♂?，，

  Chapter 203

  Ming Xuan was shocked and her heart was racing like a drum, almost jumping out of her chest. At this moment, she looked up and suddenly found herself on top of a mountain temple, the scenery vaguely resembling the back mountain of Qingliang Temple. She turned around to see that among the dense and lush forest, a young girl was scolding with a tender voice, "Is it really Left Grand Secretary Han Xiuxiu? I'm ashamed for my father to have praised him as a young man of integrity and even formed a friendship with him, yet he's hiding in the dark to spy on people. How shameless!"

  Clearly a youth as cold and sharp as ice, his entire being exuded a deep, icy aura. Yet in this instant, his eyes shone with a gentle warmth like water. "I was resting here, unaware of the time, and didn't see Miss Gu Qi approaching. I didn't avoid her, which is my fault. But I, Han Xiuzhi, am proud of my integrity and would never stoop to secretly spying on people. I think Miss Gu Qi looks lovely, so I'm facing her directly like this."

  He stood with the wind, laughing more and more gently, "A beautiful woman, a gentleman's delight, this is human nature, why hide?"

  His eyes were full of deep emotions, as if carrying the tenderness of several lifetimes, and his words were filled with such obvious adoration.

  The girl's face turned red with shame, she bit her lip and shouted, "Bully! You're taking advantage of me!"

  She stepped back, but unfortunately trod on a floating rock. Her body tilted and she was about to fall down. At this moment, the man in front of her suddenly darted forward and wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly. His voice still carried a tense and worried cry, "Be careful!"

  In the twinkling of an eye, mountains and rivers are all imbued with feeling.

  The scene changed again, this time in a delicate and elegant garden, on the pavilion and waterside, the girl leaned against the tall and majestic man, with happiness and expectation on her face. "Mother said that next month will be our wedding date, before the big wedding, let's not see each other for the time being, otherwise we'll be gossiped about by others."

  She raised her head to see the man's expression was somewhat gloomy, thinking he was reluctant to part with her, so she hurriedly comforted him, "A month will pass quickly, besides, if you really miss me, every day at dusk go to the observatory, I'll stand in the courtyard for a moment, we can gaze at each other from afar, it's as good as seeing each other."

  The man nodded heavily, and after a while, he suddenly held the girl tightly in his arms again. He seemed to have opened his mouth with great difficulty and asked, "Xuan, if one day I do something... bad, will you believe me and forgive me?"

  The girl looked up in surprise, stared at him for a long time, and suddenly burst out laughing. "Did you set up an outside house? Or did you have some private children?"

  The man's eyes sparkled with an unfathomable light, his tone was very firm, "Nothing of the sort. There is only one person in my heart and eyes, how could I do such a thing..."

  The girl's eyes sparkled, and her smile was radiant to the extreme. "Although my personality is open-minded and cheerful, I am also very stubborn. I believe in 'it's better to be shattered jade than to be intact tile'. Since I promised that this life will only have me alone, then it must be done. Otherwise...I'm not someone who compromises easily. In my heart, what I care about most is loyalty to me. As long as you don't deceive me, betray me, or harm my family, I won't bother with trivial matters."

  The man held on even tighter, "No matter what happens in the future, just remember that there is only one person in my heart, no matter in this life or the next, the woman I love has always been and will always be the only one, you must remember!"

  In the Yu Ge Pavilion, a bright and beautiful young girl was trying on her wedding dress for the next day. A maid handed her a letter with red wax seals, covering her mouth and giggling as she said, "Miss, this was sent over by our young master's people. He specifically instructed that it be delivered into your hands. Tomorrow is your big wedding day with the young master, and after tomorrow you can say whatever you want. The young master couldn't even wait until then."

  The girl's face was slightly red, but her expression did not show any joy. She scolded in a low voice, "What nonsense are you talking about!"

  She picked up the letter intending to open it, but for some reason, her face suddenly flushed with anxiety. She furrowed her brow and ultimately tossed the letter aside, not daring to look at what was written inside. She handed the letter to her maid, "Put it away for me."

  The maid did not notice and still smiled and asked, "Is it going to be received in the Eight Treasures Box?"

  The young lady's face was slightly clouded, as if she had a heavy heart. Her eyes were serious as she shook her head, "The Eight Treasures Box contains all the jewelry I usually wear, and tomorrow I'll have to bring it to the Han Mansion too. Although he doesn't have any relatives in Shengjing City, there are many noble ladies and high-ranking officials' wives who will be attending the ceremony. If someone were to accidentally find it, it wouldn't be good. Let's just put the letter in my usual hiding place for now, and since the Han Mansion is close to our Hou Mansion, I can pick it up when I return."

  The maid covered her mouth and happily took the letter to the study, but the girl's expression changed slightly. She stared blankly at the air and whispered softly, "Han Xiuxiu, I hope...I hope you won't disappoint me..."

  Ming Xuan looked at the beautiful and delicate but melancholic girl, like a porcelain doll, and suddenly realized that this was the reason why Han Xiuxiu's warning letter had not been opened.

  Huian County's mistress, Hui'an, tried to seduce Han Xiu with her power and influence. At that time, he had already made up his mind, and it was inevitable that he would frequently visit the Cheng'en Marquis' residence. He thought he had done a good job of covering his tracks, but he couldn't guarantee that Huian County's mistress wouldn't intentionally leak the news. Ming Xuan was well-connected among the noblewomen in Shengjing City, and many of them were friends with her. It was likely that some of these women were also close to Huian County's mistress and would reveal the information to her. With their wedding approaching, she should have been joyful and expectant, but if she found out that her future husband was still entangled with another woman, it was only natural that she would be worried and anxious.

  She didn't want to read that letter, perhaps she was sensitive enough to sense that it contained something unbearable, so she would rather deceive herself and pretend to be an ostrich than face reality. She had previously told Han Xiu "I'd rather be a broken jade than a whole tile" and also said "I will never suffer humiliation", but the word "love" is the hardest to decipher, easy to say but not easy to do. She sensed the crisis, but didn't want to face it, so she chose to bury that letter with red seal.

  Ming Xuan was heartbroken, but at this moment, he had already moved to the main hall. Han Xiuzhi led the Imperial Guard to arrest Gu Changping. A young girl in a bright red wedding dress rushed out of the inner room with tears streaming down her face. She ran so fast that the pearl crown on her head shook and the red veil covering her head fell to the ground. Her pale makeup hid her expression, but infinite sadness and despair flowed from the bottom of her eyes, making people's hearts ache with pity.

  The girl stepped forward, stopping in front of Han Xiu, and tears as big as beans rolled down her face, "Why?"

  Han's eyebrows flashed with surprise and bewilderment, and he stuttered, "This is the emperor's decree, I'm just following orders..."

  This was not the answer she wanted, and she still refused to back down, asking again, "Why?"

  The hall was filled with guests, and there were countless hands behind her trying to pull her back into the house, but she stood firm in the midst of various emotions, she just wanted to ask "why"!

  Han Xiu finally sank his face, "Han Mou and Miss Gu Qi have different personalities, since the engagement has been torn apart, I am already a stranger, please ask Miss Gu Qi to be self-respecting!"

  The girl's face was pale and ghastly, without a hint of vitality. She asked in a low voice, "Incompatible temperaments? Strangers on the road?"

  Her eyes were filled with despair and a dying breath, causing Han Xiu's heart to ache. However, in the midst of so many watching eyes, he didn't dare reveal his emotions, and could only force himself to look away, stiffly replying, "Yes, please take care of yourself, Miss Gu Qi!"

  The girl suddenly burst out laughing, she took off the golden crown on her head, revealing a full head of black hair, turned around and gazed at Han Xiu with a sorrowful expression, then resolutely smashed into the pillar, fresh red blood blooming on her pale forehead, like a flower that devours people.

  Ming Xuan felt as if her heart had been cut off a piece, the pain was so unbearable that she couldn't even breathe. She instinctively wanted to stop this tragedy and used all her strength to shout loudly, "Don't! Don't!"

  However, a familiar and warm voice came from beside his ear, anxiously and urgently calling out, "Ah Xuan, Ah Xuan!"

  Ming Xuan was startled, slowly opening her eyes to see a haggard face with a stubbly beard. Although he looked disheveled, the man in front of her still had a handsome and refined appearance that was not quite mortal. His eyes were bloodshot, filled with dense red threads, and his eye corners hid a hint of starlight, giving off an air of being lost and forlorn.

  Somehow, her heart, which had been in pain for a long time, seemed to have suddenly gained energy and calmed down all at once. A warm current enveloped her, allowing her to gradually detach herself from the gloomy and painful emotions. A faint smile spread across her lips as she weakly opened her mouth and said, "A-Zhen, I'm here!"

  Pei Jingchen's hands trembled, and pearls rolled down from the corners of his eyes. He couldn't care about these things now, and he quickly wrapped his arms tightly around Ming Xuan. He pressed his face against her cheek, gently and carefully, and whispered in her ear, "Ah Xuan, you're finally awake, it's great. It's all my fault, I didn't stay by your side for a moment, and you suffered so much. Almost... almost... Luckily you woke up, otherwise, what would I do?"

  Ming Xuan had never seen Pei Jingchen so out of control before, to the point where he couldn't even speak coherently. But seeing him like this made her worried about him. Although she felt a little heartbroken, deep down she was actually happy. She curled up the corner of her mouth and said, "I just fell asleep for a while, it's not as serious as you're making it out to be."

  Pei Jingchen's lips trembled slightly, and he said in a low voice, "He has been asleep for seven whole days. This is not just a short while. If he doesn't wake up again, Dr. Sun says it's likely..."

  Ming Xuan was shocked and puzzled, "Seven days?"

  She instinctively placed her hand on her abdomen, but found that her lower abdomen was flat. She shook all over and was so anxious that she almost cried out loud, "The child... my child... Ah Zhen, where is our child? I remembered that before I fainted, my water broke and I was about to give birth. It's already been seven days, so where is my child? Where is my child?"

  Complete works txt download, full text free, e-book, remember 77 reading books