4
After the family doctor had finished treating Yan Wenbai’s wounds, when he looked up again, Gu Xueyi was nowhere to be seen.
Yan Wenbai frowned. After a moment’s hesitation, he called over a maid and asked, “That woman downstairs… Jiang Meng, was it?”
“Yes.”
“She’s the one the paparazzi exposed a while back—the woman who came out of the hotel one after the other with my older brother?”
“Yes.”
Yan Wenbai’s expression darkened, and he said coldly, “My older brother has been missing for half a month now, and that completely unfounded scandal was three months ago. What the hell is she doing showing up here now?”
How could the maid possibly answer that? She could only stare blankly at Yan Wenbai.
Yan Wenbai stood up and headed downstairs.
Were they really acting like the Yan family was defenseless just because his brother was missing? Any trash could come here and run wild?
But when he got downstairs, Jiang Meng was no longer in the living room.
Yan Wenbai frowned and asked, “Where is she?”
“She left a few minutes ago. She said she wasn’t feeling well and needed to go to the hospital.”
Yan Wenbai’s frown didn’t ease. He glanced back upstairs. Gu Xueyi lived on the third floor.
“What about… what about Gu Xueyi?” Yan Wenbai asked.
He had always called Gu Xueyi by her name in the past, but now, saying it felt strangely awkward. Yet he refused to call her “sister-in-law.”
The maid didn’t notice the stiffness and awkwardness in the Fourth Young Master’s tone and replied, “The madam has gone back to her room to rest. She told us not to disturb her.”
And indeed, they didn’t dare disturb her.
Who wanted to get whipped?
No one.
Yan Wenbai didn’t ask any further. He just unconsciously lowered his head and silently pressed his hand to the wound on his forehead.
The cut was shallow—it had been made by a shard of broken glass.
When he pressed it, it hurt a little, mingling with the stinging sensation of the medicine…
Meanwhile, Gu Xueyi had returned to her original room.
Everything in this world was unfamiliar to her yet not particularly complicated. That at least meant she could survive here quite well.
She did miss and feel attached to her former dynasty, but Gu Xueyi’s character had never known the words hesitation or dwelling on the past.
When she died, she had just been granted the title of First-Rank Commanding Lady. Both the Sheng family and the Gu family were at their peak. Their emperor was wise and virtuous, and the dynasty was strong.
Her family and her country had no need for her to worry about them.
With that thought, Gu Xueyi returned to the desk, sat down, and opened the book titled Forcibly Loving My Sweetheart Wife.
To understand the customs and culture of a place, one should read more books.
She would start with this one.
…
Back in her car, Jiang Meng finally felt her breathing return to normal.
Gu Xueyi was terrifying! She had actually just started hitting people without hesitation! What if she got hit herself and lost the baby? Then everything she had worked for would be ruined!
“Miss Jiang, where are we going now?” the driver asked. “To the hospital?”
“To the hospital, yes…” Originally, Jiang Meng had been faking it, but after hearing the repeated cracks of the belt lashing down, she felt an inexplicable panic. She was afraid that her own egg would be shattered against that stone.
Now, her back was covered in sweat, and her whole body felt uncomfortable. She really did need to go to the hospital.
The driver acknowledged and stepped on the gas.
Jiang Meng took a moment to compose herself, then pulled out her phone from her bag. She navigated to the dialer, entered a number she had memorized, called, hung up, and then called again.
The person on the other end waited about a minute before answering.
“Didn’t I tell you to call me less often lately?” came the man’s weary voice.
“Things… aren’t going very smoothly,” Jiang Meng said, her voice strained. She felt wronged inside, but with the man on the other end, she didn’t dare lash out.
“Not smoothly? You can’t even handle a brainless woman like Gu Xueyi?”
Jiang Meng felt even more aggrieved.
Who knew that Gu Xueyi wouldn’t play by the rules at all?
“The Jian family is returning from Haishi,” the man said in a deep voice.
Jiang Meng panicked a little. “Why so fast?”
“Yan Zhao has been missing for so long. Jian Changming is his close friend, so of course he’ll come back to check on the situation.” The man’s voice grew more irritated. “Jian Rui will definitely arrive in Jingshi with him.”
Jiang Meng’s cold sweat poured down instantly.
Jian Rui. The legitimate wife of the president of Da Jing Entertainment. She came from the famous Jian family.
The Jian family had close ties with political circles, and the current head, Jian Changming, was known for his iron fist. Jian Rui was his most beloved niece.
Cao Jiaye, the president of Da Jing Entertainment, was a big name in the entertainment industry, but he paled in comparison to the Jian family.
Cao Jiaye had many lovers, mostly actresses and models from the industry. Not a single one of these lovers had escaped Jian Rui’s “poisonous hand.”
Jiang Meng was terrified of Jian Rui.
Because she was also one of Cao Jiaye’s lovers.
And a month ago, she had just gotten pregnant with Cao Jiaye’s child.
If she lost this child, she would end up just like Cao Jiaye’s past lovers—getting nothing in the end and ultimately being blacklisted.
But if she could keep the child… Cao Jiaye would do everything he could to find a way to give her money to raise it. That would certainly be easier than struggling in the entertainment industry! And if she was lucky enough to outlive Jian Rui, she might even become the legitimate Mrs. Cao.
Faking a connection with Yan Zhao had been a stroke of inspiration she had after learning from Cao Jiaye that Yan Zhao was missing.
Three months ago, she had gone to a hotel for an event and happened to leave the hotel one after the other with Yan Zhao. The paparazzi, knowing she was a mistress to a big shot, had been stalking her for a long time but hadn’t gotten anything useful. She never expected that those paparazzi would actually think Yan Zhao was her secret lover.
But now, that fabricated scandal had become her best cover.
As long as she solidified her identity as Yan Zhao’s lover, even if Jian Rui had her suspicions, she would let Jiang Meng slide out of consideration for the friendship between the Jian and Yan families.
Jiang Meng licked her dry lips. “… Really, is it really not going to cause any trouble? What if Yan Zhao comes back alive…”
Then she would be in even worse trouble than if she had crossed Jian Rui!
“Yan Zhao disappeared in Africa, and there’s an Ebola outbreak there right now. There’s no way he’s coming back alive,” Cao Jiaye said firmly on the other end of the line.
Having said that, Cao Jiaye was also growing impatient. “It was your idea. Now you’re having second thoughts? Fine. If you regret it, then go get an abortion.”
“No, I’m not regretting it. It’s just Gu Xueyi… Gu Xueyi is acting strange.”
“What could be strange about her? Has she gone mad with anger? Good. The crazier she acts, the more real it looks. Then Jian Rui won’t suspect your identity at all.”
“She has gone mad… but this time she’s not smashing the antiques in the Yan household or screaming about blacklisting me. She hits people…”
“Is that all?” Cao Jiaye scoffed lightly. “The Yan family cares about their reputation. Besides, it’s looking like Yan Zhao isn’t coming back. If you say you’re carrying Yan Zhao’s child, the Yan family will do everything in their power to protect that ‘only bloodline of Yan Zhao.’ How could they let her lay a hand on you? What are you afraid of?”
“But even Yan Wenbai couldn’t stop her.”
“…”
“What about the Yan family’s bodyguards?”
“She even dares to hit Yan Wenbai and Jiang Jing—bodyguards are even less likely to stop her! I’m afraid… you know what she’s using to hit people? A belt. Thicker than my finger. If she hits me, your son will be gone… Don’t you care at all?” By this point, Jiang Meng was scared, felt wronged, and was also putting on a bit of an act, crying softly into the phone.
Jiang Meng knew how to handle people. When she cried, she looked weak and pitiful.
Only then did Cao Jiaye soften his tone and say, “What are you crying about? It’s no big deal. She hit Jiang Jing, didn’t she? Fine. I’ll let the Jiang family know about this. Once they come knocking on her door, she won’t have time to hit you.”
Jiang Meng acknowledged him with a sniffle, then cooed a few more soft words of flattery, praising him for always having a solution, before finally hanging up.
As soon as she put away her phone, Jiang Meng immediately dropped her tearful expression.
She handed the driver a card.
The driver nodded knowingly and said, “Don’t worry, Miss Jiang. I’m Mr. Cao’s man. I won’t go around talking.”
Jiang Meng let out a slow breath.
She could not lose this battle!
What other women had failed to achieve, she would definitely accomplish!
…
Gu Xueyi finally finished reading the book in front of her.
Although some of the characters were missing strokes, combined with the original owner’s memories, it wasn’t difficult to read.
But the moment she closed the last page, the book vanished from before her eyes, as if into thin air.
Vanished?
Gu Xueyi frowned, but she didn’t feel particularly alarmed.
The very fact that she had been reborn was already an incredible thing.
Gu Xueyi picked up the cup beside her and took a sip of water to relieve the dryness in her mouth and throat.
The water in the cup had gone cold, but she didn’t mind. What concerned her more right now was the information she had gleaned from that book!
The heroine of that book was named Yu Xiaoxiao, and the hero was named Yan Zhao.
Yes, the hero shared the exact same name as the original owner’s husband.
And in that book, the hero had a pestering, willful, vicious ex-wife named Gu Xueyi.
That name was also identical to hers.
In the book, after the hero went missing, he encountered the heroine, Yu Xiaoxiao. Yu Xiaoxiao was innocent and adorable—every clumsy move she made was seen as endearing in the eyes of the hero and the supporting characters.
The hero went from looking down on her in the beginning to gradually being moved by her over time.
When the hero returned, he brought Yu Xiaoxiao back with him, shocking the entire world. The Gu Xueyi in the book, unwilling to divorce the hero, took on the role of a vicious supporting character and began frequently causing trouble for Yu Xiaoxiao. In the end, she was despised by everyone and was jointly eliminated by the hero and the male supporting characters, who could no longer tolerate her and that was only a third of the way into the book’s plot.
So, she had been reborn into a book!
And not just any character—one destined to die early!
Gu Xueyi was a bit surprised and couldn’t help but marvel at the wonder of this world.
A person’s soul could actually enter a book.
And that book could actually form a living, breathing world of its own.
But she had no desire to be a stepping stone for someone else’s love story.
After some thought, Gu Xueyi decided to continue reading extensively to quickly grasp the common knowledge of this world…
Whether her future husband wanted a divorce or not was none of her damn business.
Wherever Gu Xueyi went, she would live a wonderful and meaningful life!
And so, Gu Xueyi remained in her bedroom for several days.
The Yan family’s maids certainly didn’t dare neglect her. They delivered her meals on time, came in regularly to clean the room, and collected her clothes for washing or disposal.
Five days passed in the blink of an eye.
The wound on Yan Wenbai’s forehead had almost healed. He pulled down the band tied around his forehead.
Only a faint, pale mark remained.
He walked downstairs and happened to see a maid walking by with a tray.
“Is Gu… is Gu Xueyi still not out?”
The maid answered carefully, “Yes, the madam is still resting.”
Resting? Who needed to rest for that long?
Yan Wenbai frowned.
Could it be that seeing Jiang Meng had upset her, and she was hiding in her room crying?
But Yan Wenbai simply couldn’t reconcile that guess with Gu Xueyi’s face.
The old Gu Xueyi wouldn’t have cried.
And the current Gu Xueyi certainly wouldn’t either.
If she were angry about Jiang Meng, she would be more likely to track her down and tear her limb from limb, rather than wallow in self-pity. That would be more her style.
Just then, the phone in the living room rang.
The maid answered it swiftly.
A moment later, her face turned pale. She carefully held the receiver out to Yan Wenbai. “Fourth Young Master, it’s Mr. Jiang.”
“Which Mr. Jiang?”
“Jiang Jing’s second older brother.”
Had that idiot Jiang Jing actually tattled to his parents?
Yan Wenbai’s expression turned cold as he answered the phone. “Hello.”
“Fourth Young Master Yan?” came the icy voice on the other end. “Please pass the phone to Mrs. Yan.”
Yan Wenbai gripped the receiver tightly. He was the one who had lost his temper and gotten into a fight with Jiang Jing, which had led to all the subsequent trouble… Why should he make Gu Xueyi clean up his mess?
His pride wouldn’t allow it.
Yan Wenbai tightened his grip on the receiver even more, suppressing his anger as he said coldly, “Does Mr. Jiang have business with her? If it’s about Jiang Jing, then Mr. Jiang can just deal with me.”
Jiang Er’s voice on the other end was merciless: “You’re not qualified to make decisions here.”
“Jiang Jing ran his mouth and dared to badmouth my older brother, so I got into a fight with him. Is he crippled? Is he lying in the ICU? Is that why Mr. Jiang is so eager to come knocking to get revenge for him?” Yan Wenbai fired back with equal sarcasm, drawing all the aggro to himself.
“Fourth Young Master Yan!” Jiang Er barked sharply on the other end.
Gu Xueyi was walking down the stairs at that moment and happened to hear the entire exchange.
Yan Wenbai was still too green. He didn’t have the ability to handle trouble independently.
Without a second thought, she reached out her hand. “Give me the receiver.”
Yan Wenbai was startled by the female voice behind him. His expression stiffened. He turned around and gripped the receiver even tighter.
What good would giving it to Gu Xueyi do?
She had been able to bring herself to beat Jiang Jing… but Jiang Er was different. She… she might be afraid. Yes, she would be afraid. And once she was afraid, she would show weakness and disgrace the Yan family.
I just don’t want her to shame the Yan family!
“Fourth Young Master Yan,” Jiang Er’s voice came through again.
Yan Wenbai stood there motionless.
The young man might as well have been a rigid statue.
Seeing that he wouldn’t move, Gu Xueyi didn’t waste her breath arguing. She simply reached over and took the receiver from his hand.
Caught off guard, Yan Wenbai couldn’t hold onto it.
Instead, Gu Xueyi’s smooth, warm fingers brushed against his palm. Yan Wenbai was so startled that his entire body went stiff.
“This is Gu Xueyi,” she said directly into the phone.
There was a pause on the other end. “Mrs. Yan, did you hit Jiang Jing?”
The reason he asked was because someone had asserted with certainty that Gu Xueyi had beaten Jiang Jing. If a member of the Yan family hit a member of the Jiang family without it becoming public, it could be dismissed as kids fighting. But if it came to light, it would be tantamount to throwing the Jiang family’s dignity on the ground, and naturally, that couldn’t be taken lightly.
But the strange part was that Jiang Jing himself said he hadn’t been hit.
When the family doctor examined his body, there were no obvious superficial bruises…
It was only when you pressed on the spots that Jiang Jing would wince in pain.
“Yes,” Gu Xueyi answered, her gaze lowered, showing no trace of fear.
Jiang Er on the other end was stunned.
Gu Xueyi had just admitted it outright?
Was she being bold, or did she simply not take the Jiang family seriously at all?
“Then I suppose I’ll have to pay a visit.”
“I await your visit.”
Jiang Er was momentarily speechless.
He couldn’t tell whether the composure Gu Xueyi displayed was genuine or feigned.
Jiang Er hung up the phone, but something about the exchange left a bad taste in his mouth.
He had called to hold someone accountable, so why did he feel no sense of satisfaction after the call?
His secretary waited for him to hang up, then leaned in and asked, “Are you really going to visit the Yan family?”
“Yes.”
“How about 3 PM? I’ll rearrange your schedule.”
“Yes, 3 PM it is.” Jiang Er stubbed out the cigarette between his fingers. “Since President Yan remains missing without a trace, it’s probably a good time to pay the Yan family a visit anyway.”
Back at the Yan household, Yan Wenbai was somewhat agitated.
He grabbed Gu Xueyi by the wrist. “Why did you admit it? Aren’t you afraid he’ll come after you?”
Yan Wenbai was a full 1.85 meters tall, so Gu Xueyi had to look up to see him.
“So, you wanted to take the blame for me?” Gu Xueyi said. “Then that lash wasn’t wasted. It’s excellent that you’ve developed a sense of respect for elders and juniors and a desire to protect your family. But some things are too much for a child to bear. The adults have to bear them.”
Who was the child? Who was the adult?
She was only in her twenties.
Yan Wenbai’s throat was clogged with retorts, but all he could manage to squeeze out was, “… I wasn’t protecting you. I didn’t want to protect you.”
Gu Xueyi had no intention of arguing with him over such a meaningless point. She replied calmly, “Mm, I know.”
Hearing her flat, emotionless response, Yan Wenbai didn’t feel relieved. Instead, he felt even more pressure.
She knew?
What did she know?
She had beaten Jiang Jing for his sake, and yet he had just said something like that. What would she think when she heard it?
No, wait—why did he care what she thought?
Yan Wenbai unconsciously tightened his fingers.
But what he felt was soft and warm.
Beneath his fingertips, he could almost feel the pulse of her heartbeat, thumping once, then again, tapping against his fingers and against his heart.
Yan Wenbai quickly withdrew his hand, not daring to dwell on that sensation.
He managed to squeeze out one more sentence from his throat: “… That’s not what I meant either.”
“Mm.” Her response was just as indifferent.
Yan Wenbai felt a stifling frustration, as if all his emotions were being smothered under a drumhead.
No matter what he thought or said, maybe Gu Xueyi simply didn’t care at all…
“Have you eaten breakfast?” Gu Xueyi asked.
Yan Wenbai didn’t want to answer her, but then he remembered what Gu Xueyi had said about being polite. He gritted his teeth. “… Not yet.”
Gu Xueyi turned to instruct the maid: “Prepare breakfast.”
Only then did the maid snap out of her daze. “Yes, yes, madam.”
For the first time ever, Yan Wenbai sat down at the same table as Gu Xueyi to have breakfast together.
Gu Xueyi didn’t seem very adept at using a knife and fork, but her posture was impeccably elegant. Yan Wenbai gave her a strange look and couldn’t help speaking again: “You can’t handle it either.”
“When I hit him, I had already considered the consequences. ‘Act after careful planning’—that should be your guiding principle the next time you run into trouble,” Gu Xueyi said without looking up.
Hearing the phrase “act after careful planning” come out of Gu Xueyi’s mouth was somewhat absurd.
But Yan Wenbai couldn’t laugh.
He just couldn’t help saying, “Jiang Er is the current head of the Jiang Corporation. The fact that he’s personally coming to handle such a trivial matter—do you know what that means?”
“It means he’s very interested in Yan Zhao’s disappearance.”
Yan Wenbai was taken aback.
“It’s not a big deal. You don’t need to worry excessively. Having a sense of caution is good, but you don’t need to fear your enemies.” Gu Xueyi put down her fork.
The thing was heavy and uncomfortable to hold.
“You’re not afraid he’ll take advantage of my brother’s absence to attack the Yan family?” Although Yan Wenbai still felt compelled to argue with Gu Xueyi, he was noticeably less agitated than before.
Her calm, unhurried tone had affected him.
“Your brother is very capable, but he’s not a god. The operation of the entire Yan business empire doesn’t rely on him alone. To put it another way: if your brother were truly capable enough, he would have a strong sense of risk management. He would have deliberately cultivated a formidable team to ensure that the Yan Corporation could continue functioning normally during a brief period without him.” Gu Xueyi paused. “So, from any angle, these aren’t things we need to worry about.”
Confrontations between families were never that simple.
No one understood that better than Gu Xueyi.
Yan Wenbai: “…”
He had actually been convinced.
But the way Gu Xueyi kept saying “your brother” felt a bit strange to him.
It made it seem like she was unusually distanced from them.
… Well, not that they had ever been close to begin with.
“Jiang Er coming here is a good thing.”
“What’s good about it?”
“We show the Yan family’s strength and let people outside know that even with Yan Zhao absent, the Yan family isn’t someone anyone can just walk all over.”
Gu Xueyi’s tone was merely calm and matter-of-fact, but Yan Wenbai’s heartbeat quickened nonetheless, and the blood in his limbs seemed to boil along with it.
Yan Wenbai licked his lips. “They can’t affect the Yan Corporation. But what if they just come after us directly?”
Perhaps, as Gu Xueyi had said, the Yan Corporation was already a massive business machine.
Anyone who provoked it rashly would pay the price.
But they themselves weren’t employed by the Corporation. The Corporation was firmly held in his older brother’s hands alone.
What about their safety, then?
Gu Xueyi gave him a surprised look.
Yan Wenbai’s heartbeat quickened again under her gaze.
Gu Xueyi countered, “Do you think he can beat me in a fight?”
Yan Wenbai: “…”
**
Author has something to say: A soul-striking rhetorical question.
Fourth Young Master Yan: I concede defeat.