Chapter 55

She whipped her head around rapidly, her entire face flushed crimson. In her mind's eye, the glimpse of pristine chest she'd just seen was so vivid it made her flush with embarrassment...

"Didn't see anything? I'm undressing," Zhao Changdu glanced back at her lazily as he unbuckled his belt and took off his robe, draping it over a tree branch. "Go ahead and turn around. Even if you wanted to look, there's nothing to see now."

"I don't want to look..." Gu Ying's heart thumped loudly as she mumbled, blushing furiously as she tentatively turned her head.

His black robe obscured his whole body. She could only see a pair of long legs and a pair of dark boots.

She had been with him once before. Aside from that one time, they'd never crossed paths. But now, stranded here alone, man and woman, still made her very uneasy.

She wanted to ask after his injuries, but didn't know how to broach the subject.

In her past life, after he'd forced himself on her and she'd returned to the Jiang mansion, Jiang Yin rarely entered her chambers again. Sometimes when Jiang Yin looked at her, his gaze grew increasingly cold, even disgusted.

When Ming Yue became pregnant with Jiang Yin's child, he was so happy he threw a banquet, expressly inviting her.

But the things he said... He said, "Ming Yue is expecting. At least this body and this child are pure and innocent, not like some people who came back dirty and sullied. Oh, she even has the nerve to come back? Hahaha, tell me, isn't she ashamed? Embarrassed?"

Back then her heart had shattered into pieces... It was like being viciously stabbed through the heart with a sharp knife, then the handle twisted around, turning her internal organs into a tangled mess. The gaping hole in her heart was like something had been gouged out, leaving a hollow space for the wind to whistle through, chilled to the bone and extremely painful.

Amidst his taunting and the endless humiliation from his concubines, she had shamefully burst into tears. After that was endless debasement from those concubines.

Her feelings towards Zhao Changdu were complicated, comprised of resentment and annoyance.

Yet she didn't know who to blame, after all he seemed to have been drugged then, not in control of himself, while she had just been unlucky to be caught by him to counteract the drugs.

Zhao Changdu sat on the other side of his clothes, picking up a stick to poke at the fire, causing the flames to burn brighter.

After being injured for years roaming outside, falling down this cave was already the best outcome for him.

It was just that Gu Ying was a pure and innocent girl. Spending the night together in this cave with him, a grown man, if they were found tomorrow, she likely wouldn't retain any reputation.

He also didn't know what had come over him. In the past he was unconstrained, paid no heed to Bianjing's so-called rules, never cared about things like reputation and integrity.

But now looking at Gu Ying, so delicate and stubborn sitting curled up on the other side of the tree branch, he felt the ice around his heart thaw a little.

"Your clothes are already soaked through. I suggest you take them off to dry as soon as possible, otherwise the cold mountain winds will rapidly sap your body heat and you won't make it through tonight."

Gu Ying's body quivered slightly, partly from fear, and partly from the cold.

She had wanted to take off her clothes for a while now, but didn't dare move with Zhao Changdu present...

After all, the ferocious, ravenous way he'd wanted to devour her whole was still fresh in her mind. She didn't dare disrobe in front of him now.

It wasn't that she presumed malice...

It was just once bitten, twice shy... After what had happened at the broken-down temple for over ten years... She now had a complex towards men and those matters, even fear.

"Thank you for the reminder, Your Highness. I'll sit here by the fire and dry my clothes this way."

She still refused to undress.

Zhao Changdu paused, glancing towards her. Neither spoke as they sat apart.

After a lengthy silence, the sound of dripping water in the cave grew more distinct.

After some time, he rubbed his right arm and indifferently said, "Gu Ying, are you afraid of me?"

Gu Ying hurriedly shook her head. "No!"

Feeling her denial was too quick, too insincere, she softened her voice and said in a sticky tone, "No, why would Your Highness think that?"

Zhao Changdu gave a derisive laugh. He recalled when he'd first arrived in Bianjing and bumped into her coming to curry favor.

Back then her eyes had been full of anticipation and longing. Those distinct dark eyes had also held inscrutable sadness and pain, as if she were a drowning person who after great effort had finally crawled ashore.

She had given him the feeling of a new lease on life, reborn.

From that day forth he had wanted to give her a chance, a chance to marry into the Duke's residence.

Of course he didn't have feelings for her. To be frank, it was using each other. To be more precise, mutually beneficial. "I still owe you an apology for what happened that night."

The man's deep voice sounded from the other side.

Gu Ying was startled, looking over puzzledly. Although his thick clothes obscured him, her heart was still shaken.

He who is conscious of shame is close to courage—a man of such status actually apologizing to her, a young girl.

He seemed similar to Jiang Yin on the surface, yet different...

Just what kind of man was he?

"Your Highness..."

Zhao Changdu indifferently said, "I wrongly blamed you for pushing your elder sister. I had misunderstood and got angry, so I also want to say sorry for what I said outside the Empress' tent."

Gu Ying couldn't describe the complicated feelings in her heart. For a moment, her nose tingled as if she wanted to cry.

"It's fine, I didn't take it to heart anyway."

Zhao Changdu lightly hmm-ed. Despite her light tone, with the dark and quiet amplifying emotions he could still detect the hurt within.

She was only fifteen or sixteen, what had she experienced to give her eyes a maturity and composure beyond her years?

Feeling it was awkward sitting so far apart, Gu Ying deliberately tried to make conversation. "Who exactly were the people trying to assassinate you?"

Zhao Changdu's long lashes lowered, gaze falling upon the firelight. "Judging by their outfits and weapons, they were Jianghu people."

Gu Ying fell into thought, trying hard to comb through memories of Zhao Changdu's assassination attempt in her still aching mind. Back then her energy had been focused on Jiang Yin, but an incident as major as an assassination attempt she still vaguely recalled hearing about.

Zhao Changdu hadn't died in that assassination attempt.

Not having been by his side in her past life, she didn't know what had happened to him. She'd only heard he'd been found with an arrow in his body, nearly dead. After being brought back to the Duke's residence he had recuperated for over half a month before recovering.

Afterwards, His Majesty had sent people to thoroughly investigate. It was discovered the assassins were from the Jianghu assassination organization Yanyun Tower. As for who had hired the assassins, after an extensive investigation it was discovered to be Prince Duan's subordinates.

The Prince Duan faction had been greatly impacted by this, falling out of the Emperor's favor and losing the chance to be Crown Prince.

After this Prince Duan fell ill and did not recover, with medicine proving futile. In approximately 1631 or 1632, he passed away in seclusion.

Later, others had used Prince Duan's name to raise troops in rebellion, implicating the Empress' clan. After the Empress died from the resulting illness and almost couldn't be buried in the Imperial tombs.

This was the extent of Gu Ying's knowledge. She occasionally overheard ordinary people discussing state affairs at the broken-down temple, but the factual truth she wasn't very clear on.