Chapter 123 - The past
Chapter 123 The past
Being on the road at night was truly a troublesome matter. Moreover, the condition of the roads in the ancient times was not very good. The jolts of the carriage plus the heavy load on their minds made Gu Xiran and Shu Huan had no thoughts of sleeping. It was just that sitting with their eyes open till dawn was also very difficult to bear. In the end, Gu Xiran laid a thick piece of clothes on his lap to let Shu Huan close her eyes for a moment.
She felt an inexplicable sense of security as she pillowed on his legs. She felt sleepy, but suddenly she vaguely heard the sound of crying. It sounded a bit creepy in the middle of the night. She was immediately awake, sat up and turned her puzzling eyes at Gu Xiran.
Gu Xiran raised the curtain a bit and asked the driver on the outside, “Who is crying?”
The driver listened intently and said, “Answering second young master, the cries came from the carriage behind us. Presumably, that person thought of eldest young master and felt sad.”
Inside the carriage behind them were concubine Yun and mother Du. One wouldn’t have much of a deep friendship with Gu Xitian; the other had never met Gu Xitian. Even if they wanted to cry, they wouldn’t pick this moment to cry.
The two listened carefully. Hearing that the cries didn’t slow down but got more intense instead, they quickly called the driver to stop the carriage.
Their carriage was at the forefront. The moment they stopped, the carriages behind them also stopped. When they got out the carriage, they saw that Du Qiu was already in the carriage where mother Du was at and he asked her about what the matter was.
The cries continued and mother Du apparently didn’t answer.
Shu Huan and Gu Xiran walked to the carriage and looked inside through the half-opened curtain. They saw mother Du and concubine Yun holding each other as they cried miserably. They were puzzled.
“What had happened? Why are you crying?” Shu Huan couldn’t help but ask.
Only now did mother Du raise her head and looked at her once. She wanted to answer, but she couldn’t stop a sob from coming out first. She had to cover her mouth to not lose too much composure.
This…
Shu Huan looked helplessly at Gu Xiran and found out that he was looking pensively. She couldn’t help but get startled and suddenly a thought emerged in her head. She immediately frowned and was lost in her thoughts.
In the end, it was concubine Yun who suppressed her cries first. As she wiped mother Du’s tears, she knelt and called, “Mother…”
The word “mother” made everyone look at each other in dismay. Even Ji Danqing who had just gotten off the carriage was stunned.
Shu Huan had guessed a bit that it would be like this, but when she heard this sorrowful and affectionate calling of concubine Yun, she was still dumbfounded. Until when she had been taken back into the carriage and the carriage had began to move did she implore, “Truly don’t know how they were able to recognize each other…”
It was not like mother Du hasn’t seen concubine Yun before when living at the resort. They had even chatted with each other a few times, but at that time she (SH) didn’t see that they had any telepathic connection at all.
She muttered while in deep thoughts, “Could it be that concubine Yun had a token with her or a birthmark on an easy place to identify?”
Gu Xiran shook his head and said, “It’s not the right time to go ask now. It’s better to wait till they are calmed down a bit.”
In one night, aside from the two unexpected matters, Shu Huan truly didn’t know what she should talk about. Her sleepiness had suddenly disappeared. She was leaning on the window and silently thought about things. After a long while, she looked at Gu Xiran and asked, “What should I do?”
She naturally asked about what to do with concubine Yun.
Originally, Gu Xiran wanted to keep her in a cold storage for the time being and deal with her when the time was right. However, the current situation was somewhat different. She is mother Du’s long lost daughter. This meant that she is Du Qiu’s little sister. There were more and more people involved in this change of identity. Even thinking about it, one would get a headache. He could only continue to shake his head and said, “Let’s wait and see.”
After that, he added, “If mama Du wants to reunite with her, it will be the best if she (D) could take her (Y) with her.”
Shu Huan felt that the situation wasn’t so optimistic. In this world, a daughter who had already married had basically nothing more to do with her maiden family. At most, they would see each other sometimes. It seemed that there was no reason for her to take back her daughter.
As if to verify her uneasiness, after more than two hours had passed, their carriage was gently knocked and a calm voice on the outside said, “Can I come in for a talk?”
It was Du Qiu!
Shu Huan quickly raised the curtain and said, “Please, come in.”
Du Qiu had good skills. While the carriage was still moving, he used one hand to jump on it. After he sat down inside of the carriage and looked at the two of them, he said after a while, “She is my little sister.”
Shu Huan laughed bitterly, “Was it very surprising?”
Du Qiu nodded. He suddenly said, “She is not my biological little sister.”
Gu Xiran frowned and asked, “What do you mean?”
“My mother is my benefactor, not my biological mother.”
There was a lot information in this short sentence. However, usually Du Qiu and mother Du showed much love to each other. Others truly couldn’t see that they have no blood relation.
Shu Huan immediately got a headache. Could this be considered the third unexpected thing that had happened tonight?
After she had calmed down a bit, she heard Du Qiu say, “Whether she is or isn’t my biological family, I have vowed to take good care of them for the whole life. Hence, I came to ask you what you are going to do?”
Gu Xiran put his hand on his forehead and said, “We were just about to ask what you plan to do!”
Du Qiu looked at him and said, “I feel like she seems like an extra being in between you. I very much want to take her away and find a right person to marry her off, but my mother let me come beg you to treat her a bit better.”
“…”
Gu Xiran touched his nose and asked helplessly, “Was it so obvious?”
His coldness towards concubine Yun was already so obvious to the point that outsider could see it?
Shu Huan sighed with lowered head. She recalled the one time that mother Du talked in private with her about concubine Yun. She (D) asked about how many years she (Y) had been taken into the family and why she (Y) still doesn’t have a child.
At that time, she didn’t know Gu Xiran’s identity and only answered that she didn’t know. Mother Du saw that she was a bit depressed, she advised her very much, saying that men taking in concubines was very normal and let her to stop dwell on unpleasant things. When she (D) mentioned concubine Yun again, she said that she looked elegant and graceful and seemed to be a good and honest girl who understood the rules. She advised her (SH) to form a good relationship with concubine Yun so that when Gu Xiran take other concubines in the future, they would have a mutual support.
At that time when mother Du said those words it was purely for her (SH) own good. She (SH) could see that. She was helpless that she grew up in a different era and environment and was unable to imagine how the wives and concubines could be like sisters and have a happy life with their husband. Now, after she understood Gu Xiran’s identity and the feelings she had for him, she was even more unable to accept such a thing. Then, what should she say to mother Du? Presumably, mother Du who regarded wife and concubines being together as a normal phenomenon wouldn’t be able to understand her.
Mother Du truly couldn’t understand. Du Qiu said it clearly at this moment, “When I mentioned to let my little sister choose another to marry, I was scolded. She said that a good woman should be faithful unto death. Moreover, my little sister had already married. If she married again, she would probably still have the fate of being a concubine.”
Shu Huan sighed and asked, “Then what did Yan say?”
“She?” Du Qiu shook his head and said, “She only cried and didn’t say anything. When my mother asked her how she spent these years, she only answered with, hard to explain in a few words and cannot bear to look back.”
Hard to explain in a few words and cannot bear to look back!
She had been kidnapped as a child, sold to a brothel and then redeemed as a gift for Gu Da. In the end, she suddenly became Gu Xiran’s concubine and had to suffer from his coldness. It was truly hard to explain in a few words and cannot bear to look back!
The three people were silent for a long time. Suddenly, Gu Xiran said, “It’s the best if you take her away.”
Shu Huan glanced once at him but didn’t say anything. She only reached out and held their hands together.
Du Qiu stared at them and frowned slightly, “Are you really so annoyed by her? I remember that when she entered the household, it was before you two got married.”
He didn’t say the ugly sentence: like the new and hate the old!
Gu Xiran could hear the dissatisfaction in his speech, but he didn’t justify himself and only held Shu Huan’s hand tighter. He said, “It’s the best for everyone!”
For smart people, some things didn’t need to be made clear.
Du Qiu looked once deeply at them and said, “I understood. I will try my best.”
After he finished, he jumped out of the carriage.
In the silent night, only the sound of the tumbling of the wheels that ran over the ground was left.