Chapter 35 Chapter 35 is the only authentic version...
"You're back..."
"younger sister……"
"ah!"
With a scream, Ji suddenly opened his eyes.
She was gasping for breath, fear filling the depths of her eyes, and for a moment she didn't know what was a dream and what was reality.
"Madam! Madam!" Nanny Wan raised her voice and called out, "It's a nightmare. Don't be afraid, don't be afraid."
Nanny Wan was Ji's wet nurse and had taken care of her since she was a child.
Ji's back felt cold, her eyes were empty, and she murmured to herself: "Mammy, I dreamed of my elder sister..."
What! ?
Nanny Wan was startled. She subconsciously looked around, quickly hugged her, and comforted her, "Madam, you're having a nightmare! It's all over now, all over!"
Ji leaned on Nanny Wan's shoulder, her delicate body trembling slightly.
Yes, so many years have passed, and she hasn't thought about it for a long time. Why did she suddenly dream about it again...
Ji half raised her head and said in a hoarse voice, "Mammy, do you remember what Gu Zhizhuo said?"
What was said... Nanny Wan suddenly recalled it, shuddered, and felt a gust of cold wind all around.
"She said: 'Do you have a twin sister?...'"
"She also said that my sins were grave and retribution was coming."
Ji pulled the thin blanket and huddled up in a ball in panic.
"Madam." Nanny Wan was heartbroken.
She breastfed the lady since she was a child.
In the Ji family of Jiangnan, twins are considered a bad omen, whether they are twin boys or twin girls.
So, as soon as the girl was born, she was sent away by the master. She fed the lady, who was like a kitten, mouthful by mouthful of milk. The lady was no different from her own daughter.
Ji's voice trembled as she asked, "Mammy, do you think she really figured it out?"
"Impossible!" Nanny Wan said firmly, "If she had that ability, she would have said you have a twin sister!"
"She must have heard some little detail from somewhere, and is playing tricks on you to frighten you!"
Nanny Wan poured her a cup of warm water to calm her nerves and said gently, "Madam, think about it, isn't this the truth?"
Ji drank half the cup in one breath and opened her mouth: "Mammy, you don't know... My elder sister is standing in front of me, covered in blood, smiling at me... Her face is exactly the same as mine. I, I..."
"You're not to blame, it's the master and the mistress who are biased." Nanny Wan patted her back to calm her down and speak up for her. "You were born only half an hour later than the eldest girl. The eldest girl was able to grow up with the master and the mistress, but you had to grow up alone and helpless in the countryside, your name not even on the family tree. Even if there was a marriage proposal, the eldest girl was talking to the prince of the Zhenguo Duke. Even if it was a second marriage, it would be to the dignified Duke's Mansion! What about you? Are you only worthy of marrying a country bumpkin!?"
“Yes, yes…”
Ji grabbed Nanny Wan's hand and said, "Nanny, you are right. It is Daddy and Mommy who are partial to us. It is all their fault!"
She slowly raised her hands and placed them in front of her eyes. They were soft and white, without a single callus. She had gold and jade on her head, silk on her clothes, and bird's nest on her food... If she had accepted her fate, she would now be just a dusty country woman, living a life worse than even that of the servants in the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion.
right.
She was only born half an hour later, so why should she give in to her elder sister in everything?
The eldest sister can live a life of luxury, surrounded by servants, but she is only fit to marry a rough man and live a muddled life?!
Ji curled the corners of his mouth, with a barely detectable trace of madness on his face.
She doesn't accept her fate, she earns her life!
The twins are unknown, so...
Wouldn't it be enough to just leave one?
Nanny Wan said softly, "I'll go and find out later if anyone from my hometown has come to the capital recently. Don't worry... Nanny is here. Nanny is always here."
Ji leaned on her and closed his eyes silently again.
Nanny Wan slapped her rhythmically, again and again.
"Girl, don't be afraid... Mammy is here..."
Ahhhh!
She had barely fallen asleep for an incense stick when Ji woke up with a scream. This time, her elder sister was closer to her in her dream.
The string in her heart was tightened.
She didn't dare to sleep anymore, but after forcing herself to stay awake all night, she couldn't resist the sleepiness.
As soon as she closed her eyes, her elder sister came closer to her. At the beginning, they were separated by the gate, but later, she was almost face to face with her.
A face exactly like hers, with a girlish complexion and blood all over its head, stood right in front of her.
"Sister, I'm here! I'll never let Dad send you back home again!"
She was smiling at her.
Tears of blood flowed from his eyes.
Ahhhh!
In just two days, Ji became visibly haggard.
When she met the housekeeper at Duanfu Hall, she was in low spirits. She listened to their report indifferently, explained everything step by step, and then left.
She went to the small courtyard in front where Gu Yan lived.
These days she changed her schedule to the morning session, then went to her son's yard to take care of him, staying there until the sun went down before returning home.
As soon as I entered the yard, I saw Rui Huang running out in a hurry.
The third young master, Gu Yiqun, now also lived in the front courtyard. His courtyard was staffed by servants and maids, with no maids to serve him, let alone a wet nurse. However, because Gu Yan was young, Gu Baibai agreed to keep the wet nurse and two maids.
Ji placed Rui Huang next to her son.
She wanted to let all the servants in the mansion know that even if they offended Gu Zhizhuo because of her, she could still promise them a good place and a good future!
"What happened? What's going on?"
Ji's voice sounded a little irritable, not as gentle and amiable as usual.
Rui Huang hesitated for a moment before saying, "Madam, the fourth young master has a fever. I was just about to report it to you."
What? !
Ji rushed in directly: "Why do you have a fever? Did you catch a cold at night?"
Rui Huang followed her closely and said, "The wound on the fourth young master's back was oozing a little last night. He didn't wake up in the morning, so I realized he had a fever."
The fourth young master had a whipping wound on his back, which had never fully healed. The golden medicine would hurt when it touched the wound, and the fourth young master cried and made a fuss and refused to apply the medicine. The lady was reluctant and decided not to apply it.
"I'm a little confused now..."
Ji paused, slapped him backhandedly, and angrily said, "Why didn't you report this this morning?!"
Madam never loses her temper like this! Rui Huang was caught off guard. She covered her cheek, thumped to her knees, and burst into tears.
Ji's palms felt numb, and Gu Zhizhuo's faint voice seemed to ring in his ears again:
"Mother, you have committed many sins. I'm afraid it's not good for you."
"A son must pay his mother's debt!"
"Meow! Meow!"
Suddenly, a cat's meow was heard in the yard.
As if her dream overlapped with Ji's, she shuddered and looked around in panic.
"Cat, where's the cat!"
She screamed hysterically: "Beat it to death, beat it to death!"
The servants in the yard hurried over. Following the meowing sound, they saw a majestic tabby cat squatting on the courtyard wall. It wore an extremely luxurious jeweled collar around its neck. Its beautiful golden eyes swept over the people coming and going in the yard and licked its paws.
"Meow!"
"Kill it!"
Ji's beautiful face was a little distorted.
The servants picked up long bamboo poles and hit the cat with them.
"Meow!"
The tabby cat was unhappy.
It jumped left and right among the long bamboo poles with nimble movements, and with a leap of all fours, it pounced towards Ji.
Ahhhh!
Ji was so frightened that she sat down on the ground. The cat arched its back, made a few threatening "Ha" sounds at her, then shook its whiskers proudly and ran out of the yard.
"It ran away, chase it!"
A swarm of servants rushed out, holding bamboo sticks in their hands, shouting and chasing the cat.
"Meow!"
The cat darted around nimbly, leading the group of people around and around in the mansion of the Duke of Zhenguo. The maids followed it closely, each of them running out of breath. In a moment of distraction, the cat disappeared.
"Where's the cat?"
If I can't find the cat, I won't be able to report back.
“There!”
The cat looked back at them proudly, then jumped up and jumped onto the high wall.
"quick!"
Wait! This, this is the eldest girl's yard!
The old women couldn't help but stop in their tracks. The eldest girl had been in a bad temper recently, and even the lady didn't dare to provoke her.
They looked at each other, and one of the women couldn't help but ask, "Could this raccoon be raised by the young lady?"
The tabby cat twitched its black little nose and called out excitedly, "Meow!"
Found it!
The tabby cat no longer paid any attention to those chasing it. Following the smell in its memory, it jumped off the wall and soon ran to a window.
Chirp!
The cat's attention was instantly diverted. Its golden pupils narrowed into a slit and it stared at the colorful bird fluttering around in the air without blinking. It suddenly became excited, its unicorn tail wagging wildly, and it pounced over with a "meow".
“Chirp!”
"Meow meow!"
Gu Zhizhuo was concentrating on writing a prescription on the spread-out silk paper, but he was startled by the series of extremely excited cat meows and his hand began to tremble, causing one stroke of the writing to go wrong.
She put down her pen and looked out the window following the sound. A furry little head popped out and shook its ears.
The tabby cat squatted on the windowsill, looking at her lovingly.
Their eyes met, and it leaped nimbly onto her desk, rubbing against her hand in a coquettish manner, again and again.
Gu Zhizhuo's eyes lit up as he recognized the cat. It was the same Qilin cat that he had seen in the theater last time!
"It's you, are you here to play with me?"
etc!
Gu Zhizhuo blinked, his heart almost jumping out of his throat: "W-what's in your mouth?!"
The cat also seems to be biting a more familiar, colorful bird!!
The cat put the bird on the desk and proudly took credit for it: "Meow, meow," as if to say: This is a gift, are you surprised? Are you surprised?
Unexpected, so unexpected.
Gu Zhizhuo was unexpectedly close to tears.
She was worried that something might happen to the bird. As a result, before she could pick up the bird to check, the bird rolled over on the desk and jumped up.
Yes. Bang!
The bird was filled with anger. It jumped up and pecked the tabby cat's head viciously.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
Gu Zhizhuo took a deep breath. Just hearing the sound made her forehead hurt.
Why is this cat so obedient?
Just as Gu Zhizhuo thought of this, the tabby cat raised its paw and slapped it on the desk, not forgetting to meow in a coquettish voice.
The bird struggled under its claws and chirped.
Well, they didn’t even consider it as prey.
Look at this bird, it's covered in saliva and its feathers are all stuck together. If it were prey, it would have been dead long ago.
I guess it was a gift.
Gu Zhizhuo rescued the bird from its claws and touched its little head: "I like it very much."
"Meow!" The cat circled around her hand, its black little nose twitching.
Chirp!
The bird grew even angrier, thrashing and struggling in her hand, pecking at her palm. If its wing hadn't healed, Gu Zhizhuo had no doubt it would have pecked her in the face. Unable to defeat a cat, and with a bad temper, Gu Zhizhuo feared it would have gotten angry and hurt, leaving Ah Man vulnerable. So, she quickly opened the door and called Xue Zhong, who had been caring for the bird, over.
Xue Zhong clutched her handkerchief, tears welling in her eyes. "Miss, the bird, the bird is gone... I heard a cat meowing, could it have been eaten by a cat... Hey, a bird!!"
She turned from sadness to joy, tears still streaming down her face, and jumped up excitedly: "That's great. Miss, I was scared just now."
When she went to get some sunflower seeds for the bird, the bird disappeared. The window was open and there was a cat meowing outside. She really thought the cat had taken the bird away and eaten it.
Gu Zhizhuo smiled and said, "Take him away."
This bird has been spoiled by everyone in the mansion. It will peck people if it is not happy, and now it even dares to provoke cats.
If the bird waits until its wings have grown back and it is released, and encounters another raccoon with a bad temper, its life will be in danger.
He walked happily in the snow, holding his beloved bird in his arms, and never noticed that there was a cat in his daughter's study.
Meow~
Seeing that she accepted his "gift", the tabby cat was very happy and rubbed its head and hands against Gu Zhizhuo.
Gu Zhizhuo scratched its chin a few times, noticing that its fur was far sleeker than it had been a few days before, glistening in the sunlight. Its golden eyes sparkled, its spirit radiant and majestic. And looking at the collar around its neck, what was there to be confused about?
The necklace was made of leather and was set with a circle of gems and diamonds. The ruby in the middle was especially big as a pigeon egg, with a translucent color and a bright red, the kind that seemed to be dripping with blood.
He walked out of the door so ostentatiously, and he wasn't afraid of being caught.
"He picked you up?"
"Meow."
No wonder, this is because they are full and don’t like to eat raw food (bird).
From Chen Xu's fussy, pretentious and picky attitude, we can tell that the food in his house is definitely the best in the capital.
Last time I said I wouldn’t raise it. Hmm, why didn’t I realize in my previous life that Chen Xu is a bit of a hypocrite.
"How did you know I lived here?"
"Meow~Woo!"
"Never mind. I didn't understand."
"Meow!"
"You've come just in time. Come with me for a fortune-telling. Afterwards, I'll treat you to some dried fish."
Kirin cats are rare in the world. They can drive away evil spirits and distinguish good from bad.
Gu Zhizhuo took out her compass from the drawer, and the cat came over obediently and sat down beside the compass. It patted its soft black pads on the top of the compass, raised its little round face, and looked at her seriously.
Gu Zhizhuo picked up the compass and cast a fortune neatly.
This divination was made for Xie Yingchen. It asked whether she should use honey pills or start refining the elixir. She couldn't make up her mind.
I dare not gamble with your life.
She cast two hexagrams in a row, and both hexagrams indicated the use of honey pills. The tabby cat stared at her eagerly with its eyes wide open, and then slowly placed its paw on the back of her hand.
Meow!
Gu Zhizhuo nodded solemnly and slammed the table: "It's decided, let's start the furnace!"
Meow?
The Qilin Cat likes unlucky people, especially those struggling on the line between life and death. Simply put, it likes misfortune. When it is around, all the calculations will be very bad, and the opposite will be very good.
However, the questions that can be answered are only those of "yes" and "no", and nothing too complicated can be asked.
"Thanks to you."
Gu Zhizhuo touched its wet nose with his and praised it generously, "You are really capable!"
"I love you the most. You are the best cat in the world!"
“Meow!!”
The cat was praised so much that it lost itself, with its whiskers raised and its tail swinging on the desk.
“Come again!”
As for whether to use cinnabar, the divination showed no need.
Gu Zhizhuo decided to use it!
Cinnabar contains real mercury, which is not hot but cold, and can calm the mind and dispel evil spirits and malaria. (Note) It is extremely useful for the young master's illness, but cinnabar itself is also poisonous. The young master is very weak, and Gu Zhizhuo had been undecided about whether to use it.
A doctor who cannot treat himself will always find it difficult to make decisions for the people he cares about, especially he dare not use strong medicine at will.
She continued to divine for an entire afternoon, finally settling on the prescription she'd been agonizing over for days. The main ingredient remained the same as she'd originally decided, but she'd changed a few of the auxiliary ingredients and reconsidered their dosages, especially the aconite and cinnabar. Since she'd already decided on the furnace, Gu Zhizhuo boldly used enormous quantities.
“Done!”
Gu Zhizhuo held the written silk paper in his hand with satisfaction, waiting for the ink to dry, and asked Qiongfang to bring him a large plate of dried fish as a reward.
"Meow!"
All the dried fish were freshly baked by Qiongfang, using the freshly delivered small white fish strips from the farm.
The aroma of the still hot dried fish was so tempting that the cat salivated. It finished its reward with satisfaction, licked its paws, and rolled over on Gu Zhizhuo's desk, with its soft belly facing the sky. Gu Zhizhuo couldn't help but touch it several times before it jumped onto the windowsill and left.
Gu Zhizhuo held the handkerchief and waved it: "Come and play again~"
"Meow!"
The tabby cat was in a very good mood. It ate delicious food and also got rid of that extremely unlucky smell!
It ran and jumped on the walls and the top of the tail with its white beard raised and its head held high.
The cat is going home!
It was out in the open for a day, and the Shen family spent a whole day looking for it. No matter how capable the East Factory's spies were, they never thought they would have to keep an eye on a cat one day. They almost turned the capital upside down.
Now seeing it finally appear on the wall, a young eunuch cried with joy.
“Here!”
Woo woo woo, finally found it.
"Cat Ancestor, you are finally back!"
Soon, a dozen young eunuchs gathered from all directions. Fearing the cat might get angry, they dared not approach it, but instead carefully circled it from a distance. Someone shouted, "Go and report to the chief steward!"
"Don't make any noise, what if you scare the cat?!"
After hearing this, everyone covered their mouths with their hands.
The golden cat's eyes glanced down, and the cat jumped down from the wall nimbly, with its tail raised high, and walked towards the study with an arrogant look.
Meow!
"Little Ancestor, please don't worry, I will open the door for you right away."
The young eunuch opened the door respectfully, and the cat walked in leisurely.
Shen Xu was dressed in a bright red robe, as vivid as fire. He leaned back in his armchair, flipping through memorials, his wide sleeves drooping naturally. The desk was piled high with memorials impeaching him. Dozens of officials submitted theirs simultaneously. The Imperial Household Department sorted through the submitted memorials and handed them to him first.
"Master, the cat is back."
Sheng Jiang whispered, standing with his hands behind his back.
The governor picked up the cat and didn't give it a name at all. Everyone in the mansion called it "little ancestor" and "cat ancestor".
Chen Xu raised his eyes from the memorial and glanced at it expressionlessly. The tabby cat jumped onto the desk affectionately, walked back and forth in front of him, and rubbed him with its tail.
Suddenly, several plum blossom footprints appeared on the desk. Chen Xu grabbed the back of its neck in disgust and said, "Where have you been? It's so dirty!"
Speaking of dirt, Chen Xu thought of Gu Zhizhuo. Every time he saw her, she looked like she had rolled in the mud.
Chen Xu frowned in disgust.
"Meow."
The tabby cat called out in a soft and coquettish voice.
Shen Xulang was as hard as iron and was not moved at all. He threw it away directly. The cat turned over nimbly in the air, stepped on the ground with all four legs, jumped again, and continued to rub against him, not caring about the other's dark face at all.
Rubbing left and right, the folds were covered with cat hair and plum blossom marks.
It raised its claws again to hook the Buddhist beads in Chen Xu's hand, and swayed the hanging beads back and forth.
Seeing Chen Xu staring at it with unfriendly eyes, the cat meowed coquettishly and touched his face with its black little nose.
Chen Xu: “…”
The raccoon is an animal that will take advantage of any opportunity.
Sheng Jiang watched helplessly as the cat, so brave that it almost climbed onto its master's head, sighed inwardly, but also felt a little strange.
This cat is indeed close to its master on weekdays, but today it looks particularly different. He even saw an inexplicable expectation in the cat's eyes.
Gu Zhizhuo's words flashed through his mind:
The Kirin Cat loves unlucky people the most. The more unlucky they are, the more it likes them...
"Meow!"
The cat suddenly let out a loud cry. It was not a scream, but a sound filled with excitement and delight.
At this moment, the heavy antique display case collapsed without any warning and fell towards Chen Xu unexpectedly.
boom.
But in an instant, Shen Xu was pressed under the antique shelf.
Meow~~
This antique display cabinet was made of rosewood and was extremely heavy. It was filled with vases, jades, and even two strange stones. When it fell, there was a crackling sound.
Sheng Jiang's face turned pale, and he shouted nervously, "Master!"
"Someone come quickly!"
His voice was so sharp that it was almost unreliable. The guards outside broke in and saw a mess. The antique cabinet had collapsed and the ground was covered with broken porcelain pieces.
The cat was still stepping on the fallen display cabinet and meowing excitedly.
"Come, move it!"
"Lord Governor!"
The guards were horrified and hurried over to move the antique shelf.
"It's so noisy."
Huh?
Chen Xu came out from under the antique display cabinet with a cold face. He first brushed his sleeves with an annoyed look, and then impatiently pushed away the cat that came to rub his face.
"Master Governor?"
Sheng Jiang was stunned at first, then he was overjoyed.
Very good!
He looked at the fallen antique display cabinet with lingering fear, and suddenly found that a long drawer opened naturally when it fell, and then it was stuck by something and supported on the ground without retracting. In this way, a small space was formed, which happened to protect Shen Xu underneath.
He was unharmed.
But the messy hair and clothes still made him feel extremely unhappy.
He walked out from the surrounding chaos with some disgust and took out a jade token from his arms.
The small rectangular jade plaque cracked in the middle and broke into two pieces.
"Isn't this..." Sheng Jiang blurted out, "Miss Gu?"
The jade pendant was given to him by Miss Gu. He had seen it from afar the last time he was at the theater.
Miss Gu seemed to say at the time that there was a talisman engraved on it for safety.
Could it be that...
This talisman warded off a disaster for the master?!
Chen Xu was also looking at the broken white jade token in his palm. The afterglow of the setting sun enveloped him, and the cinnabar mole at the end of his eye was breathtakingly beautiful.
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