Chapter 10 Recalling His Past
What met my eyes was a vast expanse of white snow.
The surroundings were deathly silent, devoid of any life.
As the saying goes, "Know your enemy and know your enemy, and you will win." With Gu Yun Shen's memories, we can better fill the gaps in the original book and help prevent him from turning evil.
but……
Where are the others?
Yu Wenxue found herself in a large, empty courtyard, surrounded by high walls and nothing but thick snow.
A boy of about five or six years old was standing in the yard, his little hands red from the cold, struggling to pull on the kite string.
Perhaps because it was a cold and windless winter day, the kite circled in the air a few times before slowly falling back down. It repeated this several times but still failed to take off.
"Mother, the little swallow can't fly up there."
The boy's innocent voice pulled Yu Wenxue back to reality.
He had a chubby baby face, wore a red winter coat, and had a fluffy scarf around his neck. He looked a lot like the Fuwa (mascot) paintings that were pasted up at home during Chinese New Year when he was a child. He was very cute and adorable.
He has a small mole at the corner of his eye.
"Seeking Cold".
A woman walked out of the house. She was very beautiful, with a gentle smile, and looked to be only in her early twenties.
He was holding an embroidery hoop, probably making clothes.
Yu Wenxue hid in a nearby pavilion and found that she could come and go as she pleased. She tried her "wall-penetrating" technique a few times and found a warm spot to sit down.
This is……
Did we travel back to his childhood?
Little Gu Yun Shen, holding onto the kite that just wouldn't fly, innocently asked, "Mother, is it really true that we can't fly kites in winter?"
The woman put down her embroidery frame and lovingly stroked his little face: "It's New Year's Day today, so we won't fly kites. How about we build a snowman together later, okay?"
Gu Yun Shen smiled, his eyes curving into crescent moons: "Okay."
Sure enough, good-looking children are good-looking when they are young. If he looked like this in modern times, someone would definitely ask that classic question: Can my child be a child model?
The answer is yes, absolutely.
Putting everything else aside, the way young Gu Yun Shen smiles is almost exactly the same as when he grows up.
But as he grew up, his smiles always carried a hint of insincerity, unlike the innocent ones he has now.
He seemed to have been frozen for a long time. He put down the swallow kite and snuggled into the woman's arms. His soft voice was so sweet it could melt anyone's heart.
"Mother, can we go out during the New Year?"
"Where does Xunhan want to go?" The woman hugged him, her smile gradually fading. "Isn't it good to stay here with your mother?"
"Is Xunhan also going to abandon her mother?"
Little Gu Yun Shen didn't understand what she meant, but the precocious boy probably guessed that what he had just said had upset his mother, so he raised his innocent little face and said, "Xun Han is willing to stay with Mother."
Seeing this, Yu Wenxue couldn't help but sigh, it turns out that the villain's childhood was quite happy, at least he had family by his side.
Just as she was about to follow the mother and son into the house, the gate was kicked open from the outside.
Soon, a group of soldiers surrounded the courtyard tightly, the walls so solid that not even a sparrow could fly out.
The maids and servants who were serving them were used to it and silently stepped aside.
Yu Wenxue wanted to investigate, but suddenly, Gu Yunshen's mother went berserk, punching and kicking him, and roaring, "Get out! I don't have a son like you! You filthy thing, get out of here!"
Little Gu Yun Shen clutched the swallow kite tightly in his arms, quietly watching his beloved mother go mad, then revealed a fawning smile.
She didn't cry, didn't make a fuss, and didn't speak.
Like a puppet that has lost its soul.
"Don't you understand?" The woman snatched the kite from his arms, threw it on the ground and stomped on it. She stuffed the small child into the wardrobe and said fiercely, "Remember, don't make a sound."
Xiao Gu Yun Shen smiled and then nodded.
Mother wants to play hide-and-seek with him again.
If he hides well, he'll be out soon.
The footsteps outside the door grew closer, and a figure in bright yellow slowly walked in.
"Madam, a distinguished guest has arrived."
A high-pitched, effeminate male voice came from inside. Yu Wenxue looked towards the door. The man was about thirty years old, with a serious expression and strong features. He looked somewhat similar to Gu Yunshen when he grew up.
Could it be...?
Before Yu Wenxue could react, the man had already quickly taken off his outer robe, impatiently picked up Gu Yunshen's mother and carried her to the bedside, saying, "It's been many days since I last saw you, Yaoniang seems not to remember me."
The bed curtains were drawn, blocking Yu Wenxue's view.
Immediately afterwards, a painful roar came from inside the bed curtains.
Yu Wenxue covered her mouth tightly, only to find that she couldn't make a sound at all.
She opened the cabinet door and saw Xiao Gu Yun Shen curled up in a ball, head down piecing together a broken swallow kite.
As if sensing something, his movements paused noticeably.
But he still didn't say anything, and obediently played "hide-and-seek" with his mother.
He didn't know why his mother was afraid whenever she saw the man in the yellow clothes; he only knew that his mother would always be the best mother to him.
The mother who was willing to build a snowman and play hide-and-seek with her.
Before long, a bell rang from inside the bed curtains, and several maids came over without looking to the side to tidy up the room.
Torn pieces of clothing were scattered all over the floor, and the man who had caused all this was leisurely having his servants dress him.
After everything was in order, he looked down at her and asked, "Where is the child?"
Yao Niang simply shook her head: "Dead."
The man, used to her erratic behavior, snorted and walked away without looking back.
Yu Wenxue drifted along, wanting to find out more about the man, but she couldn't even catch a glimpse of him.
In the backyard, several maids were washing clothes with basins of water while whispering among themselves, "This important person comes every half month. I wonder who he is?"
"Don't ask questions you shouldn't ask. Who do you think has the ability to cover up everything?"
"But the lady has not yet divorced the marquis; in name, she is still a member of the Gu family..."
"The old lady is ruthless. Taking advantage of the Marquis's absence from the capital, she drugged the lady and sent her to the VIP bed, where she even gave birth to a child... Now that lady has become the only Marquis's wife in the manor, who remembers that our lady was also married through proper channels?"
"Stop talking, or the young master might hear you..."
So, it's Madam Gu who caused all of this?
Yu Wenxue stood there, stunned, not even noticing that the others had been gone for quite some time.
According to the maids, Gu Yun Shen's mother was supposed to be the second wife of the old Marquis Gu, but she was drugged by the old lady and offered to the nobleman they were talking about...
No wonder.
No wonder!
It is obvious that this important person must be the emperor.
In the book, Gu Yun Shen eventually became a king of a different surname, overthrowing the entire imperial power, not because of his ruthless methods, but because he himself had royal blood flowing through his veins.
So what happened next?
Soft sobs could be heard coming from inside the room.
The beautiful woman sat in front of the dressing table with her hair disheveled, revealing a twisted smile as she combed her hair.
Her hair was jet black and glossy, flowing smoothly down her chest; her eyes were like black ink—she was a rare beauty.
After combing her hair, Yao Niang opened the wardrobe, took out the bewildered little Gu Yun Shen, and gently patted and coaxed him: "Will Xun Han blame his mother?"
Xiao Gu Yun Shen was used to playing hide-and-seek, so he shook his head, his expression unchanged.
"It's all because of that powerful, tyrannical emperor, and your cowardly, incompetent father..." Yao Niang's eyes were filled with tears: "Oh right, and that old woman from the Marquis's mansion too, it's all her fault, she's the one who trapped us here!"
Yao Niang became increasingly agitated, using makeup to cover her tear-reddened eyes. She threw her head back and laughed loudly, grabbing Xiao Gu Yun Shen's neck tightly: "You, you, you really make me reluctant to even kill you."
Xiao Gu Yun Shen was being choked so badly he could barely breathe, unable to even manage a smile, and his throat was making a buzzing sound.
"Mother."
Yu Wenxue tried to stop her, but she was in spirit form and no one could see or touch her. Her outstretched arm passed through Yao Niang's hands, but she couldn't stop her.
"Why, why are you that person's child?" Yao Niang increased her pressure, her nails digging into Gu Yun Shen's delicate neck, leaving several long bloody marks.
Suddenly, as if remembering something, she abruptly released her grip, clutching the child he was nearly suffocating, and cried out, "No, you are not his child, you are my Xunhan..."
"You were born on a snowy day, and the red plum blossoms in the snow were particularly beautiful. I don't like any of the names they gave you."
"How could you be his child? You're clearly... surnamed Gu..."
Xiao Gu Yun Shen repeated her words, saying each word clearly: "My surname is Gu."
Yao Niang's face regained its initial gentleness, and she said with kind eyes, "You are my Xun Han, my own child..."
"We, Xunhan, will never leave me, right?"
She had been trapped in this small courtyard for so long that she had forgotten what the sky outside looked like.
Yao Niang picked up the kite that she had stepped on and said with heartache, "Xun Han, don't cry, Mother will make you a new one, okay?"
She picked up a needle and thread and sewed a few stitches on the paper swallow's wings, her eyes sparkling: "Look, isn't Mother amazing?"
Gu Yun Shen looked down at the swallow, which was riddled with holes from being pricked by needles, and remained silent.
Mother is unhappy when she sees yellow, so he shouldn't be happy when he sees yellow either.
Since no one's happy, let's just destroy it.
He snatched the yellow swallow kite, clumsily ran to the dry well outside, and threw it in.
Yao Niang chased after him with a needle. The little dumpling was barefoot in the snow, his feet were red, his hair was disheveled, and he stared blankly at the dry well.
She sighed, "They all say you're not the Marquis's biological son, and they won't let us go back."
Upon seeing the needle in her hand, Yu Wenxue had a vague premonition of something bad and stepped forward, shouting, "Stop!"
No one heard her.
Yao Niang carried him back to the room, pricked his finger with an embroidery needle, and dripped the blood into the water: "Come, let's do a blood test to prove our kinship with your father."
Ten bowls of different sizes were prepared in front of him. Yao Niang also pricked all ten of his fingers, and every drop of blood quickly mixed with the water.
"I knew it. Xunhan isn't a wild child. He's the person I love most." Yaoniang cried tears of joy, then lowered her head to straighten Gu Yunshen's red winter clothes, which were already crumpled into a ball.
A wave of bitterness welled up inside Yu Wenxue, who forcefully suppressed the pain surging in her heart.
He's so young, why does he have to go through all this?
The young child seemed oblivious to the pain, reaching out his chubby white fingers to wipe away the tears from Yao Niang's eyes.
Outside the window, snow fell heavily, burying all the filth and dirt, making them disappear.
Many years later, in March, it was a sunny day.
Gu Yunshen removed the last antidote needle from Yu Wenxue's body and was about to leave when he saw two lines of hot tears streaming down her face.
A note from the author:
Xiao Gu's Diary:
She held my hand today.
This is my first time interacting with a woman.
Her hands are very soft.
My intuition tells me I should let go.
But I didn't.
strangeness
Her scent filled the air; it was becoming increasingly addictive.
So annoying
why is that
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
