At the entrance of the bookstore, a young woman in her early twenties was wearing a snow-blue skirt embroidered with wisteria flowers. Her jet-black hair was simply tied up in a fluffy bun, and a delicate silver hairpin with a white magnolia was inserted in her bun. The hairpin was made of silver, and the head of the hairpin was decorated with two white magnolias carved from mutton-fat white jade, which looked lifelike.
That extremely beautiful face seemed to glow in the sunlight, like a red rose in midsummer, exceptionally bright and gorgeous.
From the second floor of the bookstore, Yu Chaoyun stared at Gu Yanfei on the street with mixed feelings.
She hasn't changed at all! Suddenly, Yu Chaoyun recalled the scene when he first saw Gu Yanfei at the Shanglinyuan Hunting Ground eight years ago.
What happened that day seems like yesterday, and also like a dream.
After eight years, Gu Yanfei is still as beautiful as ever... No, she is even more beautiful than before! She is like a delicate flower.
She has bright eyes, a graceful look, and a gorgeous figure. She is so beautiful and eye-catching, especially her eyes that are brighter than stars and seem to suck away people's souls.
Some passers-by couldn't help but cast their eyes on Gu Yanfei and looked at her twice.
A sentence emerged in Yu Chaoyun's mind: Beauty lies in the bones, not in the skin.
And what about yourself?
Yu Chaoyun subconsciously raised his hand to touch his face, and it felt extremely rough.
Obviously, she was only one or two years older than Gu Yanfei, but now she looked ten years older than her actual age. Her skin was sallow and she looked haggard. There were wrinkles on her forehead and corners of her eyes. Her cheeks were not only swollen, but also had many yellow-brown spots.
After the Yu family was convicted, her fate changed completely and fell to the bottom.
She and other female relatives of the Yu family managed to survive and were exiled 3,000 miles away to perform forced labor in the northwestern frontier. It was not until three years ago when the retired emperor Chu Qi abdicated the throne to the current emperor Chu Yi, and the new emperor ascended the throne and issued a general amnesty that she and the surviving female relatives of the Yu family were pardoned.
Her uncle, Duke Yingguo, brought her away from the northwest and arranged a marriage for her. The surname "Yu" had long been despised by everyone, so the marriage arranged by Duke Yingguo for her was naturally not very good. He was just an ordinary merchant in Yuzhou.
Yu Chaoyun also tried to resist, but Duke Ying said that if she did not marry, she would be sent to a nunnery to live out the rest of her life with green lamps and ancient Buddhas. She had no choice but to marry a crude merchant who was more than ten years older than her as his second wife.
This time she came to the capital with her husband to pay her respects to the Duke of England. The day after tomorrow they will leave the capital and return to Yuzhou.
She wanted to buy some enlightenment books for her son before leaving Beijing, but she didn't expect to meet Gu Yanfei here.
Now, there is a huge difference between her and Gu Yanfei.
Gu Yanfei was high in the clouds, the queen of a country, the most noble woman in the Dajing Dynasty, while Yu Chaoyun was just mud on the ground that was trampled on by everyone.
Yu Chaoyun couldn't help but clench his fists tightly, his eyes were so dry that they hurt.
The next moment, a boy of about six or seven years old in purple clothes got out of the green-covered carriage beside Gu Yanfei.
She had fair skin, a well-defined nose, beautifully shaped phoenix eyes, and pretty, delicate facial features. The little person was graceful and self-possessed in every move she made; even the way she got off the carriage looked as if it had been measured with a ruler.
After the boy landed, he turned around and shouted into the carriage: "Sister!"
A little girl in a purple coat and skirt put one hand on the boy's hand and slowly got off the carriage by stepping on the horse stool.
The girl and the boy are of the same height and look almost exactly the same, with the only differences being their hairstyles and clothing styles. When the two children stand together holding hands, they look like two boys under the seat of Guanyin, exquisitely carved from jade.
The appearance of the two children immediately attracted more attention from passers-by.
"Brother Yun!"
"Sister Zhen!"
Wei Jiaoniang rushed out from the restaurant opposite the bookstore like a gust of wind, staring at the twins with shining eyes, and she didn't see Gu Yanfei at all.
Wei Jiaoniang's heart was about to melt. This pair of twins, a boy and a girl, simply combined the best qualities of Chu Yi and Gu Yanfei. They were both beautiful and perfect.
"Aunt."
The two children bowed to Wei Jiaoniang properly and smiled at Gu Yanfei sweetly, as if to say, Mom, did we do a good job?
Gu Yanfei smiled with satisfaction and nodded slightly.
She had agreed with her two children in advance that when they went out of the palace to play, they should show proper courtesy to their elders, regardless of whether they were the emperor or his subjects.
"Good boy!" Wei Jiaoniang bent down and touched the top of Chu Yun's head, then touched the top of Chu Zhen's head, smiling from ear to ear.
At this time, the bookstore clerk walked out quickly and greeted the people cheerfully, "Ladies, young masters, young ladies, do you want to buy books? Please come in."
"We have a wide range of books in this shop, including the Three Books and Four Classics, history and astronomy, geography and water conservancy, Buddhist and Taoist scriptures, agricultural and medical books, music scores and miscellaneous books, etc."
“…”
Amid the clerk's chatter, Gu Yanfei and three others filed into the bookstore.
On the first floor of the bookstore, four or five scholars were selecting and reading books. The clerk was afraid that the scholars would offend the women, so he hurriedly said, "Ladies, please go up to the second floor. There are fewer people there."
Wei Jiaoniang also thought this was a good idea and immediately agreed, "Let's go to the second floor."
When they reached the stairs, Wei Jiaoniang bent over to pick up little Chu Zhen and enthusiastically suggested, "Sister Zhen, can I carry you up there?"
"Auntie, I'll go by myself." Chu Zhen shook her head obediently, pursed her pink and soft lips like petals, and smiled.
The little jade-carved figure blinked his black eyes, making people's hearts tremble.
Chu Yun hurriedly said, "Aunt, my sister and I will go by ourselves."
When the two children look at people with a smile, they look as well-behaved and cute as they can be.
Wei Jiaoniang felt like there was a little person screaming in her heart. She really wanted to hug both children in her arms. She sighed in her heart: These are other people’s children!
Her Dalang is a naughty child who is disliked by dogs. He flies around every day and is full of energy. He makes her very worried and she just wants to stuff him back into her belly. She never wants to have another child.
"Okay, you go by yourselves." Wei Jiaoniang let the two children go up the stairs slowly by holding the handrail, and cast an envious look at Gu Yanfei.
Gu Yanfei and Wei Jiaoniang followed the twins.
The second floor is very spacious. In addition to rows of bookshelves, there are also several small private rooms. Some people are reading in the private rooms, some are copying books, and some are drinking tea and resting.
The twins happily went looking for books on their own.
Wei Jiaoniang glanced at the twins from time to time, her eyes were very gentle, "Yan Fei, how about we take them to the flower and bird market and the horse farm after visiting the bookstore?"
Wei Jiaoniang was thinking, what's fun about a bookstore? It's boring and tedious.
"Next time." Gu Yanfei laughed and casually pulled out a book from the bookshelf, "The Great Mysterious Spiritual Treasures of the Supreme and Immortal for Saving People", and flipped through it. "Once they entered the bookstore, they were unwilling to come out. It's no problem for them to play there for a whole day."
"Yan Fei, your two children are so well-behaved!" Wei Jiaoniang sighed, "My Dalang is not so good. He gets spanked by the teacher every day in the clan school... My mother even said that Dalang is like me in this respect! Humph, I was never so disobedient when I was a child."
The two of them were chatting and laughing, and their voices were clearly heard by Yu Chaoyun who was hiding behind a bookshelf.
Yu Chaoyun's nails dug deeply into the soft palm, his eyes dark and unclear.
Just now when Gu Yanfei and the others went upstairs, she subconsciously hid, not wanting Gu Yanfei and Wei Jiaoniang to see her.
She was afraid to see expressions of contempt, sympathy or even disgust on their faces.
Yu Chaoyun pinched his palms even harder. His whole body felt cold and numb, and his heart seemed to be immersed in an icy quagmire.
She will never be able to turn over again! Looking at Chu Yun, who was about 60% similar to Chu Yi, and thinking of her three-year-old son, who was fat, big-eared and stupid, this conclusion emerged clearly and cruelly in Yu Chaoyun's mind.
A dragon gives birth to a dragon, a phoenix gives birth to a phoenix...the son of a snake or a rat is still a snake or a rat.
A line of hot tears suddenly fell from the corners of her eyes, blurring her vision. Yu Chaoyun's plump body trembled constantly, and then she heard the little girl's soft voice coming from the front: "Mother."
She wiped away her tears with her fingers and quietly peeked out from behind the bookshelf. She saw little Chu Zhen walking towards Gu Yanfei with an old book in her hands, smiling as beautifully as a flower.
Chu Yun followed her twin sister closely, like her most loyal guardian.
"Mom, I found a very interesting old book." Little Chu Zhen handed a blue-covered book to Gu Yanfei, her black and white eyes sparkling.
"Mom, please take a look. This book is very interesting."
The six-year-old girl is at an age where she likes to share everything with her mother. She tells her mother everything she sees, whether it is beautiful, interesting or annoying.
Wei Jiaoniang was envious and jealous of this scene. Her naughty child always says "Mom doesn't understand".
Wei Jiaoniang couldn't help but think: Maybe it would be nice to have a younger sister for her Dalang, then she would have a caring little cotton-padded jacket.
Wei Jiaoniang smiled and walked over to talk to the little girl: "Sister Zhen, can auntie take a look too?"
Chu Zhen smiled shyly and nodded.
She tapped the pages of the book with her little fingers and said excitedly, "Mother, Auntie, the wine-making method described in this book is very interesting. It says that it can produce the purest and strongest wine. Mother, can we go back and try it?"
Gu Yanfei nodded with a smile.
Chu Zhen not only likes reading, but also likes those ingenious techniques. At a young age, he has read "The Exploitation of the Works of Nature" over and over again. He has also made wooden oxen and flowing horses, sleeve arrows, crossbows, etc. by himself.
Gu Yanfei and Chu Yi have always indulged their two children. Apart from the necessary homework, they are allowed to learn whatever they want in other aspects.
Not to mention the retired emperor Chu Qi, who wished he could pick the moon from the sky and give it to his grandchildren.
"Mom, this book also contains methods of making sugar..." Chu Zhen happily turned another page.
Gu Yanfei didn't pay much attention to the book at first, but when she saw the handwriting on the book clearly, her heart skipped a beat.
Very familiar handwriting.
She had read the handwriting many times before.
Gu Yanfei's pupils twitched slightly, and he said with a complicated expression: "Is this book called "Tingzhi Diary"? "
Chu Zhen blinked in surprise and blurted out, "Mother, how did you know?"
Gu Yanfei slowly closed the book. The blue cover was worn and tattered, and indeed the words "Tingzhi Diary" were written on it. However, due to the age of the book, the title was slightly damaged.
This book actually appeared "again", and in this way!
In her previous life, she found this book "Tingzhi Diary" by chance after she came of age, but not in this bookstore.
At that time, she could not understand what was written in "Tingzhi Diary" until her elder brother Gu Yuan injured his leg and could not walk. Even the imperial physician said that Gu Yuan's leg could not be saved. But she did not give up and tried to buy various medical books, pharmaceutical books, and miscellaneous books from various bookstores.
She accidentally discovered the methods of brewing wine and making sugar in this "Tingzhi Diary", and thought that perhaps she could make a living with the secret recipe of sugar making. She thought that as long as she had the ability to make a living, she could take her elder brother and completely leave the Marquis' Mansion.
In her previous life, she was too lonely and too gullible. She thought Yu Chaoyun was her only friend whom she could trust. However, Yu Chaoyun betrayed her and stole "Tingzhi Diary".
Yu Chaoyun also taught the method of making sugar to Lady Yingguo, who then opened several shops in Beijing and began to sell large quantities of white sugar and cotton candy. These two kinds of sugar became popular throughout Dajing. Lady Yingguo made a lot of money, but she cut off Gu Yanfei's only way out.
In her previous life, Gu Yanfei hated Yu Chaoyun for betraying her and also hated Yu Chaoyun for stabbing her.
“Thump, thump, thump…”
Suddenly, there was a hurried sound of people coming down the stairs from the right rear.
Gu Yanfei and Wei Jiaoniang subconsciously looked in the direction of the sound, only to see an awkward figure. A woman in a half-new green jacket and skirt hurried down the stairs, with a wooden hairpin inserted in her neatly combed bun.
The waiter downstairs shouted nervously: "Madam, please be careful when you go downstairs and walk slowly."
Yu Chaoyun didn't dare to slow down at all. Instead, he walked even faster, almost as if he was fleeing in panic.
"Eh? This person seems familiar..." Wei Jiaoniang whispered softly, "Have I seen him somewhere before?"
She frowned and thought about it, but couldn't remember anything for a moment, so she gave up.
She has met so many people.
Wei Jiaoniang withdrew her gaze and looked at the "Tingzhi Diary" in Gu Yanfei's hand.
Gu Yanfei stared at the stairs steadily, a flash of light flashing across her eyes, until the green figure disappeared from her sight.
"Mother," Chu Yun stood upright beside Chu Zhen and asked sharply, "Do you know this book?"
Chu Zhen tilted her rosy little face, looking curious.
Even Wei Jiaoniang's curiosity was aroused.
Gu Yanfei glanced at the three curious faces and said, "You have also heard of this book."
Wei Jiaoniang was confused. She read "Tingzhi Diary" several times but still couldn't remember it.
Chu Zhen took the book from her mother, flipped through the pages, and thought seriously.
Chu Yun frowned and touched his chin with one hand.
Gu Yanfei smiled when she saw her son's little action. The next moment, Chu Yun's clear eyes met hers and she asked tentatively, "Mother, could it be..."
Gu Yanfei nodded with a smile on his face.
Wei Jiaoniang was so confused that she was scratching her head, thinking that Gu Yanfei was really being led astray by Chu Yi.
Chu Yun received her mother's affirmation and said confidently with her hands behind her back, "My great-great-grandfather is Chu Jing, whose courtesy name is Tingzhi."
Wei Jiaoniang blinked her eyes, and blinked again, feeling as if a bolt of lightning had struck her heart.
Not many people knew Emperor Taizu's courtesy name. Even Gu Yanfei only knew it after she married Chu Yi in this life and read some essays left by Taizu in the palace.
Wei Jiaoniang suddenly felt that the tattered book in front of her suddenly became bright and shining.
This is actually the legendary "Taizu Handwritten Notes"!!
(End of this chapter)