Forced love, an inescapable fate

When Bai Yu pulled Wan Yue out, the two people at the door smiled maliciously.

"First of all, congratulations, Chief, on your dream coming true. But we brothers are also in a difficult position. You just said you wanted to take Miss Wanyue's beating. We really can't make the decision on this request. The master has instructed that each person gets thirty strokes of the stick, and no substitutions are allowed. But rest assured, Chief, we will try to be gentle and make sure your butts don't get bruised."

Seeing the two of them laughing with their mouths held back, Wan Yue rolled her eyes at them speechlessly.

"Hurry up, I have to deliver medicine to the princess later."

Bai Yu looked at the two of them with warning eyes: "Be careful what you do, if you hurt Wan Yue, you will suffer the consequences."

Xueying and Liuxing agreed repeatedly, "Of course, of course."

In the end, Wanyue and Baiyu gritted their teeth and received thirty sticks each. Xueying and Liuxing dared not let them off. Since their master had given the order, they naturally had to carry it out.

Although Bai Yu and Wan Yue were grimacing in pain, they were secret guards after all. Although they had to hide their identities in front of Mu Qingli over the years, they naturally did not neglect their daily training behind the scenes. For ordinary people, these thirty blows would indeed require recuperation in bed for a period of time, but for the two of them, it was not a serious injury. Besides, the two of them had talked about everything today, so even though they were beaten, they felt sweet in their hearts.

Finally, the female secret guard hidden among the maids applied medicine to Wanyue, and Wanyue then limped away under Bai Yu's worried look.

As for Mu Qingli, Su Minsheng chatted with her for a while before leaving reluctantly. He wanted to say something several times before leaving, but in the end he just told her to take good care of herself.

After Su Minsheng left, Mu Qingli lay on the bed feeling bored. Now she couldn't get out of bed. Thinking about the look in Jiang Ci's eyes when he stood at the door just now, she always felt weird in her heart.

Just as she was lost in thought, Jiang Ci's voice rang out from outside the door.

"Sister, is it convenient for you to come in?"

Mu Qingli thought he should have left, but she didn't expect him to still be there. She was just stunned for a moment, and when she realized what was happening, she quickly said, "Come in, it's convenient for you."

At this time, the expression on Jiang Ci's face had returned to normal. He pushed the door open and walked slowly towards Mu Qingli with his usual warmth on his face.

Seeing him like this, Mu Qingli felt a lot more relieved, but still felt that it was necessary to explain to him what had just happened.

"That's right, brother, it was indeed a misunderstanding. Brother Su just saw that I was not feeling well and helped me lie down."

Jiang Ci moved a stool from the table to the bedside of Mu Qingli. After sitting down, he smiled and said, "It's okay, sister, you don't have to explain. I lost my composure just now."

Hearing this, the strange feeling in Mu Qingli's heart disappeared. She was wondering why Jiang Ci would be angry because Su Minsheng helped her lie down.

She didn't notice the hint of coldness in Jiang Ci's eyes when he heard the three words "Su Minsheng".

She looked at Jiang Ci with worry in her eyes. She could clearly feel that Jiang Ci's face was a little pale. She noticed it yesterday, but she had just woken up at that time and didn't pay too much attention to it. Now, after taking a closer look, she found that Jiang Ci's face was abnormally pale, and she couldn't help but ask worriedly.

"I noticed yesterday that you looked off. You looked even paler than me, a wounded soldier. What's wrong? Has things been going badly lately?"

Jiang Ci's eyes curved up, as if he was smiling, and his right hand couldn't help but press on his wrist. His arm, hidden under the wide sleeves, was wrapped in dense gauze. If he exerted a little force, he could still feel the pain, but he felt a little sweet in his heart because of Mu Qingli's words just now.

"It's okay, sister. It may be that I haven't had enough rest recently. You don't have to worry."

Hearing him say this, Mu Qingli thought that it might be because she was injured and he might be worried about her, so she didn't get enough rest, and her heart couldn't help but feel warm.

"Brother, I'm fine now. You don't have to worry. You've been through a lot lately. But there's one thing I want to tell you. Yesterday, my brother promised me that he would side with you. I can finally put my mind at ease. With my brother's promise, your future journey will be much smoother."

Jiang Ci's smile, which was raised at the corner of his mouth, couldn't help but widen.

"I will always remember everything Sister has done for me. Don't worry, I'm no longer the helpless little proton I once was."

"Well, sister knows."

After saying this, Mu Qingli suddenly remembered what he had learned from Feng Zong yesterday, that the assassination was actually a collusion between Qing'er and outsiders. But it was not difficult to hear from Feng Zong that he did not believe that Qing'er would do such a thing. Not only Feng Zong did not believe it, but even Mu Qingli did not believe that Qing'er, who had been with him for three years, would do such a thing. But Qing'er was dead, leaving only a letter. Now the clue was broken, and it has not been found out who ordered those killers.

Thinking of this, she couldn't help but feel sad for Qing'er's death, so her tone of voice was obviously low.

"My brother said that this assassination was not simple. He didn't believe Qing'er would do such a betrayal. I don't believe it either. During the three years in Sifang City, Qing'er was devoted to me and respected my brother. She has lived in the border since she was a child, and her father and brother are in the military camp. How could she have the opportunity to be involved with those killers? So she couldn't do such a thing. Someone must have framed her, but who could it be? And that night, everyone was drugged, but I was the only one who was fine. I always feel that the killers that night are very strange. They obviously kept back before I approached. It didn't look like he was going to kill me, but just as I leaned over, the killer suddenly stabbed me. It was chaotic at the time, and I didn't have time to think about it. But these past two days, I've been thinking back on what happened that night, and it always feels particularly strange. Brother, do you think that the assassination attempt that night was targeted at me? Although it doesn't make sense, I have a hunch that the person those people really wanted to kill was me, and they seemed sure I would take the knife for you. Although it doesn't make sense, a nobody like me shouldn't be worth someone expending so much effort on, but I just have this hunch."

Jiang Ci listened to Mu Qingli's analysis silently, his expression gradually becoming solemn.

Even though he had tried so hard to cover up what happened that night, she still discovered the ultimate purpose of the assassination.

His palms clenched subconsciously.

Mu Qingli didn't notice his abnormality and continued talking to herself.

"And the time we escaped from Qi, don't you think it went a little too smoothly? We stayed in Dongli Town for two whole years without being discovered. Although we were very careful, I still felt something was wrong. Think about it, my brother had already negotiated with them at that time, and they had promised to send us back, but we suddenly disappeared. Logically, they should have spared no effort to find us, but we lived under their noses for two whole years. It's incredible to think about it."