Gong Siyu held Ji Younai in his arms, similar to the way the Roman King Caesar held his beloved, beautiful queen, Cleopatra.
'How long is forever?'
'Till death?'
However, Ji Younai knew that she would die at any time.
After all, she was not a living person in the eyes of Feng Jinxuan and Zhuge Xian.
She quietly gazed at Gong Siyu's high nose bridge that looked like it had been sculpted, and his charming eyes and brows.
She thought about Zhuge Xian's words.
She did not seem to feel touched or elated because of Gong Siyu's words at all.
'Gong Siyu, what does staying by your side forever mean?'
'Do you mean... you want me to never leave?'
'The old psychic told me that you'll marry a socialite who's a wealthy heiress, do you... want me to watch you marry your wife and live a blissful life with many children while refusing to let me leave?'
Ji Younai did not dare to think about it. She simply felt uncomfortable and found the idea cruel.
Gong Siyu frowned, and his heart tensed up when he saw the sorrow in her lackluster eyes.
"What nonsense are you thinking about again?"
Startled, she denied vehemently, "No!"
With a look of suspicion, he said, "Then, promise to stay by my side."
"Haven't I always been by your side?"
She looked down and muttered softly.
Ji Younai managed to change the subject intelligently. She did not refuse or agree.
However, Gong Siyu held onto Ji Younai's tiny hand softly and refused to let go.
For some reason, gazing at her sorrowful and troubled appearance, made him feel a sense of uneasiness in his heart.
It was as if she would disappear as long as she was not within his sight.
That feeling became increasingly intense when he was sleeping lightly at midnight.
In the wee hours of the night, he woke up in shock once, and his forehead was covered in sweat.
He dreamed that Ji Younai had left because of a misunderstanding.
When he saw her again, she had become a corpse that was cold from head to toe.
He felt slightly relieved, only when he saw Ji Younai sleeping soundly in his arms. He tightly embraced her again.
Ji Younai said that the Blood Spirit Jade seemed to really work, as she could no longer see any ghosts.
However, even then, he still did not let her return to the guest room and sleep alone.
-
Do you believe in love at first sight?
The kind where you are certain that the person you took a glimpse of when you were on the verge of death is the one.
Even though he had never fallen in love with any of the numerous beautiful women who surrounded him all the time, and he could resist the charms of seductive women, he could not stand watching Ji Younai tear up uncontrollably as it would make him feel upset and terrible.
For the sake of making her laugh, he would go to the greatest lengths without complaints.
Love had never been about time.
It could be decided and set in stone after just one glance.
Ji Younai was sleeping soundly, and she only woke up in the afternoon.
She sat wearily on the empty bed, and Gong Siyu was not around.
However, she soon received a call from him.
When she pressed the answer button, she heard Gong Siyu's evil voice.
"Are you a pig? I gave you ten calls, but you did not answer a single one."
"... I just woke up."
Her tender and gentle voice was a little hoarse and sluggish because she had just woken up.
"I'm going to make a trip back to the old residence. Stay at home obediently, do you hear me?"
"Okay."
"If there's anything you want to eat or drink, tell the servants. I'll be back soon, and I'll take you out for some fun later."
"Okay, I'll be good."
Wearing a pink nightdress that was made out of silk, Ji Younai sprawled herself across the bed and rolled around.
She did not dare to interact with the people in Gong Siyu's home, partly because she was too timid and partly because they did not seem to like her.
After hanging up, getting out of bed, and washing up, she had been staying in Gong Siyu's master bedroom to watch television. She didn't go downstairs to eat. She simply waited for Gong Siyu to come back and accompany her.
However, she did not know that she might not be able to wait until the return of the person whom she was waiting for.
-
He was in Mansion No.1 on Mount Zhongnan.
It was the Gong Family's ancestral residence.
The site was at the foot of Mount Zhongnan, where the royal families of the past lived.
It stood alone on the east of Mount Zhongnan and overlooked various mountains and hills. It could be considered a superb mansion that was built in a rare location with excellent Fengshui.
It spanned across a 100-meter avenue that was full of sycamore trees, a picturesque mountain view, an old mansion, a garden, and a courtyard, which complemented each other.
The Gong Family owned everything on the land within a five-meter-radius from the mansion.
The entire mansion showcased the extremely stringent requirements for the living environment and conditions of the wealthiest family in China.
From the design to the setting, to the construction of the courtyard and maintenance of the residence, everything encapsulated the prestige and superiority of the luxurious mansion that combined both Chinese and Western elements.
Gong Siyu was about a kilometer from the entrance of the mansion.
The armed guards were walking back and forth, their heads held high and their faces full of sternness.
When they saw Gong Siyu's car and the few cars that were full of bodyguards following slowly behind, they saluted and then let them pass through the gates.
Due to the high position of Old Master Gong, that level of protection and defense was required by regulations.
Inside the heavily guarded high walls, Gong Siyu ordered Bai Feiran to park the car at the entrance because he did not plan to stay for long.
Holding a painting that was rolled into an exquisite scroll and ignoring the servants who were tending to the botany in the courtyard, Gong Siyu walked into the mansion slowly and gracefully.
"Young Master is home?"
The chief butler of the mansion came to greet him with a smile.
"There are not many people at home today. Old Master is alone at home, he's reading in the study."
He was greatly relieved to hear that his grandfather was alone at home.
Gong Siyu went upstairs and headed to Gong Mingyi's study.
The scent of sandalwood incense diffused, and wisps of smoke spread around the incense plate.
Old Master Gong was wearing a pair of presbyopic glasses and flipping through an ancient book with yellowing pages in the study.
Under the cool white light, the deep wrinkles on his aged face, which time had taken its toll on, stood out strongly. He was wearing a plain military-green short-sleeved shirt and camouflage army pants. His burly body was a little rickety, but he was still standing still, and nonetheless exuding an awe-inspiring yet daunting and domineering solemnity of a soldier.
The sharp perseverance in his eyes was like a blade. Although he was old, he was no less awe-inspiring or authoritative.
He grinned widely from ear to ear when he saw that his beloved grandson had returned.
"Kid! I hear you got severely injured. Are you well now?"
Gong Siyu put away his usual arrogant and condescending demeanor of a wealthy heir, and the smile on his handsome face vanished too. Pretending to be serious, he saluted the old man in front of him.
"Reporting, Commander-in-chief, all my wounds have healed!"
"Haha, great, good that you've recovered!"
The old man smiled merrily and praised repeatedly.
Gong Siyu walked up to his grandfather and gave him a hug.
Then, he handed the scroll in his hands to him. "Grandpa, open it and take a look, will you? You'll definitely smile in your sleep tonight after you do."
Gong Mingyi took off his presbyopic glasses and took a look to see that it was actually a scroll of painting.
As if he had guessed something, he carefully unrolled the painting with a look of excitement and exclaimed, "Wow! Is this... Ji Tianshi's 'Magnificent Landscapes'? It's the painting that had gone missing for a long time!"
Seemingly not believing its authenticity, Old Master Gong immediately picked up a magnifying glass and began to scrutinize it to verify its authenticity.
After appreciating it for about half an hour, his eyes almost bulged out, and he was still in disbelief.
"This... this is actually a genuine masterpiece?"
He paused before exclaiming, "Siyu! Kid! Come clean! This painting is so precious, and no one has ever found it since it went missing a long time ago. How did you get it?"
Gong Siyu's eyes curved up, and he put on an evil yet mysterious smile.
"Grandpa, would you believe me if I said that this is a gift from your future granddaughter-in-law?"
"Gift... it's a gift? She gave you such a good painting that might be worth more than hundreds of millions?"
"Who is she? That lass from the An Family?"
"No, no, her surname is Ji, and she is a direct descendant of Ji Tianshi."