She hazily looked around and found that it was already bright outside.
Gu Shuang was still sleeping by her side.
She wiped the cold sweat off her brow and softly called out, "Yin Lan."
Hearing the noise inside, Yin Lan opened the door, drew open the beaded curtain, and asked in a low voice, "Mistress, what's the matter?"
Gu Ying weakly lifted her limp hand. Her mind was finally a little more at ease. Yin Lan immediately helped her sit up.
Gu Ying lightly asked, "Has there been any letter from the border?"
Yin Lan replied, "Not yet, Mistress. Why have you gotten up so early today?"
Gu Ying sat with composure in front of the bronze mirror and glanced back at the still sleeping Gu Shuang. "The fourth young miss has not been resting well recently. Let her sleep a while longer. Yin Lan, come out with me for a bit."
"Yes."
...
When they arrived at Piao Yun Lou, Su He's eyes were covered with a white gauze. His entire being was like a cool jade monument, leaning gracefully against the armchair.
"Su He?"
"Yo, what wind blew my sister-in-law here?"
He groped for his cane to stand up. His posture was vulgar, instantly spoiling his air.
Gu Ying chuckled. She walked over and pressed him back into the chair. "I've come to ask about news of Mu Nanfeng."
Su He rearranged himself in the "lost in thought" posture. "I'm getting somewhere. I was about to have someone pass the news to my sister-in-law. I didn't expect you to come yourself."
Gu Ying was silent for a moment. Her heart was suddenly gripped by a feeling of unease. "How so?"
Su He pondered. "Recently I've had people taking him around Bianjing to wander about. Mu Nanfeng finally recognized someone."
"Who?"
"Shen Ruxu."
Gu Ying frowned. "Shen Ruxu? Are you sure Mu Nanfeng didn't mistake her?"
Su He said, "My eyes haven't recovered yet, so I don't know if what he said is true or false. But he did mention seeing Shen Ruxu walking with that woman. As for that woman's name, he doesn't know, and hasn't found where she lives either. But what can be confirmed is that the woman is in Bianjing."
Gu Ying's expression froze over, an icy gloom on her face. "I've heard Haitang mention Shen Ruxu often going out. I just didn't know who she was meeting. It seems my fourth sister and I being kidnapped was Shen Ruxu's doing behind the scenes?"
"Not necessarily."
Su He pursed his lips and pressed a small mechanism to the left.
Shortly after, someone brought Mu Nanfeng and a little beggar over.
Mu Nanfeng flopped down on the thick velvet carpet on his knees. His face was frighteningly emaciated, his cheekbones protruding sharply, and his eye sockets sunken in. Clearly he had been "tidied up" these days by Piao Yun Lou's various punishments.
"I investigated... it was surnamed Shen for sure... She was with a woman wearing a face veil. I recognized her so I remember. But no one around recognized the woman, and she doesn't go out often. No one knows where she lives. Eldest young master, Master Su, this is all I can do. Please let me go. I swear I'll roll out of Bianjing and never come back."
Su He listened for a while without paying Mu Nanfeng's pleas any mind. He gently said, "Sister-in-law, we can start from Shen Ruxu, but I always feel that Shen Ruxu can't be using that woman. Rather, that woman seems to be the one pulling the strings behind the scenes."
Gu Ying's eyes turned icy cold. "It looks like a leopard can't change its spots with Shen Ruxu."
She had thought Shen Ruxu had reformed and kept to her proper place.
She didn't expect there were still small movements going on behind the scenes.
Su He laughed lightly, confidently saying, "Sister-in-law, don't worry, I also have people following her. It's just that she's too cautious, making that woman seem mysterious. However, as long as the person is in Dongli, there is nothing my Piao Yun Road can't investigate. It's only a matter of time."
"Hungry... hungry... hungry..."
In the quiet great hall of Piao Yun Lou, the beggar prostrated on the ground suddenly made a gurgling sound.
"That's right, sister-in-law, do you have a way to get this beggar to open his mouth?" Su He just then remembered this beggar. "Before you and Fourth Young Lady were kidnapped, the rumors had already spread out. The source was him. But no matter how I asked, he would only say 'hungry,' not seeming to be a mute, yet not opening his mouth. No method of torture worked."
Gu Ying didn't notice the person by Mu Nanfeng's side at first. Now she scrutinized him carefully.
She didn't feel there was anything special at first. Bianjing certainly had no lack of destitute little beggars.
But as she stared at the beggar's hunched back that curved like a dragon's spine, for some reason, a familiar figure suddenly surfaced in her mind.
She narrowed her eyes tightly. She swiftly walked to the beggar's side and patted his shoulder, carefully calling out, "Hey...lift your head and let me see."
The little beggar, who usually was stubborn as an ox, was exceptionally obedient today and lifted his head.
Seeing the beggar's emaciated bony face, Gu Ying's pupils contracted as she blurted out, "Xiao Gutou!"
Su He's ears pricked up. "He's called Xiao Gutou?"
Gu Ying was almost ecstatic. She grabbed Xiao Gutou into her embrace. Her eyes swiftly misted over.
"You're still alive, Xiao Gutou. That's so great!"
The little beggar's chin rested on the woman's soft, fragrant shoulder. He was completely bewildered.
Su He rolled his eyeballs around, puzzled. "Sister-in-law recognizes this beggar?"
Gu Ying closed her eyes, forcing the tears to fall.
She would never forget those ten agonizing years barely surviving in the dilapidated temple in her previous life.
Countless times, Gu Jiahe and Jiang Yin had people come violate her.
She was better off dead, covered in sores and crippled in the legs and feet, laying half-dead in the damp pile of withered grass for two years.
The endless loneliness and chilling desolation in the relentless passage of time - she thought she would just die there alone, when suddenly one day, a teenage beggar who didn't know where he came from, taking shelter from the rain in the ruined temple, walked to her side holding a bone and asked her blankly, "Do you want to eat meat?"
She looked at the boy's eyes, as clear as a spring, and her numb heart for so long was wrenched with pain, as if carved up with a knife.
Perhaps when no one cared, she felt this agony was nothing.
But as soon as someone asked, that pain, that suffering, would go on endlessly, seeping into her bones.
From then on, the little beggar would occasionally bring her food he begged for to the broken temple. At night he would also sleep behind the collapsed idols in the temple.
He didn't like to talk, only watched her silently and accompanied her.
Sometimes nearby men would come violate and bully her. At first he didn't understand, but later seeing her turn deathly pale from the pain, he gradually figured out what was happening. He would pick up rocks and sticks to drive the men away.
In those agonizing years, she was already numb to the passage of time.
Only Xiao Gutou accompanied her day after day, year after year.
No matter how Jiang Yin's people drove him away and threatened him, he never left.
Until...he was kicked to death by Jiang Yin.
When he fell by her side, his eyes were wide open in death, staring with a pair of clear, dark eyes. By her side, he rotted into a skeleton.
Like a nightmare, these things had trapped her. Since marrying the Eldest Young Master, she hadn't recalled them for a long time already.
She'd never imagined she would see Xiao Gutou again in this lifetime, yet today she unexpectedly caught sight of the boy who had accompanied her for half her life at Piao Yun Lou.
She hazily looked around and found that it was already bright outside.
Gu Shuang was still sleeping by her side.
She wiped the cold sweat off her brow and softly called out, "Yin Lan."
Hearing the noise inside, Yin Lan opened the door, drew open the beaded curtain, and asked in a low voice, "Mistress, what's the matter?"
Gu Ying weakly lifted her limp hand. Her mind was finally a little more at ease. Yin Lan immediately helped her sit up.
Gu Ying lightly asked, "Has there been any letter from the border?"
Yin Lan replied, "Not yet, Mistress. Why have you gotten up so early today?"
Gu Ying sat with composure in front of the bronze mirror and glanced back at the still sleeping Gu Shuang. "The fourth young miss has not been resting well recently. Let her sleep a while longer. Yin Lan, come out with me for a bit."
"Yes."
...
When they arrived at Piao Yun Lou, Su He's eyes were covered with a white gauze. His entire being was like a cool jade monument, leaning gracefully against the armchair.
"Su He?"
"Yo, what wind blew my sister-in-law here?"
He groped for his cane to stand up. His posture was vulgar, instantly spoiling his air.
Gu Ying chuckled. She walked over and pressed him back into the chair. "I've come to ask about news of Mu Nanfeng."
Su He rearranged himself in the "lost in thought" posture. "I'm getting somewhere. I was about to have someone pass the news to my sister-in-law. I didn't expect you to come yourself."
Gu Ying was silent for a moment. Her heart was suddenly gripped by a feeling of unease. "How so?"
Su He pondered. "Recently I've had people taking him around Bianjing to wander about. Mu Nanfeng finally recognized someone."
"Who?"
"Shen Ruxu."
Gu Ying frowned. "Shen Ruxu? Are you sure Mu Nanfeng didn't mistake her?"
Su He said, "My eyes haven't recovered yet, so I don't know if what he said is true or false. But he did mention seeing Shen Ruxu walking with that woman. As for that woman's name, he doesn't know, and hasn't found where she lives either. But what can be confirmed is that the woman is in Bianjing."
Gu Ying's expression froze over, an icy gloom on her face. "I've heard Haitang mention Shen Ruxu often going out. I just didn't know who she was meeting. It seems my fourth sister and I being kidnapped was Shen Ruxu's doing behind the scenes?"
"Not necessarily."
Su He pursed his lips and pressed a small mechanism to the left.
Shortly after, someone brought Mu Nanfeng and a little beggar over.
Mu Nanfeng flopped down on the thick velvet carpet on his knees. His face was frighteningly emaciated, his cheekbones protruding sharply, and his eye sockets sunken in. Clearly he had been "tidied up" these days by Piao Yun Lou's various punishments.
"I investigated... it was surnamed Shen for sure... She was with a woman wearing a face veil. I recognized her so I remember. But no one around recognized the woman, and she doesn't go out often. No one knows where she lives. Eldest young master, Master Su, this is all I can do. Please let me go. I swear I'll roll out of Bianjing and never come back."
Su He listened for a while without paying Mu Nanfeng's pleas any mind. He gently said, "Sister-in-law, we can start from Shen Ruxu, but I always feel that Shen Ruxu can't be using that woman. Rather, that woman seems to be the one pulling the strings behind the scenes."
Gu Ying's eyes turned icy cold. "It looks like a leopard can't change its spots with Shen Ruxu."
She had thought Shen Ruxu had reformed and kept to her proper place.
She didn't expect there were still small movements going on behind the scenes.
Su He laughed lightly, confidently saying, "Sister-in-law, don't worry, I also have people following her. It's just that she's too cautious, making that woman seem mysterious. However, as long as the person is in Dongli, there is nothing my Piao Yun Road can't investigate. It's only a matter of time."
"Hungry... hungry... hungry..."
In the quiet great hall of Piao Yun Lou, the beggar prostrated on the ground suddenly made a gurgling sound.
"That's right, sister-in-law, do you have a way to get this beggar to open his mouth?" Su He just then remembered this beggar. "Before you and Fourth Young Lady were kidnapped, the rumors had already spread out. The source was him. But no matter how I asked, he would only say 'hungry,' not seeming to be a mute, yet not opening his mouth. No method of torture worked."
Gu Ying didn't notice the person by Mu Nanfeng's side at first. Now she scrutinized him carefully.
She didn't feel there was anything special at first. Bianjing certainly had no lack of destitute little beggars.
But as she stared at the beggar's hunched back that curved like a dragon's spine, for some reason, a familiar figure suddenly surfaced in her mind.
She narrowed her eyes tightly. She swiftly walked to the beggar's side and patted his shoulder, carefully calling out, "Hey...lift your head and let me see."
The little beggar, who usually was stubborn as an ox, was exceptionally obedient today and lifted his head.
Seeing the beggar's emaciated bony face, Gu Ying's pupils contracted as she blurted out, "Xiao Gutou!"
Su He's ears pricked up. "He's called Xiao Gutou?"
Gu Ying was almost ecstatic. She grabbed Xiao Gutou into her embrace. Her eyes swiftly misted over.
"You're still alive, Xiao Gutou. That's so great!"
The little beggar's chin rested on the woman's soft, fragrant shoulder. He was completely bewildered.
Su He rolled his eyeballs around, puzzled. "Sister-in-law recognizes this beggar?"
Gu Ying closed her eyes, forcing the tears to fall.
She would never forget those ten agonizing years barely surviving in the dilapidated temple in her previous life.
Countless times, Gu Jiahe and Jiang Yin had people come violate her.
She was better off dead, covered in sores and crippled in the legs and feet, laying half-dead in the damp pile of withered grass for two years.
The endless loneliness and chilling desolation in the relentless passage of time - she thought she would just die there alone, when suddenly one day, a teenage beggar who didn't know where he came from, taking shelter from the rain in the ruined temple, walked to her side holding a bone and asked her blankly, "Do you want to eat meat?"
She looked at the boy's eyes, as clear as a spring, and her numb heart for so long was wrenched with pain, as if carved up with a knife.
Perhaps when no one cared, she felt this agony was nothing.
But as soon as someone asked, that pain, that suffering, would go on endlessly, seeping into her bones.
From then on, the little beggar would occasionally bring her food he begged for to the broken temple. At night he would also sleep behind the collapsed idols in the temple.
He didn't like to talk, only watched her silently and accompanied her.
Sometimes nearby men would come violate and bully her. At first he didn't understand, but later seeing her turn deathly pale from the pain, he gradually figured out what was happening. He would pick up rocks and sticks to drive the men away.
In those agonizing years, she was already numb to the passage of time.
Only Xiao Gutou accompanied her day after day, year after year.
No matter how Jiang Yin's people drove him away and threatened him, he never left.
Until...he was kicked to death by Jiang Yin.
When he fell by her side, his eyes were wide open in death, staring with a pair of clear, dark eyes. By her side, he rotted into a skeleton.
Like a nightmare, these things had trapped her. Since marrying the Eldest Young Master, she hadn't recalled them for a long time already.
She'd never imagined she would see Xiao Gutou again in this lifetime, yet today she unexpectedly caught sight of the boy who had accompanied her for half her life at Piao Yun Lou.
