elder brother
Shen Changqing was known for his romantic escapades and was a regular at Yunxian Pavilion. However, he preferred women with striking and beautiful appearances, so the two of them had never met.
Gu Yu's appearance was beautiful but pale and sickly, making her look pitiful. She was definitely not the kind of woman Shen Changqing preferred, but so what? She didn't want Shen Changqing's barely perceptible sincerity.
She reached out and selected a simple white jade hairpin, and then chose several exquisitely carved silver hairpins to adorn herself. The style was delicate yet understated; her face was not suited to overly flamboyant attire.
To conceal her weakness, she applied a thin layer of rouge to make herself appear less pale.
"Our young lady is so beautiful." Chunyue looked at her, smiled with her lips pursed, her eyes crinkling with laughter, her round almond-shaped eyes were very cute.
Qiuju brought over eight side dishes and a bowl of white porridge, placing them on the round table. "Miss, the doctor instructed that you should eat light meals after recovering from a serious illness."
"Okay." Gu Yu sipped her porridge.
The soft, sticky rice porridge, warm and comforting, pulled her out of her scattered thoughts.
It turns out, she really did come back to life.
It snowed for seven days straight in Shengjing, and the snow was three inches deep.
The servant in the Marquis of Wu'an's mansion diligently swept snow every day.
Even after the snow cleared, the bluestone steps for pedestrians remained exposed.
Beyond the path, snow was piled up everywhere, pure white snow mixed with dirty snow, a little dirt was enough to tarnish the pure white.
It turns out that seven days have already passed; today is the seventh day after her death.
Her body should be buried under the heavy snow in Shengjing, and will not be eaten by jackals and tigers for a while.
In any case, she had to find a pretext to go to a mass grave, at least to have her remains collected.
Outside her small courtyard, to the west lived Gu Yu's elder brother, Gu Jin, while to the east was the main house, where Gu Yu's father lived.
Gu Yu's mother was born with a weak constitution and left when Gu Yu was still very young.
The south side used to be where my grandmother lived, but she passed away at the beginning of the year and it has been empty ever since, except for a Buddhist shrine, which is occasionally cleaned by people.
As she left the courtyard and was about to go out, she passed by the courtyard on the west side.
The snow in the courtyard had been swept clean, and the cold wind, carrying a sharp, whistling sound, swirled the snowflakes from the branches, causing them to fall softly.
A man dressed in a single garment held a three-foot-long sword. The cold light reflected off his handsome features against the snow-covered landscape. His eyebrows, like thick ink, appeared even darker against the snow, and his eyes, clear and bright, exuded a natural aura of righteousness.
Although he was good-looking, his expression was too cold and his eyes were icy, making him look like a cold-faced Yama.
He was also much taller and bigger than the average man in Shengjing, the complete opposite of the slender Gu Yu.
Without needing anyone to introduce him, Gu Yu knew that he was her brother, Gu Jin.
Aside from their somewhat similar features, these two people are quite different in personality and temperament.
Gu Yu is gentle, delicate, and sensitive, while Gu Jin is strong, resolute, decisive, and courageous.
She paused, glancing sideways, her thoughts already drifting far away. The white fox fur cloak she wore seemed to make her blend into the snow.
The snow was pale, but it was vibrant.
She had met Gu Jin a few times before she was Gu Yu.
The first time was when he returned to the capital after pacifying the southern barbarians. He rode his horse through the city gate of Shengjing and paraded through the streets to receive praise and acclaim from the people of Shengjing.
She stopped by the roadside, looking up at the young general on his chestnut horse, who seemed like a god.
The second time was when she was working as a man in a clinic in the city to support her family. She saw him personally bringing soldiers from the military camp to the clinic for treatment.
She stood beside the respectful doctor, only able to catch a glimpse of his black riding boots embroidered with tiger stripes out of the corner of her eye.
The third time was at Gu Yu's coming-of-age banquet. She stood with the other young ladies and saw him walk into the banquet hall with an imposing air, far away through the gap in the screen.
The young ladies discussed with envy who would marry into the Marquis of Wu'an's household, who would win his favor, and who would become his wife.
They both feared him and admired him from afar.
However, Gu Jin would never remember the daughter of a minor official of the seventh rank, nor would he care about a young lady like her who was neither outstanding in appearance nor temperament.
Life is unpredictable, and now she has become his sister.
She scoffed inwardly, thinking that this was another way of entering the Marquis of Wu'an's mansion.
Gu Yu slightly raised the corners of her mouth and looked at him with a sweet and obedient smile, meeting his sharp eyes.
Gu Jin naturally noticed Gu Yu standing there as well.
He stopped practicing his swordplay, reached out and wiped the sweat from his neck with a towel, then looked her up and down, his eyes filled with surprise. "Are you going out today?"
"In reply to my brother, Young Master Shen invited me to the pavilion in the middle of the lake to enjoy the snow."
Gu Yu was unclear about how the original owner of this body interacted with Gu Jin, but she roughly knew that the two were not close and that maintaining a distance would suffice.
"Yes, I have to go to the military camp on business later. I'll pick you up from the pavilion in the middle of the lake and take you back to the mansion."
His sharp features softened, and his gaze toward her grew gentler.
Gu Jin was a fierce and imposing general, she had always known that, but she never imagined that he was so gentle in private, a rare and pure-hearted person.
Gu Yu suppressed her thoughts, bid him farewell, and boarded the Gu family's carriage.
Since appealing for justice is not an option, let her seek revenge in her own way.
She wanted to get close to the Shen family through Shen Changqing and find out the details of her enemy.
She would do anything to drag them down to hell.
From the moment Sun Gu destroyed that evidence, she knew that her kindness had been shattered beyond recognition.
Her enemies are not righteous or moral, so why should she cling to those empty platitudes?
The noise outside the carriage subsided into silence. Gu Yu was still a little sore and leaned listlessly against the cushion behind her.
Today, Chunyue accompanied her out of the manor. Chunyue is lively and talkative, and through her guidance, Gu Yu learned a lot about the original owner and Su Bicheng.
It turns out that Su Bicheng and the original owner of this body met at a temple. At that time, the original owner's grandmother was still alive, and General Gu and Gu Jin were defending against the northern barbarians who were invading from the north.
The original owner's grandmother then went to stay at the temple with him for a while to pray for their well-being.
Su Bicheng worked at a temple interpreting fortune sticks to make a living. The original owner of this body was worried about his father and brothers, so he went to the main hall to draw fortune sticks every day. Over time, the two became acquainted.
After Gu Yu returned to the manor, Su Bicheng went to great lengths to send messages into the manor...
"...Miss, we've arrived at Spring Water Lake."
Chunyue didn't want to mention that heartless man, but she was afraid that Gu Yu would have a hard time getting over it, so she continued to comfort her.
"Since Su Bicheng has already married Liu Qingqing, he broke his promise first. Miss should find a man who is a thousand times or ten thousand times better than him."
Although Young Master Shen has a reputation for being a womanizer, he has neither concubines nor maids in his household, and his family background is excellent. He will surely pass the next imperial examination with flying colors, making him an ideal candidate compared to the other young masters.
"That's hard to say. You can know a person's face but not their heart. We need to take a good look at them..."
Take a good look at how much better Shen Changqing is compared to his hypocritical father.
It snowed for seven days in Shengjing, but Chunshui Lake did not freeze at all. This lake is known for its spring-like waters year after year.
The lake was shrouded in mist, and the white fog, mixed with the chill, seeped straight into one's bones. The bone-chilling cold made Chunyue shiver.
But when she looked closely, she saw that her sickly young lady seemed not to notice anything, only her cheeks and the tip of her nose were red from the cold.
Chunyue held an umbrella for her to shield her from the snowflakes that kept falling from the treetops.
Gu Yu wrapped her fox fur cloak tightly around herself, making sure it was completely sealed so the cold wind couldn't find a single gap.
This cloak, made by General Gu after hunting twenty snow foxes for Gu Yu, is tightly stitched, seamless, and extremely warm.
Having stayed at Yunxian Pavilion for so long, she even wore light clothing to entertain guests in the dead of winter, and had long forgotten what the cold felt like.
Gu Yu was wrapped in a cloak, underneath which was a fitted cotton-padded jacket, and on her lower body, a light-colored turquoise knitted skirt embroidered with silver. Her brows were slightly furrowed.
Strolling across the long bridge connecting the pavilion in the middle of the lake, the wind on the lake was strong, as if it would sweep away her thin, paper-thin body.
Chunyue complained a few times beside her, "It's so cold outside, yet you still invited Miss to such a cold place. Isn't Young Master Shen afraid that Miss will freeze to death?"
Gu Yu smiled and comforted her for a few words, but inwardly she scoffed, "When has someone like Shen Changqing ever considered the feelings of others?"
He may not have been unaware that the original owner of this body was physically weak, but Shen Changqing didn't care much. To him, his wife, who came from a prominent family, was nothing more than an object.
How could a person consider the ideas of objects?
The eaves of the pavilion are octagonal and exquisite, and the lower level is also symmetrically distributed in an octagonal shape. It is surrounded by the shimmering spring water lake.
The mountains and waters blend together, and humanity and nature are in harmony. Standing in the pavilion and looking up at the mountains and waters, one feels as insignificant as a drop in the ocean. This kind of feeling is rare in the bustling city of Shengjing, which has attracted many poets and writers to come and appreciate the scenery.
Under the octagonal pavilion, Gu Yu finally met the legendary Shen Changqing.
The current emperor is nearing forty, but he has loved beautiful women since childhood. Even the officials in the court must be handsome and dignified. So, Shen Xiuwen, who has now become a minister, is naturally not ugly.
Shen Changqing's eyebrows and eyes resembled his mother's delicate and gentle features, but he inherited three parts of his father Shen Xiuwen's dashing and handsome appearance.
He was dressed in a moon-white brocade robe, with a matching hairband half-tied up. His features were delicate and refined, like a timeless ink painting. His skin was a warm, ivory white, as if he rarely saw the sun.
The man blended seamlessly with the surrounding snow-covered green mountains, exuding an ethereal, otherworldly aura, like a banished immortal.
Apart from Shen Changqing and his servant, there was no one else in the pavilion in the middle of the lake.
The servant beside him held a grey fox fur cloak, which, although not as valuable as the one she was wearing, was still priceless.
Gu Yu remembered that Shen Xiuwen was originally a poor scholar who only had a bright future because he married the granddaughter of the former prime minister.
She had learned from Chunyue that this was not the first time she had met Shen Changqing; it was the second.
"Young Master Shen." Gu Yu bowed slightly in greeting. This was a courtesy between peers, and most peers would bow casually, but Gu Yu did it perfectly, leaving no room for criticism.
Shen Changqing's gaze fell lightly on her, and he felt that she was somewhat different from before, as if she was not as unwilling to see him as she had been before.
"Miss Gu, please take a seat."
In the very center of the pavilion stood a brazier less than half a person tall, with charcoal burning brightly inside. However, the pavilion was drafty from all sides, rendering the brazier useless.
Gu Yu thought for a moment, and for the sake of her health, she did not take off her cloak.
Shen Changqing seemed to have noticed something and asked, "Miss Gu, are you feeling a little cold?"
Although he was asking a question, he directly instructed Xiao An to move the table and cushions to the front of the heater, saying, "Sit closer, and you won't be cold."
“Young Master Shen, the snow has just stopped today, it seems we won’t be able to enjoy the snow.” Gu Yu’s eyebrows curved slightly, revealing two shallow dimples.
“It is indeed unfortunate.” He sighed slightly, looking around at the scenery. “But… the scenery of the lake and mountains is also very beautiful. It would be too boring for me to enjoy it alone, so I took the liberty of inviting Miss Gu to enjoy it with me.”
"Indeed beautiful."
Gu Yu's gaze drifted aimlessly into the distance.
The two sat close together, only a short distance apart, and Shen Changqing could smell the fragrance emanating from Gu Yu's body due to the heat.
The sweet fragrance of osmanthus seemed somewhat incongruous with her pure and innocent face, yet this contradiction possessed a strange, alluring charm that drew people in to explore it.
Even Shen Changqing himself was unaware that he was unconsciously staring at Gu Yu, which was extremely impolite, given Gu Yu's noble status and his self-proclaimed status as a gentleman.
But no one reminded him.
It was probably because everyone in the pavilion knew they were going to become husband and wife.
In the open-minded city of Shengjing, it was a beautiful story to see unmarried couples with deep affection frequently meeting up.
The cold wind dispersed the sweet fragrance of osmanthus, and Shen Changqing remembered the important matter at hand. He cleared his throat awkwardly and averted his gaze.
"I've heard that Su Bicheng has married a merchant's daughter..."
Shen Changqing raised his long, narrow, and gentle phoenix eyes, as if trying to see her expression.
Gu Yu appeared calm, but a hint of sadness flashed in her eyes, and the smile on her face vanished without a trace. She knew Shen Changqing's intention in meeting her; he wanted to ascertain whether Gu Yu still had feelings for Su Bicheng.
Although her grandmother kept her affair with Su Bicheng a complete secret, Shen Changqing must have found out about it through other channels.
The fact that the proud and arrogant Shen family dared not directly question the Marquis of Wu'an's residence about the truth suggests two things: firstly, that Gu Yu was indeed favored at home, and secondly, that the Shen family must have some designs on the Marquis of Wu'an's residence.
"Previously...previously I was deceived by his sweet words..." Gu Yu lowered her eyes with tears in her eyes, looking as sorrowful as a broken branch of crabapple, which made people feel a little sorry for her.
"Now that I think about it, he just wanted to curry favor with the Marquis of Wu'an's family and get my father's recommendation, just like he married that merchant girl for money."
Gu Yu's statement that she saw through Su Bicheng's intentions left Shen Changqing speechless. It seemed that Gu Yu had let go of Su Bicheng and was no longer opposed to the marriage with him.
"It's good that you see things clearly now."
He reached out and poured her a cup of hot tea, nodding slightly as if to show that he was magnanimous and would not pursue the matter further. "Miss Gu, have some hot tea to warm yourself up."
Gu Yu pondered that once General Gu returned from the north, her marriage to Shen Changqing would definitely be on the agenda. She was determined to find a way to make Shen Xiuwen suffer the consequences and break off the engagement with Shen Changqing before then.
“Miss Gu, although we have only known each other for a short time, I, Shen Changqing, hereby swear that if Miss Gu marries into my Shen family, I will treat you well.”
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