CH 7

Chapter 7. From the door came a little boy in blue. He was slightly shorter than Gu Yu Qi and was decked out beautifully. He had a longevity lock hanging from his neck which glowed golden in the sunlight.

It was Gu Si Yang, the younger brother who was only two years younger than herself. Gu Yu Qi only glanced at him and withdrew her gaze.

Liang-shi originally wanted to raise her hand and tell Liu Yue there was no need to be so polite, but she was interrupted by Gu Si Yang so she withdrew her hands. Liu Yue could not get up so could only squat down. From the bottom of her heart, she hated Gu Yu Qi and Liang-shi, but on the surface she kept a gentle appearance.

“Who am I?” Gu Yu Qi said slowly. Had she rarely dealt with this kind of thing in the palace in her previous life? She slowly stroked the folds of her skirt with one hand. Her eyebrows lowered slightly and the corner of her mouth smiled, “So it’s the eldest younger brother.”

This child should have come in with Liu-shi but Liu-shi had left him at the door. When he heard Liu-shi bow, he could not help but rush in.

Liu-shi was really good. Since she had brought Gu Si Yang here, she was not deliberately preventing her son from seeing Liang-shi. Gu Yu Qi knew that Liang-shi was unwilling to care and in her previous life, she had been too lazy to care. However, it was different now and it was time for her to teach Concubine Liu and her ignorant little brother what the rules were.

“Who’s your younger brother?!” Gu Si Yang saw his mother still half-squatting, half-bowing to Gu Yu Qi and his little face turned redder. He disregarded Liang Huai Yu who was sitting in the main seat and rushed up to Gu Yu Qi, then he pulled his mother up, “Mother, why do you need to bow to her?!”

“Yang’er, don’t be rude to your eldest sister!” Liu Yue stood up straight and softly reprimanded Gu Si Yang. Although she was reprimanding her son, Gu Yu Qi had already caught a glimpse of the pride and warmth in her eyes. She had a son, so what if Liang-shi was the madam? She only had one daughter! 

Gu Yu Qi saw the faint sadness in Liang-shi’s eyes and her heart sank.

“Concubine Liu, what eldest younger brother said is so strange.” Gu Yu Qi raised her eyes and said softly, “My father is the Ding Yuan Marquis and my mother is the Ding Yuan Marquis’ wife, so why am I not his elder sister? If eldest younger brother insists that I’m not his elder sister, then is his father not Ding Yuan Marquis?”

Gu Yu Qi’s light words made Liu Yue’s pretty face change colour instantly.

“Eldest Miss, you can’t talk nonsense!” She said anxiously.

Gu Yu Qi raised her head and blinked her eyes, looking innocent, “I’m not talking nonsense. It’s eldest younger brother who refuses to recognise me as his elder sister!”

“Yang’er, call her elder sister.” Liu Yue hurriedly tugged at her son’s sleeve and said sharply. 

Gu Yu Qi raised her eyebrows and looked at the little boy who had a flushed face. Since she and her mother entered the residence, this child had refused to deal with them everywhere. He had refused to call her mother, and even refused to recognise his sister, just like in her previous life.

In her previous life, Gu Yu Qi did not take any of this into consideration. However, in this life, Gu Yu Qi had to think about her mother.

Through time-travelling and being reborn, only her mother, Liang-shi, had placed her as her top priority. She had not known to cherish it in her previous life. In this life, she would not say anything to make Liang-shi feel wronged.

Liang-shi was the madam of the Marquis’ residence but after she entered the capital, she was inferior to Liu Yue. In the end, when she had been sick for a long time, even the servants had dared to treat her without proper respect. In her previous life, Gu Yu Qi had watched all of this with a cold eye. She had only felt that Liang-shi was too weak as the daughter of the general. She did not even know how to resist when being bullied, it was ridiculous. However, this life would be different. After Gu Yu Qi was reborn, she felt Liang-shi’s genuine care. Her ten years in the cold palace in her previous life compared to Liang-shi’s bountiful love made her naturally bring Liang-shi to her side. How could she let Liang-shi suffer any more losses?

Gu Si Yang held his tongue and glared at Gu Yu Qi, but he refused to make a sound.

In his impression, the noble madam in front of him and the beautiful girl beside her were the ones who stole everything that belonged to him! Why should he call that strange woman his mother? He did not even know them! He was the eldest son of the Marquis’ residence, but how come after they came, he became a concubine’s son?!

He had been in the capital for a while and he went to Tai Yuan Academy with the other noble sons. Just because he had become a concubine’s son, everything around him had changed. Those who were very close to him were now starting to alienate him a little and even the looks from other people had become a little different. He could feel it. It was like a nightmare! Deviating him from his original life.

“This child!” Seeing Gu Si Yang being so stubborn, Liu Yue could not help raise her hand and twist Gu Si Yang’s arm.

“Mother!” Gu Si Yang exclaimed in pain, his big eyes already tearing up as he felt aggrieved.

“Eldest younger brother still refuses to call me elder sister?” Gu Yu Qi smiled, “Then I’ll go and report to my father. Don’t call me in the future.”

“Eldest Miss, Yang’er is just not used to it.” Liu Yue panicked. Before Liang-shi and Gu Yu Qi came to the capital, Ding Yuan Marquis Gu Huai Zhong had told her that Liang-shi was his benefactor’s daughter and she had married him irregardless of his identity back then. So no matter how wronged she felt, she had to respect her. The same was true for Gu Yu Qi, as the first young miss of the Marquis’ residence. If Gu Si Yang insisted on not recognising Gu Yu Qi, it would be troublesome. She was afraid that Gu Huai Zhong would think of the kindness that General Liang had shown him back then and would feel animosity towards Gu Si Yang.

After all, Liang-shi married Gu Huai Zhong at the age of 18 years. She was only 28 now. It was impossible to guarantee that she would not become pregnant with another child or two in the future. If another male was born, then Gu Si Yang would be completely useless.

Now was not the time to fall out with the mother and daughter.

Liu Yue gritted her teeth and slapped Gu Si Yang in the face. Gu Si Yang was dumbfounded on the spot.

“Mother! Why are you beating me?!” Gu Si Yang covered his slightly swollen face and looked at his biological mother in shock and anger.

Liu Yue also felt pain for her son, but she had no choice but to say sharply, “Why beat you? You have no manners and don’t know how to respect the madam and your elder sister! And you can’t call me mother in the future, you can only call me Concubine Liu. You need to call the madam your mother! Are you listening? If you are disobedient again, I will report it to the Marquis and then the Marquis will punish you by family law!”

Gu Si Yang had always been spoiled with love by Liu Yue so when had he ever suffered such grievances before? With tears in his eyes, he looked at Liang-shi and Gu Yu Qi, then at Liu Yue. Then he cried loudly and disregarding Liu Yue, Liang-shi, and Gu Yu Qi, he turned and ran away while crying.

Liu Yue felt sad in her heart, but there was nothing she could do. She could only smile at Liang-shi and Gu Yu Qi, “Madam and Eldest Miss, please forgive Yang’er, he’s still young.”

“Forget it…” Liang-shi was soft-hearted. Although Gu Si Yang’s existence was a thorn in her heart, the child had run away crying and she somewhat could not bear it.

It had been ten years and when she came to the capital to see her husband, she felt that Gu Huai Zhong and Liu-shi were the real family. It was as if she and Gu Yu Qi had broken into someone else’s home. It was normal that the child would be unwilling to accept her for a while and she herself was unwilling to accept Liu-shi and her two children. Liang-shi really did not want to care too much about these things. If it was not for her daughter, she really did not want to stay in the capital.

Gu Yu Qi had long expected that Liang-shi would not care. In her previous life, she did not care about anything and Liu-shi had become more and more aggressive.

“Concubine Liu,” Gu Yu Qi said with a smile, “This is the Ding Yuan Marquis’ residence, not a small place like a border town. There are rules in the Marquis’ residence.” She paused, “Eldest younger brother is not young anymore and he is already studying at the Tai Yuan Academy. If people find out that he refuses to even call the madam mother, people will laugh at the Marquis’ residence and at my father, Ding Yuan Marquis. If he cannot save face, you know what the consequences would be. Among the nobles in the capital, every bit of courtesy and filial piety is talked about! It is not like the border town where you can do whatever you want. There are rules everywhere. You may feel that this is a trivial matter and not worth making a fuss about, but what of principles? If it is known to outsiders that the Ding Yuan Marquis’ residence does not even have courtesy and filial piety, if father makes the slightest mistake, he will be admonished by the officials. At that time, Concubine would not think that I am fussing over a minor matter!”

Gu Yu Qi was only ten years old right now so her voice was a little childish, but she spoke slowly and her words were majestic. This made Liu Yue break out in sweat, and also surprised Liang-shi; she looked at her daughter with admiration.

There was nothing more to say about Gu Yu Qi’s background. Her mother was the daughter of General Zhen Guo and her father was the Ding Yuan Marquis. However, Liu Yue’s background was too low. She was a little girl from a family at the border. When she arrived at the capital, although she knew the rules of the imperial family and the nobles in the capital were very strict, she had not expected it to be as serious as what Gu Yu Qi said. For a moment, she had really been shocked by Gu Yu Qi.

“Madam and Eldest Miss rest assured, I’ll go back and talk to Yang’er about it.” Liu Yue said hurriedly.

“Wait,” Gu Yu Qi’s mouth twitched, “Concubine Liu seems to have forgotten her identity.”

“What?” Liu Yue looked puzzlingly at Gu Yu Qi.

“You’re just the concubine of my father, Ding Yuan Marquis Gu Huai Zhong, like a servant.” Gu Yu Qi said lightly, “Don’t rudely refer to yourself as “I” in the future. When you see my mother and I, you should refer to yourself as a servant!”

Liang-shi could not help but chuckle. Her heart had relaxed a lot and the sullenness of her depression seemed to have been expelled with that chuckle.

Her laugh made Liu Yue’s lowered eyes almost burst into flames. She gritted her teeth and almost shattered them. The anger in her chest made her take a few breaths. However, she still suppressed her anger. She lowered her eyebrows and responded, “Yes.” Only then did she bid goodbye to Liang-shi and Gu Yu Qi and leave hurriedly, even forgetting to inquire about the things she had wanted to ask before.

This damn girl was only ten years old! Her words were so ruthless; even Liang-shi had never said that to her!

Ever since she had followed Gu Huai Zhong, the term “servant” had been far away from her. Now Gu Yu Qi mentioned it again and it was as though a scar in her heart had been unwillingly opened!

Yes, she was a servant from birth. She thought that she had forgotten it, but today, she was reminded of it again with Gu Yu Qi’s words.

Hateful!

Speaking of which, she did not know if that thing had been found so she would have to rush matters!

As long as Liang-shi’s medicine was mixed with some of that stuff, Liang-shi’s body would continue to weaken. She just had to wait patiently for a few years and when Liang-shi died, she would become the legitimate wife of the Marquis’ residence. Then she would see how arrogant that little girl, Gu Yu Qi, would be in front of her!

Gu Yu Qi watched Liu Yue’s departing silhouette and the smile on her lips gradually disappeared, replaced by a silky coldness.

Just because there were things in her previous life that she had not cared about, did not mean she was unaware of them.

Liu Yue, you will have to pay for what you have done!