Early the next morning, Gu Jiangyue got on the pre - prepared carriage and headed straight for a well - known alley in the capital. The alley was not famous for its grandeur but for the fact that it was home to hooligans and ruffians.
Gu Jiangyue vaguely remembered that in her previous life, before Xi Yun came to her and became her right - hand woman, she lived in that alley. Although these past events were unbearable to look back on, Xi Yun still told Gu Jiangyue out of trust and dependence.
Xi Yun was already married and had given birth to a boy. However, this marriage was not what Xi Yun wanted. Her family used to have a good background, and the most famous thing in her family was a beauty - nourishing secret recipe. But as time passed, her family declined, and she was casually sold to a man.
That man was lazy and made no improvement after marrying Xi Yun. Instead, he got worse. Xi Yun had to raise the child on her own, but the man was a gambler, so a large part of the money was snatched away by him to pay off his gambling debts.
But he didn't get away with it for long. Because he repeatedly failed to pay his debts, he was killed by the debt collectors. When he left, he only left Xi Yun alone to support the child and pay off his debts.
Gu Jiangyue sighed deeply. Xi Yun's life was too miserable. In her previous life, Gu Jiangyue regretted that if she could have met Xi Yun earlier, she might have been able to free her earlier and let her live a more stable life out of the abyss.
Fortunately, Gu Jiangyue was reborn. In this life, she must save the people she loved and make up for all the regrets of her previous life.
The coachman was very skilled. The carriage galloped on the road. Before Gu Jiangyue knew it, they arrived soon.
Zhi Yuan helped Gu Jiangyue get off the carriage. Gu Jiangyue looked at the alley in front of her. Even though she had heard Xi Yun's description, the scene in front of her still made her eyes widen in shock.
The alley was narrow and small. There were mildew spots even on the corners of the walls. It was messy and damp. The walls on both sides were very high, blocking out all the sunlight. The alley was so dim that one couldn't see the end, but it seemed that every household was occupied.
Seeing this situation, several guards stepped in front of Gu Jiangyue, fearing that someone might appear from this unremarkable and eerie alley.
These guards were not arranged for Gu Jiangyue by the grand - matriarch. Gu Jiangyue had shone brightly during her coming - of - age ceremony. From then on, Gu Jiangyue's appearance when going out represented the entire Gu family. The grand - matriarch did want to arrange more people around Gu Jiangyue, but Gu Jiangyue refused.
She had come this far through betrayal and deception. Now she didn't want to experience it all over again. She didn't dare to use the people the grand - matriarch arranged for her, so she simply refused and found some people close to Gu Yanwu to be her bodyguards instead.
Gu Yanwu was upright and brave in battle. Many people respected him. Therefore, Gu Jiangyue didn't spend much time finding those willing to follow her. She then selected a few familiar and trustworthy ones and brought them back to the Gu Mansion.
The grand - matriarch was very happy about Gu Jiangyue's performance during the coming - of - age ceremony. Moreover, now that she was engaged to Xie Jiuan, the grand - matriarch didn't object to Gu Jiangyue's decision.
Under the protection of the guards, Gu Jiangyue walked deeper into the alley step by step.
Relying on her memory from the previous life, she found Xi Yun's house. The house was not big. Probably the only valuable things were the broken - cornered blue bricks.
The door of the house was tightly closed. Just as Gu Jiangyue was about to reach out and knock on the door, she heard a woman's plea and a child's cry from inside.
"You can't take any more. Zhou'er still has to go to school! I'm begging you!"
Hearing the familiar voice, Gu Jiangyue felt a sharp pain in her heart. She immediately rushed forward and kicked open the wooden door.
The door was not locked, so Gu Jiangyue easily kicked it open. But the wooden door was in disrepair and in a dilapidated state. Gu Jiangyue not only kicked the door open but also caused it to fall to the ground with a sway.
The noise was quite loud. The voices inside suddenly stopped. Several pairs of eyes looked in the direction of the door. Gu Jiangyue glanced around casually. Those looks contained scrutiny, doubt, and eagerness.
Gu Jiangyue noticed Xi Yun on the ground almost at a glance. She was just about to help Xi Yun up from the ground when a fierce - looking man beside Xi Yun got ahead of her.
The man grabbed Xi Yun by the collar and lifted her up from the ground, scolding constantly.
"You slut, you even called someone."
Xi Yun had no strength left to struggle. She could only keep shaking her head and crying.
At this time, the door of the inner room opened, and a child about six or seven years old staggered out. Gu Jiangyue had seen this child in her previous life. It was Xi Yun's son, He Zhou.
Big tears like beans rolled down He Zhou's eyes one by one. He also saw that Xi Yun was being bullied by those people. He rushed forward directly and hugged one of the man's legs.
He kept sobbing.
"Let go of my mother. Let go of my mother quickly!"
But he was too thin. He was kicked away by the man. He lay on the ground and wanted to rush forward again, but he had no strength left. He could only watch all this with red - rimmed eyes.
Gu Jiangyue couldn't bear to watch any longer. Her eyes also turned red. She shouted sternly.
"What are you doing! Let her go quickly!"
The man turned around and sized Gu Jiangyue up and down. It seemed that he noticed Gu Jiangyue's luxurious clothes and became interested in her. He directly threw Xi Yun to one side and turned to look at Gu Jiangyue.
The guards beside Gu Jiangyue were already prepared. Now they rushed forward directly, caught Xi Yun, and protected He Zhou behind them. Gu Jiangyue let out a long sigh of relief when she saw that both of them were okay.
The man saw that Gu Jiangyue's identity was not ordinary and took the initiative to explain.
"Her dead - beat husband owed us silver. Her husband is dead, so now she has to pay it back."
He looked at Xi Yun, his eyes flashing with blatant threat and cruelty.
"We really have no more money. That money is for Zhou'er to go to school. I can't give it to you!"
Xi Yun was already hoarse from shouting, but when she saw Gu Jiangyue, for some reason, she instinctively felt that Gu Jiangyue must be able to help her. Xi Yun gritted her teeth. Her voice was trembling violently as she said to Gu Jiangyue.
"Miss, please, please save my child! I do owe debts. He wants to sell me to a brothel, but what about Zhou'er? He is still so young... Wuwuwu..."
Looking at this mother - and - son pair who were so thin that they were almost just skin and bones, Gu Jiangyue felt a sour feeling in her heart, and her eyes slowly turned red.