Seeing that the starship was about to land right in front of her, Lu Yan had no time to care about Cheng Linzhou anymore.
She let go of him and instinctively wanted to rush forward, but the moment she took half a step, a sharp cramp shot through her calf.
Only then did Lu Yan remember that she had almost broken character and exposed that damn villainess persona again. She could only force herself to stop, staring wide-eyed at the starship.
It wasn’t until the hatch opened that Gu Chenyu’s tall, imposing figure appeared as he descended the gangway.
His indifferent gaze calmly swept over her and Cheng Linzhou behind her. There wasn’t the slightest ripple of emotion on his face as he walked straight up to Lu Yan and looked down at her.
“I have something very important to discuss with you. Can you spare me some time?”
Lu Yan blinked a beat too slowly before coming back to herself. She slightly raised her chin, deliberately putting on an aloof, haughty expression.
“Go inside and wait for me.”
Gu Chenyu paused. His impassive gaze passed over her and rested on Cheng Linzhou for half a second before he reminded her in a low voice, “I hope we can do this as soon as possible.”
Lu Yan took the opportunity to step forward and grab a handful of his perfectly fitted collar, glaring at him.
“We haven’t seen each other for only a few days. Why are you in such a hurry?”
Gu Chenyu’s thin lips pressed into a straight line. He said nothing.
Looking at his familiar cold and aloof expression, Lu Yan inexplicably felt that the restlessness that had plagued her for days had eased somewhat. She struggled to suppress the upward curve of her lips and gave a soft snort.
“You can at least wait one minute for me, can’t you?”
Finally, Gu Chenyu lowered his gaze and gave a quiet “Mm.” He brushed past her and walked into the residence.
Almost the moment Gu Chenyu entered the residence, Lu Yan immediately opened the intelligent steward system and issued a command.
Cheng Linzhou, standing nearby, thought Lu Yan had deliberately sent her colonel husband away because she wanted to stay behind and be alone with him.
He frowned slightly.
“Lu Yan, did you listen to what I just said? As long as you act more normal from now on, I—”
Lu Yan finally couldn’t take it anymore and raised her head.
“Are you deaf? Didn’t you hear my husband urgently needs to discuss something with me?”
Cheng Linzhou was momentarily choked by the word “husband,” and his expression changed slightly.
“Lu Yan, don’t think that using this kind of reverse-psychology tactic will make me—”
Before he could finish, the bionic security team Lu Yan had summoned earlier had already driven out. Without saying a word, they grabbed Cheng Linzhou and stuffed him into the vehicle.
“Lu Yan! What are you doing?! Let me out—”
Lu Yan kicked the car door shut and said coldly,
“Get lost. Stop making people sick. Who cares whether you like me or not? You followed me all the way to my home in the middle of the night, and you still think you’re in the right? Go tell whatever you have to say to the Star Supervisory Bureau!”
Watching the vehicle carry him away at full speed, Lu Yan finally dusted off her hands and returned to the residence.
Inside the enormous council hall.
The intelligent steward stood to one side while Gu Chenyu sat upright on the sofa, his expression stern and silent as he waited for her.
When Lu Yan returned, she saw him sitting there calmly and properly, quietly waiting for her.
Lu Yan raised a hand to signal the steward to leave and walked toward the man.
She couldn’t exactly explain that Duke Lu had locked her up for nearly a week, so she simply pretended that nothing had happened and walked straight over to him.
She stopped briefly in front of the sofa where he was sitting.
She gently nudged apart his two long, muscular thighs with her knee, placed both hands on his broad, well-tailored shoulders, then leaned down until she was very, very close to him and looked at him.
“Gu Chenyu, why did you come all the way from the frontier to find me so late at night? Don’t tell me you missed me?”
Gu Chenyu reached out and pressed down on the knee she had braced against his thigh. His voice was low.
“There is something very important. I hope you’ll agree to help me this time.”
Lu Yan raised her eyebrows slightly.
If she remembered correctly, this should be the first time since their marriage that the taciturn iceberg that was Gu Chenyu had ever taken the initiative to ask her for help.
She was dying of curiosity inside, but outwardly, she still pretended not to care. Deliberately bending her leg, she climbed onto him and sat squarely on his thigh.
“Tell me first.”
She was sitting at an extreme angle, and if she wasn’t careful, she could easily fall backward.
Gu Chenyu lowered his eyes and stared at Lu Yan, who was within arm’s reach. He loosely placed one hand against the small of her back to steady her before telling her everything about Gu Xinghuai’s sudden high fever the previous night.
“If possible, Lu Yan, I hope you can leave immediately and return to the frontier with me.”
“I know you’ve always been resistant and disgusted by the beastification genes in me and the child, but this time, we truly have no other choice.”
“Only if you stay by the child’s side can you effectively help him safely get through this molting period.”
As he calmly explained that Gu Xinghuai’s skeletal transformation period had arrived ahead of schedule, Lu Yan sat motionless on his lap, her expression shifting unpredictably. For a long time, she didn’t answer him.
Suddenly, she withdrew both hands from his shoulders.
Gu Chenyu’s heart sank. He thought that she was still disgusted by the child deep down and was unwilling to help.
But when he thought of the baby who was still burning with a high fever, Gu Chenyu had no choice but to grab her slender wrist as she pulled away. He lowered his cool, distant eyes, his voice hoarse as he humbled himself to plead with her.
“Lu Yan, just stay with the child for one night.”
“Once the child recovers, if there’s anything you need me to do, no matter what it is, I’ll agree.”
With his large hand tightly wrapped around hers, Lu Yan pressed her lips together, desperately suppressing the worry and urgency in her heart. She nodded as though deeply reluctant.
“Fine. But you have to keep your word.”
Gu Chenyu stared at her with his deep, dark eyes for a moment before giving a low “Mm” from the back of his throat.
The starship hurried back to the frontier residence through the night.
Because Gu Xinghuai was in an extremely fragile half-beastified state, any unusual noise from the outside world could potentially worsen the little one’s condition. This was also why Gu Chenyu had been forced to wait until the child had been given his medicine before traveling alone to the Imperial Star to find Lu Yan.
Before dawn, the starship finally landed steadily at the frontier residence.
Butler Chen and several others were anxiously waiting outside the small room. When they saw Colonel Gu return with the colonel’s wife, they finally breathed a small sigh of relief.
“The young master woke up half an hour ago. He couldn’t find you, Colonel, and has been crying in the room. I remembered the young master’s special condition during a high fever and was afraid that barging in would frighten him, so I’ve been guarding the door outside… Colonel…”
“I know.”
With a stern expression, Gu Chenyu instructed Butler Chen to prepare several doses of nutritional supplements for young children as a precaution. Then he opened the door to the small room.
He had just turned his head slightly, intending to remind Lu Yan, but she had already entered ahead of him.
Gu Chenyu’s gaze paused for a moment before he followed closely behind.
The blankets on the little bed were all rucked up and disheveled.
Lu Yan didn’t see the little one’s figure on the bed, nor could she hear the child’s cries.
She was frantic with worry. After looking around the entire room without finding him, she was just about to turn around and ask Gu Chenyu.
Suddenly, she heard several incredibly faint, babyish sobs coming from the direction of the wardrobe.
Lu Yan’s heart trembled.
She followed the sound.
There was only a very narrow gap in the tightly closed corner of the wardrobe.
A fluffy little white lion’s tail, which had clearly been licked into a messy state, trembled weakly outside the gap. Only the tiny, slightly curled tip of the tail was visible, quivering nonstop.