Her heart couldn’t help but tighten.
In such a place that was obviously devoid of human presence, the existence of such a house indeed made it difficult not to harbor suspicions.
She mentioned it to her husband.
The Juren’s face changed immediately upon hearing this, those scholars like him had read more than their share of strange tales during their years of young study. Spirits of the forest, ghouls, and all sorts of demons had automatically resurfaced in his mind.
"Perhaps, we should hurry and leave?" he said to Yun Chuqing.
Yun Chuqing also felt the eeriness of this place and nodded in agreement.
However, just at that moment, a few deer calls came from around the corner, and a white figure riding on a sika deer approached them slowly.
That person had silver hair but a face that was youthfully incongruous and astonishingly beautiful. Coupled with a garment of unblemished white and the sika deer beneath, it was difficult not to associate her with something out of the ordinary in such an environment.
Yun Chuqing’s face changed abruptly.
But the change in her expression was not because she remembered something unpleasant; it was because that face was all too familiar.
She would never forget who it was that casually spoke the words that reduced her to her current predicament.
Being married to such an inept and unsupported man, it would be impossible to say she didn’t feel aggrieved. Yun Chuqing had spent countless sleepless nights seething over her poor fortune.
Similarly, one could imagine the resentment she held towards Consort Li, who had caused her to be in this sorry state.
If it weren’t for the fact that the woman had long since died, she probably wouldn’t have left the Capital of Ming Country so easily.
Upon suddenly seeing the woman on the sika deer, she forgot her fear and exclaimed in a shrill voice, "Consort Li?"
The silver-haired woman’s demeanor was indifferent, her pale, almost translucent skin paired with that white hair, did not seem like a normal human being at any rate.
"Who are you, and what brings you to my valley?" she asked coldly.
With those words spoken in a foreign tone, Yun Chuqing came back to her senses: that’s right, Consort Li had long been dead. She had died on the spot, taking a blow for the Emperor. Even due to a great fire, not a complete corpse was left behind.
At the time, Yun Chuqing had found solace in her heart.
It was just a resemblance in appearance after all, and moreover... Yun Chuqing took another glance at Gu Shengyin, the Consort Li of before had never been as... cold and unlike a real person as this one.
"Forgive us, miss... we were just passing by and stopped to see if there was a source of water..." In the moment Yun Chuqing was lost in thought, the man beside her began to speak.
Yun Chuqing turned her head and saw a familiar emotion in the man’s eyes.
It was obsession, mixed with ***** — this man had shown her the same look countless times before.
Indeed, not a single woman with such a face was of good nature.
As Yun Chuqing looked at Gu Shengyin behaving this way, a malicious thought suddenly arose in her heart.
"Strangers are not welcome here, you should leave," Gu Shengyin said, still seated on the deer, without a change in expression.
"Dear husband," Yun Chuqing suddenly called out to him.
The man turned around, and she leaned in gently, whispering a few words in his ear.
A flash of joy passed over the man’s face, and he looked at her with delight: "Is what my wife says true?"
Yun Chuqing sneered inwardly but her face was full of affection: "This concubine’s heart belongs solely to you, my husband, of course it’s true."