Chapter Two
When Gu Leyao woke up, her fever had subsided, but she was extremely hungry and her stomach ached as if it were on fire.
She recalled her last remaining memories before she fainted: the old woman heard a commotion in the ancestral hall, hurriedly opened the door to look, and saw Gu Leyao lying among the ancestral tablets. She immediately shouted and screamed, attracting several strong old women who carried her out of the ancestral hall together. After that, she knew nothing...
She guessed that the doctor from the Earl's mansion had already treated her. She was only sixteen years old, at the peak of her health, and after a couple of doses of herbal medicine, her high fever would subside.
Gu Leyao heard someone speaking beside her, their voice not low, their tone unrestrained.
"What kind of phoenix is she? There's an old saying that a fallen phoenix is no better than a chicken. She's not even as good as us chickens who were born that way! So what if she's the lady's biological daughter? Our Zhongqin Marquis's mansion already has a beloved young lady. Where is there any place for her?"
The middle-aged woman's voice drifted over faintly, carrying a sense of smugness and secret pleasure.
Even without seeing the person's face, Gu Leyao could understand the implication in her words.
So what if they're of the Earl's bloodline? They're still living just as poorly as us.
Another, more youthful voice chimed in, "The old saying goes, 'Two tigers cannot share one mountain,' and that's exactly the point. With Miss Baozhu in our household, there can't possibly be another favored young lady."
The Earl of Zhongqin and his wife had a son and a daughter. The eldest son was named Gu Ronghua, which means to enjoy endless wealth and honor. The eldest daughter was named Gu Baozhu, which means to be the apple of someone's eye.
Before the New Year, the Earl of Zhongqin and his wife somehow learned that Gu Baozhu was not their biological daughter, and that their daughter had been switched at birth sixteen years ago. They hurriedly sent people to bring their daughter, who had been living in a mountain village, back to the Earl's mansion.
This daughter from the mountain village is named Gu Leyao. She grew up in the countryside and naturally carries the marks of rural life. In the eyes of Uncle Zhongqin and his wife, this daughter has been spoiled and has a petty air about her in every move. She is not as elegant and gentle as Baozhu, who has been raised by their side since childhood.
Born into the Zhongqin Earl's family, Gu Baozhu was virtuous, gentle, and understanding. She was the ideal daughter-in-law for many families and a living advertisement for the Zhongqin Earl.
The Earl of Zhongqin had no achievements in the court and no outstanding abilities of his own, so he was just hoping to turn his life around through his children.
Therefore, the Earl of Zhongqin and his wife treated their found daughter, Gu Leyao, with great indifference, while showing great affection to Gu Baozhu, who was not related to them by blood.
The reason Gu Leyao was punished by Zhongqin Earl to kneel this time was because Gu Leyao discovered that the courtyard she had always lived in was actually where the servants lived, while Gu Baozhu lived in the best courtyard in the main courtyard. She felt unbalanced, so she went to her father to ask for fairness, but she didn't expect Gu Baozhu to be there as well.
Gu Baozhu said to Uncle Zhongqin with a wronged expression that she was willing to move to the servants' quarters so that Sister Leyao could live in her own house.
Zhongqin Bo immediately felt that Baozhu, his fake daughter, was very righteous, while his biological daughter, whom he had found in the countryside, was completely ignorant. In a fit of anger, he punished Gu Leyao by making her kneel in the ancestral hall for three days, and kept the ancestral hall door tightly closed, forbidding the maids and servants from bringing her water or food.
In this stage, the biological daughter's soul is replaced by the modern-day Gu Leyao, whose daughter has long since passed away.
Gu Leyao could see clearly that Gu Baozhu was quite cunning. Her tactic of retreating to advance was simple, but it was enough to fool the Earl of Zhongqin.
In Uncle Zhongqin's heart, Gu Baozhu is still seen as their thoughtful and sensible little cotton-padded jacket, while Gu Leyao is a tough nut to crack.
He absolutely had to grind down her tough exterior!
After reviewing Zhongqin Bo's character through her memories, Gu Leyao understood how to treat this so-called father.
She couldn't just submit like the original owner; that would only lead to him exploiting her to death. But now she was weak and alone, so she couldn't argue with him too much, or she would anger him.
In feudal society, parents still held a very high status, and Gu Leyao didn't want to gamble with her life.
The voices around her stopped, and Gu Leyao subconsciously looked at the maid and old woman who had been speaking.
When the person in question woke up, the two people who had been gossiping stopped. It wasn't that they were afraid of Gu Leyao, but they just felt that it was a bit inappropriate to talk badly about someone in front of them.
The air was silent for a moment. The little maid pretended to be nonchalant, took the food box in her hand, put it on the coffee table, took out a bowl of thick brown rice porridge, and turned to hand it to Gu Leyao.
Brown rice porridge is a coarse grain, and none of the masters in the Earl's mansion have ever eaten it, not even the maids and servants who serve them.
But the people in the small kitchen knew that this mistress from the countryside was not favored, so in order to please Gu Baozhu, they specially cooked coarse rice porridge to humiliate Gu Leyao.
Gu Leyao took the bowl of porridge. She didn't feel much of a reaction. Modern people, in pursuit of health, don't like to eat refined grains like rice and white flour, and prefer to eat whole grains.
When Gu Leyao was in modern times, she always cooked whole grain rice. Although the texture was a bit rough, she got used to it and thought it was okay.
She was indeed hungry. As a teenage girl, she was at the age when she was growing, and after being hungry for several days, her stomach had been rumbling for a while.
Gu Leyao tilted her head back and drank the bowl of brown rice porridge clean.
The warm porridge slid down the esophagus into the stomach, but instead of quenching the hunger, it intensified.
"Is there any more? Could I have a few more bowls?"
The young maid, who usually saw her masters eating slowly and deliberately, taking half an hour to finish a meal, was startled to see Gu Leyao gulping down her food like this. She nodded instinctively, "There's more, there's more..."
The kitchen manager cooked a big pot of brown rice porridge, intending for Gu Leyao to drink it throughout her recovery period.
The maidservant went to the kitchen and brought over the iron pot for holding porridge. Gu Leyao slurped down half a pot of porridge before feeling her stomach stop rumbling.
She even had the leisure to thank the maid and the old woman, saying, "Thank you for staying here with me."
Gu Leyao knew that the servants in the Marquis's mansion treated people differently based on their status. They were just there to earn money and work, and it was already quite good that they hadn't neglected their duties without supervision.
The real issue to be resolved was with Gu Baozhu and the Zhongqin Earl and his wife; Gu Leyao was too lazy to bother getting angry with the maids and servants.
Gu Leyao knew that her top priority now was to recover her health before looking for another way out.
The Earl's Mansion is a place that devours people without spitting out their bones. She needs to think carefully about what to do and must not be passively beaten like the original owner.
A warm feeling spread through her stomach, and she felt her strength returning. Her head became dizzy, and Gu Leyao tilted her head and fell asleep again.
Just before going to sleep, she heard the maid mutter, "What a pig! Eat and sleep, sleep and eat. No wonder she's from the countryside!"
Gu Leyao felt a lump in her throat. She thought that once she had fully recovered, she would punish this little girl by making her eat ten bowls of brown rice porridge!
*
After lying in bed for two days, Gu Leyao fully recovered. She looked at her face in the lotus vat in the yard and felt that her complexion had improved a lot, no longer as sallow as before.
Gu Leyao remembered that the old woman from the main courtyard had just come to deliver a message, saying that the Madam wanted Gu Leyao to have dinner in the main courtyard.
Gu Leyao sorted through the information in her mind and remembered that, unless there was something urgent, the Gu family would eat dinner together on the tenth of every month.
Today is the tenth day of the third month. The aunt instructed the kitchen to prepare a table of delicious dishes, and not to be stingy with sea cucumbers and abalone.
With the Imperial College on holiday for ten days, her glory returned, and she had to have someone prepare some good food to nourish her son.
Gu Leyao knew that dinner would be very sumptuous tonight. She had been eating only simple meals for the past few days and hadn't had any meat in her mouth. She was looking forward to going to the main courtyard to eat something good and nourish her body.
As the sun began to set, a pale golden hue tinged the sky. Several small birds fluttered their wings as they returned to their nests, chirping adorably.
Gu Leyao calculated that it was time for dinner. She went to the main courtyard alone. The maids and servants who had taken care of her before were nowhere to be found. They probably went somewhere to slack off now that she was better.
Following the remaining memories in her brain, Gu Leyao bypassed two small stone arch bridges and passed through several corridors. She walked for an unknown amount of time before finally arriving at the main courtyard.
The main courtyard is planted with precious crabapple trees. Although it is not the season for crabapple blossoms, they are still lush and green, which is quite pleasing to the eye.
Gu Leyao didn't linger and went straight into the house.
Gu Baozhu was already sitting inside, chatting and laughing intimately with Madam Bo.
Gu Leyao wasn't angry. She called out, "Mother, I'm here."
Just moments ago, Madam Bo had been all smiles at Gu Baozhu, but now she had a look of reproach and anger on her face towards Gu Leyao. "So you still know to come? If I hadn't called you, you wouldn't have bothered to pay your respects. You're not even half as filial as Baozhu."
If the old Gu Leyao had heard these words, she would have lowered her head in shame and been speechless.
Unfortunately, Gu Leyao has changed her mind now. She took an apple from the tray without any hesitation, took a big bite, and the sweet and juicy fresh apple flavor filled her mouth.
“Mother, you know I was sick before. I drank coarse rice porridge every day and I was so weak that I couldn’t pay my respects to you. What good is it if Baozhu is filial? She’s not your biological daughter. We are mother and daughter. Blood is thicker than water. Our connection can’t be severed. You can’t help it if you despise me. I was born of you. If I have no face, neither will you.”
The lady of the house trembled at Gu Leyao's words.
Yes, they are the real mother and daughter. No matter how good Baozhu is, she didn't come out of her belly.
Gu Baozhu was surprised by Gu Leyao's words. She blinked subtly. Gu Leyao... had become smarter.
She immediately put on a tearful look, "Mother, if you don't want Baozhu anymore, Baozhu will go back to the countryside and won't be an eyesore here anymore."
Lady Bo was heartbroken to see her daughter, whom she had raised since childhood, leave like this. She held Gu Baozhu tightly and comforted her for a long time, saying, "How could your mother bear to leave you? My Baozhu is the apple of my eye."
Gu Leyao wasn't angry at all. She knew that this mother and daughter wouldn't be so easily alienated. She took a few more sweet apricots from the tray. They were golden yellow and tasted sweet.
The Earl of Zhongqin and Gu Ronghua also walked in from outside. When they saw the Earl's wife and Gu Baozhu crying, they frowned subconsciously. "What's with the long face during dinner?"
Both Madam Bo and Gu Baozhu stopped crying, but looked at Gu Leyao with resentful eyes.
Gu Leyao didn't care at all. She said to Uncle Zhongqin with a bright smile, "Father is right. It's a good time for the family to reunite. Crying and wailing is not a good thing. We should be laughing, right, Father?"
As she spoke, Gu Leyao grinned exaggeratedly and laughed heartily.
The Earl of Zhongqin was momentarily stunned by her smile. Girls in the capital didn't smile like that; young ladies from wealthy families were expected to smile without showing their teeth. He coughed and said, "Sit down and eat."
Gu Ronghua secretly glared at Gu Leyao. He felt that she must have angered his mother and Baozhu. This brat from the countryside had no manners!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
