Chapter 99 The Truth (Second Update)
Both bodyguards were speechless.
Is this a golden house or a silver house? Why are you so excited? You're even afraid someone will pull you out, look at how capable those little legs are!
Have you forgotten that you have a congenital heart condition?
Have they forgotten that their own woodshed is bigger and more luxurious than this farmhouse?
I wonder who it is that keeps complaining about the villa's living environment, saying it's not high-end or classy enough!
snort!
Double standards!
Despite their inner complaints, the two guards couldn't actually pull their young master out and take him away. He might be clueless about what he was doing, but they had to be aware of it for him.
You can't hit her, you can't touch her, you can't get angry at her—that's their sickly little darling!
Guard A: "What do we do?"
Guard B: "What can we do? Just keep watch!"
Guard A: "I mean the manor. It's not a solution to keep not going back. They'll send someone to look for us."
If I search for them, it will disturb the young master and young lady's time together, and the young master will get angry, which makes him prone to having a seizure...
The two of them sighed in unison!
How did they end up with such a spoiled little master?
After some discussion, the two decided that one of them would stay here while the other would go to the mountain villa to deliver a message.
Inside the manor, Lord Gu was directing his servants to renovate Gu Yan's courtyard, mainly to prepare a clean and tidy room for Gu Jiao, build a small flower shed, and replace her furniture with brand-new and expensive pieces.
Recognizing that girl was already a fait accompli, and he couldn't resist it.
He wanted to establish himself as a good father.
...show it to Madam Yao.
"Make the shed a little wider!" Lord Gu said sternly.
The servant said, "My lord, if it's any wider, it will weigh down the young master's pear tree."
Lord Gu scoffed, "You could kill him and he wouldn't say a word!"
As long as it's for that girl, Gu Yan wouldn't say a word even if his own room was torn down!
Thinking about how he had accidentally cut off a pear tree branch while practicing his swordplay, and how that kid had held a grudge against him for a whole month, Lord Gu felt a bit aggrieved.
Huang Zhong pondered, "My lord, isn't it too early to repair the house now? Will the young lady really come to stay? What if she doesn't come? Wouldn't you have moved the young master's pear tree for nothing?"
Lord Gu chuckled: "Don't worry, she won't not come! The siblings have such a good relationship, she can't possibly refuse Yan'er."
Huang Zhong seemed to understand but not quite. After thinking for a moment, he added, "What if the young master didn't ask?"
Lord Gu glared at him: "How could he not ask? Didn't you see how much he likes that girl? He didn't know she was his sister before, but now that he does, how could he not bring her home?"
As the two were talking, the second guard came to Lord Gu's side.
Huang Zhong drew his sword from his waist.
The guard B brandished his token: "I am the young master's guard. I am here to deliver a message to the Marquis."
The bodyguards around Gu Yan were arranged by the old Marquis. When he was young, the old Marquis trained his own army, which was later incorporated into the imperial court. Some of the soldiers who could no longer fight were kept by the old Marquis.
These secret guards are their descendants. They are highly skilled in martial arts and act mysteriously, but their numbers are small. Even Lord Gu himself doesn't have a single one by his side.
This was also the first time Lord Gu had seen the old master's bodyguard. He narrowed his eyes and said, "Did Yan'er send you to deliver the message? What? Bringing a girl back, do I have to prepare a grand spectacle in advance?"
The guard said, "My lord, you misunderstand. It wasn't the young master who sent me. He's too busy to deal with me. I've come to tell you that the young master isn't coming back."
"W-what? Who's not coming back?" Lord Gu wondered if he had misheard.
The guard, suspecting he might be hard of hearing, thought for a moment and then said, clearly and deliberately, "Your son, Gu Yan."
Lord Gu was completely bewildered: "Why isn't he coming back?"
The guard calmly said, "He's staying at Miss's house." He paused, worried that the guard might not have heard him clearly, and then said, word by word, "He's your daughter, Gu Jiao."
Lord Gu exploded: "You don't need to tell me! I know it's that girl!"
The guard looked at him strangely: "That's strange. When I said 'young master,' you didn't realize it was your son, but when I said 'young lady,' you realized it was that girl. Aren't you being too biased?"
Lord Gu: I couldn't believe it, I couldn't believe it, do you understand?!
The second guard did not understand.
It wasn't taught in the assassin course.
Lord Gu was so angry his chest ached. "I told you to bring that girl back! Who told you to let the girl kidnap you?!"
The news quickly reached the Yao family as well.
Madam Yao has already moved back to Gu Yan's courtyard. In fact, she woke up not long after Gu Yan left.
As expected, she still couldn't keep an eye on her son, and Madam Yao shook her head helplessly.
Her reluctance to let her son go out wasn't entirely out of concern that his health couldn't handle it; she was also wondering if her daughter had fully processed her past, and whether her son's sudden visit to her would cause her distress.
When she learned that Gu Yan had settled in her daughter's village, Madam Yao breathed a sigh of relief.
The fact that her daughter is willing to accept Gu Yan shows that she doesn't feel disturbed and may have already accepted her background.
Granny Fang, however, was somewhat worried: "Madam, the conditions in the village are so poor. How can the young master, who is so pampered, get used to living here?"
Granny Fang is somewhat stubborn and self-willed, which makes her annoying, but her loyalty to Madam Yao and Gu Yan is genuine. As for Gu Jiao, Granny Fang doesn't quite like her yet.
Madam Yao smiled and said, "Jiaojiao will take good care of him."
Granny Fang said, "I'm not used to the food either."
Madam Yao said gently, "Jiaojiao is a doctor. She knows more than we do. She knows what Yan'er can and cannot eat. And as long as it's made by her, Yan'er won't have any problems eating it."
Granny Fang disagreed: "She's just a junior medicine boy who happened to treat the madam twice. It doesn't mean she has excellent medical skills."
Madam Yao held the housekeeper's hand and said gently and solemnly, "Housekeeper, you don't understand Jiaojiao yet. Once you do, you will like her too."
Granny Fang shook her head secretly.
As servants, how could they possibly like or dislike their masters? Since she was the lady's daughter, she would treat her as her own mistress from now on. She would apologize for any past offenses she might have committed.
However, the child's heart was too cold; she feared that the lady could not warm it up at all.
When Lord Gu came to find Madam Yao, she was packing her things.
Lord Gu asked in confusion, "What are you doing?"
Madam Yao said, "Prepare a few sets of clean clothes for Yan'er and send them over."
The tone was relatively mild.
She is currently unaware that Lord Gu injured Gu Jiao. Gu Jiao is not the type to tattle, and even if she were, she wouldn't bring up her grudges with Lord Gu to Madam Yao. Madam Yao suffers from severe hysteria and depression, and as a doctor, Gu Jiao will try her best to avoid stimulating her.
Lady Yao was in a good mood after finding her daughter, and even her attitude towards Lord Gu became much more pleasant.
Lord Gu felt relieved, but after realizing the meaning behind those words, he was not so happy: "You want to send clothes to Yan'er? Do you really intend to let Yan'er stay there?"
"Is it not allowed?" Yao asked back.
"Ah..." Lord Gu hesitated, finally Yao Shi stopped giving him a hard time, if he didn't know better, Yao Shi would ignore him again. He smiled and said, "It's possible, I'm just worried that Yan'er won't be used to living away from you."
“That’s true.” Madam Yao nodded.
Lord Gu was overjoyed, but then he heard Madam Yao say, "Why don't I move there too?"
Lord Gu: "...!!"
Stop! Stop!
How could you move there?!
"Forget it, I'd better not rush things, it might scare her." Yao had sensed her daughter's feelings towards her last time... saying she was rejecting her might not be the right word, but in short, her daughter didn't seem to be planning to accept her yet.
Lord Gu breathed a sigh of relief.
Before he could fully relax, he heard Yao say, "Maybe... I should go and ask her?"
Lord Gu shook his head like a rattle-drum!
Suddenly, Lord Gu had a flash of inspiration. He grabbed the portrait on the table and said to Madam Yao, "Oh dear, she has suffered for so many years before we appeared. She must not accept us so easily. Going there like this will scare her! Have Yan'er persuade her for a few days first! If you really miss her, just look at her portrait more often!"
“What you said does make some sense.” Madam Yao did indeed miss her daughter. Her portrait was on the table, and she looked at it day and night, never getting enough of it.
Madam Yao's gaze fell upon her daughter's portrait, and her expression softened.
“My lord,” Madam Yao suddenly spoke up, “what’s with the red spots on Jiao Jiao’s face? Is she sick?”
She had wanted to ask this for a long time, but she and Gu Jiao were strangers before, so it wasn't convenient to ask. Even after they recognized each other, she still didn't have a chance to ask.
Lord Gu said, "I'm not sick. The family said it was congenital, and it was there when I came back from the temple. It wasn't so obvious when I was little, but the birthmark has grown bigger as I've gotten older."
“No.” Madam Yao frowned and shook her head. “I saw my daughter when she was born. She was no different from any other baby. If she really had a birthmark, I would remember it.”
Lord Gu's eyes widened: "You haven't made a mistake again, have you?"
Could it be that the girl wasn't his and Yao's child?
“Jiaojiao is my daughter, I’m sure of that, but I don’t understand why her face is like this.”
The midwife had passed away, and the servants had retired and returned to their hometowns. For a while, they really didn't know where to find the person from that night.
After a moment of contemplation, a thought flashed through Yao's mind: "No, there's another person who has seen Jiaojiao."
"who?"
"Abbot."
——
The two immediately set off for the temple.
Upon hearing the purpose of their visit, the abbot was quite distraught: "What did you two say? You've switched babies? The girl with the birthmark on her face is the Marquis's daughter?"
Yao said in a gentle voice with a hint of urgency, "Yes, the abbot should have seen her. She came to the temple to see you twice."
It would be unreasonable for the abbot not to be able to guess who that person was.
Could it be that the vague memory wasn't just a drunken dream, but that he accidentally smeared a large amount of virginity mark on the baby's face because his hand was shaking?
"Amitabha Buddha... I'm so sorry!"
The abbot, feeling ashamed, explained the incident.
When a wealthy family's daughter was born in Zhao Kingdom, the midwife would apply a cinnabar mark to her navel. Yao's servants also instructed the midwife to do the same.
But no one in the countryside needed this service, and the midwife didn't have the skill. She couldn't admit she didn't know how, for fear of not getting paid, so she went to the abbot.
If the abbot were sober, he wouldn't have agreed, but he was tricked by his unreliable junior brother into drinking a sip of pear blossom wine.
I got him drunk in one gulp.
He said he had never applied the "virginity mark".
The midwife said, "But you've done ordination scars on the monks at the temple, isn't that similar?"
The drunken and confused abbot felt that what the midwife said made a lot of sense!
So he went.
Then his hands started shaking.
After that, it seems he was going to find his junior brother, but unexpectedly he fell to the ground and fell asleep halfway there.
He slept for three days and three nights. The first thing he did after waking up was to go and apologize to Madam Yao. He found Madam Yao holding a fair-skinned baby girl. The baby girl's face was clean and white, without any trace of virginity mark.
The midwife also went down the mountain, and I never saw her again.
"...I have always thought that I was having a dream."
Lord Gu asked, "What about Madam Xu? Didn't she notice that there was something on the child's face?"
The abbot said, "Ms. Xu fell into a coma after giving birth and only woke up the next day. I dare to guess that when she saw the child, the baby had probably been switched at birth."
Because Xu was in a coma and unable to take care of the children, the midwife put the two children in the same room. Gu Jiao was born first, and Gu Jinyu was born a little later.
Gu Yan was the last to give birth.
Both baby girls were swaddled in the Yao family's swaddling clothes, so at first glance, it was easy to get confused.
The midwife was originally present, but she went to the toilet due to abdominal pain, and when she returned, the cinnabar had already been applied.
Although it was no longer possible to verify with the midwife, Madam Yao and the Marquis could easily guess what had happened at the time.
The midwife noticed the birthmark on the child's face and knew something serious had happened. She quickly made an excuse to leave the mountain that very night.
When the servants of the Marquis's mansion came to take the child, they saw that Gu Jiao had a red birthmark on her face. The young lady's face was usually clear, so they naturally assumed that she was Xu's child.
Afterwards, the baby girl's arm did not have the cinnabar mark. Madam Yao assumed it had fallen off because it hadn't been applied properly, and after returning to the capital, she had someone apply it to Gu Jinyu again.
That should be the whole story.
After the couple left, the abbot was unable to calm down for a long time.
He went to his junior brother's courtyard with a cold face, found a certain monk lying unceremoniously under a tree sunbathing, and indignantly told him about the mix-up: "...Do you know that you have caused me to make a big mistake!"
The monk removed the Buddhist scriptures covering his face, revealing a handsome face that was both alluring and bewitching.
He spread his hands innocently and smiled nonchalantly, "How can you blame me? I had no idea that my first batch of wine would have such a strong aftereffect?"
The abbot was furious: "You're still denying it! You lied to me and said it wasn't wine!"
He sighed, "How old was I back then? I was still a child. Senior brother, you were fooled by a child. Isn't it because you're not smart enough? Besides, I didn't do it on purpose. I really wasn't sure if I had successfully brewed the wine. I'm a child and can't drink alcohol, so I can only ask you to try it first, senior brother."
The abbot exploded: "Are you asking me to taste the wine, or are you asking me to taste the poison?!"
The monk said innocently, "Ahem, senior brother, if you see through it, don't say it out loud. Leave some face for us."
The abbot was furious with him: "And another thing, who is twelve years old and still calls themselves a child? Master Jingkong is just like you, that's why he's so troublesome!"
When Jingkong was mentioned, the monk remained silent for a few seconds, clearly unable to refute the fact that the young Jingkong was particularly troublesome.
Actually, this junior brother was a genius since he was a child. He always loved to tinker with some strange little inventions. No one taught him; he would go down the mountain to see things and then come back to tinker with them on his own.
Alcohol wasn't even the most terrifying thing. Once, he mixed insect repellent powder, but it turned into arsenic, poisoning all the monks in the temple.
He almost died himself.
The abbot asked him more than once: How did you grow so big?
The monk smiled and said, "Alright, I tricked my senior brother the abbot once, but you also sold out my disciple. We're even now!"
The abbot said, "Weren't you happier than anyone else when Jingkong left? How can this be even?"
He shrugged and sighed softly, "Senior brother, we agreed to save face, right? How could I be that happy? I'm only a little happy, the rest is sadness."
The abbot gave him a cold look: "Ha, is that so? Then this old monk will go and bring Jingkong back right away!"
He sprang to his feet with a swift movement: "Oh no, please don't!"
——
After Yao went down the mountain, she sent a carriage to Qingquan Village to deliver things to the two children, including clothes for Gu Yan and clothes that Yao had chosen for Gu Jiao.
Gu Yan thought they were there to take her back to the manor, so she refused to come out of the house no matter what they said.
Yao had no choice but to hand over all the clothes to Gu Jiao.
Little Jingkong went to school, and no one stopped Lord Gu, but he was blocked at the door by a few chickens!
Several chirping chicks hopped onto the threshold and lined up in a row, actually forming a formation!
The chicks were eyeing him intently, pecking at him whenever he got close!
Lord Gu wanted to kick them away, but as soon as he lifted his foot, the chicks started chirping!
Yao looked at him.
He pulled his feet back, straightened up, and smiled!
Lord Gu: In my lifetime, I have never lost to a few chickens!
(End of this chapter)
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