Within The Sound of Swallows - Chapter 10

Chapter 10: If You Remain Unchanged, So Shall I

Shen Guiyan’s heart skipped a beat, and she instinctively looked over at Gu Chaobei. He grimaced in pain as he leaned against the bed and started to undress to inspect his wound.

“What are you doing?” Shen Guiyan quickly grabbed his hand and spoke in a low voice.

Gu Chaobei’s lips had turned pale. He looked at her and pointed at his wound.

The red bl00d had already seeped through, soaking a part of his fine snow-silk brocade. Couldn’t he at least undo his clothes to look at the injury?

Shen Guiyan shook her head. It was already bad enough to have a man in her room in the middle of the night, if he was half-dressed on top of that, not even jumping into the Yellow River could wash her clean of suspicion.

There was another knock at her window. Shen Guiyan quickly got up, wrapped herself in a robe, and went over to ask lightly, “Who is it?”

She didn’t need to guess. Last time, Gu Chaodong had come the same way. But tonight was supposed to be his wedding night. Why would he come here?

“Yan’er.” The voice outside was still panting, clearly out of breath from rushing over. Just hearing his voice made Shen Guiyan’s nose sting with emotion. She turned back to glance at Gu Chaobei, who had already sensibly hidden himself.

She reached out to open the window. Gu Chaodong appeared, standing on the eaves outside, drenched in sweat. He looked at her and said, “Yan’er, I didn’t know the one I married today was actually…”

So Shen Guiya has been exposed, huh? Shen Guiyan gave a low chuckle and asked, “So, have you consummated the marriage?”

Gu Chaodong’s throat tightened. He looked at her with deep affection and said, “Yan’er, I had no choice. In that situation, I couldn’t let either family lose face. I could only marry Ya’er…”

“I asked, did you consummate the marriage?” Shen Guiyan took a step back and glanced at the hourglass in the room. It was already at the third watch. He should have been done by now, right?

Gu Chaodong hesitated for a moment, then lowered his eyes and said, “No. When I heard that Fourth Brother was causing trouble at your place, I rushed over.”

Shen Guiyan let out a soft breath of relief. “If you haven’t consummated the marriage, then it doesn’t count. If you still truly have feelings for me, then go speak with Father, send Ya’er back, and bring me home instead.”

“This…” Gu Chaodong looked flustered. Seeing the ever-gentle and understanding Shen Guiyan so assertive, he pursed his lips. “The wedding is already done. If I send Ya’er back now, how will she live? Besides… she’s already carrying my child…”

If Shen Guiya became his official wife, then his child would be a legitimate-born and would naturally outrank the one born to Gu Chaonan’s branch of the family.

Shen Guiyan’s eyes widened slightly in surprise as she gave Gu Chaodong another look. “Since you’ve already decided to keep Fifth Sister, what are you even doing here?”

Trying to enjoy the best of both worlds?

Gu Chaodong looked a bit embarrassed. He hadn’t expected Shen Guiyan to react like this. He thought that after everything she had just been through, seeing him would make her want to cling to him, that he only needed to coax her a little, and then she would agree, even if it meant compromising. After all, she was the one he loved the most.

Aren’t women supposed to be easy to comfort? Why had Yan’er become so difficult?

“Yan’er, we’ve known each other for years. Are you truly going to give up on us growing old together because of this one misunderstanding?” Gu Chaodong took a deep breath, his voice filled with pain. “Who was it that wrote on that poem slip about ‘You shall be the rock, and I shall the reed’?”

Shen Guiyan shook her head. “If you remain unchanged, so shall I. But since your heart has changed, how can you expect mine to stay the same?”

Gu Chaodong was stunned and tried to speak again, but Shen Guiyan had already shut the window. “Young Master Gu, you should go back now. Dawn will break soon, and you might miss your first cup of tea for filial piety.”

“Yan’er!” Gu Chaodong raised his voice slightly, but Shen Guiyan simply latched the window closed. She returned to the bed, her eyes reddening.

She had wondered if Gu Chaodong would come to tell her the marriage didn’t count, that she was the only one he wanted to marry. Maybe he would even help her uncover the truth about Qin Yiniang’s death, and take her away from the Shen residence.

But when he finally came, it was only after he had already married Shen Guiya.

Shen Guiyan wasn’t stupid. If he truly had cared for her, would he have married Shen Guiya and completely disregarded her feelings?

In a fit of anger, she flung herself onto the bed, only to hear a muffled groan. It seemed she had landed on someone.

Gu Chaobei lifted the quilt and looked at her with a strange expression, his hand still covering his shoulder.

His eyes were deep, like someone once said, ‘those who hold the world in their hearts have the universe in their gaze’. Shen Guiyan was momentarily stunned by the sight, but quickly snapped out of it and moved aside.

The wound on his shoulder hadn’t been bandaged yet, and the bleeding worsened, staining her bed. Shen Guiyan wasn’t in the mood to talk and only said in a low voice, “Once he leaves, you should go too.”

Gu Chaobei let out a low grunt, propped up his leg, and said lazily, “But the show isn’t over yet. Wasn’t it you who said anyone sneaking in at night had to be a bad guy? Why didn’t you stab him?”

Shen Guiyan couldn’t help but roll her eyes: “How could he possibly be the same as you?”

She had at least known Gu Chaodong for years, and as for Gu Chaobei, today was the first time she had even met him.

Gu Chaobei thought for a moment, then nodded. “True, we’re not quite the same. He’s much more of a beast than I am.”

Shen Guiyan shot him a glare and yanked her blanket away. “Get down.”

Gu Chaobei groaned, slowly sitting up while still clutching his shoulder. “You’re the one who hurt me, can’t you at least be a bit gentler?”

“You were the one who barged in first.” Shen Guiyan glanced at his shoulder. In the end, she couldn’t bring herself to ignore it and turned to get some medicinal salve for his wound.

“Yan’er, who are you talking to?” Gu Chaodong was still outside by the window when he heard some noise.

He still hasn’t left? Gu Chaobei raised an eyebrow. This was the second floor, and hanging out there all this time wasn’t easy.

Shen Guiyan was startled. She opened her mouth as she struggled for an answer. But before she could say anything, the man on her bed suddenly jumped out of bed and strode toward the window.

“What are you doing?” she asked in a low voice as she rushed to stop him.

Gu Chaobei clicked his tongue, pulled her hand aside, and opened the window, coming face to face with his older brother. He flashed him a small smile and took a deep breath before he shouted out:

“There’s a thief! Somebody catch the thief!”

As soon as he saw him, Gu Chaodong’s expression changed. When he heard him shout, he nearly fell from the eaves: “Fourth Brother?!”

The rain had stopped, and Gu Chaobei’s shout carried far and wide, waking people in every courtyard. Bao Shan hurriedly put on her robe and came out to see, only to find that in the young lady’s boudoir, Fourth Young Master Gu was grabbing someone outside the window and stubbornly refusing to let go. Meanwhile, he leisurely kept shouting, “Quick, someone come and catch the thief—!”

The person outside the window struggled fiercely but didn’t dare use too much force. If Gu Chaobei loosened his grip even a little, that person would definitely fall from the second floor.

Those who had just fallen asleep were woken up once again, and all came rushing to the Swallow Pavilion to see what was happening. Steward Shen, upon seeing the person standing outside the window, couldn’t help but shout, “Young Master Gu?”

The Prime Minister’s sons were clearly destined to have a conflict with Third Miss Shen. First, it was the eldest young master, then the fourth, and now both of them had come together.

Lord Shen hadn’t gotten a good rest either, so he quickly put on his clothes and brought Madam Shen over to take a look.

Shen Guiyan knew she was doomed the moment she heard Gu Chaobei’s shout. There were two men, one inside the room and one outside the window. There was no way they could escape this situation. The person who would be implicated in all of this was none other than her.

Gu Chaobei, that bastard, hadn’t even considered a young lady’s reputation and dragged her recklessly into this mess!

Could Shen Guiyan just sit back and wait for disaster? No, she couldn’t. If she let them continue acting recklessly this time, she feared that she would be harmed to death.

Therefore, without any hesitation, Shen Guiyan decisively messed up her hair and tore open her nightgown. She rolled onto the bed, clutched the quilt, and began to sob bitterly.

The two Gu brothers were both stunned. Gu Chaobei turned to look at Shen Guiyan and couldn’t help but laugh out loud. Meanwhile, Gu Chaodong’s expression was grim. “Yan’er…”

The Shen family’s full entourage finally arrived. As they stepped inside, the first thing they saw was this mess.

“What is going on here?” Lord Shen looked at Shen Guiyan on the bed and no longer cared which Young Master it was anymore. A man was found in his daughter’s boudoir in the middle of the night. How could he possibly tolerate that?

Madam Shen, with sharp eyes, spotted the bloodstains on the bed and hurried over. “Yan’er… Who did this to you?”

Gu Chaobei released his grip on Gu Chaodong’s collar, reached over to pull in Gu Chaodong’s cloak, and casually draped it over himself. He then looked up at the sky, pretending to be innocent.

Still sobbing, Shen Guiyan trembled as she lifted a shaky hand and pointed toward Gu Chaobei. “Fourth Young Master Gu, he…”

No more words were needed; just this half-finished sentence was more than enough. In an instant, every member of the Shen family turned their gaze toward the window.

Gu Chaobei let out a sigh and said, “Yan’er is going to marry me sooner or later. I was just a little impatient—young and impulsive, you know. But as for my eldest brother, I wonder why he missed his own wedding night and came sneaking into my future wife’s room in the middle of the night instead?