Facing this group of guards, Zhu Qingyu came to a halt.
What did Gu Zhao mean by this? Was he not going to let her leave?
She looked back. Gu Zhao was still standing under the eaves, currently taking a pair of shoes from an elderly maidservant.
They were her shoes, and he was holding them in his hands without the slightest hesitation or restraint.
Carrying her shoes, Gu Zhao looked at her and called out in an incredibly familiar tone, Qingyu, come here and put your shoes on.
Ever since she woke up, the way Gu Zhao treated her had undergone a drastic change compared to before.
Although he still appeared as gentle, polite, and harbor no ill intent as before, something extremely important was missing in their interactions.
That was the sense of distance and boundaries they ought to have, given their respective statuses in a world that viewed the strict segregation of men and women as paramount.
He used to keep a polite distance from her, but now he had clearly crossed the line.
Moreover, he made no attempt to hide it.
This was an extremely dangerous signal!
Fleeing was what she needed to do most right now.
Zhu Qingyu looked again at the group of guards outside the door. A weak, unarmed woman had no chance of winning against a squad of blade-wielding guards.
She quickly made a judgment: she could not possibly fight her way out of here relying solely on her own strength.
She would have to persuade Gu Zhao to let her go. Although he didn't conceal his intentions, he hadn't explicitly stated them either.
Perhaps, despite crossing the boundary, he still held onto some bottom line in his heart.
And as long as he was willing to hold that line, she could play dumb and avoid confronting him head-on.
Zhu Qingyu walked back step by step.
Shouming, I know you mean well, and I am very grateful that you took me in last night and protected my safety. I will engrave your kindness in my heart, but my younger sister is still at home, and I don't know how she is doing now. I absolutely must go back.
Gu Zhao had imagined many different reactions from her upon waking. With his attitude being so obvious, given her intelligence and sharpness, he did not believe she would be unaware of his feelings for her.
He wanted her to notice and to respond to him.
Facing such massive upheavals, in this kind of situation, no matter how extreme her reaction might be, he could understand and was willing to be considerate of her.
But the one thing he hadn't expected was that she neither cried nor panicked, much less scolded him. She didn't even show fear or anger; she was actually using the word gratitude to brush him off.
She knew resistance was futile, so she tried to use gratitude to place him on the pedestal of an unshakeable saint, manipulating him.
Watching her, who had just been fleeing in a panic, walk back to him step by step until she was right beside him, Gu Zhao finally smiled.
Qingyu, perhaps you don't understand me that well. You should know that I am no gentleman, much less a Liu Xiahui, I...
Zhu Qingyu stopped in her tracks, her face filled with nervous terror, afraid he would say something shocking.
There were some things, some words, that as long as they remained unspoken, she still had room to maneuver.
But once they were brought into the open, once they were laid out plainly and forced into black and white, she would have no way out.
Gu Zhao had initially made up his mind to force a response from her on the spot.
Having finished his official duties, he naturally should have returned to the capital immediately to report back. In fact, he should have boarded the ship escorting Lei Dawu and left at the break of dawn.
It was for her, to wait for her response while she was fully awake, that he had delayed for these extra hours.
Having made up his mind, Lord Gu, whose will was always firm and unswayed by others, inexplicably felt his heart soften upon seeing her face full of fear.
Forget it. He ultimately couldn't bear to see her plunge into terror, spending her days in constant panic.
He could give her more time to recognize reality and accept the truth: as things stood now, apart from him, she had no other path to take and nowhere else to go.
Gu Zhao softened his tone and placed the shoes at her feet.
No matter how rushed you are, you still need to put your shoes on.
Zhu Qingyu breathed a sigh of relief. As long as he didn't lay everything bare, maintaining the status quo and preserving this precarious balance was the most advantageous situation for her.
The most pressing matter was to get out quickly, confirm whether her Third Sister was still safe, and find out if Zhang Shen had truly been taken away by the Brocade Guards.
Not wanting to anger Gu Zhao and provoke him into changing his mind again, Zhu Qingyu obediently stepped forward to put on her shoes.
Even when he reached out to support her, though Zhu Qingyu's body stiffened for a moment, she ultimately did not refuse, allowing him to hold her arm.
After all, a gentle Lord Gu was naturally much easier to communicate with than an angry one.
Supporting her as she put on her shoes, Gu Zhao said,
Qingyu, I don't want to lock you up. You are free to leave at any time, but you must know that the Brocade Guards are very likely lying in wait at the Zhang estate, waiting for you to walk right into their trap. You have never been in the Imperial Prison, so you can't imagine what kind of place it is. It is simply not a place a weak woman like you can survive. Furthermore, the Brocade Guards report directly to the Emperor. If you fall into their hands, I won't be able to intervene, nor would it be convenient for me to do so. Even knowing this, do you still want to go back? How about I arrange for someone to check on the Zhang family for you?
Zhu Qingyu was almost entirely enveloped in his embrace. Having finished putting on her shoes, she gently yet firmly placed her hands against his chest, expressing her refusal:
I know you mean well, and I am very grateful to you, truly. But I must go back. I have to go back in person.
How could Zhu Qingyu dare to entrust the safety of the Zhang family to Gu Zhao's hands? When it came to the Zhang family, she and Gu Zhao had a life-and-death conflict of interest.
If she were Gu Zhao, she would have absolutely no reason to care whether the Zhang family lived or died, let alone step in to save them.
To her, Zhang Shen and Zhang Ruohua were her closest kin, but to Gu Zhao, wouldn't it be better if the Zhang family was gone?
Gu Zhao felt her harmless resistance. Even though her mouth was full of gratitude, and even though she was still smiling at him, the woman in his arms was trembling slightly like a caged bird.
If it were purely a matter of physical strength, the force of her resistance was utterly useless and couldn't shake him in the slightest. However, those soft palms pressing against his chest clearly demonstrated her stance.
Ultimately, Gu Zhao let her go.
Alright. Since you truly want to leave, I naturally won't force you. My official duties in Yangzhou are complete, and I will be taking the boat back to the capital in the late morning. Take good care of yourself. If you encounter any difficulties in the future, you can come find me.
Zhu Qingyu hadn't expected him to let her go so readily and easily. But since Gu Zhao had said so, she immediately gave him a deep, formal bow of gratitude before he could change his mind, then turned and ran.
When she reached the courtyard gate, the guards at the door saw the look in Lord Gu's eyes from behind her and silently stepped aside.
Without the guards blocking her way, Zhu Qingyu broke into a sprint reminiscent of her long-distance running days as a student, dashing outward as fast as she could without any regard for her image.
By the time Gu Zhao reached the courtyard gate, all he saw was a figure sprinting desperately away, already heading toward the covered corridor.
