Gu Qiang’s hand already showed a deep mark left by tight ropes tied around.

She moved her hands slightly while frowning and then said, “I should be happy, but I feel very upset now. If you could appear a little bit earlier, I wouldn’t need to come here.”

She was here to meet Shen Qianshan because of Gusu Liang’s disappearance. But then Liang showed up immediately after she came here, making what she did look pretty stupid.

“My lady, are you here for me?” Gusu Liang was confused for a second and then understood the situation immediately. If she could go back earlier, Gu Qiang wouldn’t be so worried.

But a wish was just a wish. Gusu Liang had no chance to run away earlier, and Gu Qiang had no idea what she had been through these few days. The torture was like a nightmare for her. If she weren’t good at martial arts, she would still be suffering right now.

Everything in the last few days felt like a bad dream. After escaping, Gusu Liang finally thought she could wake up from it, but now she fell into another nightmare.

“What on earth is Su Shuangning’s identity?” asked Gu Qiang. Her legs were both soaked in water, making her feel uncomfortable at the beginning. Coldness and clamminess crawled up through her vessels like tiny bugs, gradually conquering her body.

After a while, her body started to get used to it. Her legs were utterly numb right now, and she couldn’t feel them anymore.

“Her father is the Ninth Duke’s mother’s brother, very powerful in the military field. Moreover, there are many masters of herbs in their family who are medical geniuses. To be honest, they can do anything if they want to,” Gusu Liang said in a flat tone. The Su Family had kept a low file in the capital, not known by many people. However, the royal family clearly knew that their power would be enough to destroy the whole capital if they ever wanted to.

The quiet but competent people always tended to be the most horrifying ones.

The plague that suddenly went rampant this summer was enough to explain everything. How naive people were when they thought they could fight against natural disasters! Facing a family that could easily create a “natural disaster,” it was not strange that the royal family was afraid of them.

Gu Qiang fell into silence. Even a fool could understand that Su Shuangning dared to be so arrogant because her family owned something even stronger than military power. For the first time, Gu Qiang realized not every person who knew medicine was as lovely as she thought, and not all of them had mercy in their hearts.

Medicine could also be used for self-protection or offense.

“But don’t worry, my lady. The Ninth Duke will come to rescue us,” Gusu Liang comforted Gu Qiang. She was actually not sure about it at all, but she had nothing else to say. Gusu Liang was scared too, but she didn’t want to admit it in front of Gu Qiang.

It was getting cold in the evening. Shen Qianshan sat on a chair in the main hall and wrapped his clothes more tightly around his body. Jin Ye hurriedly put a white, thick coat on his shoulder, turned around, and cast a glare at Su Ge, who was standing behind.

Knowing Jin Ye’s intention, Su Ge lowered his head to avoid Jin Ye’s eyes. No matter how brave he was, some things were still too embarrassing for him to say out loud.

Moreover, nothing had happened yet. Wouldn’t he look like a fool admitting it first?

However, Jin Ye’s glare was even more uncomfortable for him.

After hesitating for a while, Su Ge finally walked up to Shen Qianshan with his hands held together. Then he said to Shen Qianshan in embarrassment, “Master, Infanta Luoping came here to look for you today.”

Hearing the word “Infanta Luoping,” Shen Qianshan froze for a second as if this title was bizarre for him. After his mind came back to reality, he abruptly stood up and grabbed Su Ge’s arm as he said coldly and hurriedly, “Who? Say it again?”

His reaction shocked Su Ge. Working for Shen Qianshan for years, Su Ge rarely saw Shen Qianshan this emotional, which meant Shen Qianshan’s love for Gu Qiang was even deeper than he expected. In other words, Su Ge made a big mistake this time.

Jin Ye walked up, glared at Su Ge again, and then said calmly, “Master, after you went to the imperial palace today, Miss Gu Qiang came here, saying she wanted to meet you. But you were not here at that time. Then Miss Su arrived and took Miss Gu away.”

Shen Qianshan was stunned by their words as he even started to doubt if he misheard them.

He suddenly swept everything on his table to the ground in anger. He glared at his two subordinated with a murderous look on his face and said coldly, “How dare you?! Do you know Su Shuangning’s personality? Don’t you know letting Gu Qiang leave with her alone is pretty much killing her?”

Su Ge only thought his master was overthinking. Miss Su seemed to be a kind person, and he didn’t believe she would do anything malicious behind people’s backs. However, Su Ge didn’t know he couldn’t judge one person only by appearance.

“Master, but Miss Su seems to be pretty nice. Maybe she can take good care of Miss Gu Qiang. I think you are just overthinking,” Su Ge stepped back and forced an embarrassed smile.

Before Su Ge finished his words, a crispy female voice came from outside, “Brother Shen, what are you talking about? Why would I kill Miss Gu Qiang? She is such a lovely girl, and I know you like her a lot. Am I really a cold-hearted woman in your eyes?”

Su Shuangning slowly walked in, waving a fan in her hand. A pleasing fragrance came with her together, as if she brought many flowers.

The smile on her face looked innocent, but the trace of ruthlessness in her eyes couldn’t be ignored.

Shen Qianshan turned around and looked into the woman’s eyes, “Let go of Qiang.”

“Why? Why should I let go of her after she came here by herself like an idiot? I’m not as foolish as her.” Su Shuangning walked closer, stared at Shen Qianshan’s eyes that were turning red in anger, and said in a serious tone, “You know, if you accept my conditions, nothing will happen to that girl. Otherwise, I will make your life even more painful than death.”

Su Shuangning knew a strong-willed man like Shen Qianshan either didn’t have any weakness or would have only one weakness, which should be a woman. As long as she found his weakness, controlling him would be very easy.

“Su Shuangning, do you really think you can do anything you want?” The worried look on Shen Qianshan’s face suddenly was changed to an arrogant one. He curled up his lips, showing his disdain for the woman in front of him.

Everything Su Shuangning did was only for one purpose – forcing him to marry her.

Why did she do so much for such a simple thing?

She was such an aggressive woman, determined to conquer a man who didn’t like her and dreaming about being loved by him. A woman like her wouldn’t even have another chance after her beautiful dream was shattered into pieces.

“You really think so? I know even if I didn’t kidnap Gu Qiang, you would still marry me. But I feel safer having her in my hand. If you have time right now, we can talk about all the preparation for the wedding, for example, the invitations. I’d like to do hand-writing invitations by ourselves. What do you think?”

Su Shuangning was like talking to herself, feeling the wedding would come soon. Her offensive attitude reminded Shen Qianshan of Gu Zhihua, who fell in love with Shen Zhongbai.

The whole capital knew that she liked Shen Zhongbai. That girl once didn’t see the man she wanted for about a month, then she decided to climb up his mansion’s wall to sneak in. Of course, people in the mansion thought she was an assassin and beat her up, and the Prime Minister had to use his power to block the news from spreading.

Shen Qianshan calmed himself down, knowing the woman’s intention. In the long-lasting silence, Su Shuangning’s patience was running out. She finally sat down and said in a flat tone, “Have you made up your mind? No one in the world can be a good match with you except for me. I’m your best choice, right?”

Shen Qianshan laughed out loud and turned around with a sarcastic look on his face. Both Jin Ye and Su Ge, standing behind him, felt a bit annoyed by Su Shuangning’s behavior.

“How can you say these as a woman? Do you still have a sense of shame?” A woman like her said such things, which meant she had given up on everything, including her ego, just for getting Shen Qianshan. “So what? There are not many men who are worthy of me. You should think about it carefully. How many benefits can we make from our marriage?”

Su Shuangning didn’t even care how Shen Qianshan thought of her. No matter what he thought and said, the goddess of luck was standing at her side. But in Shen Qianshan’s eyes, he didn’t care about the benefits Su Shuangning mentioned. He didn’t lack anything in his life, nor did he care about anything. Everything related to the so-called benefits or the imperial family had nothing to do with him.

However, Shen Qianshan remembered clearly what the Empress Dowager said to him today. She still talked to him nicely because she had a close relationship with Shen Qianshan’s mother when she was still alive. She was the one who gave Shen Qianshan a stable life as a duke. Her words today were both a threat and a hint to him.

Although Shen Qianshan never cared about those, he knew she could ruin his life if she really wanted to.

“Gu Qiang is innocent. Let go of her. I’m giving you a chance right now to think about your decision. Before our relationship hasn’t been fully broken yet, don’t challenge me,” his tone was firmly, and he said it word by word, like water dripping slowly in silence.

After a long time, Su Shuangning finally calmed herself down and started to consider the situation.

But the situation was simple – she just wanted Shen Qianshan to marry her. “You want me to let go of Gu Qiang? Stop daydreaming! I know you like her. If you can, come and rescue her by yourself!” Su Shuangning’s pretty face was twisted in anger. Clearly, Shen Qianshan had known her true colors, so she didn’t even bother to keep up with her gentle-lady disguise. After finishing her words, Su Shuangning put on the same arrogant look as when she came and left with her maids.