After being forced into a marriage with a wealthy family, the virtuous wife caused a huge uproar.

"You asked me who saved me. I told you the truth. Why are you so angry? Do you want me to lie?" Rong Yingluo immediately stood up and took two steps back.

Gu Ce tried hard to suppress his anger, but his clenched fists betrayed his emotions.

The thought of seeing her embracing that man during the day irritated him.

Now that she has married into the Gu family, even if he doesn't like her, she still occupies the position of his heir's wife, so she should uphold the virtues of a woman.

"You are now a member of the Gu family. Remember your current status," Gu Ce said through gritted teeth.

"Don't you know how I got this identity?" Rong Yingluo retorted without backing down.

"The Rong family..."

"Useless man, led by the nose by his stepmother." Rong Yingluo wasn't afraid of him, and her words only provoked him more.

She hoped he would be so angry that he would never return to Silver Willow Courtyard, so that she could have the courtyard all to herself from then on.

Sleeping on the small tatami mat at night was rather uncomfortable.

"You..." Gu Ce was so angry that he wanted to hit her, but remembering the purpose of his visit, he took a deep breath and suppressed his anger.

Rong Yingluo was taken aback, but surprisingly, she didn't storm off in anger.

"Sit down, I have something to say to you," Gu Ce said coldly.

Rong Yingluo slowly moved over and sat down, but her eyes remained wary as she watched him. If he made a move, she would drug him.

"What is it? Tell me, I'm listening."

"These past three days, you haven't hidden your little tricks from me. You're trying to prove to me that you can survive in the Gu family, aren't you?" Gu Ce calmed down.

"No, it's that I know you and the Duchess are not on the same side. Or rather, all these years the Duchess has been pretending to be a loving mother, keeping you firmly under her control, leaving you powerless to resist."

"So you and I are not enemies, and I don't need to pretend in front of you." Since Rong Yingluo already knew that Gu Ce was not the enemy, she was also frank.

"When did you figure that out?" Gu Ce asked in shock.

The first thing she did upon entering was step over the brazier. Did that little scheme really make her realize that he and Su were only superficially friendly? That was just a small show of force.

"I could tell from the moment I sat in the bridal sedan chair."

The bridal sedan chair emitted a poisonous powdery smell that could gradually induce a drowsy state, eventually leading to death in one's sleep.

On their wedding night, the candles in the bridal chamber were laced with a poison that could drive people mad.

"If I didn't know a little about medicine and poisons, I would become more and more drowsy every day, and when I was awake I would go insane for no reason, and your stepmother would lock me up and let me die." Rong Yingluo's eyes gleamed with a sinister light.

"I see." Gu Ce suddenly realized, his eyes growing even colder.

His second wife, after going mad, was imprisoned by Su and died a few days later.

The third one began to sleep in a daze three days after entering the mansion, and eventually died in his sleep.

So they were all poisoned. What a clever tactic.

However, when he invited the imperial physician to examine him, the physician could not find the problem and only said that he had suddenly fallen ill with a serious illness, and the cause could not be found.

It seems that the imperial physician he sought had already been bribed by the Su family.

His first wife drowned, and his fourth wife died after being bitten by a poisonous snake.

Everyone dies differently.

Because of their lowly status, the Rong family didn't even need to come up with a good solution; they simply used the same tricks they had employed before.

He lost four wives, thus offending four families, all of whom were officials. Although his official rank gradually declined, he still held a place in the capital.

If it weren't for the Emperor's trust, these people might have killed him.

Ms. Su, you are truly admirable.

Unwittingly, this created so many enemies for him.

Seeing the sinister look in his eyes, Rong Yingluo remained silent, letting him slowly process the news.

Fifteen minutes later, Gu Ce finally snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Rong Yingluo.

"You want to get a divorce and elope with your fiancé?" Gu Ce calmed down again.

"Of course," Rong Yingluo affirmed.

"If I don't agree, you'll never be able to leave the Duke's mansion, not even if your grandmother begs the Emperor for an imperial decree." Gu Ce cut off her escape route.

"Why?" Rong Yingluo was stunned.

Even the old Duchess's plea to the Emperor was to no avail? How is that possible?

The old Duke spent his life on the battlefield, protecting his country for decades, but in the end he died from his injuries. Can't you even give him this much face?

"Because I have done the Emperor a favor by pleading for my life, as long as I don't agree, you won't get the imperial decree for divorce, and you won't be able to leave the Duke's mansion," Gu Ce said with unusual certainty.

"How come I didn't find out that you saved the Emperor's life? Who are you trying to fool?" Rong Yingluo didn't believe it.

"This information is confidential."

"No wonder I couldn't find out anything." Rong Yingluo asked Yinghong to inquire more about the Duke's mansion. She had received quite a bit of information in the past two days, and there was indeed no news about Gu Ce rescuing the emperor.

"Do you think I became the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel at such a young age solely because of my own abilities? Without some extraordinary opportunity, why would the Emperor give me this opportunity and trust me so much?" Gu Ce still felt lingering fear when he thought about the time he shielded the Emperor from a cup of poisoned wine.

Fortunately, he was the one who drank that cup of wine, otherwise the emperor would have been poisoned and died that time.

He was poisoned by several poisons, which had already formed a balance among them; otherwise, that cup of poisoned wine would have also taken his life.

Even so, he vomited blood and was weak for half a month.

"Then why did you tell me?" Since it was a secret, I shouldn't have told her. The more she knows, the faster she'll die.

"Didn't you want a divorce agreement? If you agree to cooperate with me, I will let you leave the manor after it's done. From then on, men and women will have no further connection in marriage." Gu Ce revealed his purpose in detail.

"What do you want me to do?" Rong Yingluo was very tempted. Her master was still waiting for her to go to Dongyue Kingdom together.

Without her care, I don't know if my master will be able to take care of himself.

"First, survive and break my reputation as a wife-killer."

Second, help me stall those schemers in the inner quarters, then depose the Su family and seize control of the household affairs from them.

Third, in public, always put me first and be a good wife so that others know we are deeply in love. At home, take good care of my daily life so that everyone in the household knows you always think of me.

Fourth, since you know how to use poison, you should also know how to detoxify. I need you to detoxify me and give me a healthy body. If you can't do it, you can ask someone else to do it for you.

Gu Ce made four requests in one go, but in fact, there were far more than four.

"You...you you you, you're a robber!" Rong Yingluo was furious.

That's utterly shameless.

She had to do so many things she didn't want to do just to get a divorce agreement.

"If you don't want to, then be my wife forever. I know you can survive," Gu Ce threatened with a faint smile.

Rong Yingluo gritted her teeth in anger. As long as she lived, she was his wife. Wasn't this binding her to him for life?

Unless she dies, or he dies.

No, even if he dies, she will still be a widow of the Gu family and will be inseparable from the Gu family just the same.

Despicable and shameless.

"I'll give you fifteen minutes to think it over." Gu Ce picked up his teacup and pretended to drink tea.

Actually, seeing her get angry made him inexplicably happy.

This girl is quite capable, but she doesn't know how to hide her emotions; her joy and anger are all on her face.

And he's also a great actor, which is what he likes most.

Rong Yingluo also picked up her cup and took a big gulp.

He slammed the cup down on the table and grabbed Gu Ce's hand without hesitation to take his pulse.

This move left her speechless with astonishment.