Chapter 774: Chapter 669

Two years ago, Gu Shaojun had broken the restrictive wards on the Gongsun Clan’s secret realm, a place he and Xiao Man had explored by night. The Southern Yue Su Family had subsequently swept through and plundered it, though they didn’t completely destroy the buildings inside. This led to the local people eventually discovering the site and reporting it to the government.

The local government suddenly found itself in possession of a place akin to an Immortal Cave Mansion, filled with an exquisite and beautiful ancient architectural complex. The leadership was overjoyed and immediately instructed the relevant departments to hasten maintenance and repairs. They planned to attract domestic and international tourists to raise the region’s profile, stimulate economic growth, and create more income-generating opportunities for the local people.

The Gongsun Clan was now completely shattered and could never be pieced back together. Under these circumstances, it wasn’t surprising to see Gongsun Ruxue and her father, Gongsun Changting, in G Province. They were fugitives, after all. If they didn’t flee the country, they’d have to wander throughout Huaxia. Theirs was the direct line of Gongsun Li, so they couldn’t possibly dare to stay in the former clan settlement. The Shu Family had been ruthless, poisoning the water systems around the Gongsun residence and framing it to look like the Gongsun Clan had a dispute with the locals and had intentionally tried to harm them. The Gongsun Clan Members were unable to clear their names, and when the police investigated, many of them were arrested. The acting Clan Leader, Gongsun Chongshan, had undoubtedly fled to avoid trouble. Gongsun Changting and his daughter, Gongsun Ruxue, were no fools. Why would they stick around to clean up Gongsun Chongshan’s mess?

But Gu Shaojun and Xiao Man refused to believe their appearance in the G Province provincial city was merely a coincidence or that they were just passing through. The father-daughter duo both knew that G Province was home to Gongdao Village, where the Spirit Plant herbs they desperately coveted were grown. And it was only a seven or eight-hour journey from the provincial city to Gongdao Village!

Xiao Man said, "The array on the little hill’s herb garden is solid, and with the array you set up on White Hat Mountain, plus the patrols by veterans and wolfhounds, it would be very difficult to steal the herbs. Sun Pharmaceutical is very shrewd; they’ve practically monopolized the herbs from Grandpa’s place in Gongdao Village. They’ve even cornered the market on all the ordinary Chinese herbs in all of Ping County and several surrounding counties and cities. On top of paying high prices, they offer all sorts of generous benefits, like how any qualified youth from Gongdao Village can get a job at the Sun Group... That makes it impossible for anyone to compete with the Sun Family. It’s hard to buy the Gongdao Village herbs with money—there’s no channel to do so. If Gongsun Ruxue and her father want to get the herbs, their only hope is to rely on Liu Fengying and Wu Qin."

"Pay them no mind. It’s pointless."

Gu Shaojun said calmly, "I took all the wealth the Gongsun Clan had amassed. Even if they still have some spare cash to keep up appearances, it’s not going to do them much good. They won’t be able to buy the herbs, and trying to use Liu Fengying and her daughter will also be difficult. Because Liu Fengying and her daughter... Grandpa and Grandma probably didn’t want to tell you about this, but Mo Guoqiang’s entire family has disappeared from Gongdao Village."

Xiao Man froze. She genuinely had no idea. She’d been back in the village for several days, yet no one had mentioned it to her, not even Mo Shuixia.

"How did they disappear? Are they all dead?"

"More or less. A while ago, Mo Guoqiang died at the labor camp. Liu Fengying’s relatives from her mother’s side persuaded her to remarry and arranged a potential suitor. The man was a widower with several children, but his family was well-off—they owned a house and a tractor. Liu Fengying was willing, but the man was put off by her three disabled children. So, Liu Fengying devised a plan. She mixed a large amount of Poisonous Grass into their meal. It was originally intended only for the three disabled children. They often fought violently amongst themselves, so if they all died, she planned to claim they had killed each other and figured she could get away with it. But she hadn’t anticipated that her other daughter, who was out working, and her son, who had been wandering around for two days, would also return home. Starving, they rushed to eat. At the time, Liu Fengying was in the backyard feeding the pigs and tilling the vegetable patch. When she got back to the house, all five of her children were on the floor, dead. Five lives snuffed out at once. Mo Laoer, who lived in the same courtyard, was horrified and reported it to the village, which in turn filed a police report. Liu Fengying is in jail now."

Xiao Man fell silent. Mo Guoqiang’s family had gotten what they deserved; there was nothing to lament. She was simply, once again, stunned by Liu Fengying’s cruelty.

"How do you know all this so clearly? Did Grandpa tell you?"

Gu Shaojun stroked her head. "I’m the one who arranged for the men and wolfhounds on White Hat Mountain. They periodically send me updates from Gongdao Village, so I know about some things even if Grandpa doesn’t mention them."

Xiao Man shot him a sidelong glance, her voice dripping with jealousy. "Your little Xuanxuan is dead. You must be so sad, right? You two did have feelings for each other, didn’t you? I remember in our last life, when I first arrived at your house in Binhai, there were pictures of Tang Yaxuan all over the living room and study. I watched every time you took her calls. You’d coax her like a child to eat more and drink more water—hot water, not cold... Ugh, and the way you’d smile and the tone you used. It was sickeningly sweet!"

Gu Shaojun chuckled softly. ’What can I do? I just love seeing my little wifey get jealous. But I can’t push it right now. If I really piss her off and she kicks me out of the big bed, that would be a major loss.’ He smiled and said, "Watching me that closely from the very beginning... you must have really liked me, huh? It was love at first sight, wasn’t it?"

Xiao Man’s face turned beet red. She would never admit that she had, in fact, been completely smitten with the man in the wheelchair at their very first meeting. "What are you talking about? I wasn’t! If you hadn’t hired me as your caregiver, I wouldn’t have even given you a second look!"

’It wasn’t that she didn’t want to look; she didn’t dare to. Back then, she felt so impossibly small. How could she have dared to sneak glances at someone who seemed like a god?’

Gu Shaojun’s arm tightened, holding her fast against his chest. He let out a heavy sigh. "See? I made the right decision! I wasn’t lacking for caregivers. Everyone opposed me specially hiring you, but I just followed my heart. The reason was simple: you could carry me."

Xiao Man burst out laughing. "Well, I’m strong! I can still carry you now!"

Gu Shaojun laughed as well. "That’s assuming I’d let you. Before you, I only had male orderlies; I couldn’t get comfortable with female nurses. Then, I happened to get your help and realized you weren’t like them. You made me feel comfortable and warm, natural. Like you were a close relative, someone I could be around without any awkwardness."

"That’s because you were in the water and desperate. If any other woman had come along, you would have had to accept her help and you would have felt the same way."

"It’s not the same, silly. Do you think I don’t understand my own thoughts and feelings?"

Gu Shaojun kissed her on the forehead. "In our last life, it’s true I was good to Tang Yaxuan, but that was because she had usurped your place as the Tang Family Girl and my fiancée. She was fine when we were young, but as she grew older and we spent more time together, I realized we weren’t on the same wavelength at all. After I was crippled, I took the initiative to call off the engagement. It was a way to free us both while preserving the generations-long friendship between the Tang family and the Gu family. Otherwise, given Tang Qingyun and Wu Xiaowen’s typical behavior, you can imagine how the relationship between our families would have ended up. As for all those photos of Tang Yaxuan in my house? They were to create a facade, a false impression. I wanted people to think I broke off the engagement reluctantly, that I was still in love with my fiancée and couldn’t accept any other woman. That way, I could avoid the nagging from my mom and aunts. All they thought about was finding a wife to be my constant companion; they never gave up on the idea. Then there was the ’concern’ from the organization, which was also trying every which way to find a suitable match for me and push me to get married..."

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