Chapter 42: The General’s Prince Consort Returned to His Maiden Home and Brought the Army…

“I want some time to calm down.”

Gu Sui lowered his eyes, his voice still trembling slightly. Hearing this, Mu Jiulu let out a momentary sigh of relief.

As long as he wasn’t impulsive, there was still room for reconciliation.

“Alright, however long you need, I’ll give you that time.”

Gu Sui clutched his head painfully: “I don’t know, I don’t know! Don’t ask me, I don’t want to see you right now. Can you please leave?”

Mu Jiulu’s heart was filled with bitterness, her dark eyes containing love and struggle. She didn’t want to see him like this at all.

“Gu Sui, you knew to come home, how can you not want to see me? Let me hold you, alright? I won’t say anything, just let me hold you.”

She wanted to embrace his trembling body, even if she did nothing else, she wanted him to truly feel her warmth.

She didn’t want him to hate her.

The young man’s messy hair fell in front of his eyes, his crimson eyes shattered, biting his lower lip in anger and grievance, drawing mottled blood.

“Come home…”

“Where else can I go besides here?”

“I originally thought I was lucky to have such a good mother like Gu Tingsong, but the truth is, you brought me here, occupying Gu Sui’s body. Mu Jiulu, how can I face her, ah!”

Right now, aside from his resentment towards Mu Jiulu, he felt guilty towards Gu Tingsong.

He knew how much Gu Tingsong loved her son, but the truth told him that he was indirectly the murderer of Gu Sui.

He had no face to face Gu Tingsong again, to call her mother.

He felt utterly sinful.

Under Gu Sui’s hateful gaze, Mu Jiulu suddenly panicked, hurriedly stepping forward to grasp his shoulders.

“No, no, Gu Sui, how could you think that? You and Gu Sui have always been one person!”

Gu Sui’s eyes trembled, his struggling movements paused for a moment.

“What did you say?”

Mu Jiulu took a deep breath: “What exactly did Wanqi Xingyin tell you?”

“It was my selfish desire that brought you to my world, but the premise for doing so was that you and Gu Sui were originally two parts of a split soul. The current you is the complete you.”

Gu Sui’s peach blossom eyes were full of disbelief: “How is that possible? You’re lying to me again, you’re lying to me again…”

“I’m not lying to you!”

Mu Jiulu raised her voice: “Gu Sui, I won’t lie to you about anything anymore. Believe me, you’ve just forgotten the memories of being Gu Sui.

You really were originally one person. You don’t need to feel guilty towards Gu Tingsong. She is your mother. Will you believe me?”

Gu Sui shook his head in confusion, mumbling: “How could it be, how is it possible…”

Mu Jiulu quickly removed the bone ring from her hand and slipped it onto his thumb, holding his hand. The cold temperature made her heart tremble.

“Gu Sui, I know this is hard for you to believe, but think about it. You adapted to this body very quickly, didn’t you?

And this, this ring, it’s been with me since I was little, but it was originally yours. You gave it to me. Don’t you feel a sense of familiarity from it?”

The earnest, hoarse voice made Gu Sui’s heart stir. He clenched his fist, the hard object on his thumb pressing into his palm, as if a long-lost sense of intimacy penetrated through his skin and spread through his soul.

Gu Sui’s eyes contracted.

This feeling was as if the bone ring wasn’t just his possession, but a part of him.

Eerie and chilling.

“Do you feel it, Gu Sui? I really didn’t lie to you. Don’t think of yourself that way. You’re not a murderer, you’re innocent.”

Mu Jiulu’s gaze was pained and remorseful.

“I should have told you earlier, but I didn’t want you to be bothered by these complicated matters. I wanted you to live carefree and happy, but in the end, I still hurt you. I’m sorry.”

Gu Sui’s emotions finally calmed somewhat, no longer as obsessive and frantic as before, but the resentment in his heart had not dissipated.

“Even if you didn’t lie to me this time, you still lied to me before. That’s a fact.”

Mu Jiulu’s expression darkened: “Then what do you want?”

She was like a criminal awaiting judgment, anxious and flustered. Gu Sui’s lips moved twice, uttering an icy statement.

“I want to return to the General’s mansion.”

Mu Jiulu’s grip on his hand suddenly tightened, the darkness lurking in her eyes surging forth, mixed with endless sorrow.

“Are you leaving me again? Gu Sui, you said yourself you would never leave me again. You said that…”

Gu Sui looked into her eyes. Her gaze was too deep, too heavy, filled with indescribable desolation, oppressive to the point where he could hardly breathe.

Gu Sui quickly averted his gaze. After a long silence, he spoke with difficulty.

“…I don’t want to.”

Mu Jiulu’s heart leapt with joy, but then she heard him continue.

“But right now I really don’t know how to face you. I can’t stay here, sharing a bed with you day after day. Mu Jiulu, there’s a thorn here now. I need time to remove it.”

Gu Sui pointed at his chest. Beneath it, his heart was now causing a twinge of pain with every beat, making it unbearable for him.

“Then I’ll leave. You can stay in Weirui Hall and calm down for as long as you want. Gu Sui, don’t go.”

Mu Jiulu spoke pleadingly, her voice like frost-covered moonlight. Gu Sui turned away, saying stubbornly.

“No, this is your prince’s mansion.”

Mu Jiulu’s fingertips trembled, even breathing becoming difficult.

“Then… when will you come back?”

Gu Sui didn’t speak.

“Gu Sui, I can’t bear it for too long. I don’t want to go through that year-long experience again.”

Mu Jiulu said heavily. Gu Sui’s lips moved, and after a while, he finally uttered in a hoarse voice.

“Three months. Don’t come find me during these three months.”

Mu Jiulu was reluctant. She didn’t want to be apart from him for even a moment.

Countless methods to forcibly keep him flashed through her mind, all of which she had planned during that year after their breakup.

But she couldn’t bear to use any of them.

Mu Jiulu stared at him for a long time. The persistence in Gu Sui’s eyes didn’t change at all. She finally responded defeatedly.

“…Alright.”

“Just three months.”

*

Gu Sui returned to the General’s mansion that day. In the desolate twilight, Mu Jiulu watched the carriage depart from the prince’s mansion gate.

She secretly followed all the way to the General’s mansion. After confirming he had safely arrived, Mu Jiulu, with a face like still water, set off towards the west.

That was the direction of the Imperial Advisor’s residence.

At the Gu family home, both Li Fuyu and Gu Tingsong were surprised by Gu Sui’s sudden return.

Gu Tingsong astutely asked if something had happened. Gu Sui forced a smile.

“No, I just missed Mother and wanted to come back to see her.”

Gu Sui’s gaze towards Gu Tingsong was extremely complex. He had always thought he was fulfilling filial duty on behalf of Gu Sui, but Mu Jiulu suddenly told him he was Gu Sui, which made him feel somewhat uncomfortable.