Chapter 20
Qin Chen's eyes widened: "You, you, you..."
"Don't worry about such a small thing." Gu Zhizhuo patted his shoulder with a smile and explained, "It's your bad luck that you lost your lifeline. Let me ask you, do you want to live in constant fear every day, or do you want to take a gamble? If you lose, just consider it an ordeal and be done with it. If you win, you can make a fortune for decades."
"Of course, it's a gamble!"
"That's right!"
When Gu Zhizhuo was examining Qin Chen's Tai Su pulse, he discovered that Qin Chen's life force had already been severed, and his death was due between noon and 11 pm today.
If his lifeline hadn't been severed, he could have avoided this calamity simply by avoiding this time. But with his lifeline severed, it meant that one death after another would befall him until he was finally killed.
If you want to live, there is only one way—to face the calamity.
To live in the face of death.
If one survives the calamity, as long as one is lucky enough to not die, the severed life force will be restored.
Qin Chen was delighted to hear this and quickly said solicitously, "Miss Gu, since you didn't get the Red Beauty Pastry, I'll go buy you the latest storybook later. I guarantee it'll be better than yours."
"I've always had a good eye for talent, you can't go wrong with me if you listen to me."
Gu Zhizhuo suddenly felt a tickle in her toes. To avoid accidentally kicking the "injured person," she turned around and called the Baijitang staff to carry the person back. She had only said a few words when Zhou Liulang's painful cry suddenly rang out behind her.
Zhou Liulang's hand was bitten hard by Qin Luo, who cursed, "Are you a dog?!"
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Qin Luo broke free from him and rushed towards Gu Zhizhuo, shouting angrily, "You surnamed Gu!"
His face contorted with rage: "You dare meddle in my business? Tomorrow I'll sell you to the lowest brothel and let every man in the capital..."
Gu Zhizhu raised his phoenix eyes and touched the curved sword at his waist.
Zhou Liulang was so frightened that he pounced on him like a hungry tiger. Without any hesitation, he grabbed Zhou Liulang's neck with his elbow, turned his head and shouted with a pale face, "What are you standing there for? Come and help!"
"This is Miss Gu! Brother Can's sister."
After shouting, he didn't forget to smile ingratiatingly and say, "Sister, don't be angry, I'll take him away right away."
Qin Luo kicked his feet and struggled desperately, while Zhou Liulang, his face flushed red, was almost unable to hold him back.
Brother Chan!?
The other young men were stunned. They looked at each other, then suddenly yelled "Ahhh!" and rushed over. One grabbed Qin Luo's legs, another grabbed his arms, and the third simply slammed a club into the back of Qin Luo's head.
Qin Luo felt dizzy and closed his eyes, then slumped over.
Having been hit on the head with a club, Liu San threw the club away, feeling relieved: "Why didn't you do this earlier!"
Qin Wu, that foul-mouthed idiot! Zhou Liulang looked at the bloody teeth marks on his palm and gritted his teeth, saying, "Liu San, from now on, whenever he's around, don't call me."
No, no. We won't let him play with us anymore!
Gu Zhizhuo stared in disbelief at the scene.
Liu San quickly stood up straight, not forgetting to straighten his clothes, and obediently called out, "Sister."
Gu Zhizhuo: ?
What utter nonsense! This Liu San looks at least seventeen or eighteen years old, so by any reckoning, she shouldn't be calling herself "sister"!
The others smiled more enthusiastically than the next, their voices sweeter than the next, calling her "sister" repeatedly.
Liu San flattered, "Brother Can is like our own brother, and you are like our own sister."
Got it!
My elder brother lived between the capital and the northern frontier since he was a child. One year, he returned from the northern frontier and got into some trouble with some spoiled brats in the capital. Apparently, they wanted to force him to buy some wild pheasants or something he had hunted for her. My brother beat them all up one by one. One beating wasn't enough, so he beat them up twice. If anyone tried to hide, he would go to their house and beat them up. He beat them up for half a month until they all submitted.
They all obediently called him "Big Brother".
He even bragged about it to her.
“Sister, we really don’t know him well.” Liu San pointed at the unconscious Qin Luo and said with a wronged and pitiful expression, “We don’t usually play with him. He’s always with the third young master of the Prince of Jin’s mansion and the others. He came to find us today. We definitely won’t talk to him anymore.”
He looked at Gu Zhizhuo expectantly, as if asking: Can we leave now?
Gu Zhizhuo held the waist knife, his fingertips casually stroking the gemstone on the scabbard.
These sons of noble families would fight, but as long as no one was killed, no one would interfere, nor would they dare to.
With things in such a mess, the patrolling constables had actually arrived long ago, but they were still standing far away at the end of the street, only daring to peek out.
Gu Zhizhuo simply waved his hand and said, "Let's go."
Liu San felt as if she had been granted a pardon, and Zhou Liulang even said, "Sister, tomorrow we'll buy some freshly baked 'Red Beauty Pastries' to show our respect to you."
After saying that, he took off running.
They each dragged Qin Luo by one leg, laboriously pulling him to the side of the horse, then carrying him onto the horse, panting heavily from exhaustion.
Gu Zhizhuo turned to look at Qin Chen and couldn't help but mutter, "Couldn't they have brought the horse over first? Bringing the horse over first and then carrying the people up would have saved a lot of effort."
Qin Chen was somewhat dazed.
After a while, he scratched his head, hesitated, and called out, "Sister?"
"What kind of 'sister' are you calling me?!" Gu Zhizhuo pretended to kick him, and Qin Chen quickly covered his head with his hands, begging for mercy: "I was wrong."
Very pragmatic.
The surrounding area was in chaos, and the common people were still watching from a distance, afraid of being caught up in the brawl among the rich kids.
Gu Zhizhuo then had the shop assistants carry Qin Chen back to Baijitang.
After leaving the long needles in for more than half an hour, Gu Zhizhuo checked her pulse again and began to remove them. After removing each needle, she would check the wound to make sure there was no bleeding before removing the next needle.
Removing the needles and administering the needles were both mentally taxing, and a thin layer of sweat quickly appeared on her forehead.
"alright."
It took a full incense stick to remove those nine needles.
The senior doctor in the clinic quickly applied wound medicine to Qin Chen's wound and carefully bandaged it.
"Take this wound medicine back with you and use it twice a day until the scab falls off," Gu Zhizhuo instructed. "Before the scab falls off, don't let the wound get wet."
Qin Chen diligently wrote it down.
Gu Zhizhu thought for a moment and then said, "Go back to the young master first and tell him everything that happened today. Follow his instructions and don't rush back to the Jing'an Marquis's residence, lest you incur his wrath."
Being blamed for his actions wasn't a big deal for Qin Chen; what he feared was that going back rashly might implicate his aunt.
Miss Gu is right, we should ask the young master for advice first.
After giving his instructions, Gu Zhizhuo confirmed that the wound would not recur and then returned home.
Zhuque Street returned to its bustling state. For ordinary people, they were too busy making a living to care about what the rich kids were fighting about.
We exited through the side gate and returned through the same side gate.
After settling the jade lion in the stable, Gu Zhizhuo personally groomed its fur, fed it apples and carrots, and repeatedly instructed the servant to take good care of it before heading to the ceremonial gate with Qiongfang and Qingmei.
A familiar black carriage was parked in front of the ceremonial gate. Just as Gu Zhizhuo was about to take a closer look, a small figure rushed towards her and hugged her from behind.
"oops!"
Gu Zhizhuo pretended to be startled.
"Let me guess who it is!"
Qiongfang covered her mouth and chuckled.
Gu Zhizhu tilted his head, feigning distress, and guessed seriously:
"Is it a cat?"
"Dog?"
"Still... my little Aman!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Gu Zhizhuo turned around nimbly, bent down and picked up the little girl.
"I guessed right!"
Ah Man was beaming with excitement.
Gu Zhizhuo picked her up and spun her around. Aman was overjoyed and clapped her hands excitedly until they turned red.
"Aman is too heavy, you can't carry her anymore, can you?"
Gu Zhizhuo, holding Aman in his arms, smiled and curtsied to the woman who approached, calling out, "Aunt."
Gu Zhizhuo only had this one aunt, whose maiden name was Liaoliao.
She was beautiful, with bright and expressive eyes, and her every move exuded a heroic and spirited air.
Gu Zhizhuo's great-grandfather was a beggar before he joined the uprising of Emperor Taizu. The Gu family has only been established for four generations.
There is no family genealogy, nor are there any rules regarding generational naming.
My grandfather's naming method was the same as my great-grandfather's: simple and straightforward. He had three sons: Gu Taotao, Gu Weiwei, and Gu Baibai, and his only daughter was Gu Liaoliao.
Gu Zhizhuo also heard that when she was born, her grandfather generously named her and her brother Gu Cancan and Gu Yaoyao. Her father refused to agree, saying: "His name is Taotao, and his daughter's name is Yaoyao. Just by hearing the names, people will definitely think she is his sister."
Grandfather was displeased, insisting that this was a good name he had come up with after spending three whole days and nights studying the Book of Songs.
The father and son got into a fight on the training ground, and neither of them could persuade the other with force.
In the end, it was her mother who made the decision and named her "Zhizhuo".
"The peach tree is young and tender, its blossoms are bright and beautiful."
Grandfather was satisfied.
Father was happy too.
When the younger cousins came along, the two uncles were afraid that their grandfather would give them random names, so they decided to use the character "知" (zhi) as the generational name, and from then on, their grandfather was only allowed to choose one character.
Gu Liaoliao married Qin Su, the heir of the Marquis of Jing'an, who was her childhood sweetheart. After eight years of marriage, they only had one daughter, Aman, who just turned three and a half this year.
Last year, Aman fell seriously ill with a persistent high fever. After recovering, she lost her ability to speak.
It couldn't make a sound at all.
Aman nestled her little face against her affectionately, her face flushed, and a pair of dimples that looked remarkably similar to Gu Zhizhuo appeared on her chubby cheeks.
Gu Zhizhuo was overjoyed: "Our Aman isn't heavy, cousin can carry her!"
"Mmm-hmm." Ah Man nodded in agreement; she wasn't heavy!
Gu Liaoliao let the two cousins be affectionate for a while, then asked bluntly, "Yaoyao, Qin Luo said you hit him?"
"yes."
Gu Liaoliao gestured for the wet nurse to take Aman from her, and beckoned to her: "Come here and let your aunt take a look at you, are you hurt?"
Gu Zhizhuo covered her mouth and laughed, then shook her head: "No, I'm fine."
Gu Liaoliao's brows relaxed slightly, but she still couldn't help but remind her, "Next time you go out, take a few more guards with you. Just give the order to attack whoever you want. It's a small matter if you hurt others, but you must never hurt yourself."
Ah Man leaned against the wet nurse's arms and nodded solemnly in agreement.
Gu Zhizhuo tapped the tip of her nose and chuckled, "Did you understand? You're nodding."
Gu Liaoliao looked at the two cousins with a smile in her eyes, but her gaze darkened.
Qin Luo was carried back by a group of spoiled rich kids from the capital, who then dumped him at the gatehouse and ran away.
Those young men all come from prominent families in the capital, while the Jing'an Marquis's family has been declining since the old master's later years. Now, only Qin Su still has a proper job, and he hasn't moved his position for several years.
Lady Jing'an initially thought that Qin Luo had offended these boys and thus received the beating. She was heartbroken and sobbed, her makeup ruined from crying, but she dared not speak out.
Indeed, an empty shell of a noble family mansion can hardly compare to these newly rich and powerful individuals.
As a result, when Qin Luo woke up, she cried and shouted that it was her daughter Yao Yao who hit her.
This time, Lady Jing'an was no longer willing to "swallow her anger". She immediately changed her expression, smashed pots and bowls and made a scene, shouting that she wanted to settle accounts. She even cried and made a scene, insisting that Lady Jing'an take Yaoyao over to kowtow and apologize.
That's ridiculous.
She dared not utter a single word about the Zhou and Liu families.
When they faced the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, they acted like they were the ancestors.
A note from the author:
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