Gu Wangchuan frowned at her. The reprimand he had been about to deliver caught in his throat, for the little girl was already sobbing, her shoulders trembling.
Pearl-like tears slid down her cheeks one after another, gathering into a glimmering sheen at her chin before plopping onto the back of his hand.
“You were the one at fault first.” His voice remained cold and stern, yet his Adam’s apple bobbed involuntarily.
She lifted her palm-sized face. A flush like a begonia bloomed at the corners of her eyes, and her lashes, damp with tears, trembled softly with each sob.
“I know I was wrong…”
Her voice was so soft it seemed capable of melting into water, trembling with unbearable grievance. “But Brother Shao was so loud. You scared me so badly my heart nearly leaped out of my chest…”
As she spoke, she secretly reached for his broad palm.
Gu Wangchuan abruptly pulled his hand away, his expression faintly embarrassed.
Shao Yutong cried even harder, the tip of her dainty nose turning red. “Now that Brother Shao has someone he likes, you’re unwilling even to let Yutong touch you…”
She sobbed to herself. “Since that’s the case, Yutong shouldn’t shamelessly linger here and make herself hated…”
Her words made no sense at all, yet Gu Wangchuan’s heart tightened.
Seeing that she was crying so hard she could barely breathe, he finally sighed and reached out to pull her to her feet.
Shao Yutong took the opportunity to snuggle against his chest, smearing all her tears and snot onto his brocade robe.
“Stop crying.” His tone was stiff and commanding, but his fingertip gently wiped the tearstains from her face.
Faced with that face, so very similar to the woman in his heart, he ultimately could not bring himself to be ruthless.
She lifted her head in his arms. Her eyes, bright and clear as though washed by rain, were timid yet coquettish.
“Then you’re not allowed to be angry. Don’t scold me, and don’t punish me anymore.”
Gu Wangchuan stiffened. Meeting her pitiful, aggrieved gaze, which nevertheless held a hint of ingratiation, he finally nodded helplessly.
Shao Yutong broke into a smile through her tears and buried her face in the crook of his neck, rubbing against him lightly.
With one arm around her slender waist, Gu Wangchuan felt the unique fragrance of a young girl wafting around him. The violence and anger in his heart strangely dissipated by more than half.
Cheng Yao could only exclaim inwardly at Shao Yutong’s performance.
What did it mean to act coquettishly and play the victim with exactly the right amount of finesse?
The girl before her had taken it to an entirely new level!
If she were in the modern world, she would absolutely be an Oscar winner!
This wasn’t a woman at all—it was a cat that knew exactly how to scratch at people’s hearts. Even as another woman, Cheng Yao couldn’t help feeling the urge to cherish her, pull her into her arms, press her onto a bed, and lavish affection on her. As for Gu Wangchuan, who had taken a direct hit from her charms, it went without saying how hard it was for him to maintain his self-control.
But wait. How had Shao Yutong, a fourteen-year-old girl, mastered this art of seduction?
Had she taught herself?
Cheng Yao seemed to have discovered a whole new continent and began pondering the matter.
After soothing Shao Yutong with a few words, Gu Wangchuan looked up and saw Cheng Yao standing there with her small mouth slightly open, staring blankly.
She was huddled behind a maid, tiny and pitiful, with a few tears still clinging to her long lashes. She looked both delicate and helpless.
That was right—she had nearly died beneath the iron net. She was the real victim!
She was the one who should be comforted!
He had almost been bewitched by Shao Yutong!
A sudden disgust rose within Gu Wangchuan at the fact that he had allowed Shao Yutong to control his emotions. He pushed Shao Yutong away, then, under her disbelieving gaze, bent down and scooped Cheng Yao up into his arms.
Cheng Yao froze. What—what was he doing?
She had only been watching the drama. So why had he pushed away that delicate little beauty and picked her up instead?
“Brother Shao…”
Shao Yutong refused to give up and called out softly. Her tear-filled eyes and delicate appearance made her look like a piece of white jade on the verge of shattering.
But Gu Wangchuan did not look at her at all. Cheng Yao cooperated perfectly, burying her face against his chest and letting her body tremble slightly as if she had been thoroughly frightened.
In truth, she was struggling to hold back her laughter.
She couldn’t help it. Seeing Shao Yutong’s expression—ugly enough to look as if she had swallowed something foul—and knowing that she had achieved her goal made Cheng Yao feel immensely satisfied.
Gu Wangchuan carried Cheng Yao through the wrecked flowerbed and left without a backward glance.
Cheng Yao cast Shao Yutong a provocative, triumphant smile.
Shao Yutong stood alone where she was, watching Cheng Yao’s challenging, smug smile. Surrounded by the vague gazes of the maids and the disciples hidden in the shadows, she watched as the two figures gradually disappeared into the distance.
Shame, humiliation, fear, jealousy, hatred…all kinds of emotions churned within her, gnawing at her heart like venomous snakes.
…
Gu Wangchuan silently carried Cheng Yao back to the entrance of the room in Listening Bamboo Courtyard. He set her down expressionlessly. His movements could not be called gentle, but he did not hurt her.
“Valley Master, I…”
Cheng Yao opened her mouth, but when she saw his cold expression, she swallowed the words she had been about to say.
The man was far too shrewd. Could he have noticed her little scheme to set Shao Yutong up?
Uneasy, she murmured, “I’m sorry…”
Gu Wangchuan said nothing. His gaze lingered on her lowered brows and eyes for a moment. In the end, he turned and left without a word.
Only after confirming that he had gone far away did Cheng Yao slowly breathe a sigh of relief. She wiped away the tears she had forced out at the corners of her eyes, and her gaze returned to its usual clarity.
That whole ordeal had been risky, but the rewards were decent.
She had not only gained an initial understanding of some of the formation patterns around the outskirts of Hundred Herbs Garden, but had also successfully driven a wedge between Gu Wangchuan and Shao Yutong.
Not bad.
As long as Gu Wangchuan refused to release her, she had no intention of behaving herself. She would cause trouble every day!
If he did not let her go within half a month, she would turn this place upside down!
At the camp of the exile convoy, a dark shadow drifted down as silently as a falling leaf.
This time, Song Ze did catch sight of the other person’s figure. However, the stranger merely shot a dart into a tree before vanishing, so Song Ze could not reveal himself.
“Chief, look!”
A yamen runner removed the dart and took down the note attached to it.
Constable Wang hurried over and accepted the note. After scanning it rapidly, his expression became extremely complicated.
He was silent for a moment before saying to the women, children, elderly, and infirm who had not gone up the mountain, “Lady Cheng is inside Heartless Valley.”
The contents of the note were almost identical to what Gu Wangchuan had told Cheng Yao. Capturing Cheng Yao and bringing her back to the valley had been a misunderstanding; they had taken the wrong person. To express their apologies, they would keep her as a guest for a few days and show her the hospitality of a host. They would send her back safely in due course. The exile convoy could proceed according to plan and need not wait.
The wording was fairly polite, but it carried an unmistakable air of command.
The crowd erupted in fury.
“What kind of nonsense about being a guest? She’s obviously being imprisoned!”
“Heartless Valley has gone too far! The entire Zhan clan will charge into the valley at once and rescue Hao Ting’s wife!”
“Constable, if you refuse to let us go, please report this to the authorities and ask the government—or even the imperial court—to send troops…”
“Enough! All of you, shut up!”
Constable Wang’s thunderous shout brought the uproar to a halt. Only after the noise had died down did he glance left and right, as though afraid someone might overhear. Then he lowered his voice and said, “Do you people know how powerful and influential Heartless Valley is? Every Valley Master throughout history has been a King of Medicine, skilled in both medicine and poison. Their poisons are impossible to cure, and their medicines are harder to obtain than gold.
“Their disciples are spread throughout the world, and not a single martial sect dares provoke them. Especially this current Valley Master, Gu Wangchuan, who is known as ‘the Madman.’ His ruthlessness is beyond description. Even the imperial court has to treat him with caution. We’re nothing but lowly yamen runners. We don’t even deserve to mention his name, yet you want me to provoke him? Do you want my entire family to die?”
When his words fell, a deathly silence descended over the scene.
The members of the Zhan family turned pale, despair filling their eyes.
Their opponent was actually this powerful!
So, can Cheng Yao come back?
