In the Great Xia Dynasty, in the Gu Mansion of the Upper Capital.
Grand Dowager Gu sat in the main seat in a magnificent robe. On her right - hand side stood a young woman in a light pink ruqun. With a sweet smile on her face, she was chatting idly with the grand dowager, making the old lady laugh frequently.
"Granddaughter pays respects to grandmother and greets all the sisters." Gu Jiangyue came gracefully, bowed to the grand dowager, and interrupted the chat between the grand dowager and her cousin Gu Zhengwan.
Gu Jiangyue wore light makeup and had her hair neatly arranged in a gentle suiyunji hairstyle, fixed with a simple and elegant jasper hairpin. Her already breathtakingly beautiful face was made even more charming...
Although there seemed to be a smile on her face, there was an inexplicable coldness in her eyes.
"Get up." When the grand dowager saw Gu Jiangyue, she restrained the smile on her face, and her tone carried no particular meaning.
"Yes." Gu Jiangyue replied respectfully, then got up and stepped aside.
As soon as she stood still, she heard the sarcasm from Shen Menglan, the mistress of the second branch: "Jiangyue, why are you so late? We rarely see you serving by grandmother's side on normal days. Even when it comes to paying respects, you're late. Could it be that something held you up?"
Her words were full of barbs. On the surface, she seemed to be concerned about Gu Jiangyue, but in fact, she was blaming her for being late.
Gu Jiangyue curtsied gracefully, and a look of grievance quietly appeared on her face.
"Jiangyue would like to apologize to everyone. I've been feeling a bit unwell these days, so I'm late. I hope the grand dowager will forgive me."
"I heard that Zhengwan often goes to the temple to pray for blessings and boils medicinal herbs for you. After drinking so many tonics, you're still so weak. It seems your illness has really taken root, Jiangyue. Do you want me to invite some doctors to take a good look at you?" Shen Menglan showed no intention of letting her go and retorted without hesitation.
Gu Jiangyue found Shen Menglan's false concern rather amusing: "There's no need to trouble yourself. Thank you for your concern, Second Aunt. Maybe my illness will get better in a few days. I've drunk every bowl of the medicinal herb that Zhengwan boiled. It's really my poor constitution that has wasted the herb boiled by Zhengwan herself. I'm willing to accept grandmother's punishment. Cough, cough, cough..."
Gu Jiangyue lowered her eyes, and after finishing speaking, she coughed twice to make her words more convincing.
After hearing this, everyone couldn't help but look at Gu Zhengwan. As the saying goes, "The speaker may not mean it, but the listener does." Gu Zhengwan immediately realized that Gu Jiangyue was doing it on purpose. This was clearly pointing the finger at her, implying that the medicinal herb she boiled was problematic.
What was wrong with Gu Jiangyue today? She used to be so tongue - tied, but today she seemed to have suddenly had an epiphany and was showing hostility towards her, both openly and secretly.
Gu Zhengwan calmed herself down and said with a smiling face, "Zhengwan and Sister Jiangyue have a deep sisterly bond. I was just praying for blessings and boiling tonics. It's nothing to mention. As long as it's for Sister Jiangyue, no matter how hard or tired I am, it's all worth it."
Gu Zhengwan knew that the medicine she gave her was not a poison. At most, it would just make her face break out in rashes and make her lose face during her coming - of - age ceremony. She had no intention of killing her.
Why should Gu Jiangyue's coming - of - age ceremony be more grand than hers?
She was so stupid and clumsy. Wasn't it just because she had a good father? Gu Zhengwan was not convinced. She must make Gu Jiangyue lose all her face on such an important occasion, and the family would be disgraced because of her.
The grand dowager valued face the most. After that, the grand dowager would definitely not treat her well. Then she could take the opportunity to rise and replace her.
The grand dowager, sitting in the main seat, couldn't stand the verbal fight below. "That's enough. You sisters should get along harmoniously. Learn from Jiangyue and Zhengwan. In the future, to revitalize the Gu family, you sisters need to support each other."
"Yes." All the younger generations replied in unison.
"Cough! Cough, cough..." A sudden fit of coughing rang out. Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw Gu Jiangyue spitting out a mouthful of blood, being supported by her maid, Zhi Ying.
Gu Jiangyue calmly scanned everyone. Seeing that the timing was about right, she looked weakly at Gu Zhengwan. "Fourth Sister, why did you put poison in the tonic? I only drank the tonic you sent today!"
Gu Jiangyue gave Gu Zhengwan a disdainful glance.
Gu Zhengwan was such a calculating and ruthless woman. In her previous life, Gu Jiangyue failed to see through her, but fortunately, God had mercy on her and gave her a new life.
In her previous life, Gu Zhengwan had snatched her position as the empress, fed Gu Jiangyue's younger brother to the dogs, disfigured her face, pulled out her fingernails, and humiliated her. In the end, Gu Jiangyue was burned to death in a fire, not even leaving a whole body.
In this life, she must make those who had humiliated her pay a hundredfold!
In a few days, it would be her fifteenth - year coming - of - age ceremony. In her previous life, Gu Zhengwan had drugged her to make her look bad and had even taken a lot of credit in front of the grand dowager under the pretext of boiling tonics. Poor Gu Jiangyue had broken out in rashes all over her face due to an allergy, and her face had swollen up like a pig's head. She had even been publicly pulled off her veil by the people arranged by Gu Zhengwan, making the Gu Mansion a laughingstock...
...
Gu Zhengwan had poisoned Gu Jiangyue?! Everyone was shocked when they heard this.
The grand dowager was the first to react. She immediately stood up from her armchair. "Quick! Call the doctor quickly!"
Given the merits of Gu Jiangyue's father, Gu Yanwu, if anything happened to Gu Jiangyue, none of them could bear the responsibility.
Gu Zhengwan was struck like a thunderbolt from a clear sky. She stood there stunned. A look of bewilderment flashed across her face for a moment. Then she quickly threw herself beside the grand dowager, tears streaming down her face. "Grandmother, please see clearly. Zhengwan prays for Sister Jiangyue every day. How could I drug her?"
Although Chen Yanqin, the mistress of the third branch, didn't know what her daughter had done, she quickly knelt down and pleaded, "Please, grand dowager, see clearly!"
Gu Jiangyue had planned ahead and switched the medicine. As Gu Jiangyue had instructed in advance, the maid, Zhi Yuan, brought the prepared medicine to the doctor.
Gu Zhengwan's heart sank when she saw the dark - colored medicinal soup. She tightly grasped the handkerchief in her hand and gritted her teeth. She had clearly arranged for Aunt He to watch Gu Jiangyue drink the medicine. What was going on?
The doctor picked up the medicine bowl, sniffed it, and then felt Gu Jiangyue's pulse. "There is indeed poison in this medicine. Fortunately, the young lady drank only a little, so it's not a serious problem. She just needs to take good care of her body."
"Fortunately, our young lady wasn't feeling well today and drank less of the medicine. If she had drunk the whole bowl, our young lady, oh, she might have... sob, sob, sob..." Zhi Yuan raised her sleeve and pretended to wipe away non - existent tears.
The grand dowager didn't have time to deal with the two crying women in front of her. Her heart, which had been hanging in the air, finally settled down when she heard that Gu Jiangyue was not seriously injured. Her hands trembled as she slumped back into the armchair.
With each word, Gu Zhengwan's heart skipped a beat.
"Fourth girl, quickly explain what's going on here!" The grand dowager's voice was imposing even without anger, silencing everyone present.
Gu Yimiao, the legitimate second daughter of the second branch, was the first to sneer. Seeing Gu Zhengwan, who had always been the most favored by the grand dowager, being embarrassed, she was extremely delighted.
Gu Yimiao was ranked fifth. Although she was not bad among the young ladies in the capital, she never ranked high in the Gu Mansion. In the past, there was Gu Jiangyue to be the bottom - scorer. Today, for some reason, Gu Jiangyue had also stolen the limelight. She was just holding back her anger with nowhere to vent.
"The physical evidence is here. What else does Fourth Sister have to say? Could it be that the poison just jumped into the medicine by itself?"