“Vice Chancellor Chu, why have you returned?” Gu Lingzhi exclaimed at the sound of Chu Jiang's voice.

She, Rong Yuan, Lin Chongyuan and Chu Jiang were the only ones who knew about her plan to win over Xiao Yu's trust using Pan Wen. Lin Chongyuan had previously pulled out his stunt to aid in the plan.

Chu Jiang patted Gu Lingzhi's head and laughed, “Didn't the Chancellor ask for my help for fear of your plan failing?” From the looks of it, Xiao Yu had completely fallen for their trick.

However, he had not imagined that he would witness such an interesting scene at his return. Xiao Yu's attempts at comforting 'Rong Yuan' and persuading him to maintain a good relations.h.i.+p with Gu Lingzhi was actually her ploy to push Gu Lingzhi to complain to Lin Chongyuan and therefore borrow Lin Chongyuan's power to force 'Rong Yuan' into submission. Any man would not be comfortable with others saying that he was scared of his wife.

He had only heard of this that day. Before this, he was unaware of how much Xiao Yu had gossiped to “Rong Yuan” about Gu LIngzhi.

Thankfully, the couple had their suspicions early on, and trusted each other completely. As such, they were not torn apart by Xiao Yu's feeble attempts.

Gu Lingzhi laughed awkwardly, “Don't worry. Grandfather acts very well, she will not pick up on anything.

“That's good.” Chu Jiang nodded his head. As he stared at the two wrapped in each other's arm, he waved his hand and called, “Come with me, I have something to ask you.”

Gu Lingzhi disliked the sight of someone with Rong Yuan's face hugging another woman and she obediently followed Chu Jiang to the yard.

After they were a distance away, Chu Jiang verified that there was no one around them. He whispered in a low tone, “What is your impression of Le Yao and Le Yan?”

“I don't have much of an impression.” One of the siblings had a carefree personality while the other was a hypocritical person, they were a perfect match for each other.

Chu Jiang asked, “Then what about Xiao Yu's relations.h.i.+p with them?”

“I don't think there is anything.” Gu Lingzhi shrugged, “Did you find anything suspicious?”

“I didn't think much of it, but I heard people say that Xiao Yu has been seeking our Le Yao often in recent days and the two are getting along with each other well.”

Xiao Yu sought out Le Yao? 

Gu Lingzhi sucked in a breath, “Xiao Yu went to find Le Yao? Could she be asking about that matter?”

“Which matter?” Chu Jiang asked but he immediately came to a realization in the next instant. His eyes turned red and he glared at Gu Lingzhi, “How can a lady think of that? How shameless!”

Xiao Yu and Le Yao did not know each other and their ident.i.ties were suspicious. Wasn't it natural that Gu Lingzhi immediately thought of that?

Gu Lingzhi swallowed her saliva and continued, “Vice Chancellor Chu, then what else can Xiao Yu find Le Yao for?”

“That is my question for you.” Chu Jiang said, “The siblings do not observe their behaviour well and you should pay more attention to them in case they are up to something again.”

Chu Jiang gave a few more advice to Gu Lingzhi before he turned and left. Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan exchanged a glance, both acknowledging that Chu Jiang's worries were found. Xiao Yu could be taken care of by Pan Wen, but Le Yao… 

“We should head over to Chen Dong's place.”

Although Chen Dong was now a subordinate under Qiao Yeshu, he still stayed in the west side of the city, close to where the men from the Burnt City lived.

After a day of his work, Chen Dong and his group returned to his living quarters and spotted Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan, disguised as an ordinary man. He quickly ushered the pair in with excitement. Once he understood that Gu Lingzhi came to ask them about Le Yao and Le Yan, a look of turmoil crossed his eyes.

“What is it? Has something happened?”

Chen Dong nodded his head and then shook his head. Qi Mengjia, who was at a corner, looked confused and troubled. Gu Lingzhi asked, “You nodded and then shook your head. What is going on?”

“There might or might not be something going on.” Chen Dong stared at Gu Lingzhi and the stranger behind her that gave him a familiar aura. He uncomfortably stammered, “I can't say that I discovered anything but I have seen Le Yao coming out of Le Yan's room with dishevelled clothes in recent mornings.”

“Le Yao comes out of Le Yan's room in dishevelled clothes?” Gu Lingzhi's lips twitched and she questioned, “Has her clothes ever been tidy?” Regardless of any day or location, Le Yao's clothes were always messy.

Seeing that Gu Lingzhi did not take his word seriously, Chen Dong added, “Little Chancellor, what I mean is...she walked out of Le Yan's room and tidied her clothes at the same time.”

Gu Lingzhi had to take a few seconds to understand what Chen Dong meant.

If Le Yao had to adjust her clothes, she must have gone through something intense. Could Chen Dong be implying that…

With bulging eyes of disbelief, Gu Lingzhi stared at Chen Dong. Chen Dong nodded his head slowly, “I always thought that although our Chancellor's sister was a carefree woman and she would protect herself. At the very most, she was messy in her personal life but I didn't think that she and her brother would…”

Chen Dong could not bring himself to complete his sentence and he stared at the ground with a red face. He felt ashamed to even mention what the pair could have done.

He had not expected to witness such a private matter during his watch. Gu Lingzhi cleared her throat and she asked whether Chen Dong had any other evidence to back up his claim. Rejecting Chen Dong's offer for lunch at his place, Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan left.

Coincidentally, Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan b.u.mped into Le Yao and Le Yan at the west area of the city.

Gu Lingzhi could not bring herself to look at both of them in the eyes after what she had heard about them and she hastily dragged Rong Yuan away after exchanging a few sentences. She had completely forgotten that Rong Yuan was supposed to a.s.sume the ident.i.ty of the personal bodyguard that Lin Chongyuan had a.s.signed to her and hence, it was inappropriate for her to hold his hand.

Le Yao could not help laughing at the sight of the two holding hands.

It was obvious that Gu Lingzhi could not return back to her living quarters with 'Rong Yuan' and Xiao Yu in there and hence she and Rong Yuan headed into the Inheritance s.p.a.ce. As soon as the two were in the Inheritance s.p.a.ce, Gu Lingzhi patted her chest and sighed deeply, “This is unbelievable, I cannot believe that their relations.h.i.+p was like that! They really are……” Gu Lingzhi could not bear to finish her sentence.

“That might not be true.” Rong Yuan tidied Gu Lingzhi's hair and softly claimed.

“If the two of them are not who they claim to be, then the situation might not be that complicated.”

“Huh? They are not who they claim to be?” Gu Lingzhi whipped around to look at Rong Yuan.

Not wanting to keep Gu Lingzhi in suspense, Rong Yuan placed his hands gently around Gu Lingzhi's cheeks and gave her a soft peck on her lips. He explained, “When we met them just now, I found that Le Yan seemed to be a bit out of sorts.”

“What was different about him?” Gu Lingzhi blinked and asked. She had immediately recalled Chen Dong's words when she b.u.mped into the two previously and she could not even meet their eyes, not to mention observe them.

On the other hand, aside from his initial shock, Rong Yuan was calm when he faced the two. In the first place, the siblings were not very well-mannered people. 

With this mindset, Rong Yuan had observed the pair carefully when he met them and he spotted a few things out of the ordinary.

“…Are you saying that Le Yan seemed to treat Le Yao as her master?”

“I cannot confirm that.” Rong Yuan replied, “We have to observe them more carefully to say for sure.”

Rong Yuan had observed that Le Yan would glance up at Le Yao whenever she spoke something during their exchange previously. It was as if Le Yan was fearful of Le Yao.

However, Le Yao was Le Yan's sister and Le Yan was stronger than Le Yao. Why would he be afraid of her?

Furthermore, recalling what Chen Dong said, Rong Yuan had a suspicion that Le Yao was no longer who she claimed to be.

This suspicious Le Yao seemed to be in contact with Xiao Yu and this raised further questions in Rong Yuan's head. Perhaps their suspicions of Xiao Yu were not unfounded!

In order to confirm Rong Yuan's suspicions, the two decided to use various means to come into contact with Le Yan. However, before they took action, a beast attack occurred.

Like always, Rong Yuan dashed into the crowd of beasts and fought until he was sure that the Female Worm would not be lured out. Then, he sent Pan Wen back to the city, who was disguised as Rong Yuan, while the real Rong Yuan disguised himself as an ordinary-looking man and returned to Gu Lingzhi's side.

Very soon, many realized that 'Rong Yuan' would no longer dash to the frontline every time there was a beast attack on the city. He would fight for a while in the crowd of beasts and then return to the safety of the city gates and watch while other men fought for their lives.

Many people who witnessed this could not help grumbling to themselves, “What a brat.”

Lin Chongyuan's att.i.tude towards 'Rong Yuan''s nonchalant behaviour further reinforced the disgruntlement of many others.

Hateful eyes were directed at 'Rong Yuan' and sensing the dissatisfaction and coldness towards him, he returned to his living quarters soon after.

With the excuse of being weak and frail, Xiao Yu naturally did not partic.i.p.ate in the duty of guarding the city. Her eyes lit up at the sight of 'Rong Yuan' returning and she greeted him warmly.

After hearing the news that 'Rong Yuan' had left the battlegrounds early, Gu Lingzhi quickly interrogated 'Rong Yuan' when he returned. When she returned to her living quarters, she was greeted with the sight of 'Rong Yuan' and Xiao Yu being intimate with each other.