"Second Miss Bai, I am truly sorry. I might be busy for a little while longer." Gu Qinghuai was rummaging through the medicine cabinet, his expression focused.
Bai Liuyue smiled faintly and found a nearby seat to sit down.
She said softly:
"It's alright, I was the one who asked to meet you."
"It's only normal to wait a bit."
When Gu Qinghuai finally finished sorting and organizing the medicinal herbs, he turned his head.
He found this Second Miss Bai resting her chin on her hand, staring straight at him without blinking.
A hint of red flashed across Gu Qinghuai's face, and he lowered his head somewhat shyly.
"Um, what did Second Miss Bai want to see me about?"
"I want to know who you are, and whether you pose a threat to my plans." Bai Liuyue stood up, walked over to the medicine cabinet, and looked at him, getting straight to the point.
"Me? I am Gu Qinghuai." He pointed at himself, a bit confused.
"Wrong! You are Gu Qinghuai, but you are also someone else."
Bai Liuyue said with a firm tone:
"The way Marshal Xie treats you is not how one treats an ordinary family doctor."
Gu Qinghuai pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, lowered his head, and smiled faintly as usual.
"Second Miss Bai, you are truly mistaken."
"I am nothing more than an ordinary doctor."
"Is that so?" Bai Liuyue suddenly raised her hand and snatched the glasses off the bridge of his nose before he could react.
Her pale fingertips held the glasses and waved them a bit, glancing at the lenses.
"Zero prescription."
"Gu Qinghuai isn't the only one who studied abroad in Germany."
"I looked into your classmates."
"The second son of the Presidential Palace, Jiang Yunshen."
The look in Gu Qinghuai's, or rather Jiang Yunshen's, eyes changed.
Without the lenses, his eyes were no longer gentle; those sharp, deep eyes now carried a hint of probing and vigilance.
"What does Second Miss Bai want to do?"
Bai Liuyue tilted up her porcelain-white face and stared directly into his eyes.
"Do you like me?"
Jiang Yunshen was prepared to have his identity exposed, and he had even imagined what kind of difficult, top-secret questions he might be asked.
But he never expected this.
This beautiful and intelligent woman was staring straight at him, waving his thin gold-rimmed glasses with her fingertips, smiling as she asked, 'Do you like me?'.
Jiang Yunshen knew that he was hiding his identity in the Northwest.
He shouldn't get entangled with any women.
But that day when she opened the door and her medical book fell to the ground, he picked it up for her. The moment their eyes met...
He was just an incredibly ordinary, vulgar man.
He still couldn't control that momentary thumping of his heart.
Jiang Yunshen lowered his eyes. Before knowing her intentions, he chose to be cautious.
He answered against his own heart: "No, I don't."
Bai Liuyue's eyes curved into a smiling crescent.
"That's wonderful. You don't like me, that's just wonderful!"
"It seems our cooperation can proceed smoothly."
After hearing this response, a trace of disappointment and sadness flashed through Jiang Yunshen's heart.
Was she that happy that he didn't like her?
Was it because she had another man in her heart?
Bai Liuyue said unhurriedly:
"I didn't investigate you on purpose, but I accidentally found out that you were not born to President Jiang's legal wife. The eldest son, Jiang Yushen, is the one everyone expects to succeed him."
"You are lying low in the Northwest to accumulate power. Marshal Xie knew your mother in his early years, so he took you in."
"And one day, you will return to the Northern Presidential Palace to seize back the power you want, right?"
Jiang Yunshen stared at her warily.
But Bai Liuyue smiled faintly and gently patted his shoulder, saying:
"Don't be afraid. Why don't we make a deal."
Jiang Yunshen: "What deal?"
Bai Liuyue pursed her lips and said in a delighted tone:
"Look, you don't like me, and I don't like you."
"As long as we enter into a marriage alliance, you can get the support of my grandfather Bai Wenshan and Jinzhong. The Fengtian clique has always secretly supported Jiang Yunshen, and as for the Northwest here..."
"Marshal Xie plays it safe and never participates in disputes. Even if you stay for another three years, he won't take your side."
"But, I can help you."
Jiang Yunshen frowned slightly in confusion.
He couldn't quite see through her thoughts.
"Second Miss Bai, I know the reason you came to the Northwest. Once Bai Baozhu leaves, you will marry Young Marshal Xie."
"How can you and I form a marriage alliance?"
"And what exactly do you want to do?"
Bai Liuyue tapped her fingertips on the counter of the medicine cabinet, her posture lazy and casual.
"Look! I don't like you, and I don't like Xie Chengxiao either. Even less do I want to be treated as a chess piece tossed around randomly by my grandfather."
"So, I want to take control of the chessboard myself."
"The Fengtian clique has been itching to make a move on the Northwest's territory for a long time. Their proactive surrender to the Presidential Palace is merely to have a justifiable reason to better occupy the land."
"Marshal Pei of Jinzhong seems to offend no one, but in reality, he plays both sides and is just a fence-sitter."
"As for the Northern Presidential Palace, your father hopes to see all factions keeping each other in check, so that Jiang Yushen can smoothly take over."
"Therefore, if you want to rise to power, you inevitably have to break this entire structure."
"And I..."
A flash of ambition crossed Bai Liuyue's eyes.
"...want a position as a Cabinet Minister."
Jiang Yunshen received too much information all at once and had a hard time digesting it.
Looking at the young woman in front of him, his eyes widened in surprise.
He wondered if he had misheard.
"A Cabinet Minister?"
"What? When you step up to become the President, you wouldn't even be willing to spare a minister's position for me." Bai Liuyue raised an eyebrow.
"That's not what I meant. It's just that for a woman to participate in politics, how is that possible?"
"Exactly. That's why I took the initiative to come to you. For this step, I'm afraid I'll have to borrow your momentum. My grandfather will naturally agree."
Jiang Yunshen looked at the sharp glint in the young woman's eyes.
His heart beat wildly out of control.
It was the excitement and thrill of meeting a kindred spirit.
He was also captivated by the ambition in her eyes.
Bai Liuyue proactively extended her pinky finger, tilted her head, and her beautiful almond eyes blinked brightly.
"Pinky promise, and our alliance is sealed."
"I..."
"Of course, if you think what I'm saying is a pipe dream, then I will choose someone else to ally with."
"Is it Pei Yu?"
"Who knows? Maybe it's your brother, Jiang Yushen."
Bai Liuyue curled her lips into a wicked smile, not worried in the slightest that he would get angry over these words.
She looked like she had victory in her grasp.
She was so dazzling that one couldn't look away.
Jiang Yunshen never considered himself someone who would let his head be turned by beauty.
But at this moment, the blood in his entire body was boiling, as if clamoring.
This was the lover he had always been searching for!
The partner whose soul resonated with his!
Compared to failure, he was more afraid of missing out!
He had always been dancing on the edge of a knife anyway. Gu Qinghuai had already died to save him back in Germany, so what was there to be afraid of?
He was already living with the lives of two people anyway.
"Deal, my ally."
Jiang Yunshen hooked his pinky finger, linking it with hers.
