Chapter 1543

Dressed in a red dress, she was graceful and charming, with a shy and timid look on her beautiful face.

Su Quan naturally could not escape Gu Hanyuan's perception.

When she approached, Gu Hanyuan happened to be flirting with Luo Bing.

Part of the reason he let Luo Bing go for now was out of consideration for Su Quan.

Gu Hanyuan said calmly with deep eyes:

"I was busy treating Wen Tailai yesterday, so I didn't have time to attend to you."

Seeing that Gu Hanyuan didn't dwell on her peeking, Su Quan immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

She had tried her best to restrain her aura when approaching, yet she had still been discovered by Gu Hanyuan so easily.

Her martial arts were like those of an ordinary person in front of Gu Hanyuan, completely useless.

This made Su Quan even more cautious.

She bowed gracefully, displaying her slender figure to the fullest.

"I am Su Quan, thank you, Young Master, for saving me yesterday."

Su Quan believed that very few people knew her real name, and the members of the Dragon Sect only knew to call her "Madam Hong."

Little did she know that her background had already been seen through by Gu Hanyuan.

Gu Hanyuan's gaze flickered, and seeing that Su Quan wanted to continue the act, he naturally chose to play along.

He said indifferently:

"Duolong was right about one thing: countless women would give anything to enter the palace, so why did you insist on escaping?"

Seeing that Gu Hanyuan still didn't show any warmth, Su Quan felt both anxious and resentful.

She had heard the conversation between Gu Hanyuan and Luo Bing.

Seeing how much he cared about Luo Bing, yet was so distant toward her.

Although she knew it was because her identity was unclear at the moment, a woman's competitive spirit still made her very unhappy.

After all, in terms of beauty alone, she was slightly superior to Luo Bing.

Her verbal sparring with Luo Bing yesterday had also been a dominant victory.

Yet now, she was inexplicably a step weaker in front of Gu Hanyuan; how could she be reconciled?

Su Quan brought out the acting skills of a lifetime and said with tears in her eyes:

"My husband's surname is Hong, and he was originally a landlord in the countryside. I didn't expect my appearance to cause trouble, and I was coveted by a local Manchu dog official who wanted to offer me to the Emperor. My husband's family didn't dare to resist, so they drove me out of the house."

Su Quan was already extremely beautiful, and now, putting on a pitiful look of a weak woman adrift, she was even more worthy of pity.

She had already thought of her excuse.

The conflict between the Manchus and the Han within the Qing Guo was extremely deep.

Manchu officials, relying on their superior status, often forcibly seized women.

Even if Gu Hanyuan wanted to investigate the truth,

with the power of the Dragon Sect as her backing, it wouldn't be difficult to fabricate an identity.

As for why she added a husband to her fabricated identity, that was also something Su Quan had carefully considered.

It was rare for a normal woman of her age not to be married, so forcing a maiden identity would seem inconsistent.

Moreover, she was born so beautiful that she should have been married long ago unless she had some special status.

And she could take the opportunity to express her hatred for the Qing Guo and win sympathy.

Gu Hanyuan felt a bit strange hearing this.

Hong Antong was a king in that small place of Dragon Island, so he really was a local landlord.

Su Quan was a woman with ambition and courage.

The Dragon Sect's strength was not weak, yet they always lacked progress.

Their only external action was to seek the *Forty-Two Chapters Sutra*, which was rumored to contain the secret of immortality, for Hong Antong.

However, it was precisely because of Hong Antong's lack of progress that Su Quan was given the opportunity to eliminate dissenters.

The excuse Su Quan found also carried some of her subconscious views.

Gu Hanyuan sighed with feigned regret:

"There is no greater disaster than beauty."

Su Quan felt a joy in her heart hearing this.

Gu Hanyuan's change in attitude put her at ease.

As long as her Dragon Sect identity wasn't exposed, she had room to maneuver.

Su Quan pursed her thin lips and said miserably:

"Do you also consider me a disaster, Young Master Gu?"

Su Quan was still executing her plan to win sympathy.

However, Gu Hanyuan, who was before her, suddenly leaned in and reached out to pinch her smooth, jade-like chin.

"Beauty is only a disaster relative to the situation; without the ability to protect it, it is a disaster, but with the ability to protect it, it is a blessing. With your beauty, you are naturally a blessing to me."

Su Quan had never been approached like this by a man, and her pure and clean body had never been touched.

The flush on her pretty face spread with the warmth on her chin, her cheeks glowing, and her eyes flowing with emotion.

Su Quan's heart was somewhat flustered, suspecting that she had overdone it.

The members of the Dragon Sect had long dared not look her in the eye or offend her, which made her somewhat ignorant of how to handle distance.

Encountering the more aggressive Gu Hanyuan, she might just end up losing her innocence.

Fortunately, Gu Hanyuan withdrew his hand in time, letting her breathe a slight sigh of relief.

However, the flush on her pretty face didn't fade for a while.

The martial arts Hong Antong practiced prevented him from being close to women, and he was an old man on the verge of death.

Su Quan was young but lived like a widow, yet her body was more alluring than that of an ordinary woman.

Otherwise, she couldn't have disguised herself as a charming young married woman so well.

Therefore, in the dead of night, she inevitably felt lonely.

Just this much physical contact was enough to make her delicate body feel weak.

Gu Hanyuan's form of address made her feel a sense of novelty.

Her heart felt somewhat strange.

A flash of surprise passed through Gu Hanyuan's eyes.

He secretly praised Su Quan in his heart, not only for her stunning beauty but also for being a rare treasure.

Only someone like Hong Antong, restricted by his cultivation method, could resist not touching her.

Otherwise, even if he were seventy or eighty, he might not have tried to regain his vigor.

Gu Hanyuan's eyes flickered, and he said somewhat playfully:

"Since you have nowhere to go, why not stay and be a maid? Shuang'er sometimes can't handle everything by herself."

Su Quan was somewhat stunned hearing this.

In her plan,

since Gu Hanyuan hadn't discovered her Dragon Sect identity,

Gu Hanyuan would either pursue her boldly or keep her by his side to slowly conquer her.

Su Quan had already prepared a draft for how to deal with this.

With the precedent of Luo Bing being safe and sound, she was confident she could delay time without losing her innocence and find an opportunity to leave.

But Gu Hanyuan actually wanted her, the dignified wife of the Dragon Sect leader, to be a maid.

On the surface, her situation seemed better, and she could even easily find excuses to contact her subordinates remaining in Yanjing City.

In reality, however, it was more troublesome.

After all, a maid's status was lower, and she didn't have much human rights, yet she was Gu Hanyuan's possession.

If he really made any demands, she wouldn't be able to oppose them easily.

Not only that,

her degree of freedom was greatly reduced, and it would be difficult to find excuses to leave in the future.

As for secretly running away, she didn't have the guts for that yet.

Otherwise, she could have run away last night.

It wasn't because she was wary of Gu Hanyuan's power, which was comparable to an Earth Immortal.

The Dragon Sect's strength was not weak, but they couldn't protect her.