By the time Gu Heng had mostly recovered from his earlier embarrassment, he saw Zuo Shihuan looking at him with that same amused smile which instantly made his ears burn red. He couldn’t help but grit his teeth and snap in shy anger:
“It’s not funny at all. I know I messed up.”
Zuo Shihuan’s eyes were still full of laughter as he teased, “Are you still worried now?”
“Hmph. About her?”
Gu Heng’s confidence returned in full force. There was really no reason to worry about Yu Lizhu stealing Zuo Shihuan away. He snorted disdainfully: “That noisy Omega woman with zero charm, Yu Lizhu? Not even a little worried. Only Ji Shenwen could tolerate her.”
There was no way Zuo Shihuan could ever like someone like Yu Lizhu. Even being friends with her was already pushing it. The fact that Yu Lizhu had somehow managed to win over his subordinate, Ji Shenwen, meant she had already exerted every ounce of her Omega charm.
Gu Heng mercilessly belittled Yu Lizhu in his heart.
He was sure Yu Lizhu would do the same to him.
He wasn’t unaware that Yu Lizhu had often tried to get Ji Shenwen to stay away from him, thinking he was a dangerous influence and always keeping her guard up.
Gu Heng had no patience for that meddlesome Federation Omega woman.
Whenever he had an urgent mission to deliver to Ji Shenwen, he deliberately picked the timing to interrupt their dates. Even across the communicator, he could hear Yu Lizhu’s furious, colorful curses about him, followed by Ji Shenwen’s endless apologies afterward.
Gu Heng considered himself generous for letting her off repeatedly, all for Ji Shenwen’s sake.
Even though he wasn’t worried about anyone threatening his place in Zuo Shihuan’s heart, he still found it strange that Zuo Shihuan was entangled with that Omega woman at all.
But Zuo Shihuan soon gave him an explanation.
“My engagement with Yu Lizhu is fake. From the beginning, she told me she already had someone she liked, her current boyfriend, Ji Shenwen. And I didn’t want to rush into a marriage with a stranger, but I needed a fiancée in name. So, we agreed to a fake engagement, not to interfere in each other’s love lives, and to cover for each other when necessary.”
Zuo Shihuan gave a bitter, helpless smile. “I didn’t expect that when the engagement banquet finally came, you’d show up. I guess the agreement between me and Yu Lizhu is void now.”
Gu Heng understood then.
No wonder Zuo Shihuan had hesitated so much about canceling the banquet. It wasn’t just his engagement, it was something he had promised Yu Lizhu as well.
But even knowing the truth, if given another chance, Gu Heng would still do the same.
Even if the engagement was fake, he couldn’t bear to watch Zuo Shihuan walking toward someone else.
At most, for Zuo Shihuan’s sake, he’d treat Yu Lizhu a bit more politely.
“You’ve come back to the Federation’s main star. Did your friend Ji Shenwen come back too?”
Zuo Shihuan sighed, then said suddenly, “If you see your friend, tell him I’m sorry. I helped Yu Lizhu hide the fact that she was my fiancée in name. She’s been busy preparing for the banquet, and I didn’t expect it would end up ruined anyway.”
“If Yu Lizhu weren’t my fiancée and since I’ve fallen out with my father, Zuo Zoujian, my situation would be difficult. I might not even be able to persuade Yu Lizhu’s family to help them. Still, I really hope those two can stay together.”
“I’ll tell him,” Gu Heng replied quietly, lowering his eyes. His tone was calm.
But in truth, he didn’t need to tell Ji Shenwen anything.
Just before leaving the banquet hall, he had already seen Ji Shenwen there. Surely, Ji Shenwen had already recognized who the Omega bride was.
But that was something Gu Heng had no intention of telling Zuo Shihuan.
“That’s good, then.”
Zuo Shihuan let out a slow breath, lowered his gaze, and said softly, “Since I’ve told you everything, Gu Heng, shouldn’t you tell me something too?”
“For example… what exactly do you do?”
Gu Heng froze, words caught in his throat.
Zuo Shihuan didn’t mind the silence. He slowly lifted his light brown eyes and reached up to gently touch Gu Heng’s cheek, his fingers brushing over the faint, nearly healed pink scar under his eye.
“I don’t need you to tell me everything. I know you have your reasons, and that you can’t reveal your true identity. But I worry about your safety. I worry that you’ll go off, get hurt somewhere, and have no one to take care of you. Just tell me a part of the truth, enough to ease my mind.”
Gu Heng’s dark eyes stayed still, but inside, his heart trembled violently. Finally, under Zuo Shihuan’s earnest, worried gaze, he gave a small, heavy nod.
“Ask what you want,” Gu Heng said hoarsely. “I’ll tell you what I can.”
Zuo Shihuan’s face brightened slightly, then after a moment’s hesitation, he asked his first question: uncertain, cautious, but sincere.
“Gu Heng… are you a bad person?”
“It’s not that. What I’ve done is something I can answer to with a clear conscience.”
Gu Heng did have the right to say that.
Even after entering the Federation’s territory, he had never harmed an innocent Federation civilian. On the contrary, during missions and investigations, he had, whether intentionally or not, saved many civilians from both the Empire and the Federation.
Zuo Shihuan’s expression instantly eased. Half of what he’d been most worried about was now settled. He immediately asked, “Then are you working for someone or some organization?”
“Yes.”
Gu Heng answered without hesitation.
Whether it was his false identity within the Federation or his true one in the Empire, both belonged to a secret organization.
Zuo Shihuan thought for a moment, then lifted his gaze toward Gu Heng and asked, “Then how do you know whether the organization you serve is doing good or evil?”
Gu Heng’s brow furrowed at once, and he chose silence.
That was a question he could not truly answer.
Because, in Gu Heng’s view, there was no such thing as absolute good or absolute evil in this world.
Even the Federation’s own intelligence agencies were not pure, they would suppress border uprisings and silence their own citizens, all to maintain the government’s power.
Gu Heng knew this very well.
Every year, he received reports about Federation citizens who, unable to bear the oppression of their local authorities, fled and smuggled themselves into the Empire. If they were ordinary Federation civilians, Gu Heng would simply turn a blind eye.
But among those who slipped into the Empire, some were spies with ulterior motives, most of whom were secretly executed after stirring up trouble.
In a sense, the good Gu Heng, an Imperial, had done for Federation civilians far outweighed the so-called good deeds of the Federation’s own ruling institutions.
