Rebirth of the Excellent Daughter of the Marquis Household (REDMH) - Chapter 71

How could this woman be so stubborn, so what if she just lowered her head a little in submission?

It did not need mentioning that he was a prince right now and she was just a civilian girl who had been expelled from the Marquis residence. Even before, he had been her husband. As a concubine, she had been extremely gentle and considerate in front of him back then, so why was she so obstinate and unyielding now?

“Gu Yu Qi!” Seeing that Gu Yu Qi did not pay any attention to him at all, Yun Ke felt like vomiting blood from the bottom of his heart. He raised his voice and called her name again.

The person on the ground finally had a little bit of a reaction. Gu Yu Qi opened her eyelids slightly. Rolling her eyes, she looked at Yun Ke.

What the hell kind of expression was that?! Yun Ke was indescribably displeased, “This prince asked if you have anything to say to this prince.” Looking at Gu Yu Qi’s expression, Yun Ke suddenly had a feeling that if he really ordered people to beat her, Gu Yu Qi would never talk to him in the future.

This unexplainable thought grew and quickly occupied his mind. This feeling was very, very bad.

“So what if there is something to say? So what if there is nothing to say?” Gu Yu Qi suddenly laughed softly. She lifted her head slightly, “Either way, Your Highness has already judged me in his heart, hasn’t he? In your opinion, everything you do is only right and proper. What does my little bit of resistance matter to you?”

Yes, in her previous life, she had deliberately sought his mercy and loved him humbly. She had always put him first. For him, she could forfeit sleep for days at a time. For him, she could block arrows with her body without hesitation. Yet, what was the use in these?

She could never reach his heart. His smile would only bloom towards gentle women like Zhang Wan Yi.

When she was covered all over in cuts and bruises, he had not pitied her for a moment. He felt that everything she did was what she wanted to do, so the consequences should also be borne by her alone.

Yun Ke, do you have a heart?

She, Gu Yu Qi, was stupid. After travelling through time, she thought that with her own intelligence and beauty, she would conquer him. However, it was practically like having a pet dog for so many years. Even with just groundless talk, feelings would develop. What about him? He only saw her as a ruthless woman, who did everything for him because she had an ulterior motive.

What was she plotting against him?

Was the empress’ position something she could get just because she wanted it? She had followed him regardless of her status just for him.

Gu Yu Qi did not know what happened after she set fire to the palace, but she felt that if she had been blinded by lard, then was this man in front of her not blinded by dog poop? To think that a truly vicious woman was a white lotus and love her.

Gu Yu Qi’s words made Yun Ke’s brows furrow tightly. He was unable to argue against her words. Yes, if it were not for what he thought in his heart and how he had already condemned her, how would the two of them have gotten to this stage?

However, everytime he wanted to talk to this woman calmly, she would do something that irritated him.

Gu Yu Qi and Yun Ke staring at each other delayed the time. Just now, when the guards were looking for a stick, word had already gotten out. When Liang Huai Yu received the news, she rushed over from the middle courtyard.

She was afraid Gu Yu Qi would really be beaten. She did not wait for her arrival to be announced and just barged in directly, “Your Highness Prince An, please have mercy.” Liang Huai Yu hurriedly rushed to Yun Ke and knelt down with a thud, “My daughter is reckless. If there is something that annoyed Your Highness Prince An, this madam is willing to accept punishment on behalf of my daughter.” After she finished speaking, she bowed deeply to Yun Ke.

“Mother,” Gu Yu Qi, who originally was not anxious, was shocked when she saw Liang Huai Yu. In her anxiety, she called out, “This doesn’t concern you, go back first.” Then she glared at Yun Ke and said, “One should answer for what one does, I was the one who hurt your arms. Don’t involve my mother in this.”

Seeing Liang Huai Yu coming, Yun Ke secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Gu Yu Qi’s temper was too bad and did not give him any way of backing down. Even if he wanted to let Gu Yu Qi go, because of her bad temper, he could not back down and could not take back what he had said.

Liang Huai Yu had come at a good time. Yun Ke’s original desire to hit Gu Yu Qi was no longer strong. If she had not been so blindly aggressive, things would already have been alright now.

This woman, with such a damn temper, how did she spend so many years in the palace in the previous life?

Yun Ke could not help thinking aggrievedly, but remembering that she had not done well in the palace, he also felt a bit listless.

It was this kind of temperament, unyielding, which led them slowly to that step.

The flames seemed to rise again before his eyes. Gu Yu Qi’s face floated vividly in front of him. That bright red figure overlapped with the current Gu Yu Qi and the strong smell made Yun Ke almost suffocate for a moment.

In his previous life, he did not understand why he missed her for decades after her death. In this life, he did not understand why as soon as he thought about how Gu Yu Qi might not look at him or talk to him again in the future, he would feel a dull pain at the bottom of his heart.

“Since Madam Liang is pleading, then forget it. This prince will just consider it as you being young and ignorant. You will make up for it by serving this prince well,” Yun Ke turned his face away slightly, not wanting to see Gu Yu Qi anymore.

Gu Yu Qi was stunned when she heard these words, had she heard correctly? How could this person let her go so easily?

No way.

Seeing that Gu Yu Qi was still in a daze, Liang Huai Yu hastily grabbed her daughter, “Hurry up and thank His Highness Prince An!” She gave Gu Yu Qi a look.

Gu Yu Qi sighed silently in her heart, then she bowed towards Prince An’s bed, “Thank you, Your Highness Prince An.” She did not speak that sincerely, but the corners of Yun Ke’s mouth turned up slightly. With his back facing outside, no one could see his expression.

“Alright, all of you get up.” Yun Ke waved his hand as if annoyed. “Don’t just hang around here, you can all leave. Only Gu Yu Qi is to stay and serve.”

Liang Huai Yu breathed a sigh of relief. With Yun Ke’s words, she could only retreat and leave. However, before leaving, she did not forget to hold Gu Yu Qi’s hand and give her a look, meaning she wanted her to restrain herself a bit and be careful.

Gu Yu Qi nodded reluctantly.

Only after all the guards left did Yun Ke turn his head slowly, “Come over,” he said to Gu Yu Qi with a firm voice.

“Yes.” Gu Yu Qi suppressed her displeasure and walked over with her eyes lowered.

Although she did not want to be with Yun Ke, she had no choice right now and could only listen to him.

“Sit down,” Yun Ke said, pointing to the side of the bed beside him.

“Surely that won’t be good,” Gu Yu Qi raised her brows. What kind of trouble was this person stirring now? They were alone as a man and woman. If word spread out, they would be criticised. If she carelessly sat on his bed, what would it look like?

“How is it not good?” Yun Ke looked at her with a half-smile. His pair of ice-like eyes gleamed with a light that even Gu Yu Qi could not understand.

“It’s improper for Your Highness and I, a man and a woman, to be physically close,” Gu Yu Qi said, confident with sufficient reason.

“Alright, then you can just stand,” Yun Ke did not force Gu Yu Qi. He moved his body slightly, “This prince has a headache now, give this prince a head massage.”

What? Has the fever made you crazy? I give you a head massage? Are you not afraid I would gouge out your eyes with a nail?

Gu Yu Qi did not seem to hear it and continued to play dumb. She personally resented being so close to Yun Ke.

The memories of her previous life were too strong and they hurt her too much. If she did not settle accounts with him in this life, it would be giving him enough face. He actually went as far as to ask her to give him a massage? This was really too much.

“Why, you don’t want to?” Yun Ke’s eyes turned cold, “Gu Yu Qi, I didn’t beat you just now because you accompanied me for a day and night. Besides, with your mother pleading, do you really think this prince is someone who is open to persuasion? You disrespected this prince in Huguo Temple before and this prince did not fuss over it. You’re actually so capable, you’ll pinch others, right? Do you really think that looking down on the imperial family would not lead to the execution of your entire family? You may not be afraid, but what about your mother?”

The trick of mentioning Gu Yu Qi’s mother really worked. Gu Yu Qi bit her lower lip hard and bent over, raising her hands and pressing them on Yun Ke’s forehead.

“A little bit harder.” Yun Ke hummed, then slowly closed his eyes and urged.

I’ll blind you! Gu Yu Qi secretly felt ruthless, but did not dare to make any mistakes with her hands. Suddenly, there was a smile on her face and she spoke in a very sweet voice, “Your Highness.” As soon as her voice sounded, Gu Yu Qi got goosebumps all over. This was too cheesy.

***

Yun Ke also felt chills from Gu Yu Qi’s words. He opened his eyes slightly suspiciously and in front of his eyes was Gu Yu Qi’s magnified face.

She was as gorgeous as peaches and plums, as beautiful as a fairy. Words like these were used precisely to describe a face like hers, especially her fluttering eyes which seemed to stir like a pool of spring water.

“What is it?” Even though he had often seen her coquettishness in his previous life, it had not been as breathtaking as this moment just now. Yun Ke restrained his mind and asked.

“Your Highness, how about the two of us make peace?” Gu Yu Qi continued to speak in the sickly sweet voice and her hands also quickly massaged Yun Ke. In her previous life, she had especially learned the art of massage from the maids in the palace for Yun Ke. It was a pity that at that time, Yun Ke never gave her an opportunity to show it. Unexpectedly, after a lifetime, she still used it on him.

Yun Ke, who was very comfortable being massaged by Gu Yu Qi’s little hands, smiled slightly, raising the corners of his mouth, “Peace? Go on.” He had a slightly nasally voice and asked lazily, his voice also somewhat calming. Gu Yu Qi’s heart skipped a beat.

He actually smiled? Gu Yu Qi could not believe her eyes. This person, who in her impression was cold-hearted, could actually smile.

She searched all her memories and could not remember him showing such a gentle smile in front of her in the previous life. He would smile at her, but they were all sneers and the smile never reached his eyes. He would only show this kind of smile to Zhang Wan Yi.

“Let’s not beat around the bush.” Gu Yu Qi went straight to the point, “You have memories from your previous life and unfortunately, I do too.”

After speaking, she gave a deep look at Yun Ke. Yun Ke also looked at her with deep eyes. He seemed to want to see the bottom of her heart through her eyes.

“You will definitely become the emperor in the future.” Gu Yu Qi continued, “I, a little girl, cannot stop you, nor will I stop you from rising to that position.”

“Continue,” Seeing Gu Yu Qi stand up, Yun Ke signalled her to continue the massage.

Gu Yu Qi was helpless and could only continue massaging Yun Ke. Then she said, “Since we both know, how about we form an alliance?”

“Alliance?” Yun Ke looked at Gu Yu Qi with interest, “Do you remember how you died in your previous life? You still want to form an alliance with this prince?”

“It’s because I remember, that’s why we have to form an alliance.” Gu Yu Qi took a deep breath and spoke slowly, “I know very well I don’t have the ability to knock you to the ground, and I also know very well that I don’t have the ability to pull the future emperor down from the throne. I also won’t go and do what I can’t do. I may have been wrong in my previous life. I shouldn’t have liked someone who didn’t like me at all, and I shouldn’t have shamelessly followed him. I won’t do something like this a second time. So rest assured, Your Highness, in this life, I just want to live in peace.”

Don’t want… Don’t like… These words were extremely harsh on Yun Ke’s ears and he felt displeased instantly..

However, he listened patiently.

“I remember the horror when dying, it was really miserable and it really hurt too. I don’t want to go through it a second time.” Gu Yu Qi said quietly, “So I implore Your Highness Prince An to be magnanimous. I am willing to do things for Your Highness Prince An and help Your Highness Prince An ascend the throne as soon as possible.”

“You think that without your help, this prince won’t be able to reach that step?” The displeasure and uneasiness in Yun Ke’s heart gradually expanded. He raised his hand to brush away Gu Yu Qi’s little hands on his forehead. He wanted to sit up but as soon as he moved, there was a stabbing pain at his waist.

He wanted to hurt himself because if his back hurt, then maybe his heart would not feel so uncomfortable.

Yet, that did not seem to help.

“For Your Highness, it would only be a matter of time, but what about after Your Highness takes the throne? What would be the Qi dynasty’s situation? Your Highness does not know, there were domestic troubles and foreign invasions, the national treasury was empty, the ministers were in power, and the aristocratic families used various means to threaten Your Highness.” Gu Yu Qi said slowly, “The Rouran people are ready to cause trouble and Daliang is not that peaceful either. Besides, His Highness Yun Qing was supporting himself with his own soldiers. Your Highness’ days back then did not go too well.”

She was not wrong, Gu Yu Qi spoke right. In his previous life, Yun Ke faced such a chaotic Qi dynasty after he ascended the throne. He had racked his brains and it had taken a lifetime to clean up such a mess before a Qi dynasty that was on the right track could be handed safely over to the crown prince.

“So what can you do?” Yun Ke said lightly. There was no fluctuation in his expression, but in the bottom of his heart, there were unstoppable waves. In his previous life, Gu Yu Qi was just a talented person with a low status in his palace. Knowing so many things about the past, he had really underestimated her in his last life.

What Gu Yu Qi said were all things that, in his previous life, he had held back in his heart unable to tell others after he had ascended the throne.

Although it had been a lifetime, to have them pointed out by Gu Yu Qi, it also really surprised him.

“I guarantee I can keep the Qi dynasty’s national treasury full.” Gu Yu Qi raised her eyebrows slightly and a burst of self-confidence burst out, “Your Highness, if you cooperate with me, I guarantee that Your Highness will not need to worry about money or food after he ascends the throne in the future.”

Gu Yu Qi’s words made Yun Ke’s eyes light up, no more worrying about money! What a seductive phrase this was. In his last life, after he ascended the throne, he was really troubled because of money. The Qi dynasty was embroiled in battle for many years and after another year of natural disaster, the luxuries of the aristocratic families disappeared. The glamorous Qi dynasty was strong in appearance but weak in reality. He not only wanted to support his own army, but it was necessary to deal with the military rations and salaries required by Yun Qin who was supported by his own army. All this troubled him for a long time and in order to solve money issues, he even accepted several daughters of wealthy businessmen of the Qi dynasty into the palace as concubines. Although some matters were temporarily resolved, it brought new troubles.

Gu Yu Qi’s words really moved Yun Ke’s heart. With money, he would have enough power to deal with Yun Qing. With money, he would not be afraid of border emergencies, wanting to transfer provisions and fodder but being unable to. With some money, he did not need to be threatened by aristocratic families, not to mention the expressions of those rich people.

“What are your conditions?” Yun Ke still asked calmly.

“Let me be free. After your enthronement, grant my mother the title of Madam Protector of the Qi dynasty. Allow me to live in peace,” Gu Yu Qi said firmly after thinking about it for a while. She had promised her mother that in the future, she would make her mother’s life a hundred times more beautiful than when she had left the capital.

What worth did the title of a first-ranked minister’s wife have compared to the prestige of being the Madam Protector of the Qi dynasty?! Since the beginning of the Qi dynasty, there has never been a Madam Protector of the Qi dynasty and it would be comparable to being a marquis. When that time comes, she would like to see Gu Huai Zhong’s and Liu Yue’s expressions. What did a little Ding Yuan Marquis’ residence matter in Gu Yu Qi’s eyes?

“Don’t you want the title yourself?” Yun Ke asked curiously.

“No need.” Gu Yu Qi shook her head decisively, “As long as Your Highness allows me to develop freely, I guarantee I will not betray the Qi dynasty or Your Highness no matter what I do.”

Could it be… You do not want to be this prince’s princess? When this sentence reached Yun Ke’s mouth, he swallowed it back violently.

He turned his face slightly and left Gu Yu Qi a nearly perfect profile of his face, “How can this prince believe you will do this?”

“If I can’t do it, then I will hand my life to Your Highness and let Your Highness handle it,” Gu Yu Qi said firmly.

Evasion, she did not want to hide from Yun Ke in this life, especially after he guessed that she also had memories of the previous life. He would not let her go. Even when he came to Jiangxia City, he insisted on living here. He had long been watching her already.

Even if she flew to the ends of the earth, he would bring her back.

Gu Yu Qi understood this clearly.

So, the best solution was to turn enemies into an alliance. Since they were both reborn, then they should just come out into the open and speak clearly.

There had been too many misunderstandings in the previous life and they only accumulated unwillingness and resentment, making her end her life tragically with fire. In this life, Gu Yu Qi decided to stay away from Yun Ke, but the world in the future belonged to Yun Ke. If she really wanted to escape, where could she go? Besides, she had also brought Liang Huai Yu with her.

She could suffer and hide herself from place to place, but she could not let Liang Huai Yu live such a life.

Hence, forming an alliance with Yun Ke was the best choice.