Chapter 19: Should Not Resist

Chaotic blossoms gradually dazzled the eyes, with beauties clustered together, making one’s eyes ache. The air was filled with the rich aroma of wine, a grape brew specially transported from the Western Regions.

The woman in the seat of honor lightly closed her eyes, propping her chin with one hand. No matter how enchanting the dancers around her were, they seemed to stir no ripples in her.

A woman entered from outside, smiling as she dismissed the dancers. She sat not far from Cui Wangshu, took a sip of the grape wine, and asked, “How come you have time to come over today?”

Cui Wangshu opened her eyes, her gaze cool and detached. She frowned and asked, “Don’t I understand love?”

The wine in Jiang Ci’s mouth nearly sprayed out. She choked and stammered, “W-what… what love?”

Cui Wangshu continued, “Love. She said I don’t understand love.”

Seeing her friend so out of sorts, Jiang Ci thought to herself, Oh heavens, has the iron tree finally bloomed?

Jiang Ci asked, “She? Not that country girl you brought back, right?”

Cui Wangshu had wanted to explain that Jiang Chenbi wasn’t some country girl, but she didn’t know where to start with her identity. She could only reply with a soft “Mm.”

Jiang Ci’s eyes widened. Something was off—very, very off!

“Hiss… you… uh…” Jiang Ci felt like no question was appropriate. She hemmed and hawed for a long time without squeezing out a suitable word.

Cui Wangshu glanced at her. “Ask whatever you want to ask.”

Jiang Ci pouted. “Fine, did you do it?”

Cui Wangshu gave a light cough, a flush creeping up her ear tips. She straightened up and softly said, “Mm.”

Jiang Ci was shocked once again.

Who was Cui Wangshu? The woman who remained unmoved like a mountain amid the embraces of so many beauties in Xiaoyun Pavilion. And yet, after just a few days missing, she had gone and…

Jiang Ci scrutinized her friend’s cool face. Could it be that Cui Wangshu didn’t like mature and voluptuous types? Did she prefer plain and simple fare?

It wasn’t unreasonable for Jiang Ci to think this way. In her view, a country girl led a impoverished life. Even if beautiful, her development wouldn’t be all that impressive.

That said, she grew a bit curious about this country girl. She really wanted to see what kind of marvel she was.

Under Jiang Ci’s increasingly strange gaze, Cui Wangshu shot her a cold glare. “Answer my question.”

Jiang Ci blinked, fighting back a laugh. Didn’t Cui Wangshu herself want to laugh when she asked that question?

Jiang Ci licked her lips, pondering how not to hurt her friend’s feelings. She carefully said, “Well… I think you probably don’t understand.”

Why did even Jiang Ci say the same thing? Could it be that her feelings for Jiang Chenbi truly weren’t love?

Cui Wangshu asked, “Why?”

Jiang Ci’s expression was troubled, but she still said, “How to put it… Have you ever seen love? Human emotions come in many forms. Isn’t it possible that what you feel is similar to your attachment to an object or a pet?”

There was a reason Jiang Ci said this. Cui Wangshu had grown up in that kind of environment. Everyone in the Cui Residence treated her with strict upbringing—no love, no care. Even after her coming-of-age, when she indulged more in material and carnal desires, it wasn’t love.

It was all to “ruin” Cui Wangshu—give her abilities but strip her of ambition.

On the surface, Cui Wangshu seemed like a perfectly functioning machine: meticulous and precise.

But her inner world was actually a barren wasteland. A few years ago, when Wang Lao had examined her, he told Jiang Ci that despite her young age, Cui Wangshu’s heart meridians were severely damaged.

It was extremely difficult for her to experience emotional fluctuations anymore. All the positive emotions that should have grown gradually had been forcibly hastened in her youth, exhausting her vital spirit.

The mood swings, aloofness, germaphobia, paranoia, and emotional voids were merely suppressed. Once triggered, it would all come crashing down.

For someone like her, it was very hard to understand love. Her emotions toward things leaned more toward animal instincts.

Possession, addiction…

So, someone like Cui Wangshu could never truly develop “love.”

Cui Wangshu seemed to sense this too. She hesitated before asking, “What if… it’s the Love Gu?”

Jiang Ci exclaimed in shock, “What!? Someone planted a Love Gu on you?”

That country girl?

Cui Wangshu’s eyes darkened with unclear emotions. “Yes.”

Jiang Ci’s expression turned serious. “What exactly is going on between you two? Tell me clearly.”

Cui Wangshu sighed and slowly explained.

Jiang Ci knew she wasn’t a child of the Cui Family, but when current court affairs intertwined with Cui Wangshu’s origins, it still hit her hard.

Her mind echoed with one primal outburst: Holy shit.

Jiang Ci hesitated. “Still, you should have Wang Lao come take a look at the Love Gu.”

Speaking of the Love Gu, Jiang Ci couldn’t help but think Jiang Chenbi was mad. How could she plant a Love Gu on Cui Wangshu?!

Anyone else might be fine, but for someone like Cui Wangshu, developing emotions or love would be almost destructive to her.

Cui Wangshu rubbed her brow, somewhat helpless. “That’s fine too.”

At this point, someone as clever as Cui Wangshu had naturally guessed that the Love Gu wasn’t just carnal entanglement for her. Even without Jiang Ci or Wang Lao telling her, she could feel her own emotional differences from normal people.

With urgent summons, Wang Lao arrived in a flurry of dust.

The letter had already detailed the situation, and Wang Lao’s expression wasn’t good.

After taking her pulse, Wang Lao’s face turned icy. “Ma Gu Po… That old hag taught her disciple well.”

Cui Wangshu frowned. “Ma Gu Po?”

Wang Lao explained, “There’s a black witch in the Southern Frontier called Ma Gu Po. She’s the biggest landowner there and the most powerful sorceress. No one can undo her Love Gu.”

Cui Wangshu closed her eyes, lost in thought for a long moment before asking, “Is that so… What exactly is this Love Gu?”

Previously, Cui Wangshu had thought it was something like an aphrodisiac, making her desire a specific person.

Wang Lao said, “Ma Gu Po’s Love Gu is the most potent sorcery short of those insidious curses.”

Once planted, the victim develops possessive, obsessive feelings toward the other party. It feels like love, but it’s not spontaneous—it’s an illusion created by substances secreted by the Gu worm inside.

The planter holds power of life and death, able to command the worm to devour organs and coerce the victim. When the Gu acts up, only intercourse relieves it. Once that happens, the Gu enters the brain directly, controlling it through repeated bouts of desire.

If the victim betrays the planter, the Gu immediately devours the brain marrow.

Unlike traditional Love Gu, this is coercive, often used by scoundrels to control sex slaves.

The key was… it couldn’t be undone.

And of all people, it was Cui Wangshu who was afflicted. With her deficient emotions, this Gu was fatal. It forcibly extracted feelings she shouldn’t have, dragging out her suppressed ones.

If Jiang Chenbi “abandoned” her, Cui Wangshu would go insane under the dual assault of the Gu and her own condition.

After Wang Lao finished, both Jiang Ci and Cui Wangshu fell silent.

Jiang Ci was furious, but Cui Wangshu’s feelings were far more complex.

She didn’t know if it was the Gu’s effect or her own thoughts, but she felt an illusion that this was how it should be.

As if she had fallen deeply for this woman she’d known for just over ten days, from some unknown point.

Willing to chain herself around the neck and grovel at her feet, to be that devout slave, living and dying together.

Cui Wangshu shook her head, trying to suppress those terrifying thoughts, but a sharp pain stabbed through her mind. The more she resisted, the worse it hurt.

It hurt so much her eyes nearly burst, making her want to drill a hole in her skull and yank out the damn worm gnawing inside.

Cui Wangshu swept everything off the table onto the floor and curled up, clutching her head and rolling in agony. The sudden action startled the other two.

Jiang Ci panicked. “Cui Wangshu, what’s wrong?”

Wang Lao hurriedly pushed up her sleeve. A shocking blood-red trace hid beneath her skin, snaking from her wrist all the way to her heart.

Wang Lao’s brow twitched. He shouted, “Hold her down.”

Jiang Ci quickly pinned Cui Wangshu while Wang Lao thrust a silver needle into the side of her neck. Cui Wangshu instantly fell unconscious.

“Wang Lao, what was that?”

Wang Lao’s face darkened, his tone icy. “The Love Gu acted up—punishment for resisting. Hurry, get her back and find that woman.”

Though reluctant, Jiang Ci followed Wang Lao’s instructions.

In the carriage, Cui Wangshu lay comatose, but the Gu’s effects continued. Dense red lines had spread to her neck, stark against her pale skin.

Her whole body burned with fever.

Jiang Ci hurriedly carried her into the Shangshu Residence. The woman standing in the courtyard seemed to have anticipated her arrival, watching leisurely.

Rage surged in Jiang Ci. She cursed, “You lunatic, do you have any idea she could die?”

Jiang Chenbi glanced at Cui Wangshu in Jiang Ci’s arms and irritably clicked her tongue. The next second, Cui Wangshu seemed stimulated and abruptly woke.

Not fully conscious yet, another drilling pain pierced her brain. Cui Wangshu struggled free from Jiang Ci’s arms, trying to bash her head on the ground.

Just before her head hit, Jiang Chenbi softly said, “Come here.”

Cui Wangshu froze, like a desert traveler sighting water. She crawled on her knees to Jiang Chenbi’s feet.

Seeing this, Jiang Ci felt thunderstruck. When had she ever seen Cui Wangshu so wretched? She was no different from a slave.

Cold sweat drenched Jiang Ci’s back. She looked at Jiang Chenbi—that woman had a devastatingly beautiful face. The triumphant, arrogant smile at her lips stabbed into Jiang Ci’s eyes.

Yet her gaze was chillingly cold, making Jiang Ci feel like she’d be devoured by countless Gu worms any second.

Jiang Chenbi coldly swept her a glance, then her eyes softened unusually as they fell on the agonized Cui Wangshu at her skirt’s edge. She squatted down, her voice melodic yet venomous: “You should not have resisted.”

Cui Wangshu had lost all reason, the corners of her eyes tinged red. She leaned toward those thin lips, desperate to kiss.

Jiang Chenbi let her kiss for a while, then knelt on the ground too, holding Cui Wangshu. The restless kisses landed on her neck.

Just as it seemed they’d put on a live erotic show, Jiang Ci snapped back to herself, wanting to look away.

Jiang Chenbi didn’t stop Cui Wangshu’s actions, letting her nibble and kiss her neck hollow.

She lifted her head to Jiang Ci. “I won’t harm her. This young lady, feel free to do as you please.”

Jiang Ci watched wide-eyed as Jiang Chenbi, her face flushed with desire and eyes seductive, uttered such infuriating words.

Soon, Jiang Chenbi had no interest in continuing in the courtyard. She carried Cui Wangshu into the room.

Jiang Ci left the Shangshu Residence in a daze, still reeling in the carriage.

What had she just seen…? Cui Wangshu acting like one of those sex slaves—that was Cui Wangshu!

Jiang Ci sighed in anguish, her heart aching. Remembering Jiang Chenbi’s demeanor filled her with dread.

What kind of person had Cui Wangshu provoked?