Reinitz didn’t speak for a while.
The Taj Mahal stood in front of them.
Under the blue sky and white clouds, the white buildings appeared spotless, like a heavenly garden of extraordinary beauty.
Five hundred years ago, an emperor’s passion for his lover was all poured out into this mausoleum.
Unlike other well-known buildings in the world, the Taj Mahal was created out of love, and the pain and regret of not being able to be together were embodied in its quiet beauty.
Reinitz sighed a little and tugging the corners of his mouth, he smiled. “…Why? What do you think?”
He gave Gu Nianzhi a side glance and saw that her alluring eyes were full of alarm and suspicion. He couldn’t help feeling bitter inside, but there was nothing he could do about it.
He had his responsibilities, ideals, and ambitions.
As he said on the day he was sworn into office, he would be loyal to his country and his position, and if it went against his heart, he would choose to give it up.
“The beauty of life, the pain of death, the responsibility is on me, there is no turning back.
The enemy is in front, the companion is behind, heaven is on the left, and hell is on the right.
Faith is forever, strength is immortal, no regrets, no love or hatred. ”
Gu Nianzhi’s eyes swept across Reinitz’s face, but she didn’t ignore the conflicted look in his soulful blue eyes.
No way? Did he really have feelings for her?
Frowning, Gu Nianzhi shook off the thought that had suddenly arisen.
How could that be possible?
Even if he did, it didn’t prevent him from lying to her, scheming against her, and hurting her.
So, what was the meaning of these feelings?
They might as well be completely hostile to each other and leave no room for ambiguity.
Gu Nianzhi retracted her gaze and said calmly, “If you won’t tell me, then that’s fine. I’ll just guess.”
She raised her head and slowly followed Reinitz up the steps of the marble base of the Taj Mahal.
“As for the reason you brought me to the Taj Mahal, I will first exclude personal factors.”
“…Why do you want to exclude personal factors?” Reinitz smiled. “Maybe it was personal factors? Maybe it was my private desire?”
Gu Nianzhi glanced at him calmly. “Because personal factors are insignificant here. Even if they existed, they wouldn’t be enough to shake your will, right?”
Reinitz’s smile faded, and he chuckled in a self-deprecating manner. “Yep, fair enough.”
The two of them went up the steps and walked into the arch of the Taj Mahal.
It was a typical Persian architectural style, full of byzantine and elaborate strip patterns.
The tall colonnades were tapered, each entrance was an arch made of bricks, and the door frames were striped leaves that flowed down from the top.
But to Gu Nianzhi, the patterns there were too overwhelming and made her feel dizzy.
She silently followed Reinitz to the hall where the coffin was placed.
It was said that the concubine and the emperor were also buried there.
Reinitz stood in front of the coffin and stared at it quietly for a while, then asked, “You said that the emperor abdicated the throne for his woman, but was it worth it or not?”
Gu Nianzhi smiled. “You’d have to ask him about that. Feelings are like people drinking water, where the only one who knows whether it is warm or cold is yourself.”
There was another saying, where only one’s feet knows whether the shoes fit.
Reinitz walked around the coffin with his hands behind his back and said slowly, “…Don’t you want to know if that piece of paper is real or fake?”
Gu Nianzhi perked up her ears and looked over. “Alright, spill it.”
“But you didn’t ask me where I got the note.”
Gu Nianzhi was taken aback, and immediately asked, “If I’m not even sure whether it’s real or fake, why would I ask you where you got the note?”
Reinitz: “…”
What sort of response was this? But it sounded reasonable…
“If I ask you where you got the note, won’t I basically be assuming that the note is real? If it is real, then why would I ask about its authenticity? Don’t you feel it’s contradictory?”
Gu Nianzhi laughed. “Reinitz, I have taken all your information. Although I can’t read all the content, I know that your department has top-secret data about me.”
Reinitz was very surprised. He glanced back at her and thought that since she had found their hidden top-secret material from the system so quickly, it seemed as though they had underestimated her.
For the first time, Reinitz felt conflicted about his last decision.
He reflexively chose to hide the fact that Gu Nianzhi was the famous hacker the Pink Piggy. Was he right or wrong?
He originally thought that with their encryption technology, even if those documents were stolen, they would never be deciphered, and they wouldn’t even be seen at all.
How could you decipher something you couldn’t see?
Perhaps he was too careless?
Gu Nianzhi was also watching Reinitz.
Yes, they had discovered the hidden materials in the system. But, even with the cooperation of two experts, Zhao Liangze and Huo Shaoheng, they had found the protected content, but they couldn’t open it.
They used the decryption program of the advanced control system to try to calculate and unlock the password, but with the computing power of their current computer system, it might take five hundred years.
Upon seeing that Reinitz finally showed some dismay, Gu Nianzhi knew that she was right.
Her heart lurched, but at the same time, she felt relaxed.
“Your target, from start to finish, had been me, right?”
Although Gu Nianzhi didn’t know what was written in the top-secret data material about her, from Reinitz’s expression, she knew that it must be something they wished they had.
Gu Nianzhi thought of her physique, the kind of physique that made her feel both proud and embarrassed at the same time.
Suddenly, she flipped her wrists, and a sharp knife appeared in her hand.
Reinitz’s hand suddenly shot forward, and he grabbed her wrist with lightning speed, then roared in a deep voice, “What are you going to do? Do you want to commit suicide? You think you can hurt yourself in front of me?”
Gu Nianzhi broke out in a mysterious smile. She lowered her voice and said, “…Huh? Why don’t you think that I am going to attack you instead? Perhaps I took out the knife to stab you!”
Reinitz glanced at Gu Nianzhi speechlessly and at the tiny knife in her hand. Although it was sharp and the blade had a cold gleam, would a grown man like him be afraid of a fruit knife like this?
“Cut me? Using your fruit knife? You might as well take out your nail clippers. I’d be more afraid of that.” Reinitz sneered at her and let go of her wrist. “Why don’t you try?”
“I’ll try if you say so.” Gu Nianzhi’s blade turned, and she slit the back of her hand.
Reinitz shot forward again, but this time instead of holding her wrist, he made a fist with one hand, his joints flexed, and he hit a spot on her wrist.
Gu Nianzhi suddenly felt her fingers go numb, and the knife dropped to the ground.
Reinitz stretched out his other hand and caught the knife.
Gu Nianzhi’s movements were also very fast, and she rubbed the blade of the knife with the back of her hand.
A line of blood suddenly trickled down on the back of her delicate pale hand, and blood slowly oozed out.
“Do you want to see how I heal myself?” Gu Nianzhi clenched her right hand, and crossed her arms as she showed her wound to Reinitz, then said blankly, “The last time I came out from the Alps, you took me to Berlin, so don’t you already know?”
