This voice was so familiar to Fang Mingfeng, as if it was engraved in his soul.
Fang Mingfeng's body shook violently and he looked in the direction where the sound came from.
A few dozen feet away on the street, more than twenty people were lining up in a long queue in front of a stall. The one who had just spoken was a young girl in a bright red skirt. She had a beautiful face and a friendly and charming smile, which made everyone else around her look like a dull background.
Two passers-by hurriedly walked past Fang Mingfeng. One of them urged the person he was walking with, fearing that he would fall behind: "Hurry up, hurry up, Wancaotang is applying the medicine in front."
"Someone in my family has caught a cold. I'm going to ask for some medicine to cure it. That way I can save the money of seeing a doctor."
"Wan Cao Tang is truly kind-hearted and benevolent," another person traveling with him exclaimed.
The two walked faster, trotting towards the pesticide dispensing stall.
Fang Mingfeng stared at Gu Yunmeng who was handing out medicine packets to passers-by, his eyes filled with deep affection that was about to overflow.
She was the only one in his eyes.
His daughter was so good and unique. After falling in love with her, how could other women catch his eye! His daughter deserved the best treatment in the world, but the person he held in his palm was repeatedly despised and humiliated by Gu Yanfei.
It was time for Gu Yanfei to pay the price for her wantonness, rudeness and arrogance! If the world knew how shameful Gu Yanfei's past was, could a flawed woman like white jade still become the eldest prince's consort? !
Gu Yanfei doesn't deserve it!
There was a hint of ruthlessness in Fang Mingfeng's eyes, but his face still showed dignity and pride.
"This is..." Father Li also followed Fang Mingfeng's gaze and looked in the direction of Gu Yunmeng. At first glance, he felt that this noble and extraordinary girl looked somewhat familiar.
Where have you seen it before?!
Father Li suddenly thought of something and his eyes lit up.
Yes, that girl looked like his dead mother-in-law! His dead mother-in-law was a rare beauty, and it was also his father-in-law who was lucky enough to find her on the roadside during the war.
After "picking up" his mother-in-law, his wife Suniang actually only inherited three or four points of her mother-in-law's appearance.
"She's Miss Meng, right?!" Father Li raised his voice excitedly, praising her happily, "This is my daughter. The future princess is really extraordinary and noble!"
Father Li's heart was burning with enthusiasm. He felt that his daughter was just like the nobles he had seen in the Marquis' Mansion before. No, she was even better than them! The Li family was indeed blessed to have such a princess daughter. In the future, she would definitely be able to help her father and her brother. The good days were still to come!
So this is her second sister. Li Zhaodi was also looking at Gu Yunyan, her burning gaze almost fixed on her, full of jealousy and envy.
The second sister's clothes were embroidered with gold threads, sparkling in the sun. The pearl flowers in her hair, the hairpins, the earrings and other jewellery were all made of pure gold inlaid with gems, and were extremely luxurious.
And what about yourself?
The dress she was wearing was the best one she owned. Because it had been washed several times, the material had turned slightly white, and the orchid on the hem of the skirt was embroidered by her herself stitch by stitch.
I'm afraid her entire outfit is not enough to buy the handkerchief in the second sister's hand...
Li Zhaodi bit her lower lip again, and the sour feeling in her heart became even stronger.
Fang Mingfeng quickly withdrew his gaze and turned to look at Li's father. His face turned cold and frosty.
He said slowly: "You guys are not allowed to disturb her."
"Do you understand?"
The last two words stabbed at Li's father mercilessly like an ice knife, cold and ruthless, as if in Fang Mingfeng's eyes, the Li family were nothing but lowly ants.
Father Li clearly felt the other party's murderous intent, and he shuddered. He immediately nodded repeatedly: "Understand, understand, understand!"
"Mr. Fang, don't worry, I understand."
Fang Mingfeng waved his sleeves lightly and ordered, "Jiang He, take them away. Settle them well."
"Yes, sir." Jiang He clasped his fists and accepted the order, urging Li's father, Li Zhaodi and others to get on the green-covered carriage like driving sheep.
Li Zhaodi followed her younger brother Li Hao and was the last one to get on the car. Before getting on the car, she couldn't help but stare blankly in the direction of Fang Mingfeng, with the nails of one hand deeply digging into the palm of her hand.
Fang Mingfeng didn't pay any attention to Li Zhaodi. Jiang Hezheng walked up to him, whispered a few words in his ear, and then jumped onto the shaft of the carriage again.
The coachman drove the carriage towards the east, while Fang Mingfeng looked towards the west.
The number of people gathered in front of the bulletin board at the city gate increased by 30% compared to before. The place was crowded with people, and everyone's attention was focused on the announcement issued by the emperor, and everyone was talking about it.
"Rehabilitation?" Fang Mingfeng's lips curved into a sarcastic smile, as if he had heard a joke, and said indifferently, "You must be joking!"
Fang Mingfeng's eyes were as dark as the abyss, and he thought with disdain in his heart: Gu Yanfei is the daughter of a traitor.
She only has a good appearance, but her heart is vicious, vulgar, arrogant and cruel; unlike his Mengmeng, who is kind and open-minded, never arrogant when she is in power, and never decadent when she is in trouble. She is always so elegant and calm, and is not surprised by honor or disgrace.
People like Gu Yanfei will never be as good as his Yunyun! Thinking of Gu Yunyun, Fang Mingfeng felt a burning pain in his heart, the kind of pain that comes from wanting but not getting her.
He couldn't help but look in the direction of the pesticide stall again.
Just at this moment, Gu Yun'er's gaze suddenly turned towards Fang Mingfeng and she was obviously stunned for a moment. The two of them looked at each other quietly.
At this moment, the noisy sounds around him seemed to move away from Fang Mingfeng, and he could hear nothing.
Fang Mingfeng stared at Gu Yunmeng without blinking, so focused, so passionate, so affectionate, as if two flames were burning in his eyes.
Fang Mingfeng unconsciously took a step forward, wanting to get closer to Gu Yunmeng. Suddenly, his mind uncontrollably recalled what Gu Yanfei had said to him on the night of the Lantern Festival: "The closer you get to her, the more unlucky you will be..."
Boom boom! Fang Mingfeng's mind was shaken, and his heart beat faster.
"Bang! Bang!"
From the private room on the second floor of the restaurant came the sound of things being smashed, as well as the shouting and collision of two people arguing.
However, Fang Mingfeng was only focused on looking at Gu Yunyan, turning a deaf ear to her, and not noticing that a wine jug was thrown out of the window on the second floor...
"ah!"
Fang Mingfeng didn't see it, but other pedestrians on the street did, pointing at the falling wine jug and exclaiming.
It all happened so fast that others didn't even have time to remind Fang Mingfeng. They just watched helplessly as the porcelain wine jug hit him directly on the head and shattered into pieces.
With a loud "bang", countless fragments fell to the ground.
Fang Mingfeng groaned in pain, his facial features twisted slightly, and an inch-long cut appeared on his forehead caused by the fragments of the wine jug.
Bright red blood slid down his angular cheeks, and even his hair was stained with some residual wine, making it slightly wet.
The young man who was well-dressed and full of vigor a moment ago suddenly became shabby and miserable.
"Who is it?" Fang Mingfeng raised his hand to cover the wound on his forehead, staring with bloodshot eyes, looking up in the direction of the private room on the second floor, blood oozing from his fingers...
"Master...! Your head is bleeding!" The personal servant looked at Fang Mingfeng nervously, with a complicated expression, not only worried, but more of uneasy.
Others may not know, but he is the one who serves the prince closely, so he knows it best. Ever since the prince fell off his horse during the Lantern Festival, he has been very unlucky in the past month. Sometimes he steps on dog shit, sometimes bird shit falls on his robe, and sometimes the stairs under his feet suddenly rot and break...
There were countless such unfortunate things happening, and he once suggested that the prince go to Wuliang Temple to get rid of the bad luck, but the prince said he didn't believe in it.
The servant grabbed the waiter and angrily asked, "You guys from the restaurant injured our young master. We can't just let this go!"
"Someone upstairs was drunk and acting crazy..." the waiter explained quickly.
As he was speaking, a concerned and panicked female voice came from not far away: "Mingfeng, are you okay?"
When Gu Yun'an saw that Fang Mingfeng was injured, she couldn't suppress her worry and hurried over.
Fang Mingfeng didn't care at all about the blood flowing from the wound on his forehead. He just focused on looking at Gu Yunmeng who was running towards him, with a burning feeling in his heart.
This was the first time he had seen her since the Lantern Festival.
To him, this period of time seemed so long, as if he had not seen her for a long time.
“Crash!”
Another jar of wine was poured down from the private room on the second floor, accompanied by the angry roar of the man upstairs: "I can pour it if I want!"
A large pool of wine splashed over Fang Mingfeng's body, soaking him completely.
"Boom! Boom!"
Two consecutive crashing sounds were heard, and the wine jar broke into pieces when it fell to the ground, with the fragments mixing with the wine on the ground.
This time the blow was really too hard.
Fang Mingfeng cried out in pain, his head felt as if it was about to split open. He clenched his teeth, and the color quickly drained from his face.
Not only was there a headache, but also the left arm that was broken in the last fall from a horse and the scar from the stab wound in the abdomen were aching slightly.
At this moment, murderous intent arose.
The two beggars who robbed him that night and the one who dropped the wine jug and jar today all deserve to die!
Fang Mingfeng held his head with one hand, half of his face looked a little hideous. He staggered two steps, and a deep darkness surged in front of him like a sea wave...
He staggered and fell, landing softly on the ground. His head was buzzing, and he felt as if the heaven and earth were shaking violently.
"Mingfeng!" Gu Yun'er finally rushed to Fang Mingfeng, and without caring that the ground was covered with wine and debris, she knelt on the ground.
She held Fang Mingfeng's hand with one hand, and her voice was filled with anxiety. "Mingfeng, how do you feel? Can you hear me?"
Fang Mingfeng tried hard to keep his eyes open and felt Gu Yunmeng's warm palm against him.
Gu Yanfei's unfathomable voice, which seemed close yet far away, rang in my ears again: "...It won't end well!"
Could it be that everything Gu Yanfei said was true?
As soon as this thought came to his mind, his heart beat faster and faster, as if it was about to jump out of his chest, or as if it was being strangled by something.
Fang Mingfeng used up his last bit of strength to keep his eyes open, staring at the girl who was only a few feet away from him, as if he wanted to engrave her face in his heart.
He had long given up hope that they could be together, but why was God so cruel that he wouldn't even allow him to get close to her...
Fang Mingfeng moved his thin lips slightly, wanting to say something, but no sound came out. Endless darkness pressed down like a mountain, his consciousness gradually faded away, and he fainted.
"Mingfeng! Mingfeng!" Gu Yun'er called Fang Mingfeng's name repeatedly, her face pale with fright.
Her voice became more and more excited and louder, and it spread along the street, attracting many passers-by to stop and listen.
Gu Yuan, who was shopping at Liufuji on the other side of the street, also heard Gu Yun'er's voice and paused as he took out his purse.
"Add two more boxes of lotus seed cakes."
Gu Yuan didn't look back and threw the change to the waiter, who quickly packed up the plum blossom cakes, red bean paste flower cakes, golden candied dates, candied plums, and hibiscus lotus seed cakes he ordered.
It was a rare occasion that he returned home so early today, so Gu Yuan came to this street specially to buy snacks and desserts for his two younger sisters.
After buying snacks, Gu Yuan rode back and passed by the restaurant. He heard Gu Yun'er hurriedly ordering Fang Mingfeng's servant: "The Wancao Hall is in front. Hurry, go there and invite Doctor Wan..."
The owner of the restaurant finally came out belatedly, and even the drunken guests from the private room on the second floor came over, saying arrogantly, "It's just someone who got hurt. He's not dead, why are you making such a fuss?"
"My father is Xu Guangsong!"
"You guys want to extort money, right? Just say it, is one thousand taels enough?"
The drunk young man was arrogant and spoke a series of words in a contemptuous and arrogant tone, attracting more and more passers-by on the street to gather towards the restaurant.
There was a lot of chaos and noise in front of the restaurant.
Gu Yuan didn't even give him a glance, he just rode away without looking back, leaving in a cool manner.
The hooves of horses were flying. The eighteen-year-old young man was dressed in fine clothes and riding a horse. He had long forgotten about the chance encounter with Gu Yunmeng and Fang Mingfeng, and there was not a trace of it left in his heart.
After returning home, Gu Yuan first went to Jiahuiyuan to give one of the snacks and candied fruits to Gu Yunzhen, and then went to Yuhengyuan to see Gu Yanfei.
Gu Yuan rushed back in a hurry, and the freshly-baked snacks he bought were still hot.
Gu Yanfei had slept in and had just woken up when he was tempted by the tempting aroma.
"Snacks from Liufuji! Big brother, you are so nice!" Gu Yanfei smiled happily and ate several pieces of plum cakes. He felt about 50% full in his stomach.
She took a sip of water and asked casually, "Brother, you just came back?"
Seeing that his sister was enjoying the meal, Gu Yuan curled his eyebrows softly and nodded.
His slender fingers slowly stroked the ripples on the teacup and said, "The emperor has issued an edict to re-investigate father's case. The official document has been posted at the city gate."
Liufuji is near the west city gate. Gu Yanfei suddenly understood why Gu Yuan would go so far to buy snacks so early in the morning.
Whether in the previous life or this life, the injustice of his father was always a pain in the heart of the eldest brother, and he never let it go until his death in the previous life...
Gu Yanfei obediently handed Gu Yuan a plate of salty meat mooncakes and said casually, "Brother, have you ever dreamed of Daddy?"
"I haven't dreamed about this for a long time." Gu Yuan ate the fresh meat mooncake while drinking tea slowly. The tea tasted sweet in his mouth, but he felt a hint of bitterness.
His eyes were a little dazed, and he was silent for a while before he continued, "When Daddy just passed away, I dreamed of him almost every night. Sometimes I dreamed that he was covered in blood, sometimes I dreamed that his head was hung on the city wall by the Yue people, and sometimes I dreamed that someone dug up his grave..."
"During that time, no matter where I went, I could hear people cursing my father. People I knew and people I didn't know were all like that..."
"They said that my father betrayed his master, that he carried the souls of 100,000 innocent people on his shoulders, that he betrayed his country and surrendered to the enemy, that he would be infamous for eternity and would never be able to be reborn. They said that like father, like son."
Gu Yuan's thoughts were lost in the most painful memories of nine years ago, and his cold voice was slightly hoarse.
He tried to remain calm, but he simply couldn't. His sadness, his anger, his heartache, and his unwillingness were all revealed in his few words.
He tilted his head back, gazing at the cloudless blue sky outside the window, tears welling up in his eyes, his heart aching.
His father was such a kind and good man, but he was being insulted like this. To Gu Yuan, it was more painful than taking his life.
In the past, Gu Yuan didn't dare to tell Gu Yanfei about this, for fear of upsetting his sister.
Until now, he saw the light of hope.
He heard the sound of tea being poured. Gu Yuan looked over and saw Gu Yanfei adding tea to his glass. The little girl's face shimmered with a pearly luster in the sunlight coming in from the window.
Just staring at his sister like this, Gu Yuan felt a lot more at ease.
He once felt very lonely because, except for him, no one believed that his father was wrongly accused, not even the Gu family, even his only sister Gu Yunyan.
Now, he has found his real sister, who believes in their father as much as he does.
very nice!
The corners of Gu Yuan's lips slowly curled up, and he took another sip of tea, savoring the clear tea aroma.
He drank slowly and spoke slowly: "During that time, I was often awakened by nightmares. When I couldn't sleep, I would go to my father's grave. I once swore there that I would find the truth about the battle in Yangzhou nine years ago."
"I can't let my father bear the eternal stigma, lying on the ground with his body mutilated..."
"The body is incomplete?" Gu Yanfei suddenly interrupted Gu Yuan, and his clear pupils met Gu Yuan's eyes directly.
Gu Yuan: “…”
Gu Yuan was speechless for a moment, and immediately realized that he had said something wrong.
He originally didn't want to tell his sister about his father's incomplete body.
"Brother?" Gu Yanfei raised her eyebrows and stared at Gu Yuan closely, with tenacity and stubbornness written all over her pretty face.
Gu Yuan felt heavy-hearted. Whenever he thought of these past events, it felt as if a sharp knife was stirring in his chest.
He squeezed the teacup tightly in his hand, hesitated for a while, and said honestly: "Nine years ago, my father's head was sent to the capital by the Yue people as a trophy..."
"There is only this head and clothes in Daddy's grave."
There was a strong bitterness in Gu Yuan's voice. The young man still sat upright, but there seemed to be an invisible weight pressing on his shoulders. His expression could not hide the gloom and sadness.
(End of this chapter)
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