Liu Qinting stepped back repeatedly, her eyes wide open. "You... What did you say? You... You're still alive?"
Gu Liyue let out a cold laugh. "Cousin, when you and Feng Lanqing pushed me into the water together, you never thought I'd survive, did you?"
"No... You're talking nonsense, you're talking nonsense..."
Gu Liyue gave a desolate smile. "You know very well whether I'm talking nonsense or not. You had an illicit affair with Feng Lanqing without matchmaker. When I caught you, you wanted to kill me to cover it up! One of you is my cousin, and the other is my fiancé. Cousin, I really never thought you'd treat me like this."
Liu Qinting was terrified. But every time she took a step back, Gu Liyue took a step forward. With nowhere to retreat, she suddenly fell to the ground and looked at Gu Liyue in horror.
Seeing this, Miao Shi quickly rushed over and pushed Gu Liyue away. "Are you crazy? Liyue, are you out of your mind because of the illness?"
Gu Liyue was already ill. Being pushed by Miao Shi like this, she fell heavily to the ground.
The kind - hearted neighbors immediately helped her up. Looking at Miao Shi, their eyes were filled with dissatisfaction. Just now she said she regarded Gu Liyue as her own daughter, but now her true colors showed? Moreover, what Gu Liyue said just now was very likely to be true. Otherwise, how could a girl who had grown up in the town fall into the water for no reason?
Miao Shi thought it was bad. She quickly changed to a concerned look. "Liyue... Auntie didn't mean it, Liyue. Auntie knows you're not in good health and almost didn't wake up. But you can't slander your cousin. How could your cousin be such a person?"
Gu Liyue's gaze remained calm. Looking at Liu Qinting, she said, "Auntie doesn't believe me?"
Liu Qinting had calmed down by now. Right, Gu Liyue was out of her mind because of the illness. She just had to deny it firmly, didn't she? Immediately, with tears in her eyes, she looked at Gu Liyue. "Liyue, how could I harm you? You're my younger sister. You must be out of your mind because of the illness. I don't blame you."
Gu Liyue let out a cold snort. You don't blame me? "You didn't harm me? You didn't push me into the water with Feng Lanqing? Dare you swear?"
Liu Qinting gritted her teeth. "I swear..."
"It's not that simple. Dare you say you didn't have an illicit affair with Feng Lanqing without matchmaker? If you did, you'll get pockmarks on your face and they'll never go away."
Liu Qinting was stunned and immediately covered her face. She didn't want pockmarks on her face. She didn't dare to swear and stammered, "I... I didn't. I won't... Anyway, I didn't push you. I can swear I didn't push you."
Hearing this, the neighbors all showed looks of disdain. It seemed that what Gu Liyue said was true. Whether Liu Qinting had harmed Gu Liyue or not, it was true that she had been with Gu Liyue's fiancé.
Just then, a young man from the next - door family squeezed in and pointed at Liu Qinting. "I saw it. You pushed Sister Liyue. You and Brother Feng pushed her together. And you didn't even want to save her. If it weren't for me, Sister Liyue would have died in the pond."
Gu Liyue looked up. It was Cao Tiedan, the son of the neighbor Cao family. It was him who had saved her.
"Tiedan, thank you."
Liu Qinting's face turned ashen. She thought Cao Tiedan had passed by later. At that time, Feng Lanqing was afraid of being recognized and left in a hurry. And she pretended not to know how to swim and couldn't go into the water to save the person, so she asked Cao Tiedan to go down.
Unexpectedly, Cao Tiedan had seen everything.
Cao Tiedan snorted. "I thought you'd repent, but I didn't expect you to still quibble."
Everyone's gazes were full of disdain. How could Liu Qinting bear such grievance? She let out a loud cry and ran back to her room crying.
Liu Anping impatiently waved his hand. "Alright, alright. Liyue is awake, so there's nothing wrong. Everyone disperse. Liyue, come in with me."
But Gu Liyue didn't go in. She just looked around and asked, "Where's Yunniang?"
Yunniang was Gu Liyue's personal maid. She had been saved by Gu Liyue's parents before and voluntarily sold herself into slavery. After Gu Liyue's parents died, Yunniang came to the Liu family with her and took care of the whole family whole - heartedly.
Now, Gu Liyue knew that her uncle and aunt's family didn't treat her sincerely. The only person by her side was Yunniang.
Cao Tiedan immediately said, "Early this morning, Yunniang went out. It seemed she went to get medicine."
Yunniang had no money. Where could she get medicine?
Miao Shi came over. While waving her hand to let the neighbors out, she tried to pull Gu Liyue in.
But Gu Liyue only said, "No, I have to wait for Yunniang to come back."
Miao Shi was extremely angry in her heart, but on the surface, she pretended to be kind. "Liyue, it's so cold. You're wearing so little. Come in first. Yunniang is really. Knowing you're ill, she still runs around."
Gu Liyue sneered in her heart. Miao Shi sounded nice, but it was Yunniang who told her to wear more clothes because of the cold. It was also Yunniang who was afraid she'd be hungry when she ate little. Even when doing needlework, Yunniang was afraid she'd be tired and would rather stay up late at night to do more.
What about Miao Shi? The family was poor and needed to earn more money, but she never saw Liu Qinting so busy. All the housework was done by her and Yunniang. What Miao Shi said about regarding her as a family member was clearly regarding her as a servant.
In the past, she didn't care because she thought they were her relatives. But now, she already knew that they were not relatives at all.
Gu Liyue's gaze turned to the house. Uncle... Yes, she still had a glimmer of hope for her uncle. No matter whether her uncle cared about her because of her background or not, for now, he was the closest person to her in the world. Maybe her uncle didn't know what Liu Qinting had done. If he knew, he would be angry, too, right?
She coughed a few times and frowned. "I dare not go in. I want to wait for Yunniang."
This was almost like saying that if Yunniang wasn't there, she would die again.
Miao Shi was so angry that she was speechless for a long time. Seeing the surprised looks of the neighbors, she even wished she could run back like her daughter without caring about anything.
It was Liu Anping who walked out and shouted sternly, "Gu Liyue, aren't you ashamed enough? Come in for me!"
Gu Liyue didn't say anything more. She obediently walked into the main hall and sat down on a small stool in the corner. There were chairs in the room, but only three. There were originally four, one for each person in the Liu family. Gu Liyue had always sat on this small stool since she was a child. Later, her cousin went to the academy in the county town. Another chair was moved to her aunt's room by her aunt. The three chairs in the main hall were still for the three people in the Liu family, and Gu Liyue still sat on this small stool.
Liu Anping paced back and forth in the main hall. He waited until all the people outside had dispersed, then frowned and shouted, "Liyue, what nonsense were you talking outside?"
Gu Liyue looked up at him and asked in confusion, "Nonsense? Uncle, I'm not talking nonsense. Cousin she..."
"Anyway!" Liu Anping was extremely impatient. "Family matters should be discussed at home. Why are you talking nonsense in front of outsiders? A family should not air its dirty linen in public. Don't you understand the rules?"
Gu Liyue's eyes gradually became firm. She had been sitting here for so long. Didn't her uncle see her thin clothes? Didn't he see her still weak body?
It was really ridiculous. Every word was a question. A family should not air its dirty linen in public, but was the way this family covered up its dirty linen to let her die?
She stood up and asked word by word, "So, Uncle, do you know that Cousin coveted my fiancé and even wanted to kill me in collusion?"