Ji Wujing lounged lazily in the circle chair, playing with a small knife in his hand. He glanced toward the doorway, his eyes slightly lifted, his fox-like gaze hinting at a trace of cunning.
Ji Jingyi wanted to speak again, but Ji Wujing placed his index finger on his lips, stopping him. Ji Jingyi paused for a moment, then turned his head toward the door, understanding.
Gu Jianli’s first reaction was disbelief. Her heart was uneasy, and she couldn’t quite articulate her feelings. The room fell silent, no other sounds were heard. Regardless, eavesdropping was wrong. Overhearing a few words unintentionally was also inappropriate. Worried about being discovered, she quietly turned away and headed straight to the small kitchen.
“Just now…” Ji Jingyi was a bit worried.
“It’s nothing,” Ji Wujing said, looking unconcerned.
Ji Jingyi nodded and handed a small white porcelain bowl to Ji Wujing. The bowl contained a milky-white medicinal soup, emitting a scent similar to sandalwood.
Ji Wujing sliced his left index finger. Blood dripped into the bowl. A tiny Gu worm, wrapped in a blood droplet, fell from Ji Wujing’s fingertip into the bowl. The surface of the milky-white liquid suddenly began to boil. The Gu worm rapidly expanded and burst with a “pop,” its black blood swirling through the liquid.
Ji Jingyi sighed in relief and covered the bowl. “This way, we can only replant one Gu, but the Sect Master is currently weak and needs some time to recover before planting another.”
Ji Jingyi continued, “Sect Master, this method of using poison to counter poison is extremely perilous. You already have two potent toxins within you, balancing each other out. You must not recklessly stop the process of expelling the poison through the Gu worms, or the worms will backlash within you, and not even Hua Tuo could save you.”
Ji Wujing nodded, his expression indifferent, as if he didn’t care at all. Ji Jingyi frowned but then thought, the Sect Master’s temperament is unruly, and he acts without any sense of order. He never cares about the consequences. If he did, he wouldn’t have drunk the poison that has no antidote.
Over the next two days, Ji Wujing noticed that Gu Jianli was unusually quiet. During the day, she would teach Ji Xinglan how to write, and back in her room, she was silent. Especially when he was asleep, this woman almost made no noise. When she slept beside him, she would curl up quietly, her face turned inward, and wake up in the same position.
On the morning of the 27th of the twelfth month, Ji Wujing opened his eyes and turned to look at Gu Jianli.
Gu Jianli was holding her shoes in her hands, one in each hand, tiptoeing on the colorful carpet. The room was dim, without any lights, making her slender ankles under her pants look even more white. Ji Wujing’s gaze moved from her bare feet on the carpet upward to her small, raised pinky finger. It looked delicate, fragile, and very biteable. Ji Wujing licked his lips.
Gu Jianli quietly walked out and breathed a sigh of relief. She tried to make no noise as she washed and dressed, then went to the backyard to teach Ji Xinglan how to read.
Ji Xinglan was a sleepy little girl, but ever since Gu Jianli started teaching her how to write, she would wake up early every day, sitting obediently by the bed, often nodding off from drowsiness. Yet, the moment Gu Jianli entered the room, she would smile brightly, full of energy.
Gu Jianli patted her head, “Xinglan, you don’t have to wake up so early. We have plenty of time.”
“Okay!” Ji Xinglan responded obediently, but the next day, she continued as usual.
Gu Jianli held Ji Xinglan’s small hand, teaching her to write stroke by stroke. They started with her name, which had three characters, two of which were quite complex. Fortunately, Ji Xinglan already knew how to write the character “Ji.”
When Ji Xinglan finally managed to write her name neatly, Gu Jianli smiled and praised her, “Xinglan, you did very well.”
Ji Xinglan smiled with her eyes curved, “How do you write your name?”
“Want to write my name?”
“Mm-hmm!”
So, Gu Jianli taught her.
Ji Xinglan did not call Gu Jianli “mother,” which Gu Jianli found preferable. Based on age, she thought it sounded more appropriate for the little girl to call her “sister.”
A small figure flashed by the window outside.
Gu Jianli collected her thoughts. She knew the person outside was Ji Xinglou.
Ji Xinglan cautiously observed Gu Jianli’s expression and timidly asked, “Can you teach my brother too? I’ll watch over him and make sure he doesn’t cause trouble…”
The little girl lowered her head, nervously fumbling with her hands, which got covered in ink.
Gu Jianli took a cloth and carefully wiped Ji Xinglan’s hands, saying as she did, “I don’t think your brother is interested in learning. But if he tells me he wants to learn, I’ll teach him.”
Outside the window, Ji Xinglou rolled his eyes and snorted before running off.
Lizi came to the window and shouted, “Someone’s here! They said their name is Jixia!”
Gu Jianli’s eyes lit up, and she immediately got up, lifted her skirt, and hurried to the front yard.
Jixia, two years older than Gu Jianli, wasn’t particularly beautiful, but her eyes were bright and sharp. When she didn’t smile, her expression was cold, indicating a clever and formidable personality. However, when she saw Gu Jianli, her face immediately lit up with a smile. She happily approached, her voice choked with emotion as she greeted, “Master,” and knelt.
Gu Jianli quickly supported her, her own eyes growing moist, and said, “Why did you come today? I told you to come after the New Year.”
“After receiving your letter, I didn’t want to delay a single day. I just wanted to come to your side as soon as possible!” Jixia, with reddened eyes, held Gu Jianli’s wrist, “Master, you have suffered!”
As she spoke, tears began to fall, one after another.
Gu Jianli smiled gently, hugging Jixia lightly, and said in a warm voice, “It’s nothing. Everything is fine. Don’t cry.”
Gu Jianli had been cherished and pampered for fifteen years, but suddenly she fell into misfortune, experiencing the harshness of human nature. Among the twelve servants who once served her—two old nannies, four young male servants, and six maids—only Jixia remained loyal, willing to stay by her side at the cost of her own life.
Gu Jianli, worried about disturbing Ji Wujing, took Jixia to the back hall to talk.
“Did you check on my family before you came?” Gu Jianli asked anxiously.
“Yes, I did!” Jixia nodded. “By the way, they’ve moved. They don’t live in the same place anymore.”
Gu Jianli was a bit surprised.
Jixia quickly added, “They haven’t moved far, just next door to the original courtyard. The new courtyard is bigger, two or three times the size of the old one.”
Gu Jianli tried to recall the neighboring courtyard but couldn’t remember much about it. She thought for a moment and asked, “Did my sister buy it? How is she doing?”
Lately, the image of her sister drinking the abortion medicine frequently appeared in Gu Jianli’s mind. With the cold weather, she was constantly worried about her sister.
“She’s doing well! That day, the eldest miss returned home in anger and had Nanny Qin deliver the divorce papers. The next day, the young master-in-law came chasing after her, but the madam scolded him terribly. The madam and the eldest miss then took him to the Chen family and retrieved all the dowry items without missing a single piece. With the money, the eldest miss immediately bought a bigger courtyard. Because the prince is still in the same condition and cannot be moved, they bought the neighboring house. The eldest miss also rented a shop, and they are currently cleaning and organizing it to start a business after the New Year.”
“My sister…” Gu Jianli was in a daze.
Hearing that her brother-in-law had rushed over the next day, Gu Jianli thought there might be a chance for reconciliation between her sister and brother-in-law. But she hadn’t expected…
Gu Jianli smiled wryly, feeling relieved.
Indeed, there was nothing surprising about it. Her sister was always a strong and decisive person who couldn’t tolerate any nonsense. These actions were just her way of doing things.
Jixia continued to chatter, “The eldest miss and the madam were not close before, and she was distant from the young master. But now, they are getting along better as they prepare for the shop together. The young master has also become more sensible and is now studying diligently. The eldest miss teaches him personally. If he doesn’t do well, she punishes him, and he doesn’t utter a word. Oh, and the eldest miss asked me to bring you some money for your personal use. The madam also made clothes for you with her own hands. And… the young master wrote you a letter…”
In Fuhua Inn in Yongping City, which was adjacent to Yong’an City, Ye Yunyue woke up from a nightmare, drenched in cold sweat. She raised her hands and looked at her still delicate hands, which trembled slightly.
For the past three months, she had been having the same nightmare repeatedly.
In the dream, she planned her future. Who was Ji Wujing? He was a sinister and ruthless man, gravely ill and poisoned, always on the brink of death, with two illegitimate children. Why should she marry such a person? Was it wrong for her to break the engagement to secure a better future for herself? She had no regrets. She bravely annulled the engagement and married Pei Wenjue, who was a hundred times better than Ji Wujing in every way.
Pei Wenjue treated her genuinely well. But this kindness faded as he became more successful.
She never expected the elegant young man she had admired to turn out the way he did.
She lost her former dignity, trapped in the inner chambers, watching him take concubine after concubine. The charming concubines, favored by Pei Wenjue, mocked and framed her, ultimately causing the death of her child. In her anguish over losing her child, Pei Wenjue stepped on her face and told her that he had never loved her. He married her only because her family’s influence was beneficial to his career.
He looked down at her with disgust in his eyes. “Ye Yunyue, you make me sick.”
She was locked away and her body wasn’t found until three days after she died from illness.
Tears fell, landing in Ye Yunyue’s palms.
It took her a long time to realize that it wasn’t a dream, but rather that Heaven had taken pity on her, giving her a chance to be reborn and return to when she was twenty-one.
That year was the fourth year of her marriage to Pei Wenjue. He hadn’t yet revealed his true, ugly nature. Ye Yunyue immediately divorced him. Revenge could wait; her first priority was to escape from the hell she was living in.
She thanked Heaven for giving her this second chance, allowing her to once again plan her future.
This time, she wouldn’t fail miserably.
“Ji Wujing…” Ye Yunyue murmured to herself, her eyes unfocused.
She had made the wrong choice.
Back then, someone had deliberately deceived her into thinking those two children were Ji Wujing’s illegitimate offspring and that Ji Wujing was dying.
But now, reborn, she knew that Ji Wujing would not die from his illness. In the near future, he would support the young emperor, stabilize the court, expand the borders, and become the Father of the Nation.
“Gu Jianli should have married him by now,” Ye Yunyue frowned.
This woman was respected and adored all her life, admired like the moon in the sky and celebrated across the land. Whatever she desired, Ji Wujing would present to her on a silver platter, making her the envy of all women.
“But all of this should have been mine…” Ye Yunyue clenched the quilt, consumed by jealousy.
Oh joy, another person who thinks that just because they were reborn, they can pick up what they threw away.
Thanks for the (mass) update!