Rebirth of the Excellent Daughter of the Marquis Household (REDMH) - Chapter 72

Logically speaking, Gu Yu Qi could definitely find other princes to form an alliance. However, Yun Ke knew her secret and it was likely she would have been strangled by Yun Ke in the cradle before she could even do anything.

Moreover, according to the previous life, Gu Yu Qi’s husband was meant to be the sixth prince, Prince Fu Yun Ling, in Huguo Temple. She could go to Yun Ling for help, but Yun Ling did not care about worldly affairs. Even if Gu Yu Qi intended it, you can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it drink.

Yun Yi always listened to his mother and on the surface, he seemed very powerful. However, all wins and losses were because of the Virtuous Consort. Besides, Gu Yu Qi did not think the Virtuous Consort would like her. As a prince who could not even decide his own thoughts, Gu Yu Qi felt that there was no need to help him at all.

As for Yun Qing, she could consider him, but he was too arrogant. Those who were too arrogant were easily caught by others. He would not be good company either.

Pondering it over and over, only this damn Yun Ke was left.

Anyway, it would only be a matter of time before he ascended the throne. Gu Yu Qi did not think she was strong enough to change history. She had made Liang Huai Yu survive so she was already terrified, unknowing what price she would have to pay in the future.

After Gu Yu Qi finished speaking, she looked at Yun Ke with a burning gaze. Yun Ke turned his face back and looked at Gu Yu Qi. Just like that, the two of them looked at each other and no one spoke again.

It turned out that her appearance was really so beautiful. No wonder in the previous life, when the Daliang envoys arrived and Gu Yu Qi danced on the stage, those Daliang envoys stared fixated. At that time, he felt that Gu Yu Qi’s movements were too provocative and undignified. Now Yun Ke suddenly discovered that she was so beautiful, just looking at her like this already made his heart move.

He really wanted to raise his hand to brush away the stray strands of hair scattered around Gu Yu Qi’s cheeks. However, he felt that such an action was too intimate and it made him very uncomfortable. Even in the previous life, he had never made such an intimate gesture towards Zhang Wan Yi. So, his fingers just moved between the brocade quilts before he put them down again.

“Your life.” After a long time, Yun Ke said slowly, “Is your life enough?”

“Then what else? Apart from my life that could be considered worth something, I have nothing else to give Your Highness.” Gu Yu Qi shrugged, pretending to be relaxed as she spread her hands palm upwards. “Your Highness, just take a gamble with me. If I can’t do it, I’ll just give my life to Your Highness. If I accidentally manage to do it, then it can solve many problems for Your Highness. There is no loss for Your Highness. On the contrary, it would be a great opportunity to get some powerful help, so I don’t know why Your Highness is still hesitating? Besides, in the previous life, Your Highness took a big gamble. If you won, the world would be in your hands, but if you lost, then you would lose all your wealth and your life. What I’m doing now is just a repeat of Your Highness’ previous life. If I win, then my mother would be the Madam Protector and I would be free. If I lose, then I will give my life to Your Highness in exchange for today’s promise and my mother’s safety.”

After listening to Gu Yu Qi’s words, Yun Ke took a deep breath, “Alright.” He raised his eyebrows, “This prince will bet with you this time, you better remember what you said today and not betray this prince and the Qi dynasty.”

“Of course.” Gu Yu Qi’s heart suddenly relaxed and she could not help smiling. Her smile was like spring returning to earth, as if thousands of flowers bloomed. It was so gorgeous it was unreal, really beautiful. Gu Yu Qi’s beauty was aggressive, making people unconsciously feel like she was unattainable while still having the desire to conquer.

Yun Ke looked at Gu Yu Qi intently, in the previous life, she seemed only to smile at him. Even so, it still made people look at her.

In the previous life, he had not cared much about this. She was just a concubine and if he wished, Gu Yu Qi could be handed over to others at any time. However, in this life, Yun Ke wanted to keep this smile more and store it away, not allowing others to see it.

What kind of mentality was this? Yun Ke suddenly scorned his own thoughts. No matter how beautiful she was, she was still Gu Yu Qi. It was just that he had not looked at her so seriously in the previous life.

He had not changed, and he would not change.

“Oh right, Your Highness, is there anywhere else you feel uncomfortable?” Having chatted with Yun Ke and set up an alliance, Gu Yu Qi relaxed and asked very subserviently.

Now Yun Ke was her boss and it was compulsory for every excellent employee to serve their boss well.

Seeing Gu Yu Qi show that wretched expression she had shown in her previous life, Yun Ke could not help but frown.

“You just keep massaging for a while,” Yun Ke felt a little disturbed and simply closed his eyes.

He felt Gu Yu Qi’s hand pressing on his forehead between his brows again, her hands slightly cool and soft with a firmness. Yun Ke did not know what kind of mood he was in now.

However, it was really comfortable and Yun Ke momentarily relaxed his guard, falling asleep in a daze.

Noticing that Yun Ke’s breathing gradually became even and long, Gu Yu Qi slowly stopped moving her hands. She stared blankly at the sleeping man in front of her.

His fair face was as flawless as a jade carving made of ice, his two sharp eyebrows neither thick nor thin. A little longer and they would be too long, a little shorter and they would be too short. His eyes were closed and his slender and thick eyelashes gently lay on his icy jade-like cheeks, casting two elegant shadows under the light from the lamps. He slept incredibly peacefully. In her impression, Yun Ke in the previous life had almost never stayed with her.

He always came in a hurry, pushed her down roughly, did various things to her body, then after finishing, he would put on his clothes and leave. So Gu Yu Qi in the previous life almost never saw Yun Ke really sleeping.

She actually saw it in this life?

Gu Yu Qi could not help but shake her head with a wry smile.

She had been so stupid. He obviously did not have feelings for her in the previous life, purely using her as a tool to vent his desires. Yet, she still foolishly looked forward to him coming. Before she time travelled, what she despised the most when reading imperial harem novels were those women who waited for the emperor to visit them. Unexpectedly, when she time travelled, she became such a fool too.

Gu Yu Qi sighed. She stood up slowly and exited the room.

The moment Gu Yu Qi closed the door, Yun Ke woke up with a start. He had always been a light sleeper and would not fall asleep when other people were present. Even when he was married and facing Princess Murong, he would also leave quietly after she fell asleep.

He had long been used to living by himself, doing everything alone, and he would not fall asleep in front of any woman. However, just now, he knew that he had actually fallen asleep for a short moment and had also slept very comfortably and peacefully.

Yun Ke looked up at the spacious canopy and frowned suspiciously.

He seemed to treat Gu Yu Qi more and more differently. When he met her stubborn gaze, he would actually be soft-hearted and feel his heart ache.

He could not bear to brush her off and could not bear to see the unwillingness and anger in her eyes.

What the hell was this? Was she not still the same ruthless woman who disregarded the kindness of her parents’ upbringing, who beat up her father, who was disrespectful and unfilial? What was the difference between this life and the previous life?

Perhaps all of the differences began when he overheard Gu Yu Qi recite the poem, “Memories in Jiangnan” at the imperial princess’ residence.

If that poem had really been written by Zhang Wan Yi, then why did Zhang Wan Yi not take the initiative of reciting it in front of him in this life? Why had she not made the fan and given it to him like in the previous life? When Gu Yu Qi said in her last life that she told Zhang Wan Yi the poem, what struck his heart was disdain and contempt.

The signs in this life showed that he really seemed to have wronged her.

What else had he misunderstood in the previous life?

The plague, the prescription. A light flashed in Yun Ke’s heart.

In his previous life, the prescription given by Zhang Wan Yi had saved his life. When he returned to the capital, Zhang Wan Yi once told him how much she had worried for his safety and that was why she had searched everywhere for prescriptions without sleep, searching the streets and alleys of the capital. She had discovered the prescription in the only existing copy of an ancient book. Zhang Wan Yi did not know how moved he had been at that time. After so many years, finally someone would work hard for him. It was at that time that he made up his mind to protect Zhang Wan Yi for the rest of his life.

However, when he entered the palace excitedly and wanted to ask his Father the Emperor to marry Zhang Wan Yi, he received news that Zhang Wan Yi was to marry Yun Yi.

Only the heavens knew how he had passed those few days. He was like the walking dead. The heavens were so cruel, giving him a little hope then wiping it out, making the only woman who was completely loyal to him marry his brother. In the end, what helped them was a prescription, and he…

Later, when Gu Yu Qi married and came to the palace, she told him that the prescription was found by her. Immediately, he ridiculed her.

He could still remember how embarrassed and shameful Gu Yu Qi’s expression was that day. However, he only thought it was because she lied and was exposed by him face to face, and did not think deeply.

Right, if Zhang Wan Yi could still bring out the prescription in this life, then that meant Gu Yu Qi was still lying. Since she already knew the contents of the prescription, he believed there was a lot of fadeleaf hidden in this residence.

However, a small thought rose quietly in Yun Ke’s heart. He actually hoped Zhang Wan Yi would not be able to come up with the prescription in this life.

If Zhang Wan Yi really could not bring it out, then maybe he really had blamed Gu Yu Qi wrongly in the previous life.

Thinking of this, Yun Ke felt a burst of pain in his chest, very sour. What if he really had blamed Gu Yu Qi by mistake? He had actually treated his saviour like that in his previous life… If it was true, then all the words Gu Yu Qi said in the previous life may have been true, including how she loved him, how she was deeply in love with him.

If it was true, then it was him who personally pushed Gu Yu Qi to destruction in his previous life.

Yun Ke could not help but raise his hands. Frowning, he looked at his slender and powerful hands. If it really was him who had pushed Gu Yu Qi to ruin, then how would he face Gu Yu Qi in the future?

What he could not gain all this time was someone who genuinely loved him with all her heart. Not for the crown, not the throne, but just for him, Yun Ke, as a man.

If it was true, then Gu Yu Qi was that kind of person in his previous life. She was already at his side, she had already told him what was in her heart and he had scoffed, abandoned her like a shoe…

So Yun Ke suddenly hoped that Gu Yu Qi had lied in his previous life. If this was the case, then maybe he would feel a bit better and think that Gu Yu Qi’s death in the previous life was just because she took things to heart. She would only have herself to blame and it had nothing to do with him. But what if it was true?

What was the significance of his rebirth this time? Was it really possible to ascend the throne again and overlook the mountains of the Qi dynasty?

Thinking of this, Yun Ke suddenly sat up. He disregarded the sharp pain in his waist and stood up on the side of the bed. He wanted to ask Gu Yu Qi for clarification, but he took just one step when he stopped in a daze, then sat back on the bed heavily again.

If what Gu Yu Qi said was true, then he would personally have ruined what should have been a beautiful fate… Then what qualifications did he have to question Gu Yu Qi?

Gu Yu Qi, these three words kept circling Yun Ke’s mind like a curse. It made his heart rise and fall, and he was at a loss for what to do.

Yun Ke sat on the bed for a long time, so long that his bare feet began to grow cold. He let out a long sigh. If he was really wrong in the previous life, then this life would be as Gu Yu Qi wished and he would let her have a good rest of her life.

He had betrayed her once, so no matter what, he had to make up for it.

It was just that, why did his heart hurt so much and feel so bitter? The pain made it hard for him to breathe. This strange yet familiar feeling only appeared when he thought of Gu Yu Qi. What exactly was this?

Yun Ke looked at the closed door in a daze. He really wanted to call Gu Yu Qi but if she came, he did not know how to face her. Fortunately, they had just made an alliance so in the future, he could still talk to her as an ally.

For the first time, Yun Ke was very glad that Gu Yu Qi had accidentally given him a way to back out of an awkward situation.

In fact, the issue with the prescription has not been confirmed yet, but at the bottom of Yun Ke’s heart, he could vaguely feel that perhaps… He was really wrong…

Compared to Yun Ke’s chaos, Gu Yu Qi was relaxed. She looked at the sky outside and although it was raining, dawn was not far away. She felt a little hungry and simply strolled to the kitchen.

The kitchen stove was off. If Gu Yu Qi wanted to eat, she would have to grab Dai Mei. However, it was too early now and it would be better to let Dai Mei sleep for a while. Dai Mei was tired enough, having watched over Yun Ke on her behalf.

Gu Yu Qi looked at the cold stove. She took out the torch and started a fire like Dai Mei would have. Having time travelled a whole life and as a strange creature who had been reborn, why could she not even cook using fire and a pot?

However, after numerous experiments, Gu Yu Qi knew that she really could not handle fire.

It was obviously lit, but how come it would go out as soon as something was added? She had clearly already added a padded lower layer for ventilation.

Just when Gu Yu Qi was about to give up, she saw a tall figure walking in the door.

“This servant was passing by when this servant saw a light. Just taking the liberty to ask, is there hot water?” The man at the door spoke.

Gu Yu Qi poked half of her head out from behind the stove when she heard the words.

When their eyes met, they could no longer part.

“Du Xia,” Gu Yu Qi stood up with a face of surprise, “It’s you!”