I became the God Brother of the Regent King after Transmigration!-Chapter 376 - 292: Child Betrothal

Gu Lan thought Rong Heng had finally realized he had been deceived and wanted to kill him.

The next moment, Rong Heng sharpened his knife by the creek and squatted down.

A few flashes of cold light, and he caught two lively fish.

"Don’t just draw your sword without a word." 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

"Alright," Rong Heng picked up Gu Lan’s Longquan sword, "I’ll use the sword next time."

"..."

"——In short, it’s like this: Marquis Gu didn’t want to take a concubine, my mother got injured and can’t have more children, the Marquis Mansion needs an heir, and my grandmother kept urging, so I was born and had to assume a male identity."

Gu Lan candidly revealed to Rong Heng the inside story that Marquis Gu had once told her.

When Gu Lan learned these reasons, apart from being angry about Wei Liuyu’s harm to Zhou Wanqing, she didn’t have much emotional reaction. But this time, when she told Rong Heng, she was impassioned, nearly in tears.

"The noble person?" Rong Heng looked at the tearful Young Master Gu, quietly listened, then said, "Just speak normally. Otherwise, you sound like a pervert."

Gu Lan’s tears that she had just conjured up quickly withdrew.

Rong Heng raised his hand and deftly scaled and gutted the freshly caught fish, invigorating her spirits.

He calmly skewered the prepared fish with Gu Lan’s Longquan sword and placed them over the fire to roast.

Gu Lan let out a sigh of relief, took out her usual seasonings, and sprinkled them on the fish.

Originally, today they planned to eat roast goose, but tonight it seemed unlikely; having grilled fish was also good.

"There’s one more thing, perhaps Dingyuan Marquis didn’t tell you." Rong Heng lowered his gaze, turning the fish over, sprinkling more salt.

"What?" Gu Lan asked.

In Rong Heng’s mind, a dignified face flashed by, making his eyes grow more complicated.

"Throughout Dayan’s history, the emperors tried to court favor from the Dingyuan Marquis Mansion. Records state that the Dingyuan Marquis’s eldest sister was once the Crown Princess Consort, but the Crown Prince of that time died young, and the Crown Princess Consort also followed her husband in death, causing the Dingyuan Marquis great grief.

Because of this precedent, the Dingyuan Marquis Mansion never again voluntarily arranged marriages between their children and the imperial family. Coincidentally, the Marquis Mansion had many sons, and the Imperial Family had few princesses, resulting in no matches, making the Marquis Mansion more wary of the imperial family.

Until during the former Emperor’s reign, he intended for the Eldest Princess to marry your father, but your father married your mother as his principal wife first. Naturally, the princess could not be a concubine or equal wife, so it was put on hold again."

Upon hearing this, Gu Lan realized:

"Are you saying that the Imperial Family wanted to bond with the Marquis Mansion, but Marquis Gu and Second Young Master Gu married early... No wonder the old Marquis took her to war since the Imperial Family would never marry a woman who liked to wield weapons. So the former Emperor had plans for me."

Rong Heng curved the corners of his lips slightly, slowly saying, "Before you were born, it’s said that the former Emperor intended to betroth the Fifth Prince, Rong Heng, to the eldest daughter of the Dingyuan Marquis Mansion as a child engagement."

Gu Lan: "...."

No wonder she needed to disguise herself as a male!

Wait, the former Emperor’s Fifth Prince, Rong Heng...

If she had originally been a daughter, she would have married Rong Heng?

"Marquis Gu and the Marchioness probably couldn’t bear the thought of you marrying into the Royal Family, which is one reason you were disguised as a male at birth." Rong Heng said, recalling from memory the scene where the former Emperor teased about the Young Master of the Dingyuan Marquis Mansion nearly becoming his imperial concubine.

"If I were still the Fifth Prince, and if you hadn’t hidden your identity, I would’ve married you as my imperial concubine."

Under Rong Heng’s gaze, Gu Lan felt her cheeks flush slightly.

"But... that was just the former Emperor shooting his mouth off." She steadied herself and said.

"Mm, because you were the Young Master, the former Emperor dropped the idea," Rong Heng said lightly, "and I am no longer the favored Fifth Prince."

"But you are now Prince Xiang." Gu Lan comforted.

Rong Heng’s eyes deepened, and he looked at the grilled fish with a dangerous gaze: "Yes, so why did you deceive me?"

Gu Lan’s heart skipped a beat: "How did this get back to that? I just explained at length, it’s not like I wanted to disguise myself as a male, it was due to circumstances, and..."

"And what else?"

"And you had always been so aloof and disdainful of women, how could I dare reveal I’m female? Let alone become sworn siblings with you... Ultimately, it’s your fault! You gave me mixed signals." Gu Lan realized her logic as she spoke, becoming more assertive.

Yes, in the books, the male lead was practically a lady-killer, all women around him met unfortunate ends.

He didn’t care even for his niece from the same school, how could she reveal her identity to befriend someone, let alone disguise herself as a male to become sworn siblings. As for inadvertently turning him... purely accidental.

Rong Heng laughed, a chilling laugh: "So, it’s my fault."

"That’s one way to interpret it."

"I pretended to dislike women because of what Rong Jing did to Rong Luo. As long as I didn’t get close to women, I wouldn’t have descendants, making me a safe bet for Rong Jing. Associating with men merely indicated ambition, and Rong Jing was highly conceited, still believing I could be used by him."

Hearing his words, Gu Lan felt guilty and heartache.

Rong Jing was conceited, but he was also suspicious. Such a suspicious person, how catastrophic were the scenes during Rong Heng’s killing of Xia He, for him to truly trust that Rong Heng had been destroyed.

"Young Master Gu excels at turning the tables, you’ve known that I had no prejudice against women yet still hid it from me for so long." Rong Heng’s gaze darkened.

Gu Lan mumbled, "Wasn’t it because you said you liked men..."

Rong Heng paused, his eyes suddenly brightened: "You hid it because if I liked men, and you revealed your identity, I wouldn’t like you?"

Gu Lan: "?"

"Ah, yes, that’s exactly it." Young Master Gu clutched her wildly beating heart, nodding fervently.

Thankfully, Rong Heng himself found an impeccable reason! Yes, she was afraid Rong Heng might be bent, which is why she always disguised herself as male.

Time passed, and after clearing the air, the atmosphere lightened considerably, a faint aroma wafting from the grilled fish.

Gu Lan, her appetite stirred, eyed the grilled fish. Only to see Rong Heng with a lowered gaze, occasionally turning it, until the fish became an enticing golden brown.

"I think it’s ready to eat."

"I don’t think so."

Gu Lan looked longingly as he continued to turn it over, suddenly sensing something: "Brother Hang, I’ve been meaning to ask."

"What?" Rong Heng said with his head down.

"Why haven’t you looked at me once since you started grilling the fish," Gu Lan blinked, asking softly, "Could it be that Brother Zichan has read too many novels and can’t accept that I’m a woman."

Rong Heng suddenly raised his head, staring at her intently: "Call it again."

"Noble person——"

"Leave out the noble person."

Gu Lan too felt disgusted, and softly said: "Rong Zichan."

In an instant, a fiery blaze ignited in Rong Heng’s dark eyes.

"Mm, accepted it now."