Night.
After finishing dinner, Xiang Wanniao pulled her knees up to her chest, sitting cross-legged on the hospital bed as she quietly stared out the window in a daze.
Recalling the events of her past life filled her with an uncontrollable sadness.
The more she thought about it, the more her heart ached.
An agonizing, suffocating pain.
Xiang Wanniao closed her reddened eyes, taking a deep, heavy breath to steady her emotions.
A moment later, she opened her eyes again, and half of the sorrow in them had already faded.
In the lonely stillness of the night, she suddenly found herself missing Gu Jingzhan terribly.
In her previous life, even though he knew the purpose behind her feigned docility, he had chosen not to guard against it, willingly stepping into her trap just to give her what she wanted.
"Gu Jingzhan, what is so great about me anyway? How could you be so reckless, wagering everything you have?"
Xiang Wanniao picked up the phone from the bedside table and opened Gu Jingzhan's contact page, but her fingertips suddenly froze over the screen.
After a moment of hesitation, she pressed the call button.
The phone rang for quite a while before someone answered, but the voice coming through on the other end was not Gu Jingzhan's.
"Lord Zhan is currently busy. Do you need something, Madam?"
Xiang Yuan's voice was devoid of any emotion, carrying a thoroughly professional, all-business attitude.
Xiang Wanniao's expression faltered slightly. Her bloodless lips parted, and she murmured, "Is Gu Jingzhan... still working this late?"
Xiang Yuan mechanically replied, "Yes."
"Can you put him on the phone? I... I have something I want to tell him."
"I'm sorry, but Lord Zhan is temporarily unavailable to take calls. If you don't have any pressing matters, Madam, you might as well hang up."
Xiang Wanniao squeezed her fingers, and in the end, saying nothing more, she silently ended the call.
***
Gui Garden
The study was in utter disarray.
Gu Jingzhan sat in the office chair, his face dark and gloomy. The hand resting on the armrest trembled incessantly, fresh blood dripping from his fingertips.
A fierce, oppressive aura radiated from his entire body. His pitch-black eyes were bottomless, brimming with extremely dangerous signals, like a bloodthirsty beast.
"Lord Zhan, Madam has already hung up."
Gu Jingzhan did not respond.
Seeing blood flowing from his hand, a trace of concern flickered across Xiang Yuan's face. "Lord Zhan, your hand is injured. Let me have someone come and tend to the wound."
"I won't die."
Gu Jingzhan slowly clenched both hands into fists, uttering the words coldly.
Just as his voice fell, Lu Qingzhou pushed the door open and walked in, carrying a medical kit.
"Why torture yourself like this over a woman like Xiang Wanniao? Without her, can't you even survive?"
Xiang Yuan retreated to the side, bowed slightly, and respectfully greeted Lu Qingzhou, "Young Master Lu."
Lu Qingzhou gave a slight nod and waved a hand. "You can head out first. I've got it here."
"Yes."
With that, Xiang Yuan left the study.
Zhan Jiu, who had been waiting outside the study doors the whole time, immediately hurried over the moment he saw Xiang Yuan come out, asking with concern, "How is Lord Zhan?"
Xiang Yuan replied in a calm tone, "Nothing too serious, he just hurt his hand."
"I'm going in to see him."
Hearing that Gu Jingzhan was injured, Zhan Jiu anxiously made to push past into the study.
Xiang Yuan reached out and blocked his path. "Don't go in. Lord Zhan is in a very bad mood right now, and besides, Young Master Lu is inside. He'll be fine."
Zhan Jiu closed his eyes, trying to force himself to calm down.
Yet the more he thought about it, the more he felt it was entirely unfair to Gu Jingzhan. Unable to swallow his anger, he spun around and started storming down the stairs.
Guessing what he intended to do, Xiang Yuan reacted with lightning speed, grabbing his arm and demanding, "Where are you going?"
"I'm going to kill that woman Xiang Wanniao!"
Xiang Yuan yanked him back with a firm pull, roaring in a low voice, "You're going to kill her? Have you thought about the consequences?"
Zhan Jiu glared at him, the anger in his eyes unabated.
Fearing that he had lost his cool and might do something extreme in his impulsiveness, Xiang Yuan threatened him in a deep voice.
"If you dare go, I'll walk right in and tell Lord Zhan, and you can forget about ever staying by his side again."
Zhan Jiu fell silent for a moment, shook off Xiang Yuan's grip, and with a rigid expression, shuffled a few steps away.
Xiang Yuan stated, "I can tell you quite plainly: if Xiang Wanniao dies, Lord Zhan won't just fail to get better—he will be in an even worse state than he is now."
Zhan Jiu angrily kicked at the corner of the wall.
"I just don't understand what's so great about that woman. She's nothing but a disaster. Lord Zhan hasn't had a single day of peace since he married her."
Xiang Yuan remained utterly calm, analyzing the situation for him while carrying a hint of warning.
"No matter what Xiang Wanniao is like, as long as Lord Zhan doesn't divorce her, she is his rightful, lawfully wedded wife. It is not our place as subordinates to gossip and point fingers here."
Zhan Jiu fumed, "I just feel it's so unfair to Lord Zhan!"
Zhan Jiu had been by Gu Jingzhan's side since he was eighteen, going through life and death together. He was exceptionally capable and undoubtedly Gu Jingzhan's most trusted subordinate.
At the same time, however, he was stubborn and rigidly principled; he never allowed anyone to betray Gu Jingzhan, nor would he ever allow anyone to harm him.
Even if that person was the one Gu Jingzhan loved most.
Xiang Yuan walked over and patted his shoulder. "Calm down. Don't always be so hot-headed."
"Brother Xiang..."
"Alright, Lord Zhan himself hasn't said anything. What can we possibly do?"
Zhan Jiu moved his lips, as if wanting to say more.
Guiding him with an arm around his shoulder, Xiang Yuan pulled him along. "Let's go. I'll walk you back."
"..."
Zhan Jiu let out a soft sigh and ultimately followed Xiang Yuan away.
***
Inside the study.
Carrying the medical kit, Lu Qingzhou walked over to the sofa in Gu Jingzhan's study, lifting his chin slightly. "Get over here. Let me tend to that wound."
Gu Jingzhan sat there motionless, as if he hadn't heard a word.
The atmosphere remained deadlocked for a long while.
"Fine, you're the boss."
Compressing a sigh of helpless compromise, Lu Qingzhou picked up the medical kit and walked over to Gu Jingzhan's side.
"I honestly don't understand what on earth is so special about Xiang Wanniao. How can you justify hurting yourself this much over her?"
Crouching down, Lu Qingzhou began treating the wound on Gu Jingzhan's hand while complaining on his behalf.
"She doesn't have you in her heart at all. Why do you insist on keeping her by your side by force? All this does is make her hate you even more while torturing yourself in the process."
Gu Jingzhan remained entirely silent, his expression blank.
Even when the antiseptic stung deeply into the raw flesh of his wound, he showed no reaction whatsoever.
Lu Qingzhou raised his eyes to glance at him, shaking his head with a sigh. "If you ask me, you should just divorce Xiang Wanniao right now, before she and Xiao Xu'an can keep scheming behind your back."
"My affairs are my own business. I know what I'm doing," Gu Jingzhan said coldly.
Lu Qingzhou applied a piece of gauze over the wound, then deliberately pressed down on it with some force, attempting to use the sharp pain to jolt him into clarity.
"Right. You always know what you're doing—except when it comes to Xiang Wanniao, where you completely lose all your reason."
Closing his eyes, Gu Jingzhan replied with a hint of displeasure in his tone, "Why do you have so much nonsense to say?"
"Fine, fine, fine, I'll shut up."
Knowing that Gu Jingzhan was in a foul mood, Lu Qingzhou dropped the subject.
He picked up the medical kit and stood up, offering a parting instruction before leaving, "Remember not to get the wound wet, and come over to my place tomorrow morning for a dressing change."
Gu Jingzhan ignored him.
Once Lu Qingzhou had left the study, Gu Jingzhan slowly opened his eyes, his gaze pitch-black and terrifyingly grim.
Why?
Why did she have to shatter his last remaining sliver of unrealistic fantasy so quickly?
Why couldn't she have lied to him just a little bit longer?