Husband?
Lowly life?
Gu Jianshen’s eyebrows furrowed, and a surge of anger rushed through his chest, swelling ever more violently until it set his blood boiling with rage.
Damn it!
The fairy had a husband, and that husband was even treating her like a dog!
How hateful! Was that man an animal?
For a person as wonderful as the fairy—someone he couldn’t even obtain no matter how hard he prayed to the gods—that scoundrel actually didn’t cherish her!
No, he had to find the fairy as quickly as possible; he believed the fairy was definitely waiting for him somewhere.
The sooner he found the fairy, the less hardship she would have to suffer.
“Yingyue!”
Gu Jianshen called out, and a vigorous young man leapt in through the window—an shadow guard responsible for intelligence.
“The matter of searching for the person—are there any leads yet?”
Yingyue cupped his hands in salute, feeling somewhat put on the spot. Hesitating for a moment, he said, “My Lord, how about… on that missing person portrait, you draw her face on?”
Gu Jianshen shot him a glance, feeling a faint sense of helplessness. “If I knew what she looked like, would I still need you to go look for her?”
When they met in dreams, the fairy’s facial features were always obscured by white mist, so he could never catch a clear glimpse.
Yingyue also had a headache. For him, sneaking into an enemy kingdom’s imperial palace was easier than finding a phantom-like person, which was like searching for a needle in the ocean.
He said, “My Lord, searching for a single person based solely on height, physical attributes, and a piece of women’s inner garment with zero unique identifying features will still take some time.”
Gu Jianshen also knew this matter was far from easy. Tossing two gold bricks over to Yingyue, he said in a deep voice, “Assign more hands; make it swift.”
In Gu Jianshen’s mind flashed the fairy’s snow-white, delicate back, her soft, slender waist, as well as…
Aside from her face, he knew every single inch of the fairy’s skin like the back of his hand.
Recalling the tenderness in his dream last night, Gu Jianshen’s throat tightened, and a turbulent dark undercurrent surged beneath his lowered gaze.
On the other side, Jiang Ning was exhausted from crying and returned to Qingxiang Residence with Yan’er supporting her.
Jiang Ning lay limply on the bed, her mind filled with thoughts of what she should do next and what would happen to the entire Jiang family.
Mulling it over, she failed to come up with a single satisfactory plan.
With no money, no power, and no backer, was she destined to be a pawn and controlled for the rest of her life?
Just then, Yan’er hurriedly walked in and said, “Concubine Jiang, the Madam has come to see you! Hurry up and welcome her.”
“No need.”
Accompanying the gentle voice, the Madam of the household, Wen Ya, stepped slowly through the doorway. The maid behind her carried a food box, whose lid couldn’t even conceal the fragrance inside.
Jiang Ning’s spirits were low to begin with. Seeing Wen Ya and smelling the scent of meat, she instantly felt aggrieved all over again. Opening her arms, she threw herself onto Wen Ya, crying out in grievance, “Sister, I was scared to death!”
Wen Ya did not push away Jiang Ning’s contact. Instead, she gently patted Jiang Ning’s back, her eyes filled with tenderness and pity. “One cannot choose one’s origins, and women are inherently in a weaker position, making survival exceedingly difficult. But Ning’er need not be too terrified. Your coming to the Gu family and to our side is all a twist of fate. Just remain kind-hearted, and Sister will protect your safety.”
“Sister, you truly are my real sister!”
Wen Ya was gentle, refined, and treated others with generous kindness, never using her influence to bully people. In front of her, Jiang Ning could unleash her helplessness without reservation and find warmth and peace of mind.
“Don’t cry anymore. Sister brought delicious food.”
Wen Ya wiped away Jiang Ning’s tears and said, “Having cried for so long, you must be hungry from crying, right?”
She truly was hungry.
Crying loudly was also hard physical work.
Jiang Ning opened the food box; inside were her favorites—braised pork trotters and marinated chicken feet.
Overjoyed, Jiang Ning planted a noisy kiss on Wen Ya’s cheek and eagerly grabbed a trotter to gnaw on, eating in a thoroughly casual manner.
Over the past three years, Wen Ya had become accustomed to Jiang Ning’s uninhibited ways. To her sudden kiss, she merely offered a somewhat helpless smile.
If not for Jiang Ning’s company and Jiang Ning making her happy, she probably would have long succumbed to melancholy and passed away.
After gnawing down a whole large trotter, Jiang Ning let out a long sigh and said, “Sister, I finally know why you’re unhappy.”
Wen Ya was slightly taken aback and asked, “What do you know?”
Whenever Jiang Ning thought of that rough man’s fierce, wild look, goosebumps would break out all over her. Lowering her voice, she whispered into Wen Ya’s ear, “Sister, marrying Master is literally like planting a delicate flower in cow dung—Beauty and the Beast!”
Jiang Ning shook her head repeatedly and said, “As the daughter of the Duke of Rong and a famous great talented woman—whose talent even the Emperor himself praised, and whose looks stand out among noble ladies—Sister’s husband should be an exceptionally handsome man of noble character, not…”
Jiang Ning truly felt aggrieved on Wen Ya’s behalf.
Wen Ya, however, was somewhat bewildered. “Jianshen isn’t quite that terrible, is he?”
In Wen Ya’s mind surfaced Gu Jianshen’s appearance. An exceptionally handsome man of noble character—that actually fit him fairly well.
Jiang Ning was surprised. “Sister likes a beastly husband like Master?”
“Like?” Murmuring the word, as if recalling something, sorrow tinged Wen Ya’s brows and eyes, and she muttered to herself, “The person I liked is no longer in this world.”
Wen Ya shook her head. “Let’s not talk about these things. Jianshen is a good person. In the future, once you spend more time with him, you’ll understand.”
The chicken foot in Jiang Ning’s hand dropped with a clatter, and she looked at Wen Ya with a face full of terror.
She had been so focused on feeling it was unfair for Wen Ya that she forgot she was Gu Jianshen’s beautiful concubine—and was also expected to serve him in bed!
Jiang Ning swallowed hard. “Sister, does Master have any… special quirks in bed?”
It’s over, I feel like I’m going to die. Either way leads to death, there’s no way out.
Wen Ya turned her head away in slight embarrassment. “There shouldn’t be any, right?”
Jiang Ning was startled. “‘Shouldn’t’?”
Wen Ya nodded.
Surprised, Jiang Ning asked again, “Has there never been any of… that between you two?”
Wen Ya nodded again, saying with complete certainty, “Never in the past, and never in the future.”
Jiang Ning was somewhat dazed. Could it be that Gu Jianshen suffered some injury on the battlefield and was no longer capable as a man?
Thank goodness, thank goodness! I almost became a snack for that beast.
Having comforted herself, Jiang Ning went back to happily gnawing on chicken feet.
In the evening, Jiang Ning wanted to go to Wen Ya’s to leech a dinner, but was told that Wen Ya and Gu Jianshen had returned to the ancestral estate.
Although they lived in a separate residence, now that Gu Jianshen had returned to the capital, he still had to return occasionally to share a meal with his parents and fulfill his filial duties.
As a concubine, Jiang Ning didn’t need to accompany them, so she was happy to enjoy the leisure.
However, she was targeted by another person.
“You didn’t expose Master, did you?”
Handong confronted Jiang Ning with pressing questions the moment she stepped forward.
Jiang Ning shook her head; she had only exposed Minister Zhao, so that didn’t count.
Handong let out a cold snort. “I bet you wouldn’t dare.”
Handong handed a packet of medicinal powder to Jiang Ning and said, “Put this into the Madam’s tea.”
Jiang Ning’s expression turned cold. “Your target is Gu Jianshen! Don’t touch the Madam!”
Handong scoffed and warned, “Do you have any right to speak? Do whatever you’re told to do—watch out for your family!”
Using her family’s lives to threaten her once again!
Jiang Ning trembled slightly with rage and asked, “Handong, do you have a family?”
As if poked in a tender spot, Handong flew into a rage out of humiliation and swung a slap toward Jiang Ning. “Bitch, shut your mouth!”
This slap did not land. The claw was intercepted in mid-air by Jiang Ning.
She let out a low, cold laugh. “I truly envy you stone-hearted people. Don’t you ever have nightmares at night?”