Chapter 07 Chapter 7

The stage was set up in the backyard of the mansion, by the water. As they approached, they could vaguely hear the singing of opera, which was a bit lively. It was still early, and they had just finished lunch. The breeze blew, the water rippled, and the sunlight shone on the water, which was faintly shimmering.

Mrs. Gu was already sitting there waiting for them. When she saw them coming, she stood up to greet them.

"The sisters-in-law are finally here."

I thought only the Jiang family came, but I didn't expect Gu Huaisheng to come along as well.

She was slightly surprised and couldn't help asking, "Fu Yan, why did you come here with your aunts?"

Before Gu Huaisheng could open his mouth to explain, Mrs. Lin, the second wife of Jiang, spoke first. She said eagerly, "I just happened to see Fu Yan coming back from outside, so I came here together."

Mrs. Gu nodded, indicating that she understood. She turned her head to look at her second son, Gu Huailang, who was sitting next to her playing with toys, and said, "Xiaolang, come here and pay your respects."

Mrs. Gu has two children. Gu Huaisheng is now 21 years old, while Gu Huailang is only 6 years old. The age difference between them is more than a generation. Because Gu Huailang caught a cold some time ago, he was afraid that he would pass it on to the old lady, so he did not go with her to the Jiang family. Now that he has recovered, he has returned to Mrs. Gu and is not afraid of meeting strangers.

Gu Huailang was too young to understand the play, so he just sat aside and played with Kong Ming's lock.

He looked neither like Madam Gu nor like his father, Lord Gu. Instead, he looked most like his brother, with whom he was not close. The two looked older and younger, as if they had been carved from the same mold.

Gu Huailang heard what Mrs. Gu said, walked up to the people and bowed, calling them "Aunt" and "Cousin" quite obediently. But when he met Gu Huaisheng, he was reluctant to talk to him. It was not until Mrs. Gu "threatened" him with her eyes that Gu Huailang reluctantly walked up to Gu Huaisheng and called him "Brother."

Gu Huaisheng glanced at him, but didn't seem to want to bother with him. He just said "hmm" and looked away.

Mrs. Gu invited everyone to sit down.

Although the two ladies from the Jiang family who came today were family members, they were also guests. They sat on Mrs. Gu's left and right. Jiang Jingchun and Jiang Jingfang sat next to their mother, and Gu Huailang sat on a small stool in front of Mrs. Gu.

Because the empty seat next to Jiang Jingfang was close, Gu Huaisheng walked over there. But just as he was about to lift his robe and sit down, a voice came over, "Cousin, please sit here with me."

There was a hint of urgency in his words, as if he was afraid that something of his would be stolen. His voice was a little loud, covering the sound of the actors singing and reaching Gu Huaisheng's ears.

Everyone looked at Jiang Jingchun who was speaking.

There was no way. Jiang Jingchun really couldn't bear to see Gu Huaisheng sitting with Jiang Jingfang. She had come to Gu's house with great difficulty just to see him more.

How could she see him if he was so far away from her?

Seeing the doubtful looks of the crowd and Gu Huaisheng's slightly frowned brows, Jiang Jingchun realized that her current behavior was very strange. Although she always liked to do such unconventional things in the past, such as insisting that Gu Huaisheng come to sit with her, she couldn't do that now. She still wanted to behave in front of Gu Huaisheng.

Lin sneered in his heart, he was still pretending at the door just now, but after a while, his true form was exposed.

Jiang Jingfang was not used to her behavior, as if Gu Huaisheng belonged to her alone. She wanted to be so shameless as to claim him as her own. She said directly: "My cousin can sit wherever he wants. What's it to you?"

Jiang Jingchun ignored Jiang Jingfang's sarcasm. She was afraid that Gu Huai would refuse, so she explained: "I have learned a little about tea from my grandmother these days. I heard that my cousin is also very proficient in the tea ceremony, so I wanted to ask you to try it. I have no other intentions..."

Her tone was a little anxious, fearing that Gu Huaisheng would misunderstand her.

Her expression showed everything, but now she said she didn't mean anything else.

A child who loves to tell lies.

But in the end, he still agreed to her request. The corners of his lips seemed to curve upward, but it was very faint and almost unnoticeable. He turned his head and told the servants, "Bring a set of tea sets."

Then, he sat next to Jiang Jingchun, and his pure eyes were fixed on the stage in front of him from beginning to end, as if he was listening to the opera with full concentration.

The two of them sat a little close to each other, with only a small square table between them. I don’t know if it was Jiang Jingchun’s illusion, but there seemed to be a faint smell of blood.

She just thought she had heard it wrong and didn't think much about it. Then when the tea set was brought, she quietly started to make tea.

At first they all thought she was joking, but they didn't expect her to be quite skilled in grinding tea. It seemed that she had learned a lot from the old lady during this period of time.

Jiang Jingchun was doing her work quietly. From Li's direction, all they could see was her serious profile. She looked at her silently, but no one knew what she was thinking.

Her child seemed to have really grown up.

Or maybe, I grew up a long time ago.

But this feeling didn't make her feel good. She still liked her to be like before, knowing nothing and being able to stay by her side all the time.

While she was thinking about all sorts of things, Mrs. Gu's voice came from beside her. She asked, "What do you two sisters-in-law think of today's play?"

Li came back to her senses and listened to the opera. After a moment, she heard something unusual. "Aruo, where did you find this troupe? They are really amazing."

After all, Li came from a noble family, which had many kinds of entertainment and luxury. Naturally, her vision was higher, and she understood why Mrs. Gu asked such a question as soon as she heard it.

In the past few years, most people liked to listen to Kunshan dialect, but later, a remarkable person came along and reformed this dialect, making it more gentle and catchy. This newly modified dialect, known as "ink dialect", became popular for a while and spread all over the country. Nowadays, all the nobles love to listen to it.

Mrs. Gu said, "This troupe was personally selected by Mr. Wei. He spent a lot of money to find them from Taicang. No one else can sing as well as them."

General Lin had been listening for a long time but couldn't tell what was wrong. Now after hearing what Madam Gu said, he finally understood what she meant.

She laughed dryly and agreed, "Madam is indeed a sentimental person. She listens to the best opera troupes."

It was originally meant to praise someone, but when said like this, it sounded a bit sour.

As expected, Mrs. Gu's face turned a little ugly. Mrs. Li beside her took a sip of tea and said in a neutral tone, "If everyone is like you, it will be over."

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Lin became so angry that her face turned pale and she was about to explode, but was interrupted by Mrs. Gu.

She said calmly, "It will be my mother's 60th birthday in a few days. I wanted to send this team to my mother. I called my sisters-in-law today to see if it is suitable. If not, I will ask Fu Yan to help me find a new one. Since my sisters-in-law think it is good, I will send someone to send it to the Jiang family."

It is because of these reasons.

It's no wonder that Gu Huaisheng came along, otherwise, based on his personality, he probably wouldn't like these musical instruments.

Mrs. Jiang’s sixtieth birthday is on April 18th.

Sixty is a critical juncture and must be treated with great care. Li has been busy these days in charge of this matter.

Jiang Jingchun didn't notice what those people were talking about, nor could she hear the melodious ink music on the stage. She just focused on grinding the tea in her hand. When she was serious, her round eyes were a little bright, as if she was doing something great.

She had learned all this with great difficulty, so naturally she wanted to show off in front of her cousin.

Finally, halfway through the opera, Jiang Jingchun pushed the teacup in front of him and called out, "Cousin, I'm fine. Try it."

Gu Huaisheng heard the sound and shifted his gaze from the stage to the cups in front of him.

He was silent for a moment, and no one knew what he was thinking.

Jiang Jingchun could no longer hear the sounds around her. The opera singing entered her left ear and squeezed out of her right ear. She looked at Gu Huaisheng nervously.

She saw Gu Huaisheng roll up his sleeves, then raise his hand to pick up the cup in front of him.

The slender, straight fingers looked even more beautiful against the backdrop of the cup, like glossy white jade. One could vaguely see the veins throbbing on the back of the clean white hand, with the strong tension bursting out uncontrollably.

Jiang Jingchun was about to ask him how the tea was, but his eyes were attracted by a touch of red on his sleeves, and the words were stuck in his throat.

There was a very glaring red on Gu Huaisheng's sleeve, and the spots of blood were quite conspicuous on his plain white clothes, but Jiang Jingchun didn't notice it until he raised his hand to drink tea.

Therefore, the strong smell of blood just now was not her illusion, it really came from his body.

Gu Huaisheng noticed Jiang Jingchun's slightly surprised look, but he didn't care.

He slowly put down the cup in his hand, and the tea in his mouth had a slightly sweet aftertaste.

The craftsmanship has indeed improved a lot compared to before.

In the past, the Jiang family had a nanny who gave lessons to the young ladies in the mansion, teaching them some female virtues and arts, and making tea was an essential thing to learn.

However, Jiang Jingchun was only twelve or thirteen years old at that time. She was made restless by Li's habits. She could not sit still on a chair. She was always running around and learned very little. The maids could not control her for the sake of Li's face and could only watch her mess around.

Once, several young ladies were taking a tea art class in the back garden. Jiang Runchu and Gu Huaisheng passed by there, but were unexpectedly pulled by Jiang Jingfang, who insisted that they go and taste the tea ordered by the young ladies to compare the quality.

Jiang Runchu was also free, so he pulled Gu Huaisheng to stay here for a while.

Jiang Runchu drank Jiang Jingfang's tea and the tea of ​​his other two illegitimate cousins ​​from the second house, but he just refused to drink Jiang Jingchun's bowl.

Didn't he know what kind of person Jiang Jingchun was? She said the tea she made was dishwater, and she even lifted it up. Is that something that people can drink?

Seeing that Jiang Runchu refused to drink the tea, Jiang Jingchun brought the tea to Gu Huaisheng.

She blinked and looked at him pitifully, "Cousin Gu, my brother doesn't want to drink my tea, do you want to drink it?"

Gu Huaisheng could more or less guess the reason why Jiang Runchu was unwilling, but perhaps because she looked so pitiful, he still drank the cup of tea in front of him that didn't look that good.

He was mentally prepared, but clearly he was still a little unprepared...

It's dry, astringent and hard to swallow.

He was always particular about food, and was caught off guard by the fact that he drank something like this, and his brows were almost twisted into a rope. Gu Huai's voice at that time was not as strong as it is today, and he still had a strong youthful air. He even wanted to ignore his manners and spit out the dishwater.

But when he saw Jiang Jingchun's hopeful eyes, he swallowed it down for some unknown reason.

If it weren't for the fact that her eyes were so sincere, her amber pupils seemed to be shining with golden light under the sunlight, he would have thought that she was teasing him.

After all, naughty children always like to do these pranks.

Gu Huaisheng was so stimulated by the tea that he couldn't eat for the whole day, and Jiang Runchu made fun of him about it for three days.

Jiang Jingchun's voice came from the front, and Gu Huaisheng came back to his senses from the past.

She didn't ask him how his tea was, but asked him in a hoarse voice, "Cousin, why is there blood on your sleeves......"

Gu Huaisheng glanced at his sleeves and indeed saw a few drops of dried blood on them, with a rusty color.

Jiang Jingchun looked a little uneasy, but he didn't care much and said, "He just came back from the prison of the Metropolitan Procuratorate."

Back from prison? And covered in blood.

"Is it my cousin who is interrogating me?" Jiang Jingchun didn't expect that Gu Huaisheng would use torture instruments.

Perhaps it was because he was born too handsome and elegant, so that people felt that torture instruments and interrogations had nothing to do with him.

Gu Huaisheng looked at Jiang Jingchun, his eyes were dark and there seemed to be a faint smile in them.

He looked at her and said, "Yes, it was an interrogation. After all, there are always some disobedient people in the Censorate who refuse to tell the truth. If you don't use force, you can't pry open their mouths. Just now, it took me only an incense stick of time to get him to speak. I was careless and used too much force, and some blood was stained on him."

So the blood on his body was the blood of the criminal.

It seemed like it was the first time he had spoken such a long conversation to her. His tone was very calm, but it seemed like he was talking about something very ordinary.

As if she had not expected him to say these, Jiang Jingchun was unable to react for a moment, staring at his face without blinking. The warm spring light fell on his face, and Jiang Jingchun could vaguely see his long eyelashes.

After a long time, Jiang Jingchun felt her body begin to react. She looked at him and asked, "Cousin, are you trying to scare me?"