Transformed into a heartthrob's simp, every day is a battleground.

Chapter 394 Water Monkey

Seeing Yan Xun pointing at her with a hint of doubt and asking a question, Gao Ruiyun felt even more affection in her eyes. "I know all your difficulties."

My predicament...?

Three big question marks had already popped into Yan Xun's head: What was his predicament? How come he didn't know?

Li Wu was so happy he wanted to clap his hands. He never expected that in this script, Master Gao and Lou Yanchuan would actually get along so well—only the two of them were seriously engaging in palace intrigue.

"Aren't you convinced?" Gao Ruiyun asked Li Wu.

Li Wu wondered if his expression control was really that bad, but he still replied perfunctorily, "Master is probably overthinking it."

"How could I possibly frame Yan Xun?"

At this point, Li Wu looked at Yan Xun again and asked, "Why did you go to that courtyard?" Then he looked annoyed and said, "It's my fault. I didn't explain it to you clearly. There's a forbidden area in the Gao family that you can't set foot in."

Seeing Li Wu begin his performance, Yan Xun also joined in, "Forbidden Area?"

"Is it that courtyard with the man who looks...like a bear?" Yan Xun looked at Gao Ruiyun uncertainly.

"Is this place forbidden?"

"But I don't see anything special about it except that it's a bit broken."

“That place is definitely not a place you can just set foot in,” Gao Ruiyun explained. “Are you sure you weren’t tricked into going there by Li Wu?”

This is a bit tricky, Yan Xun thought.

If he insists that he wasn't tricked by Li Wu, then Gao Wen, who was with him, becomes a criminal suspect.

After all, Gao Ruiyun was well aware that they had gathered in Li Wu's room early in the morning.

Although the maids weren't present at the time and shouldn't have heard what they were discussing in the room, it's understandable that Gao Ruiyun had some doubts.

If it wasn't Gawain, then who could it be?

Lou Yanchuan?

Although Yan Xun wanted to try and see what methods Master Gao would use to deal with Lou Yanchuan if he revealed Lou Yanchuan's identity, he thought about it and realized that Li Wu had been present the whole time when Lou Yanchuan was with him.

But now Li Wu is acting as if he knows nothing about their trip to the forbidden area. Even if he could explain that Li Wu was not there when Lou Yanchuan lured him there, it would still be troublesome.

After thinking it over and over, Yan Xun came up with a new idea.

Li Wu looked at Yan Xun, knowing that Yan Xun wouldn't undermine him under these circumstances, and was also thinking about how the other party would respond.

“I’ve never heard him mention it.” Yan Xun’s expression showed just the right amount of confusion, as if he didn’t understand how such an ordinary place could become a forbidden zone for the Gao family.

"After leaving Madam's courtyard, Fifth Concubine and I originally intended to go to the ancestral hall to pay our respects," Yan Xun said, half-jokingly, "but after walking for a while..."

"We've discovered something strange."

"Strange thing?" Gao Ruiyun asked curiously. "What strange thing?"

He looked normal now, able to speak a complete sentence without coughing, a far cry from his previous frail and sickly appearance.

Yan Xun didn't speak immediately, but shrank back with a hint of fear.

Li Wu, who witnessed this scene: "…………………………"

Gao Ruiyun felt even more distressed upon seeing this, looking as if she wanted to rip her heart out and give it to Yan Xun. "What other strange things are happening in the Gao family that I don't know about?"

"So many!" Yan Xun and Li Wu thought at the same time.

"This matter..." Yan Xun looked at Master Gao, as if he didn't know where to begin, "My fifth concubine and I were just about to go to the ancestral hall when we encountered a ghost wall."

"A ghost wall?" Old Master Gao was stunned. "What ghost wall?"

"It felt like we were going around in circles, with the same scenery all around us. We wanted to take a detour, but no matter how we went around, we were just going in circles."

"It was around this time..."

Yan Xun slowly began to tell a ghost story, "We suddenly saw a dark shadow rushing towards us."

"We have no choice but to run somewhere else immediately."

"As we ran, we came across the forbidden area you mentioned."

Yan Xun put on a troubled expression, "When we saw the courtyard, we immediately felt saved... but we never expected that what looked like an ordinary place was actually a forbidden area."

"Sir, have you ever encountered a ghost wall?"

Upon hearing this, Gao Ruiyun started coughing again. Yan Xun was not surprised—he had noticed that whenever Master Gao tried to avoid his problems, he would start coughing incessantly.

Gao Ruiyun couldn't keep coughing like that. After coughing for a while, she slowly said, "I've never encountered that before."

“But Xiao Xun,” Gao Ruiyun stared at Yan Xun, “I heard from the servants that…”

“You went straight to that courtyard.”

"He looks very sober."

"The scapegoat who was bewitched by the water monkey also seemed to be walking towards the center of the pond while appearing to be sober?" Yan Xun immediately retorted.

"If we had been waving our arms and legs around, shouting and yelling, looking like we were possessed by a ghost, wouldn't you have found us and saved us long ago?"

"Do we still need to step into that forbidden area?"

Mr. Gao was bewildered by this series of questions, but after thinking about it carefully, he slowly nodded and said, "That makes sense."

"I haven't finished speaking yet," Yan Xun continued.

"You said."

"When we arrived at that courtyard, we heard the shadowy figure say..."

"say what?"

“They said we would all die.” Yan Xun looked at Gao Ruiyun. “That voice told us not to be afraid, that it was there to help us.”

"They said we were all scapegoats and unlucky fools who were deceived by the Gao family."

"Once the banquet begins, we will be offered as sacrifices to that lord."