Chapter 1
It's another deep winter, with snow covering everything.
Snowflakes fluttered down as Chen Xuanqing lay on a grand chair in the courtyard. His aged hand tenderly stroked a white ceramic jar, as if through the jar he could see that person's delicate face, still smiling shyly at him, her eyebrows like distant mountains, her eyes sparkling like stars, calling out, "Seventh Young Master..."
Yes, it's her!
He clearly only felt disgust and annoyance towards Gu Jinchao, so why did he feel heartbroken after her death?
The day she died.
He went to work as usual, and while he was handling official business at the Ministry of Revenue, a servant hurriedly whispered something in his ear.
He was annoyed and didn't listen carefully, instinctively asking, "What?"
"Madam has passed away." The servant repeated, and continued, "Seventh Young Master, the Old Madam asked whether funeral arrangements should be made."
"Who went?" Chen Xuanqing asked again.
"lady."
"Gu Jinchao?" Chen Xuanqing stopped writing, but the brush had drawn a long, dark line before falling to the ground and rolling away.
“That’s right. The old lady said that the Gu family has already sent someone to inform them. The Gu family replied that they don’t care. They also asked the thirteenth young master’s opinion. If the seventh young master agrees not to make any arrangements, then we might as well burn some ashes and scatter them.” After the servant finished speaking, he subconsciously looked at Chen Xuanqing’s face.
His handsome face was completely pale, and when he tried to say something, he couldn't open his mouth.
"If Seventh Young Master agrees, I will go and report to the Old Madam..." the servant thought, after all, Gu Jinchao was a taboo subject for the Chen family. Now that he was gone, it was a relief.
Chen Xuanqing didn't remember how he answered that day; he only felt that the news was like a piercing stab to the bone, a pain that ripped out of his heart.
He thought they could torment each other for the rest of their lives.
Chen Xuanqing dared not think further, fearing that the more he thought about it, the more he would hate, and the more unwilling he would be to accept it.
Yes, I'm not reconciled.
Unwilling to accept that this is the end of their story.
Why did you abandon that wintersweet tree? You haven't even started tormenting my new concubine yet, why are you already neglecting her?
Gu Jinchao, is your love so light and fleeting?
It drifted away from me, leaving me in this world in pain.
If I had known that meeting you would be a calamity, I shouldn't have looked up at you in the first place, letting you into my heart and ruining my life.
In the distance, a maidservant, holding an umbrella, said to the person under the umbrella, "Madam, please call the Seventh Young Master inside. The snow is getting heavier and heavier."
Yu Wanxue pursed her lips and murmured, "Ever since that person passed away, Master has been like this, I don't know..." She didn't finish her sentence.
But she didn't say it, though the maid knew that the Seventh Young Master had been like this ever since Gu Jinchao's death. Gu Jinchao was the Seventh Young Master's stepmother, a woman of radiant beauty and captivating charm. It was said...
She married Seventh Young Master's father, Master Chen, solely for Seventh Young Master's sake. But let's be honest, Seventh Young Master was a top scholar chosen by the Emperor himself; who wouldn't love this young man?
This is what they mean by "meeting a gentleman once and being ruined for life."
Chen Xuanqing slowly closed his eyes, tears streaming down his face. "Let's meet in my dreams, Jinzhao."
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