“Miss Gu, long time no see. I guess you are not here for me, right?” Su Shuangning’s voice was crispy, and her tone couldn’t be softer.

Even so, Gu Qiang could still feel the aura of danger she exuded.

“You are right. I’m here to look for the Ninth Duke for some private business,” Gu Qiang said in a flat tone. The Xiaoyao Mountain was a strange place to her, and being alone here made her feel unsafe.

By mentioning “private business,” she hoped Su Shuangning could understand her hint and stop asking more questions.

However, Su Shuangning looked at Su Ge, signaling him to leave, and the latter walked away immediately.

In the backyard, Jin Ye stared at Su Ge in annoyance and said to him in a low voice, “Brother, you know Miss Su is not a kind-hearted one. Why did you leave Gu Qiang alone there?”

Jin Ye didn’t like Gu Qiang either, but if he had to choose one between Su Shuangning and Gu Qiang to be Shen Qianshan’s wife, he would stand on Gu Qiang’s side.

First of all, Shen Qianshan indeed loved Gu Qiang. Also, many people just didn’t know the true colors of Su Shuangning.

“What’s wrong with Miss Su? She’s a gorgeous lady who is very gentle, well, much gentler than Gu Qiang. Anyway, I prefer Miss Su,” said Su Ge as he peeked at the living room. Su Shuangning stood there and said to Gu Qiang, “Miss Infanta, if you are looking for the Ninth Duke, I can show you the way.”

“Hasn’t he come back yet?” Gu Qiang was confused by her words. If Su Shuangning liked Shen Qianshan and knew he was once very intimate with Gu Qiang, she should try everything to avoid her.

But she suddenly showed up and offered to take Gu Qiang to him, making Gu Qiang feel something was wrong.

“You know that the relationship between the Ninth Duke and me is special. After he came back, he went to see me first. Right now, he’s at my place.” Su Shuangning walked a couple of steps ahead and stopped to wait for Gu Qiang.

She was betting that Gu Qiang would follow her.

But Gu Qiang didn’t move an inch. She was afraid that there was no way back for her if she did so since she was alone.

“Why are you still standing there, Miss Infanta? Are you afraid that I will do something terrible to you?” Su Shuangning giggled as she crossed her arms in front of her chest, looking at Gu Qiang.

Gu Qiang stayed silent for a while. Then she finally stood up and followed Su Shuangning toward the backyard.

The maids they encountered on the way all curtsied to Su Shuangning respectfully as if they had already accepted her position in this place.

Su Shuangning smiled back at those maids who greeted her, showing her kind personality.

Gu Qiang followed her all the way to the back of the mountain, where the paths had many twists and turns, covered with small pebbles.

They had already been far away from the palace on the Xiaoyao Mountain.

As they went through the woods full of trees with golden leaves, the maids following behind Su Shuangning all pulled a long face.

While walking further deep, Gu Qiang couldn’t help asking, “Where are you going to take me? If you dare to set me up, I guarantee that you will die miserably.”

Su Shuangning stopped immediately. She stopped under a giant plum tree, leaned on it, and smiled at Gu Qiang, “You? Make me die miserably? Do you know who I am?”

As Su Shuangning finished her words, her maids surrounded Gu Qiang immediately. They pulled out their weapons and pointed them at her without any expression on their faces.

If Gu Qiang dared to move an inch, they would strike her immediately.

Different than ordinary malicious women, Su Shuangning was braver and bolder. Or, as she said herself, her identity was very noble, noble enough that no one would dare to say anything even if she killed an Infanta of the empire.

“What do you want? If you are doing this because of Shen Qianshan, you are just wasting your time. I don’t remember anything now. You can just start a brand new relationship with him,” Gu Qiang was talking patiently. She had a considerable disadvantage in this situation, so she would lose big if she irritated Su Shuangning.

She didn’t see any point in living right now since she didn’t have a past or future.

However, she had many responsibilities on her shoulder and many things to complete. Before her goal was achieved, she didn’t care about the means as long as she could live.

“But he cares about you too much. Even though you lost all your memories, you are still occupying his heart. So, the best way is to make you vanish. We are getting married soon, and you are the stumbling block in our way. I have to get rid of you.”

The gentle smile on Su Shuangning’s face already faded away. She didn’t even bother to keep her disguise up.

“Catch her for me and lock her in the water dungeon until my wedding ends.” As Su Shuangning waved her hand, all her maids went up to catch Gu Qiang, acting rudely with a fierce look on their faces.

Gu Qiang tried to struggle but found these women very strong. There was no way she could break free from them.

As Gu Qiang expected, Su Shuangning had prepared this already. Everything she did, including irritating Gu Qiang, was for imprisoning her.

Who was she? Why could she do whatever she wanted?

What did Su Shuangning and Master Su have that made the whole royal family so wary of them?

“You little bitch, you’d better not move an inch. Otherwise, I will make you suffer.” Su Shuangning reached out and patted the blade in her hand on Gu Qiang’s face. The cold, metallic touch frightened Gu Qiang, but she had to calm herself down.

If she were just an ordinary lady, she would probably almost pass out facing this kind of situation. She wondered why she could still stay so calm.

She was even frightened by her own calmness.

Then two maids dragged Gu Qiang away while the rest of them blocked the path.

Watching Gu Qiang leaving, Su Shuangning sneered and muttered to herself, “Humph, as long as I have Gu Qiang in my hand, Shen Qianshan has to obey me. Even though he doesn’t want to marry me, he has no other choice.”

A maid who dressed up neatly walked up and said to Su Shuangning with her head lowered, “My lady, as you said, what if Shen Qianshan’s heart is still occupied by that bitch after he marries you?”

Love was not something people could force out. Su Shuangning had been spoiled since she was a child and always got whatever she wanted, including men.

Shen Qianshan was the only different one, but just because of this, Su Shuangning thought she had to conquer his heart.

The maid clearly had a better grasp of the situation. A woman like her master could definitely find a man who loved her deeply and was willing to pamper her for his whole life. If Su Shuangning kept chasing after Shen Qianshan like this, she might even be hated by him forever.

Su Shuangning had such a good hand in the game, but she played it really bad.

But the maid couldn’t say anything about it except for a tiny hint.

“If Shen Qianshan can’t forget about that woman, that will make things even simpler. I don’t mind competing with a dead person.” Su Shuangning raised her chin, and the other maids closed the door immediately.

The door looked delicate, with some strange, pretty flowers carved on it.

Su Shuangning stood in front of the shut door like a prideful peacock, showing her stunning beauty. Then she left to meet Shen Qianshan as if nothing had happened.

The maid who wanted to convince Su Shuangning before let out a deep sigh. When she turned around to settle Gu Qiang, someone suddenly kicked her right in her face.

She screamed and lost her sight for a few seconds as the pain from her nose almost made her pass out.

Her scream caught all the other maids’ attention. Everyone surrounded her, staring at Gusu Liang, who showed up from nowhere.

Standing on top of the door, Gusu Liang ran her fingers through her hair and chuckled at those maids.

She kept her voice low as if she didn’t want anyone else to hear her, “Long time no see, Shuang You. Your master went too far this time. Do you know the person your master kidnapped is my master?”

The maid called Shuang You froze for a second. After realizing she was ambushed by Shen Qianshan’s subordinate, she flew into a rage. “Gusu Liang, I respect you because you work for the Ninth Duke. Don’t take it for granted,” said Shuang You coldly.

Gusu Liang was not frightened by her words at all since she had been in similar situations many times already.

She often faced a group of enemies without knowing their abilities and backgrounds, but she had never been afraid.

“Since we serve different masters, it seems that a fight between us is not evitable.” After finishing her words, Gusu Liang jumped off the door and rushed toward Shuang You, exuding an aura of aggression. The blade in her hand showed a cold, metallic glint.

Clearly, Shuang You was not an ordinary maid either. She reacted quickly, pulled out her blade hung near her waist, and started to fight against Gusu Liang.

It seemed that rules didn’t exist in this place. More than ten maids rushed up and joined their fight.

Gu Qiang stood aside, watching the scene quietly. She was not sent to the water dungeon yet, but she had already given up.

At this moment, she suddenly thought of the man she had met before, who asked her to be his wife.

Gu Qiang remembered her confidence when telling that man she would never need to learn martial arts. At that time, she believed sincerely that she could lead a good life with her intelligence.

But right now, watching those maids flying in the air like bugs and Gusu Liang defending their fierce attacks, she started to feel regret.

Merely having intelligence couldn’t deal with every situation in the world. Right now, violence seemed quite helpful for self-protection.

But did she still have the opportunity to learn martial arts? Would she choose to walk down the unknown path? She was not afraid of enduring all kinds of hardships, but the scariest thing could be she didn’t even have time to make a change.

Although Gusu Liang was a master of martial arts, the enemies had an advantage in numbers. Suddenly, someone hit her from her back, making her lose balance and fall onto the ground. Seeing this, Gu Qiang gnashed her teeth to prevent herself from screaming.

Gusu Liang landed on the ground. After a burst of dust, the maids’ blades were on her neck. Then she and Gu Qiang were sent to the water dungeon together.

It was a dark and damp place. Standing in the waist-deep water, Gusu Liang chuckled and said, “I don’t know if I should be happy or upset meeting you here.”