SGEIRS -Chapter 409 She Has Her Eye on Him

It was hard to say whether it was just her imagination, but Meng Jinyao felt that the inn’s waiter had been giving her and her husband strange looks. From time to time, his gaze would drift toward them.

By now, Meng Jinyao was full. She put down her chopsticks and called softly, “Husband.”

Gu Jingxi looked at her, the corners of his lips lifting into a meaningful smile. He chuckled and asked, “Little sister, why aren’t you calling me Third Brother anymore? Did I do something wrong and make you unhappy?”

At his words, Meng Jinyao’s expression froze.

Thinking of his despicable behavior last night, she felt both embarrassed and annoyed. She shot him a glare. Last night, she had been forced to call him “Third Brother” again and again as he wished. If she didn’t, he was dissatisfied; if she did, he only became more excited. If she had known, she would never have played this brother-and-sister role. She had truly brought trouble upon herself.

Gu Jingxi pretended not to notice her embarrassment and asked casually, “Does little sister have any questions?”

Hearing him still call her “little sister,” Meng Jinyao glared at him and whispered, “I think that waiter who’s wiping the table is looking at us strangely.”

Gu Jingxi lifted his eyes and happened to meet the waiter’s gaze.

The waiter was looking at them with a complicated expression, as though they had done something earth-shattering and morally shocking. He seemed deep in thought. Gu Jingxi recalled seeing this waiter when they had just left their room earlier and more or less understood what was going on.

He said indifferently, “Don’t bother with him. He probably just thinks you’re pretty and wants to look a bit more.”

Meng Jinyao said, “Yu… um, Xiao Yu at the next table is quite good-looking too. Why isn’t he staring at him?”

What she said was true. Yu Chuan, dressed as a young woman, looked rather pretty. As for herself, she had deliberately used makeup to hide her good features and looked far less attractive than before.

Gu Jingxi made something up without batting an eye. “Xiao Yu is taller than him. He feels inferior and doesn’t dare look.”

Meng Jinyao: “……”

After breakfast, they bought some dried rations and prepared water at the inn, then continued heading north.

Watching them leave, the innkeeper shook his head regretfully.

Such a good pair of siblings, yet they were doing something so immoral. Even if they didn’t share the same mother, they still had the same father. How could they fall for each other?

There had once been a pair of siblings in their town who secretly got together. In the end, they were punished by heaven. After the sister became pregnant with her brother’s child, she stayed indoors to nurture the pregnancy. She later gave birth to a malformed baby, which was thrown into a mass grave to be eaten by wolves. The sister went mad as well. Fortunately, they had no parents—otherwise, they would surely have been beaten to death.

Elsewhere, in the county city where Gu Jingxi and his group had previously arrived, two young men in black met up.

The one who had just entered the city and finally found their leader said, “Boss, I searched that ship. There was nothing on board that our lord is looking for.”

It was as expected. The leader was not surprised.

“Did you do anything to them?” he asked.

The young man shook his head. “No. I searched in secret. They didn’t notice anything.”

The leader nodded. “Well done. Our lord ordered us to avoid causing trouble. If they die, it will definitely alarm the authorities. Since Marquis Gu gave up the water route and took the land route, it would be perfectly normal for him to be robbed by bandits and die on the way.”

The young man asked again, “Boss, where are they now?”

The leader frowned. “After they disembarked and entered the city, they used tricks to shake me off. I’ve been guarding the city gates since then and haven’t seen them. I checked the exit records too—there’s no trace of them. They’re still in the city, but I don’t know which corner they’re hiding in. Our people should arrive soon. When they do, we’ll dig three feet into the ground if we have to, just to find them.”

However, after their men arrived and secretly searched the city, they still found no trace of Gu Jingxi’s group of five. There were no records of them leaving the city either. It was as if they had never left this county at all.

Unable to find them, the leader grew anxious.

There were only two possibilities: either Gu Jingxi had already left the city, or he was still hiding inside.

He immediately sent someone to report to their master. As for their own group, they could not stay idle. One man was left behind to keep watch in the city, while the rest were split into two teams—one to pursue by water, the other by land.

When Lord Han learned that his men had lost track of their target, he flew into a rage and berated his subordinates harshly.

The man being scolded didn’t dare make a sound.

In the end, Lord Han said coldly, “Get lost. Go and settle this matter. If you can’t, bring your head to see me!”

The man hurriedly acknowledged and withdrew.

Lord Han was restless.

Now, either Gu Jingxi would die, or he would. And even the Duke of Zhenguo’s residence behind him would be implicated. Those items must never be allowed to reach the capital.

It was all his brother-in-law’s fault for being careless. Gu Jingxi had been in Huzhou City, yet he hadn’t kept proper watch. In the end, he even let Gu Jingxi come to his house and take away something so important.

He usually seemed clever, but at critical moments, he was completely useless and only dragged others down.

On Gu Jingxi’s side, after traveling by land for several days, they sold their carriage and switched back to traveling by water, boarding a merchant ship heading north.

They had now shaken off their pursuers. It was safe to return to the capital directly by boat. In a few more days, they would arrive.

On the ship.

A well-dressed young lady struck up a conversation with Meng Jinyao. From their chat, Meng Jinyao learned that her surname was Tang, that her family did business, and that she was from the capital.

Seeing that Meng Jinyao was easy to talk to, Miss Tang asked more questions.

“Miss Xiao, where are you heading?”

“Xiao” was the surname they were currently using under their false identities. In fact, Old Madam Gu’s maiden surname was Xiao, so Gu Jingxi had simply taken his mother’s surname. Since Meng Jinyao was pretending to be his sister, she also used Xiao.

Knowing that Miss Tang was from the capital, Meng Jinyao didn’t lie and answered honestly, “To the capital.”

Miss Tang asked again, “You sound like you’re from the capital. Are you a native?”

Meng Jinyao shook her head gently. “No. I just grew up there. My mother passed away when I was young. My grandmother pitied me and took me to the capital to raise me. Now I’m going with my brother to visit her, as well as my uncle and aunt.”

Hearing this, Miss Tang looked at her with more sympathy.

Losing one’s mother at a young age was a huge blow. Children especially needed their mothers when they were small. She herself had been the same.

Meng Jinyao smiled lightly. “Miss Tang, I’m fine. It’s all in the past.”

“That’s good,” Miss Tang said, then deliberately changed the topic and asked casually, “Third Young Master Xiao looks like a gentle and refined scholar. His wife must be a very gentle woman, right?”

As soon as Meng Jinyao heard this, she understood.

She also realized why Miss Tang had taken the initiative to talk to her—she had taken a fancy to her husband and was probing for information.

Even though she had deliberately dulled her husband’s good looks, making him seem like just a clean and handsome young man, far from the radiant Marquis Gu, girls still liked him.

This proved that temperament was important. Even if his appearance had changed, his aura had not.

She didn’t want Miss Tang to harbor any fantasies.

She giggled and said, “Not at all. My third sister-in-law has nothing to do with gentleness. She’s fierce—like a tigress. She keeps my third brother firmly under control. At home, her word is law. In front of her, he’s as obedient as a little cat.”