Chapter 3408: On Emotion, On Reason

Gu Qiuyi's memory of An Chengxi has become somewhat blurred.

After all, when she took Ye Chen away from Yanjing, she was still too young.

She couldn't help but murmur: "Mom, I can't even clearly remember Aunt An's appearance anymore. Did she like me when I was little?"

Lin Wanqiu smiled: "Your Aunt An didn't know how much she liked you. On the day you were born, she stayed at the hospital with Mom, and she was the second person to hold you."

"Really?" Gu Qiuyi was visibly delighted, then asked: "Then who exactly proposed the engagement between me and Brother Ye Chen? No one ever told me before."

Lin Wanqiu sighed: "Your engagement was proposed by your Aunt An. At that time, the Ye family was the strongest in the country. My husband and I were especially cared for by your Uncle Ye and Aunt An in daily life. Speaking honestly, we always felt the Ye family was beyond our reach, so we were already deeply honored that they treated us as their own. We never dared to dream of marrying into the Ye family."

Gu Qiuyi asked in surprise: "Then why did Aunt An come up with the idea of a marriage alliance?"

Lin Wanqiu smiled: "Of course because she liked you, thinking you were most suitable to be her daughter-in-law."

Gu Qiuyi felt extremely happy inside.

In her view, Ye Chen had too many female admirers around him, but she was the only one who had received affirmation from Ye Chen's mother. From this perspective, she was different from other girls.

What she regretted was that Ye Chen's mother passed away too early, just as her mother said. If Ye Chen's mother were still alive, she would surely have stood up for her and not let her be left hanging all the time.

But while mother and daughter were sighing, they never imagined that An Chengxi had actually been alive all along, and not long ago, she had been living not far away in the Yonghe Palace.

Even now, living on Putuo Mountain, she was only over a thousand kilometers from Yanjing.

At this very moment, An Chengxi was burning seal incense in the Zen courtyard of Putuo Mountain.

After the seal incense was produced, she lit it with a stick of incense, waited for the slow blue smoke to rise, gently leaned in to smell it, closed her eyes, and felt the rare inner peace.

Sun Sister came forward and respectfully said: "Madam, the young master had lunch at the Gu family. Ye Changmin is personally purchasing supplies, and it seems the Ye family will also have a family dinner tonight."

An Chengxi opened her eyes, nodded slightly, and smiled: "It seems they are going to pressure Chen'er together."

Sun Sister said: "Tang Sihai is traveling by water, so it will still take some time before he reaches Huaxia."

"Not urgent." An Chengxi said: "Even if slower, he should arrive by the first month."

Sun Sister asked her: "Madam, you didn't used to say that the eldest daughter of the Ito family was actually most suitable for the young master?"

"Yes." An Chengxi smiled: "Objectively speaking, in my view, no one is more suitable for Chen'er than Nana, especially since she has already comprehended the Dao and will be of great help to Chen'er in the future."

Sun Sister asked again: "Then what do you think of Miss Gu on this side?"

An Chengxi smiled faintly and sighed softly: "Nannan, I held her and watched her grow up... In reason, I think Nana is most suitable; in emotion, no one can replace Nannan in my heart."

After speaking, An Chengxi sighed: "The engagement between Chen'er and Nannan was indeed initiated and driven by me back then. From the moment Nannan was born, I regarded her as my own, loved her dearly, and Gu Yanzhong and Lin Wanqiu also greatly liked the young Chen'er at that time. So I proposed that the two children be engaged, and when Chen'er and Nannan grew up, they would become husband and wife."

"Some people advised me, saying that we had already entered an open new era and should no longer carry out this old feudal practice of parents deciding children's marriages, but I persisted, because I have always believed that some good things and good matters must be decided and secured in advance by parents for their children."

Speaking of this, An Chengxi couldn't help but let out a soft sigh: "Back then, I and Changying had already had many contacts with the Poqing Society, and knew many of its secrets. What I feared most at the time was not that one day the Poqing Society would come to settle scores with me and Changying, but that they would in the future plant various 'scholars' around Chen'er."

Upon hearing the two words "scholar," Sun Sister's expression instantly tightened.

She knew how formidable the scholars were.

These scholars were cultivated from childhood by the Poqing Society, solely to wholeheartedly win the favor of one person.

The Poqing Society spares no expense on "scholars," and they often create various types of scholars, all excellent, who lurk around the target person. The target person may encounter many highly satisfactory opposite-sex individuals, but the target person does not know that these excellent opposite-sex individuals he keeps meeting are most likely specially cultivated for him.

Who could resist an opposite-sex individual who has been tailor-made for oneself since childhood?

Therefore, An Chengxi also had the same concern for Ye Chen.

If, in the future, the Poqing Society keeps planting various "scholars" around Ye Chen, even if I can see through them, it would be impossible to clearly see the true nature of every single person.

Once my son marries a member of the "scholars," it will be a catastrophe for him and the entire Ye family.

Under such circumstances, I must make Ye Chen marry a girl whose background is completely known, in order to completely eliminate the hidden danger of "scholars."

And those who truly have known backgrounds are few; Gu Yanzhong and Lin Wanqiu are the best choices.

As long as Ye Chen can marry Gu Qiuyi, no matter how many "scholars" the Poqing Society plants around him, they cannot possibly succeed.

Moreover, since Gu Qiuyi was born, I have especially liked this young lady. Even in childhood, it was evident that Gu Qiuyi was exceptionally beautiful, intelligent, and kind.

She is absolutely the best choice to be Ye Chen's wife.

However, An Chengxi's considerations regarding the "scholar" aspect are unknown to the Gu family.

According to An Chengxi's plan at that time, she wanted to keep Ye Chen by her side, gradually guide and cultivate him, while also cultivating his feelings for Gu Qiuyi, so that when both came of age, they would first get married.

But no one could have predicted that their enmity with the Poqing Society would rapidly intensify due to the Nine Mysterious Heaven Scripture.

Wu Feiyan wanted nothing more than to kill Ye Changying and his family of three. In the end, forced into a corner, Ye Changying sacrificed himself to protect his son, and also arranged for An Chengxi a golden cicada shedding its shell, allowing her to escape.

In the many years that followed, An Chengxi dared not show herself, nor dare to recognize Ye Chen.

Recalling the past, An Chengxi couldn't help but wryly smile: "Fate plays tricks on people. I most feared Chen'er being deluded by scholars, but I never imagined that after the incident, Changying's arrangement would not only let Chen'er completely lose the Ye family descendant halo, but also fortunately let him completely avoid the potential threat of 'scholars.'"

Thinking of her two siblings whose lives were ruined by scholars, An Chengxi said in a clear, cold voice: "Zhaonan and Youyou thought they were the luckiest people in the world, having found someone who truly understood them, loved them most, and most matched their heart's desire, never imagining that these were Wu Feiyan's scholars. This vicious woman will sooner or later have to pay for the evil she has done!"