Chapter 9: Recovering from illness without medicine

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Chapter 9.
While her parents put on a full martial arts show, Gu Yu Qi was not idle.
Tears and snot covered her face.
Seeing her daughter crying in grief, Liang-shi punched Gu Huai Zhong again in haste.
Her punches were extremely sly and capricious and even Gu Huai Zhong who had been on the battlefield for such a long time had not realised that his wife had such strength.
For a moment, he was caught off-guard and was hit in the face by Liang-shi.
He covered his nose and took two steps backwards.
The pain… His eyes watered instantly.

Wow, the bridge of his nose had turned blue! When she saw this, Gu Yu Qi secretly stuck her tongue out at him and said to herself that her mother should have vented almost everything by now.
After all, that cheap scumbag was still the Marquis and if they continued to fight, she was afraid she would not be able to back down with grace.
She immediately rushed into Liang-shi’s arms and hugged Liang-shi’s slender waist, “Mother, it’s all my fault.
Don’t be angry with my father.
Even if my eldest younger brother refuses to recognise me, I won’t say anything more about it.
Calm down, Mother.” She did not forget to make a jab at Gu Si Yang again.

Gu Yu Qi cried pitifully, her body wracked with sobs.
Liang-shi hurriedly retracted her hands and wrapped her arms around her daughter’s weak body.
She glared fiercely at Gu Huai Zhong.

Gu Huai Zhong was furious from being beaten up, but his daughter was crying and her little shoulders were shaking.
She lay delicately in Liang-shi’s arms, looking at him secretly with shock and fear.
He could only sigh from the bottom of his heart.
After all, he was in the wrong.
The reason for today’s incident was also because he had spoiled Gu Si Yang.
Speaking of which, his daughter and Liang-shi had done nothing wrong.

“Has Madam vented all her anger?” He could only ask with a smile, “Ah Nan, don’t cry.
Father will teach Si Yang a lesson.
The rules of the Marquis’ residence still have to be followed.
I’ll have Si Yang come and apologise to you, okay?”

Vented all her anger? She had waited ten years, this punch had only paid a little interest! Liang-shi snorted coldly and ignored Gu Huai Zhong’s words.
Instead, she carefully wiped her daughter’s tears with a handkerchief and coaxed her softly.

“Father.” Gu Yu Qi called out to Gu Huai Zhong, pretending to be frightened.
Then she stretched out her hand and tugged on the corner of his shirt, “Father, can you not be angry with Mother and I in the future? I promise I’ll be obedient.
I’ve memorised all the books that Father wanted me to memorise.
I’ll recite it to Father.” After speaking, she stood up straight and in a weak voice, she recited the Analects of Confucius and the other books that Gu Huai Zhong had given her before, word for word.

Gu Huai Zhong originally did not have the heart to listen.
He just wanted to listen casually and tell Gu Yu Qi to stop after two sentences.
However, Gu Yu Qi’s recitation was not bad at all and it made Gu Huai Zhong’s eyes shine.

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“What else can you do?” Gu Huai Zhong interrupted and asked Gu Yu Qi after she recited a paragraph.

“What Father taught and what Mother taught me just now, I’ve remembered it all.” Gu Yu Qi said weakly.
In her heart, however, she felt great disdain.
Apart from the swordsmanship and marksmanship techniques just then, the other things were all familiar to her from the previous life.
In the previous life, she had worked hard to get ahead!

“You already remember what your mother just taught you? You only heard it twice.” Gu Huai Zhong said in surprise.
He had also memorised the swordsmanship and marksmanship techniques in the past.
They were incredibly difficult to pronounce and it took him three days to memorise it by force.
How could his daughter remember it after only listening to it twice?

“Yes.” Gu Yu Qi nodded, “I’ll recite it to Father.” After she finished speaking, she recited everything Liang-shi had taught her.

A faint smile appeared on the corner of Liang-shi’s mouth.
She raised her eyebrows slightly and looked at Gu Huai Zhong, ‘My daughter is much smarter than you were back then.’ Gu Huai Zhong saw her subconscious little action and felt a slight movement in his heart.
Back then, she had accidentally fallen off horseback.
He had happened to pass by and rescued her from the fall.
While she was still in shock, she had raised her eyebrows at him proudly.
Liang Huai Yu’s current expression was similar to her expression back then.

Gu Huai Zhong stared blankly at Liang-shi and forgot to listen to the second half of his daughter’s recitation.
He was in a trance up until Gu Yu Qi finished reciting the techniques.

“Father?” Aware of her father’s distraction, Gu Yu Qi tugged at the hem of Gu Huai Zhong’s clothes and Gu Huai Zhong quickly withdrew his gaze.
It was not that he had not loved Liang-shi back then, but he had forgotten that initial feeling after so many years… The pressure he felt from General Liang had been too intense and he only felt like he was needed with Liu Yue.
For Liang Huai Yu, he slowly forgot her good points and only remembered her identity.

“Then Father will give you another book.
See how long it’ll take you to recite it.” Gu Huai Zhong restrained his thoughts and took out a booklet from his clothes.
He had just copied these military strategies and tactics in the study and had slipped it into his clothes when he rushed over to Wan Xin Zhai.

Memorization was Gu Yu Qi’s forte.
In the modern era, she had relied on her good memory to deal with exams!

Gu Y Qi took the booklet and only read it twice before reciting it in front of Gu Huai Zhong and Liang-shi.

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This time, Liang-shi did not patronise Gu Huai Zhong as even she was very surprised.
She wrapped her arms around her daughter with surprise and joy, “Marquis, our daughter is actually a child prodigy!” Why had she not discovered this before?

“Indeed!” Gu Huai Zhong was also pleasantly surprised.
The matter of regaining face for Liu Yue had been flung to the four winds.

This was a good feeling! Gu Huai Zhong looked at his daughter carefully.
Although Gu Yu Qi was still young and had not fully grown, she had the eyebrows of a beauty and was a little more delicate than her mother, Liang-shi.
In the future, she would definitely be a great beauty.
Beauty was easy to find but it was difficult to find a beauty full of natural talent!

Among the emperor’s descendants, many of them were the same age as Gu Yu Qi.
If he could spread Gu Yu Qi’s name as a genius as soon as possible, then it was likely that his daughter could marry into the imperial family in the future! Then it would be even better for Gu Si Yang.

Gu Yu Qi saw that Gu Huai Zhong was staring unblinkingly at herself, but she did not know what Gu Huai Zhong was thinking.

She had deliberately shown her unforgettable ability in front of Gu Huai Zhong to divert his attention.
As a wife, Liang-shi had hit her husband’s nose until it had almost been crooked.
If he made a fuss about it, then it would look bad for everyone.
They needed to stop before going too far… “But what did I do wrong?” Gu Yu Qi could not help but ask as she was being stared at by Gu Huai Zhong until she had goosebumps.

“Nothing! You did too well!” Gu Huai Zhong slapped his thigh.
He was an upstart in the imperial court and could only rely on the emperor’s favour.
Now the war had ended and after a long period of peace, the emperor might gradually forget his life-saving favour.
After all, being rescued was not a glorious thing and the emperor would not always talk about it.
A minister could not remind the emperor, hey, don’t forget I saved your life.
If things continued like this, the Marquis’ residence would lose its prominence.
If she could marry into the imperial family, then their status would be different.

Could a so-called aristocratic family be greater than an imperial family?

It seemed that he would have to come here to Liang-shi’s and her daughter’s place more often.
Gu Huai Zhong was born to a poor family.
He had been able to climb up to this position because he had better long-term vision than others.

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He said some comforting words to Liang-shi, then stood up and left Wan Xin Zhai.

After he left, Liang-shi could not help but burst into laughter.
The punches just now had given her great relief.
It was just that after laughing, her eyes were filled with a faint sadness.

Ten years, she had waited fullheartedly for ten years, but all that affection had been wiped out by the few punches just now.
She had thought that she would not be able to strike and had not expected that her punching would come so naturally.
It turned out that the term ‘husband’ had already become nothing but a symbol in her heart.
It was good this way.
Since she could see her heart clearly, she did not have to be blindly entangled anymore.
The Gu Huai Zhong from back then, that handsome young man, lived only in her memory.
The current Gu Huai Zhong was only the Ding Yuan Marquis, nothing more.

Gu Yu Qi quietly watched the change in her mother’s eyes.
Her heart soured a little but she mostly felt relieved.
She had experienced everything her mother had experienced; longing for a person but having her whole-hearted love turn into a wisp of blue smoke that dissipated in the wind.

She hugged Liang Huai Yu’s waist and said softly, “Mother, if you’re unhappy here, we can leave.”

Liang Huai Yu’s heart was about to melt.
Her daughter was only ten years old, but it was as though she could see through her heart.
She did not say anything and simply hugged her daughter tightly.

“Madam.” Chun Xing’s voice sounded from outside the door.
Liang Huai Yu quickly let go of Gu Yu Qi and let Chun Xing in.

“Reporting back to Madam and Eldest Young Miss.” Chun Xing said after a curtsey, “I went to track down the little white dog that Eldest Young Miss spoke about.
That dog was brought in by the chef from Concubine Liu’s kitchen.
They said the Marquis liked to eat dog meat in the winter so he caught one.
That dog has already been cooked.
I also checked that on the day Eldest Young Miss fell into the water, all of Concubine Liu’s servants were in Wang Yue Ju, except for the chef who had gone out of the residence, so the dog chewed through the rope and ran out, scaring Eldest Young Miss.”

Sure enough, the matter was related to Concubine Liu.
However, if Concubine Liu really wanted to kill Gu Yu Qi, she would not leave any clues.

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Liang Huai Yu’s eyes were freezing cold.

She had still been able to tolerate Liu-shi and her two children, yet Liu-shi already could not tolerate Gu Yu Qi and herself!

“Mother, the only way to prevent people from knowing something is to not do it.
If Concubine Liu really wanted to harm Mother and I, I’m afraid that although this time was a failure, there will be a next time.” Gu Yu Qi thought logically.
“Forget about it since we did not know before.
Now that we’re aware of it, we must be on guard.
All we should do now is to wait quietly.”

Yes, her daughter was right.
Since Liu-shi had this heart, then there would be another attempt after this failure.

The corners of Liang-shi’s mouth twitched slightly.
She was a tiger who did not show its power, but Liu-shi only regarded her as an ill cat.

“When the servant market opens next time, Mother will take you to buy a few maids to serve you personally,” Liang-shi said after thinking for a while.

“Thank you, Mother,” Gu Yu Qi thanked her with a smile.

In her previous life, all of her maids in her Dan Xia courtyard were arranged by Liu-shi apart from Yan Zhi.
Their purpose was just to monitor her every move.
She had not cared too much since her goal was not this family, but that cold person.
However, this life was different.
Even if Liang-shi did not mention it, she would have brought it up.
Now that Liang-shi brought it up first, Gu Yu Qi was naturally happy.

By Liang-shi’s side, there was Nanny Zhang, four personal maids, and ten guards, all brought from Jiangnan.
They were all trustworthy, but Gu Yu Qi had no one else besides Yan Zhi.
Since Liang-shi had taken Liu-shi’s matter to heart, it was natural she would protect her daughter first.
Everyone in the residence was chosen by Liu-shi, so none of them could be used.
Hence, she would go to the servant market to buy a few smart people, then come back and teach them well and put them by Gu Yu Qi’s side.
That was how it would work.

Liang-shi had let out some bad feelings and now had a fighting spirit.
She felt that her body was much lighter and it seemed like her illness had been cured without medicine.