Gu Qiang flipped through the pages, but the book had turned brand new. There was no sign of any writings on it.
Gu Qiang confirmed her suspicions after this.
That dream was not just a dream.
It was her future.
Perhaps this book was brought here from the future, and since it was only March of the 47th year of Chongwenwu now, everything that was written in the book had yet to happen. Therefore, the writings vanished gradually.
That was right, her brother, Gu Huaian!
It was said in the book that her brother would die young!
Gu Qiang suddenly thought of something, and asked Ting Feng and Chui Xue, “Did my brother visit me when I’m unconscious for these few days?”
Ting Feng and Chui Xue were surprised to hear Gu Qiang bringing up the subject of her brother. After a brief moment of shock, Chui Xue answered promptly, “He did. Young Master came the day before yesterday, but Madam did not allow him to enter. Madam said that he can only step into the mansion if you allow him to.”
Not allowed to enter the mansion?
Although she knew that her stepmother would not be polite or kind to her brother, this was the first time she realized that her brother, the actual first son of Gu Family, was forbidden to enter the mansion!
At this moment, her heart was overwhelmed with remorse.
“Where is my brother’s shop?”
In the past, she had never paid attention to Gu Huaian. She only knew vaguely that he had a shop somewhere, and this was the only thing she knew about him. Despite her estrangement, her brother would send her precious gifts and toys through her two maids occasionally.
“At the entrance of North City’s wall,” Chui Xue answered without any hesitation.
As soon as she finished her sentence, Gu Qiang dashed out from the room after grabbing a long gown randomly.
The eldest daughter of the Prime Minister was going out right after she woke up.
Everyone looked at each other in surprise. Although Gu Qiang seemed thin and frail, her manner was imposing. The gatekeeper had no choice but to let her out, and then reported it to the Madam.
“She brought her maids to South City?”
After listening to the gatekeeper’s report and looking at her biological daughter who was sobbing bitterly, the present Madam of the Prime Minister’s mansion, Ye, put down the prayer beads in her hand and sneered, “I must have underestimated that girl!”
“Mother…”
Gu Zhihua had never experienced such humiliation since she was young. With tears still apparent on her face, he snuggled up to Ye and said bitterly, “You must take revenge for me. Otherwise, how can I live dignifiedly later!”
“So you are finally panicking?”
Ye glared at her daughter. She was married into Gu Family right after Gu Qiang’s mother passed away. For the past decades, she had been controlling that girl. Therefore, she was not completely convinced that Gu Qiang suddenly changed her attitude overnight.
Usually, she would pretend to be a loving mother whenever she mentioned Gu Qiang. However, in front of her own daughter, she did not even attempt to conceal her contempt and disdain. “She’s just a short-lived cheap girl. Why are you fussing over her?”
“But she hit me! You even want to marry her to the Third Prince…”
Out of her anxiousness and anger, Gu Zhihua blabbered thoughtlessly, “She is just a cheap b*tch! How can she marry the Third Prince?!”
“Shut up!”
Ye suddenly shouted to cut off Gu Zhihua’s imprudent blabbering. Looking at Gu Zhihua’s indignant expression, she felt upset at her daughter for the first time.
“How many times have I told you? Before the throne is stable, marrying any of the Prince is a gamble. Once the throne has settled down, I will think of a way to make you a real noble. Besides—”
Ye paused for a while and smiled faintly. She then stroked her daughter’s cheek tenderly and continued her sentence with slowly, “Even if she is married to the Third Prince, it doesn’t mean that she has enough years to live as the Consort of the Third Prince.”
Meanwhile, Gu Qiang, who was sitting in a carriage, had no inkling of the private conversation between Gu Zhihua and her mother. At this moment, her attention and thoughts were all on her brother, Gu Huaian, whom she had not met for a long time.
In the past, she disregarded Gu Huaian as her family due to the discord sowed by her stepmother. When Gu Huaian stopped his studies to start his business, she was extremely ashamed to call him her brother. However, she did not expect Gu Huaian to die, and eventually leave all his possessions to her after his death.
Now that she thought of it, the lower half of the page which recorded the death of her brother was blank. Perhaps there was some content, but it disappeared before she saw it.
The more Gu Qiang thought about it, the more anxious she was. Suddenly, the carriage jolted to a stop. Gu Qiang was caught off guard and was thrown to the edge of the carriage, causing her to feel dizzy and disoriented.
“My Lady!” Ting Feng’s desperate shouts came from outside the carriage, but Gu Qiang’s mind was befuddled in a constant buzzing noise. Until the curtain of the carriage was drawn open, she raised her head in reflex. “Are you alright?” A voice rang coolly. Gu Qiang stared blankly at the person in front of her. “A-Are you the Ninth Prince?” That person looked surprised and nodded promptly. “Yes. It’s surprising that Young Lady Gu recognizes me.” The Ninth Prince—Shen Qianshan. A long time ago, she followed her father to a birthday celebration and saw him once from afar. She had a good impression of him and heard that he had glorious achievements in wars. Logically speaking, he was even more qualified than the previous Emperor for the throne. However... Gu Qiang raised her head and looked at Shen Qianshan in front of her. For a moment, she felt a whirlwind of e
She clenched her fist subconsciously. Could it be possible that her brother’s death was related to the battle for imperial power? “Sister!” An anxious male voice interrupted Gu Qiang’s thoughts. She pulled the curtain open and saw Gu Huaian on a horse, galloping toward her. “Sister, how are you? Are you hurt anywhere? I heard from the people of the Ninth Prince that your carriage crashed...” Right after Gu Huaian ended his sentence, he continued worriedly. “You have just recovered from your illness, so why did you come out so soon? Is everyone in the Gu Family dead? Why did no one stop you?” “Brother, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry….” Looking at the familiar yet strange face of Gu Huaian, Gu Qiang felt a lump in her throat, and tears gushed out from her eyes immediately. How many years had it been since she last saw Gu Huaian? Five years? Ten years?
The fourteen-year-old girl was not tall, yet her words were right on point. “Is this how Madam taught you usually? Or I am not a master of Gu Mansion in my grandmother’s eyes?” Upon hearing her words, the smile on Chen Yun’s face froze. He immediately got down from the horse and paid salute to her while laughing embarrassingly. “I-I have forgotten, I ask for your forgiveness, My Lady.” It was exactly this moment which Gu Qiang was waiting for. A smile appeared on her face, and the next second, she raised her leg and kicked mercilessly on his face.Thump! She aimed for the right angle before launching that kick. Although her force was limited, Chen Yun’s face became severely swollen at once. In disbelief, he covered his face and collapsed to the ground. “Y-You…” “Disrespectful and insolent. You deserve this punishment!” After reprimanding him coldly, she turned to Gu Huaian and requested
“You daughter of a wh*re!” Chen Yun’s mouth was finally freed, but his eyes and ears were still covered, so he thought he was still in the medicine shop. Annoyed, Chen Yun bellowed crudely, “Do you think that you belong to the nobles? My *ss! Let me tell you, Madam is the master of the Gu Family now. How shameless of you to act as a master even though you are not her biological daughter!”“Pooh! Even the Old Lady has to respect Madam. Who do both of you think you are—”“Shut up!” Ye was extremely flustered now. Her face went ashen as she stood up abruptly and berated, “Chen Yun, are you out of your mind? What nonsense are you talking about?!”Unfortunately, Chen Yun’s ears and eyes were firmly covered. He could not hear a single word that she said, so he continued grumbling. “Damn it, let me go now!”“Mother, th-there might be some misunderstandings. Chen Yun won’t act like this without any reason…”
An Ye asked carefully, but Shen Qianshan shook his head and replied with an insightful look, “The medicine is real.”Shen Qianshan did not have high hopes when he asked Gu Huaian to search for this herb. It was a pleasant surprise to obtain this herb successfully. However, he felt that there was something strange about the Young Lady of Gu Family.“Reply a letter for me,” Shen Qianshan suddenly instructed. Gu Huaian was a person who could be of good use. Since he was planning to trust him with important tasks, he had to put some effort into that.With this thought, Shen Qianshan closed the jade box with a thud and continued his instruction with his usual calm demeanour. “Just write that I will attend the Spring feast of Gu Family on the day after tomorrow.”Later at night, Gu Quang sat alone at the study table beside her bed and stared at the blank pages of the book while pondering in silence.It began wi
You’ve tried hard. Despite her astonishment, she quickly sat down and wrote below that sentence, Who are you? At a different time in the 7th year of Jianyuan, the thirty-year-old Gu Qiang was also shocked.Followed by that was a burst of tears with joy. She could communicate with her fifteen-year-old self! Then, everything could be changed. She just needed to prevent herself from losing her memory that would happen unexpectedly a month later. Then, all the tragedies would not happen. Thinking of that, she quickly wrote to reply, I am you, you from fifteen years later. The fifteen-year-old Gu Qiang was also overjoyed. She then continued to inquire, If you are me, do you know how Brother dies? In the book, the thirty-year-old Gu Qiang replied, I don’t know. All I know is Brother went out to run some errands for the Ninth Prince and met with an accident. But ther
Madam Yao stopped mid-sentence without saying further. But Ye was not taken aback by her words. Instead, she patted dearly on Madam Yao’s arm and said, “Princess Changning is a kind and gentle person.” Madam Yao understood her underlying meaning immediately. So she smiled and echoed, “You’re absolutely right. Princess Changning is the kindest.” Ye smiled faintly, while Madam Yao sensibly brought her daughter away to find a seat. When most of the attendees had arrived, Ye glanced at the empty main seat which was reserved for the Princess and then rested her hand on Aunt Zhang’s hand while speaking in an airy tone, “Alright, let’s go. It’s time to call the two girls out to meet the guests.” “Yes, Madam.” Aunt Zhang heeded the command at once and sent people to inform the Young Ladies. Both of the Young Ladies stayed a stone’s throw away from the banquet hall, so it did not take long for Gu Qiang and Gu Zhihua to come into everyon
Gu Zhihua was dumbfounded, so she answered intuitively with her muddled mind. As soon as she answered, Changning’s senior maid, Granny Chen, slapped her mercilessly and reproached, “How dare you stand while answering the Princess’s question?” “I…” Gu Zhihua was stunned and stumbled to the floor after receiving that blow. After a moment of shock, panic overwhelmed her. She wanted to explain herself, but Gu Qiang took a step forward and forestalled her with a polite bow and replied, “Your Highness, she is my younger sister.” “Younger sister?” Although Changning seldom met people, she recognized the eldest daughter of the Prime Minister. She then frowned and asked in displeasure, “I remember that your mother passed away not long after you were born.” “Yes, Your Highness.” Gu Qiang’s voice was light yet polite as she added reverently, “Zhihua is my stepmother’s daughter.” Ye, who was sta