Chapter 91 Mother (Second Update)
Lord Gu waited outside the door for a long time, almost falling asleep, before Madam Yao finally came out.
Yao's face was streaked with tears, and her eyes were red and swollen; she looked like she had been crying quite a bit.
Lord Gu strode forward and took her hand on the shoulder: "Madam!"
Yao nodded, holding back her tears, and turned to look at the old lady in the backyard. She bowed slightly and said, "Grandma, I'm leaving now. Please take care of Jiaojiao."
Yao had never been to the palace, so she had never met the old lady. But before she came, she knew that Xiao Liulang's great-aunt was in the family and that the great-aunt treated Jiaojiao very well.
The old lady gave her a strange look but didn't say anything.
Madam Yao asked Lord Gu to take down the pastries he had forgotten on the carriage and handed them to the old lady herself, saying, "I made these pastries myself. I don't know if they suit your taste."
Hmm, the old lady looks a bit better.
The moment Yao turned around, the old lady suddenly nodded at her.
"..." It took Yao a long time to realize that the old lady was responding to what she had just said.
Was it because he saw the snacks that he was willing to talk to her?
However, it didn't seem like they were really paying attention; they just offered a perfunctory remark.
Yao made snacks for everyone in Gu Jiao's family, including Xiao Jingkong.
After that, Madam Yao and Lord Gu boarded the carriage to return to the mansion.
Lord Gu was eager to know what the mother and daughter had talked about: "What did that girl say?"
"What did she say..." Yao recalled the scene after she told the whole truth.
Gu Jiao's reaction was calm, at least calmer than Yao had imagined, as if she were hearing someone else's story, not her own.
She then gave a puzzled "hmm," a hint of confusion flashing in her eyes.
She was right in front of Yao, but at that moment Yao felt that her daughter was very far away.
Throughout, Gu Jiao only said one thing that left Yao Shi completely baffled: "If you had come earlier, even just half a year earlier, how wonderful that would have been."
Ms. Yao was puzzled.
Mr. and Mrs. Gu passed away nine years ago.
My daughter got married a year ago, and we separated from the Gu family a year ago as well.
Why do we hope they arrive six months earlier?
Did something happen six months ago that they don't know about?
Was she hurt?
That's how Yao left.
On the other side, Xiao Liulang asked the academy for half a day off, went to Huichuntang to get some herbs, and on his way back to the village in Uncle Luo's oxcart, he happened to pass by Lord Gu's carriage.
The carriage curtain was blown up by the wind, and Lord Gu glanced casually and unexpectedly saw Xiao Liulang on the oxcart.
Startled, he stumbled again and bumped his head against the car wall. The bump that had just subsided swelled up again!
He rubbed his eyes, wanting to take another look, but the oxcart had already gone far away.
He stuck his head out of the car window, eagerly looking back.
"What are you looking at?" Yao asked.
Lord Gu withdrew his head: "Ah, it's nothing."
What's wrong with me today? Did I forget to check the almanac before going out?
First, she encountered an old country lady who looked like the Empress Dowager, and then she bumped into a poor scholar who looked exactly like the young Marquis of Zhaodu.
The Empress Dowager is recuperating at the temporary palace, and the young Marquis of Zhaodu has already passed away, so it's impossible for anyone to be here.
Lord Gu muttered to himself, "This is truly unbelievable."
Xiao Liulang had actually seen Lord Gu's carriage, but he hadn't looked through the window, so he didn't know who was inside.
But he noticed the horseshoes on the horse.
Those were not ordinary horseshoes; they were used by marquises in the capital.
The carriage seemed to have come from the village. Xiao Liulang's first thought was that it was coming to find him, especially when the two carriages had already passed each other and were traveling in opposite directions. The man inside the carriage even poked his head out to look at him.
Xiao Liulang didn't turn around, but gave Luo Ershu a cold look and said, "Luo Ershu, please hurry, Jiaoniang is sick."
"Okay!" Uncle Luo replied.
After Madam Yao and Lord Gu left, Gu Jiao sat in the room in a daze for a while.
She remembered that fantastical dream; it was actually true, and she really was a member of the Marquis's family.
"Hmm, so that means I misunderstood him that day."
When Lord Gu said he was her father, it meant exactly what he said. She thought he was asking for a beating.
That's not the point. That guy was so annoying, so beating him up was fine. The key thing is that dream.
In the dream, it wasn't Yao who came to acknowledge her, but Lord Gu himself.
Neither Yao nor Gu Yan appeared from beginning to end. Given Yao's relationship with Lord Gu, it's unlikely that Yao was divorced. Considering Yao and Gu Yan's illnesses, Gu Jiao deduced that Gu Yan and Yao died before she returned to the manor.
Gu Yan died of a heart attack. Yao Shi may have been unable to bear the blow of her son's death and either died of illness or hanged herself.
Without the protection of her mother and younger brother, the self in her dreams was like a rootless duckweed, bearing the title of a noble lady but living like an outsider.
"Jiaojiao!"
Little Jingkong walked in, holding up his injured little finger, looking aggrieved.
Gu Jiao snapped out of her daze and turned to look at Xiao Jingkong: "What's wrong?"
Xiao Jingkong walked up to Gu Jiao and showed her his bleeding little index finger: "You're injured."
Gu Jiao pulled his little index finger over and examined it: "How did you get hurt?"
"I was cracking walnuts," Xiao Jingkong said, feeling wronged.
Gu Jiao brought the walnuts back from the market. Some people traded vegetables for her mountain produce, while others traded eggs for her mountain produce. She usually didn't care, but sometimes she was surprised by what was inside when she brought them back.
"Be careful next time." Gu Jiao didn't forbid him from smashing things again. It's inevitable for children to bump into things, and she wasn't a parent who would give up on everything because of a minor setback.
Gu Jiao took out iodine and cotton swabs from the first-aid kit and disinfected Xiao Jingkong's wound: "It's fine, it's not serious, no need to apply medicine."
"I need to breathe," Xiao Jingkong said, blinking his big eyes.
Gu Jiao blew on his breath.
Little Jingkong wasn't a delicate child. Compared to the pain he usually felt from practicing martial arts, this little injury didn't hurt at all. He just wanted to snuggle up and sleep soundly!
I was overjoyed to receive Hu Hu's little sanctuary and went out!
Gu Jiao threw the used cotton swabs into a special basket and put the unused iodine back into the small medicine box.
She had been so focused on cleaning Xiao Jingkong's wounds that she hadn't looked closely, but now that her gaze swept over him, Gu Jiao noticed something was amiss.
"Why are there so many medicines all of a sudden?"
The medicines in her medicine cabinet are generally divided into two types: one is emergency medicines, which she put in there when she was a doctor at the research institute. She risked her life in the organization, and these medicines could save her life; the other type is medicines that came here, such as Gu Yan's anti-heart failure medicine, Yao's antidepressant, and the anesthetic medicine needed for Xiao Liulang's surgery.
But regardless of which one it is, it's something she can use to treat her illness.
These things right now—
Liuwei Dihuang Pills?
Seven-Step Aphrodisiac Tea?
Nourishing Yin and Kidney Tonifying Pill?
These strange and unusual tonics were one thing, but in the very center and most conspicuous place lay a brightly colored box of contraceptives!
Gu Jiao: Who touched her medicine box? Why has it suddenly become so unruly?!
After returning to the hot spring resort, Yao decided to tell Gu Yan and Gu Jinyu the truth.
Lord Gu hesitated: "Isn't this... a bit too hasty?"
It's nothing to tell Gu Yan, but since he likes Gu Jiao so much, telling him that Gu Jiao is his biological sister will only make him happy despite the surprise.
Jin Yu is different.
She has always been the only daughter in her family and is used to being pampered. Suddenly learning that she is not her parents' biological child must be a huge blow to her.
"Jinyu will be sad," Lord Gu said softly.
Madam Yao frowned and said, "She's sad, but isn't Jiao Jiao sad too? Jiao Jiao just found out that she's not Gu Sanlang and his wife's biological child."
Lord Gu said righteously, "How can they be the same? What kind of family is the Gu family, and what kind of family is the Marquis's mansion? That girl... cough, Jiao Jiao will probably be very happy to learn about her background, but Jin Yu will be devastated."
"Happy?" Yao shook her head. "I can't tell."
Gu Jiao's reaction was calm to the point of being indifferent. When she didn't know about her background, she wasn't so cold to her. But suddenly she became her mother, and it seemed as if a door had been erected in her heart.
Madam Yao thought that Gu Jiao couldn't accept her because her feelings for Gu Sanlang and his wife were too deep, and she didn't suspect anything.
Seeing that his wife's expression was not good, Lord Gu softened his tone and said, "Jiaojiao is our child, and so is Jinyu. Jiaojiao needs to know the truth because she has to return to the Marquis's mansion; Jinyu doesn't need to go back to that Gu family, so why tell her?"
Yao had seriously considered not sending Jinyu back. To be honest, she had developed a deep affection for Jinyu after raising her for so many years, and she was naturally reluctant to send her away. Besides, Gu Sanlang and his wife had already passed away, and Jinyu would become an orphan if she went back.
But ultimately, the decision wasn't made by them, but by Jin Yu and the Gu family.
After all, Jin Yu is a member of the Gu family. Even though her parents are gone, her grandparents and uncles are still alive, and they have the right to take Jin Yu back.
Then there's Jin Yu herself; if she insists on going back, there's nothing she can do to stop her.
Yao treated Gu Jiao the same way; she fully respected Gu Jiao's decision.
In handling the issue of reunification, she treated both children equally.
However, in Lord Gu's view, Gu Jiao's return to the manor was a gain, while Jin Yu's return was a loss, and doing so was a bit unfair to Jin Yu.
“I disagree,” said Lord Gu.
Madam Yao said, "The more you want to acknowledge Jiaojiao, the more the Gu family wants to acknowledge Jinyu."
Lord Gu thought to himself: I have no desire to acknowledge that girl back! What would be the point? To beat me up?
Lord Gu only told half of what happened to the Gu family. He only talked about how difficult Gu Jiao's life had been since childhood, but he didn't dare to say that the Gu family had bullied her terribly, for fear that Yao Shi would be upset.
But if he didn't bring it up now, he was afraid that Yao would fall into that family's trap.
Lord Gu considered it for a moment and said, "I think that family has some ulterior motives, so we should avoid associating with them."
"What happened?" Yao asked.
Lord Gu told the story of how the Gu family had replaced Gu Jiao with Gu Yue'e.
"Is that so?" Madam Yao frowned. "Then Jiaojiao must have suffered a lot in their family."
Lord Gu hurriedly replied, "I have already taught them a lesson!"
Now, Yao is eager to get her daughter back. Thinking of the hardships her daughter has endured over the years, Yao wishes she could give her own life for her.
Lord Gu coughed lightly and said, "Look at the situation of the Gu family, we can't let Jinyu go back and suffer."
Madam Yao said, "Of course I won't let her suffer; she's my child too."
She had treated Jinyu badly at times, and she once didn't understand why she couldn't be a good mother. Now that she knows the truth about her origins, she feels at peace.
Jin Yu wasn't her biological child, so she couldn't love Jin Yu as much as she loved Gu Yan.
But from now on, she will continue to love Jin Yu as her adoptive mother, carrying with her the love that Gu Sanlang and his wife have for her.
Madam Yao said, "Whether Jinyu returns to the Gu family or not, she will always be my child."
Hearing Yao say this, Lord Gu was relieved. As long as Yao didn't insist on sending Jinyu away, Jinyu wouldn't leave them on her own.
That evening, the couple called Gu Yan and Gu Jinyu into their room and confessed to them that the babies had been switched at birth.
Lord Gu said solemnly, "...You all know that child; he's the young apprentice at Huichuntang."
Sure enough, Gu Yan's eyes lit up!
He didn't react much when he first heard that Gu Jinyu wasn't his biological sister, but when he learned that his sister was Gu Jiao, he was so happy he felt like he could fly.
Although Gu Yan was barely sitting, Lord Gu already had a picture in his mind: Gu Yan raising his hands, running around the room excitedly like a shaman performing a ritual!
"Uh!" Lord Gu held his forehead.
Stop thinking!
Compared to Gu Yan's excitement, Gu Jinyu was struck dumb!
She never expected that she wasn't her parents' biological child; the wild girl who was looked down upon was!
(End of this chapter)
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