I raised stunning young ladies, but they all wanted to possess me.

As soon as Gu Yan finished thinking, she pushed open the door, and instead of Fu Wanqing carrying soup, Chen Sinian walked in front of her.

Today, Chen Sinian was wearing a dark blue Chinese-style long gown. He wasn't carrying Buddhist prayer beads; instead, he was holding a folding fan.

The eyes behind his gold-rimmed glasses were smiling, and he exuded a smug and triumphant air from head to toe.

"Master Gu, how have you been resting these past few days? You look much better than you did a few days ago."

Gu Yan leaned against the door frame, her arms crossed over her chest, a half-smile playing on her lips.

"Isn't this my father-in-law? What brings you here?"

He pronounced the words "father-in-law" very clearly.

Chen Sinian's smile froze for a moment, then the froze turned into a deeper smile.

He pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, not denying the nickname, but instead becoming more relaxed.

The two things he cared about most in his life were the Chen family business and his daughter.

He has built his business into the top in Shanghai, but his daughter's situation remains the biggest worry on his mind.

He used to worry about Cecilia's health and that she wasn't close to anyone.

I'm worried she'll lock herself in that ice palace and never come out.

Now she's taking the initiative to propose, and the person she's proposing to is Gu Yan, the Imperial Jade, the youngest master in the Great Xia Dynasty.

He remembered Cecilia sitting alone in her wheelchair as a child, looking at the ginkgo tree in the yard.

I could sit there for an entire afternoon.

Now she has a smile on her face and light in her eyes, and all these changes are thanks to Gu Yan.

How could he not be satisfied? He was so satisfied that he couldn't wait to hold the engagement banquet tomorrow.

The wedding is the day after tomorrow, and the day after that, I'll be holding my grandson.

"My dear son-in-law, things haven't been peaceful in Shanghai these past few days. If you're going out, please take a few more people with you."

Looking at his smiling face, Gu Yan felt a little uneasy.

Chen Sinian was thinking about something, and after taking a few steps, he slowed his pace slightly.

In the mahogany box in his study, there was still the packet of medicine that Aunt Tian had prepared before.

It was originally intended for use during the third treatment.

Now that her daughter has proposed an engagement, Gu Yan has tacitly agreed, and the two meet in the courtyard every day.

Is this medicine still necessary?

He frowned, then relaxed, and then frowned again.

Forget it, I still need to find a chance to release it. What if my son-in-law changes his mind again?

Seeing Chen Sinian stop, Gu Yan asked, "What's wrong?"

Chen Sinian turned around, his expression having returned to its usual calm smile.

He waved the folding fan in his hand and said, "It's nothing, I just remembered there's a document in the study that I haven't signed yet."

Then he turned around and walked slowly down the corridor, his pace neither fast nor slow, just like usual.

Gu Yan watched his figure disappear around the corner of the corridor, feeling that the old fox's thoughts were definitely more complex than just the documents.

Not long after Chen Sinian left, a series of light footsteps came from the other end of the corridor.

Fu Wanqing skipped over, not carrying a soup bowl as usual.

Today she tied her long pink hair into a high ponytail and wore a light green short-sleeved shirt and white shorts.

She looked fresh and clean, like a breeze carrying the scent of peaches.

She ran up to Gu Yan and stopped, slightly out of breath, with the corners of her mouth turned up high.

Her amber eyes were full of expectation: "Gu Yan, have you missed me?"

Seeing her excited expression, Gu Yan couldn't help but smile.

"Why are you late today? You usually wait at the door with soup before dawn."

Fu Wanqing took her hands out from behind her back, with two lollipops lying in her palms.

One is strawberry flavored, and the other is peach flavored; the wrappers shimmer in the morning light.

"Making soup is boring; you get tired of drinking soup every day. I made something special today."

"Look, strawberries and peaches, which do you like?"

She held up both lollipops in front of him and let him choose first.

The expression on his face was so serious that it was as if he was being asked to choose something very important.

Gu Yan looked at the candy in her hand, and then at her expectant face.

He reached out and took the peach-flavored one, leaving the strawberry-flavored one for her.

Fu Wanqing watched as he unwrapped the lollipop and put it in his mouth, her eyes shining like two stars.

"Is it tasty?"

Gu Yan nodded with a candy in her mouth, about to speak.

Fu Wanqing suddenly took a step forward and reached out to grasp his wrist.

Her fingers pressed very lightly on his wrist bone.

With his other hand, he reached over and gently pulled the lollipop out of his mouth.

Then, under his dazed gaze, she put the lollipop he had just eaten into her own mouth.

She pursed her lips slightly as she held the candy ball in her mouth.

Her amber eyes curved into crescent moons, and her eyelashes trembled gently in the morning light.

She released his wrist, took a step back, and tilted her head to look at him.

He still had the lollipop in his mouth, and his voice was muffled but filled with laughter.

"The peach flavor is indeed quite sweet; buy me one next time too."

Gu Yan was completely stunned, standing there with her mouth agape, unable to utter a single word for a long time.

His gaze lingered on the stick of the lollipop on her lips for several seconds.

The image of her taking the candy from his mouth and putting it into her own kept replaying in her mind.

"Aren't you disgusted? I ate from there."

His voice trembled slightly, and the taste of peach in his throat hadn't completely dissipated.

Fu Wanqing blinked and took the lollipop out of her mouth.

He lightly licked his lips with the tip of his tongue, as if savoring something.

"No, it's quite sweet, much sweeter than the coffee you made for me last time."

She said this in a very light and casual tone, as if she were saying that the weather was nice today.

Gu Yan's extremely stiff expression was reflected in his amber eyes.

A faint smile, known only to herself, lingered in her eyes.

She shoved the strawberry-flavored lollipop in her hand into Gu Yan's hand.

She took the peach-flavored lollipop out of her mouth and waved it in front of him.

"This one is mine, that one is yours, a fair exchange."

When Gu Yan came to his senses, he felt his heart was beating abnormally fast.

He took a deep breath and suppressed all the chaotic thoughts in his mind.

Then he said, "Wanqing, are you free today? I'd like to visit your adoptive parents again."

Fu Wanqing paused slightly in her hand holding the lollipop, and the smile on her lips faded a little.

She looked up at him, a serious glint in her amber eyes.

She softened her voice: "I've already told you, aren't you afraid?"

"You saw with your own eyes what happened to my adoptive parents and what was in the basement."

Gu Yan shook his head, and gently twirled the unopened strawberry lollipop between his fingers.

"They were all bad people they killed, although the methods used were indeed problematic under imperial law."

"But every single one of them they killed deserved to die, and I can't say they were wrong about that."

"I want to go see them again. I left in a hurry last time and didn't have time to think about some things."

He paused, then added, "Besides, you're my bodyguard, I trust you."