Chapter 131 How is he doing?

Relying out of habit, only beside Feng Jinye did Weishao Qianyu dare to feel afraid, dare to show weakness, dare to hide...

Caught off guard, Feng Jinye was embraced by Weishao Qianyu. His body trembled as he instinctively raised a hand to press Weishao Qianyu's head into his chest...

She was afraid of this... bright red wedding hall...

Bright red wedding halls were etched in Feng Jinye's memory; they existed in Qudu, in Moshu, in Yuedu, and in Guanlin City.

The more Feng Jinye thought about it, the more alarmed he became.

"Let's head back to the estate first," Feng Jinye said softly, feigning composure.

Weishao Qianyu caught her breath, shook her head, and then nodded.

With her feet rooted to the spot, Weishao Qianyu stood outside the main gates, watching from afar as Qingxia and Leng Qi completed the bowing ceremony. After the ceremony, Qingxia was escorted into the nuptial chamber. If Weishao Qianyu and Feng Jinye stayed for the outer wedding banquet, it would only make the guests feel constrained...

Therefore, Weishao Qianyu pulled away from Feng Jinye's embrace, preparing to return to the Prince Yuan Residence...

Yet no sooner had Weishao Qianyu left Feng Jinye's arms and turned around than he swept her up into his arms by the waist...

Weishao Qianyu habitually wrapped her arms around Feng Jinye's neck...

Lately, she had constantly wanted some peace and quiet, inadvertently distancing herself from Feng Jinye for quite a few days. At this moment, held in his arms and breathing in his unique, crisp scent, Weishao Qianyu rested her head against Feng Jinye's shoulder, feeling a measure of reassurance...

At the start of summer, the evening breeze carried a sultry warmth, the clear sky was vast, and the crescent moon resembled a delicate eyebrow.

Unconsciously, Feng Jinye slowed his pace...

Just as he had when the late snow burned north of Yuedu City, and he carried her back to the Prince Zhan Residence...

"Are we going to walk for a full hour?" Weishao Qianyu asked with a faint smile.

Feng Jinye looked at the trace of a smile in Weishao Qianyu's eyes. Clearly, his eyesight was extraordinary and he could see clearly in the dark, yet at this moment, her smile seemed indistinct to him...

"I'd walk for a lifetime," Feng Jinye said with deep affection.

Such a direct confession was rarely heard by Weishao Qianyu, and the corners of her eyes instantly curved into smiles...

Both Xuechun and Dongnuan were accompanying Qingxia, so the main courtyard of the Prince Yuan Residence was very quiet.

Weishao Qianyu did not mention her feelings from outside the Leng estate just now, nor did Feng Jinye ask.

The first time she dreamed of that city holding a grand wedding, Weishao Qianyu had mentioned it to Feng Jinye, but as for that desolate dream, Weishao Qianyu could not actually articulate what she had seen...

Now that Weishao Qianyu had noticed the discrepancies in her memory, she guessed it was very likely connected to that crimson dream as well...

Perhaps it was not a prophetic dream, but something that had truly happened.

Weishao Qianyu suddenly raised her gaze, only to find Feng Jinye staring at her in a daze...

Feng Jinye was wondering whether Weishao Qianyu's abnormality might be caused by Gu poison. After all, she had been to the Dusk Pavilion and had once been afflicted by Gu poison. What if there was still some unusual, unresolvable Gu poison lingering within her body?

Much like his late mother, much like the Heart-Devouring Gu with which he himself had been afflicted.

"Qianqian..." After a long while, Feng Jinye noticed Weishao Qianyu staring at him and softly called out.

Weishao Qianyu asked, "What are you thinking about?"

Weishao Qianyu also realized that her recent eccentricities must have made Feng Jinye uneasy.

"You," Feng Jinye answered flatly.

Weishao Qianyu couldn't help but smile again. This really didn't sound like something Feng Jinye would say. Before her laughter had even faded, she heard Feng Jinye say, "It seems I haven't heard Qianqian laugh out loud in a very long time."

Weishao Qianyu deliberately glanced sideways at Feng Jinye. So he actually knew how to coax her into smiling like this...

Because her identity as the legitimate daughter of the Lu family had been exposed, she really had given Feng Jinye the cold shoulder. Looking at Feng Jinye, Weishao Qianyu couldn't help but reach out to stroke his face...

She didn't understand why she had wanted to avoid him earlier. Thinking back, she had probably been overthinking things, or perhaps it was still because he had kept the matter of the Lu family a secret from her all along...

As Weishao Qianyu thought this, deep down she knew very well that it wasn't just because of that reason.

Yet while she resisted pondering it too deeply, she also wanted to know the truth.

"Do you remember the whole story of how the old city lord of Qudu offered up Qudu and asked you to marry his daughter back then?"

In the end, Weishao Qianyu tentatively asked the question. At least Feng Jinye hadn't married anyone else, right?

Feng Jinye paused. That matter was a long time ago; he had thought it was long past.

Back when Feng Jinye received Weishao Qianye's farewell letter, rumors were spreading in Qudu that the Prince of Zhan was going to take another woman as his princess consort...

Feng Jinye had hurried back to Yuedu without stopping, both because he received Weishao Qianyu's letter and because with that news spreading, he didn't want Weishao Qianyu to misunderstand and separate from him.

Yet as events unfolded later, he had never explained the whole story of Qudu to her.

Feng Jinye nodded.

In Weishao Qianyu's memory, back when the new city lord of Qudu was holding his grand wedding, the one riding a tall steed at the front of the wedding procession and parading the bride through the streets was Huangfu Chen...

The wedding procession that day was extremely lively, yet Weishao Qianyu felt wave after wave of chill—a chill that blanketed the entire city...

The bright red wedding colors were full of festivity, and the wedding procession practically paved the entire main street in red...

As that streak of red paved its way forward, Weishao Qianyu saw clearly that the person on the flower-adorned tall steed at the front of the procession was Huangfu Chen.

How could it be him?

Weishao Qianyu could barely control her urge to step forward and ask clearly what was going on. Huangfu Chen noticed Weishao Qianyu's movement, looked up seemingly by chance to cast a glance at her, and gave her a look that told her to remain calm...

Weishao Qianyu quietly watched the procession move away, and by the time she returned to her inn room without realizing it, Huangfu Chen appeared outside her door...

"Why are you here?"

Seeing today that the person marrying the new city lord of Qudu was not Feng Jinye, but Huangfu Chen, Weishao Qianyu had felt no sense of relief...

Huangfu Chen tapped Weishao Qianyu's head with his folding fan: "Since you can be here, why can't this young master be here?"

Weishao Qianyu knew nothing of the situation in Qudu over the past few months. She had received no news from Qudu, though she did know that Feng Jinye had already captured multiple cities...

"Are you truly going to marry the city lord of Qudu?"

At the time, Weishao Qianyu was convinced that Huangfu Chen wanted to marry Feng Qingxuan; how could he possibly marry the city lord of Qudu?

Huangfu Chen looked Weishao Qianyu up and down, as if weighing the implications behind her words, and then burst into a hearty laugh...

"I'm just making do by marrying her. Since Prince Zhan is already taken, this young master is acting with righteousness to trade one person's marriage for the salvation of an entire city from war. Isn't that rather good?"

Weishao Qianyu frowned; Huangfu Chen's words made her deeply suspicious. Huangfu Chen was definitely not someone willing to make sacrifices easily!

The more Weishao Qianyu thought about it, the more she believed Huangfu Chen's words were untrustworthy!

Sure enough, the next second Huangfu Chen reined in all his playful teasing. He had never intended to keep things from Weishao Qianyu in the first place; since she had come, keeping it hidden would only make matters worse!

"Feng Jinye should have already led his troops to surround this city by now. The city lord of Qudu surrendering is fake; the true intent is to use the wedding to assassinate the Prince of Zhan!" Huangfu Chen explained simply.

"You're turning the tables on them." Weishao Qianyu immediately reacted.

Weishao Qianyu shook her head. If that was the case, staying inside the city meant she would very likely be captured and used as leverage against Feng Jinye.

"Did you come to take me away?" Weishao Qianyu suddenly realized.

Huangfu Chen smiled and nodded.

"I'm going to see Feng Jinye!"

Weishao Qianyu's words made Huangfu Chen feel a twinge of anguish. She had traveled thousands of miles rushing toward Feng Jinye, but what was he thinking?

Huangfu Chen shook his head: "You cannot go see him!"

Why? Huangfu Chen knew she was in Qudu, so Feng Jinye would certainly know as well; why couldn't she go see him?

"The Heart-Devouring Gu."

Weishao Qianyu froze, as if she couldn't comprehend those three words, but she knew that this was the poison Feng Jinye had contracted when he left Qudu to find her and encountered an ambush on the official road. So it was Gu poison.

Hearing the words "Heart-Devouring," Weishao Qianyu inexplicably felt terrified, but why couldn't she go see Feng Jinye?

Sensing Weishao Qianyu's confusion, Huangfu Chen answered flatly, "Feng Jinye has been poisoned by the Heart-Devouring Gu."

The Heart-Devouring Gu was the exact opposite of the Mutual Affection Gu; it was a type of Gu poison that could thoroughly tear apart two people deeply in love...

Huangfu Chen carefully explained the nature of the Heart-Devouring Gu to Weishao Qianyu.

"Is he... doing well?"

Weishao Qianyu restrained her slightly trembling hands and asked the question, appearing very composed.

"Not well," Huangfu Chen replied without the slightest concealment.

"The Heart-Devouring Gu... anything related to you will trigger his poison to act up..." Huangfu Chen's tone remained flat, yet his brow furrowed slightly...

"How can it be cured?"

Weishao Qianyu knew clearly in her heart that given Feng Jinye's capabilities, if the Gu poison hadn't been cured after so long, it was likely incurable. Still, she asked, unwilling to give up.

Huangfu Chen looked at Weishao Qianyu's seemingly calm demeanor, felt a pang of reluctance to tell her the truth, and simply shook his head...

Huangfu Chen did not answer, and the surroundings fell silent...

"Is he..." Still doing well...

After a prolonged stillness, Weishao Qianyu uttered a single word, yet didn't know how to continue asking.

Huangfu Chen drew in a breath and let it out. He couldn't bear to see Weishao Qianyu like this: "Even if this young master doesn't say it, you should know."

Yes, how could he be doing well? She wondered how Feng Jinye had managed to endure throughout this period.

Weishao Qianyu suddenly began pacing back and forth, asking anxiously, "Can I go see him?"

"I can put on makeup... use disguise, pass myself off as a stranger to him, and just catch a glimpse of him! Can I?"

Huangfu Chen did not agree to let Weishao Qianyu go see Feng Jinye, but how could Weishao Qianyu not think of what he had thought of?

"If you're certain you want to go, I'll take you!"

Those words left Weishao Qianyu in a trance. Seeing Weishao Qianyu dazed and uneasy, Huangfu Chen sighed, "Feng Jinye will lead his troops to attack the city before sunset!"

"You have a quarter of an hour to consider. We must leave the city immediately!"

"Wait for me here. This place is close to the city gate; I'm going out to check the situation and will return instantly!"

Huangfu Chen left as soon as he finished speaking. He still needed to go out and scout the situation to coordinate with Feng Jinye from the inside and outside, and now he had to take Weishao Qianyu with him as well...

In truth, Huangfu Chen didn't know how to face Weishao Qianyu either. There were so many things connected to Feng Jinye that he hadn't the heart to tell Weishao Qianyu, nor could he bear to see Weishao Qianyu looking desolate on Feng Jinye's account...

Huangfu Chen had been gone for half a quarter of an hour. Weishao Qianyu sat by the window for a long time without standing up, holding a teacup in her hand, the tea inside having gradually grown cold...

Weishao Qianyu never put the teacup down. At first, holding it in her hand brought a trace of warmth, but slowly, whether it was warm or not, Weishao Qianyu could no longer tell...