Gu Dezhao came to see her specially after leaving the yamen.
Jinchao handed him several packets of tea: "...these were prepared for you by Third Master."
Seeing his eldest daughter return, Gu Dezhao was quite pleased. He took the tea and examined it closely: "What kind of tea is this?"
Jinchao replied, "I'm not familiar with it either... Third Master said it's Emei Snow Bud. He had someone bring it from Jiazhou in Sichuan. Buddhist tea monks pick the tender tips from mountain-top tea trees every Qingming festival to make this. The tea trees grow alongside cypress, fir, and eucommia trees, absorbing medicinal properties that make it very nourishing."
Gu Dezhao passed the tea to a maid nearby and asked, "Has Lord Chen been treating you well?"
Jinchao nodded naturally. Gu Dezhao sighed: "As long as he treats you well, it means your father didn't misjudge him. Now that I'm serving as a Langzhong in the Ministry of Revenue, my days have become quite leisurely—even the two Vice Ministers treat me with courtesy. During my last performance review, Lord Chen even kept me back for extra words of advice about managing granaries. It's rare for him to be so thoughtful... By the way, there's something I'd like to discuss with you."
Could it be about Gu Lan? Gu Jinzhao looked at Gu Dezhao.
With a bitter smile, Gu Dezhao said: "You probably already know about Gu Lan's situation... She, ah! I truly don't know what to do. How could she do such a thing... Now she's to become Yao family's Third Young Master's concubine, and there's still the matter of the child in her belly to handle."
Gu Jinzhao asked, "Have you discussed this with Mother?"
Gu Dezhao paused, then shook his head: "No... why do you ask?"
Gu Jinzhao explained tactfully: "You know, some matters aren't best handled by you alone..." She chose her words carefully—no one understood her father better than she did. Indecisive, easily swayed, and particularly uninformed about inner household affairs. For such matters, her father should learn to consult Xu Jingyi, who at least was a woman of strong opinions.
She continued: "You could discuss it with Mother. Having another person to brainstorm solutions is always helpful."
Gu Dezhao seemed distracted: "Madam Xu is indeed good..." When Gu Xi fell ill recently, she had attended to her day and night without rest. He no longer visited Concubine Luo either—when not with Xu Jingyi, he stayed in the front courtyard alone. Considering all she had done for the fourth branch, this was his way of showing respect.
Gu Dezhao returned to the subject of Gu Lan: "...Tomorrow the Yao family will visit. Let me take you to see her first, to exchange a few words. She's been begging to see you since hearing of your return days ago. I find her quite pitiable now."
Gu Jinzhao smiled faintly. After all, Gu Lan had grown up before their father's eyes. A child raised in one's presence would always retain some affection, no matter how badly they behaved. Her father's feelings must be complicated... though she herself felt no sympathy left for Gu Lan.
"Then let's go see her." Gu Jinzhao stood up. "I happened to bring some tonics for her."
She instructed Qingpu to fetch items like ginseng and cordyceps.
Gu Dezhao led Jinchao to the eastern side courtyard.
They entered through a side gate near the antechamber. Dusk had just fallen, and candles were already lit in the rear chambers. A young maid with newly grown-out bangs sat shelling buckwheat on the steps, while two coarse-clothed maids hung laundry. The rear chambers appeared somewhat neglected, with only two juniper bushes planted perfunctorily in the flower beds.A woman in a sleeveless jacket and silver bracelets emerged from the side room. Seeing the two approach, she quickly curtsied and smiled, saying, "Fourth Master, Second Miss, have you come to see Third Miss?"
Fourth Master often visited, but this was the first time the woman had seen Gu Jinzhao. She had heard this was the young lady who married Chen Ge Lao as his second wife... She glanced up and indeed, the woman was more delicate than a flower, dressed in attire both dignified and luxurious. Compared to the one inside the room, it was like heaven and earth...
Gu Dezhao nodded, and she gestured for them to proceed to the main hall, "...This way, please."
The main hall was damp, housing a porcelain statue of Guanyin. Passing through the open lattice window into the inner chamber, Jinchao finally saw Gu Lan lying on the wormwood bed.
For a moment, she felt a strange sense of déjà vu.
Gu Lan's face was pale, devoid of vitality. Her gaze was fixed blankly out the window, as if she hadn't noticed anyone entering.
...This was the same scene at the end of her past life.
After a while, Gu Lan finally turned her head. Seeing Gu Jinzhao, she smiled, "Elder Sister is here. Come, sit."
The young maid who had been standing by the canopy bed immediately brought in a stool.
Gu Lan seemed genuinely happy and said to Gu Dezhao, "Father, could you step outside for a moment? I'd like to speak with Elder Sister alone."
Gu Dezhao's lips moved slightly, his face showing deep exhaustion. He stepped over the threshold into the courtyard.
Gu Jinzhao sensed something was off... She sat beside Gu Lan and silently watched her.
Gu Lan wore a plain beizi, her wrists so slender they seemed fragile, adorned with a single jade bracelet. The color made her skin appear snow-white, her face so thin it was the size of a palm, her eyes large and pitifully weak—a sickly beauty. Gu Lan lowered her gaze to look at her, then slowly raised her eyes and smiled, "Elder Sister, look at me... I've fallen so low. Are you happy? When Mother died... you said I wouldn't fare well in the future. Look at me now—I can't even keep my own child..."
Gu Jinzhao waited for her to finish. After a long pause, she asked, "Do you regret it?"
Gu Lan seemed confused, "Regret? What are you talking about?" She shook her head, "I don't regret it. If I couldn't marry Yao Wenxiu, I'd have to marry Zhao Juren's son. If his son had passed the imperial exams, it might have been bearable, but he didn't. Their family lives off the rent from three hundred acres of land, and the two three-courtyard residences were part of Zhao Madam's dowry... Zhao Juren has two sons and a daughter. What kind of life would I have had? Serving him day and night, playing the dutiful wife, waiting for him to pass the exams so I could bask in his glory?"
"Elder Sister, you know it too—poverty-stricken couples suffer in all things. Without money, how can there be a good life?"
Gu Jinzhao said nothing. Three hundred acres of land and two three-courtyard residences—though not wealthy, there would still be surplus. Gu Lan had been pampered since childhood, tipping servants several taels at a time. How could she understand the bitterness of splitting a single copper coin in half?
As she spoke, Gu Lan suddenly began to cry, her lips trembling, "I just never expected to have a child..."
This child had come at the worst possible time. When she realized she was pregnant, her first reaction was joy—followed by terror.She had wanted to keep it hidden—once she married into the Yao family, everything would be fine. But how could such a thing be concealed? Madam Feng had already tried to poison her to death. If she were found with child, she would certainly not survive. When Madam Feng locked her in the small courtyard, she sent an old woman to force-feed her safflower concoction. She clenched her teeth desperately, but still choked some down...
Madam Feng then ordered her to be force-fed three times a day. If this continued, the child would surely not survive.
Gu Lian couldn’t bear it—this was her child! She couldn’t just let it die.
People were trying to kill her. If she didn’t fight back, she would have no chance to live! That very night, she devised a plan. She smothered the old woman and escaped through the side gate. When she killed, she was terrified, her hands and feet icy cold as she pressed down on the old woman without daring to relent, gasping for breath in her panic.
In the end, she managed to seize her chance to survive!
Now that she had seen Gu Jinzhao, there was hope for survival.
She grabbed Jinchao’s hand, her eyes brimming with tears. "Eldest Sister, you’ve never been a mother—you don’t know this feeling... I just wanted to protect him. Everyone in the Gu family wishes for this child’s death..."
The feeling of being a mother... Back then, she had carried Chen Xuanlin for ten months, yet had only raised him herself for a few months. Before he was even a year old, he was taken away to be raised by Madam Chen. The Prodigy had cried, wanting to come to her, clinging to her and refusing to let go, but Gu Jinzhao had been disgusted by his sticky little hands after he’d grabbed candy, dirtying her skirt. By the time the Prodigy grew older, it was too late for regret—the child no longer had any affection for her.
After Madam Chen’s death, the Prodigy was raised by Chen Xuanqing. When he was eight, Gu Jinzhao had secretly gone to see him. At such a young age, he was already so serious—children without parents always matured too quickly...
Gu Jinzhao sighed. "What exactly are you trying to say? After causing such a scandal, who are you trying to show off to?"
Gu Lian shook her head. "No, Eldest Sister... Everyone thinks I’m a fool, making such a mess that the rumors spread. Even if the Yao family found out, they wouldn’t protect the child. I was waiting for you to return! Gu Lian is about to marry Yao Wenxiu—I knew you would come back!"
Gu Lian had been waiting for her? What exactly did she want? Did she really think Gu Jinzhao would help her?
Gu Jinzhao said softly, "Lan Er, you should know that not kicking you while you’re down is already more than you deserve."
Gu Lian let out a long sigh. "Eldest Sister, you still have a weakness in my hands." She gazed at the juniper tree outside the window and continued, "I wrote a letter documenting your affair with Chen Xuanqing. Every time you met him, every gift you gave him—it’s all recorded clearly... After my incident, Madam Feng dismissed all my maids. I took the chance to have Mu Jin escape with the letter... I told her that if I didn’t send for her within three months, she was to deliver the letter to someone close to the Chen family... Of course, I won’t tell you who that person is."
She smiled. "I also know that in my current state, even if I wanted to tell someone, I probably wouldn’t make it past the eastern courtyard... You’d never let me go, after all. If such a scandal got out, you wouldn’t be able to stay in the Chen family. At this point, I just want to live well... Help me protect this child, and I’ll tell you where Mu Jin fled. You can retrieve the letter yourself..."
Gu Jinzhao’s heart skipped a beat as she looked up at Gu Lian.Her affair with Chen Xuanqing... that must never be revealed! Especially now that she had married Chen Yanyun—this matter could utterly ruin him. If Third Master were to find out she had once loved his own son, what would he do... Gu Jinzhao clenched her hands hidden beneath her sleeves.
She had done such a thing, and Gu Jinzhao couldn't change that fact.
Gossip was terrifying—things that hadn't even happened could be twisted into truth, let alone something she had actually done!
Gu Jinzhao could only force her voice to remain as calm as possible: "You're clever indeed, having calculated all this... I can help you keep the child, but I have conditions. Even if this child survives, you won't be the one raising it. Grandmother would never allow it. Besides... was there really only one letter? What if you keep making endless demands in the future? What then? I might as well let you expose the letter. Though gossip is frightening, it hasn't reached the point of becoming truth yet—I can still manage."
She had to make her stance clear and firm. She couldn't let Gu Lan intimidate her. After all, Gu Lan was surely more desperate than she was right now.
OpenNovel