The ritual master seemed to have completed his procedure and said to the bejeweled Qi Huifen in front of him, "She can go in now."
"Come in. Be careful not to dirty the floor." The look in his eyes, that disdain.
She pulled a smile at the corner of her mouth, "Yes, Mother. I'll be careful."
Qi Huifen seemed to be stunned for a moment.
For an instant, she felt that the woman in front of her was different from the one who had been sent away all those years ago.
What was different?!
Her features were clearly the same.
Had three years been too long, causing her to forget somewhat?!
She didn't need to care, nor did she need to reply to any of her politeness, if it hadn't been for her eldest son's special circumstances and that accident... she would never have allowed this woman to enter her home again.
With a cold face, she turned and walked away.
Qiao Xiguan stepped into the hall, ascending the stairs to the second floor, stopping in front of a door.
If she remembered correctly, this was the room.
She pushed the door open.
A man.
She didn't know which words to use to describe such a man; at that moment, she even felt momentarily short-circuited.
She thought, "'Disaster for the country and the people' it is!"
His face like the moon at Mid-Autumn Festival, his complexion like the flowers of an early spring dawn.
His temples like carved jade, eyebrows like ink paintings, cheeks like peach petals, eyes wavy like autumn waters.
At that moment, she couldn't help but want to thank Mr. Cao Xueqin for leaving behind such beautiful phrases, allowing her to describe the man in front of her with such a calamitous beauty.
She stood at the door, suddenly feeling a little overwhelmed.
In the memories Qiao Xiguan had left her, there was barely a shadow of this man; she couldn't believe that a man with such exquisite features would be without any ripples in a woman's heart, unless...
This man had the ability to be easily overlooked.
"Get out!" The man suddenly spoke up, yelling sternly.
Qiao Xiguan was taken aback, not sure if it was because of the man's authority or something else, she abruptly closed the door, prepared to leave, then felt something was off—wasn't she supposed to be in this room?!
Wasn't this man inside none other than Gu Zichen?
The so-called disabled heir.
Thinking about it, she did have some connections with this man; although they had never met face-to-face, she had almost married him back when she was still Huo Xiaoxi...
Fate, unpredictable.
Yet also oddly fortuitous.
Qiao Xiguan suddenly opened the door again.
Gu Zichen's complexion clearly worsened, as he sat in his wheelchair and glared at her fiercely.
"I'm not staying here?" Qiao Xiguan asked him.
"Next door," Gu Zichen said coldly.
So it was.
She closed the door again.
If it had to be the next room, then so be it. Why be so fierce?
Such a bad temper!
Qiao Xiguan rolled her eyes.
But in her memories, it should have been this room. Damn it, what memories had Qiao Xiguan, that woman, hidden from her?
Damn!
She pushed open the door to the adjacent room; this room was obviously much smaller than the last, with just a bed, a dressing table, and a simple wardrobe.
She was filthy all over and found a set of pajamas that seemed "hers" to take a bath in.
But where was the bathroom?
There couldn't possibly be no bathroom inside the room, right?
She found another door inside the room and pushed it open.
Damn it.
Why was it that disabled rich young master again?
It was quite obvious that the disabled rich young master's expression changed upon seeing her.
"I didn't want to show up, I thought this was the bathroom, I want to take a shower," Qiao Xiguan was also quite speechless, okay?
"Over there," the rich young master lifted his hand, pointing arrogantly at another door in the room.
Qiao Xiguan walked straight over.
Turned out her room was connected to this one, and thinking about it, perhaps they had just added a separate room for her. Did she used to live with this disabled rich young master, and now she was being so rejected?!
Although the second before she felt quite relieved not to have to lie in the same bed with her "husband", even if this man was incapacitated, it would still be unpleasant, right? But now she sort of felt bullied.
She wanted to say, she was really very annoyed.
She controlled her emotions, turned on the shower, and bathed.
In the bathroom, she washed very carefully.
One must know, in prison one could never have such a brazen opportunity to bathe, she washed herself very thoroughly, changed into that set of neighborly, pink pajamas, and in front of the large glass in the bathroom, a face appeared that could no longer be considered a stranger.
She looked at "herself" in the mirror.
Qiao Xiguan, with a stunningly gorgeous appearance, that makeup-free little face had perfectly impeccable features, and a body as enchanting as a sylph's. Okay, she had to admit, the former Huo Xiaoxi did not have the beauty of Qiao Xiguan.
With such a pretty face, she opened the door of the bathroom and went out.
The disabled rich young master was gone.
She had no interest in him.
She returned to her own room that looked a bit pathetic and lay down on the bed.
She closed her eyes, many scenes flashed through her mind, and then suddenly everything went blank; she thought she really needed to rest well.
She fell asleep quickly, but it was not as peaceful as she had imagined. She kept feeling something scratching at her body, making her restlessly uncomfortable, she struggled in her sleep, and suddenly opened her eyes, in the real world, a man was lying on top of her at close range…
"Who!" she pushed the man in front of her away with force.
The man, caught off balance by her brute force, was pushed away.
The man, with his head down slightly, had his eyes obscured by the loose hair in front, but the evil smile at the corner of his mouth was visible, appearing as if he savored the silence for a couple of seconds before he said in his magnetic voice, "What? Just 3 years and you've already forgotten me?"
The man lifted his head, looking at her.
A handsome face with a devilish, wicked smile.
Gu Zijun, the third young master of the Gu family.
Qiao Xiguan's head suddenly felt a bit dizzy.
"I've been missing you so much…" Gu Zijun's mischievous appearance moved closer to her bit by bit.
"Gu Third Young Master," Qiao Xiguan called him.
Gu Zijun's eyebrows lifted slightly.
"I'm very sleepy," Qiao Xiguan said.
"So, are you rejecting me?" Gu Zijun's mouth curved into a smirk, his emotions unreadable.
"Your older brother is outside," Qiao Xiguan deflected.
"Since when have you cared about his feelings?" Gu Zijun was all the more interested.
So that's to say, Qiao Xiguan, you're actually not a demure creature at all, are you?!
"Or rather, since when has my older brother ever cared for you." Gu Zijun's smile deepened.