Chapter 34
Different
The Moon Pavilion with its overhanging eaves was like a huge umbrella blocking above Gu Yunrong and Fang Mingfeng.
Gu Yunzhen and Gu Yanfei, who were on the second floor of the small building, happened to be in the blind spot of the two of them. The sisters took advantage of their high vantage point and saw the two people in the pavilion clearly.
Gu Yunrong and Fang Mingfeng were only two feet apart. There was no one around, only a sea of flowers surrounding the pavilion. It was colorful and fragrant, like a painting by a famous artist.
“Yunrong,” Fang Mingfeng said in a lingering voice. He couldn’t help but take a step closer to Gu Yunrong and hold her slender wrist.
Their faces were less than two feet apart. Fang Mingfeng could barely take his eyes off Gu Yunrong.
From her arched eyebrows to her long lashes to the dimples on her cheeks to her soft lips, he was almost mesmerized. His gaze was deep and tender, like an ocean that threatened to drown him.
“Don’t push me to someone else,” Fang Mingfeng said sternly.
His voice carried clearly on the wind.
It was obvious who this “someone else” referred to. Gu Yunzhen frowned and subconsciously tightened her grip on her handkerchief. She turned to look at Gu Yanfei beside her.
Gu Yanfei leaned lazily against the window frame, her right hand cupping one cheek as she looked down at the two people below.
Though not quite the same as the rumors she’d heard in her previous life, it seemed more interesting.
A faint smile appeared on Gu Yanfei’s lips.
Gu Yunrong also understood what Fang Mingfeng meant and widened her eyes.
She wanted to retreat, but with the pavilion’s columns behind her, there was no room to escape.
Fang Mingfeng had always been elegant and restrained. At this moment, his jade-like face revealed a rare loss of composure, as if he wanted to vent his frustration.
He laughed bitterly. “Don’t you understand how I feel about you all these years?”
He had treated her differently from others since she was a child. He had taught her to ride a horse and play polo. He had played the piano and she had played the harp. They had painted together…
He and she had been childhood sweethearts. They had shared many memories over the past decade or so.
They were close and understood each other very well.
Why was Gu Yanfei interfering with their relationship?!
If Gu Yanfei hadn’t appeared, the two of them would have been a match made in heaven.
“Mingfeng!” Gu Yunrong felt the heat from her left wrist and complicated emotions appeared in her eyes. She said leisurely, “You know, to me, you’re like my brother and my friend, like my family…”
“I’m not your brother!” Fang Mingfeng cut her off in a rush of emotion. He felt his heart twist in pain and a bitter taste filled his throat.
He didn’t believe she didn’t have him in her heart.
His Yunrong was too kind. In order to help Gu Yanfei, she gave up on him!
“…” Gu Yunrong sighed helplessly.
She had grown up with him. To her, Fang Mingfeng was more like an older brother.
She had known since she was young that they were engaged. However, every time she thought about how she was going to marry someone who was as close to her as an elder brother, she felt awkward.
She had once been worried about this. Fortunately, there was still Gu Yanfei…
Ever since she was a child, she’d thought she was extremely lucky.
Gu Yunrong stared into Fang Mingfeng’s eyes and sighed. “Mingfeng, you’re a good person.”
As she spoke, she gently and firmly shook off his hand and said slowly, “I wasn’t the one who was engaged to you in the first place. Everything is just back on track now.”
Fang Mingfeng’s eyes were red, and there was a hint of madness and hurt between his handsome brows.
“Rong Rong,” he said hoarsely, abruptly changing his words to invoke the nickname he had used for her as a child. “To me, you’re one in a million!”
His words were so sincere that he wished he could cut open his heart and prove it, but Gu Yanfei almost laughed.
Seeing the infatuation, pain, and anxiety on Fang Mingfeng’s face, Gu Yanfei smiled and thought to herself, ‘He really loves Gu Yunrong!’
He loved her enough to be willing to get rid of all the “obstacles” he considered, including her!
Thinking of the sins of his two lives, Gu Yanfei’s eyes suddenly turned cold.
The air around them smelled of the flowers of the moon. The wind blew a few petals into the pavilion and onto their clothes.
“Mingfeng…” Gu Yunrong looked at Fang Mingfeng in a daze. Her heart was sour and soft. She didn’t know if it was because she was touched or helpless, or if there were more complicated emotions mixed in.
Of course, she knew that Fang Mingfeng was very good. He was loyal and honest. Even in the capital, he was one of the best bachelors.
To Gu Yanfei, this engagement was enough to make up for the past 14 years.
Gu Yunrong took a deep breath and told herself that she must not relent.
Fang Mingfeng was not hers and she didn’t want him.
The autumn wind blew gently, fluttering her skirt like a butterfly, making her figure look even more slender.
In the Moonlight Tower, Gu Yunzhen bit her lower lip and tightened her grip on the handkerchief. Her forehead hurt.
Gu Yunzhen already felt that it was inappropriate when she saw Gu Yunrong and Fang Mingfeng chatting and laughing at the polo field. They were childhood sweethearts and had always been on good terms. However, since her grandmother had already decided to let Gu Yanfei marry into the British Monarchy, Gu Yunrong should avoid arousing suspicion.
Gu Yunzhen had originally wanted to look for Gu Yunrong to give her some pointers, but she did not expect…
Thinking of this, Gu Yunzhen looked at Gu Yanfei again with complicated thoughts. Her cherry lips opened slightly. “Second Sister, Third Sister grew up with Crown Prince Fang…”
Even Gu Yunzhen did not know what she was explaining. Fang Mingfeng knew that the person he was engaged to was Gu Yanfei, but he still expressed his feelings to Gu Yunrong. Logically speaking, it should not have happened.
“Big Sister, do you think Fang Mingfeng is a good match for me?” Gu Yanfei calmly interrupted Gu Yunzhen and pointed at Fang Mingfeng in the pavilion below.
Her dark eyes were like calm water, deep and unfathomable.
Gu Yunzhen pursed her lips and hesitated.
The misalignment of the real and fake daughter 14 years ago had caused Gu Yanfei to suffer for 14 years. Everything that belonged to her had been taken away. Now that her and Gu Yunrong’s backgrounds were revealed, they should return to their own positions.
Since Gu Yanfei had returned to the Gu family, she should naturally return to the marriage that originally belonged to her.
This was correcting mistakes and making amends.
However, if this marriage only brought Gu Yanfei pain, would it still be considered “making amends”?
Meeting Gu Yunzhen’s struggling eyes, Gu Yanfei looked straight at her and said slowly, “Why must we pass off a pearl as a fish eye?”
She could not keep the cynicism from her voice.
“…” Gu Yunzhen was speechless.
At this moment, the answer clearly appeared in Gu Yunzhen’s heart—
Fang Mingfeng was definitely not a good match for Gu Yanfei!
The moment she thought it through, Gu Yunzhen felt relieved.
After a moment of silence, Gu Yunzhen stared deeply at Gu Yanfei and asked, “Second Sister, have you really thought it through?”
Reality was cruel. Gu Yanfei was not wrong, but her background was awkward. If she missed Fang Mingfeng, it would be difficult for her to get a good marriage in the future.