"Cousin?" Gu Yanfei raised an eyebrow, "Cousin, could it be the daughter of the Zhao family in Bingzhou?"
Madam Murong was born in the Zhao family of Bingzhou.
"My cousin's surname is Liu." Murong Hui retorted without thinking.
"The surname suits the person." Gu Yanfei smiled slightly.
The other party’s surname is Liu, he is related to the Murong family by blood, and he comes from the southeast.
These conditions were enough for her to make a fortune.
Gu Yanfei casually counted with his right hand hidden in his sleeve, then pursed his lips thoughtfully.
The beautiful eyebrows fell again in the Jiaofang Bureau, and the pipa was already broken.
Eh? This cousin named Liu is from the Jiaofangsi!? The musicians, dancers, and singers in the Jiaofangsi were mostly the wives and daughters of criminal officials. If they were implicated in a crime, they would not only be included in the list of slaves, but also be punished for generations, which was equivalent to falling into the dust.
The Jiaofangsi was under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Rites, and the name of every prostitute was registered in the Ministry of Rites. If one wanted to leave the Jiaofangsi and become a good woman, one had to obtain approval from the Ministry of Rites. Private redemption was not allowed.
A gust of southeast wind blew, and a few white plum trees swayed gently in the cold wind. The snow-white petals fell like flowers scattered by fairies. Miss Liu rushed out from the plum forest with her skirt lifted up.
Miss Liu rushed out of the pavilion in one breath, her eyes swept between Gu Yunzhen and Gu Yanfei, and finally fell on Gu Yunzhen's face. She knelt down solemnly and bowed, saying softly: "Miss Gu, please let me stay by your side to serve you. I will never have two minds!"
She spoke with great confidence, her expression firm and sincere, yet also a bit pitiful.
Those misty eyes were clear and graceful, as if they could speak, with thousands of words condensed in them, as if the fate of her life depended on Gu Yunzhen's thoughts.
Gu Yanfei's gaze was fixed on the graceful and charming Miss Liu, and he gently touched her chin with his index finger.
Is that strange?
This cousin looks familiar, as if I have seen her somewhere before.
While Gu Yanfei was thinking, he turned to look at Gu Yunzhen beside him.
Gu Yunzhen looked at Miss Liu thoughtfully, his eyes dimmed a little, and his slender jade fingers tightly grasped a handkerchief.
The housekeeper looked embarrassed, and quickly walked towards Miss Liu, lowering her voice to persuade her: "Miss, please don't make things difficult for me."
Murong Yong's face had turned cold, and a chill gradually appeared in his sharp eyes as he looked at Miss Liu.
"Take him away." Murong Yong ordered calmly, "Stop making trouble."
When he said the last two words, his voice was as cold as ice and his thin lips were tightly pursed into a straight line.
Murong Yong's "stop making trouble" was like a flash of lightning that quickly passed through Gu Yanfei's heart, and her heart brightened.
It's her!
Gu Yanfei continued to stare at Miss Liu without blinking, his eyes slightly widened, and he finally remembered.
She had indeed seen this Miss Liu.
Just in the previous life.
I remember that it was when Gu Yunzhen had just been married for a month, probably in September of the following year, and I went to Murong's house to visit her.
At that time, I was outside the house and heard some noise inside, and then Murong Yong said indifferently: "Take him away, stop making noise!"
Then, Gu Yanfei saw a beautiful woman being brought out by two maids. The woman was dressed like a woman. As far as he remembered, the young woman's dress and temperament were different from those of other maids and wives.
That’s right, that young woman is the cousin from the Liu family in front of him!
At that time, Gu Yanfei didn't know who the other person was. She was too withdrawn and too cowardly in that life. Although she had some guesses in her heart, she didn't dare to ask Gu Yunzhen.
"Cousin?" Gu Yanfei said with a half-smile, "... or concubine?"
Things that Gu Yanfei couldn't understand in his previous life became clear at this moment.
Gu Yunzhen's expression changed slightly when he heard this.
She knew very well that it was rare for a family like the Murong family to have concubines, but the nature of a concubine was different. It was disrespectful to the legitimate wife, not to mention that the Murong family had already decided on the concubine before the marriage...
Thinking of this, the last bit of faint light in Gu Yunzhen's eyes dimmed and finally disappeared completely.
The eyes are calm, the eyes are like water, and the heart is like a calm lake.
Gu Yunzhen stroked the forbidden step on his waist with one hand, stood up gracefully, and walked towards Miss Liu who was pushing and shoving with the housekeeper outside the pavilion, and said, "Let her go."
This sentence was said to the housekeeper, and "she" refers to Miss Liu.
The housekeeper looked hesitant and subconsciously glanced at Murong Yong.
Gu Yunzhen didn't care about the nanny's frown at all. She looked straight at the Miss Liu who was an inch shorter than her and asked calmly, "Who do you say you are?"
Miss Liu knelt down on the cold, hard ground below, a line of crystal tears rolled down from the corners of her eyes, and her eyelashes fluttered like butterfly wings.
The pupils washed by tears are misty.
She sobbed and said, "I am willing to be a slave and serve you for life, and I will never have any second thoughts!"
"Become a slave?" Gu Yunzhen's voice was as calm as a lake without wind or waves. "No need."
"I am traveling as a guest, and it is not reasonable for me to bring a cousin from another family back home to be a slave."
"If you want to sell yourself, you can go find a matchmaker."
Her tone was still gentle, with a graceful and elegant demeanor, yet there was a hint of aloofness and superiority.
"That's not what I meant." Miss Liu looked as if she was slapped in the face again, and her face turned three points paler.
Murong Yong said nothing, with no expression on his face. He just looked at Gu Yunzhen and Miss Liu quietly.
Gu Yanfei didn't give any face to the people of Murong family at all and just burst out laughing.
Murong Hui walked over and helped Miss Liu up from her kneeling position. Her eyes were filled with pity as she looked at her.
When his eyes met Gu Yunzhen, he was furious and raised his voice in dissatisfaction, "Miss Gu, what nonsense are you talking about? When did my cousin say she wanted to sell herself?"
"My cousin begged me so desperately, and it would have been fine if you didn't respond, but why did you still aggressively humiliate my cousin?!"
Miss Liu clutched Murong Hui's sleeve, her cherry lips turned white from being bitten, and her slender body trembled like a sieve.
Gu Yunzhen picked up a white plum blossom that had fallen on the stone table, turned it around, and suggested indifferently, "Miss Murong is so kind-hearted, so just agree to your cousin's request."
Her smile was still gentle, but her eyes became more distant, as if these two people were not reflected in her eyes at all.
As a slave, I will serve you for life and never have any second thoughts.
"Second brother..." Murong Hui's face suddenly turned red and she looked at Murong Yong for help.
She...she...this Gu Yunzhen actually wanted her cousin to be her concubine! How absurd, how absurd! !
Murong Hui opened and closed her mouth. No matter how fierce she was, she was still unmarried, and there were some things she just couldn't say.
Miss Liu also looked at Murong Yong with a delicate gaze, her eyes filled with hope and tenderness.
"Enough." Murong Yong finally spoke.
I don't know who these two words are addressed to.
He waved to the housekeeper, indicating that the person should be taken away.
The housemaid immediately understood and called two burly old women over. The two old women whispered "Excuse me" and quickly restrained Miss Liu.
"Yong Lang..." Miss Liu called out to Murong Yong with tears in her eyes, which were full of pain. Her eyes seemed to be saying, Yong Lang, why are you so heartless?
However, she didn't have the chance to say the rest of the words, as the old woman quickly covered her mouth and pulled her away almost rudely.
The whole process took just the blink of an eye, and the outside of the pavilion became empty, with only Murong Hui stomping her feet in dissatisfaction and resentment.
There was silence in the pavilion for a moment, until the man's laughter cut through the air.
"Miss Gu," Murong Yong smiled, his eyes fell on Gu Yunzhen's face, and he said seriously, "She is just a cousin, definitely not a concubine."
His tone was very serious, as if he was promising something.
"You don't need to tell me this, young master." Gu Yunzhen smiled gently, his smile not reaching his eyes, and said calmly, "I can't make the decision on marriage matters."
"However, as long as we are not married, I will still be a guest in your house."
"Your cousin is allowed to speak freely in front of the guests, which shows the family tradition of your family."
“I can’t agree with that.”
Gu Yunzhen didn't give Murong Yong a chance to speak, and turned to call Gu Yanfei: "Yanfei, let's go."
She waved her sleeves, threw the white plum blossom away, and walked away without looking back.
Gu Yanfei followed silently, with a smile on his lips.
The white plum blossom that Gu Yunzhen casually dropped fell down like a feather, spinning lightly, and was blown by the wind to the place where Miss Liu had been kneeling before.
Murong Yong did not force the two to stay. He just made another gesture, and two little maids followed Gu Yunzhen and Gu Yanfei away.
He stared at the sisters' backs as they walked away for a long time without saying a word. His eyes were dark and incomprehensible, as if he was weighing and pondering something.
The biting cold wind blew forcefully, creating ripples on the icy surface of the lake and disturbing the water.
"Second brother, look at her..." Murong Hui suddenly stood up from the chair, her breath stuck in her chest with anger, and she couldn't help but stomped her feet several times in a row.
Murong Yong just glanced at Murong Hui, and Murong Hui remained silent like a mute.
Murong Yong's eyes turned cold, just like the cold swamp, and he asked in a cold tone: "Who let the person out?"
The housekeeper replied hesitantly, "I don't know either... Second Young Master, I'll have someone check right away..."
She also knew that there were distinguished guests from the Gu family coming to her house today, so she didn't dare let her cousin out. She didn't know what went wrong.
"Punish if necessary." Murong Yong uttered four more words, lightly and calmly.
The housekeeper nodded in agreement, keenly understanding the underlying meaning of her master's words.
If the truth cannot be found out, then I will be the one to be punished! The housekeeper left, and a little maid who had just left behind Gu Yanfei and the others came running over in a hurry.
"Second Young Master," the little maid reported breathlessly, not daring to look directly into Murong Yong's sharp eyes, "Miss Gu Da and Miss Gu Er went to the ceremonial gate..."
The end of her trembling voice disappeared in the cold wind.
Before Murong Yong could say anything, Murong Hui's sharp voice had already come out, almost blowing the roof off the pavilion: "What?! This girl from the Gu family is really unruly."
Murong Hui's expression became even uglier.
Gu Yunzhen's move was equivalent to a slap in the face to the Murong family without any mercy!
(End of this chapter)
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