A multitude of doubts welled up in Gu Zhengwan's heart. She felt as if she was about to be infuriated by Gu Jiangyue. No matter how much she had calculated, she never expected that Gu Jiangyue would play the role of a meek lamb only to devour the tiger. Gu Jiangyue's hands never stopped moving. Unaffected by anyone, she just sat there quietly, playing the zither. Her features exuded a sense of purity and elegance. The hazy moonlight blurred her appearance, and the loose strands of hair stuck to her face, making her skin look even fairer. There was no sign of the disfigurement at all.
Her calm and composed demeanor in the face of danger made Gu Zhengwan's movements falter slightly. But no one noticed her mistake, for at this moment, everyone's eyes were on Gu Jiangyue. No one was willing to spare a glance at her anymore.
It was as if she was the one accompanying Gu Jiangyue's zither music.
Gu Zhengwan was indignant. She quickly glanced at the maid standing beside her. The maid was also slightly dazed looking at Gu Jiangyue. After noticing Gu Zhengwan's unfriendly gaze, she quickly understood the meaning and nimbly ran to one side, picking up a basket of flower petals prepared in advance.
These flower petals were specially prepared by Gu Zhengwan. She originally intended to use them later, but now that no one was paying attention to her, she wanted to regain the spotlight of this performance. She didn't want to be a foil to Gu Jiangyue.
The maid was afraid that slow actions would anger Gu Zhengwan again. She quickly grabbed a handful of flower petals from the basket and forcefully tossed them into the air. But it seemed that even God was against Gu Zhengwan.
A gentle breeze blew over, carrying all the flower petals that were supposed to land on Gu Zhengwan towards Gu Jiangyue.
Large swaths of flower petals fluttered in the wind, rising high around Gu Jiangyue and swirling continuously. It seemed as if they were also amazed by her zither music. Gu Jiangyue was dressed in a white robe. Sitting there quietly, she looked so beautiful that she seemed more like a divine being than a mortal.
The maid refused to believe it. She grabbed a few more handfuls and tossed them into the air, but they all landed on Gu Jiangyue.
Gu Jiangyue noticed the actions of the mistress - servant pair and found it quite amusing. She steadied her mind and barely managed to hold back her laughter.
"There's a God watching three feet above your head. Gu Zhengwan must have done too many bad deeds and is now facing retribution," Gu Yimiao also noticed Gu Zhengwan's actions. She didn't have to worry about anything and directly started to mock.
Hearing this, the people around her couldn't help but laugh. Only then did someone notice Gu Zhengwan, who was still dancing vigorously. After seeing Gu Jiangyue, Gu Zhengwan seemed to lose all her luster in an instant.
But Gu Zhengwan didn't know what others were thinking. She just wanted to dance better and steal all of Gu Jiangyue's limelight.
Just as her feet stomped heavily on the ground, preparing to jump up and perform her most skillful move, she suddenly felt a great loss of strength in her legs. She fell heavily to the ground. The dancing shoes on her feet, under the continuous pressure, couldn't bear it any longer and broke.
Gu Zhengwan didn't even have time to think about how embarrassing her actions were when a sharp pain shot through her ankle. She tried to prop herself up with her hands and stand up quickly, but another sharp pain in her ankle made her fall back to the ground. Sweat oozed from her forehead.
At the same time, Gu Jiangyue played the last note. Some people hadn't even noticed Gu Zhengwan's miserable state and were still clapping and cheering for Gu Jiangyue.
Gu Zhengwan watched this scene, and her vision became increasingly blurred. A sense of grievance welled up in her heart. Although the applause was an affirmation of Gu Jiangyue, it sounded extremely harsh in her ears, as if it was a mockery of her.
It was Qin Anjie who rushed onto the stage first. He truly liked Gu Zhengwan and naturally couldn't bear to see her wronged. Now he didn't care about the propriety between men and women. Seeing that Gu Zhengwan seemed to have hurt her foot and couldn't stand up, he simply picked her up and carried her back to their seat.
Seeing Qin Anjie's actions, everyone also looked at Gu Zhengwan and noticed her miserable state.
The old matriarch also stood up from the main seat. Supported by her walking stick, there was a look of panic in her eyes. Gu Zhengwan was the one she had cultivated personally. She must not have anything happen to her.
"Quickly find a doctor."
Gu Jiangyue also came down from the stage. Looking at the chaotic scene and Gu Zhengwan's pale face due to the pain, she felt a sense of pleasure in her heart. According to her original plan, Gu Zhengwan wouldn't have fallen so miserably, but she just wanted to seek her own death. She couldn't be blamed for this.
Although it was the dancing shoes that had problems, without evidence, who could blame her, Gu Jiangyue? Gu Zhengwan would probably only get an explanation that the material of the dancing shoes was poor or that there was something wrong with her dancing.
"The young lady is seriously injured. She must rest well. Remember not to dance during this period," the doctor's words reached everyone's ears. Only then did everyone heave a sigh of relief. Fortunately, there was no major problem with Gu Zhengwan's foot. She just needed to rest well.
The doctor applied some herbal medicine on Gu Zhengwan's ankle, gave some instructions, and then left.
There were pitiful glimmers of tears in Gu Zhengwan's eyes, but beneath the tears was endless unwillingness. She stared at Gu Jiangyue resentfully with her eyes, but was afraid of being discovered by her.
Looking at the broken dancing shoes and her swollen ankle, although Gu Zhengwan didn't think that Gu Jiangyue had done something to them, she still attributed all of this to Gu Jiangyue. If it weren't for her, she wouldn't have performed such difficult moves.
If she hadn't done those moves, the dancing shoes might not have broken, and her foot wouldn't have been injured. She blamed all of this on Gu Jiangyue, but forgot that it was she who had provoked Gu Jiangyue first and tried to make her look bad.
The old matriarch originally wanted to have someone take Gu Zhengwan down to rest, but Gu Zhengwan was unwilling. The old matriarch couldn't persuade her. Thinking that she would just sit there and nothing else would happen, she simply let her stay.
Gu Jiangyue also pretended to be worried and rushed to Gu Zhengwan's side to express her concern.
"Sister, why are you so careless? What if you can't dance anymore because of your injured foot?"
Gu Zhengwan suppressed the anger in her heart and forced a smile.
"Thank you, sister, for your concern. But I didn't expect that your face would recover and your zither - playing skills would be so excellent."
Gu Jiangyue snorted coldly in her heart. She was not only good at playing the zither, but also very good at punishing bitches. She would let her good sister experience it in the future.
Seeing that Gu Zhengwan was okay now, everyone surrounded Gu Jiangyue. All of them were full of flattering words.
Gu Jiangyue stood in front of Gu Zhengwan without any hesitation. With a gentle smile on her face, she responded to everyone's praises one by one.
Gu Zhengwan was so angry that she was about to burst into flames. She deliberately or inadvertently leaned close to Qin Anjie's ear and whispered,
"Sister Jiangyue is really amazing. Unlike me, I even fell."