Chapter 8 Forced into Dead Ends

“!”

After listening to Leng Qingtang, Gu Yunyao was suddenly nervous. The smug look suddenly disappeared,

"What did you say?"

"Isn't it? Compared to you, that gardener is really useless to me. He kidnapped a good girl, and it's an imperial maid and she’s my girl. Shouldn't he be dying? I not only want to kill him, but also destroy his family! In Zhaojia Village, fifty miles west of the capital, a family of five people, because of your momentary thoughts, will become the dead soul of the Eastern Depot!"

The spies from the Eastern Depot spread all over Dayi. For them, it was definitely an easy task to extract this little information.

Leng Qingtang raised her smooth, delicate jaw slightly, staring at the panic-stricken girl with a dominating gesture. He showed a sly and cold smile sly.

"... No, no! You can't!"

Gu Yunyao rolled off the bed sadly, and Leng Qingtang flashed quickly. She missed it, but was not reconciled, crawling towards him. She cried out,

"You can't hurt him! It's not his fault! It's me! The idea is from me. He only listens to me! You let him go! Let him go—"

Gu Yunxi curled up at the head of the bed, completely shocked by the situation. She instantly lost her mind and only sobbed, watching Gu Yunyao go crazy.

"Humph! It’s not his fault..."

Leng Qingtang let Gu Yunyao pull his robe. His voice was sharp,

"Obviously you seduced him, but the boy was beaten fifty rods while he was deeply affectionate for you! He was still pleading for you before he fainted, and he took the blame on himself. I really admire it!"

Gu Yunyao stopped her previous madness at the moment and bowed her head in agony.

"Let me see him."

"See? I'm afraid you can't see him! I had asked the squad to take him into the Eastern Depot the night before, and now he should be still healing his wounds in the Royal Prison!"

The Royal Prison? A gardener? He was such an ordinary guy. Why should he be imprisoned in the Royal Prison? This was clearly a kind of hijacking!

Leng Qingtang's thoughts were delicate. He knew that once he killed Zhao An, Gu Yunyao would never survive alone in the world. It did not matter whether Zhao An was alive or dead, and if Gu Yunyao really did something silly, wouldn’t it be a waste of his and Nanny Gu’s efforts to cultivate her over the years?

Leng Qingtang understood the benefits. Only by taking Zhao An's life into his hands will Gu Yunyao obediently listen to him and obey him. He knew the principle of restraint and how to transform everyone around him into a chess piece with little effort, which was precisely the cleverness as Master of the Eastern Depot.

Gu Yunyao sat paralyzed and shivered but looked up sadly and helplessly.

Leng Qingtang's expression did not change, with no anger or dissatisfaction. The thin and delicate lips opened slightly, always carrying a cold smile.

With a thump, Gu Yunxi kneeled to the ground beside the bed.

"Master, please spare Yunyao this time! She doesn't dare anymore! Don't trouble her any more, please!"

Gu Yunxi was crying and desperately kowtowing. Besides begging the aggressive man in front of her, she couldn't think of any way to help Gu Yunyao.

"Get up. It's none of your business!"

Leng Qingtang hesitated for a moment looking at Gu Yunxi's sad look. Somehow, he could never lose his temper to her.

Even at this moment, she tried to plead for Gu Yunyao. It was really a bad idea. He frowned, preferring to keep his anger in his heart, rather than venting to her.

Sighing softly, Leng Qingtang ordered,

"Be good! Get up! You get up!"

"Yunxi, my silly sister! Don't do this!"

Gu Yunyao cried and supported her,

"Why do you beg at him! Now that he has driven me to a dead end. I have no way back!"

Took a deep breath to hold back the grief, Gu Yunyao looked directly at Leng Qingtang,

"I will enter the palace as you request. Are you satisfied!"

"What? I didn't get it. Please say it again!"

Leng Qingtang squinted evilly, deliberately making jokes.

"I'm willing to enter the palace. Please don't torture Zhao An anymore."

Gu Yunyao shouted with horror.

"Sister ..." Gu Yunxi looked at the side and couldn't help crying again.

Gu Yunyao closed his eyes helplessly and sighed quietly,

"It's all destiny! I don't have any other thoughts. I just want to go to the palace to serve the emperor and help you, Master. But I still have only one request. I hope you could say yes.”

"Say it," Leng Qingtang looked up at the sky and said casually.

"Please let Yunxi out of the Garden."

"Yunyao?" Gu Yunxi looked at Gu Yunyao in shock.

Gu Yunyao looked calm at this moment, as if seeing through everything in the world in an instant.

"Eunuch Leng, Yunxi has been weak since childhood, and her temperament is also docile. She has been bullied a lot in the Garden. Now she is growing up, so she has to plan for the future soon. We sisters are all around now, but I'm afraid that when we all enter the palace, there will be no way for her to live in this yard."

Leng Qingtang suddenly looked serious and was no longer angry.

He did not expect that Gu Yunyao, the stubborn girl, was caring about her little sister the most, at the critical moment, who were not related by blood.

Looking at Gu Yunxi who was weeping next to Gu Yunyao, he couldn’t bear to keep forcing. After intimidation and frightening, the result now was just right.

"I promise you! However, where Yunxi will go depends on her own choice."

Leng Qingtang turned and walked to the door.

A ray of sunlight penetrated through the gap of the door, shining on half of his face, with dappled shadows on his eyebrows. Although he looked handsome but cunning.

"I’ll leave here to you sisters. I will go out first and discuss with Nanny Gu immediately to send you to the palace someday!"

There were only Gu Yunyao and Gu Yunxi in the room now.

Gu Yunxi wiped her face and reached out to help Gu Yunyao. As soon as her hand touched her, Yunyao’s body shook immediately, and she groaned painfully.

"Yunyao, what's wrong with you!"

Yunxi was a little worried, lifting Yunyao's sleeves, and was immediately shocked.

There wasn’t a single intact part on Gu Yunyao’s fair arms. Pieces and dots of the blue and purple marks filled the entire arms.

Gu Yunyao laughed sadly,

"Nanny Gu is deserved to be an old maid in the palace who’s best at torturing. Just because I am an imperial maid and can't use harsh punishment, I called those nannies to die and pinch me, screw me, and use some fine silver needle to poke me! Although the wounds do not bleed, it hurts terribly."

"These black-hearted wealthy slaves! How could they do it!"

Gu Yunxi looked at Yunyao's arms and gritted her teeth. She burst into tears again.

They had always been close. Yunxi thought of Yunyao's maintenance and care before. Now Yunyao was in such a bad situation. How could she not be sad for her?

Slowly helping Gu Yunyao sit on the chair, Gu Yunxi opened the three-drawer food box on the table and took out two dishes, a bowl of white rice and a bowl of porridge.

"Sister, you must haven't eaten yet. Have some food first. The dishes will get cold after a while."

"No hurry. Sit down. I have something to tell you."

Gu Yunxi pulled a chair and sat beside Gu Yunyao. Gu Yunyao adjusted her posture to face her. Yunyao took her hands and looked at her with concern.

"When I was punished in the front residence. You were ill. Are you better now?"

"Sister, I'm fine. You can rest assured. The Master has asked the imperial doctor here and has prescribed for me."

Gu Yunxi suddenly stopped here, thinking of Leng Qingtang's considerate care about her. After all, he was the only one who was willing to feed her medicine other than Yunyao.

Gu Yunyao noticed it from the slight change in Yunxi's look, and said with a wry smile,

"Silly sister, there is an old saying: People need to think about the benefits of others, but they cannot give all their sincerity. Although Leng is extraordinary in appearance, since he served as the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Depot, he has constantly excluded people who opposed himself in control of the government. Injustices often occur. He must be ambitious and will not be content with the current status. He is not only willing to be just a commander-in-chief. I’m good at mind reading. You should believe me.”

"Sister..."

"Good sister, I don’t know when we will meet again. You have also seen that the yard is full of people who are greedy for money. When both Yunjin and I enter the palace, you’ll live with Nanny Gu alone. It’s hard for me to imagine what will happen. I’m afraid that you have no place to complain when you suffer.”

Gu Yunyao was sad and there were tears in her eyes.

"So, I want you to make a plan as soon as you can. Go wherever you can. Escape from this garden, and you’ll have the whole world from now on. If you can meet a guy who treats you well, you’ll have someone to rely on. I am not so lucky in this life that I may never be blessed. I just hope you can love someone who truly loves you."

Gu Yunyao held her sister's hands and looked at some place in front of her with envy, as if she had already seen the picture outlined in her heart. Yunyao burst into tears again, and Gu Yunxi next to her was weeping with her.

"Sister, I remember your words."

…

Less than an hour later, a burly man with a fat face came in the room where Gu Yunyao was detained. It was the guardian in the garden, judged from his dress.

"It's almost time. Miss, please."

He pointed blankly at the door, indicating that Gu Yunxi should go out.

"Sister!"

"Yunxi, remember what I said!"

The two clasped their hands together, looking at each other with tears in their eyes.

"Oops! Go, go!"

The man behaved impatiently, pulling Gu Yunyao away as if she had been a chick, and then waved to Gu Yunxi and drove her out of the door.

Gu Yunxi stepped back to the door and cried, as the servant closed the door tightly and locked the door securely.

"Sister... wait for me. I will come to see you again!"

Gu Yunxi cried to the locked door and stood alone outside the door for a while before weeping and walking towards the inner residence.

When she just entered the corner door, she saw the handsome and lonely back under the phoenix tree along the path with flowers.

Gu Yunxi felt that Leng Qingtang seemed to be waiting for her intentionally, so she hurriedly stopped her grief, wiped her cheek and went straight forward.

"Master..."

Leng Qingtang turned around and saw her sad face and light eyebrows, hiding her sick face at the first moment. Her eyes were swollen like pink peaches, and her cheeks were covered with tears. She was delicate and fragile like a secluded orchid.

Leng Qingtang fished out the white silk handkerchief from his chest and passed it in silence. She hesitated to take it, so he stepped forward and wiped her tears with personally.

Gu Yunxi stood blankly. Despite some panic, she did not escape. Hesitantly, she dared to raise her head.

She saw a beautiful and delicate face. Two thick dashing eyebrows pointed at two temples. Under the jade-like nose, there were thin lips with clear colors. The eyes that were looking down at her look like a deep black pool, wide and lonely. Under the sunlight, the shiny eyes were dyed with amber, and they shone with colorful light, so charming.

At this moment, his expression was no longer indifferent and cold, and the corners of his mouth gently curled up, with a gentle smile.

He put his handkerchief back, watched her and asked,

"Yunyao is all right?"

"She just had lunch, and her mood is much calmer."

Knowing that he still thought of Gu Yunyao, Gu Yunxi hesitated and tried to speak,

"Master..."

"Girl, are you blaming me? For being too ruthless to Yunyao?"

Leng Qingtang asked suddenly and directly.