Chapter 76 Advantages and Disadvantages

Gu Qiang almost dropped her cup. She stood up to go out. Gusu Liang grabbed her hand and asked astonishedly, “My Lady, what are you going to do?”

Protecting Gu Qiang was Gusu Liang’s task which was assigned by her master Shen Qianshan. She must take it seriously, or she would be scolded by him.

Gu Qiang shook off Gusu Liang’s hand and headed towards the Xiaoyao Mountain.

Shen Qianshan was there.

Gu Qiang reached the Xiaoyao Mountain at noon. Familiar with the place, she went directly to the pavilion. Shen Qianshan was reading leisurely there. He was in white, and his hair was tied back casually. He leaned against the pavilion and looked like a picture. But Gu Qiang was in no mood to enjoy it. She strode to him and asked coldly, “Did you send my brother out of the capital?”

Shen Qianshan turned around. She stood there like a blooming flower. She was so lovely even when she was angry, and anyone couldn’t help kissing her.

But it was not a good time. Shen Qianshan stood up suddenly and asked, “What are you talking about?”

Looking at Shen Qianshan’s expression, Gu Qiang realized something suddenly. He had promised her many times that he wouldn’t send Gu Huaian out of the capital. Though Shen Qianshan was not very reliable, he knew it was no joke. Thus, the situation was probably worse than she imagined.

She felt embarrassed for her rashness but still said seriously, “You didn’t do it?”

Shen Qianshan stood up, walked to Gu Qiang, and looked at her curiously, “Only when we find him can we know what happened.”

Then he held Gu Qiang’s hand and took the confused girl to the stable.

Gu Qiang had been to Hongzhou before and knew how to get there. She rode a white horse with Shen Qianshan. The horse belonged to him. It was tall and had pure color except for a black patch on its forehead as if it were dyed.

Sitting behind Gu Qiang, Shen Qianshan smelt her faint fragrance and felt calm. It had been a long time since he saw her last time, so he missed her terribly. But he repressed his feelings. He knew if he missed her too much, she would be stressed. He preferred believing in fate to chasing her actively.

Fate was indeed unstoppable. She was as nervous as a kid in his arms and couldn’t help shaking slightly. He had no idea why she was so nervous and what this trip meant to Gu Huaian, but he was willing to go with her so long as she wanted.

Gusu Liang and Jin Ye followed them. They grew up together. Gusu Liang whispered, “Do you think my Lady may develop a relationship with our master?”

Jin Ye jumped to a tree suddenly and then landed on the ground, saying seriously, “Of course. It is so evident. You know how much money and energy our master has spent for Miss Gu. I think they will probably be together.”

It proved they both had sharp eyes. Gusu Liang was exhausted recently, but this trip was a piece of cake for her. She just needed to be a good servant girl around Gu Qiang, which was easy.

“I don’t know why my Lady cares so much about her brother. It’s not a big deal to leave the capital. Why is she so worried?” Gusu Liang was confused. She was a straightforward girl and would stop thinking about something confusing. It was the stupidest thing to bother herself with others’ affairs.

After reaching Hongzhou, Gu Qiang was at a loss. Hongzhou was so big that it was impossible to cover all of it without one or two days. How difficult it would be to find Gu Huaian here!

Shen Qianshan found an inn for her. Though she was anxious, she followed his arrangement.

In November of the 7th year of Jianyuan.

It became colder and colder. Shen Qianshan huddled silently under a blanket on the soft couch in his mansion.

Su Ge entered and was followed by an old man who looked kind.

The old man had a long gray beard. He saluted Shen Qianshan respectfully and said, “Your Highness, how do you feel?”

Shen Qianshan parted his lips, hesitated, and said nothing at last.

What could he say? Would he admit that he broke into the Weiyang Palace and sneaked a look at the Empress’s diary, only to find her secret and see what he couldn’t accept…

It was not a big deal. He didn’t have to accept what he couldn’t. However, after he came back, his memory was changed. He had more memories, and he knew the new memories belonged to himself, too.

It seemed that… someone lived his life again and made many important decisions. The most important one was that his acquaintance with that girl. He didn’t know how to call her, Gu Qiang or the Empress?

In his memory, she was still a girl. So long as she was part of his memory, his heart couldn’t help softening. He had never had such a feeling.

Recently, he kept thinking about why it would be like this. He thought if he hadn’t seen and touched the diary, these changes wouldn’t have happened.

It brought bad luck to him, and he was resistant that so many things were forcibly imposed on his memory.

After hesitating for quite a while, Shen Qianshan told the imperial physician, “I’m not well. Just prescribe some health care medicine for me.”

The imperial physician looked up at him confusedly. The Ninth Duke had never seen an imperial physician. Since he sent for one this time, it meant his physician couldn’t treat him.

The imperial physician thought if the duke just had a minor illness, it was unnecessary to send for him. After muddling it over, he concluded the duke must have had an incurable disease and might die soon.

The imperial physician stood up and prescribed some medicine for the duke. The medicine could soothe the nerves. It was able to neither cure the disease nor harm his health. It was the last thing he could do as a physician.

After the imperial physician left, Su Ge walked over and told Shen Qianshan, “Your Highness, how about looking for a better physician?”

Shen Qianshan sighed heavily and told Su Ge, “So what? How can I explain it? Shen Zhongbai is hostile to me and will kill me sooner or later. If he knows I have the same memory with his wife, he will be deadly jealous, won’t he?”

Shen Qianshan had doubted that it was the Empress that instigated the Emperor to kill him before. But now he found she wasn’t so evil as he imagined.

Of course, she was not a good person either. She even might be an evil spirit. She tempted Shen Zhongbai with her witchcraft and instigated him to hurt Shen Qianshan, who was so pitiful. Whatever, he was the victim.

Su Ge sighed. The Duke was interesting but worrying now. It seemed that it was a big and carefully premeditated trap.

Shen Qianshan tapped the table lightly. It meant he was terribly upset and restless.

Su Ge stood by him quietly. It wasn’t the first time that he had seen the duke behaving in this way. Though having experienced a lot, he was always in low spirits.

Su Ge cleared his throat and asked quietly, “Your Highness, what are you going to do?”

Shen Qianshan stood up and adjusted his clothes. He was clear that he could never ignore the most important thing in his memory.

Though he disliked the Empress, he couldn’t pretend that nothing had happened against his conscience.

“Let’s go to the Weiyang Palace.” Shen Qianshan rose and disappeared, leaving Su Ge in astonishment.

The Empress was lying on her bed in the Weiyang Palace. She often fell ill for an unknown reason, especially in her stomach as if cold air was running inside, but she refrained from seeing an imperial physician.

If she sent for an imperial physician, numerous people in the palace would eye her and hope something was wrong with her. It was also possible that one of the imperial physicians was a favorite of an imperial concubine and prescribed some strange medicine for her. In that case, she would die.

Gu Qiang was not stupid, so she was clear about it. She had striven in the palace for many years. Even though Shen Qiangwei got the endless favor from Shen Zhongbai, it didn’t matter. She had managed to secure a footing by moving every step carefully along the way.

It could be best proved by her position as the Empress. Except for her, no one else was qualified for it. She also knew that Shen Qiangwei had begged Shen Zhongbai many times for the position.

The position represented favor and the status of a woman in a man’s heart. If he liked her, he would certainly give her the best thing. Shen Qiangwei thought any woman could stand at the position.

Sha walked over and said respectfully, “Your Highness, the Ninth Duke comes here.”

The Empress closed her eyes, enjoying the wind blowing through the window silently. She was squinting her eyes, and the wind fluttered her long eyelashes. With her eyelids fluttering, she said, “Why does he come here again? He was caught at it by me last time. Isn’t he ashamed? I didn’t think he would come here again. I don’t have the time to play the game with him.”

Shen Qianshan was ungrateful, arrogant, and rude to her. She didn’t want to waste any time on him at all. She would rather sit here alone and enjoy the short peace silently.

“But the Ninth Duke said he wanted to talk with you about Mr. Gu.” Sha said awkwardly. Though she hadn’t been in the palace for a long time, she knew what couldn’t be mentioned to the Empress. Under no circumstances would she mention that name.

The Empress opened her eyes suddenly, turned around to look at Sha’s eyes, and asked, “Who?”