When she opened her eyes again and saw the familiar sky-blue bed curtains above her, she realized that she had returned to Yuheng Garden.
Her chest felt heavy, and she lowered her eyes to see the calico cat lying on the quilt on her chest, its pair of emerald green eyes staring at her without blinking.
"Meow--"
The calico cat yawned lazily, its white beard trembling slightly, and almost the next moment, a petite figure rushed in from outside:
"girl!"
A brocade curtain embroidered with a picture of a cat playing with peonies was roughly lifted up and then dropped down, swaying in the air.
Juanbi heard the sound and rushed to Gu Yanfei's bed in one breath. Her little face was full of anxiety. She said hurriedly:
"You are finally awake. I was so worried. You have been sleeping for three days and three nights!"
“Gurgle…”
As if to verify Juanbi's words, a rumbling sound of hungry intestines came from below where the calico cat was squatting.
Gu Yanfei stared at the calico cat on top of her. The cat meowed softly and licked its right front paw. Its mocking tone seemed to say, "It's not it!"
"...No wonder it's hungry." Gu Yanfei pinched the cat's neck with one hand, lifted it up, and sat up at the same time.
When the four-month-old kitten was pinched in the vitals, it showed that dumbfounded look, and its paws opened into small pink plum blossoms in the air.
Hearing Gu Yanfei say that he was hungry, Juanbi quickly shouted outside and asked someone to get the meal.
There is a small kitchen in Yuheng Garden, with a stove and a cooktop. These days, the porridge and chicken soup have been kept warm on the stove, thinking that they can eat them when the girl wakes up.
Soon, the maid brought in a bowl of shredded chicken porridge, which Juanbi then handed to Gu Yanfei. Gu Yanfei was in no hurry to wash and change his clothes, and sat down at the table by the window to eat.
After eating a bowl of porridge, she was still not satisfied, so she ordered a bowl of steaming hot chicken noodle soup. After she finished all the noodles and soup, she felt better.
While she was eating, the cat also kept eating and took advantage of the situation to eat some of the shredded boiled chicken.
Juanbi was waiting by the side, tearing shredded chicken for the cat while chattering about the past three days: "Young lady, when you fell asleep in the manor that day, we initially thought you were just tired and had lost strength, so we carried you to the couch to rest. Unexpectedly, you still didn't wake up the next morning, which made the eldest young master very anxious, and Madam Pang almost pinched your Ren Zhong."
"Fearing that you were ill, the eldest young master immediately sent a car to take you back to the capital. In the past two days, he not only invited several doctors from the capital, but also specially invited the imperial physician to the mansion to diagnose your pulse..."
Gu Yanfei finished the last mouthful of chicken soup and put down the spoon before casually asking, "What did the imperial physician say?"
Juanbi tried hard to recall the imperial physician's flowery words and answered truthfully, "The imperial physician said that you are exhausted, your qi and blood are depleted, and your yin and yang are deficient, so you are exhausted and fainted... You must rest well these days and don't work too hard."
Gu Yanfei wiped his mouth with a handkerchief and took the teacup before the cat put its claws into it.
Amid the cat's dissatisfied cries, she leisurely drank two sips of tea.
Looking at this harmonious scene, Juanbi had a cheerful smile on her face again. The anxiety of the past few days was swept away, and she felt that everything was back to normal.
Gu Yanfei took two more sips of tea before handing the cup to the cat and asked, "Brother..."?
Before the last word came out, the clear voice of the little maid came from outside the door curtain: "Miss, the eldest lady is here to visit you!"
"Sister is back?" Gu Yanfei raised his eyebrows slightly, and his eyes brightened a little.
A few days ago, Gu Yunzhen's grandmother celebrated her birthday and invited the third wife Yan and Gu Yunzhen's mother and daughter to stay at the Yan family for a while.
"The eldest lady came back yesterday, and as soon as she got back to the mansion, she came to Yuheng Garden to see the young lady."
While talking, Juanbi did not stop her hands and slightly tidied Gu Yanfei's hair. She skillfully tied her black hair half behind her head with a hairband and then put a cloak on her.
After a while, Gu Yunzhen came over.
She wore a water green long jacket with a cross collar embroidered with broken branches of plum blossoms with green calyxes, and a green skirt with plum, orchid and bamboo patterns on the hem. The well-tailored jacket highlighted her slim figure.
As the girl walked slowly over, her skirt swayed gently, and she looked elegant, dignified, and as quiet as water.
"Big sister."
Gu Yanfei smiled when she saw Gu Yunzhen, but Gu Yunzhen frowned and raised her hand to cover her forehead, while asking Juanbi: "Juanbi, when did your girl wake up? Has she eaten anything?"
Facing Gu Yunzhen, Juanbi straightened his back, feeling awe-inspiring, and answered truthfully.
Gu Yunzhen was relieved when he heard that Gu Yanfei had already eaten the porridge and noodles.
A good appetite means that the person is fine.
Gu Yunzhen turned to face Gu Yanfei, stretched out his index finger and gently touched the tip of her nose, and gently scolded: "You, did you not get a good rest at night because you were reading the picture book?"
"Even Qingguang knows to get more sleep when he's tired. How come you're even worse than him, even though you're such a grown-up!"
Qingguang, who was eating shredded chicken, heard her name and subconsciously meowed. She wanted to look up, but was pushed back into the cat bowl by Gu Yanfei.
Gu Yanfei laughed, hugged her slender waist, giggled, and rubbed Gu Yunzhen's shoulder like a cat.
She had enough sleep and regained her energy, and her laughter became clear again.
Being hugged by Gu Yanfei like this, Gu Yunzhen couldn't scold her anymore. He raised his hand and hugged her slender shoulders affectionately.
Qingguang glanced at the two sisters who were being affectionate with each other with disdain, jumped out of the window, and went outside to play by herself.
The snow had stopped long ago, and thick snow was piled on the roofs and treetops outside. The white snow reflected the morning sunlight, making it dazzling and crystal clear, and even the house became much brighter.
Gu Yanfei rolled her eyes and said in a coquettish tone: "Sister, why are you back so early?"
She had heard that Gu Yunzhen and Yan would not be back until before the New Year.
"It's getting late." Gu Yunzhen's expression was a bit indescribable. He stretched out his finger and tapped the tip of Gu Yanfei's nose again, "Today is the 27th day of the twelfth lunar month."
She sighed softly, as if to say, you slept so well these three days that you didn't even know what year it was.
Gu Yanfei had no choice but to act good, grinning and changing the subject: "Big sister, why are you dressed so plainly?"
She looked Gu Yunzhen up and down. Not only was Gu Yunzhen dressed simply today, her makeup was also plain. Her hair was tied up in the simplest bun, with only a jade hairpin inserted in her hair. There was no bright color on her body.
Gu Yunzhen pursed his lips with a vague look and hesitated for a moment.
Thinking that there were no outsiders here, she said, "I will go to the Murong family with the lady in a while. The old lady of the Murong family is seriously ill."
Gu Yanfei handed her the tea obediently.
Gu Yunzhen didn't bother to be polite with Gu Yanfei. He took the teacup, took a sip, and then whispered, "...My marriage may be brought forward."
Marriage in advance?! Gu Yanfei was stunned, the pastel teacup in his hand stopped in mid-air, and his fingers unconsciously turned the cup slightly.
Facing his own sister, Gu Yunzhen did not beat around the bush. He pursed his lips and said bluntly, "The old lady is seriously ill. The Murong family said they wanted to advance the wedding to bring good luck to the old lady."
When she said the last two words, her voice became very soft.
Her eyelashes drooped and her small chin was slightly retracted, giving her a somewhat graceful and delicate look.
Gu Yanfei frowned slightly and asked, "Big sister, what did Third Aunt say?"
Gu Yunzhen's half-closed eyelashes trembled twice, the light of the tea reflected in her autumn eyes, and she said slowly: "Grandmother said that it's better to get married earlier, otherwise, the Murong family might have to observe three years of mourning, and then I'll be too old."
"My mother thought so too."
Gu Yanfei put down the teacup in his hand, trying hard to recall what happened in his previous life, his eyes slightly narrowed.
Did something like this happen in the previous life?!
In his previous life, Gu Yanfei knew very little and almost nothing about the Murong family.
She only knew that because her elder sister had injured her face, her wedding with Murong Yong was postponed for half a year and was scheduled for August of the following year. After that, the wedding was held as scheduled and was not delayed because of "observing mourning". That is to say, the old lady of the Murong family did not die of illness in the previous life? How did so many things change in this life? Gu Yanfei turned his eyes slightly, thought for a moment, and asked tactfully: "Has my elder brother told you about Murong Yong?"
After returning from Tianyin Pavilion that day, Gu Yuan asked his friends to investigate Murong Yong. It turned out that Murong Yong did have two mistresses, one was an actress and the other was a courtesan. He kept them in two houses outside and did not bring them back to the mansion.
"My elder brother told me." Gu Yunzhen nodded slightly, and there was an almost invisible hoarseness in his voice that was neither light nor heavy, neither happy nor sad.
Her little face was half lowered, revealing from her moon-white vertical collar a neck as white and delicate as a lotus root, with beautiful lines.
As soon as Gu Yunzhen returned to the Marquis' Mansion yesterday, Gu Yuan told her that Murong Yong was keeping a mistress outside.
In addition to these two concubines, Murong Yong also had a maid who was also a concubine.
That Tongfang was his personal maid, who had served him for seven or eight years. Last year, she became pregnant, and after Madam Murong gave her medicine, she bled to death. Afterwards, her body was carried out wrapped in a straw mat...
Gu Yunzhen turned her face to the window and stared at the cat outside. Her long eyelashes cast a faint shadow on her white cheeks.
The calico cat was having fun in the sunny courtyard, carefree and meowing non-stop.
The atmosphere in the room was unusually quiet, with a hint of loneliness.
Gu Yunzhen sighed slightly, his eyes dimmed, as if something was slowly sinking into a deep pool of water.
(End of this chapter)
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