Chapter 12

Gu Ming agreed. He shared many of Fu Yu’s opinions—great minds think alike, as they say.

Gu Ming chose to help Fu Yu because he was unwilling to let Fan Dalong control the entirety of Haidong. As the Military Governor of Haidong, Fan Dalong had repeatedly ordered Fu Yu, who was closest to Shiyang Mountain, to wipe out the bandits and eliminate Gu Ming. Fu Yu had agreed verbally but had never actually launched an expedition against them.

As dawn approached, Fu Yu finally received an urgent report from Zhan Yong: Yucheng had been taken! However, there was no sign of Wu Xiang returning to Yucheng.

Wu Xiang had nothing left to rely on, except Fan Dalong.

The next day, Fu Yu unexpectedly received an invitation from Fan Dalong, inviting him to Haidong to receive a commendation for annihilating the two rebels, An Zhentian and Wu Xiang!

“He changes his tune so fast!” Fu Yu sneered.

Gu Ming stepped out. “Fu Yu, we’ve discussed everything we needed to discuss yesterday. Now I must take my wife back to Shiyang Mountain and arrange matters for my men!”

“Your wife?” The smile on Fu Yu’s face gradually froze. “Take a look at this first!” He handed the invitation to Gu Ming.

“This is a Hongmen Banquet. Fan Dalong doesn’t dare come to Fancheng right now, so he can only invite you to Haidong, and you have no reason to refuse him.” Gu Ming frowned.

“Therefore, I still can’t do without you right now! You cannot leave.”

Jiang Mei stood beside Gu Ming. From beginning to end, Fu Yu hadn’t cast a single glance her way.

“Don’t worry. Help me attend this banquet and eliminate Fan Dalong, and I will let you go back!”

Gu Ming stared at Fu Yu, and Fu Yu met his gaze. Right now, he truly didn’t want to let her go.

“My plan is…” Fu Yu detailed his strategy for dealing with Fan Dalong to Gu Ming.

“Since Governor Fan is in such a hurry, we’ll beat him at his own game and seize the opportunity to wipe him out!” Fu Yu looked at Gu Ming.

Gu Ming nodded.

“But I still need to return to Shiyang Mountain first to mobilize my men! And to escort the Madam back,” Gu Ming insisted.

“Gu Ming, as smart as you are, do you think I can rest easy letting you leave just like this, after telling you all my deployments?”

A smile suddenly bloomed on Fu Yu’s cold, harsh face, making Gu Ming’s hair stand on end.

“What exactly do you want to do?”

“You go back and mobilize the troops; your wife stays! I need some sort of collateral, don’t I?”

Gu Ming laughed. “Fu Yu, I underestimated your despicability!”

“You flatter me! See Chief Gu out! We’ll rendezvous in Fancheng in three days!” Fu Yu declared loudly.

Gu Ming’s face turned pale with anger.

He glanced at Jiang Mei, who nodded. “Go quickly and come back quickly!”

Gu Ming still didn’t take Jiang Mei away.

Jiang Mei remained living in Yun Courtyard.

While Zijun Villa had been torn apart by the war, Yun Courtyard remained largely intact.

In the middle of the night, Jiang Mei was suddenly awakened by the sound of sobbing. Opening her eyes, she saw Fu Yu sitting beside her. He had been drinking, his eyes blurry with intoxication. The scars on his face were still visible, and he was crying, his face covered in tears.

Jiang Mei was stunned; she had never seen Fu Yu cry like this.

She closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep.

Fu Yu just sat there, taking a sip of liquor every now and then. Then, he leaned over her, inhaling her scent deeply.

Sometimes, he would carefully and gently touch her exposed hand.

What does this mean? Do you like me?

Jiang Mei sighed inwardly. *Fate is truly a trickster. Fu Yu, there are too many things standing between us. You and I are destined to have no affinity.*

Jiang Mei continued to feign sleep until it was almost dawn, at which point Fu Yu quietly left.

When she saw Fu Yu the next day, his face was cold and his gaze indifferent, as if he didn’t even know her.

Jiang Mei even began to think last night was just a dream.

The maid, Xiao Ju, brought Jiang Mei some grapes. “There are still grapes in this season?” Jiang Mei asked her.

“The Eldest Young Master knows the Miss likes eating grapes, so he specially found some foreigners to build a vineyard, saying you’ll be able to eat grapes all year round from now on!”

Jiang Mei was speechless.

For dinner, Xiao Ju brought Jiang Mei lotus seed pastries and duck blood soup, both of which were her favorites.

That night, Jiang Mei intentionally bolted the door. In the middle of the night, she heard the sound of someone falling outside her room. She opened the door and saw it was indeed Fu Yu. He was leaning against the doorway, fast asleep.

Looking at his childlike sleeping posture, Jiang Mei’s heart couldn’t help but soften. She had considered asking the maids to help him back to his room, but she really couldn’t let others see him in his current state. She helped him inside and let him lie on her bed.

Jiang Mei sat there, watching him.

A while after he lay down, he suddenly opened his eyes. “You still love me, don’t you?”

Jiang Mei jumped in fright.

“You weren’t asleep?”

“I was asleep, but I just woke up. Your eyes tell me that you still love me! And you and Gu Ming were never married at all!”

“Fu Yu, what is the point of saying all this now? We have already separated!”

Fu Yu suddenly sat up and pulled Jiang Mei into his arms. Pinning her arms and pressing her down on the bed, he kissed her tenderly. “I don’t believe that you truly don’t love me anymore. You used to look at me with such eyes!”

“Fu Yu, let go! Gu Ming is risking his life for you! By doing this, are you being fair to Gu Ming?!”

Fu Yu let go. “Gu Ming is also doing it for himself! For the bandits of Shiyang Mountain! Do you know that if Fan Dalong truly gains control of Haidong, the first one he will wipe out is Gu Ming!”

“Why?”

“Gu Ming is the one who murdered Fan Dalong’s father. I just found out about this too. Fan Dalong also only recently discovered it! Gu Ming and I are merely using each other!”

Jiang Mei fell silent.

When it comes to love, it is always only women who are willing to give up everything for it. The first things men think of are always power, status, money, or brotherhood!

“So, perhaps he does love you, but his love is not pure. I don’t want to let you go right now because… I’ve realized that I love you!”

After saying this, Fu Yu got off Jiang Mei’s bed and walked out.

Jiang Mei lay awake all night.

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