Qin was shocked for a moment, her eyes instantly reddening, and after a long time, she sobbed, “Alright...alright, if Zhuo was still alive, she would definitely be very happy.”
Gu Ying's eyes were slightly moist.
Thinking of how much she had loved Jiang Yin in her previous life, when she married him, she was full of expectations to personally sew the bridal clothes.
Her needlework was not good, so she found someone to hastily make up for it, spending a long time pricking countless holes in her fingers before finally making the bridal clothes she was most satisfied with.
But so what?
After marrying into the Jiang family, she did not live well at all.
Jiang Yin would not love her more because of the effort she put into the bridal clothes.
Since this was the case, why bother wasting effort on the matter of marriage?
She didn't want to please men anymore, nor did she want to trample her own dignity to please men. She just wanted to let her mother see her wearing the bridal clothes she had once worn before she died, so that her mother could feel gratified for her from beneath the ground.
When Ye Zhuoning was mentioned, everyone fell silent for a good while.
Gu Ying didn't actually want everyone to feel sad for her mother again. She smiled and said, "Auntie, cousin, I have a favor to ask of you."
Qin was afraid Gu Ying wouldn't trouble her, so she wiped away her tears and laughed. "Go ahead, just say it, say it now."
...
After leaving the Gu manor,
Gu Ying, dressed as a maid of the Ye family, supported Qin and got on the carriage.
After the carriage had traveled a stretch, Qin said, "Ying, where else do you need to go? I'll have Qingchi take you there."
Gu Ying jumped down from the carriage. "To Royal Physician Wang's residence."
Qin quickly glared at her son. "Why aren't you going down yet? What are you waiting for?"
Ye Qingchi raised his eyebrows and complained, "Mother, I'm your own son."
Qin pressed her lips in a smile, then sternly kicked him. "Ying is your sister. For her matters, you must accomplish them even if it means jumping into boiling water or fire. Get going!"
Ye Qingchi silently rolled his eyes, lifted his robes and got down from the carriage.
Gu Ying covered her mouth and laughed. "Thank you, cousin."
Ye Qingchi slightly raised his chin and lamented, "Cousin is not tired, cousin's fate is tired, stuck with a mother like this."
Gu Ying smiled with crescent eyes as she watched Qin's carriage disappear into the distance. With her family by her side in this life, all alive and well, her heart felt warm.
Ye Qingchi turned his head and looked at the maid with eyes like crescent moons in the beautiful snowy scenery. Something moved in his heart, and the corner of his mouth curved up, revealing a shallow, gentle smile.
He couldn't help reaching out and ruffling the maid's black hair. "Let's go, I'll take you there."
Gu Ying looked up at Ye Qingchi, who was much taller than her. "Okay."
The two headed towards Royal Physician Wang's residence in the capital together.
"Cousin."
"Yes?"
Gu Ying wanted to say something but hesitated. "Has His Majesty appointed officials for the new jinshi graduates this year?"
Ye Qingchi raised his brows. "Before New Year's Eve, His Majesty will meet with the top three graduates."
Gu Ying lowered her gaze. "Jiang Yin is among them, right?"
She could not intervene in court affairs, but she also understood the complex web of power and influence at court.
It was reliance on her status as the legitimate daughter of the Earl of Dongping and the Ye family's help that allowed Jiang Yin to directly obtain the fine position of Assistant Imperial Secretary of the Ministry of Secretaries when he was appointed as an official in their previous life.
At first glance, this position did not seem very high, but for scholars, it was an excellent stepping stone for promotion.
Many prime ministers in Dong Li had started out as Assistant Imperial Secretaries of the Ministry of Secretaries.
Jiang Yin did not love her and loathed her, but still had to lower himself to marry her, the so-called useless person, in order to gain power.
It was no wonder that every time he faced her after their marriage, he would frown and look at her with vicious eyes, wishing she would just die.
Why did he hate her and the Ye family so much? Now everything seemed to make sense.
It was because when he was at his most pathetic and weak, he had climbed up relying on her skirt and the Ye family.
As someone who later rose to the highest level of ministers, he would not allow others to know about his inglorious past.
Therefore, he wanted to kill his wife to erase that history.
The more Gu Ying thought about it, the more she hated him, and her eyes kept flashing with crimson.
Ye Qingchi smiled elegantly, looking every inch the refined gentleman. "Don't worry, he's an unscrupulous scholar who wants a good official position, that has to depend on whether our Censorate agrees or not."
Gu Ying looked up, a smile on her lips. "So cousin still remembers what I said."
Ye Qingchi bent his fingers and gently tapped her brow indulgently. "Cousin never dares to forget Ah Ying's words."
Gu Ying blinked. By Ye Qingchi's side, she felt an unprecedented sense of relaxation, and could feel that he sincerely treated her well.
How blind she had been in her previous life, unable to see people's true nature!
Her aunt, cousin and uncle had all been good to her, yet because of one wrong thought, she had delivered the entire Ye family onto Jiang Yin's web of intrigues...
Seeing Gu Ying looking up with her gaze distant and not speaking, Ye Qingchi asked in puzzlement, "Does Ah Ying have a grudge against Jiang Yin?"
Otherwise, why would a young lady from a prominent family pay such close attention to court affairs?
Gu Ying neither shook her head nor nodded, but her eyes still couldn't help revealing sadness.
Ye Qingchi stopped and stared at the maid's reddened eyes. "Ah Ying, did Jiang Yin bully you?" he asked tenderly.
Gu Ying took a deep breath, her mind filled with images of the Ye family's tragic fate.
The innocent Ye family, did they have to pay such a price for her foolishness?
She raised her long curly black lashes and looked seriously into Ye Qingchi's eyes. Clenching her teeth, she said, "Cousin, do everything you can to make sure Jiang Yin suffers utter defeat in his official career."
Ye Qingchi's expression became solemn. "Can cousin know the reason?"
Gu Ying reached out and tightly grasped his large hand, her eyes full of suppressed, restrained hatred.
Ye Qingchi seemed to understand something. He pulled the maid into his arms. "Alright, cousin promises you, I definitely won't let him have it easy."
Gu Ying leaned her chin on Ye Qingchi's shoulder, finally unable to hold back her tears anymore as they slid down her face.
Ye Qingchi didn't ask further.
With utmost tenderness, he held the maid's soft little hand and turned into a small alley, pointing to a secluded courtyard not far away. "That is Royal Physician Wang's residence."
Gu Ying wiped away her tears and smiled again. She walked to Wang's door and said, "Cousin, I must save Ning. I want him to stand up again like Father, learn martial arts and join the army, to become an outstanding son."
Ye Qingchi chuckled softly. "Ning is also my brother. Since Mother asked me to come, it's to lend you a hand."
Gu Ying felt a warm current flow through her heart and nodded. "Mm."
The two knocked on the door and entered Wang's residence.
...
At the entrance to the alley, a tall figure slowly walked out, a gloomy look on his elegant, peerlessly beautiful face.
Su He slipped out from behind Zhao Changdu, leisurely watching the intimate man and woman ahead, and concluded, "This Miss Gu is not simple."
