On the sixth day after the Gu family arrived in the capital, everyone in the family except for the elderly couple and Aunt Gu had a chance encounter with the Empress Dowager.
That day, Grandpa Gu and Grandma Gu went to Aunt Gu's place to see how she had finished packing and whether the children had gotten used to it.
Just the two of them, without their two daughters-in-law or their grandchildren.
As soon as I stepped outside, I saw an old lady standing there.
The old lady looked at the two of them with a smile.
Grandpa Gu stiffened.
Grandma Gu sensed his emotions and glanced at the old woman with surprise.
Grandpa Gu walked forward tremblingly, looking at the old lady who was a head shorter than him and had half a head of white hair. He opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a sound.
The Empress Dowager reached out and touched his face: "My son is back!"
Grandpa Gu burst into tears and knelt down immediately: "Mother."
He called out for his mother, the Empress Dowager he had called out for ten years since he was a child. Before leaving the palace, he called out for his mother night after night. At that time, all the imperial physicians said that he did not have many days left to live.
The Empress Dowager held his head in her arms: "My son is back! My son is finally back!"
Even if a mother and son haven't seen each other for decades, they can recognize each other at a glance when they meet again.
Just like when the Empress Dowager saw Gu Shouxin, she was convinced that he was her grandson because he looked so much like her son.
When Grandpa Gu saw the Empress Dowager, he could tell at a glance without even asking, because there would never be another old lady in the world who would look at him with that kind of gaze, just like when she smiled and encouraged him at his sickbed when he was a child, saying that he would definitely get better.
Grandma Gu's eyes also welled up with tears. In this world, there was finally one more person who cared about her brother Chuan.
...
In the courtyard of the two elders, everyone was driven outside, leaving only the elderly couple and the Empress Dowager inside.
"Lanlan, come here, this is our mother. Mother, this is Lanlan, the wife I married." Grandpa Gu took Grandma Gu's hand and they knelt down together before the Empress Dowager.
This can be considered as making up for the fact that the couple did not bow to each other during the wedding ceremony.
"Good, good child, get up! Wear this bracelet. I prepared it for my daughter-in-law back then, thinking I would never have the chance to give it to her. Now she has finally found a partner." The Empress Dowager took Grandma Gu's hand and put a blood-red jade bracelet on her wrist.
Grandma Gu was a little unaccustomed to it; for decades since her father died, no one had called her "good child."
However, she did not refuse the bracelet.
"You've worked so hard all these years. Yi'er's health isn't good, and it's been so kind of you to take care of him for decades." The Empress Dowager patted Grandma Gu's hand.
"Brother Chuan also took care of me." Grandma Gu had no experience of getting along with her mother-in-law, so she just said it in a low voice.
"Yes, you are all good children. You are all thoughtful children. Seeing you like this makes me feel gratified and at ease." The Empress Dowager liked Grandma Gu very much and felt quite regretful that she hadn't found them when she was younger!
Unfortunately, she sent people to search all over the country, but who knew that her son had changed his name and married into another family. So she missed her chance.
The three sat down to calm themselves down, and the Empress Dowager asked, "Yi'er, all these years, why haven't you thought about going to the capital?"
Grandpa Gu pursed his lips, somewhat reluctant to speak: "Mom, it's all in the past, let's not talk about it anymore, okay?"
The Empress Dowager frowned: "I've been wondering why the guards I gave you couldn't even handle the refugees. Is someone chasing you? I've been looking for you all this time."
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