After the arranged marriage, she farms and survives under the tutelage of the villainous boss.

Gu Wanzhi looked at the Emperor with some disbelief.

The Emperor just stared at my sister like that, not even glancing at her...

"Your Majesty...Your Majesty, please look at your concubine..."

"It was I who was bullied by my elder sister."

What's going on? Hasn't the Emperor been loving only me all this time?

Gu Wanzhi always believed that the Emperor had long loved her to the point of obsession, and that her sister was no longer a factor.

What's going on here? What's all this commotion...?

The emperor didn't listen to a word she said.

He simply looked at Gu Wanqing and said, "My beloved concubine."

"My beloved consort, tell me. How do you want to deal with her? I will do anything for you, as long as you are willing. You can even just throw this woman out."

Gu Wanzhi retreated in fear, her whole body trembling.

"I... Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I did nothing."

"I love Your Majesty, and I want to be with Your Majesty, is that not allowed... Your Majesty, why do you ask my sister instead of me?"

"I don't understand anything. My sister is jealous of the favor I receive from you, so she started to be jealous of me, and she wanted to cause trouble for me!"

"..."

Before Gu Wanzhi could speak, the Emperor suddenly grabbed her by the neck.

He looked at Gu Wanzhi with cold indifference: "Shut up."

"I'm speaking to my beloved concubine; where do you have any say in this now?"

"My beloved concubine is ignoring me, and it has nothing to do with you."

"Consort Wan, you should know your own worth. If it weren't for my Qingqing, would you be where you are today?"

As he said this, the Emperor looked at Gu Wanzhi as if she were a dog, not giving her a single glance.

Gu Wanzhi watched as her sister did nothing, not even giving the Emperor a glance.

He said incredulously, "What does this mean?"

"Your Majesty, if you don't like me, why? Why did you force me into the palace and even take my wife away? My feelings for Xiao Su were genuine; he was the only one in my eyes!"

"I don't know when it happened, but I've become someone who can't compare to anyone. How ridiculous."

"Now that Your Majesty has grown tired of me, you've started treating me like this?"

"What about the days and nights I spent with you... how do you account for those?"

"..."

Gu Wanzhi thought back to the torment she had suffered at the hands of the Emperor during this time and now felt it wasn't worth it.

"You have the nerve to say that? I've had my fun and that's it. If Wanqing hadn't ignored me, do you think I would have bothered with you?"

"I knew it. If I took her younger sister, she definitely wouldn't be indifferent."

The Emperor hugged Gu Wanqing tightly: "Wanqing, I love you. You are the only one I love in this life. I can't hug anyone else, but my heart will always be with you, Wanqing."

Gu Wanqing looked at the Emperor and chuckled, "Really?"

"Yes." The Emperor nodded. "It's true."

"I have always loved you, and I have only ever loved you. If you wish, I would execute your ungrateful sister right now. If it weren't for you, I would have executed such a slut long ago."

Gu Wanzhi sat on the ground, feeling a deep sadness.

But she knew a thing or two about the Emperor's temperament—how violent he was…

She knew it too.

He clenched his fists and looked at the emperor:

"Your Majesty... I was wrong, I was wrong... I shouldn't have been disrespectful to my sister here!"

Gu Wanzhi had heard before that the Emperor favored the Imperial Concubine.

After she arrived, the person she doted on became herself, so Gu Wanzhi always felt that if her older sister, that country bumpkin, could be an exception, then why couldn't she be?

It now seems that the Emperor's mind is indeed entirely on that vile woman, Gu Wanqing.

Although she looked down on Gu Wanqing, Gu Wanzhi still had to kneel on the ground and beg for mercy.

She was afraid, truly afraid—afraid of doing something wrong, afraid of becoming an obstacle for others…

All Gu Wanzhi wants now is to survive.

"Wanqing, if you don't like this kind of vicious woman, then so be it. I will deal with her."

"As long as you're willing to love me, everything will be alright."

"Your Majesty..." Gu Wanqing hesitated.

The Emperor's eyes held a dangerous glint, even a hint of disappointment: "You...you've fallen for someone else, haven't you? Wanqing, is your heart no longer with me? Don't you love me at all?"

"..." Gu Wanqing remained silent.

To be precise, she wasn't telling the truth.

Gu Wanqing truly disliked the Emperor; she couldn't understand why she liked such a scruffy old man.

Having seen better people, she felt nothing for the emperor.

Gu Wanqing could use tricks to climb the ranks in the harem, but falling in love was impossible.

She always had an untouchable sore spot in her heart, and someone she always loved.

That's Xie Shuheng.

She is the true heiress of the Gu family, but she has been in love with Xie Shuheng for a very long time.

She was almost kidnapped by bandits in the countryside, but Xie Shuheng happened to be passing through and rescued her.

Although he didn't say a word or even glance at her.

However, Gu Wanqing still found out that this was a very, very good benefactor, someone she wanted to marry but could never reach.

Later, a misfortune befell her family, and she learned that she was the real daughter of the Gu family in Bianjing City. She then went to their home to acknowledge her as a relative.

When she heard that the Gu family's daughter was engaged to Xie Shuheng's son, she felt like she was dreaming.

For the first time, I felt that this long-cherished wish was actually so close to me.

If only, if only a little faster, Gu Wanzhi could recognize the fake heiress's identity, then the real heiress could marry Xie Shuheng.

But the storm is always brewing without any warning.

She had just been introduced to her family, and before they had even discussed marriage, Gu Wanzhi took the initiative to break off the engagement.

Something happened to Xie Shuheng's family; they were all exiled.

At that moment, Gu Wanqing knelt on the ground and said to her father, "Father, I am willing to marry Xie Shuheng and accompany him into exile. This will also demonstrate our family's support for our long-standing friends."

"Idiot!" Gu Wanqing was hit right then and there.

Yes, Gu Wanzhi's parents both liked her, saying she was good at avoiding trouble and that she was stubborn and not very smart, having been raised in the countryside and only knowing how to bring trouble to the family.

At the time, Gu Wanqing just found it funny. She even knelt on the ground, looking completely bewildered, and said, "I'm your biological daughter!"

"What about our biological daughter? Wanzhi, whom we raised from childhood, is well-educated, eloquent, and capable in everything she does. At such a young age, she is already the backbone of the family and a model of a noble lady. What do you, on the other hand, bring us nothing but ridicule?"

"..."

Gu Wanqing found it funny. She thought that finding her biological parents would make life a little better, but she never expected that it would be even worse than living in the countryside.

No one has ever shown her kindness.

Aside from Xie Shuheng's tiny bit of kindness, she had always carefully kept it in her heart.