Gu Beichen's chest felt as if a large stone were lodged within it, making it impossible to bring up or let go, so uncomfortable that he felt unable to breathe properly.
First, Feng Jin kept provoking him, and now Ling Mohan had joined in. Were these two truly intent on angering him to death? He felt he was too unlucky to encounter such individuals today.
Before he had even married his wife, he was about to be angered to death by these two. Gu Beichen quickly took several deep breaths, desperately trying to control his emotions and reminding himself not to get angry.
"I will not quarrel with you over these matters. By the way… what about the servants at your manor?"
Since he had entered, he hadn't seen a single person, not even a ghost. The vast manor was as desolate as an empty city, and after calling out for a long time, there was no response.
"I've dismissed all the servants and haven't had time to arrange for new ones yet. If you need anything, go to the storeroom and take it yourself. If you feel unattended and it's beneath the status of the Prince of Zhennan's heir, then I won't see you out. When you leave, please remember to close the door."
Ling Mohan showed no intention of persuading him to stay; on the contrary, he wished Gu Beichen would leave as soon as possible.
"The more you say that, the more I will refuse to leave!"
Gu Beichen was also stubborn. Seeing this, he decided to wear Ling Mohan down and insisted on staying.
Taking two steps forward, Gu Beichen seemed to recall something and stepped back towards Ling Mohan, asking, "Where is the storeroom?"
If there were no servants, he had hands and feet. If he needed anything, he would just go and get it himself.
"Walk straight east, to the last courtyard."
Ling Mohan lazily pointed with his finger, having no intention of personally escorting Gu Beichen. Furthermore, he was constantly plotting how to get Gu Beichen to leave legitimately. For such matters, Feng Jin would ultimately come up with a solution.
After asking for directions, Gu Beichen fanned himself with his paper fan and walked directly eastward.
As soon as Ling Mohan returned to his room, Feng Jin's gaze fell upon him: "You let Gu Beichen go. You've achieved what you wanted, so why is there no smile on your face? What is it that's not going your way?"
He walked into the room with a cold expression. She truly thought she had done something wrong and accidentally offended this lord again.
Her days were truly tiring, constantly worrying if she had somehow offended Ling Mohan. This was even more exhausting than serving the master.
The man shook his head without speaking, instead sitting down on a chair. After a long period of contemplation, he spoke faintly, "Do you have any way to make Gu Beichen realize the true purpose of the people from Xiliang coming to Dongchu?"
"No way, unless you tell him yourself. And the problem now is, even if you tell him yourself, he might not believe it. After all, he's already fallen in love. Even a single disparaging remark about Murong Jinyun from you could make Gu Beichen fly into a rage, let alone these matters."
Feng Jin stated definitively, "To make Gu Beichen believe this, he must see it with his own eyes. Relying on someone's words alone will never convince him."
This was the nature of people in love; their eyes and minds could only accommodate love and nothing else, nor could they tolerate any slight against the love in their hearts.
"If that's the case, then Gu Beichen is a complete fool. Such a person deserves to be deceived!" Ling Mohan's tone was filled with anger, and even more so with frustration that Gu Beichen was so foolish. How could anyone be so stupid?
"You can't put it that way. It's like Zhou Yu attacking Huang Gai, where one is willing to strike and the other is willing to be struck. He believes it's the right thing to do, and he's doing it willingly. There's no such thing as foolishness or deserving it."
Feng Jin felt that Ling Mohan's words were too absolute. How could he speak so dismissively of the sacred love that others held so dear?
If Gu Beichen heard Ling Mohan speak like this, he would surely be enraged to death.
"I'm being polite. If it were up to my temperament, I would have dragged Gu Beichen out and beaten him soundly to see if he would ever come to his senses!"
He was simply a foolish idiot whose mind was waterlogged. He was so infatuated with a woman. He didn't know if Gu Beichen had also told Murong Jinyun other things.
If he said more than he should have, then he would have truly made a grave mistake. The more he thought about it, the more restless Ling Mohan became, fearing that his thoughts would come true.
Ling Mohan suddenly stood up, about to walk out, but Feng Jin called out to him in time.
"Where are you going?"
Guessing Ling Mohan's intentions, Feng Jin jogged and blocked him: "You can't go!"
"If you go and meet Gu Beichen, have you thought about how you will tell him? Are you going to directly tell him that Murong Jinyun came to Dongchu to help Xiliang overthrow Dongchu, that all those Xiliang people are spies, and that this whole matter is a conspiracy by the Xiliang people?"
"That's right. Their wedding is imminent, and this matter can no longer be kept from him. Don't stop me. Today, I must tell Gu Beichen the truth, no matter what."
He felt the situation was increasingly out of control. Leaving Gu Beichen there was like an insecure time bomb. No one could predict if he would reveal all of Dongchu's border troop deployments to Murong Jinyun in the next second.
If he did, he would be a sinner to all of Dongchu, and the century-old reputation of the Prince of Zhennan's manor would be ruined by his hands.
"Even so, you can't tell him so impulsively. All matters must be carefully discussed..."
'Creak...' Before Feng Jin could finish speaking, the tightly closed door was pushed open from the outside.
The two people who were arguing in the room heard the sound and turned their heads in unison, their gazes fixed on the doorway.
Gu Beichen stood at the door with a dazed expression, his face full of disbelief. His body swayed slightly, and he walked with heavy steps towards them.
"Are you telling the truth?" he asked, trying to keep his voice steady, his calm eyes hiding turbulent emotions.
At this moment, Gu Beichen was barely holding on, not allowing himself to collapse.
"Actually… actually…" Feng Jin wanted to tell Gu Beichen indirectly, but the words got stuck in her throat. When she met Gu Beichen's disbelieving eyes, she couldn't utter them.