As the first rays of morning sunlight shone on the wall of the Gu family compound, two gray figures silently appeared at the corner.
Both of them had their faces and heads smeared with some kind of ash or mud, making them look rather disheveled.
The shorter figure spoke in a muffled voice: "Miss, since Madam already knows, why didn't you use the main gate and instead crawled through the dog hole?" Judging from the voice, it was Bitao, Gu Yaoniang's maid.
The taller figure spoke, her clear female voice tinged with helplessness: "Silly girl! If we move the door, everyone for miles around can hear us! Mother agreed, but Father doesn't know yet. Are you afraid that your parents won't know I ran away with you?"
As he spoke, he squatted in the corner and carefully parted the weeds with his hands to reveal a narrow dog hole.
Thankfully, the hole through which my brother and I sneaked out when we were kids wasn't blocked up.
Outside the wall, a weary man stood leading his horse outside the Gu family's gate. His brocade robes were stained with dust, and his eyes and brows were filled with weariness. Dark circles under his eyes could not be concealed, and his stubble-covered face made him look extremely haggard. He raised his hand as if to knock on the door, but then lowered it, looking very hesitant.
Just as he was hesitating, he suddenly heard a rustling sound by the wall, and faintly heard a woman's voice, but he couldn't make it out clearly.
Curiosity took hold of him, and he crossed his arms and walked toward the source of the sound. There he saw a head slowly peeking out from a small dog hole.
The dog hole was narrow, and it seemed difficult for the person with the head to squeeze through. She was so focused on moving around on the floor inside the hole that she didn't notice a strange man squatting next to the opening outside the wall.
The man squatted on the ground with his arms crossed, seemingly unconcerned that his fine clothes were covered in dust. Indeed, there was nothing more he needed to worry about, given his travel-worn appearance.
He watched with great interest as the head arched and arched, finally managing to squeeze its shoulder out of the dog hole. From there, it was much easier, and it crawled forward, supporting itself on its hands.
The man didn't disturb them, but noticed that the person inside seemed to be stuck in the cave again, unable to move forward. The person inside the wall seemed to be trying to push the person in the cave forward, and occasional groans could be heard, but the person in the cave couldn't move forward any further and looked extremely disheveled.
The man, seemingly unable to suppress his compassion, stepped forward and asked, "Do you need any help?"
The sudden sound startled the two people who were struggling to escape. The person inside the cave tried to look up and turn around to see where the sound came from, but because his lower body was stuck in the cave, he couldn't move and couldn't figure out who it was. He became even more anxious as he tried to move.
The people inside the wall panicked and pushed the legs of the person in the cave forward without regard for anything else.
The person inside the cave was clearly in pain. Without waiting for them to speak, the man reached out and pulled the person, whose body was half stuck in the cave, out.
Gu Yaoniang cried out in distress and tried to cover her face with her hands, but her hands were held in place by the newcomer and she was unable to move for a moment.
Seeing her flustered state, the man's voice unconsciously carried a hint of amusement: "Young lady, are you looking for money to thank me?"
She was anxious, angry, and helpless. What kind person would pull someone out of a dog hole and then refuse to let go, forcing them to watch the spectacle? Seeing that she couldn't break free, she simply looked up and stared directly at the person.
Although his face was covered in stubble, it still couldn't hide his arrogance, and his peach blossom eyes were full of smiles. Gu Yaoniang's mind went blank for a moment.
She was initially overjoyed and about to speak, but then she remembered the time, place, and her actions, and suddenly felt guilty.
She pulled her hand away in alarm, and the man released his grip.
Like a child caught being naughty, Gu Yaoniang put her hands behind her back. She lowered her head, but then guiltily glanced up at the man's half-smiling face before reluctantly calling out, "Second Uncle."
The person before them was none other than Gu Xingzhi, the second master of the Gu family, who had not returned home for a long time.
Bitao, inside the wall, heard Gu Yaoniang speak, but couldn't hear clearly. Not knowing what was happening outside, she hurriedly threw her small bundle over the wall and lay down on the ground, about to crawl through the dog hole.
The small bundle, however, flew straight at Gu Xingzhi, but he caught it with lightning speed. He shook the bundle in his hand and asked Gu Yaoniang—
"Little girl, what are you doing?"
Gu Yaoniang just grinned foolishly at him, not daring to speak. She couldn't very well say that she had run away from home with her maid, could she?
At this moment, Bitao poked her head out, only to see two pairs of feet in front of her. Besides Yaoniang's embroidered shoes, there was also a pair of men's black boots. Unable to see what was going on, she became increasingly anxious and tried even harder to break free. However, there was no second Bitao inside the wall to help her, so she could only struggle wildly in the dog hole, looking quite pathetic.
Yao Niang was stunned by Bi Tao's series of panicked yet fluid movements. Seeing this, she finally reacted and said, "Bi Tao, let's go back."
"Huh?" Bitao thought Gu Yaoniang had changed her mind and was planning to leave alone, so she became even more anxious. She kicked her legs wildly, but the more anxious she became, the less effective she was, and she got stuck in the narrow dog hole and couldn't move forward.
Gu Xingzhi couldn't bear to watch any longer and finally spoke up: "Your young lady means for you to go back and open the door from the inside." Seeing that the little girl ignored him and still insisted on coming out, he added: "I want to take your young lady home."
Gu Yaoniang remembered that when she was peering through the dog hole, she could only see a small patch of light and had no idea who was in front of her. She quickly added, "Bitao, Second Uncle is back."
The little girl's thrashing motion suddenly stopped.
Seeing that Bitao was frozen in place and had forgotten to move, Gu Xing stepped forward and kindly helped the little girl, pressing her head down and pushing her back.
He said, "Open the door. I want to use the front door."
The old wooden door creaked open, and Gu Yaoniang, dejected, followed Gu Er into the Gu family compound once again. Gu Xingzhi handed the riding whip to Bitao, instructing her to take good care of her.
Two people were already standing at the entrance to the main room; it was Mr. and Mrs. Gu. Mr. Gu's eyes were still slightly red. They looked at the disheveled couple with astonishment.
The couple hadn't slept well last night. When they heard a knock at the door, they were prepared, assuming it was their daughter leaving home. But it turned out their daughter had returned with a man? And this man...it seemed to be their second younger brother?
The most shocked person was Madam Gu. She hadn't expected that after her conversation with Yao Niang last night, and even though she hadn't objected to Yao Niang leaving home, she still hadn't dared to use the main gate. It seemed... she had actually crawled through the dog hole? And then her second uncle caught her and brought her back?
When Gu Xingzhi saw his elder brother and sister-in-law, his expression changed, and he stepped forward to pay his respects.
Mr. Gu snorted: "What are you doing back here? You actually know how to come back?"
Madam Gu glared at her husband, opened her mouth but couldn't utter a word. She smiled and asked, "Why is Second Uncle back?"
Gu Er was already used to his brother's attitude and didn't mind. He turned to his sister-in-law and said, "I heard about the ridiculous things Qin Yuxiu did and I was worried about her, so I came back to see Yao Niang."
It turned out that the news of Qin Yuxiu's marriage bestowed by the Emperor had already spread. At that time, Gu Xingzhi was in Yongzhou making purchases. After learning of this, he settled his affairs and rushed over without stopping. However, Yongzhou was farther from the capital than Qingyun County in Qingzhou, so he learned of the news later and only arrived today.
Unexpectedly, they saw Gu Yaoniang about to climb out of the dog hole at the door.
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