Chapter One: The Fiancé Died Before We Even Met

Xie Qingtang gazed at the grand and spacious mansion before her, unable to suppress a quiet sigh. In a city like Su City, where every inch of land was precious, to own such a vast and old luxurious estate spoke volumes—the status of her fiancé was clearly even more distinguished than she had imagined.

The security guards stationed at the gate had already noticed this simply-dressed yet strikingly beautiful girl. One of them finally couldn’t help but call out harshly, “Who are you, sneaking around here? This is the Gu family estate—you can’t just wander in as you please!”

Hearing this, Xie Qingtang lifted her head, looked at the guard, and smiled with curved eyes. “The Gu family? Then I’m in the right place. My fiancé is a member of the Gu family!”

The two guards were taken aback, their expressions turning stern. One of them said, “Come on, miss. I’ve seen plenty like you trying to cozy up to the Gu family. Not one of them has succeeded, and all of them left with more trouble than they bargained for. You look young, probably still in college. Take my advice: focus on your studies and stop dreaming about marrying into wealth!”

So… they’d mistaken her for a sparrow trying to become a phoenix?

Xie Qingtang’s delicate oval face scrunched up with a hint of helplessness in her voice. “Gentlemen, my fiancé’s name is Gu Xiujin. Even if I don’t get to marry into a wealthy family, I at least need to come in person to break off the engagement, don’t you think?”

The guards were stunned. “Who did you say your fiancé is?”

“Gu Xiujin!” Xie Qingtang replied, frowning. “Why? Isn’t he from the Gu residence? Look, I even have his photo!”

The guards exchanged incredulous glances. The photograph looked a little yellowed, as if it had been treasured for years.

“Miss, you’re right. The matter of President Gu’s engagement can only be decided by him. Since that’s the case, you can go in and ask him yourself.”

With these words, the heavy wrought-iron gates slowly opened, as if they genuinely intended to let Xie Qingtang through.

She noted the security guards’ expressions, knowing something was amiss, but—she wasn’t one to be easily scared off. If they dared open the gate for her, then she would dare go in!

The two guards watched her unhesitatingly stride toward the mansion. One asked the other, “Why did you let her in? If the butler finds out, we’ll be fired! And today of all days…”

The older guard lit a cigarette, replying nonchalantly, “What could we do? Didn’t you see how determined she was? Even if we tried, we couldn’t have stopped her. Besides, did you look at that photo? Two young men with their arms around each other—one of them is definitely Old Master Gu.”

“How do you know?” The younger guard was new and knew little about the Gu family, especially the old master.

The older one gave him a sidelong glance and lowered his voice. “When I first started working here, I was lucky enough to go into the study. I saw a large print of that exact photo hanging on the wall. That girl’s photo isn’t something just anyone could get.”

Xie Qingtang walked toward the main house, the sense of unease growing stronger. The entire mansion was eerily empty—there wasn’t a soul in sight!

Only when she reached the living room did she hear an uproar upstairs. Someone shouted angrily, “You’ve gone too far!”

Her steps faltered, and a bad premonition surged in her heart. “Seems I’ve come at the wrong time,” she muttered to herself.

She followed the voices up the stairs, tiptoeing to a master bedroom, where the crowd was densely packed. So, the mansion wasn’t empty—everyone had gathered here.

The butler and servants stood on the periphery, craning their necks to see inside the room. For now, no one noticed Xie Qingtang, allowing her to reach the edge of the crowd unimpeded.

Peering through the gaps, she saw two distinct factions confronting each other. One group, clad in suits, exuded the aura of business elites—their faces marked by grief. The other, a mix of elders and youths, were lavishly dressed, their eyes alight with barely concealed excitement and greed.

A portly, greasy-faced middle-aged man rudely pointed at a young, sharp-suited man standing by the bed and snapped, “Gu Xiujin is dead. It’s only right that we inherit his estate. Who do you think you are, daring to meddle in the affairs of the Gu family?”

Xie Qingtang’s heart dropped with a thud. Finished! She hadn’t even met her fiancé, and he was already dead? What now?!

She craned her neck for a better look. Her gaze landed on the man lying at the center of the room. His features were sharp and breathtakingly handsome, but his pale skin and unmoving chest left no doubt…

But suddenly, Xie Qingtang’s eyes narrowed. Wait a moment!

Meanwhile, among the business elites, someone protested heatedly, “If President Gu had known, he’d rather donate his estate to the nation than let you jackals of relatives get your hands on it!”

That accusation sparked an uproar. A woman, decked out in finery, shrieked, “Oh, so that’s your plan! You’re blocking us so you can take Gu Xiujin’s assets for yourselves, aren’t you?”

Gu Xiujin’s assistant, Li Zhao, eyes red but still the calmest among them, replied, “Madam Gu, that’s not our intention at all. We simply believe that, since President Gu just passed, it’s disrespectful to discuss dividing his estate before his body. Frankly, his spirit might still be here watching you. With his temper, aren’t you afraid of retribution?”

The greasy middle-aged man and the well-dressed woman—Gu Xiujin’s second uncle and younger aunt—shrunk back, their voices faltering. For all their hatred, they also feared him—a nephew so young and frail, yet ruthless and cunning. Even from his sickbed, he’d kept them in check.

But Gu Xiujin’s cousins were defiant. “Nonsense!” one scoffed. “This is the modern age—stop with the ghost stories! If you really have the nerve, let Gu Xiujin get up and tell us himself. Otherwise, get out of our way and let us handle things!”

The tension in the room mounted, on the verge of exploding, when a clear, gentle voice cut through the clamor: “If you want Gu Xiujin to get up and speak to you himself, that’s not impossible.”

Everyone froze, turning wide-eyed toward the source of the voice.

A beautiful young woman stood poised at the edge of the crowd.

As all eyes converged on her like spotlights, Xie Qingtang nodded politely in greeting. Though the crowd stared in disbelief, her expression remained unchanged. She merely pointed to the “corpse” on the bed and said, “He’s not dead. If you want him to speak to you in person, all you need is for me to bring him back. So—do you want me to save him?”