"What did you say?"

Leng Qingtang raised the eyebrows and opened the eyes wide, where a complex glint flashed.

"...You knew everything?"

In an instant, he stared at Gu Yunxi's face with a dazed expression,

"The person who changed your face... told you?"

Seemed lonely, Gu Yunxi said in a quavering voice with her eyes full of tears,

"Pei Rushi is my mother. Zheng... My parents, my whole family... Who killed them?"

Suddenly feeling shocked, Leng Qingtang was startled and swallowed the voice into the throat. He was in such a daze that even couldn't say half a word.

Her question was exactly what he tried to hide from her for more than ten years. He would rather be misunderstood by Wenren Junzheng than disclose it in Qiling that year. He even had never mentioned it to Yu Xuanji.

Now, that person, that person just leaked it to Yunxi so easily!

Leng Qingtang's eyes were painful for a while, not only because of the huge panic that he had never felt after Gu Yunxi found out where she came from, but also the endless hatred for that diabolical conspirator behind the scene.

As Yunxi said, that person, who shouldn't be normal, also knew that the case in Jing City more than ten years ago. At this moment, whether that person was lurking in the deep palace or was standing behind him and watching him, the Imperial Ceremony Office, and even the Eastern Depot's every move, only Gu Yunxi knew.

However, he couldn't force her to tell.

Meeting Leng Qingtang's stunned eyes, Gu Yunxi frowned faintly with sorrow and asked piteously after a brief hesitation,

"Master, you adopted me only because you were still thinking of my mother, didn't you?"

With the pupils contracted, Leng Qingtang changed the shocking face to a horrified expression again. Their eye contact suddenly made him feel that the lingering resentment in his chest was much heavier. The blue veins protruded from his forehead, and a blazing flame burned in his eyes.

"That person... What did he tell you actually?"

Gu Yunxi blinked aggrievedly and exhaled,

"You always have a place for my mother in your heart. That's why you said you loved me?"

"Nonsense—"

He was suddenly irritated. His abrupt move almost threw her off his lap.

She was so frightened. She whispered and subconsciously spread her arms to hug him.

But he couldn't forgive her easily. He took her rushing to the bed and threw her on the bed in anger.

"Master!"

With screams, she was pressed under his body. After her futile resistance, all her clothes were taken off by his big hands. With uncontrollable shyness and trembling, she exposed her snowy and tender body under his scarlet eyes.

"Master!"

She screamed aggrievedly again, crossing her arms before the breast and trying to hide the curvy scenery. But he held tightly her hands and firmly fixed one on the headboard.

He bowed suddenly, opened the mouth, and bit her shoulder.

"Ouch!"

Gu Yunxi screamed with pain. He gradually softened in the scream, turning the bite into kisses.

After a long time, he raised the head and stared at the two rows of abrupt tooth marks on her delicate and slender shoulders, like the vermilion plum blossom in the white snow in the spring. He roared in a hoarse and low voice,

"Leave a stamp for you. I will see if you dare to say this again!"

They both kept silent.

Facing her compromised and innocent expression, Leng Qingtang sighed quietly and extinguished his anger.

His big hand held her small hand, and his shining eyes turned warm,

"Girl, you were angry because of this a few days ago?"

Gu Yunxi pursed her lips, turned down the corners of her mouth, and answered with silence.

Leng Qingtang's black eyes were bright in an instant. All his depression and gloomy mood disappeared just as the black clouds were suddenly dispelled and the sun rose.

He lay sideways on the side of the bed, covered the girl's body with the satin quilt, put an arm through the back of her neck and let her head rest on, and then pressed close to her body.

"I met your mother in the Palace. It was my first year in the Palace, and I was less than ten years old and barely knew anything. I just thought it would be nice to have a thoughtful sister to protect me. She was eight years older than me. She made me some delicious food occasionally when I did something wrong and got punished..."

After feeling that Gu Yunxi had been comforted, Leng Qingtang spoke slowly and continued to tell the story,

"As for the feeling, it was like siblings, relatives, or lovers, something indistinct. There was nothing else, but I just thought it was worth seeing each other after work. In this cold and deep Palace, it made people feel warm and made the life pass faster.

"Later, she was engaged to the Lord Protector Zheng by the Emperor. The Lord treated her well and asked her to be his second wife instead of concubine. Then, you were born..."

After a pause, Leng Qingtang looked at Gu Yunxi with great affection,

"Then the misfortune happened to your family. The Eastern Depot had been tracking down the murderer over the years. I will definitely give an answer to you, your parents, and those who died in less than one year. During this time, you should never talk about this to other people or expose your identity. Do you understand?"

Gu Yunxi lay in his arms and nodded her head against his chest as a signal that she understood.

Leng Qingtang sighed helplessly and said softly,

"Girl, there were some reasons related with your mother why I raised you in the Garden. But I said I loved you neither because that I didn't forget your mother, nor because that I replaced your mother with you. I have you in my heart, only you. Do you understand?"

Adopting her was for the reason of Pei Rushi, her mother, as a compensation for the Lord Protector Zheng who had killed his own son to save him. But falling in love with her was an accident, a bumpy but happy accident.

When treating Gu Yunxi, Leng Qingtang was willing to clarify the misunderstanding in full patience.

She became what she was now, not only with a different face, but also with a heart wrapped with a hard shell. She was no longer pure as before. She was like a sensitive hedgehog that was afraid of being hurt by others. He thought he was held responsible for all of this.

Because of falling love with her, he longed for forgiveness, helping her to remove the tough internal defense and making her accept him again.

After listening carefully to the Master, Gu Yunxi dispelled a lot of grievances in silence.

Thought about it, over ten years passed. Who could foresee the one he would meet, feel touched, and truly fall in love with?

How could the Master, such a brilliant man, have no admirer in his youth?

Her anger was nothing more than a strong possessive nature. She thought about the two of them that one was her beloved and the other was her dearest relative. It was difficult to untie the knot in her heart for a while.

Gu Yunxi suddenly thought that she had experienced so much with the Master along the way and he gave all his heart to her, which was satisfied enough.

In an instant, Gu Yunxi dispelled all her anger. She flushed, raised the head to roll her eyes, and stopped being angry.

Leng Qingtang was touched by this scene. He lowered the head and kissed gently on her forehead with a relaxed smile on his lips, softly witnessing the whole process of her cheek becoming rosy again.

At midday, the sun was hanging high in the sky. A beam of sunlight in the room slowly turned to the wall corner, dimming the head of the bed.

The girl's entire face was shrouded by hazy shadows. But she didn't seem gloomy, instead, her porcelain-white skin was especially transparent and flawless in the dark, which was so dedicate that no hair could be seen.

The long eyelashes trembled slightly and the hazy eyes flashed with light with a trace of the watery light, making her seem just awake. She was so lovely.

"Listen. Don't be angry with me because of these old things, eh? I almost lost you. In the days to come, I just want to have a good life with you."

Grabbing Gu Yunxi's little hand and kissing on it, Leng Qingtang lowered the eyes and carefully looked at her facial features.

For a moment, he tentatively pinched her chin with two fingers, covered her lips with his lips, and kissed lightly.

Her rosy skin was as delicate and tender as silk, and the feeling of touch was really good. With a slight tremor, the romance of the intertwined lips and teeth made him no longer want to take it slow but fiercely intrude.

She was still stunned when her lips were once again possessed greedily by him. Her exquisite body was pressed down by him.

She felt that his incredibly hot and big hands were carefully stroking every inch of her skin, from cheeks to shoulders, waist, and abdomen. Pressing against the girl's melodious curve, he started another entanglement.

Gu Yunxi was turned on by the Master's eager. She felt a burning fire all over her body that made her unable to resist. She just wanted to obediently accept so much that she quickly sank into trembling while panting.

He didn't let the soft girl in his arms go until he was almost suffocated. He looked at her contentedly with a smile, who was raising a blushing face and looking back at him shyly. All he heard was her noisy heartbeat.

"Master..."

Gu Yunxi squinted slightly. With a painful but enjoyable expression, she nudged him with the wet little hands, suddenly trembling and begging,

"Master, I, I want to be your woman..."

Leng Qingtang's eyes flashed brightly, as if a joyful and bright firework burst in his eyes. That flash fell into Gu Yunxi's eyes and crashed into her heart.

She was seventeen years old, and already understood things between men and women. Speaking of this, the Master was her enlightenment teacher.

In the past, lingering on the bed countless times in the Master's Mansion already awakened all the sleeping sensitive cells in her body, and gradually made her aware of needs from a state of ignorance.

It wasn't until one time when she felt so much affection and tangled tightly, he used another way to let her have an unprecedented experience in a simple and harmless way. It was a momentary blank and the feeling of soaring in the extreme shame and unstoppable trembling.

After that, he looked at her with affection while wiping sweat off her soft body. He leaned against her ear and said in a panting voice,

"Good girl. That was what it felt like to be a woman."

A deadly farewell made Gu Yunxi grow up a lot. She began to understand that if there was still a moment that truly belonged to her, she must follow her heart.

Who knew what tomorrow would be like?

There was always a terrible hunch in her heart. Even if she found what the His Highness wanted, he probably wouldn't let her go.

Maybe one day she would fight to death. So when she was still alive, she just wanted to give herself to the man she loved.

Seeing the Master's shining eyes looking at her in surprise, Gu Yunxi had made the decision, raised the arms around his neck, and said in a sour voice,

"Master, I want to give myself to you. No matter how you do it, take me, alright?"