TSFLIP Chapter 295

Qian Qiu felt an instinctive fear, but he couldn’t comprehend it. “Prince Qian, you said the Empress needed to see you injured… What does that mean?”

“Only when Her Majesty sees with her own eyes that I’m willing to die for her will she love me more deeply and be unable to leave me,” Gu Yan said with a delighted smile. “Commander Qian, you know how heartless and detached the Empress can be. What if, decades from now, my looks fade, and she takes a liking to another man? I need an opportunity—a moment to make her utterly devoted to me.”

He knew Feng Guang well. Even if his beauty faded or her love for him waned, her guilt would prevent her from leaving.

“For just this reason…” Qian Qiu said in disbelief. “You stabbed yourself twice so decisively?”

“For just this reason.” Gu Yan’s wounds had not yet fully healed, leaving his complexion pale and sickly. Yet when he smiled faintly, that pallor added an almost eerie beauty to him. “In my eyes, whether it’s losing an arm or a leg, as long as I’m alive, if it means winning Feng Guang’s genuine love and admiration, those sacrifices are worth it.”

Qian Qiu didn’t know how to react. Someone as brilliant and dazzling as Gu Yan—if he wanted the throne, wouldn’t it be easy for him to take it? Yet, his ambition wasn’t the throne but the person who sat on it.

Qian Qiu still couldn’t believe that just to win the Empress’s affection, Gu Yan had so casually destroyed Qian Qiu’s grand plans at the final step.

He tried to find a flaw in Gu Yan’s logic. “How can you be sure the Duke of Zhen would help you? His grandson’s life is in my hands. Did it never occur to you that if I had ordered your death back then, what would you have done?”

“Su Bi claimed she had a deep blood feud with the Duke’s family and was willing to help you. Did you believe her?”

Qian Qiu’s fist clenched tightly. “Su Bi is your person.”

“Correct. To be honest, Feng Guang is a clever girl. She even came up with the idea of using the Duke to suppress you. But it’s not surprising—after all, she’s my precious child, raised by my hand. Unfortunately, I couldn’t let her plans succeed. If you were defeated, how could my scheme unfold? Thankfully, my precautionary move with Su Bi worked out well.” Gu Yan spoke slowly. “As for how I ensured you wouldn’t kill me…”

He smiled but said nothing more.

Suddenly, Qian Qiu realized, “It’s Su Xu… Su Xu is your person as well!”

“Commander Qian is indeed sharp.” From Gu Yan’s lips, the compliment was the sharpest irony.

Su Xu entered from the doorway, stepping behind the four palace maids. She bowed slightly to Qian Qiu and said, “This humble servant greets Commander Qian.”

Qian Qiu’s voice turned cold. “Su Xu!”

“Why is Commander Qian angry?” Su Xu asked innocently. “You wanted to imprison the Empress and seize the imperial seal. I helped you accomplish all of that, didn’t I?”

Su Xu had another name: Seventeen. She was an orphan whom Gu Yan had taken in and raised as a pawn. Her reputation as a divine seer, Su Lingxuan, was entirely crafted by Gu Yan to ensure that, when the time came, she would approach Qian Qiu and convince him that his time for success had arrived.

Qian Qiu was a superstitious man. Even if he doubted her, he couldn’t help but heed the words of someone revered as a divine prophet.

But when Su Xu first saw Feng Guang in the streets and made that remark, it wasn’t part of any scheme—it was pure bitterness. She couldn’t understand why her master would fall so deeply in love with such a reckless girl. She had spent years by his side, and no one knew better than she how cold and indifferent he was beneath his gentle exterior.

Yet all his warmth was reserved for that lazy, unrefined little girl.

Was she bitter?

No. From the moment her master took her in, he had made it clear: she was nothing more than a chess piece. At the time, she thought being a chess piece wasn’t so bad—at least it meant she had value in his eyes.

As Su Xu sank into her thoughts, Qian Qiu understood his defeat was inevitable. But he still wanted clarity. “Prince Qian, your planning is truly meticulous… When did you start preparing all this?”

Gu Yan chuckled lightly. “Ten years ago.”

“Ten years ago… Just to one day act out a self-inflicted injury in front of the Empress?”

“Precisely.”

Ten years ago, Xia Feng Guang had been nothing more than a five-year-old girl. Yet Gu Yan had already devised such an extreme plan, all for the chance to make her fall irrevocably in love with him.

Qian Qiu couldn’t comprehend it. “You’re insane…”