“Why hasn’t Miss woken up yet?”
“It’s all that Cousin Miss’s fault! If it weren’t for her and Young Master Zhao… Miss wouldn’t have been so angered that she fell into the lake.”
“Enough, stop talking. After all, we’re in the Wang family. If Madam Aunt hears this, she’ll probably be displeased again.”
“She can’t even raise her own daughter properly, letting her daughter snatch her cousin’s fiancé, yet she’s still unhappy? It’s only because our Miss is living in their Wang family alone and dependent on them that they act so fearlessly!”
“Hong Shuang!”
The woman who had spoken earlier called out. She was usually authoritative, and now, with her voice rising, the room instantly quieted. After a moment, she softened her tone and continued, “Your words are too biased. Cousin Miss is Cousin Miss, and Madam Aunt is Madam Aunt.”
“Miss has lived in the Wang family for so many years, and Madam Aunt has always treated her well.”
“Not to mention her, which of Master Uncle or Old Madam doesn’t cherish Miss as the apple of their eye? If your words spread, wouldn’t that be stabbing them in the heart?”
Hong Shuang probably realized she had misspoken and dared not continue. However, looking at the woman still lying inside, she couldn’t help but mutter in a low voice, filled with indignation, “I’m just angry.”
Bai Lu also sighed.
…
Gu Wuyou listened to the voices outside, her mind in disarray.
Her consciousness was still somewhat unclear, and she couldn’t fully make out what was being said. She only vaguely recognized Bai Lu’s voice.
Could it be…
She had been rescued again?
Gu Wuyou frowned slightly in her muddled sleep, feeling vexed. Even if they saved her, what was the point? Li Qinyuan was dead. The only lingering thought that kept her tied to this world was gone. Living was no better than dying.
But then, a voice that sounded just like Hong Shuang’s made her freeze.
Hong Shuang had married far away years ago. How could she be in her room? She wouldn’t have been so scared by Gu Wuyou taking poison that she rushed all the way back from Suzhou, would she?
No matter the reason, Gu Wuyou furrowed her brows and finally forced herself to open her eyes.
What met her eyes was not the sky-blue bed curtains she was familiar with but an extravagant brocade embroidered with bright red peonies. After marrying Li Qinyuan, she no longer liked such overly flowery decorations. Now, looking at this familiar yet foreign setting, her expression froze, and an eerie feeling crept over her.
She shifted her gaze outward.
A luohan bed made of purple sandalwood lacquered with inlaid floral treasures, covered in begonia-red brocade embroidered with scattered chrysanthemum patterns. Several mink-fur pillows were placed behind it. Behind the bed stood a white jade screen, as tall as a person and as wide as two. Only a few ink splashes adorned it, making it the most understated object in the room.
In the center of the bed was a tea table, holding fruits and other refreshments, along with a tall celadon vase containing several branches of frost-defying winter plum blossoms, stretching boldly outward.
To the side, near a small lattice window, was a display shelf filled with rare treasures—coral, pearls as large as a baby’s fist, and even a telescope gifted from the West. Directly in front of the shelf stood a long table, upon which rested a guqin.
Another corner housed a hollowed-out lacquered lotus-shaped incense burner, its fragrance curling up through the intricate carvings.
Every piece of furniture in the room was a rare and valuable treasure. Even a small gilded incense ball here was worth several years of expenses for a poor family.
But the more Gu Wuyou looked, the more alarmed she became. This place bore no resemblance to her current residence—rather, it was exactly the same as the room she had lived in as a child in the Wang family of Langya!
This—
What was going on?
She stared blankly at everything around her, unaware that someone had just lifted the curtain and stepped in from outside.
Bai Lu was the one who entered. She was holding a bowl of medicine in her hands. Upon seeing Gu Wuyou’s open eyes, she momentarily failed to react. After staring in shock for a long moment, she suddenly quickened her steps and exclaimed in delight, “Miss, you’re awake?!”
Hearing the commotion from inside, the people outside immediately became excited. There was a rush of hurried footsteps as a number of people entered the room, calling out “Miss” one after another.
Gu Wuyou lifted her gaze and looked at them. Every face was familiar.
Yet, her small face remained blank, as if she had not fully processed the situation.
Bai Lu assumed that she was still dazed from her illness and didn’t think too much of it. She immediately instructed, “Go call the physician, and also inform Old Madam and Madam Aunt that Miss has awakened, so they won’t worry.”
The servant girls obeyed and left.
Very soon, the room quieted down.
Bai Lu, with reddened eyes, sat down on the round stool by the bedside. Her voice was somewhat hoarse as she said, “You’ve been unconscious for several days. Now that you’ve finally woken up, if you had remained like that any longer, what would we have done?”
Gu Wuyou simply stared at her, dumbfounded.
It was Bai Lu. But this Bai Lu wasn’t the one in her memories. The Bai Lu before her did not have a married woman’s hair bun. Her face was youthful, not that of a thirty-year-old woman, but rather a girl of fifteen or sixteen.
She was completely bewildered.
She couldn’t understand why, after just falling asleep, she had woken up like this.
“What… happened to me?” When she spoke, she realized that her voice was unbearably hoarse.
Seeing this, Bai Lu hurriedly poured a cup of warm water and handed it to her. As she helped her drink, she asked in surprise, “You’ve forgotten?” Without waiting for an answer, she continued on her own, “A few days ago, you saw Young Master Zhao and Cousin Miss…”
She pursed her lips and carefully chose her words, opting for a gentler version of the truth. “They were standing together, and when you approached, you accidentally tripped over a stone and fell into the lake.”
Young Master Zhao… Cousin Miss?
Gu Wuyou sat there in a daze, taking a long moment before she realized what Bai Lu was talking about.
That was something that had happened a very, very long time ago.
She was around fifteen years old then. One day, as she was passing through the garden, she saw Wang Zhao in Zhao Chengyou’s arms. Wang Zhao was sobbing uncontrollably, looking as though she had suffered some great injustice.
Later, Wang Zhao had claimed that she had tripped and fallen by accident and that it was thanks to Zhao Chengyou that she hadn’t been hurt.
But at the time, Gu Wuyou had been furious.
Zhao Chengyou was her fiancé. How could she tolerate him embracing another woman? She hadn’t cared that Wang Zhao was her cousin—she had simply wanted to rush forward and pull them apart.
But her luck had been truly awful. Before she even reached them, she tripped over a stone and fell straight into the lake.
Back then, she had been an arrogant and willful girl who couldn’t endure the slightest grievance. She had been spoiled and favored, so as soon as she woke up, she had caused a huge scene.
If she remembered correctly—
That time, Wang Zhao had been sent away to a Buddhist nunnery. She hadn’t been allowed to return until after Gu Wuyou and Zhao Chengyou were married.
So—
Gu Wuyou’s fingers, resting on the embroidered quilt, twitched.
She looked at the familiar surroundings, at the familiar people before her, and her pupils shrank.
Her heart suddenly pounded violently in her chest, thumping like exploding fireworks.
She dug her fingernails hard into her palm.
The sharp, piercing pain shot through her nerves.
Her teary eyes, now glistening from the pain, widened.
This was real…
This wasn’t a dream.
So she had… returned to the past?
Back to the twentieth year of Qingxi?
Back to when she was fifteen years old?
Footsteps suddenly echoed from outside, followed closely by an aged yet urgent voice.
“My precious child!”
The fabric curtain was swiftly pulled aside, and an elderly woman dressed in a deep sandalwood-colored luxurious robe was carefully helped inside. She wore a forehead band embedded with red gemstones, and though her face showed signs of fatigue, it was filled with deep concern.
Seeing that the girl who had been unconscious for days had truly awakened, she finally exhaled a sigh of relief.
Bai Lu quickly stepped aside, making room for her to sit.
Old Madam Wang’s eyes reddened as she looked at Gu Wuyou’s pale complexion. Seated in the chair, she grasped Gu Wuyou’s hand, her voice choking with emotion. “If you hadn’t woken up, how could I ever face your deceased mother?”
She had many grandsons and granddaughters, yet this particular granddaughter was the one she doted on the most—because this poor child had lost her mother at birth.
Out of love and pity for her, she had taken her in and personally raised her.
Now, seeing the once proud and radiant girl lying there so frail and pale, Old Madam Wang’s heart ached, and the tears in her eyes became even more pronounced.
“…Grandmother?”
Gu Wuyou stared blankly at the noble and dignified elderly woman before her. Though she had already guessed, seeing her grandmother in person made her voice tremble with shock.
Before anyone could react, she suddenly threw herself into Old Madam Wang’s embrace.
Tears streamed down uncontrollably, and her voice choked with sobs. Years of longing and sorrow poured out all at once. She couldn’t say anything—nor did she need to. She simply held onto her grandmother tightly, crying out the word “Grandmother” over and over again.
The people in the room were all stunned.
Everyone knew that their young mistress was proud and unyielding, the kind of person who would rather bleed than shed tears. Yet now, she was crying so heartbreakingly, as if she had suffered the greatest grievance in the world.
Thinking of everything that had happened in the past few days, their eyes, too, turned red.
Old Madam Wang was startled by her outburst. Feeling the dampness on her shoulder where Gu Wuyou had wept, she was filled with both distress and fury. The anger she had suppressed before flared up once more, and she turned sharply to the servants behind her, her voice stern.
“Go and bring that wretched girl here immediately!”
That “wretched girl” naturally referred to Wang Zhao.
The servant girls and older maids hesitated. Third Miss had already knelt in the ancestral hall for three days, her knees swollen, and had only been allowed back today. If she were punished again, who knew what condition she would end up in?
Hong Shuang, on the other hand, was eager to volunteer. She wished she could drag Wang Zhao over right now and have Old Madam Wang give her a thorough scolding to vent their young mistress’s anger.
However, Gu Wuyou reacted just in time and stopped her grandmother.
She wiped away her tears, her voice hoarse but resolute as she said, “Grandmother, don’t call her over. I have something I want to tell you.”
Old Madam Wang, always placing Gu Wuyou’s wishes first, relented. Seeing her insistence, she did not press the matter further. Instead, she waved everyone else away, leaving only the two of them in the room. Then she asked, “Manman, tell me, what do you want? Whatever it is, Grandmother will make it happen.”
She had lived a life of dignity and restraint, yet had suffered the grief of losing her daughter at a young age. Now, all the love she once had for her daughter had been poured into Gu Wuyou.
Whatever Gu Wuyou wanted, she would give her.
Gu Wuyou remembered—her grandmother had once said these same words to her before.
Back then, how had she responded?
She had said she never wanted to see Wang Zhao again.
Her grandmother had granted her wish, sending Wang Zhao to a Buddhist nunnery.
But in doing so, she had also hurt her aunt, who had always treated her as a daughter.
Later…
After her grandmother passed away, her life in the Zhao family was miserable. Her maternal family was far away, and the only relatives she could rely on—her uncle and his family—had grown distant from her because of past grievances.
Now that she thought about it…
For the sake of Zhao Chengyou, she had hurt the very people who truly cared about her.
It hadn’t been worth it.
She no longer hated Wang Zhao.
She no longer had any feelings—good or bad—for Zhao Chengyou.
There was only one thing she truly wanted.
She wanted to find her great general.
“Grandmother.”
Gu Wuyou met her grandmother’s gaze, her expression calm yet resolute.
“I want to annul the engagement.”