“The wedding has suddenly been moved up, so there’s a great deal to prepare.”
Marquis Gu spoke amiably.
Madam Gu smiled as well. “Exactly. Take the wedding dress, for instance. I don’t even know if there’ll be enough time to finish it.”
Mother Yun paused at that, her smile fading a little.
Shuyao’s needlework wasn’t very good, but surely it was too soon to start picking at her before she’d even married into the family.
Gu Jinghuai didn’t think there was anything wrong with the remark. He trusted Yun Shuyao to be understanding and not find fault with her elders.
Yun Shuyao looked at Gu Jinghuai coolly. As expected, he showed no intention of standing up for her.
He had been the same in her previous life. No matter how his mother made things difficult for her, he remained unmoved.
Sometimes he would even join his mother in admonishing her, saying that parents were always right.
Thinking back on it now, she really had poured her sincere heart into the hands of a dog—one that couldn’t even be tamed.
Yun Shuyao lowered her head and thought for a moment, then suddenly spoke.
“Marquis, Marchioness, there’s something I’d like to discuss with the heir in private.”
At that, Gu Jinghuai rose before she could. Looking down at her, he said, “As it happens, I have something to discuss with you, too.”
Yun Shuyao looked at him in confusion. She couldn’t understand where this sudden anger had come from. Just moments ago, Gu Jinghuai had been gentle as water.
A young couple wanting some time alone was something Father Yun was glad to see.
He immediately waved Yun Shuyao on with a smile. “Go on. Now that the marriage has been discussed, there’s no need to be so reserved.”
At the mention of the marriage being discussed, Yun Shuyao couldn’t control the hatred rising within her. She glanced at Gu Jinghuai.
He merely nodded, then turned and walked out without a word.
Yun Shuyao followed.
Gu Jinghuai walked quickly, making no effort to accommodate her.
Yun Shuyao was used to it. He had always been like this.
Only when they reached the rockery, far enough away that no one could overhear them, did Gu Jinghuai turn to face her.
Even if he had decided to treat her well, certain rules still needed to be established in advance.
“Why resort to these little tricks? You’ll be the heir’s wife sooner or later.”
Yun Shuyao came to a stop, slightly out of breath, and was met with that blunt accusation.
When she met Gu Jinghuai’s cold eyes, her heart clenched for no apparent reason.
“What are you talking about?”
To him, Yun Shuyao’s reaction looked like she was pretending nothing had happened.
If he hadn’t retained his memories from his previous life, he would have been the last to know that the two families were discussing the marriage.
“You didn’t need to keep me in the dark. It won’t solve anything.
I’m the groom. Even if you and the elders secretly settle on a wedding date, if I don’t want to marry, who can force me?”
Gu Jinghuai’s voice was cool, but full of reproach.
Yun Shuyao understood. Gu Jinghuai seemed to think that she had somehow arranged for the marriage talks to be moved up—that she had secretly settled the matter behind his back.
She looked at his cold, indifferent features. If she hadn’t seen what she had just before dying, she might have thought he had always been aloof and distant, cold by nature since childhood.
She had gone to such lengths to adjust to him, too.
Now, seeing him like this, she found it utterly grating!
Yun Shuyao stared at him icily.
“I don’t know why you think that. When the two families meet and what they discuss—how could someone junior like me decide that?
Whoever gave you the wrong idea is the one you should question!
And one more thing! You can rest assured: I won’t stand in the way of you and your beloved cousin living happily together!
I don’t just want the wedding moved up—I’ll do everything I can to persuade the elders to break off the engagement!
I expect you and the Marquis to take the initiative and call it off, too.”
“Yun Shuyao!”
Gu Jinghuai’s eyes turned cold. His jaw tightened as he warned her, each word deliberate.
“Do you have to make such a scene? Why drag Yuyan into this?
Don’t you know what people would say if outsiders heard you talking like that? It could do terrible damage to a woman’s reputation.”
Yun Shuyao’s face filled with scorn.
“First, I’m not making a scene. I’m serious about breaking off the engagement.
Second, what reputation does Su Yuyan even have to protect? That’s a joke!
If you two really cared about that, wouldn’t you be more discreet?
I’m not the one ruining her reputation. It’s her lack of self-respect—and your failure to keep proper boundaries!”
Yun Shuyao’s words rang out with conviction, her beautiful eyes filled with coldness.
They had argued about this very thing countless times in her previous life. Back then, she had gone to great lengths to explain herself, hoping Gu Jinghuai wouldn’t get angry over it.
Whenever Su Yuyan was involved, Gu Jinghuai always took her side.
If Gu Jinghuai hadn’t lied and claimed he was incapable of consummating a marriage, Yun Shuyao should have realized the truth long ago.
Gu Jinghuai had never seen Yun Shuyao speak to him like this. As he looked into her icy eyes, he suddenly felt as though something had pierced his heart.
He didn’t lose his temper. His lips remained pressed together for a long while.
“You’re impossible!”
Seeing how furious he was, yet still unwilling to agree to break off the engagement, Yun Shuyao decided to provoke him.
“Gu Jinghuai, if you have any backbone, go tell the Marquis to break off the engagement!
If you hesitate even for a moment, I’ll think less of you!”
She meant every word. Yun Shuyao never wanted to see him looking so reluctant, as if he had no choice but to marry her.
When he still refused to give in, she had no desire to continue the conversation. She turned to leave.
But after just two steps, a hand suddenly closed around her wrist.
Gu Jinghuai hurried after her. Ignoring her resistance, he tightened his grip.
His Adam’s apple bobbed. Only after he had calmed himself did he speak.
“No matter how you and I quarrel, you mustn’t bring Yuyan into it.
If you dare do anything to ruin her reputation, I will make sure you regret it!”
Yun Shuyao’s lips trembled. Even though her heart had died, she still felt the pain.
Yuyan again!
Every one of their countless arguments in their previous life had been because of Yuyan!
He thought Su Yuyan loved him so much, but all she cared about was the rich life he could provide.
Yun Shuyao’s face was cold as she asked, “Why should I cover for the two of you?
If you like her so much, then marry her! Why ruin my life?”
Gu Jinghuai looked at her resolute expression and felt that something was very wrong.
She had always been so obedient. Even when they argued, she had never been so unyielding, and she had never mentioned breaking off the engagement.
And the hatred in her eyes seemed to match a gaze from a distant memory.
“Shuyao… You shouldn’t be acting like this. How could you be willing to break off our engagement?”
Shouldn’t be acting like this?
At his words, Yun Shuyao froze. How could he know she shouldn’t be acting like this?
Could it be that he, too, had come back to life?
If so, then Gu Jinghuai’s strange behavior suddenly made sense.
In a flash, the memory of her final moments returned: Gu Jinghuai’s eerily deep affection, and the promise he had made.
“If there is a next life…I will never let you down…”
The words circled through her mind like a curse. Yun Shuyao’s expression gradually grew grave.
If he had been reborn too, he would never agree to break off the engagement.
After all, in her previous life, she had worn herself down until she died, while Gu Jinghuai and Su Yuyan became the ultimate beneficiaries.
Her original plan wouldn’t work. Gu Jinghuai certainly wouldn’t cooperate with her in ending the engagement.
As Yun Shuyao fell silent in thought, Gu Jinghuai quietly studied her, too.
In the end, he decided he had been jumping to conclusions.
Rebirth was such a bizarre, unbelievable thing. How could it happen to just anyone?
He believed that others wouldn’t be so fortunate as to die peacefully at the age of eighty, then open their eyes and find themselves back in the prime of their lives, in their early twenties.
Somewhat impatiently, he scolded her. “Where have all your lessons in feminine virtue and feminine conduct gone? Is this how you speak to your husband?”
Gu Jinghuai didn’t want things to turn too ugly before the wedding, either.
Besides, before their marriage, Yun Shuyao had been somewhat spoiled.
Once they were married, she would become the dignified mistress of the Marquis’s Residence.
In this life, he wouldn’t let an accident befall him, and he would give her a child to make amends.
He was sure that once Yun Shuyao had a child of her own, she would devote herself even more wholeheartedly to managing the Marquis’s Residence.
As for why he didn’t want her to ruin Yuyan’s reputation, it was because this time, he had no intention of getting involved with Yuyan.
After all, in his previous life, he and Yuyan had been a perfectly contented married couple. They had no regrets.
So in this life, he would honor the promise he had made before Shuyao died and treat her well.
Yun Shuyao gave a scornful laugh, wrenched her hand free, and turned to leave.
They weren’t even married yet, and he was already throwing his weight around. Did he think she couldn’t live without him?
“I’m breaking off the engagement, whether you agree or not.”
Yun Shuyao kept walking without looking back. She wasn’t asking; she was informing him.
“This young lady has no intention of settling, and I will never marry a man whose heart belongs to someone else!”
Gu Jinghuai stared at his empty hand, his brows drawn together.
He watched her retreating figure, his mind in a daze. Was it just his imagination?
It really seemed as though she wasn’t making a scene…