ziyan’s face soured again. After a while, unwillingly, he said, “To apologize to you! Yesterday, I was impulsive and scared Madam Lu.”
His teeth clenched as he uttered the last few words, making Shen Qingyao’s heart skip a beat.
“Huh? But nothing happened yesterday…” Shen Qingyao couldn’t understand. What apology was he talking about?
“Yeah, I also wonder what I did.” As the matter was brought up, Gu Ziyuan’s complexion improved slightly. He sat across from her, finished the tea in one gulp, and said indignantly, “Somehow, yesterday’s incident at the teahouse got to my Old Man’s ears, and everything was exaggerated. No matter how I explained, my Old Man wouldn’t listen, convinced that I’m a scoundrel harassing respectable women! He didn’t even let me rest and drove me out to apologize to you. Did I harass you?”
“…” Shen Qingyao fell into silence. This misunderstanding was huge.
“Was it my husband who informed your father?” It couldn’t be. She had already stated that nothing had happened. Lu Zhao shouldn’t act unreasonably.
“No, it wasn’t.” Fortunately, Gu Ziyan shook his head. “My Old Man heard it himself. As soon as he knew the person was your husband, he couldn’t sit still. Who are you guys? How come you make my Old Man, who usually doesn’t care about anything, take you so seriously?”
“…” Shen Qingyao fell silent again. It wasn’t convenient to explain. At least, she wouldn’t voluntarily disclose her husband’s identity to outsiders without Lu Zhao’s consent.
Gu Ziyan sighed again, lazily saying, “Forget it, no need to tell me. It’s not like I’ve achieved anything. What’s the use of knowing these things?”
Seeing him like this, Shen Qingyao couldn’t help but feel a bit sad. She already knew that at least half of Gu Ziyan’s dandy appearance was forced upon him. With the Gu family guarding the Ning City’s gold mine, although Governor Gu Hui was favored by the emperor, suspicions were inevitable. Gu Hui had already gained a great reputation among the people. If there was another talented and outstanding son, coupled with the gold mine in hand, it wouldn’t be long before they faced the catastrophe of being wiped out.
Shen Qingyao was taken aback for a moment, then comforted, “There’s no need to belittle yourself like this. The world is so big, there will always be a way out someday.”
Besides, being a lazy bum isn’t necessarily a bad thing, right?
Gu Ziyan sneered, “A way out? How could there be a way out? I can’t focus on studying, can’t achieve anything. The only thing I like besides Wan’er is a bit of martial arts, but I can’t even excel at that. What can I accomplish? Now everyone thinks I’m worthless, even Wan’er doesn’t want to bother with me. What else can I do?”
Wan’er… Shen Qingyao blinked. This was the third time she heard this name. Last night, Lu Zhao told her that Gu Ziyuan had an unmarried fiancée named Lin Wan’er, the daughter of a prominent literary family in Ning City. Gu Ziyan was very fond of her, but unfortunately, Lin Wan’er was ambitious and didn’t like Gu Ziyan, who was idle and has accomplished nothing. She never treated him kindly and recently, she even avoided him like the plague.
[Tsk tsk tsk, if Gu Ziyan were living in a male-oriented novel, he’d be the male lead of the counterattack script! A waste in the beginning, then turning the tables later!] The system couldn’t help but sigh repeatedly.
Shen Qingyao couldn’t help but chuckle at this thought. Not only in male-oriented novels, but female-oriented novels also loved such ‘pretend to be a pig to eat the tiger’ male leads.
But unfortunately, he wasn’t the male lead of this book.
But she still had to advise him. After all, he got beaten up because of her. Shen Qingyao glanced at his injuries again and thought, the Governor was really ruthless!
“Ahem, I can’t help you much with anything else, but since you like Wan’er, why not try harder? What if she also likes you?” Shen Qingyao said this feeling a bit guilty, but still encouraged him with a straight face.
“You tell me, how do I try harder?” Young Master Gu didn’t want to make the effort anymore. He directly reached out for an answer, catching Shen Qingyao off guard. She just casually said that, how could he actually believe her?
“Um…” Shen Qingyao, a straight woman, struggled for a while before finally saying, “How about, you give her flowers?”
“…” Gu Ziyan rolled his eyes. He shouldn’t have believed her.
Seeing him like this, Shen Qingyao became more enthusiastic. Tilting her head, she continued, “Don’t underestimate flowers! No matter how wealthy or noble a family is, no girl would dislike flowers! Moreover, giving jewelry and clothes is too common! For a literary family like hers, giving a flower would show your refined taste and sincerity!”
She spoke convincingly, but Gu Ziyan still didn’t react much. However, Lu Zhao, who had just returned and arrived at the door, heard what she said before he could open the door and couldn’t help but pause outside the door, lost in thought.
—So, the little girl actually liked flowers?
After pondering for a moment, Lu Zhao turned and left again.
Inside the room, Gu Ziyan was still skeptical. “Really?”
“For real!” Shen Qingyao nodded confidently, completely ignoring the disdain from the system in her mind, which was already eager to toss her out of this book’s world and start over.
After a while, Gu Ziyan limped out of the inn. A servant waiting at the corner immediately came up to assist him, but Gu Ziyan waved him off disdainfully. Then, he threw away his crutch, roughly tore off the bandages on his body and head, took the handkerchief handed to him by the servant, and wiped his face, removing the bruises.
He hadn’t really been heavily injured by his father; it was all an act.
“Young Master, are we going back to the mansion?” The servant asked cautiously.
“Let’s go back!” Gu Ziyan was somewhat annoyed. He took a few steps but then stopped. “Forget it, let’s not go back.”
“?” The servant was puzzled. Gu Ziyan then said, “You go, and bring me some rare and unusual flowers.”
“Flowers?” The servant was confused.
Gu Ziyan pretended to kick him, and the servant laughed and ran off. It was just picking some flowers after all! He was used to his Young Master’s whimsical requests…
When Lu Zhao returned to the inn again, he was carrying a bouquet of dewy flowers.
As he approached the door, he hesitated again. It was clear that Yaoyao’s words were just trying to deceive Gu Ziyan, so they couldn’t be genuine. Just as he was about to turn around and throw away the flowers, he thought again, What if Yaoyao was serious? He couldn’t bear to throw away the flowers.
Just as he was torn between conflicting thoughts, the door was pulled open from inside, catching Lu Zhao off guard, exposing a bouquet of flowers in Shen Qingyao’s eyes.
“Elder Brother Lu Zhao, you’re back?” When there was nobody around, Shen Qingyao found it smoother to call him like this.
Her eyes moved back and forth between the flowers in Lu Zhao’s hands and his handsome face, a bit puzzled.
Lu Zhao rarely smirked, feeling a bit awkward, he cleared his throat and nodded, “Hmm. Let’s go inside.”
With that, he reached out, turned Shen Qingyao around, and pushed her into the room.
Shen Qingyao obediently went in and sat down, but couldn’t help but glance at the flowers in his hands.
“You say, are these flowers for me?” She was unsure and secretly asked the system.
[Otherwise? Who else here would like this stuff?] The system leaned on its chin, watching the scene play out.
“Why did he suddenly give me flowers?” Shen Qingyao was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized, “Ah! Did he hear it just now? Does he really believe such nonsense?”
Shen Qingyao was greatly shocked, but at the thought that these flowers might be for her, she couldn’t help but smile. After all, what girl wouldn’t like flowers, especially when they were given by a handsome guy?
[Pfft, obviously, it was because they’re flowers from your sweetheart.] The system said coldly, but Shen Qingyao ignored it, her almond eyes staring at Lu Zhao, not understanding why he hadn’t given her the flowers yet.
“Elder Brother Lu Zhao, um…” She pointed to the thing in Lu Zhao’s hand, “Isn’t that for me?”
Lu Zhao’s movements stiffened. His plan to put the flowers down discreetly without a trace had failed, so he sighed and smiled, “Yes, they’re for you,” and handed her the flowers.
Shen Qingyao saw the dodging look in his eyes and found it amusing. It was rare to see Lu Zhao so innocent and awkward. Her desire to act kicked in, so she pretended to be puzzled and said, “Why give me flowers? I don’t like flowers.”
Lu Zhao’s eyes flickered, realizing that Yaoyao indeed was just fooling Gu Ziyan. Just as he was about to say something to cover up, he caught a glimpse of the girl’s barely concealed smile.
He squinted, feeling like he understood something.
With a soft laugh, Lu Zhao regained his confident and casual demeanor, approaching her, pulling her up from the chair and into his arms, deliberately lowering his voice, “You don’t like flowers?”
Shen Qingyao couldn’t resist his tone, her legs almost went weak, but she didn’t want to lose, so she also leaned in, her nose touching Lu Zhao’s, a subtle distance between them, shaking her head softly and saying, “I don’t like flowers, but I like you…”
Lu Zhao’s eyes darkened, and Shen Qingyao took the flowers from his hand, “So, I also like the flowers Elder Brother Lu Zhao gave me!”
With that, she easily slipped out of his embrace, holding onto the bouquet lovingly.
“…” Lu Zhao saw through her little teasing tricks, turned his head away, and chuckled, feeling pleased.
A moment later, he walked over, tapped Shen Qingyao’s forehead playfully as she was still playing with the flowers, as if taking revenge, “What did you just call me?”
Shen Qingyao covered her forehead, not expecting things to turn out like this. Wasn’t this supposed to be a flirting game? Why suddenly domestic violence!
But, circumstances are stronger than people, when you take something from someone, you are beholden to them1. These flowers were indeed nice. Shen Qingyao hesitated for a moment, then quietly corrected herself, “Oh, husband…”
“Right, good girl.”
- This proverb is often used to express the idea that it is sometimes necessary to compromise or accept unfavorable terms in order to get what you need. ↩︎
Thanks for the chapter!!!!