Chapter 20: Whispers by the Ear

Jiang Ci’s emotions were complicated, and she couldn’t quite pinpoint the feeling in her heart. First, the sight of Cui Wangshu in that state had been too shocking. The way the Love Gu acted up made her realize for the first time just how powerful it was, as Wang Lao had described.

Second, she knew how Jiang Chenbi and Cui Wangshu had gotten entangled. They were collaborators, but today, seeing Jiang Chenbi like that, it was clearly more than what Cui Wangshu had made it out to be.

Jiang Ci was still brooding over it, completely unaware of what Cui Wangshu was going through on her end.

Jiang Chenbi’s hand brushed over Cui Wangshu’s fair and delicate cheek, her eyes unmasked with infatuation and love—expressions she had never shown in front of Cui Wangshu before.

From Cui Wangshu’s perspective, Jiang Chenbi was shrouded in too many secrets. This dangerous and alluring woman was always just out of reach. They could blend together intimately, as close as milk and water.

But when it came to Jiang Chenbi’s past and her true thoughts, Cui Wangshu was always kept at a distance, barred from entry.

From their first meeting, Jiang Chenbi had been teasing her, whether at the Imperial Mausoleum or Liu Baizi Bend. She made no secret of her desire for Cui Wangshu.

Yet beyond desire, Cui Wangshu saw no love or affection in Jiang Chenbi’s eyes.

It seemed that to her, Cui Wangshu was merely a body with some appeal—a tool to resolve the other half of her Love Gu.

Cui Wangshu was lost in a haze of confusion, her fragrant sweat making her skin sticky and dampening the stray hairs at her neck. Her black hair against her pale neck painted a seductive picture.

The flush at the corners of her eyes was utterly different from her usual demeanor, like a demoness in the dark night.

Jiang Chenbi suppressed the destructive urge in her heart as best she could, trying to be gentle. But thinking of how this woman had suffered backlash from resisting the Love Gu, she couldn’t help but intensify her actions.

Cui Wangshu let out broken cries, unable to stop her soft sobs—seductive sounds that brought life to her otherwise cold and aloof face.

Jiang Chenbi’s breath hitched, growing heavier.

Only when the Love Gu’s effects finally eased did Cui Wangshu regain some awareness. She stared blankly at the stunning face before her as her memories gradually returned.

Cui Wangshu gasped and grabbed the wrist of the culprit, stopping her from moving further.

Interrupted, Jiang Chenbi finally looked up. Seeing Cui Wangshu’s clear gaze, she raised an eyebrow.

It had been several hours; her wrist was nearly numb, and this woman was finally awake.

Cui Wangshu pressed her lips together and pulled over the bedding to sit up, but a wave of soreness hit her waist. Caught off guard, she let out an “Mm…”

Her face flushed red, and she bit her lip, looking every bit like someone who had been thoroughly bullied.

Jiang Chenbi’s lips curved in a smile, and she chuckled softly. She didn’t continue, straightening up and tidying the stray hairs on her face.

The two sat facing each other on the bed in silence.

Cui Wangshu felt depressed in her heart, unsure what to say.

Just thinking about the words she had said under the Love Gu’s control—believing she truly loved Jiang Chenbi—made her restless.

Being manipulated felt awful, especially for someone like Cui Wangshu, who was used to strategizing from behind the scenes and being the one in control.

Jiang Chenbi broke the silence first. “Why did your Love Gu suddenly act up today?”

Cui Wangshu frowned. This woman was acting again. Irritated, she snapped, “Don’t you know why I’m like this?”

Jiang Chenbi raised an eyebrow, smiling slyly. “How would I know, Little Cui Daren? I didn’t tease you. Could it be that disloyal thoughts triggered the backlash?”

Cui Wangshu’s face turned cold. “Jiang Chenbi, are you still pretending? You’re Ma Gu Po’s disciple. Don’t you know what this Love Gu does?”

Jiang Chenbi smiled. “Looks like Little Cui Daren has capable people under her. Even my master is known.”

Jiang Chenbi rubbed her sore wrist and gave Cui Wangshu a meaningful look. Cui Wangshu naturally understood what she meant.

She averted her gaze, not looking at Jiang Chenbi, and asked, “Why?”

Jiang Chenbi stared at Cui Wangshu and sighed. “I never intended to harm you. If you hadn’t resisted, the Love Gu wouldn’t have acted up.”

Cui Wangshu seemed ignited, whipping her head around to stare coldly at Jiang Chenbi, her tone icy. “Not resist? Should I let it control me like this morning, spouting humble, bizarre words?”

Hearing her words, Jiang Chenbi knew this woman had swung from one extreme to another. She narrowed her eyes and said gravely, “Does Minister Cui dare say that everything between us was caused by the Love Gu? That you had no selfish motives at all?”

Jiang Chenbi stared straight at Cui Wangshu as she spoke.

Cui Wangshu rubbed her brow.

She didn’t know…

She had originally thought those words were her true feelings, but after experiencing the Love Gu’s true outbreak, she truly didn’t know anymore.

She couldn’t tell which of her thoughts were real and which were lies woven by the Love Gu.

Cui Wangshu answered honestly, “I don’t know.”

Jiang Chenbi nearly choked on her breath, clutching her chest and coughing uncontrollably.

This… idiot.

If it was all the Love Gu’s doing, what about everything they’d been through lately?

Did Cui Wangshu not know? Love Gu—love was required for it to activate.

After her master learned that her cultivated Love Gu had been used by someone with ill intentions to raise girls, she had improved it.

If the other party had no feelings at all, the Love Gu wouldn’t enter the mind. It could only be used as a threat, like how Jiang Chenbi had first used it on Cui Wangshu.

Jiang Chenbi laughed in frustration. “Who exactly did you hear what from tonight?”

Cui Wangshu hesitated. She hadn’t sorted out her own thoughts yet and didn’t know how to explain to Jiang Chenbi.

Jiang Chenbi sighed, guiding her. “If you don’t tell me, how can I explain it to you? I planted this Love Gu. Is there anyone who understands it better than me? If you have questions, why not ask me?”

Cui Wangshu frowned, then spoke. “Fine, then I’ll ask, and you just answer yes or no.”

Jiang Chenbi pressed her lips together. “Alright.”

“Does this Love Gu have a coercive effect?”

Jiang Chenbi frowned. The Love Gu did secrete substances that amplified those emotions, making one feel like they had lovesickness, but… the prerequisite was that feelings had arisen.

Jiang Chenbi wasn’t sure if that counted as coercive, but since the Love Gu did exaggerate that heartbeat, she could only say, “Yes.”

Cui Wangshu closed her eyes and asked again, “Can this Love Gu not be undone?”

“Yes… Huh?”

Jiang Chenbi frowned. “Who told you it couldn’t be undone?”

Cui Wangshu’s eyes snapped open. “It can be undone?”

Jiang Chenbi furrowed her brows. “Of course it can. Didn’t I ask you that night in the Cold Palace? If you weren’t willing to cooperate with me, I’d kill you.”

Cui Wangshu: “…”

She had forgotten…

And how casually Jiang Chenbi had said she would kill her, like it was nothing.

Cui Wangshu suddenly remembered that at the beginning, she had been threatened…

How did it turn into her being so willing later on?

Jiang Chenbi watched Cui Wangshu’s expressions shift and finally realized what she was being tsundere about.

Thinking of the folk rumors, she chuckled lightly. “Minister Cui… you don’t think this Love Gu is some kind of Gu poison for raising sex slaves, do you?”

Cui Wangshu’s thoughts were guessed, and her expression grew unnatural. “Isn’t it?”

Jiang Chenbi breathed a sigh of relief inwardly. “Of course not. Who told you that?”

Facing Cui Wangshu’s puzzled gaze, Jiang Chenbi explained, “The kind of Love Gu you mentioned no longer exists in the world. That was my master’s first-generation Love Gu. Later, because someone used it to raise sex slaves, she cultivated a new one.”

“The Love Gu doesn’t have the ability to propagate to the next generation on its own, so after the first-generation hosts died, that strain went extinct. The current Love Gu is similar to the first generation, but it requires emotional stirring to enter the mind.”

Jiang Chenbi smiled and leaned forward, whispering softly by Cui Wangshu’s ear, “In other words… Minister Cui, you fell for it. You allowed my Love Gu into your mind.”

Cui Wangshu felt the wet, hot breath on her neck, her throat tightening.

She… had fallen for her?

When?

Cui Wangshu’s thoughts drifted, recalling Jiang Chenbi’s wild, unrestrained smile in the moment of the explosion.

Recalling those meaningful eyes before the copper mirror chamber.

Recalling that impulsive kiss in the ice room…

Cui Wangshu suddenly closed her eyes, as if refusing to say another word.

Seeing her play dead, Jiang Chenbi’s eyes held a smile. She didn’t press her and changed the subject. “When I told you I was ambushed, I wasn’t lying.”

“That old witch is my senior sister, an old monster who’s lived who-knows-how-long. She wanted to restart the first-generation Love Gu, but Master disagreed and imprisoned her in the Water Prison. She sent word wanting to see me. She was eccentric but had never mistreated me, so I went.”

“And she ambushed me.” Jiang Chenbi paused, omitting part of the truth, and continued, “Minister Cui, the one in me is the first-generation Love Gu.”

Shock flickered in Cui Wangshu’s eyes. “First-generation? Didn’t it go extinct?”

Jiang Chenbi shook her head self-mockingly. “My senior sister has crooked intentions but is a genius. She succeeded. Master found out and wanted to remove the Gu for me, but the first-generation Love Gu can’t be removed. Fortunately, the other half wasn’t planted.”

“Then I met you, Minister Cui, and planted the other half in you.”

Jiang Chenbi said seductively, “So… Little Cui Daren, I’m your… sex slave.”

Hearing those two words from her mouth, Cui Wangshu’s ears turned red.

But Cui Wangshu wasn’t fully swayed. She asked, “That doesn’t add up. Then why haven’t you had an outbreak?”

Jiang Chenbi sighed inwardly. What a blockhead. So dense.

She blinked playfully. “Does Little Cui Daren really want to know?”

Cui Wangshu sensed Jiang Chenbi was up to no good but still nodded.

Jiang Chenbi chuckled lightly and said something utterly outrageous: “…”

Cui Wangshu’s breathing quickened suddenly, her eyes darting everywhere, her whole body red like a ripe shrimp.

She stammered, “Y-You… get out. I need to rest.”

Jiang Chenbi’s reluctant gaze lingered on Cui Wangshu’s pale arm. Seeing she was truly annoyed, she smiled, put on her clothes, and left.

She had coaxed her successfully, after all… and things needed to progress step by step.

Hold back… Jiang Chenbi.

Jiang Chenbi shook her head with a smile and returned to her own room.

She made no comment on Cui Wangshu’s idea of using her and tossing her out without even letting her stay the night.

Better let Little Cui Daren calm down and think it over properly.

Besides, court session was approaching, and they’d been up all night.

After washing up in her room, Jiang Chenbi mused to herself that she still needed to meet Cui Wangshu’s people.

She wanted to see just who had seen through her Love Gu at a glance.

Meanwhile, Cui Wangshu had only just recovered from what Jiang Chenbi had said. Thinking back on the night’s events, she felt like she had nowhere to escape.

Closing her eyes brought visions of Jiang Chenbi’s glamorous face whispering in her ear.