The days went by fast and in a blink of an eye, it was already New Year’s Eve. She had been in Gu residence for nearly a month. Qingwan quietly sighed.
“After today, I’ll be nine years old.” Qingwan said as she buried her head in Yue Niang’s chest and pulled her closer.
Yue Niang felt warmth in her heart. Regardless of whether the lady was a god or a monster or a reincarnation of any kind, she was only a child.
“You’re right. You’ll be nine then. It’s still early now. Go and have some sleep, my lady.” Yue Niang said as she stroked her soft hair with sympathy.
“This is such a joyful day. Why are the southern commoners so quiet on this day?” If it were in the capital city, there would be people releasing firecrackers early in the morning to wake everyone up.
“My lady, you might not know about this. There was firecrackers celebration in the past. However, the princess dislikes the noise, so the second master ordered the management to bribe every household with silvers and requested them to release the firecrackers at a later time.”
Qingwan gave a sarcastic smile.
He was only concerned about making his new mistress happy, why would he care about the others being upset?
His former wife had just passed away for three months. He had even held a grand wedding for the new mistress without even bothering about his own daughter’s death. Yet, he was so devoted to this princess.
Yue Niang knew what her lady was thinking and said softly, “The second master had married the princess for more than half a month and he only choose to accompany the princess every night. They are stuck with each other every single day and everywhere they go. They even go to the toilet together.”
Qingwan lowered her head and remained silent.
“What makes the people angry is that the second master treats the princess’ child as his own. The child has the best food and clothes. He treats that child better than his own. What a shameless man he is.”
Yue Niang felt unjust, but Qingwan just gave an indifferent smile.
In this world, there were too many men who were heartless and selfish. Her so-called father just made it seemed more obvious.
Knock-knock-knock. Someone knocked on the door thrice.
“Old Qian, why are you so early today? We still want to get some sleep…”
“Please do me a favor, Missus. I need to speak to Yue Niang. Here are some silvers for you to buy nice accessories…”
“You are offering more silvers today. Go ahead then, but be careful with your words when you speak to my lady.”
“This old man was pretty loyal to Yue Niang. He comes to our courtyard every day.”
“Who cares about him as long as we get the silvers? No one comes to this courtyard anyway.”
Qingwan overheard the conversation and paused for a moment. Qian Fu had never visited them this early.
“Hurry and check what’s going on, Yue Niang.”
Yue Niang flipped open the curtain and hurried out of the room.
Qingwan remained still as she tried to listen for any noise. She could not help but became suspicious when she heard nothing.
“Yue Niang!”
“I am coming.”
The voice sounded choked. Qingwan knew something was wrong and she quickly covered herself with blanket before heading out.
When Qian Fu and Yue Niang noticed that their lady had come out of the room, they hastily turned their backs to her and wiped off their tears on the faces.
“What happened?”
“My lady…”
Qingwan gave a straight face and asked sternly, “What happened?”
Qian Fu suddenly kneeled on the floor and cried, “My lady, something has happened to the Sheng household.
Qingwan stumbled and hurriedly supported herself against the wall. She asked in her trembling voice, “What happened to the Sheng household?”
“My lady, there’s news from the capital city. Ten days ago…the Sheng family was massacred.”
It was as if a thunder had roared beside her ears. Qingwan gasped and fell onto the ground.
“My lady, my lady!”
…
After treated by a few acupuncture needles, Qingwan gradually woke up.
She turned her head and looked at the two people kneeling on the floor. They were crying profusely. Her father’s surname was Sheng and was married into the Qian family, who had followed the surname Qian after that. Hence, the Sheng family was her grandparents’ household.
“Come here. I need both of you to help me with something.”
Qingwan endured her pain and said, “Qian Fu, I need you to redeem yourself out of this residence today and travel to the capital overnight to collect the bodies of the Sheng family.”
Upon hearing the phrase “collect the bodies,” Qian Fu cried even louder. He said, “My lady, if I were to leave this place, who will take care of you?”
“Don’t worry, Yue Niang will take care of me. Find a beautiful and quiet place to bury the corpses. You need to be careful on your own.”
“I’ll go right away. Please take care of yourself, my lady.”
Qingwan nodded her head as tears started to roll down her cheeks and onto her clothes. She continued and said, “Yue Niang, send Qian Fu off. On the way back, get some paper money and offer them to the Sheng family.”
“Yes, my lady.”
“Send a message on my behalf. Tell them that I will revenge for them soon.”
“My lady, you need to take care of your own health first.” Yue Niang cried.
Qingwan smiled pitifully, “Go then. I did not sleep well in the night. I wish to have some sleep now.”
…
The sound of the firecrackers was heard as people started to gather for feasts.
The main hall in the Gu residence was decorated wth colorful lights and was filled with more than ten tables. All the servants and grannies were busily serving the guests in the main hall, which was filled with laughter.
Qingwan was lying in bed. As she listened to the bustling noise outside, she slowly closed her eyes and fell asleep. She was infuriated when she heard the news about the Sheng household and was down with fever in the afternoon. As her temperature became higher, Yue Niang became panic and begged the second master for a physician.
Footsteps were heard. The curtains were drawn open and someone came to her bedside.
After a few moments, a rough hand was placed on her forehead.
“What a joyful day it is, yet she’s here lying like a corpse. It’s all her fault that I couldn’t sip the new year wine.”
Granny Tan glanced disdainfully at the person in bed and said indifferently, “Yue Niang, these are the herbs for fever. 3 bowls per day. Feed it to your lady after you cooked them.”
Reluctant to stay any longer, she hurriedly covered her nose with her handkerchief and left the courtyard after finishing her sentence.
Just as Yue Niang was about to cook the herbs in her hands, Qingwan called out to her in her hoarse voice, “Come over here.”
“My lady…” Yue Niang hesitated as she slowly walked over.
Qingwan tried to open her eyes, but all she saw was a red patch on Yue Niang’s forehead. There were stains of blood on the wound.
A drop of tear rolled down from her eyes and onto the pillow. As the daughter of a legal wife in the Gu residence, her servant actually had to beg the medical hall for a physician.
What a great way to treat his own daughter!
Instead of being angry, Qingwan felt like laughing. She revealed a smile on her face.
“Owe money, pay money. Owe life, pay life. Yue Niang, whatever hardships we are going through right now, I’ll make sure that I’ll pay them back in the future.”
The moon shone brightly and clearly, but the night remained dark as usual.
Gu Qingwan knew clearly that she had finally steeled her heart against them!