guard
With the excuse of meditation, Jiang Yufan enjoyed a few days of peace. She and Gu Sidu meditated, and their bodies recovered quickly. During this time, Gu Sidu and Jiang Yaoguang went out at the same time and returned at the same time, both looking dejected and unharmed. However, Gu Sidu was much more at ease than Jiang Yaoguang.
Gu Sidu's only goal is to win Jiang Yufan's heart.
In Gu Sidu's eyes, the most important thing was to fill Jiang Yufan's eyes with his own. While sitting quietly, he secretly opened his eyes to admire Jiang Yufan's face, which was so beautiful that Gu Sidu felt that there were no worries in life.
But Jiang Yufan was different from him. Jiang Yufan's brows were always furrowed, she was always disturbed, and she was always thinking about the bad luck that was about to happen to her. Sometimes she couldn't even finish reciting the scriptures. She would always curl up and quietly hug her legs.
When she opened her eyes, tears slowly slid down her moist cheeks, and what she saw was Gu Sidu's face, a face she shouldn't have been close to.
Gu Sidu was a little too close to her.
"Why are you here?" Jiang Yufan put down the prayer beads in her hand and tried to move away.
“I can tell that you need me, Bodhisattva,” Gu Sidu smiled at Jiang Yufan. He sat down next to Jiang Yufan and patted his shoulder. “Come on, Bodhisattva, if you need me, you can lean on my shoulder.”
These were truly useless words, but they eased Jiang Yufan's wandering thoughts considerably. She couldn't help but chuckle, a smile that left a deep impression on Gu Sidu. When Jiang Yufan looked up again, she saw Gu Sidu's amorous, peach-blossom eyes. If Jiang Yufan's life hadn't been rewritten, if she were a wealthy heiress and he were a newly rich and talented young man, how perfectly matched they would have been!
But they are not.
It's a pity that Jiang Yufan's life has been rewritten; she can't have a happy marriage. And this is Chenxiang Temple; they shouldn't have such feelings for each other. Jiang Yufan felt a slight, throbbing pain in her heart; she never could have from the beginning.
Her life was ruined by her parents.
At that moment, as she looked away, she saw her mother standing at the door.
The moment their eyes met, Madam Jiang coughed lightly a few times, reminding Gu Sidu to keep her distance. Madam Jiang looked gently at Jiang Yufan: "Can we talk?"
“Madam Jiang, if you have any problems, I suggest you go see the abbot.” Gu Sidu didn’t want Jiang Yufan to be hurt or upset anymore. Jiang Yufan was very happy when she was in the Gu family, but after returning here and meeting Jiang Yaoguang, she has been having a very difficult time.
Once this matter is resolved, Gu Sidu must take Jiang Yufan away from the cage that is Chenxiang Temple.
But Jiang Yufan said, "Lord Gu, I'm fine. Please excuse me for a moment."
"I don't trust you," Gu Sidu said directly.
"It's alright, Daoyun will stay with me." Jiang Yufan insisted that Gu Sidu leave first, as she didn't want Gu Sidu to see her with her family.
“Then I’ll stay at the door and watch over you. If you’re worried, just call me.” Gu Sidu also had his own principles. He nodded to Daoyun, and the two closed the door and left.
Jiang Yufan stood up, poured two cups of tea, placing one in front of herself and the other opposite her. This was the first time in years that she had seriously looked at the woman who had given her life.
In recent years, the Jiang family has enjoyed immense success, and Madam Jiang's face has become much rounder. However, no matter how successful she is, she cannot escape the marks of time, as evidenced by the deep lines that have grown under her eyes.
“Yu Fan, ever since your father brought back your jade pendant, I knew I would see you again. I kept that jade pendant with me, and every day I would stroke it and think of you. My child, you have no idea how much I have missed you all these years.”
Madam Jiang grasped Jiang Yufan's cold hands.
The winter was bitterly cold, the sky was overcast and pale, and there were signs that it was going to snow. There was no charcoal fire lit in Jiang Yufan's room, but Madam Jiang was wearing a mink cloak and her palms were incredibly warm. This warmth entered Jiang Yufan's heart, and every bit of it made his blood boil, but he could not utter a single word.
She felt disgusted, and a torrent of emotions welled up inside her, but she couldn't express them.
Seeing that Jiang Yufan did not shake off her hand, Madam Jiang felt hopeful. This was a piece of her own flesh and blood; how could she not feel heartache? Her eyes welled up with tears again: "Over the years, I have also blamed your father for abandoning you. I have also thought about asking your father to bring you back."
“But Yu Fan, for the sake of the Jiang family, you have to be patient a little longer.”
What gentle words! Perhaps Madam Jiang used this tone to coax her son, expressing her joy and affection. But Jiang Yufan wasn't stupid. She looked up at her mother, a cold smile playing on her lips.
"Is that so? If you missed me that much, why did that jade pendant end up back in his hands? And why did you let him come here with the jade pendant to question me?"
Well...
Madam Jiang sighed, and after a long while she finally spoke to explain, "Yu Fan, as you know, the women in the inner courtyard are all supposed to obey their husbands. I truly miss you, but your father insists on taking that jade pendant, and there's nothing I can do about it."
“I didn’t know that the jade pendant was going to be taken to question you. I begged your father, but he said you had made a big mistake. Yu Fan, you can actually bow your head and admit your mistake to your father. As long as he is happy, you can leave Chenxiang Temple. You saved your brother, and your father will consider letting you come back to recognize your ancestors.”
“I will try to persuade your father to save your brother.”
Jiang Yufan didn't speak. A gust of wind blew into the room, completely extinguishing the incense burning inside. Snowflakes were about to fall.
“Mother,” Jiang Yufan hadn’t called out those two words in a long time. When she did, it wasn’t because she really wanted to throw herself into Madam Jiang’s arms. She said self-deprecatingly, “I have to wait for him. Only when my father is happy can I have a chance to go back. Is that what you mean?”
“Yu Fan, it’s just a matter of bowing your head and admitting your mistake. It’s not difficult. Didn’t you always want to leave Chenxiang Temple?”
“That was in the past, and I’m not a child anymore,” Jiang Yufan sniffed, lifting her eyelids to keep her tears from falling. “I used to have hope, and I thought my parents loved and cherished me, but I can’t remember how many times I’ve run away. Mother, if you miss me, you shouldn’t give away that jade pendant. If you really want me to come home, you should remember how an eight-year-old girl knocked on the Jiang family’s door, begging you not to be so cruel.”
Do you remember all of these?
Madam Jiang's hands stiffened slightly, as if touched by the cold wind and snow. She said, "Who can remember things from the past so clearly?"
“But I remember,” Jiang Yufan couldn’t hold back any longer. Her heart had been hurt time and time again. She looked at her mother and tears streamed down her face. She no longer pretended to be vulnerable and looked at Madam Jiang with teary eyes. “I am just someone you think of when you are living a good life and are occasionally lonely. I am just a sigh, a regret, a pawn to keep the Jiang family in check.”
“My father, even if he has done something wrong, you still have to bow your head and not rely on him. Don’t you think that’s pathetic?” Jiang Yufan’s voice trembled. She never expected that her mother could say such cruel words to her face, asking her to apologize to her father.
"What did I do wrong?" Jiang Yufan bit her lip tightly, managing to utter fluent words.
Madam Jiang's eyes turned cold. She released Jiang Yufan's hand, and her face finally showed a hint of anger: "You have become too disobedient. You still want to say that you did nothing wrong. Your father was demoted because of you and spent many days in prison. When he came back, he couldn't say a word. It was all because of your deliberate revenge."
"It's been seven or eight years, why are you still holding a grudge? You're still alive and well, aren't you? What good has it done for you to see the Jiang family reduced to this state and become the laughingstock of the city?"
"He's your father!"
"If he really did nothing wrong, then he shouldn't have accepted bribes. Did I force him to do those things?" Jiang Yufan couldn't hold back any longer and blurted out her accusation. She gripped the table tightly and let her tears soak her face.
"He deserves it, not me."
Jiang Yufan's heart was wounded once again. She had barely finished speaking when her mother slapped her across the face. She fell to the ground, feeling dizzy all around her. She propped herself up and looked up, realizing that her mother's visit today, with all those tender words of longing, had only one purpose: to get her to save someone.
Those sweet words were poison, meant to kill her, constantly stabbing her heart with many knives. Her mother demanded that she admit her mistakes.
It was Madam Jiang who made the move, but it was also Madam Jiang who froze in mid-air, unable to believe what she had done. People outside rushed in upon hearing the noise. Daoyun used his sword to keep Madam Jiang at bay, and Gu Sidu stepped forward to help Jiang Yufan up, holding her in his arms around the waist.
"Bodhisattva, are you alright?" Gu Sidu looked at Jiang Yufan's cheek, the finger marks on it pained him, and he glared at Madam Jiang.
Why did you hit her?
"I...I don't know, I didn't mean to," Madam Jiang tried to step forward, but no one believed her anymore. Dao Yun drew his sword, and Madam Jiang took a few steps back. "She was the one who disrespected me first."
“Respect is not about seniority, but about whether one’s behavior earns respect,” Gu Sidu said without backing down. He stood up. “Clearly, you have not done what a mother should do, and even the Bodhisattva would not have a mother like you.”
“Madam Jiang, even when asking someone for a favor, you shouldn’t use this attitude.”
Gu Sidu led the person back to his house. The moment he stepped out the door, he turned to Daoyun and said, "Daoyun, please see the guest out."
"Gu Sidu, who are you to her? What gives you the right to make decisions for her?" Madam Jiang said, displeased.
"Because we understand each other perfectly, I know what she wants to say, so I say it out loud." After Gu Sidu finished speaking, he stopped talking and didn't look back. He wanted to take his bodhisattva away from this place of sorrow.
Gu Sidu could sense that after he finished speaking the words "we understand each other," his bodhisattva quietly rested his head slightly against his chest.
His Bodhisattva learned to rely on him.
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