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, “Brother, call your people to tie this servant up. I need to bring him back and get some fair judgement from grandmother and Madam.”
“No problem.”
Gu Huaian agreed without hesitation. Before he could take any actions, he spotted a few Imperial Guards following behind him. “Young Lady, the Ninth Prince instructed these few guards to send you and the servants from your mansion back.”
Did Shen Qianshan witness everything?
Gu Qiang’s eyes flickered upon this thought. She then slightly bowed to the few Embroidered Uniform Guards and said, “I deeply appreciate that.”
“It’s our honor, Young Lady Gu,” replied An Ye, who was the commander of Shen Qianshan’s guards.
Initially, the few servants from Gu Mansion were staring at each other in reluctance. When they saw the Prince’s guards, they were left with no choice but to follow behind the carriage, afraid to make any unusual move. On the other hand, Gu Qiang got into the carriage once again and smiled gracefully at Gu Huaian. “Remember what you promised me, Brother. Don’t travel anywhere far for now!”
“Alright.”
“Sister!” Looking at the leaving carriage, Gu Huaian suddenly shouted, “If anyone in Gu Family, or that woman treats you badly, come to me. I will protect you!”
Gu Huaian’s doubt toward Ye was apparent through his action of shouting his concerns aloud.
Gu Qiang, who was sitting in the carriage understood what he meant by that. She just smiled. Within seconds, the tenderness in her eyes was replaced by ghastly coldness.
Treated her badly?
No, Ye never intended to infuriate her. Instead, Ye aimed to instill overwhelming gratitude in her heart in order to control her like a puppet.
Upon this thought, Gu Qiang sneered. She was rather curious at what Ye wanted to tell her that she even alarmed her grandmother.
When Gu Qiang returned to the mansion, she tidied her clothes and went straight to meet her grandmother.
“Regards, grandmother.”
Old Lady Gu was almost seventy this year. She had three sons, but the most promising son was her eldest, which was Gu Qiang’s father—Gu Zhizhang. By right, Gu Huaian and Gu Qiang should be her favorite since they were her first pair of grandchildren. However, Old Lady Gu loathed their biological mother, causing her to have little affection toward them, unlike the intimacy between her and the son and daughter of Ye.
Therefore, Old Lady Gu’s face was even gloomier now.
She stared at Gu Qiang without acknowledging her salute. Instead, she slammed the table ferociously and reproached, “Gu Qiang! Do you still respect me as your grandmother?”
“Mother, please calm down. Your health is the utmost priority.”
Ye, who was sitting below Old Lady Gu tried to appease her promptly. She then turned to Gu Qiang and advised in a helpless tone, “Gu Qiang, look how mad you made your grandmother. Apologize to her now!”
It was Gu Family’s motto to never disobey the lectures of the elders.
If it was in the past, Gu Qiang might have kneeled down and accepted the lecture immediately. But this time, she pulled a smile and raised her head to look at Old Lady Gu with an innocent and perplexed face.
“What do you mean, grandmother?”
What did she mean?
How dare she toss the question back!
Old Lady Gu smiled in her bursting rage. She then pointed to Chen Yun on the floor who was tied with ropes, and rebuked, “Is it true that you tied up the butler when your mother is kind enough by instructing people to escort you home?!”
The Prince’s servants were reliable in handling matters. They even used the usual method for arresting criminals of felony to cover up Chen Yun’s eyes and mouth. Therefore, Chen Yun could only make some inaudible noises.
This scene became the evidence of Gu Qiang’s unbridled behavior in Old Lady Gu’s eyes. “Kneel down and apologize to your mother right now!”
However, Gu Qiang did not obey her commands. The perplexity on her face grew even greater as she raised her head and looked straight into the eyes of Old Lady Gu while enunciated every word, “Grandmother, do you mean that Chen Yun’s action is all instructed by Madam?”
Ye’s heart skipped a beat all of a sudden. She had a feeling that Gu Qiang’s words had underlying meaning. However, Old Lady Gu did not think that much. She felt that she was on reasonable grounds and she had every right as an elder to criticize Gu Qiang. Hence, she sneered and taunted, “Of course! Is there anyone else who would ask the butler to fetch you?”
Upon hearing Old Lady Gu’s words, Ye furrowed her eyebrows subconsciously. Old Lady Gu was brought up in a common family. Although it was not obvious in her usual speech or action, her pettiness would be shown occasionally. Just when Ye was about to interrupt and explain herself before anything went wrong, Gu Qiang forestalled her by looking at her in pitiful grievance. “So that’s how it is. I would like to confirm with you, Madam. Is it true that what this servant said is all under your consent?”
What did Chen Yun say?
Ye was stunned for a moment and there was a foreboding premonition in her heart. At this moment, Gu Qiang scoffed at the back of her mind and peeled the seal off Chen Yun’s mouth swiftly.
“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
She made sure that Aunt Zhang sent that garment to Gu Qiang.Why did it end up being worn by Gu Zhihua? Recalling Princess Changning’s words, Ye got even infuriated at Gu Qiang and was dying to rip her apart. “Yes. Didn’t you know that, Madam?” Gu Qiang smirked, eyes filled with amusement. “Normally, the Princess would only be unhappy when someone violated her peacock taboo. Do you know why she was extremely enraged today?” She leaned closer to Ye’s ear before continuing her sentence in a whisper, “Because yesterday, the Princess heard someone mentioning that servant from her memory. Thus, she became raving mad when she saw a peacock today.” “You! you!” Ye’s eyes were filled with disbelief and resentment. However, she could not vent her anger as the Princess’s maid was still waiting aside. She could only swallow all her displeasure and threatened, “We’ll see who will have the last laug
Young Lady Gu, didn’t you realize that you have poured the wrong tea? The tea you served for my master is Red Dates Jade Flower Tea which is prepared for the women! Master can’t have sweet food. The tea he drinks is the West Lake Dragon Well Tea which is beside the women’s tea! As expected, Shen Qianshan’s hand stopped mid-air while reaching for the cup when he noticed the floating Jade Flower in the tea. Naturally, Gu Qiang who was staring attentively at him saw his action. When she saw that Shen Qianshan was not reaching for the cup, she tucked her lips nervously and asked, “Is there something wrong, You Highness? You don’t like this tea?”Of course he doesn’t like it! Young Lady Gu, please quickly replace the tea for His Highness before he splashes the tea! An Ye shouted in his thoughts. After all, not only His Highness doesn't like sweet food, he actually can’t have it! However, no outsiders knew
Especially Jiang Min, the eldest daughter of Jiang Family, refused to marry into Gu Family before and finally married a duke’s son after careful selection. Unexpectedly, he died young of illness. Her title as the wife of a duke’s son was gone, while her half-sister born of a concubine became a mistress. Jiang Min was extremely indignant and often pulled a face before. Afterwards, Jiang Rou died of illness. Unexpectedly, she got on well with Ye, the second wife of Jiang Rou’s husband, and had more contact with her than with her own sister.While Jiang Rou was at her last gasp, none of Jiang Family members came to visit her.When Gu Huaian was thrown out of Gu Family, none of Jiang Family members came, either.However, Jiang Min came with her family for a spring feast held by Ye. Gu Qiang sneered and her eyes were full of derision.Changning returned after changing her clothes. She was used to her brother’s French leave. Seeing Gu Qi