Xie Chengxiao and Pei Yu exchanged a glance.
Both could see the displeasure in each other's eyes.
The Second Young Master of the Northern Presidential Palace.
Jiang Yunshen.
The reason Bai Wenshan was hesitating was probably that he wanted to marry his granddaughter to him.
Fine.
Then let's see what he actually looks like.
Wei Min smiled faintly as usual and said, "It seems it's quite lively today. Go, invite the Second Young Master in."
The servant turned and left.
Before long, he led in a tall, gentle-looking man dressed in a light-colored suit.
When they saw that familiar face,
Xie Chengxiao frowned slightly, as if he had already expected it.
Pei Yu, on the other hand, was taken aback, almost spitting out the tea he had just taken into his mouth.
"Dr. Gu, how could it be you!" Unable to hold back, he hollered.
Jiang Yunshen had a refined and gentle demeanor.
However, he wasn't wearing his signature fine gold-rimmed glasses.
His deep eyes, slightly lifted at the corners, showed confusion as he shook his head slightly and said:
"Greetings, Young Marshal Pei, but... who is Dr. Gu?"
A smile appeared on his face.
He greeted both Wei Min and Bai Liuyue.
"My father specifically instructed me that when I arrive in Jinzhong, I must come to visit the Bai residence. He and Second Master Bai used to be classmates."
Nowadays, the political situation was unstable.
The President might change every year, but the power of regional warlords and political circles was the most stable.
President Jiang had only been in power for three years, having just secured his position.
Other presidents' attitudes toward warlords were either marriage alliances or suppression, but this President Jiang was very strange. After coming to power, he only cared about governing his own territory.
This actually allowed him to sit firmly in his position as president.
In the end, it was an art of balance.
As an elder, Wei Min replied politely:
"Is that so? What a coincidence. Unfortunately, my husband is out on business for a while. If he knew Second Young Master Jiang came to visit, he would be very happy."
Jiang Yunshen pursed his lips and smiled.
"What's even more of a coincidence is me and Miss Liuyue."
"Huh?" This time it was Bai Liuyue's turn to be surprised.
The man in front of her was clearly Gu Qinghuai, although she didn't know why he refused to admit it.
However, their actual contact had only been two brief encounters.
Why would he ask Bai Wenshan to marry her?
Or perhaps not; it might just be out of political consideration.
Was Old Man Bai leaning towards the Northern Presidential Palace now?
Jiang Yunshen could feel the sharp, knife-like gazes of Pei Yu and Xie Chengxiao behind him, but he didn't care in the slightest.
"Three years ago, while passing through Jinzhong on a mission, I suffered a gunshot wound."
"I was saved and treated by a female herb gatherer, which allowed me to recover."
"At that time, I had lost too much blood and my vision was blurred. I couldn't find her until recently, through various inquiries, I learned that the person was... Miss Liuyue."
"They say a life-saving grace cannot be repaid, so I can only..." Jiang Yunshen paused, his tone containing a hint of amusement.
Pei Yu's eyes were bloodshot.
Gu Qinghuai, don't think you can't be recognized just because you're not wearing glasses!
Scheming man.
How could it be such a coincidence?
Pei Yu immediately interrupted:
"Second Young Master Jiang, did you mistake her for someone else? My sister Liuyue is a lady from a prominent family; she has no time to run to the deep mountains and old forests to save people."
Xie Chengxiao, on the other hand, was calm and didn't speak.
However, his gaze still fell on Bai Liuyue, as if expecting her answer.
Wei Min didn't expect there to be such a story and turned to look at her daughter.
"Yueyue, is this true?"
Facing her mother's seemingly gentle but actually questioning gaze, Bai Liuyue knew her mask of a good girl was about to be completely torn off.
She nodded honestly.
"Yes, Mother. I've been secretly teaching myself traditional Chinese medicine behind your back for a long time. Three years ago, I said I was going for an outing outside the city, but I actually went to the mountains to gather herbs."
At that time.
Bai Liuyue had indeed saved an unlucky guy.
A man covered in blood.
However, adhering to the principle of not bringing trouble home,
and also wanting to test how good her self-taught skills actually were,
she didn't give him any anesthesia, extracted the bullet barehanded, and applied some hemostatic herbs she picked from the mountain to his wound.
After doing all this,
Bai Liuyue clapped her hands and left without leaving a trace.
Whether she was a miracle doctor or a quack depended on the man's fate.
She didn't expect his fate to be so tough.
She also didn't know this man would turn out to be Jiang Yunshen, who inexplicably became Dr. Gu.
The world is truly small.
Wei Min's lips twitched. The reason she didn't let her daughter run around was because a fortune teller had read her fortune when she was a child.
This child was good in every way, precocious and intelligent, but she easily attracted romantic entanglements.
In the chaotic times of the Republic of China, it was not a good thing for a woman to have such a destiny.
She might even become a femme fatale.
Looking at Young Marshal Xie, Young Marshal Pei, and this Second Young Master of the Presidential Palace in front of her, representing various factions behind them, Wei Min broke into a cold sweat for her daughter.
"Alright, have some tea. Since it's such a coincidence, come, let's all drink tea together."
She pushed the teacups forward.
...
Different from the fierce battlefield among the three men in the small Western-style house of the Bai family's second branch, was everything happening in the Bai family's old mansion.
"Grandpa, why did you call me over?" Bai Baozhu tried hard to squeeze out a smile on her face, but her body couldn't help trembling slightly.
Since childhood, she had been her grandfather's most favored granddaughter.
She didn't know when it started, but she gradually realized that her grandfather's favor came with a price.
And she had been disobedient. After causing a scene in the Northwest, her grandfather withdrew his favor and her privileges.
"This person came looking for you."
Bai Wenshan's face was gloomy as he pointed to Xu Yanci, who was pinned to the ground by servants.
Bai Baozhu also saw the man on the ground.
Hatred flashed across her face. Recalling her experiences in her past life, she immediately raised her hand and slapped him across the face.
"Xu Yanci, you have a lot of nerve! How dare you still come looking for me?"
Xu Yanci kept his head down, but a trace of pleasant surprise flashed across his face when he saw Bai Baozhu.
"Baozhu, Baozhu, I saw it in the newspapers. You divorced Young Marshal Pei for me, right?"
"You could be so brave for love, so I want to be brave for once too."
"I took the initiative to visit Master Bai. I don't mind your past experiences; I want to marry you."
Bai Baozhu landed another slap on his face.
"Get lost! Who wants to marry you? Disgusting. You have neither money nor power. Do you think having a bit of literary talent makes you so great?"
Xu Yanci was stunned by the slap, unable to believe that they hadn't seen each other for just a few short months.
She had changed so much.
"No, that's not right. Are you angry that I didn't take you away last time? It's not that I didn't want to take you away; it was Xie Chengxiao chasing after us with his troops. I had no choice."
"I'm sorry, Baozhu. I truly love you."
Bai Baozhu took a deep breath. In her past life, her sincere heart was fed to the dogs. In this life, she would rather die than jump into the same fire pit again.
"Grandpa, I don't like Xu Yanci."
"You can either shoot him dead, or give me the gun, and I'll kill him. That works too."
