After being sentenced to death, she came to her senses.

After a long while, Wei Mingyue finally came out of the room with red eyes.

Seeing Fang Xiaoran sitting in the corridor, he walked towards her.

"Thank you for today." Wei Mingyue's voice was still hoarse, and there was still a trace of red in the corner of her eyes.

Seeing the tears in her eyes, Fang Xiaoran shook her head slightly, "I didn't do anything, you don't need to thank me."

Wei Mingyue smiled bitterly, "I never expected it to turn out like this. In my eyes, Father, though old, was still in his prime. But now I realize that he was already riddled with wounds."

The night wind swept through the long corridor, fluttering the hem of Fang Xiaoran's clothes. She looked at the falling snow in the courtyard and said in a calm voice, "After a lifetime of fighting, for the Duke, leaving peacefully and calmly may also be a kind of relief. You should be able to see it clearly."

As she spoke, Fang Xiaoran took out a prescription she had just written and handed it to Wei Mingyue, saying, "Although I can't save him, at least I can let him leave in peace."

Looking at the prescription handed to her, Wei Mingyue took it, her hand trembling slightly. The ink on the paper was not yet dry, and it gleamed a cool blue in the snowy light. "Thank you..."

"If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave now. If the Duke has any unusual plans in the future, you can call me anytime." After saying this, Fang Xiaoran got up and left. Seeing this, Wei Mingyue suddenly grabbed her hand and said in an extremely gentle voice, "I was surprised that he would marry you, but I also think it's reasonable. Fang Xiaoran, he is someone you should cherish."

These words surprised Fang Xiaoran greatly. She stopped abruptly, clearly feeling Wei Mingyue's grip on her sleeve. She slowly turned around, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes before she regained her composure.

Do you know him very well?

To be honest, she knew absolutely nothing about Gu Yuqing, so she was quite surprised to hear this.

Wei Mingyue smiled. "Do you care whether I know him or not?"

Fang Xiaoran paused, but did not answer.

Because she doesn't know either.

Strictly speaking, she was unaware that she harbored such feelings for Gu Yuqing.

"To me, he is like a bird in the sky and a cloud in the sky, something I cannot reach. A wild horse can only gallop across the grassland, while a bird is destined to soar through the heavens." Wei Mingyue revealed a faint smile, but there was a hint of helplessness and regret hidden in that smile.

Upon hearing this, Fang Xiaoran suddenly chuckled softly, "I never expected to hear these words from you."

“You’re arrogant and unrestrained, but that’s just a facade. My heart is very soft. Why don’t you get closer to me?” After saying this, Wei Mingyue walked past Fang Xiaoran and headed deeper into the corridor. She then said to Fang Xiaoran, “I still have to get medicine for my father, so I won’t see you off. Here, take the Fierce Cloud Horse.”

Fang Xiaoran smiled slightly, noting that it had been a long time since she had ridden a horse.

She gathered her sleeves, which had been ruffled by the wind, and turned to walk towards the stables.

The Fierce Cloud Horse was dark red all over, except for its four snow-white hooves. At this moment, it was impatiently stamping its hooves, and its breath was exhaling white mist in the cold wind.

As she approached, the horse lowered its head and affectionately nuzzled her palm.

“It’s quite intelligent.” She stroked the horse’s mane and mounted it.

With a long neigh, the fierce cloud horse charged out of the mansion gate like an arrow released from a bow.

Frost fell on her face all the way, but she was completely unaware.

"How strange. Ever since the princess went to the Rongguo Duke's mansion, she has been very happy. I thought she would quarrel with Miss Wei."

"What nonsense are you talking about? How could the princess quarrel with Miss Wei? Miss Wei came specifically to see the princess for medical treatment, so she should be treated with courtesy."

"But Miss Wei and the Second Young Master are, after all..."

"What exactly?"

Suddenly, a clear voice rang out.

Qinglan casually remarked, "After all, there have been rumors..."

Before she could finish speaking, Qinglan felt the hairs on her body stand on end. She glanced at Ziju beside her and saw that Ziju had already distanced herself from her. Qinglan realized something was wrong and immediately turned around, only to meet Gu Yuqing's captivating peach blossom eyes.

"What rumors? I don't know anything about them." Gu Yuqing smiled and tilted his head, but inexplicably gave off a sense of danger.

Qinglan's legs went weak, and her tongue stammered as she explained intermittently, "No, nothing of the sort. This servant, this servant is talking nonsense. Please don't take it seriously, young master."

Gu Yuqing smiled gently, "Gossiping will get your tongue cut out."

Why does that sound so familiar? I feel like I've heard it somewhere before.

Qinglan was terrified, especially when Gu Yuqing said those words with a smile on his face. It was particularly frightening. She quickly covered her mouth and shook her head in despair, "This servant...this servant will never dare to do it again..."

"Then let's give her a small punishment." Gu Yuqing smiled with narrowed eyes, and Qinglan immediately had a bad feeling.

It wasn't until she was expelled from the Marquis's mansion that she realized just how big a mistake she had made.

Qinglan stood outside the grand vermilion gates of the Marquis's mansion, clutching a thin bundle. The biting wind made her shiver.

She looked back at the tightly closed door and finally understood that beneath Gu Yuqing's gentle and refined exterior lay ruthless methods.

In the waterside pavilion of the Liu residence, a maidservant hurriedly came to report.

"Miss, something terrible has happened! Qinglan has been kicked out of the Marquis's mansion..."

"What did you say?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Ruyan frowned deeply.

She had intended to give Qinglan some benefits so that Qinglan would do things for her, but she didn't expect to be kicked out before she could even be of any use. This was too much of a coincidence.

But these things shouldn't have spread, and Qinglan wouldn't be foolish enough to expose herself prematurely.

"She said that it was Young Master Gu who drove her away, apparently because she said something wrong and offended him... Miss, Qinglan requests an audience, do you want to see her?" the maid asked timidly, afraid that Liu Ruyan's anger would affect her.

Liu Ruyan immediately flew into a rage, "Tell her to get out of here! She's good for nothing and good for nothing. What's the point of keeping a maid like that around?"

“If the princess has always been kind to her, she might have a chance to go back.”

"Then tell her to find a way back. Why is she running here? As if she's afraid others won't notice that she and I are in contact privately. Tell her to leave quickly and stop getting in my way!"

This result infuriated Liu Ruyan. She felt that even God wasn't on her side, and she was very depressed.

"You drove Qinglan away?" Fang Xiaoran was picking out medicinal herbs when she heard Gu Yuqing come to tell her that Qinglan had left the mansion, which puzzled her greatly.

In her past life, Qinglan did betray her, but that hadn't happened in this life yet, so Fang Xiaoran had no reason to drive her away. She didn't expect Gu Yuqing to act so quickly.

To everyone's surprise, Gu Yuqing calmly replied, "I don't like what she says. Why keep her around to bother me?"

"Are you the kind of person who would care about something like this?" Fang Xiaoran was shocked.

Gu Yuqing shrugged, casually picked up the teacup Fang Xiaoran had drunk from, and took a sip. "Otherwise, why do you think there are only a few people in my courtyard?"

"You drove them all away?" Fang Xiaoran asked, somewhat incredulous.

Isn't it because he is not valued by the Marquis's mansion that there are few servants to serve him?

No, thinking of this, Fang Xiaoran suddenly realized that even if this person was not valued, he was not short of money. He could buy servants to serve him even without going through the Marquis's mansion.

Thinking about it this way, could it be that he had extremely high standards and therefore few servants in the courtyard?

It didn't feel right, but she couldn't find any reason to refute it.

"You're half right." Gu Yuqing smiled mysteriously, which only made Fang Xiaoran more curious. She couldn't help but ask, "What's the other half of the reason?"

Gu Yuqing's eyes were light and her smile was captivating. "Some of them were used as flower mud."