The kittens were only a month and a half old, making them quite demanding to feed. Wei Yun found a professional cat caretaker to help Chu Yu look after them, to prevent any accidental deaths.

After Chu Yu and Wei Yun became familiar with the five cats, they named them based on the five characters of “Zhao Cai Jin Bao Fa” (招财进宝发, meaning to attract wealth and treasure). Wei Yun, having other matters to attend to, then left.

Once Wei Yun had gone, Wan Yue watched Chu Yu play with the cats and approached her with a bowl of white fungus soup. She whispered, “There’s something this servant doesn’t know whether to mention or not.”

“By asking that, haven’t you already decided to speak?” Chu Yu replied.

Chu Yu took a warm cloth from Chang Yue to wipe her hands, then accepted the white fungus soup from Wan Yue. Her gaze remained fixed on the kittens, unmoving.

After a moment’s hesitation, Wan Yue finally said, “Yesterday, when I went to prepare a hangover soup for you, Chang Yue told me that the young Marquis had a private conversation with you?”

“Mm,” Chu Yu vaguely remembered the previous night’s events, though not very clearly. She looked up and asked, “What about it?”

“This servant just thinks that, given your recent bereavement, and the propriety between men and women, perhaps…”

Wan Yue didn’t finish her sentence, but Chu Yu understood her meaning.

Wan Yue had always been attentive. Years ago, when Chu Yu had stubbornly insisted on eloping with Gu Chusheng, it was Wan Yue who had tried to stop her. Now that Wan Yue had spoken up, she must have sensed something inappropriate.

Having grown up on the frontier, Chu Yu was used to being surrounded by men in her household. In her teens, she could even wrestle with others on the battlefield. She had never paid much attention to the separation between men and women. Moreover, Wei Yun was young, clearly still a child, so she had forgotten about such concerns.

Seeing Chu Yu lost in thought, Wan Yue continued, “This servant knows you consider the Marquis to be young, but he’s already fifteen this year. He’s no longer a child, and it would be better to maintain some distance.”

“Mm,” Chu Yu nodded, understanding Wan Yue’s concerns. “I understand. But he’s still childlike, don’t overthink it. It’s fine.”

Seeing that Chu Yu had made up her mind, Wan Yue didn’t press further. She waited for Chu Yu to finish the white fungus soup, then watched as Chu Yu picked up a kitten and went into her room.

Wei Yun had claimed illness to Emperor Chunde, so he rarely attended court. He stayed at home with Jiang Chun, teaching the five young princes. Now that there were cats in the house, the young princes were curious about them. Wei Yun would bring them at set times each day to play with the cats. During these times, Jiang Chun would also bring the account books to go over them with Chu Yu.

After two or three days of this peaceful routine, the Grand Princess sent word that in two days, she would be taking the Emperor out of the palace for an incognito inspection. She instructed Gu Chusheng to hide at the Fuxiang Gambling House at noon.

Upon receiving this news, Wei Yun immediately sent someone to inform Gu Chusheng. Hearing this, Chu Yu frowned and asked, “Have you arranged for the people who will pursue him?”

“Yes,” Wei Yun nodded. “I’ve placed an order with the Tianyin Hall under Yao Yong’s name.”

Tianyin Hall was a first-class assassin organization in the jianghu. Surprised by Wei Yun’s words, Chu Yu asked, “How did you impersonate Yao Yong?”

“He has a subordinate named Chen Zhu,” Wei Yun explained, looking at the intelligence reports sent by various family spies. “Originally one of our people, I had him persuade his superior to place the order with Tianyin Hall.”

With such a convoluted method, even if the Emperor investigated, he wouldn’t be able to trace it back to Wei Yun.

After all, it was true that Yao Yong wanted to kill Gu Chusheng. Anyone who looked into how Gu Chusheng had arrived here would be able to guess the mastermind behind it, even without asking Tianyin Hall.

“But,” Chu Yu pondered, somewhat worried, “what if Tianyin Hall doesn’t find Gu Chusheng at the gambling house in two days, and doesn’t happen to run into him in front of His Majesty?”

“Fuxiang Gambling House is Yao family property,” Wei Yun explained. It was his idea to go to Fuxiang Gambling House, so he naturally had his reasons. “Now that Yao Yong wants to kill Gu Chusheng, all Yao family properties likely know about it. We’ll send Gu Chusheng out of the mansion tonight, and let him find an inn under Yao family control to rest. Once the Yao family people discover him, they’ll surely chase him all the way. Then it’s up to Gu Chusheng’s skills to escape to Fuxiang Gambling House.”

“What if Gu Chusheng can’t manage it?” Chu Yu asked again.

Wei Yun calmly replied, “Then I’ll secretly assist him.”

When Wei Yun said he’d secretly assist, Chu Yu understood. As long as Gu Chusheng could run, being chased along the way was fine. If he couldn’t run, they’d send someone to help him escape. This couldn’t involve many people, as too many would make it obvious that someone was helping.

Wei Yun said he would be the one to help, but Chu Yu understood that she was more suitable.

She had the divorce paper Wei Yun had written for her, and her past relationship with Gu Chusheng was well-known. If she were to help Gu Chusheng and later be discovered, she could still explain it away. However, if the Wei family sent someone and was discovered, Emperor Chunde might conclude that the Wei family was deliberately framing Yao Yong.

Well then…

Chu Yu thought to herself, worst case, she’d go help if things went wrong.

With this in mind, Chu Yu nodded, not saying anything more.

That night, after the Wei family secretly sent Gu Chusheng out of the mansion, Chu Yu went about her usual business, not particularly worried.

As she leisurely drank tea late into the night, Wei Xia suddenly burst into Chu Yu’s room, anxiously saying, “First Madam, something terrible has happened.”

“Oh?” Chu Yu’s voice remained calm as she stood up. “What is it?”

“The Yao family has sent two teams of men chasing Gu Chusheng. If the Wei family doesn’t intervene, I’m afraid Gu Chusheng won’t be able to escape. The young Marquis is already prepared to go help, planning to take Gu Chusheng into hiding alone.”

Wei Xia spoke urgently. Chu Yu, having already prepared for this, raised her hand to dismiss Wei Xia and said, “Stop him. I’ll go. Tell him I’ve already left. Even if it’s discovered later, it will be seen as me saving Gu Chusheng out of consideration for our past relationship, with no connection to the Wei family.”

After saying this, Chu Yu turned to change into night-traveling clothes and headed straight for the stables.

Just as she was about to mount her horse at the stables, she heard Wei Yun’s urgent voice, “Sister-in-law, don’t go!”

Wei Yun came to Chu Yu’s horse and grabbed the reins, anxiously saying, “I’ll go!”

“You want to go?” Chu Yu’s voice turned cold.

“Sister-in-law…” Wei Yun, seeing Chu Yu’s anger, immediately deflated. Chu Yu suddenly raised her voice, “The great Marquis Zhenguo, is such a small matter worthy of your involvement? What difference is there between you going and Wei Qiu going? Get out of my way!”

Hearing this, Wei Yun was stunned. Chu Yu mounted her horse and pointed her whip at his nose, saying, “Stay in the Wei mansion and pretend to be ill. Wait until you’re needed!”

“Sister-in-law…”

“An elder brother is like a father, an elder sister-in-law is like a mother!” Chu Yu shouted sternly. “Don’t waste time, go back!”

After saying this, Chu Yu instructed Wei Xia, “Keep an eye on him.”

Then she rode off with her people.

Wei Yun stared blankly at Chu Yu’s retreating figure. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but found he couldn’t utter a word.

A deep sense of helplessness washed over him. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to stop her, or that he couldn’t stop her, but seeing her so anxious, how could he not understand that she was arguing to go for that man’s sake?

The last time she went to Kunyang, she wanted to save that man.

Now it was the same.

Watching her ride away, he couldn’t quite describe the feeling in his heart. Wei Xia sighed and said, “Young Marquis, the First Madam is right, this isn’t something you should be involved in. Don’t be upset.”

Hearing the words “Don’t be upset,” Wei Yun gave Wei Xia a long look.

Wei Yun smiled slightly, saying with some confusion, “What do I have to be upset about? I’m just worried, that’s all.”

Wei Xia was slightly taken aback, then quickly nodded and said, “I misspoke.”

But strangely enough.

After saying this, Wei Yun felt that Wei Xia’s words seemed somewhat true as if there was a faint, weak sense of bitterness in his heart.

He didn’t understand this feeling either. After much thought, he figured it was probably similar to the emotion he felt as a child when he saw his mother favoring his elder brother more.

He pursed his lips and turned to head back to the courtyard.

Chu Yu left the Wei mansion and rode towards where Gu Chusheng was surrounded.

Gu Chusheng was cornered in a small forest. He had set traps and was hiding in the woods. His pursuers, having suffered several setbacks at his hands, didn’t dare to advance, resulting in a stalemate.

Chu Yu hid in a tree, observing the situation. The assassins were carefully searching the bushes, but there was no sign of Gu Chusheng.

The assassins didn’t dare to separate, all standing back-to-back, carefully searching, while another group surrounded the perimeter to prevent Gu Chusheng from escaping.

Although this search method was slow, Gu Chusheng would eventually be found. Chu Yu didn’t dare to move rashly and kept quietly waiting in the shadows.

Gu Chusheng was skilled in the art of concealment, which explained why he hadn’t been found after such a long search. The searchers were getting impatient, and one of them said bluntly, “Why don’t we just set fire to this area? I’d like to see if this bastard doesn’t come out then! His martial arts aren’t great, he can’t escape. We’ll just wait for him outside.”

Hearing this, Chu Yu’s heart sank. The group immediately acted on the suggestion, quickly clearing a firebreak about ten feet wide around the area. Then, all the men gathered around the firebreak, poured alcohol in four directions, piled up firewood, and set it ablaze.

Chu Yu saw them throw something into the fire and immediately held her breath. The fire grew larger and larger, burning from the outside inward. Chu Yu stood at the treetop, constantly watching the surrounding area.

After a quarter of an hour, due to the abundance of dry wood in winter, the outer area was completely ablaze. The trapped area was filled with smoke. Chu Yu’s heart was in her throat.

In most forest fires, people don’t die from the flames but from suffocation due to inhaling large amounts of smoke and dust. If Gu Chusheng didn’t appear soon, she would have to leave in a while too.

Chu Yu considered for a moment. Seeing the intense fire on the outskirts, one of the men outside the circle laughed and said, “I say we stop searching. Let’s just surround him. If he doesn’t come out, we’ll just collect his corpse. We’ve also released the Soft Tendon Powder in there. I bet even a rabbit couldn’t move now.”

Hearing this, Chu Yu hesitated no longer. She slid down the tree trunk, her movements as agile as a ghost.

As soon as she landed, Chu Yu held her breath, took out a handkerchief, dripped some medicine on it, and covered her nose to block out the dust and the effects of the Soft Tendon Powder before going in to search.

She crouched low, quickly scanning every inch of ground in the firelight. After a short while, she heard a call: “A’Yu…”

Chu Yu whirled around, quickly walking to a pile of bushes where she saw Gu Chusheng lying on the ground, covered in wounds.

He was completely immobilized. Without a word, Chu Yu hoisted him onto her shoulder, then with a light step, leaped to the treetop.

Chu Yu’s martial arts leaned towards the Yin style, making her form light and her qinggong far superior to most. Not only did she reach the treetop, but she also ran far away along the treetops.

Gu Chusheng, being carried by her, turned his head to look at her.

In the moonlight, Chu Yu’s facial features were visible – her eyes, her nose bridge, her lips.

At sixteen, Chu Yu was still in her prime years of beauty.

Gu Chusheng gazed at her, unwilling to look away for even a moment. He knew how precious this moment was. In the past, Chu Yu had saved him like this countless times, carrying him on her back when they were young.

Upon reaching a safe area, Chu Yu found a dilapidated temple and unceremoniously tossed Gu Chusheng inside. She quickly grabbed his chin and forced a pill into his mouth, then rapidly threw a bunch of medicine bottles at him, saying, “Take care of the rest yourself. I’ll hide nearby and won’t come out unless necessary. Hurry and apply the medicine. Once the fire dies down, they’ll know you’re not dead and will likely give chase.”

“Mm.” Gu Chusheng lowered his head in acknowledgment. After taking the medicine Chu Yu gave him, he could finally move. He slowly got up to pick up the bottles, not saying anything more. Chu Yu found his silence today a bit strange and looked back at him, but then thought, what did it matter to her how he behaved?

Without another word, she flipped up onto a beam, hugging her sword to her chest, and promptly fell asleep.

Gu Chusheng sat below the beam, looking up.

She was right above his head, like his personal sky.