Qiaoniang leaned against the wall, gazing at the prison corridor with a hazy look in her eyes. The corridor was dark, with wooden fences as far as the eye could see, and she couldn't see into the distance.
They have been here for seven or eight days.
Gu Yaoniang looked at her and gently patted her back. They felt utterly isolated and helpless in this prison.
Gu Yaoniang suddenly felt that the Gu family was like an isolated island in the vast city of Shuojing, and she couldn't even find anyone to ask for help.
Princess Ruining, Xie Danqiu, Wang Zhilan, Lu Zhaoan.
After arriving in Shuojing, she became closest to these people. But the Gu family only had wealth and had lost power. Now that they were suddenly imprisoned, they were at a loss as to how to ask for help.
They could only wait passively here, waiting for someone to bail them out.
Qiaoniang seemed to be recalling something when she asked, "Didn't you ask Second Master?"
Gu Yaoniang fell silent.
It seems she really never asked... It was all just her guess. At first, she didn't have time, and later, she felt it might be awkward to ask, so she never asked again.
Seeing her embarrassment, Qiaoniang smiled slightly and then delivered another blow to Gu Yaoniang: "I've been married before."
Gu Yaoniang opened her mouth wide, while the maids remained calm on the surface, but their ears perked up quietly.
"Like Madam Yu from Jin Yu Lou, I married a scoundrel. The man I married didn't beat me, but he loved to drink, and when he was drunk, he would blurt out anything and everything, saying hurtful things."
I hate his unrestrained speech when he's drunk, but when he's not drinking, he always promises me that it will never happen again. Every time he promises, I forgive him; every time I forgive him, the next time is always waiting for me.
I cried, I made a scene, but he didn't change. As time went on, I got tired.
Qiao Niang spoke casually, but Gu Yao Niang seemed to already feel the suffocating sensation. Normally she was perfectly fine, but after drinking, she became a completely different person. Even when sober, she would admit her mistakes, but she would never truly change. She couldn't see the road ahead, yet she couldn't bring herself to let go.
Gu Yaoniang asked, "Then the injury on your face... was it caused by him when he was drunk?"
Qiaoniang shook her head.
"I know it's wrong of him to do this, but I thought at most he was just being mean to me, and it was just a family matter between us."
But one day, he got drunk outside and offended some gangsters. He continued his drunken rampage as usual, and they followed him home and broke his neck. I was terrified and begged the man to let me go, crying. He saw I was beautiful, and you know, men…”
She snorted coldly: "I couldn't get close to him, so I had to hurt myself. Then he lost interest, but he wanted to sell me into a brothel. But what brothel would be willing to buy a disfigured woman?"
That man was furious. He beat and cursed me in the street, chained me up, and dragged me forward. I really wished I were dead.
It was around that time that I met your second uncle.
Back then, Second Master was just a poor scholar. He practically emptied his pockets to buy me from that wicked man. From then on, I've walked this path with Second Master until now.
They supported each other, going from nothing to where they are now. What has been her relationship with the Second Master all these years?
Lover? Not really. Qiaoniang and Gu Xingzhi weren't without affection for each other, but she had long since lost faith in marriage. It was as if once a man entered marriage, all his absurd actions could be forgiven. She couldn't bear to see such a good man like Gu Xingzhi become unrecognizable.
Gu Xingzhi also had something on his mind. The two seemed to have reached some kind of tacit understanding, caring for each other, keeping their distance from others, and watching over each other from a distance.
"What about that江湖人 (jianghu person)? Do you hate him?"
Gu Yaoniang asked.
Qiaoniang laughed: "Why hate him? It was my dead man who provoked him. He deserved it, and I was implicated because of him."
"But he shouldn't have killed anyone..."
Gu Yaoniang hesitated. Qiaoniang patted her head: "There's no such thing as 'should' or 'shouldn't.' People in the martial arts world have their rules. If we don't have the ability, we can only follow their rules."
-
As dawn approached, Gu Yaoniang vaguely heard some noise in the prison. She struggled to open her eyes and saw that everyone else was sleeping soundly, seemingly unaware of anything. She listened again but heard no noise. She assumed it was just a hallucination in her sleep and went back to sleep.
But I couldn't sleep soundly, dreaming and waking up intermittently, tossing and turning until dawn.
-
In the men's cell at the other end, a junior guard looked at his superior with a worried expression: "Are we really not going to call a doctor?"
The man on the ground was pale and his lips were cracked, clearly dehydrated. A foul stench emanated from his cell, making one want to vomit.
The jailer was clearly uneasy, yet unwilling to cause trouble, and hesitated. Finally, he stamped his foot and said, "Fine! Send a message out, don't let him die here."
He's been having diarrhea all night; I hope he doesn't actually die here. The discomfort is one thing, but if someone dies, that's a serious matter.
-
Rushing footsteps echoed in the corridor. Gu Yaoniang looked in the direction they came from. The person was a jailer who walked straight over without saying a word and opened the cell door.
"You, come out."
Gu Yaoniang exchanged glances with the others, pointed to herself, and asked, "Me?"
The jailer was clearly impatient, but for some reason he didn't react. He simply knocked on the door and urged, "Let's go."
Qiao Niang grasped Gu Yao Niang's hand and squeezed it: "Go with peace of mind."
Gu Yaoniang nodded, stepped out the door, and then turned back to look. Bitao was still a little wilted, and Bizhu and Bishuang, worried, leaned over the fence to watch over her, but were chased away by the jailer.
She gave him a reassuring look and followed the jailer.
Having not eaten well these past few days, Gu Yaoniang's steps were somewhat unsteady. The jailer strode ahead, and she struggled to keep up, walking behind him with uneven steps.
Having just emerged from the dark prison, the sunlight outside was dazzling. Gu Yaoniang felt a wave of dizziness wash over her, her legs went weak, and she was about to collapse to her knees.
Gu Yaoniang sighed inwardly: This time, she probably couldn't avoid the fall.
The expected pain did not come. A pair of hands supported her, and an anxious voice called her name: "Yaoniang! Yaoniang! How are you?"
It was a man's voice; it sounded familiar, but I couldn't quite place it.
Gu Yaoniang sensed something was wrong and tried to stand up straight, but she felt extremely dizzy. She struggled to open her eyes, but since she was lying on her back, the sunlight was extremely bright, so she closed her eyes again.
Seeing her in pain made the man even more anxious, and he shouted, "Quickly, go and get a chair!"
Gu Yaoniang felt increasingly strange and kept searching her mind for the identity of this person.
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