Chapter 377: Kneel for You

By the time the lamps were lit, the whole warm pavilion inside and out was in utter chaos.

The personal guard troops Xiao Yin brought wore the fiercest expressions while doing the most menial work.

Evacuating the residents of Peach Blossom Island, they helped repair roofs and carry water.

Ling Feng even remade a walking stick and gave it to the old woman who had beaten him.

The previous walking stick, when the old woman used it to hit Ling Feng on the head, had broken and could no longer be used.

The residents of Peach Blossom Island also gradually realized that this wave of invaders seemed not as bad as they had thought.

Soon after, Gu Jiu Ling sent them a message, telling them not to worry about her and to go home as they should.

At this moment, the courtyard where Gu Jiu Ling lived was surrounded three layers inside and three outside, tightly sealed off by Xiao Yin's people.

Not to mention a grown person, even a fly couldn't think of flying out from inside.

Jiu Yue, Yun Duo, and the two wet nurses caring for the children were temporarily placed in a side courtyard.

The wet nurses had just fed the two young masters, then the young masters were again carried into the warm pavilion, this time by people from the Prince Rui's residence.

The two wet nurses turned pale with fright, having thought Miss Gu's status was different; they never imagined she had such a powerful background.

They were locked together, and the people from Prince Rui's residence specially brought a cook who prepared dishes so exquisite that just looking at them aroused appetite.

They also specially prepared separate meals for the two wet nurses, naturally dishes these poor rural women had never seen, some of which they couldn't even name.

Besides the two wet nurses eating with relish, Jiu Yue and Yun Duo had no appetite, wondering what fate awaited their master now that the Prince had captured them.

In the warm pavilion, a large table was set apart, filled with dishes Gu Jiu Ling loved.

Gu Jiu Ling and Xiao Yin sat upright at the table, neither speaking.

Only in the baby crib on one side did the two well-fed little ones make a bit of noise.

One played with a rope to his heart's content, and when excited he happily kicked his chubby little legs.

The other, bored, blew milk bubbles, savoring the recent sweetness.

Xiao Yin looked at Gu Jiu Ling, who after giving birth naturally exuded a few measures of plump beauty.

Ordinary women fleeing would be utterly emaciated, but she had instead grown noticeably fatter—truly a heartless little bastard!

On the contrary, he himself had lost a whole circle of weight.

He closed his eyes, suppressed the sorrow welling up in his heart, slowly rose, walked to the window, closed the shutters, then checked the door once more and ordered the guards outside to stay a zhang away from the warm pavilion.

The guards outside promptly responded, followed by the sound of weapons clinking and footsteps fading away.

After Xiao Yin confirmed no one could eavesdrop or see inside the room, he slowly turned to face Gu Jiu Ling.

Gu Jiu Ling kept a stern face, her expression grim and cold, sitting upright there.

The candlelight of the wind lamp shrouded her head, making her look somewhat like a bodhisattva.

Afterward, Xiao Yin wanted to slap himself—how could he compare his own princess consort to a bodhisattva?

'How merciful a bodhisattva is!' she had come to the human world to take his life. Xiao Yin slowly walked to Gu Jiu Ling, glanced uneasily at the window—it was indeed shut tight—then, holding the table, slowly knelt before Gu Jiu Ling.

He had thought no one would see, but after meeting Gu Jiu Ling he panicked completely, failing to notice that when this courtyard was built, the windows were low, so from outside his tall figure was clearly abnormal.

Everyone from afar saw the prince's worthless appearance.

In the warm pavilion, Gu Jiu Ling was also startled by Xiao Yin's kneeling.

Although she was a transmigrator from another world who advocated gender equality and human rights,

even in modern society, a man kneeling to a woman is an extremely low posture.

Moreover, in this era, the man before her was the renowned Ninth Imperial Uncle of Southern Qi.

A slaughter-decisive, invincible Southern Qi war god prince, extremely arrogant and self-important.

Now, kneeling before her, Gu Jiu Ling hastily rose, turned aside, and coldly said: 'Your Highness need not do this; I cannot bear it, it would easily shorten my life.'

Xiao Yin lifted his gaze, stared at her, took a deep breath, and slowly said: 'Gu girl, at the palace banquet that scandal, I ruined your body, causing you to suffer an unjust accusation.'

'Making you live humiliated amid people's mockery is my fault; I kneel to apologize to you.'

'The gu poison in my body—I myself didn't even know what I did; I admit this was my fault.'

'You may hit or scold me; however you treat me when we are shut up together, I will endure it—this is what I owe you.'

After Xiao Yin finished speaking, he slowly drew the Longquan sword from his waist and handed it to Gu Jiu Ling.

Then he turned his back to Gu Jiu Ling, removed his upper clothing, bare-chested, and lowered his head: 'Come on, punish me as you wish—just, for the sake of our two children, spare my life.'

'Look at your son yourself—he's not grown yet; the older he gets, the more he'll resemble me; when he goes out, who wouldn't recognize him as my son, Xiao Yin?'

'You also know I'm no good person; I've offended enemies numbering not less than eight hundred, maybe a thousand. If I die, you three won't survive; spare my life, and I'll help you kill all who deserve death, giving you a bright world—you can kill me later if you wish.'

Gu Jiu Ling slowly took up the Longquan sword Xiao Yin had given her, fixing her gaze on the man before her.

Just his back alone was covered with horrific, ugly scars crisscrossing everywhere, shocking to behold.

One doesn't know how many battles he fought, how many times he went through life and death to end up with such wounds.

She raised the Longquan sword but could not bring herself to strike; these days of anxiety and fear, the more she thought, the angrier she felt, the more stifled, plus his past coldness toward her, even his affair with another woman that angered her.

But all of that, upon seeing his wounds from fighting for the country, from protecting the dawn's common folk, instantly half of her anger and grievance vanished.

But she still wanted to give herself an answer, having always thought the child's irresponsible deadbeat father was someone else, never imagining it was this scoundrel before her.

She suddenly lunged forward, intending to walk past him.

Holding the Longquan sword, she brushed past Xiao Yin's waist; from that angle, the watching guards outside all exclaimed in unison.

They watched wide-eyed as their prince gave the princess consort a raised rear and knelt down.

They also watched wide-eyed as the princess consort, gripping the Longquan sword, moved from behind the prince's buttocks……

That…… that…… is that the sword went in?

Not even the scabbard was removed, together with the scabbard…… it was stabbed in?

In an instant, a chilling sensation swept over them.