Resplendent – Chapter 568

Chapter 568: In Every Crack

Gu Ye appreciated Ning Dongchen’s handsome face. Amidst a group of disheveled scholars that day, this strikingly beautiful youth had sported a large bruise on his cheek and a face caked in dust and dirt. Who would have thought he possessed such striking features?

“Pretty isn’t he?” A breath tickled her ear as someone leaned close.

The voice held a unique, husky magnetism—an inexplicable blend of sensuality and languid charm. Gu Ye knew instantly who it was without turning. She nodded deliberately. “Pretty!”

“Pretty as me?” Ling Juechen’s tone brimmed with deadly allure, laced with danger.

Before Gu Ye could reply, Princess Anya’s sharp reprimand cut through the air: “Who are you?! Stay away from Xiao Ye!”

A grown man—a tall, imposing man, a tall, strikingly handsome man—had approached without her noticing, leaning close to Chu Xiaoye and whispering intimately to her. 

Princess Anya’s heart skipped a beat. Without a second thought, she lashed out with her whip.

Standing so close, Gu Ye felt the whip aimed straight at her. She yelped in terror, “Princess Anya, hold your horses! Careful, you might hit me by mistake—”

Princess Anya’s lash missed its mark. Her eyes blazed with fury as she snapped, “Stay where you are! I know what I’m doing!”

“But I don’t know what I’m doing! Help!” Gu Ye felt the second lash graze her cheek, the rush of wind stinging her face. Suddenly, her waist was gripped as he was lifted off the ground. Her white-clad beauty carried her to a nearby rockery.

“Open your eyes. It’s safe now!” Ling Juechen’s arms remained wrapped around her waist. Whether to assert dominance or prevent her from tumbling off the rockery, he hadn’t ‘remembered’ to let go.

Gu Ye slowly opened her eyes, scanned the surroundings, and nodded. “Nice view. You can see the entire Chrysanthemum Garden from here. Hey! Is that poker-faced guy Kui or Xiao? Take it easy—don’t hurt Princess Anya. You don’t want to start an international incident!”

Ling Juechen surveyed the ‘battlefield,’ where the fighting appeared fierce on the surface, yet he knew his subordinate hadn’t even unleashed ten percent of his true strength. Withdrawing his gaze, he turned his attention to the young girl, fixing his eyes on her delicate profile. A faint smile touched his lips as he said, “He is Yin Kui. Xiao is stationed at the Hidden Soul Palace headquarters! Rest assured, Kui knows his limits.”

As an organization spanning the entire realm, the Hidden Soul Palace required someone to oversee all affairs despite its leaders at every level fulfilling their respective duties. As the Hall’s Supreme Master, he held the dual titles of Grand General of the Yan Kingdom and Prince Ning. Recently preoccupied with pursuing his wife, this heavy responsibility had fallen upon Yin Xiao’s shoulders.

That little scholar, Ning Dongchen, still hadn’t grasped the situation. 

Wasn’t he just greeting Miss Chu? Out of nowhere, a man in white appeared, acting as if he knew Miss Chu intimately. And then there was Princess Anya, inexplicably whipping someone before being stopped by their guards…

Uh… Miss Chu had been flown to the rockery. She wouldn’t have fallen, would she? Ning Dongchen himself suffered from a fear of heights; seeing others perched so high made his legs tremble. His handsome face drained as he called out to Gu Ye: “Miss Chu, be careful… Should I call someone over for you?”

Princess Anya had long recognized the vast disparity in strength between herself and her opponent. Seizing a moment, she shouted at the bookish youth: “Go fetch Chu Xiaosi and Chu Xiaowu! Tell them someone is plotting against their sister!”

Ning Dongchen observed the two figures chatting and laughing on the rockery. One wore flowing white robes with an otherworldly grace; the other was sweet and charming, her smile like a blossoming flower. Though he didn’t want to admit it, he felt inexplicably that they were a perfect match—the idiom ‘made for each other’ couldn’t be more aptly applied to them.

He hesitated: He truly couldn’t discern any ill intent in the white-robed man!

Ling Juechen glanced over, took in his frail appearance, and silently shook his head. The young scholar might fit the girl’s aesthetic preferences, but he posed no threat. How could she possibly fancy someone who couldn’t even protect himself?

A faint smile curved his lips as he stood with one hand behind his back. A gentle breeze ruffled his flowing white robes, lifting his jet-black hair. The phrases ‘a graceful orchid and jade tree’ or ‘a jade tree standing in the wind’ scarcely captured his elegant bearing at that moment. Gu Ye couldn’t help but stare in awe!

Ling Juechen’s smile deepened as he asked softly, “Ye’er, do you like flowers?”

“Just so-so, I guess!” Compared to all those flowers and plants, she preferred medicinal herbs that could cure illnesses and save lives.

“What kind of flowers do you like? I’ll get them for you!” Giving flowers to a girl you liked was the most common way to pursue a girl in his past life, and it worked pretty well. Back then, he didn’t have the means, but now? With the power he held, what flowers couldn’t he get? As long as the little girl liked them!

Gu Ye thought carefully for a moment before replying honestly, “The roses you gave me last time were lovely. I really enjoyed the rose jam and the rose flower pastries!”

“…” He shouldn’t have tried to guess her preferences based on ordinary people’s tastes. He felt a mix of resignation and quiet pride: his little girl truly was one-of-a-kind, utterly unique!

“If you like them, I’ll have more sent over!” Though it was early winter, for Ling Juechen—whose businesses spanned the land and who controlled his own transport routes—securing fresh flowers posed little difficulty. 

Hadn’t the little girl’s glass greenhouse just been completed? Besides bouquets of roses, he could send some plants for her to grow. Then, whether for decoration or culinary creations, she’d be delighted!

Gu Ye nodded, then looked up at him. “My mother, your future mother-in-law, loves orchids most of all. The more precious and rare the orchid, the more she adores it!”

With that, she gave him a look that said, ‘You handle it.’

Ling Juechen felt his heart soar by the little girl’s mention of his future mother-in-law. How could this little thing be so perfectly to his liking? His future mother-in-law, naturally, must be won over. As for the future father-in-law, based on his recent observations, he was a henpecked husband with tendencies toward being a doting husband. 

Once his mother-in-law was secured, his father-in-law would pose no real threat. As for those brothers-in-law, no matter how much they cherished their sister, they couldn’t possibly interfere with her lifelong happiness.

Having caught the hint from the young girl, his features softened, his voice growing more tender: “Trust me! Just wait patiently at home for Brother Chen to come and marry you…”

“Who… who said I wanted to marry you! As if I’m dying to marry you!” Gu Ye felt a little flustered under Ling Juechen’s intense gaze.

Ling Juechen dared not upset his future bride, quickly adopting a soothing tone: “Fine, fine, fine! It’s not that you’re dying to marry me. It’s me who does! Is that better?”

“Hmph! Now we’re talking!” Gu Ye seemed to fall for this approach easily, looking quite amenable. “By the way, did you send Xiao Ba to the pharmaceutical factory in the western suburbs? And that craftsman—he’s quite resourceful and capable. Is he also under your command?”

“Xiao Ba… that’s a rather affectionate nickname! ” Ling Juechen couldn’t help but mutter under his breath. Among her four elite bodyguards, Yin Mei was always by her side, yet she never addressed him so familiarly. Only Yin Ba… Ling Juechen refused to admit it, but he felt a pang of jealousy!

Gu Ye hadn’t expected the ice-cold, cool-as-hell guy from her past life to have such a childish side. She grinned widely, delighted: “If Brother Chen feels jealous, then… I can call you Xiao Ling, Xiao Chen…”

“Forget it. It sounds like summoning a eunuch in some period drama—pretty awkward. ‘Brother Chen’ is much easier on the ears.” Ling Juechen composed his expression, though his gradually reddening ears betrayed his true feelings. Somehow, it felt a bit embarrassing, didn’t it?

But Gu Ye found this side of him rather adorable. Compared to the perpetually stern, ice-cold Ling Chen from her past life, she preferred this Brother Chen who dared to show his emotions in front of her. If the Ling Chen of her previous existence was a formidable figure she both admired and feared, then this life’s Ling Juechen truly embodied what a boyfriend should be. Being pursued and cherished felt surprisingly good!

“Huh? My brothers are coming over. Shouldn’t you step aside?” Standing atop a wall-high rockery, Gu Ye easily spotted the twin brothers approaching from beyond the chrysanthemum garden. Though their appearances were nearly identical, she could instantly tell them apart by their demeanors. Fourth Brother was slightly more reserved, while Fifth Brother was comparatively more lively.

It was said that when they were young, Fifth Brother would often dump the blame for his mischief on her Fourth Brother. Later, after her Fourth Brother beat him up once, he finally toned it down a little. 

Despite Fifth Brother’s obsession with martial arts, his skills always fell just short of Fourth Brother’s! Gu Ye seriously suspected Fourth Brother had trained so hard just to keep his trouble-making younger brother in check!

If it were only Chu Xiaosi and Chu Xiaowu, Ling Juechen wouldn’t have given them a second thought. But the two had seen him, and they would surely report back to his future father-in-law. That would only worsen his father-in-law’s impression of him… Well, for the sake of his own lifelong happiness, it was best to exercise restraint!

“Then… I’ll come find you at Mingzhu Pavilion tomorrow…” Ling Juechen reluctantly squeezed the young girl’s soft little hand. When would he be able to possess her without reservation? Suddenly, he didn’t want to wait until she turned eighteen…

The moment the Chu brothers stepped into the Chrysanthemum Garden, the figure beside Gu Ye and the black-clad man who had fought Princess Anya vanished as silently as they had appeared.

Exhausted, Anya tossed her whip aside, plopped down onto a flat rock in the rockery, and panted heavily!

Seeing her drenched in sweat, Chu Mubai couldn’t resist his sharp tongue: “Ooh! What happened here? Who’s got the princess so worked up she lashed her whip into this state? Is that guy still alive? I’m curious…”

“Fifth Brother Chu, why did you take so long? Your sister nearly…” Princess Anya glared at him angrily. This annoying brat—who was she doing all this for?

“Fourth Brother, Fifth Brother! I’m right here!” Gu Ye interrupted Princess Anya’s words, waving her hand from atop the rockery. But inwardly, she muttered: Well done, Ling Juechen. You brought me up here only to abandon me. Just you wait!