"Sister Li."

Zeng Ya called out in a hoarse, trembling voice, and looked around at everyone with a cold heart, wanting to ask them to help her.

However, Tang Jinyun, Miss Li and others avoided the sight one after another, pretending not to see or hear anything.

No one spoke up for Zeng Ya, no one offered her a helping hand, and everyone avoided her as much as possible.

Zeng Ya felt desperate.

In just a short time, less than a stick of incense, she seemed to be abandoned by the world and fell into the bottomless abyss.

Zeng Ya's legs went weak and she almost collapsed to the ground.

The two eunuchs silently grabbed Zeng Ya's arms and held them tightly like iron clamps.

Chu You said coldly: "Take him away."

He said those three words with gnashing teeth, carrying with him a thick layer of hatred and forbearance. All kinds of emotions were intertwined and mixed together, as if they were about to burst out like scorching magma, yet they could not be expressed in words.

The eunuch responded and dragged Zeng Ya towards the wooden bridge.

Zeng Ya's heart turned cold, her blood turned cold, the blood in her body almost froze, fear and anxiety occupied her mind.

If she was sent home by King Kang's men, would she die of illness?

In desperation, she struggled wildly and grabbed Tang Jinyun's sleeve with her right hand.

Tang Jinyun frowned slightly, but she didn't want to push Zeng Ya. Her maid became anxious and stepped forward to grab Zeng Ya's right hand, trying to pry her fingers apart.

The eunuch was already used to seeing palace maids unwilling to accept punishment, so he ignored it and forcefully dragged Zeng Ya in another direction.

Zeng Ya still didn't let go, and she pulled up Tang Jinyun's sleeves and tightened them...

At this moment, Tang Jinyun's expression also changed. He wanted Zeng Ya to let go, but he was concerned about his own demeanor and could only call the maid's name softly.

But Zeng Ya's hands were clenched too tightly, like a dying person grabbing a life-saving straw.

"hiss--"

She tore off a piece of cloth from Tang Jinyun's sleeve, and the two eunuchs dragged Zeng Ya away without changing their expressions or looking back.

Tang Jinyun, with only a piece missing from his sleeve, stood there in embarrassment.

Tang Jinyun turned pale and blue, and his face felt hot.

She had never been so embarrassed in her life. To her, it was just like being stripped of her clothes.

She covered her face and ran away almost in panic.

Several other girls from aristocratic families who were on good terms with her hurriedly followed her away.

What happened within just a short period of time was full of twists and turns.

Everyone was immersed in deep shock, and the surroundings fell into deathly silence.

Some slow-witted people hadn’t reacted yet and looked at each other with confused expressions.

But most of the people present were young men and women who had been carefully brought up in their families. They were not stupid. Even if they did not understand it at first, they would have figured it out now that it had developed to this point.

"Jiao Niang, I see, Zeng Ya is really crazy!" Chu Jia leaned leisurely on the armrest on one side of the bench and talked to Wei Jiao Niang with a smile.

Most people knew the little thoughts of these girls from noble families who wanted to become the eldest prince's consort. What they didn't expect was that Zeng Ya was so bold as to plot against Gu Yanfei in public in the royal palace.

In the capital, the origins of the two girls from the Gu family are very vague, and there is a sense of secrecy about them.

Zeng Ya used this as an excuse to target Gu Yanfei. Unfortunately, her cleverness backfired, and she ended up getting herself into trouble when she wanted to harm others, stepping on King Kang's sore spot.

"Indeed." Wei Jiaoniang nodded repeatedly, "As the saying goes, good things happen in return!"

She deliberately raised her voice when speaking the last half of the sentence, and she also meant it for the other people present to hear.

Humph, since Zeng Ya dares to plot against others, she must be prepared to fall. Taizu said, if you mess around, you will have to pay for it.

People around were saying things like "what a pity" and "how could this happen?"

Chu Jia deliberately moved closer to Chu You and advised him kindly, "Uncle Kang, don't be angry. Why are you angry with a madman?"

At first glance, it seemed like he was comforting her with good intentions, but it also seemed like he was stinging Chu You with his words.

Chu You's face darkened again in an instant, his eyes narrowed into a line, and his gaze was fixed on Chu Jia's face like nails.

The others were whispering to each other. Seeing how angry Prince Kang was, one thing was clear: the daughter-in-law named Li Zhaodi should be Gu Yun'er's biological sister.

Many people were refreshed, feeling that what they saw and heard today had added a lot of topics for after-dinner conversation in their boring days.

The voices of men and women talking could be heard faintly from the crowd, one after another:

"Since Miss Gu San is Li Erya, how can she be a daughter of the Gu family?"

"Perhaps the Li family gave their daughter to the Gu family for adoption?"

"Why would the Gu family adopt the daughter of the Li family for no reason? It's not like the Gu family doesn't have daughters!"

“…”

"No matter what, it's really great that Princess Kang has such a sister..."

For a while, all kinds of speculations were heard, and no one even noticed when Chu You left.

Many people also wanted to ask Gu Yanfei, but they didn't dare to, so they had to go around to Wei Jiaoniang, Lu Qin and others to find out the answer.

Gu Yanfei turned a deaf ear to the speculations around him, stood up leisurely from the bench, looked at Chu Yi not far away, and smiled faintly.

A handsome young man stood under a willow tree with swaying branches, as elegant and graceful as a green bamboo. The golden sunlight made his face as crystal clear as a jade statue. His pair of auspicious phoenix eyes were unusually gentle, with fragments of sunlight.

Their eyes met, and she felt as if she was pressed into a clear stream, which reminded her of the scenes by the stream in the morning.

Her eyes accidentally lingered on his white jade earlobe.

A rather strange thought popped up in her mind: What would happen if she bit his ear? She was amused by this thought, her eyes curved with laughter, and she stretched out her hand to Chu Yi, "Lend me your pocket watch to play with."

She smiled slyly and cleverly, and the dimples on her lips seemed to be soaked in honey.

The two of them were talking, not noticing that everyone else around them had stopped talking.

One after another, all eyes were turned towards Gu Yanfei and Chu Yi. Gradually, more and more eyes were looking at them, and private discussions were heard around them again. This time, Chu Yi and Gu Yanfei became the protagonists.

But the two people at the center of the topic didn't care at all.

Chu Yi followed his instructions and took out a silver pocket watch from his sleeve pocket, placed it in his palm and handed it to her.

The young man's white fingers were as slender as bamboo shoots, clean and beautiful, and they complemented each other very well with the silver pocket watch.

The pocket watch still carried his body temperature and was warm to the touch, exactly the same as the pocket watches in the hands of the emperor and Anle.

The same pocket watch looked so small and delicate in his palm, but in Gu Yanfei's hand, it could not be held in one hand.

Gu Yanfei stroked the slightly raised curly grass pattern on his pocket watch, remembering that Anle said the embroidery on the dress she wore at her coming-of-age ceremony today was drawn by him personally.

He must have put a lot of thought into her coming-of-age ceremony.

Just thinking about it, Gu Yanfei felt sweet in her heart. She looked up at his eyes and said frankly, "I am very happy."

There was a hint of joy in her eyes.

She was happy about what he did for her, so naturally she wanted to let him know her feelings.

Chu Yi took a step closer to her, his slender body casting a long shadow that enveloped her. He leaned over and whispered in her ear, "So how are you going to repay me?"

As he spoke, the clear and bright scent from his body wafted into my nose.

Gu Yanfei was startled, her eyes fell on his fair and slender neck. The slightly protruding Adam's apple rolled as he spoke, and she felt her teeth itching again.

Is she a cat?

The thought flashed through my mind.

This time, it was Chu Yi's turn to be stunned.

Then, a gentle smile spread across his handsome face, and his entire face was filled with an incredible glow, extremely clear, handsome, and dazzling.

He stands here, and here is the boundless spring.

He laughed, and Gu Yanfei also laughed, thinking happily in his heart: She really knows how to coax people.

"Yanfei," Wei Jiaoniang waved at Gu Yanfei and shouted, "Let's play pitch pot."

When she called Gu Yanfei, she was also calling Chu Yi as well.

Chu Jia, Chu Shen and other members of the royal family also joined in, and they also called on Chu Shen's sweetheart, the eldest daughter of the Du family. A dozen young men and women excitedly played the game of tossing pots.

There were many experts in pitching pots among the people present. No one wanted to fall behind in the competition, and they showed off their best techniques, such as piercing the ears, double ears, relying on the pole, and Xiao Jian.

There was constant applause and cheers all around, and the winner remained unknown for a long time.

Lu Qin was not only not good at wooden archery, but also not good at pitching pots. He had been eliminated long ago, so he just stood aside and cheered for everyone.

After playing for nearly half an hour, Eunuch He suddenly came in a hurry and walked straight to Chu Yi and Gu Yanfei.

Everyone looked at the sky and thought that Eunuch He was here to remind everyone to take their seats. Unexpectedly, they heard Eunuch He smilingly report: "Your Highness, Second Miss Gu, the Emperor has just issued an oral decree to clear the name of Third Miss Gu."

Upon hearing this, those who were playing the game of tossing pots put down their bamboo arrows, those who were talking fell silent, and everyone's eyes were on Eunuch He.

Chu Yi said "Oh" lightly.

Receiving the eldest prince's encouraging look, Eunuch He continued with great energy, "Your Majesty has already found out that the second Miss Gu had a connection with Taoism and was adopted and raised by Ling Xiao Zhenren since she was young. At that time, the old lady of the Gu family was grateful for her eldest son's longing for a daughter, so she chose a girl from her own sons and gave her to the former Marquis Dingyuan, and named her Yunmen. Last year, the second Miss Gu returned home after her apprenticeship, and Gu Yunmen was adopted by the second house."

"The Emperor said that Miss Gu San will be removed from the Gu family tree and return to the Li family name. Li Yunyan is not the daughter of Gu Jian, so she will not be implicated in the Gu Jian case. Since the Queen Mother has already granted her a marriage with Prince Kang, she should choose a date as soon as possible to marry Prince Kang."

Originally, Prince Kang and Li Yunmeng were supposed to get married on February 23rd, but because Li Yunmeng was imprisoned in the imperial prison, even the wedding date was delayed.

Finally, Eunuch He added: "The emperor has ordered the Jinyiwei to release the person."

The lakeside, which had been quiet for a moment, was suddenly in an uproar.

The emperor's oral order confirmed everyone's previous guess, and they were all stunned.

It's not that they looked down on women of the common people. During the reign of Emperor Taizu, because Taizu advocated gender equality, several commoner women opened shops to make a living. Their businesses were booming and they even opened branches all the way to the capital. For example, Jinxiuzhai, which still has several branches in the capital, is one of them.

Taizu also once said that birth does not determine anything.

The wife of Taizu's third son, Prince Yu, was a commoner woman, and Taizu personally arranged a marriage for his son as Prince Yu requested.

If Prince Kang wanted to marry a commoner girl as his princess, it would not be a shocking or rare thing. The problem lies in the true identity of the future Princess Kang, Li Yunyan.

Judging from what Eunuch He said just now, Li Yunyan is the daughter of a family-born child. Since the Li family sold her as a slave, she is no longer a commoner but a pariah.

Moreover, it was too weird for Old Lady Gu to choose a slave to be adopted by her stepson Gu Ce as his legitimate daughter. Where did she put the hierarchy between master and servant?

Ridiculous, really too ridiculous! The whispers around were getting louder and louder, forming a buzzing sound...

Thinking about some of the things they had heard about the Gu family before, many people suddenly realized something and the discussion became even louder.

"Eunuch He just said that the second Miss Gu has a connection with Taoism and has been a disciple of Master Ling Xiao since she was young... It doesn't sound right to me. Could it be that Old Madam Gu secretly sent the second Miss Gu to the Taoist temple and deliberately gave Gu Ce a child to be his daughter?"

"I think that's the case. When Gu Ce was alive, he probably didn't even know that Li Yunyan was a family child."

"Last year, the second Miss Gu came back, and Gu Yuan learned the truth. That's why Gu... no, Li Yunyan changed from the eldest daughter of the Gu family to the second daughter!"

"This old lady Gu is really vicious. She wants Gu Ce to raise a child like a treasure."

"It's simply a crime worthy of death!"

"Yes, yes. Mrs. Gu has been keeping this cuckoo-in-the-nest Li Yunyan. Isn't this causing trouble for Miss Gu?"

“…”

The young men and women talked more and more excitedly, and looked at Gu Yanfei with sympathy.

Some people even felt that although Gu Yanfei met a vicious step-grandmother like Old Lady Gu, he was indeed destined to Taoism. It was also a kind of fate that he was adopted by a remarkable person like Ling Xiao Zhenren and learned all kinds of superb Taoist skills from him.

Gu Yanfei stared at Eunuch He steadily, his eyes as dark as the night.

Li Yun'er, Old Lady Gu, Li Zhaodi, Fang Mingfeng... these people flashed in her mind in confusion, as if something exploded in her brain.

After experiencing the Yaoling Realm for two hundred years, she actually no longer cares about the Li family.

But, she cared in her previous life.

The past decade or so in Huaibei has been an unforgettable nightmare for her.

At that time, she lived a very humble life. She was worried that her miserable experiences in Huaibei would be exposed to the public one day. She was also afraid that others would say that she was inferior to Gu Yunyan in every way and that she would bring shame to her biological parents.

In her previous life, until her death, she and Gu Yunmeng were "twins".

No one questioned Gu Yunmeng's identity, but her background was speculated and criticized.

Many people outside said that her surname was not Gu at all, and that Gu Yuan recognized her as his sister because she looked like her biological mother, Xie. It was Old Madam Gu who indulged her eldest grandson in misbehaving.

It was obvious that she was the biological daughter of Gu Ce and Xie, and it was obvious that Li Yunmeng had usurped the throne. But no matter how she explained, it was useless and no one believed her.

She was haunted by inner demons and could not let go until her death, and she passed away with infinite regrets and unwillingness.

When she lived her life over again, what she wanted was for her and Gu Yunmeng to return to their respective places.

Gu Yun'er is the son of destiny and is protected by heaven.

Her background is a blessing given to Gu Yunyan by heaven. She cannot confront it head-on and can only go with the flow.

First, he instigated Fang Mingfeng to bring the Li family to the capital, then separated the family from the second branch, and then asked Prince Kang to take the initiative to recognize this marriage on behalf of Gu Yun'er.

By avoiding the laws of nature and planning every step, he finally reached the point where his true identity was revealed.

From now on, she will have nothing to do with the Li family.

That's great.

Gu Yanfei's lips curled up and his eyes were sore.

Boom! There seemed to be a series of rumbling thunder in my ears, one after another, deep and muffled, and the thunder seemed to be getting closer and heavier.

My heart seemed to be struck by thunder and was beating rapidly.

She lowered her head slightly, her eyelashes trembled slightly, and her eyes were blurred with mist.

All kinds of chaotic and noisy sounds surrounded her ears.

She seemed to be able to hear, but also seemed to be unable to hear anything. Her head was buzzing, and many scenes from her past life flashed back one by one: being whipped, trampled, laughed at, humiliated, and stabbed...

There were some things she thought she had forgotten long ago, but it turned out that she had never forgotten them, they were just buried deep in her memory...

Suddenly, she felt her palms warm and someone held her hand.

The man's palm was rough and hot, and the heat against her tender palm seemed to flow through her blood and warm her heart, creating ripples in her heart.

She felt her chest relax, as if countless chains wrapped around her heart loosened with a click.

She was finally freed from the cage that had trapped her for two lifetimes...

Gu Yanfei slowly turned his head, looked up at Chu Yi beside him, and smiled slightly.

Chu Yi smiled faintly, as if spring had returned to the earth.

The tenderness in his eyes was so strong that it overflowed.

Gu Yanfei looked at him quietly, her eyes clear. At this moment, her heart was incredibly soft.

Was it not only because of her inner demons that she returned to this life, but also because she met him?

(End of this chapter)