Chapter 2
Gu Zhizhu chuckled softly.
"Young lady..."
Qiongfang was both anxious and angry. She clearly remembered that during the game of pitch-pot, the second young lady Qiu's arrow had missed and was heading towards the young lady Ji. If the third prince hadn't deflected the arrow, the eldest young lady wouldn't have suffered such an undeserved disaster! And now…
Qiongfang's eyes widened as she realized something: "Young lady, the Third Prince's beloved, could it be Miss Ji?"
"yes."
Gu Zhizhuo sneered inwardly.
Her birth mother was from the Langya Wang clan and passed away when she was less than six years old.
Her father remarried Ji Shi by imperial decree. Ji Nanke was Ji Shi's own niece. Because her parents died and she had no one to take care of her, she went to the Zhenguo Duke's Mansion with Ji Shi and was raised there from childhood. Gu Zhizhuo would usually call her "cousin".
After her father died in battle, she and her brother had to observe a 27-month mourning period, which ended at the beginning of the month.
Having stayed indoors for a long time, she was unaware that Xie Jing was deeply in love with Ji Nanke and was pursuing her relentlessly.
Gu Zhizhuo glanced at the water clock and suddenly said, "It's almost time." After saying that, she got up and walked straight to the door, opening it herself.
The moment the side hall door opened, dazzling sunlight poured down on her, bringing a newfound warmth.
Gu Zhizhuo, unsurprisingly, met a pair of beautiful phoenix eyes.
The girl standing in front of the door had snow-white skin, black hair, bright eyes, and white teeth. She paused for a moment, then pouted and deliberately snorted loudly, "I didn't come here to see you!"
Gu Zhizhuo's gaze shifted slightly upwards, landing on her left hand as she was about to knock on the door, and she raised an eyebrow.
The girl casually withdrew her hand, touched the pearl hairpin at her temple, and looked away.
She stubbornly insisted, "I was just passing by!"
She flicked her sleeve, making a move to leave.
Gu Zhizhuo, quick-witted and agile, grabbed her sleeve, shook it gently, and called out softly, "Cousin Danling~"
Her tone was sweet, and she even lingered at the end of her sentence. Xie Danling was clearly charmed by this, and the corners of her mouth immediately turned up.
The concubine in the palace was surnamed Wang, and she and Gu Zhizhuo's biological mother were full sisters.
Xie Danling was the only daughter of Consort Shu and the fifth princess of the emperor, only three days older than Gu Zhizhuo.
In her memory, Consort Shu had told her privately not long ago that Xie Jing was not a good match. If she wished, Consort Shu would find a way to ruin the marriage.
However, due to her own ignorance, she was easily misled by her stepmother and began to suspect that Consort Shu had ulterior motives, which angered Consort Shu greatly and also caused Xie Danling to sulk with her.
In her previous life, Xie Danling had also come and tried to pull her away.
Her face was in pain at the time, and she didn't want to go out. They ended up arguing a few more times, and Xie Danling stormed off in a huff.
On that very day, after the palace banquet, palace servants discovered Xie Danling, who was on the verge of death.
She fell from the octagonal glazed pavilion, her head hitting a rock directly, and blood was everywhere...
Xie Danling turned her head to look at her, pouting her lips. Her bright face shone in the sunlight, and this vibrant appearance overlapped with that of the thin, bony girl lying on the bed in her previous life.
Gu Zhizhuo's fingers unconsciously tightened, making his sleeves crumpled.
Xie Danling's gaze lingered on her still slightly swollen cheeks.
"It's alright," Gu Zhizhuo quickly said, "the swelling will go down soon."
Xie Danling scoffed, "I wasn't worried about you." Then, she pulled out a veil, her words contradicting her true feelings.
"Here you go." She shoved the veil into Gu Zhizhuo's hand and said dryly, "Let me make this clear first, I'm not here to beg for peace!" The expression on her face clearly said: If you don't come to coax me, I won't be with you anymore.
Gu Zhizhu suppressed a laugh and obediently unfolded and put on the veil, saying with some difficulty, "Cousin Danling, could you help me tie it?"
Xie Danling said with a stern face, "You're such a nuisance."
Qiongfang moved her lips, wanting to say that she could come, but seeing the Fifth Princess's enthusiastic expression, she wisely swallowed her words.
Xie Danling tied her veil, and hearing her say "Cousin Danling, you're the best" made her feel great.
Just as he was about to mercifully express his forgiveness, a young palace maid hurried in from outside and whispered a few words to Xie Danling.
Xie Danling's smile faded, she waved the little palace maid away, grabbed her hand, and said in an unyielding tone, "You, come with me."
"You're not allowed to say you won't go! Do you hear me?!"
Gu Zhizhuo let her lead him and obediently said, "Wherever you go today, I'll go too."
Xie Danling was satisfied and pulled her along, striding outside.
It was April, and flowers were in full bloom. Several kites floated in the blue sky and white clouds. Roses were planted all around the waterside pavilion, and many noble ladies were chasing butterflies and playing, their laughter filling the air.
Xie Danling did not return to the water pavilion, but continued forward along the bluestone path.
She walked faster and faster, and Gu Zhizhuo followed without saying a word.
A melodious flute tune drifted from afar.
Xie Danling suddenly stopped, and Gu Zhizhuo, who lost his balance, bumped into her.
Xie Danling quickly grabbed her, patted her chest to calm her down, and muttered, "Look at you, so impulsive."
Gu Zhizhuo: "..."
The next moment, Xie Danling's pretty face hardened, and the more she looked at her veil, the more irritating it became. She said angrily, "My mother said that my third brother is not a good match."
"He's now willing to hurt your face for someone surnamed Ji."
“In the future, he might plot to kill you for the sake of that Ji fellow.”
Gu Zhizhuo nodded silently; what he said was absolutely right.
Xie Danling put her hands on her hips: "What, you're still not convinced?"
Gu Zhizhuo took her arm and affectionately rested his head on her shoulder: "I was wrong."
Xie Danling's anger instantly vanished.
She said somewhat awkwardly, "It's good that you know you're wrong."
"Let me tell you, Ji Nanke is just playing hard to get! Go out and ask around, who in the capital doesn't know that the Third Prince is deeply in love with her but can't have her? Everyone in the capital can see it, is she the only one who's blind?"
Xie Danling chuckled coldly: "But what did she say outside? She said that the Gu family had raised her and that she would never overstep her bounds."
"Hmph, I've seen plenty of this kind of petty-mindedness in the palace."
"You're so stupid. You'll get sold out and still have to pay the seller for the money."
Xie Danling tapped her forehead hard with her finger and snorted, "You're not allowed to be with her anymore, understand?"
Gu Zhizhuo raised his head slightly, his clear black and white eyes glistening with a thin layer of moisture, and declared, "From now on, I will only be close to Cousin Danling!"
That's more like it! Xie Danling's phoenix eyes curved into crescents, and her tone softened: "It's not your fault. You were in mourning and didn't go out much. Plus, your stepmother was the housekeeper, keeping an eye on things. How could she know about their lovey-dovey relationship?"
Feeling that they had reconciled, she affectionately called Gu Zhizhuo by his childhood name: "Yaoyao, Father just rewarded Third Brother with a pair of three-foot swords inlaid with gold and jewels. Zhou Liulang was there making a fuss, asking Third Brother to try the swords. Third Brother agreed, saying that such fine swords would be too boring to just try them out, so he invited Ji Nanke to go sword dancing with him."
At this point, Xie Danling gave a soft snort.
Xie Danling was furious when she heard the news from the palace maid.
Xie Jing's ostentatious display during the Autumn Festival, as if afraid others wouldn't know he had a sweetheart, was utterly disrespectful to his little cousin.
Xie Danling couldn't tolerate it!
"It's just ahead, I'll take you there!"
Xie Danling took her hand and continued walking forward.
Soon, an octagonal pavilion with jewels inlaid on its eaves came into view.
Each of these gems was polished to the size of a soybean, and they were laid out in abundance, shimmering with iridescent light under the sunlight, which also reflected on Ji Nanke, who was dancing with her sword in the pavilion.
She has a graceful figure and her dance moves are light and graceful.
The sword tip trembled slightly, and the gemstone on the hilt shimmered, making her look stunningly beautiful, both delicate and charming. The allure that emanated from her very being made her otherwise aloof features even more radiant.
The longswords clashed, producing a crisp sound. Ji Nanke and Xie Jing passed each other, their eyes lingering on each other, seemingly filled with affection.
Xie Jing's mind and eyes were completely focused on Ji Nanke, and he didn't even notice Gu Zhizhuo and the others coming in.
"Heh," Xie Danling crossed her arms and whispered to her little cousin, "So, this is what it means to not overstep the bounds?"
Her voice was neither too loud nor too soft. When the flute music paused, Zhou Liulang hesitated, put down his flute, and stood up with the others to pay his respects.
"Greetings, Fifth Princess."
Zhou Liulang was only sixteen or seventeen years old, and his aunt was Consort Zhen in the palace.
It wasn't just him; most of the people here were the sons and nephews of the imperial concubines, who were dependent on the empress.
In her previous life, Xie Danling barely survived an accident, but never regained consciousness.
Later, because the pavilion was not repaired in time, the princess fell and was injured. The emperor was furious, and several eunuchs from top to bottom were beaten to death.
That's the end of that.
Gu Zhizhuo didn't believe it. Even if Xie Danling really fell by herself, why didn't any palace servants notice? They didn't find her until evening.
Even though it was the birthday celebration and the palace was busy, the palace servants all performed their duties. Not to mention in the palace, even in an ordinary family's residence, a birthday banquet wouldn't cause such chaos that someone would fall and get injured without being noticed for a long time.
At that time, she was in dire straits herself, so there was no way to investigate.
Many years later, Gu Zhizhuo found Zhou Liulang and forced him to reveal what had happened back then...
Her younger cousin, in an attempt to avenge her, provoked Ji Nanke and was pushed off the pavilion by Xie Jing.
Zhou Liulang told her that Xie Danling was still crying out in pain when she fell, but Xie Jing coldly said that she was faking it and that he would teach her a lesson. He forbade anyone to call the imperial physician and sent away all the palace servants who were serving nearby, ordering them not to come near.
Gu Zhizhuo's fingertips were icy cold.
Even now, she still remembers clearly what Zhou Liulang said at the time: "...The next day, we heard that the Fifth Princess was badly injured and couldn't wake up. His Highness the Third Prince sent someone to warn us that no one was allowed to spread the news about the Autumn Festival. The Third Prince said that the Fifth Princess had just fallen by accident and that she had brought this upon herself."
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