Gu Qiang stared at her quietly. The woman bit her lips and said in a weak voice, “Qianshan, I don’t have any strength left. Give me some food, and I need a doctor.”

She fainted right after finishing her words. Jin Ye watched her falling and didn’t want to touch this woman again. After all, her identity was… But if he didn’t help her up now, she would fall on the ground. He inwardly complained about his own master for suddenly releasing the woman from his arms. If it hadn’t been Jin Ye, she would probably have been severely injured.

Shen Qianshan was hesitant. He turned around to look at Gu Qiang, who didn’t show any expression on her face. She didn’t seem to care about what happened in front of her at all.

He wondered if Gu Qiang would be angry back to the time when she didn’t lose her memories. But actually, he didn’t mean to irritate her or make her jealous this time because this woman was different.

Then he chose to help the woman up again, and the two walked toward the side hall.

The wind gusted wildly outside while raindrops were drumming on the roof. The screams of nature echoed in the whole hall, making Gu Qiang feel so insignificant. She stood alone in the dark, spacious hall, feeling she lost the last bit of hope she could rely on.

People wouldn’t expect every person to treat them differently but only hoped the people they cared about could share with them enough attention and love.

Gu Qiang forgot all the feelings for Shen Qianshan, but at least she knew he was something different for her. She had the privilege of doing whatever she wanted while being with him. It sounded a bit too much, but this was how it should be.

If she put an end to everything today, she would probably lose the privilege given by him. Thinking about this, she felt a bit sad and lonely.

Shen Qianshan passed by Gu Qiang as his eyes were still locking on her. He hoped she could say something, but only dead silence answered him. She was just standing there, with her mouth shut. If Gu Qiang ever said she didn’t want to see him act so intimately with another woman, he would let the one in his arms go unconditionally. He would do as Gu Qiang said at once, even if this woman was equally important for him.

Shen Qianshan always had a pleasant smell around him. Even though his clothes were soaked by the rain, Gu Qiang could still sense that familiar fragrance and even could feel her own dependence on it…

Shen Zhongbai walked close to Gu Qiang and wrapped his arm around her. He said affectionately, “Qiang, let’s go. We still have many things to do.”

His hand was heavy, making it hard for her to breathe, but she didn’t resist. She was waiting for an explanation from Shen Qianshan, who told her that he loved her. At least, they needed to make everything clear before it ended.

Shen Qianshan turned back. As his eyes met Gu Qiang’s, he opened his mouth but ended up not saying anything.

At the same time, he couldn’t ignore the smile on Shen Zhongbai’s face, which he felt unpleasant to look at. Gusu Liang, standing next to them, unconsciously tightened up all her muscles with tension coming out of nowhere.

What was wrong with the weird atmosphere among the three? After all, without any experience in relationships, Gusu Liang couldn’t understand the meaning behind their behavior and expression. Human hearts were the most complex things in the world, and even the tiniest change could affect how people felt.

Gu Qiang walked out slowly with Shen Zhongbai. Once the door was opened, rainwater was blown inside by the wind immediately. Gu Qiang stepped back as Shen Zhongbai quickly moved in front to protect her.

Shen Qianshan stopped walking but didn’t turn around to face them. His voice carried some imperceptible emotions, “The rain is too heavy. You can stay here tonight.”

Gu Qiang sneered. She knew there was no hope in relying on a man. She raised her eyes and said to Shen Zhongbai, “Let’s go.”

Overjoyed by her words, Shen Zhongbai hugged her in his arms and held an umbrella over her. The two walked into the rain, looking intimate.

Gusu Liang froze for a few seconds, confused by the weird atmosphere. She couldn’t help but rush to Shen Qianshan, ignoring the discipline, and talked to him in a low voice, “Master, what are you doing? Did you lose your mind? All you need to do is to explain to her! It doesn’t need to be like this!”

Shen Qianshan gazed at Gusu Liang, who had been working for him for years. Gusu Liang was around the same age as Jin Ye, but she was the one who understood herself and her life the most among Shen Qianshan’s subordinates from the same group, and also the purest one. Even though sometimes her thoughts were not necessarily right, her simplicity incredibly gave more patience to people around her. They were all willing to tolerate her, give her time to improve, and make her believe the world she was living in was still beautiful.

Her way of simplicity was somewhere between maturity and innocence. However, Shen Qianshan shook his head at her. Everything went as he expected after he saw Gu Qiang’s appearance here.

If she really trusted him, why did she come in the first place? If she still wanted to give him a chance, why did she not hesitate at all to leave with Shen Zhongbai?

Memories, sorrow, doubt… All kinds of thoughts and feelings intertwined in his mind and turned into a swirl of resent. Shen Qianshan had the urge to let go of all these emotions, but no one here could he talk with to vent them; either no one had the responsibility to bear his rage.

He turned his head back, staring at the woman who was breathing heavily in his arms. For an instant, he was lost in her pleasant fragrance. He had to admit that every woman indeed had charm and attractiveness in her own way. He needed to settle this woman first and then went to talk to Gu Qiang.

“What can I do?” Shen Qianshan said reluctantly, facing Gusu Liang, who kept sighing while staring at him. Then he shut the door tight as the rainwater splattered on the ground. Somehow, Gusu Liang felt the room temperature dropped immediately after he left. She rubbed her arms. It was so freezing here. Maybe Shen Qianshan’s frigid behavior made this place even colder.

When Gu Qiang was outside, she suddenly pushed the umbrella away from her and walked into the pouring rain. Her abrupt movement startled Shen Zhongbai, and he held it back above her head. Now since her and Shen Qianshan’s relationship started to get sour, it was the best chance for him to win her heart!

“Qiang, you are still too young. Do you really think everything a man says is true? Commitment is made to deceive a woman’s heart. How can you be so foolish?” As the rain covered most of his sound, Gu Qiang needed to pay extra attention to hear his words.

Then she raised her eyes and sneered at him, with her face as pale as a sheet. Even though she looked all wet and miserable, Shen Zhongbai still thought she was gorgeous.

“You are a man too. Do you mean I can’t trust every word you say?” After finishing her words, she left and her figure slowly disappeared in the rain.

Shen Zhongbai froze on his spot, stunned by her words until he couldn’t see her slim figure in the rain anymore. Did it turn out that he set a trap for himself?

When Gu Qiang walked nearby the Prime Minister Mansion, mourning music flowed into her ears from there. Washed by the rain, the music sounded even more sorrowful. She curled up her lips into a bitter smile and wiped the rainwater on her face. She couldn’t understand why she ended up like this. She had forgotten everything about Shen Qianshan, but why was it so painful? Why did her heart hurt so much as if he cut a deep wound on it?

She couldn’t help but laugh at herself, feeling weird about her life. For an instant, she didn’t know where she should go and what she should do in the future.

She finally seemed to realize this man was the pole star of her life. Was he the only one she could rely on in this world?

When she returned to her room, the rain already eased up. Ting Feng frowned at her with worry when she walked in, rushed over, and helped dry her clothes immediately. Meanwhile, Chui Xue stuffed her with two bowls of hot ginger soup and said to her with some apparent bitterness, “My lady, the Old Lady’s funeral will be tomorrow. What are you going to do?”

Even though Gu Qiang hadn’t recovered yet, she had to attend the funeral as a descendent of the family. Otherwise, people would think she was not a filial lady.

There was a diary gleaming in a rosewood table that sat by a window. On the other end of the diary, the empress was rubbing her hands nervously.

Shen Qianshan walked in from outside, sat down next to her, and gently patted her shoulder. His clean and bright smile brought a big relief for her.

“You still haven’t got back from her?” The smile on Shen Qianshan’s face gradually faded away. He was fully aware of how severe it was if the empress couldn’t contact Gu Qiang. It meant that they couldn’t save that child, and nothing would be changed.

He couldn’t bear to see the empress eaten up by her own despair. It didn’t matter if she was the empress or Shen Zhongbai’s woman. Their fates had been intertwined, mixed with many misunderstandings. However, what he had seen before was not necessarily the truth. She had a tough time, so did he.

The empress bit her lips, trying to suppress the anxiety deep inside. She had a bad feeling about it the whole time. Today Gu Huaihuai’s test result would be announced, so if nothing wrong happened, Gu Qiang would definitely contact her.

Before, she and Gu Qiang had frequently communicated with each other. Gu Qiang wanted to save her older brother, while the empress wanted to change her history. They were two people who knew each other the best and were the most trustworthy people to each other. Both of them saw the other as the most precious gift that God had bestowed on them. They had never thought about giving up on each other, and they couldn’t possibly do so.

But what was going on right now? The empress could feel the cold sweat on her back. She was staring at the dairy with all her heart as if she could dig something out of it.

“Just wait a bit longer,” Shen Qianshan said as he gently put his hand on hers. He was gazing at her affectionately, trying to comfort her. But the empress was too upset to notice his subtle feelings.

“I’m not sure if it is the same case for you. I feel something is added to my memories,” the empress said in a flat tone. She was much stronger now than she thought after going through so many hardships

Shen Qianshan thought carefully, and then a stern look showed up on his face. He could feel many memories were added in his mind as the empress said. As it was not the first time this kind of thing happened, he was not in a rush to consider it. Now that the empress mentioned it, he noticed there were many things he needed to go over cautiously.

Since it was the same situation for Shen Qianshan, if they could list out what happened in their new memories together, they could probably find out why Gu Qiang didn’t contact them.

Gusu Liang walked into the room and served some tea to the empress and Shen Qianshan. Suddenly, a weird feeling flashed across her heart, as if a long thread was clipped. It was something about Gu Qiang, feeling the bonding line between them was cut off.

She could feel she was deprived of some memories from her mind. Did anything happen to Gu Qiang?

Some weird, new memories appeared in her mind that didn’t match with reality. They were about the Old Lady’s death, but neither the Old Lady died at that time, nor did she die of illness. What on earth was going on?