Chapter 2825 The Substitute Was Forcibly Taken by the Bandit's Wife 30

Since that day in the bamboo forest, Gu Fanghe has stayed by Jin Chen's side in the warm pavilion, citing her need for rest after being frightened. He has temporarily entrusted all the affairs of the village to Chen Xiaoshan and Liu Mianfeng, only briefly inquiring when necessary. Jin Chen is happy to see him like this.

Charcoal fires burned constantly inside the warm pavilion, filling the air with the aromas of tea and wine.

This lasted for three days.

However, Ruan Shutong, who was confined to the west wing, did not have a peaceful three days.

He couldn't go anywhere except that small courtyard. Bandits guarded the courtyard day and night, ostensibly for protection, but in reality for surveillance.

Ruan Shutong did try to find a solution.

On the first day, he calculated the time when Chen Xiaoshan would pass by the side courtyard on his way back from his patrol. He waited at the gate early in the morning. When he saw Chen Xiaoshan appear, he immediately went up to him through the fence and said, "Second Brother Chen, please wait!"

Chen Xiaoshan stopped and looked at him. "Young Master Ruan, what is it?"

Ruan Shutong took a slight breath and said sincerely, "Second Brother Chen, I know that Brother Gu and the others in the village have some misunderstandings about me, but my father is seriously ill and urgently needs those medicinal herbs that grow on the cliffs of Black Mountain to prolong his life."

“I have been here for several days and I am extremely worried. Could you please ask Brother Chen to make an exception and let me take some people into the mountains to collect herbs? I promise that I will leave immediately after I have collected the herbs and will not cause any more trouble to the mountain stronghold.”

Chen Xiaoshan frowned and remained silent.

He did remember Ruan Shutong's kindness from three years ago, but given his elder brother's attitude, he dared not act on his own initiative.

"Oh, what are you saying, Young Master Ruan? You weren't worried when the rain stopped and the sky cleared up the other day, but now you seem to be in a real crisis."

Liu Mianfeng, fanning himself, had also strolled over at some point and leaned against an old tree not far away, watching this side.

Ruan Shutong's heart tightened, and she said with a wry smile, "Brother Liu is joking. Back then..."

"What was that?" Liu Mianfeng interrupted him, tapping her fan lightly on her palm. "Back then, you thought your two followers could accomplish something, but they ended up making things worse, right?"

"Brother Liu, you've misunderstood. I had absolutely no such intention! I was just thinking that I'm an old acquaintance of everyone in the village, perhaps..."

"Old acquaintances are old acquaintances, but rules are rules." Liu Mianfeng closed his fan, his tone becoming indifferent. "Since my elder brother has instructed that Young Master Ruan should recuperate here, then Young Master Ruan should rest assured and recuperate."

"There's no rush to gather herbs. If you're not in a hurry, then we're even less in a hurry. Don't you agree, Second Brother?"

Liu Mianfeng looked at Chen Xiaoshan, his eyes flickering slightly, a hint of admonition in them.

With Liu Mianfeng's interference, Gu Fanghe remembered that the matter of Chu Yi and Chu Ming had not yet been investigated, and his elder brother's attitude was unclear, so he suppressed his pity.

Gu Fanghe: "Young Master Ruan, I cannot make the decision on this matter. Please wait a few more days for your elder brother's instructions."

After saying that, he nodded to Liu Mianfeng, turned around and left with his men.

Ruan Shutong: "..."

Liu Mianfeng... that smiling fox! He was indifferent to him three years ago, and now he's openly targeting him!

The next day, Ruan Shutong waited for A Dong to take his turn on duty. Three years ago, when he was in the village, he had sent valuable medicinal materials to A Dong, a close confidant of Gu Fanghe who was ill at the time, in order to win Gu Fanghe's trust.

Ruan Shutong called him softly, "Brother Adong."

Ah Dong was startled. He looked around before walking to the window and lowering his voice, "Young Master Ruan, you were looking for me?"

Ruan Shutong took out a silver ingot from her sleeve and stuffed it into his hand. "Brother Adong, I want to ask you for a favor... I want to see the chief."

Ah Dong held the silver ingot, stunned for a moment, "Why?"

Ruan Shutong pressed on, "Brother Adong, I know there's a misunderstanding about me in the village right now. Could you please help me by passing on a message to Brother Gu, or... take me out for a moment? I'll go find him myself."

Upon hearing this, A Dong's expression changed, and he took several steps back. "No, this is unacceptable! The chief has ordered that you cannot leave this courtyard, and I cannot disobey the chief's orders!"

Ruan Shutong hadn't expected him to refuse so decisively. In a moment of panic, she blurted out, "Adong, have you forgotten that three years ago... Brother Gu painted a portrait of me, which hangs in his study..."

To everyone's surprise, when Ah Dong heard the words "portrait," his face darkened, and the gentleness he felt because of past favors vanished completely.

"Young Master Ruan! I'm only speaking to you politely because you saved someone three years ago, but don't push your luck! The Boss himself said that the portrait in the study is of Young Master Jin, not you!"

"Why are you bringing this up again? Are you trying to drive a wedge between the Boss and Young Master Jin? Let me tell you, no way!"

A Dong turned around and ran to the courtyard gate, his back to Ruan Shutong, refusing to look back.

Ruan Shutong stood there, as if struck by lightning.

Gu Fanghe... actually said that to everyone in the village.

He was trembling with anger and wanted to smash the fence in front of him. Leaving this secluded courtyard would not be difficult, but he couldn't leave now.

We cannot expose ourselves; we cannot let all our previous efforts go to waste.

In the following days, Ruan Shutong offered generous rewards to both the servants who delivered meals and the children playing in the courtyard, or feigned pitifulness to gain sympathy.

But no one, regardless of who they were, was willing to help.

Not a single person in the entire village believed him.

-

Three days later, Jin Chen felt that she had recovered enough and no longer stayed in the warm pavilion all day.

Seeing that he looked healthy and energetic, Gu Fanghe felt relieved. In addition, there were indeed matters in the village that needed to be dealt with, so he resumed his daily routine and sent more people to protect the area near the warm pavilion.

Early that morning, he went to the drill ground, a place enclosed by the village specifically for training elite teams to prepare them for future confrontations with the imperial court.

Ruan Shutong finally got her chance.

Taking advantage of the shift change, he slipped out of the west courtyard and made his way to the outside of the drill ground.

The guards immediately stepped forward to stop them: "Halt! Who goes there!"

"I want to see the boss!"

Gu Fanghe frowned, sheathed his sword, and looked over.

Ruan Shutong ignored the guards' attempts to stop her and looked in his direction.

Gu Fanghe tightened his grip on the knife, remembering his promise to Jin Chen that day to kill Ruan Shutong with his own hands.

He waved to the guard, "Let him in."

The guards released their grip, and Ruan Shutong strode into the center of the field. As soon as he got close, Gu Fanghe gave him a signal with his eyes, and two elite team members guarding the sidelines immediately stepped forward and grabbed him from the left and right.

Ruan Shutong was startled and looked up at Gu Fanghe, only to see the horizontal knife in his hand gleaming coldly in the sunlight, the tip of the knife pointing directly at her heart.

“Brother Gu…” Ruan Shutong’s voice trembled, “Listen to me, I had a dream the night before last…”

Gu Fanghe's eyes froze, his gaze darkening.

Ruan Shutong was secretly pleased and quickly continued, "I dreamt of... our past life together."

Gu Fanghe's pupils suddenly contracted.

The past—that's the same word I heard from Ruan Shutong in my dream.

He stared at Ruan Shutong for a few seconds, then turned and walked towards the small house behind the training ground.

"Come into the house and talk."

Ruan Shutong was overjoyed and quickly followed.

No one expected things to turn out this way.

Yan Qi now admired Jin Chen to the point of worship, and immediately jumped up, "What are you doing, big brother? You don't actually believe that Ruan Shutong's nonsense, do you?"

Liu Mianfeng waved his fan and said, "Go and inform Young Master Jin."

Yan Qi nodded, beckoned over a bandit, and whispered a few instructions in his ear.

The bandit's expression changed, and he turned and ran towards the warm pavilion.