Chapter 29 Love Letters to My Wife
Yu Wenxue paused, her hand gripping her collar unconsciously tightening as she rubbed the hem of her clothes. "No."
Stay calm, don't panic.
She said to herself.
Gu Yun Shen looked at her but didn't ask any further questions.
But Yu Wenxue could tell that he wasn't very happy.
She didn't understand.
Was it because she rejected him?
Just as she was racking her brains trying to figure out how to lie to him, she saw Gu Yun Shen take a few steps back and toss her a jade pendant. With his back to her, he said in a deep voice, "If you need anything, tell Guan Nan to come find me."
"Second Young Master, are you leaving?" Yu Wenxue called out to him.
Gu Yun Shen lowered his eyelids: "Mm."
"Then wait a moment."
Yu Wenxue hurried to the bedside, her wet footprints barely touching the floor. She pulled a small box from under the covers; inside were her treasures.
After picking and choosing for a while, I finally selected a small wooden puppet that was reasonably decent and handed it to him: "This is for you."
Fearing he might misunderstand, she added, "I learned it from Qingwan when I was at the imperial palace. Although the carving isn't very good, it's the most beautiful one yet."
"Anyway, thank you."
The puppet was only the size of a thumb; though blurry, it was still vaguely recognizable as a small dog.
She seems to really like small animals.
Gu Yun thought deeply.
He held the puppet in his palm, his tone ambiguous: "Anything else?"
"What?"
So ugly, one isn't enough?
Yu Wenxue scratched her face, then looked down and continued flipping through the pages to see if there were any other items that caught her eye.
The box was turned inside out; besides a wooden puppet that was hard to tell whether it was a fox or a rabbit, there was only a small bird that looked like a quail...
"You can choose for yourself."
Yu Wenxue respectfully handed it over. At this moment, she was still relatively calm until she realized that her ear had been accidentally touched.
It feels a bit cold and itchy.
Before he could react, Gu Yun Shen's fingertips quickly withdrew, and his body returned to the previous distance.
In his hand, there was now a white silk handkerchief.
It was taken from the cabinet behind her.
The height difference between the two is not small; when you look up, you can only see his Adam's apple.
It seems to have slid.
The fragrance in the room became increasingly noticeable.
Yu Wenxue dared not move.
Along with this comes internal heat.
She had an urge to take another bath.
A bath alone isn't enough; you need to add some ice cubes too.
"Consider this your thank-you gift."
"This, this isn't new, I'll use it..."
Feeling the cold gaze from above, Yu Wenxue chose to shut up. "It's yours."
Gu Yun Shen held the silk handkerchief, his lips twitching slightly downwards, but he quickly regained his composure.
You should see a doctor.
This feeling didn't improve until I left.
It takes two days by land and half a day by water to travel from the capital to eastern Yunnan.
He was always a man of few words, and most of the others in his entourage were unwilling to speak to him. Most of the time, he would stand outside in a daze while the others gathered together to drink and make merry.
At first there were some gossips, but after witnessing his strength, they all tacitly shut their mouths and dared not act rashly.
When they passed through Yuzhou, the group suggested that they rest there for the night.
The newly arrived Imperial Guard Yan Liang was not very familiar with the others and did not know Gu Yun Shen's temperament. Seeing that he always came and went alone, he took out an oil paper package and handed it to him: "Sir, these are sugar cakes that my mother made herself. Would you like to try some?"
Gu Yun Shen looked up at him and said, "Thank you, but no need."
Yan Liang wasn't annoyed by the rejection. He took a bite of the sugar cake in his hand and smiled brightly: "They've all gone to listen to the music. Aren't you curious, sir?"
"Why be curious?" Gu Yun Shen murmured, "Isn't listening to music the same as listening to a story?"
“The difference is huge…” Yan Liang whispered mysteriously in his ear, “You must not be married yet, right? You’ll understand when you are married.”
He smiled sheepishly, then said meaningfully, "Some pleasures can only be given by a wife; no one else can..."
"wife."
The unfamiliar words flashed by, but Gu Yun Shen pondered the title repeatedly in his mind.
In my dream, she said they were going to get married.
But now, she's going to be with someone else.
He married someone else...
Does that face smile like that at other people?
Yan Liang wiped the grease off his mouth with his sleeve and pulled Gu Yunshen's arm over: "If you don't want to listen to music, there's a teahouse next door. Shall I accompany you to listen to a storytelling performance? I saw you at a teahouse in the capital a few days ago."
"Aren't you going to listen to the music?" Gu Yunshen asked.
"I'm not going. If Atao finds out, she'll make a scene when we get back."
“We’ve known each other since we were little, and she keeps a very close eye on me.”
That being said, there was not a trace of disdain in his expression.
Gu Yunshen seemed to be deep in thought.
As they spoke, the two found a quiet spot to sit down.
The customs and traditions of Yuzhou are quite different from those of the capital. Storytellers often like to tell stories of poignant love and hate entanglements. Today's story is about a young assassin and a sickly young lady.
The storyteller took a sip of cold tea to moisten his throat: "This young assassin had a tragic past. He was raised as a drug user and lived a life worse than death."
"One day, he was ordered to assassinate a high-ranking official. It just so happened that the official was getting married, so he hijacked the bridal sedan chair on the way."
"A pitiful beauty sat in the bridal sedan chair, but the young man showed no mercy. He intended to kill her to silence her, but when he lifted the curtain, he saw the girl grab his sword and point it at her own heart."
"Is this bride perhaps mentally unstable?"
"Don't say that, maybe she doesn't want to get married at all..."
The storyteller chuckled, “This young lady is only eighteen or nineteen years old, while that high-ranking official is old enough to be her grandfather.”
"The girl was frail from childhood, unloved by her father and mother, and was abandoned in a mountain village where she lived for eighteen years. She had long harbored suicidal thoughts. Yet, upon seeing her, this assassin, for the first time ever, felt compassion."
Did they fall in love?
The storyteller shook his head: "The young man wandered the world, unaware of love and affection, and left after completing his mission."
"Later, the girl's distant relatives heard about her difficult situation and took her to live in their mansion. Unexpectedly, the young assassin turned out to be the young master of the mansion who had been living away from home."
Sometimes, fate is truly a wonderful thing.
The audience erupted in commotion, many of them eager to hear more and urging the storyteller to continue.
The storyteller was extremely satisfied with the scene and chuckled to himself, "After a while, the relationship between the two took a sharp turn for the better, and they developed feelings for each other. But the good times didn't last long. Before they could get married, the girl's illness proved incurable, and she eventually passed away."
Upon hearing this, many soft-hearted girls shed tears, lamenting why lovers could not be together in the end.
"The young assassin appeared unaffected. But unbeknownst to anyone, he secretly hid the girl's body in an ice coffin, sleeping with her day and night..."
The story had reached a chilling point. Yan Liang felt a chill run down his spine and unconsciously moved closer to Gu Yun Shen, rubbing his arms: "How could anyone be willing to stay with a corpse? Aren't you scared?"
Gu Yun Shen suddenly laughed: "What's there to fear about the dead?" He paused, then continued: "Isn't that the person you love most?"
Yan Liang frowned: "The person you love most should be laid to rest. If you don't bury her, you'll never meet her again in the next reincarnation."
Gu Yun Shen seemed lost in thought, his tone flat: "It's too dark, what if she can't see?"
"......"
Yan Liang finally understood why this person had no friends.
What he thinks is completely different from what ordinary people think.
Before he could answer, Gu Yun Shen continued, "If she can't see, she'll have even less of a chance to find herself."
"Keeping them by your side makes little difference between life and death."
"..." Yan Liang chose to give up communicating.
Is that correct?
Gu Yun Shen was silent for a moment, then put a piece of silver on the table. "I'll go first. You travel with them."
"Sir, where are you going?"
Gu Yunshen thought of that smiling face and already knew the answer in his heart.
He did not answer, leaving only a lonely figure.
Traveling day and night, they finally arrived in Shuozhou on the afternoon of the second day.
To solve a problem, you must address its root cause.
*
After that day, Yu Wenxue never saw Gu Yunshen again.
The south was plagued by severe flooding, and he was ordered to inspect the eastern part of the region. It would take him at least one or two months to return.
With her wedding day drawing ever closer, she was completely confined to this small courtyard, unable to even leave the house.
That night, an unexpected person appeared.
Gu Rongting removed his veil, took out a thick stack of silver notes from his pocket, stuffed them into Yu Wenxue's hand, and whispered, "Tomorrow night at Hai hour, at the side gate, I'll take you away."
“Cousin, I can’t accept this…” Yu Wenxue rarely called him that. Gu Rongting’s brow twitched slightly: “The Marquis’s mansion still bears the surname Gu, so you don’t need to worry.”
He said seriously, "They dare to stop you, but they don't dare to stop me."
"Now that Xun Han is gone, I should take better care of you for him."
The banknotes were brand new and clear, indicating that he had just withdrawn them from the money shop. Carrying gold and silver while traveling was inconvenient, while banknotes were much lighter.
Gu Rongting was very thoughtful, but Yu Wenxue felt even more conflicted. She opened her mouth for a long time, but couldn't say a word.
"You all want to keep things from me, but how could I not know what Wan-meimei is thinking?"
"That's just the kind of person she is. I like her, and I'm willing to support her ideas and clean up her messes."
Gu Rongting patted her head from afar: "I'll feel more at ease if you go and keep her company. Leave everything here to me..."
Outside the door, Chen Yuru bit her lip, listening to every word spoken inside the room.
On one hand, he felt wronged and frustrated by the old lady's favoritism, but on the other hand, he was secretly delighted.
With Yu Wenxue gone, the Zhou family has no bride, so she can legitimately take her place in the marriage...
Thinking of this, she couldn't wait to walk towards the old lady's Hanbai Courtyard.
After listening to Chen Yuru's words, the old lady narrowed her eyes and turned the sandalwood prayer beads on her wrist.
Seeing this, the old woman stepped forward and patted Chen Yuru's hand, saying, "Miss, you did a very good job in this matter."
Chen Yuru was secretly delighted and tentatively asked, "They agreed to escape at 10 PM the day after tomorrow. Should we make preparations, Madam?"
She deliberately chose the wrong date so that Yu Wenxue could escape smoothly, and also to use this incident to show her loyalty, so that the old lady would think of her in the matter of the substitute marriage.
As expected, the old lady took off the Buddhist prayer beads from her wrist and put them on her hand, saying kindly, "I have my own arrangements."
Overjoyed, Chen Yuru hurriedly declined, saying, "If there is anything I can do for you in the future, please let me know, Madam."
After she left, the old lady's upturned lips straightened: "Useless now."
"Hurry up, find someone whose birth date and time are compatible with Chen Yuru's."
The old lady's smile gradually twisted: "Doesn't she want to get married? Then let her be good sisters with Xue'er on the road to the underworld."
*
Yu Wenxue was unaware of what was happening outside. Now that she had decided to escape, she should make arrangements for all matters, big and small.
Like the kitten in my arms.
Holding a jade pendant left behind by Gu Yun Shen before he left, she knocked on the door with the kitten in her arms, just to see what would happen.
Guan Nan flashed a row of white teeth: "Miss Yu."
Yu Wenxue raised the kitten's paw: "I'm very sorry, but... could you please take care of it?"
"Very cute."
Guan Nan glanced at the babbling white kitten. Wasn't this the same one that her master had caught last time?
They were so disobedient, and they even scratched his brand new boots.
He quickly realized what was going on, and made a "please" gesture, saying respectfully, "Please come in first."
Yu Wenxue looked around the drafty room and chose to sit on a chair that didn't seem too shaky: "It's very well-behaved; just a little food is enough for it."
Guan Nan naturally took the kitten and patted his chest, saying, "Don't worry, I will definitely take good care of it for you."
Why do I say "you"?
Yu Wenxue was a little puzzled, but didn't think much of it.
Things were going too smoothly, and all the prepared drafts disappeared.
Feeling a bit awkward sitting there, she stood up, looked around, and asked, "Are there any paper and pens here?"
She wanted to write a letter to Gu Yunshen.
"Yes, please wait a moment."
Guan Nan didn't ask any more questions, but he was very excited inside.
Love letter, a love letter sent from a thousand miles away!
As Yu Wenxue held the calligraphy brush, she suddenly noticed something.
Will Gu Yun Shen be able to understand her simplified Chinese characters?
If it were traditional Chinese characters, she wouldn't know them either...
Never mind, I won't think about it too much. I'll just spread out the paper and start writing.
In case he couldn't understand simplified Chinese characters, they thoughtfully added illustrations.
Second Young Master, this letter is as if we were meeting in person...
No, it would be too formal to call him "Second Young Master" in the letter.
Gu Yun Shen, it's been so long since we last met...
That won't work either; that's too impolite.
She crumpled the paper into balls, then finally pursed her lips, picked up her pen, and wrote his words.
Seeking cold.
Author's Note: Daughter: That was close, we almost got caught.
Xiao Gu: I see through it but don't say it.
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