After Being Deceived, I Married Someone Else and Had Children Chapter 103

Under Minister Hou’s suddenly intense gaze across the table,

Ji Shenwen instinctively glanced at him. Once Hou Dingfeng nodded, signaling him to proceed, he awkwardly replied, “I’m here, Your Highness. Is there something you need me for?”

Gu Heng blinked his dark eyes and glanced at Zuo Shihuan not far away, who was also on a call, already hearing the familiar, annoying voice of a woman.

Just as he expected.

Sure enough, Zuo Shihuan was comforting that troublesome Omega woman, Yu Lizhu.

Gu Heng felt his own sharp hearing had become a source of irritation, he wanted to eavesdrop on what Zuo Shihuan was saying, but at the same time, he couldn’t help feeling possessive and jealous, disliking anyone else taking Zuo Shihuan’s attention.

He had to get Yu Lizhu away, and fast!

His dark eyes flashed with determination. His tone toward Ji Shenwen grew more serious.

“I do need your help, Ji Shenwen. Have you finished your tasks?”

Ji Shenwen paused for a moment, his expression grave as he asked, “May I ask if Your Highness has encountered some difficult matter? No matter what it is, if there’s anything you need me for, I will rush over immediately.”

It was rare to hear Crown Prince Gu Heng clearly express that he needed his help. It involuntarily made Ji Shenwen’s expression turn serious and heavy.

He assumed that Gu Heng had run into some thorny problem, one of the kind that even he himself couldn’t handle.

In such a case, no matter how important the task Ji Shenwen had on hand, he would put it down. For the Empire, nothing was more important than the Crown Prince. On a personal level, he genuinely regarded His Highness as one of his most important friends.

Gu Heng stared fixedly at Zuo Shihuan not far away, who was gently coaxing someone in a soft voice. A wave of sour irritation immediately surged up, making his teeth ache, there hadn’t even been many times when Zuo Shihuan had coaxed him like that!

How could this not count as troublesome?

Gu Heng said with a gloomy expression, “It is indeed quite troublesome. Without you, it really couldn’t be resolved.”

Ji Shenwen was startled. His heart jumped, and he almost stood up as his heartbeat sped up several times. He asked anxiously, “Your Highness, do you need me to arrange for more people to help you?”

Gu Heng came back to his senses and explained, “That won’t be necessary. It’s enough that you’re here, Ji Shenwen. Shihuan entrusted me with something. Ji Shenwen, you haven’t replied to Yu Lizhu’s text messages or calls, have you?”

Ji Shenwen froze for a moment. He hadn’t expected to hear Yu Lizhu’s name again from Gu Heng’s mouth. A mix of emotions surged through him, leaving him hoarse and unable to speak.

The first reaction that surfaced was actually fear, an urge to escape.

Not only did he want to avoid the reality that Yu Lizhu had gotten married without telling him, but also the future… whether Yu Lizhu would come clean and break up with him, or the cruel reality of Yu Lizhu refusing to admit it and wanting to continue deceiving him.

If Yu Lizhu didn’t want to admit it…

Would he still have the courage to expose that Yu Lizhu had deceived him?

Ji Shenwen opened his eyes in confusion and pain, only to realize that he could no longer see the road ahead clearly.

With difficulty, he came to realize… that even after all this, he still couldn’t bear to break up with Yu Lizhu. He barely even felt anger or the urge to scold her.

Thinking about how Yu Lizhu had deceived him like this, and had even been abandoned by the groom in full view of everyone…

Even then, Ji Shenwen realized that he felt not the slightest satisfaction of revenge. Instead, foolishly and unwillingly, he was still feeling heartache for Yu Lizhu.

He didn’t want to break up with Yu Lizhu at all.

He couldn’t bear to leave her at a time when she was hurting. And even his true feelings were that he didn’t want to break up with her.

Maybe when the time came, Yu Lizhu would just coax him a little, deceive him a little, keep showering him with sweet words, and he would let himself be blinded and forgive her.

That thought made Ji Shenwen feel afraid and want to escape. He didn’t want to become a foolish, pitiful person without principles, and for the time being, he didn’t want to hear any of Yu Lizhu’s name or information.

Even though he had spent the entire night staring at the messages Yu Lizhu sent him, at the calls she made, pouring glass after glass of alcohol into his stomach until he was nearly drunk to death, his consciousness hazy, he still didn’t dare reply to a single message from Yu Lizhu, let alone answer her calls!

He was afraid that upon hearing Yu Lizhu’s sweet voice, he would immediately collapse, handing over his entire self, body and mind, weakly and without any bottom line.

He was afraid of becoming like that.

Thinking back now, Gu Heng had been right from the start. He had opposed Ji Shenwen getting close to Yu Lizhu in the first place. If he had been a bit more ruthless and decisive back then, maybe things wouldn’t have turned out like this.

Now even Minister Hou had scolded him in dissatisfaction.

Actually dating a Federation Omega woman, and even leading the Crown Prince astray into dating a Federation person as well.

Maybe it had been wrong from the very beginning.

He shouldn’t have been with Yu Lizhu.

Minister Hou’s reprimand was right. It was his own weakness and willfulness that had caused this disastrous outcome. He should take responsibility and correct this “mistake.”

Ji Shenwen’s gaze gradually steadied and cleared. With a hoarse, heavy voice after drinking, he answered the Crown Prince’s question: “I didn’t reply.”

And he didn’t plan to reply in the future either.

Gu Heng asked casually, “Is it because you saw it yesterday? Yu Lizhu was there too.”

Ji Shenwen felt a moment of heavy pain, but still forced himself to respond, “I… saw it. But it doesn’t matter anymore.”

Gu Heng was slightly surprised. “Oh, does it really not matter? You know, when I saw Zuo Shihuan there, I was practically furious. Ji Shenwen, you were kept in the dark just like me, weren’t you?”

Ji Shenwen let out a soft “Mm.”

A trace of displeasure and sharp anger flashed through Gu Heng’s dark eyes. His hand rested on the metal sofa, unconsciously exerting force, causing a faint rustling sound as tiny metal shavings fell from the steel backrest.

It wouldn’t take long for a clearly visible handprint to be left on the metal sofa.

Of course, Gu Heng wouldn’t let that happen.

If Zuo Shihuan discovered it, it would be troublesome.

He quickly reined in his anger.

Gu Heng narrowed his dark eyes slightly and said with a cold, mocking tone, “That woman is really impressive, she even managed to deceive you, Ji Shenwen. If we’d come back from the mission a little later, we probably would’ve seen Yu Lizhu’s engagement announcement in the news, wouldn’t we?”

Ji Shenwen lowered his head in guilt. “I’m sorry, Your Highness. This is my fault.”

Gu Heng frowned slightly, clicked his tongue, and said, “What fault do you have? It was that woman who concealed it. Besides, we were on other missions during that time and didn’t have the energy to deal with such things. Even I myself didn’t…”

Gu Heng’s gaze darkened.

He had deliberately avoided all news related to Zuo Shihuan.

He thought that letting heavy missions occupy his constantly yearning mind would keep him from thinking about the person far away on the Federation’s main star.

He hadn’t expected…

All of that restraint and perseverance would completely collapse the moment he saw Zuo Shihuan. And learning of Zuo Shihuan’s engagement was even more of a total defeat.

In the end, he had gone mad, desperately trying to retrieve the Zuo Shihuan he had lost, determined to get him back even if it meant smashing his head and spilling blood.

Even now, Gu Heng didn’t dare to recall how he had felt back then.

Being cruelly rejected by Zuo Shihuan, his heart cut like a knife, yet still stubbornly, recklessly trying to win him back, no matter the cost.

Fortunately, in the end, Zuo Shihuan softened.

Otherwise, even Gu Heng himself didn’t know… what earth-shattering things he might do after losing control, because at that time he was on the verge of collapse, almost going mad.

Even now, Gu Heng still regretted not continuing to pay attention to news about Zuo Shihuan back then, deliberately avoiding all information related to Zuo Shihuan, the Zuo family, and the Federation’s main star, and also remaining indifferent to any information about Ji Shenwen and Yu Lizhu.

If only he had been a little more attentive.

He would have noticed long ago how strange Yu Lizhu’s behavior was during that period. Normally, Ji Shenwen always had endless topics to talk about, so how could there suddenly be a stretch of time where her chatting and calls with Ji Shenwen dropped off a cliff?

They were clearly a couple in the heat of passionate love. Yu Lizhu herself was a wealthy, idle Federation Omega young lady, if nothing special was going on, how could she possibly not stay in contact with Ji Shenwen?

In truth, it was because during that time Yu Lizhu was planning and preparing for her arranged marriage and engagement with Zuo Shihuan.

This news was not hard to find out.

On the Empire’s side, they had long since learned of the marriage alliance between the Zuo and Yu families. If Gu Heng had wanted to know, obtaining this information would have been as easy as lifting a hand.

Yet it just so happened that during that same period, it was difficult even for Empire subordinates to find him. He deliberately went to some remote planets to carry out missions, continuously numbing himself with heavy workloads.

Nominally, it was to complete so-called missions; in reality, he was running away, fleeing to places far from the Federation’s main star, far from where Zuo Shihuan was.

Even when Empire subordinates sent him briefing materials, most of them were related to the missions at hand. Perhaps within those intelligence reports there had been mentions of some Federation family heir entering into a marriage alliance with another family.

But how would Gu Heng care about such trivial matters?

Whether in the Empire or the Federation, there were countless family alliances, breakups, and remarriages throughout the year. As for an Alpha heir of some family getting engaged to an Omega of another family, that kind of thing happened all the time.

How would he ever have thought that the Alpha heir in that alliance would be Zuo Shihuan?

In a sense, Ji Shenwen had been dragged down by him as well.

It was he who had pulled Ji Shenwen along to those remote planets, causing Ji Shenwen not to notice Yu Lizhu’s abnormalities.

In the end, the two of them had both been thoroughly deceived by Yu Lizhu.

Gu Heng was not someone who stubbornly clung to pride and refused to admit his mistakes. Even though on the surface he mocked Yu Lizhu’s scheming, he bore not the slightest resentment toward Ji Shenwen.

Gu Heng frowned slightly and said in an even tone, “This matter was also due to my own carelessness and oversight. It can’t really be counted as your fault, Ji Shenwen.”

Hearing the Crown Prince’s magnanimous words, words that not only did not blame him but even comforted him that it wasn’t his fault…

This instead made Ji Shenwen feel even more guilty and ashamed. He lowered his head, his half-lidded, dispirited eyes filled with muddled self-reproach.

Gu Heng suddenly remembered that he hadn’t made this call to determine who was at fault, but because he had received Zuo Shihuan’s request and had to explain things on Yu Lizhu’s behalf to Ji Shenwen.

It was just that seeing Zuo Shihuan patiently comforting Yu Lizhu over the phone had instantly made Gu Heng boil with anger, so once the call connected, it turned into him complaining to Ji Shenwen about his girlfriend instead.

Gu Heng didn’t want to do this kind of petty, tattling-behind-the-back behavior. If it weren’t for Yu Lizhu being too… forget it…

Gu Heng coughed lightly twice and returned to the main point, saying, “Let’s put this matter behind us. I contacted you to make things clear, there’s another reason behind Yu Lizhu’s engagement.”

Ji Shenwen’s smile was bleak. “Actually, Your Highness, I really don’t mind anymore. It doesn’t matter what Yu Lizhu wants to do.”

Gu Heng raised an eyebrow and said, “Even if Yu Lizhu wasn’t acting of her own will, but was forcibly arranged by her family to get engaged, you still wouldn’t mind?”

“…What?!” Ji Shenwen froze in place. It felt as though his heart had been clenched tight, then began to beat faster as hope sprouted.

Gu Heng continued to explain, “Although I don’t get along with that woman, I wouldn’t fabricate things out of thin air to speak ill of her, much less deceive you. That engagement was a family-imposed arrangement. Neither Yu Lizhu nor Zuo Shihuan was willing, but left with no choice, the two of them privately decided on a fake engagement. It’s fake. They’ll dissolve the engagement later.”

“I think Yu Lizhu probably believed that the engagement would eventually be called off, so she didn’t dare tell you, and also didn’t want to drag you into those matters.”

Gu Heng let out a cold click of his tongue. “That woman is cautious and sly enough, she kept us in the dark for so long. But I can tell that Yu Lizhu truly has feelings for you.”

The shocking revelation left Ji Shenwen stunned, his eyes widened. He touched his forehead in a daze, disbelieving for more than ten seconds, the corners of his mouth unconsciously lifting in joy, wanting to laugh, yet not daring to.

She hadn’t deceived him.

Yu Lizhu hadn’t actually deceived him, at most, she had concealed the engagement from him. It was all fake, a fake engagement!

If even the Crown Prince said so, then it must be true.

The thing he had feared most hadn’t happened. Yu Lizhu hadn’t deliberately deceived him, nor was it that she had no feelings for him at all.

Perhaps it was precisely because Yu Lizhu cared so much about his feelings that she didn’t dare tell him. How foolish.

So foolish…

Both of them were foolish.

As Ji Shenwen smiled in joy, without realizing it, tears welled up at the corners of his eyes. He covered his eyes, revealing an expression of pain, a deep sense of fated sorrow winding around his heart.

Unfortunately, telling him now was already useless.

Even if Yu Lizhu was sincere toward him, this was still, ultimately, a mistake. From the very beginning, the two of them had been a mistake.

It was precisely because Yu Lizhu was sincere toward him that he never should have been with her in the first place. In the end, he should take responsibility for this…

Gu Heng lowered his gaze slightly, his fingers tapping against his knee as he patiently waited for Ji Shenwen to speak. Seeing that the person on the other end of the call still wasn’t saying anything, and that the timing was about right, he took the initiative to ask, “You know about this now, right?”

Ji Shenwen replied softly, “Yes, Your Highness.”

Gu Heng’s lips curved up slightly as he said in a relaxed tone, “I’ve pretty much told you everything you needed to know. Once you feel there’s no issue, Ji Shenwen, you should get in touch with Yu Lizhu, so she doesn’t spend all day crying and clinging to my people nonstop.”

Ji Shenwen’s expression was muddled. He forced a perfunctory smile in agreement, but did not say anything in response.

In his heart, he had already made another decision.

Knowing that Yu Lizhu had not deliberately concealed or deceived him, that it wasn’t that she had no genuine feelings for him at all, being satisfied with just that… was already enough.

Gu Heng thought that he had explained everything that needed to be explained. No matter what, Zuo Shihuan wouldn’t have any grievances against him anymore, so he prepared to leave and hang up the call.

Speaking of it, that woman Yu Lizhu had occupied his person for long enough!

Gu Heng stared intently at Zuo Shihuan not far away. He revealed a faint smile, though it wasn’t directed at him, and immediately felt a sour rush well up in his chest.

He was getting impatient to snatch his person back.

Gu Heng narrowed his eyes, ground his teeth lightly, and said, “If there’s nothing else on your side, Ji Shenwen, I’m going to hang up.”

Ji Shenwen said, “Your Highness, you’re hanging up now? Oh, alright…”

Before Ji Shenwen could finish speaking, Minister Hou, who had been sitting at the opposite table secretly observing the whole time, couldn’t hold back anymore. Having finally gotten news of the Crown Prince, he still had many matters to report to His Highness!

How could the call just be hung up like this?!

Minister Hou looked anxious and hurriedly waved his hands desperately in front of Ji Shenwen.

This even startled Ji Shenwen a little.

Gu Heng frowned in confusion, faintly hearing some strange movement from the other end of the communicator, and asked, “Ji Shenwen, is there someone else with you over there?”

Ji Shenwen finally realized Minister Hou’s intention and answered Gu Heng’s question. “Yes. It’s Minister Hou from the Intelligence Department. He seems to have something to speak with you about, Your Highness.”

Ji Shenwen asked, “Your Highness, do you want to take Minister Hou’s call?”

Gu Heng frowned slightly. “Alright.”

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