Chapter 9 Would You Like to Go to the Eastern Depot with Me?

Hearing that, Gu Yunxi lowered her head uneasily.

He was able to read her mind from her facial expression.

Gu Yunxi did have some resentment against Leng Qingtang, thinking that he should not have used that kind of ruthless and resolute approach to force her elder sister to do what she did not want to do. However, owing to his identity, she did not dare to show her feelings to him at will. So she whispered:

"No, I don't wanna..."

Leng Qingtang knew she felt embarrassed and said slowly,

"Girl, Yunyao, Yunjin and you grow up together here. I watched you grow up. You have more than years of friendship!

But Yunyao was selfish and defected from the examination hall. She betrayed you, me and Nanny Gu who raised her. Did you think about how we feel?

Besides, she left without leaving a word. Did she value the sisterhood?"

Gu Yunxi was stunned at Leng Qingtang's questions. As he said, knowing Yunyao fled, Gu Yunxi was really sad for a long time that day. For a while, she even thought that she was abandoned by her best sister. It was so painful for her.

Leng Qingtang had no contact with her those days in the examination hall, but at the moment, everything he said pierced her mind and left her speechless.

"I understand what you mean..."

"If a minor crime is not punished, how can we manage a family? There are more than 100 people in Youzhu Garden. It can be called a large family. If I indulge Yunyao this time, she might do it another time. Even if it were not her who did it, if other people copied and fled, just imagine, what prestige would be left of the Imperial Ceremony Office? Would I be graced? How would the troublemakers think of the imperial court and the authority of His Majesty?"

Leng Qingtang said unhurriedly, with a calm look and soft tone, as he was patient with Gu Yunxi.

"It's..."

Gu Yunxi did not know how to answer for a while. After repeated consideration, she thought that Leng Qingtang's words made sense.

Seeing her relieved expression, he continued:

"What I said just now is only one aspect, and there is another reason. You girls live in the yard all the year round and have no experience in the world. You live an easy and comfortable life like caged birds. If you fly out of the cage and live in a world of the law of the jungle, how long can you live in peace? If I really let go of her, I am killing her. Girl, what do you think?"

"…"

Hearing Leng Qingtang's analysis, Gu Yunxi was completely speechless.

He smiled, walked around her with his hands behind his back, and paced back and forth.

"Yunyao is in her youth now, and it's natural for her to act impulsively. Of course, I won't care too much about her. It's best to pull back before too late."

"But... Yunyao's real intention is not to enter the palace, but we are forcing her..."

Leng Qingtang raised his hand decisively, beckoning her not to go on. She stopped in dismay.

"Girl, it's good to have ideas, but how many people in the world can really live according to their own ideas?"

He turned around suddenly, and the deep but shining eyes tightly locked the silent girl in his vision, with a touch of sadness in the light smile.

"Many people are destined by heaven from the moment they are born. To serve in the palace is the fate of Gu Yunyao in this life! However, how to get the favor of His Majesty and stand out among the many beautiful girls depends on her own ability.

The weak have always been controlled by others. Only the strong are under one person and above all the rest, or are truly independent of all. Not only do you have to go steadily on the established road, but you have to go better and farther than others. This is the true skill and the way to survive! Do you get it, girl?"

He took a few quick steps, returned to the front of Gu Yunxi, lowered his head at an angle and looked at her face to face.

The pair of dark eyes were shining brightly at this moment, like a patch of shallow water that suddenly turned into rough waves, violent but also sharp.

Staring at the sharp eyes, Gu Yunxi suddenly felt a tremendous force emerging from the dark color. She gasped for breath with her lips half asunder.

"I... got it..."

"Really?"

He straightened up and asked again, with his eyes full of pressure moved away from her weak face, but still fixed on her.

"I... got it!"

She lowered her eyelids to avoid meeting his eyes and answered carefully.

"Okay, then ... would you like to go with me?"

Suddenly, he held out his right hand to her.

The plain fair hand looked more handsome in the sun. The texture of the delicate palm was clear, and a thin layer of callus seemed to be a symbol of the deposition of the years. The back of the hand was as clear as jade, and blue meridians were emerging from under the thin skin, like natural veins in beautiful jade.

Gu Yunxi opened her eyes wide, and the astonished eyes were all cast on his right hand that was spread out.

It was like in that dream—

There, he also held out his hand to her like this, like a kind of redemption!

“Girl, hold on to me.”

The handsome young man said to her in the dream.

Unable to tell how she felt at the moment, Gu Yunxi just stared at the fair palm in a daze.

"Girl, would you like to go to The Eastern Depot with me?"

He asked again, looking straight at her with a gentle smile.

"I... I'd like to think about it."

Finally, Gu Yunxi moved her eyes to Leng Qingtang's face and answered tentatively.

Leng Qingtang's face froze slightly for a moment and he withdrew his right hand awkwardly and smiled，

"Well, take your time to think about it."

"General, you... why did you choose me? The Eastern Depot belongs to the imperial court. Can I...? I... can do nothing..."

Gu Yunxi asked embarrassedly. She really had doubts about it.

She, a piece of well-known waste material, took medicine all year round and was shunned by everyone.

Why—

Leng Qingtang secretly repeated Gu Yunxi's question. Maybe he didn't want to see her suffer here out of pity. Or perhaps the hawthorn he tasted in her room brought back too many memories.

In short, taking her to the Eastern Depot was by no means a decision on the spur of the moment. When he was standing under the phoenix tree, he had already thought it over. He had to take her away—

However, none of these reasons could be explained to her.

"I promised Yunyao to let you out of here. But I'm afraid you haven't made your own plan after you leave here, have you?"

Leng Qingtang stared at her and asked with a smile.

"Oh, no..." Yunxi blushed.

"As the old saying goes, I was born to be useful! Girl, I am optimistic about you. You are not willing to be a piece of waste here forever. I want to take you by my side to teach you. I feel sorry for ignoring you for so many years. It's all my fault that you have been so weak and bullied. Luckily, it is not too late to remedy it."

Exploding from his true feeling, Leng Qingtang looked away after a long sigh.

"Whether you want to leave with me or not is entirely up to you. Think about it and reply to me at night."

With the words, he turned around and left.

----The dividing line, the dividing line----

Gu Yunxi sat in the room with a rose in her hand.

"Go with him..."

"Don't go with him..."

She repeated the sentences, tearing off a petal with her hand each time she said a sentence.

I was born to be useful! Only the strong are under one person and above all the rest, or are truly independent of all—

Leng Qingtang's loud voice rang again in her ears.

She paused for a moment, but when she wanted to continue, she even forgot what she had said when she took off the petals. Was it "Go with him" or "Don't go with him"?

Annoyed, Gu Yunxi threw away the half-broken flower.

In her head was still Leng Qingtang's posture to reach out for her.

At that time, he was standing under the tree next to the corridor, in the shadow of mottled leaves, handsome and upright.

In the dream, he stretched his hand to her in the same way and rescued her from the mountain of corpses. The palm should be warm and powerful, like a wing that could redeem her and protect her.

Maybe he could save me and change me.

Gu Yunxi stopped hesitating. She suddenly became extremely happy and excited, as if she had finally been able to make a major decision on her own.

It was already dark outside. She hurriedly ran to the mirror, bent down to tidy up her hair, caressed her dress and ran out of the room.

She came to Gu Yunyao's door first. The door was locked. There was light in it. She knocked at the door excitedly.

"Yunyao! Yunyao—"

There came a response. It was Gu Yunyao's surprised voice:

"Yunxi? What's wrong?"

As it was already dark outside, when she heard her cry, she thought there was something wrong with her.

The black figure cast on the door was getting bigger and bigger. Gu Yunyao approached the door and, through the crack in the locked wooden door, poked out a few fingers and groped for her.

"Yunxi? What's wrong with you? I'm here. Don't be afraid!"

"Yunyao! I'm leaving here! I am coming to tell you!"

Gu Yunxi grabbed the fingers of her sister. Her excited voice trembled slightly.

"Leaving? Great! Did Leng promise to let you go? Where are you going?"

Gu Yunyao also sounded very excited, but her joyful face could not be seen through the door.

"Tell me quickly. Where are you going?"

"... I... Yunyao, I plan to enter the Eastern Depot with Leng..."

Knowing that Gu Yunyao hated Leng Qingtang, Gu Yunxi lacked strength in her answer.

Gu Yunyao's fingers were getting cooler and cooler in her hands.