After the prince was reborn, he forced me to marry him and took me into the East Palace

"What's going on between you and Nan Yuan now?" Chu Zhixu asked casually.

"Don't mention her." Gu Jingheng's eyes turned cold when he heard Nan Yuan's name, and there was some impatience on his face.

Why is it that he has always been considerate of Nan Yuan, felt sorry for Nan Yuan, and put himself in her shoes, while she always looks like she is dispensable, as if she can leave him at any time?

She didn't care, didn't mind, and was so disdainful of his kindness, so why should he continue to belittle himself.

Chu Zhixu was slightly stunned. He didn't expect Gu Jingheng to have this attitude towards Nan Yuan.

If it were in the past, he would have consciously stopped the topic, but after all, he had promised Nan Jiamu that he would help Nan Yuan when necessary, so even though he knew that Gu Jingheng would be unhappy, he still had to ask him.

"The way you look now makes me suspect that you have fallen in love with Nan Yuan."

"What do you mean?" Shen Zhaixing, who had been listening on the side, suddenly became interested when he heard this.

Who is this? This is Gu Jingheng. Will he fall in love with someone?

He and Gu Jingheng grew up together. Gu Jingheng is gentle and polite to everyone. He seems gentle, but he is actually indifferent. He always has a cold and distant attitude towards people.

The longer they spent together, the more he felt that Gu Jingheng was a naturally cold-hearted person.

But now someone told him that it was too ridiculous that Gu Jingheng would fall in love with a woman he had just met.

"If he didn't really love her, why would he go to so much trouble to help Nan Yuan find her brother? He would go from south to north and it would be a thankless task."

"There are many ways to please a girl, including sweet words, silks and satins, gold, silver and jade. Which one of them would not please her?"

"But he chose the most troublesome and least profitable method. Finding people is expensive, time-consuming, and laborious. There is also a high possibility that he won't be able to find them, and his efforts will end in vain. But he still did it."

"It's done. Logically speaking, the girl should be informed of this matter, so that she can be grateful and follow him wholeheartedly, right?"

"But he just kept silent. Was he waiting for the girl to find out?"

Although Chu Zhixu was speaking to Shen Zhaixing, his eyes were always on Gu Jingheng, gauging his expression.

After listening to this, Shen Zhaixing nodded in agreement: "Not only did he look for Nan Jiamu this time, but also last time Nan Yuan offended the Lin family thoroughly on the painting boat. The reason why the Lin family did not cause trouble for Nan Yuan afterwards was also because he cleaned up the mess."

When Nan Yuan outside the tent heard this, she tightened her fingers holding the flowers. She thought Gu Jingheng was just talking, but she didn't expect him to actually do it.

All the emotions that she had suppressed deep in her heart came pouring out.

The Lin family's aftermath was not for the eldest princess, but because of her.

He was really hurt that day, and it wasn't just a self-torture tactic to win her sympathy.

As for helping her find her brother, she thought it was just a coincidence that she heard that the Black Armor Army was coming to the capital to provide disaster relief.

But she forgot that such important military affairs have always been reported directly to the court, and not many people knew about it. Moreover, given Gu Jingheng's meticulous style, how could he let her know so easily?

Unless he specifically let me hear it.

He had done so much for her, but what had she done?

She had been entangled in things from her past life and took her anger out on him, thinking that he was just playing around and that he was out to win and possess her, so she used him again and again to achieve her own goals.

In order to completely separate from him, she framed him in front of the eldest princess and forced him to acknowledge her as his sister, just so she could marry into Prince Xie's mansion.

He knew all this, but he still did what he wanted. How sad must he have felt at that time?

Later, he risked his life to save her, breaking his legs and crippling his hands, all for a word of her sincerity.

But she was still hesitant. She only said verbally that she would take care of him for the rest of his life, but she backed down when the critical moment came.

When his words and actions didn't match up, how could he not suspect that he was just lying to him.

Trying to get closer to her again and again is just his way of confirming whether she has him in her heart.

He is also a human being, and he will be sad and upset if he is rejected again and again.

Nan Yuan was overwhelmed by regret and heartache, her heart was in a mess.

Chu Zhixu's words were still lingering in her ears, making her recall every word she had ever said.

She had said that she would be with him forever, never leave him, and no matter what difficulties he encountered, she would stay by his side, never let go of his hand, and never betray him.

But she ended up breaking his heart.

Nan Yuan's hand holding Iris trembled slightly. She shouldn't be like this.

From now on, she will not be like this again. She will take good care of Gu Jingheng's emotions and will no longer bring those vague things from her previous life into her interactions with Gu Jingheng.

Nan Yuan took a deep breath, suppressed her emotions, and planned to go in and talk things out with Gu Jingheng. She would apologize to him, make it up to him, and give him whatever he wanted.

But just as she walked in, she heard Gu Jingheng speak.

"Oh! Real love? I will really love her? How is that possible? It's just a self-torture trick."

"She has always been soft-hearted, and the self-torture trick is most effective on her."

Hearing Gu Jingheng's cold and sarcastic voice, Nan Yuan froze in place. She looked at the familiar figure inside the door in disbelief. What did he say?

Is he talking about the self-torture tactic?

Nan Yuan's eyes were slightly red, her hands were clenched tightly, and her nails dug into her palms.

No, no, no, that's not the case. It's just some angry words.

When people are angry, they can say anything, but they are all angry words.

Nan Yuan thought so and tried to comfort herself, but the foot she had just raised fell down and she just stood outside the door in a daze.

Gu Jingheng continued: "Do you want me to help you recall what you think is true love?"

"Are you going to say that I broke my legs and slit my tendons for her, and even jumped off a cliff for her. I knew that I might die if I came back, but I still came back for her?"

"ridiculous!"

"Dealing with the Lin family is not for her sake. Her incident was just an opportunity. Even without her incident, I would still attack the Lin family."

"Whether Nan Yuan was there or not, I would have dealt with the Lin family. Going to her after I got hurt was just a matter of convenience. First, it was a self-torture tactic, so that I could play a miserable role and gain her sympathy; second, she knew medical skills, and she treated my injuries, so that I wouldn't have to go to the imperial physician, which would have disturbed too many people and would have been detrimental to my major event."

Gu Jingheng looked at the wine in the glass with a terribly gloomy expression.

He swirled the wine in the glass and stared at his own reflection in the glass. His eyes were as deep as an abyss.

It seemed that by saying this, he could deceive himself. He didn't care about Nan Yuan, not at all. He was just having fun in his spare time.

"Not only the Lin family, but also those wealthy and powerful nobles in the capital who are obsessed with money and oppression and rely on their status to bully others, I will deal with them one by one."

"Perhaps I will still use her name in the future. In the eyes of everyone, I will love her more and offend everyone for her. When things develop to the point where they are out of control, I will push her out and use her death to dispel the anger of the world."

"But that will have to wait until I've dealt with all these people. When I'm no longer interested in her and tired of playing with her, then she can realize her last bit of value for me."