However, the protagonist of this time was not her, but Mrs. Liu from the main room and Gu Jia.
Seeing Mrs. Liu and Gu Jia get off the carriage, facing Li Mama's ashen face, and the undisguised fear and dread, Gu Ying had never felt so refreshed before.
The servants moved the masters' boxes and luggage into the backyard, and the Earl's manor was busy but orderly, with people whispering to each other from time to time.
Gu Ying gathered her thick fur coat and stood under the corridor, staring at the hunched figures of Mrs. Liu and Gu Jia walking towards the Yongshou Hall without moving her eyes.
Thinking back to their previous life, the mother and daughter must have watched her walk into the Yongshou Hall countless times as well.
What were the expressions on their faces at that time?
Delight? Mockery? Sarcasm? Or uncontrollable schadenfreude?
The snow in Bianjing was much smaller than that in the Nanhai Hunting Ground. The willow catkin-like snowflakes fell on the tall artificial rockery in the courtyard. On a withered wax plum tree that had withered for a long time, winding old branches, there were sporadic tender yellow flower buds that were not easy to spot if you didn't look carefully.
Gu Shuang happily curved her eyes, tilted her head, walked over here, and pulled Gu Ying's sleeve and said, "Sister, look, the wax plum tree seems to be blooming!"
Gu Ying was startled. Looking closely, there was indeed a not very conspicuous flower bud on the blackened branches, and a few more ready to emerge next to it if you looked closely.
How amazing!
After so many years, this almost dead tree actually had flower buds?
She couldn't say how she felt, she only felt her eyes moisten inexplicably. A dead tree blooming in spring can still sprout again, which is exactly symbolic of her rebirth!
Gu Shuang didn't dare to cheer loudly. Her mother had taught her to be cautious about such weird things, as the old ancestral grandmother of the Gu family was notoriously superstitious.
"Sister, do you think this tree suddenly coming alive is a good or bad omen? The original dead thing coming alive seems to be auspicious, but coinciding with elder sister's matter, it doesn't seem to be a good sign."
Gu Ying thought for a while, stroking her chin, and walked closer to the wax plum tree. Suddenly, a faint smile appeared at the corner of her mouth, "An old tree flowering must be an auspicious sign."
She was just wondering how to expose the murderer Gu Jia, and now it seemed that even the heaven was helping her!
Gu Shuang looked puzzled. But Gu Ying didn't continue, only urging, "Younger sister, don't spread this matter for now."
Gu Shuang quickly said, "Okay, I didn't want to cause trouble anyway. I will turn a blind eye to these things."
Gu Ying smiled. A plan was slowly taking shape in her mind.
...
The lights in the Yongshou Hall remained lit for a full day and night.
When Mrs. Liu and Gu Jia came out, they both looked ten years older overnight.
Earl of Dongping, Gu Boyan, returned from the yamen furiously, and was said to have fiercely slapped Gu Jia several times in front of the servants, "Shameful! You have disgraced my Gu family! Cheap slut!"
Gu Jia's face was beaten swollen, and she was sent to the ancestral hall dispirited.
It had been calm in the Yongshou Hall for a day and night. Although the old madam Gu seemed to have not had an outburst, she wore a sullen face and was so angry that she didn't eat for a full day and night. The servants were terrified and carefully waited upon her. Everyone knew that the old madam had a storm of anger pent up inside her and it was only a matter of time before she erupted.
Aunt Zhao was still fine. Gu Jia had lost such a big face outside and implicated her daughter's future marriage prospects, so she just gritted her teeth and sneered a few times. She still felt that reputation was something to be picked up slowly afterwards, but beating Mrs. Liu and Gu Jia, the two bitches, ruthlessly could not wait any longer. The good show at the winter hunting ground was really refreshing. It was just a pity that she was not there to see Gu Jia and Mrs. Liu's embarrassment herself, which was truly regrettable!
It was very quiet in Wang's yard. Although Gu Wan was very unhappy and broke several teacups, there was no movement afterwards that could be probed.
Yanzhi told Gu Ying one by one all the news she had probed from each courtyard, "Miss, the old madam won't vent her anger on our Twilight Snow Studio, right?"
A golden beast-headed small incense burner stood in front of the open window.
This small courtyard was still the only tranquil place in the Earl of Dongping's manor.
Gu Ying was not afraid of the cold at all, simmering a warm hot water bottle while sitting quietly at the book table, reading a medical book she had rummaged out from the bottom of her mother's boxes, carefully studying the medicines and case studies for leg problems.
Yin Lan brewed hot tea for her and brought it to her right hand side, with a faint doubt arising in her heart. It was said that the second young lady of this manor was illiterate, wasn't she?
She saw that her young miss was reading very attentively, without the slightest cluelessness of illiteracy, and her doubts deepened.
At this time, Yin Zhu was familiarizing herself with the Twilight Snow Studio, claiming that she would set up some security mechanisms for this dilapidated courtyard.
Now, Gu Ying was very trusting of these few maids in her courtyard. She casually drank a sip of the hot tea, warmed up her body, and lightly said, "It's coming."
"Huh?" Yanzhi pouted, "We didn't do anything, let alone offend the old madam. How can the old madam take it out on us for no reason? She can't be so unreasonable."
Gu Ying chuckled, "What reason can you have with a woman, let alone grandmother who is over fifty? She can't be compared to ordinary women."
Then Yin Lan said, "Is the young miss referring to the marriage of the Marquis of Yong'an?"
Yanzhi was stunned. She was a fool with shallow thoughts and had always been insensitive to these things. She only looked puzzled with widened eyes, "Sister Yin Lan, what happened to the marriage?"
Yin Lan smiled, "You're so silly. After what happened with the young mistress, who would dare marry the young ladies of this family? I'm afraid the letter of cancellation from the Marquis Manor will arrive soon."
Yanzhi's expression immediately darkened upon hearing this. She pouted unhappily, "Miss, think of a way. We can't let the main room laugh at us. Although this servant girl knows that the young miss is unwilling to marry the young marquis, if the young miss really gets her engagement annulled, I'm afraid the main room, as well as those outside, will mock the young miss to death..."
Although Yin Lan was also regretful about the engagement with the young marquis, seeing Gu Ying's indifference, she knew that this young lady must have other plans in mind.
She was not in a hurry, she would just see how the young miss handled it.
Gu Ying sighed and laughed, "It's fine, I don't care at all, why do you care?"
Yanzhi pouted aggrievedly. How could she not care? What she cared about most was the young miss's reputation. She didn't want to see the young miss sad because of the gossip and finger-pointing outside.
Gu Ying stared blankly at the snow scene outside the window and spaced out for a while. In her mind, the relationship between the major families in Bianjing gradually formed a clear web of power.
Not to mention, in this Bianjing city, how many girls who just came of age were secretly admiring the Crown Prince.
