Lu Yunxi was no meek person. Without hesitation, she whipped back at Gu Chengzhi.
Caught off - guard, Gu Chengzhi was knocked to the ground. He immediately sprang up and reached out to grab Lu Yunxi's long whip.
But Lu Yunxi was quicker. She darted into the carriage, pulled Gu Liyue into her arms, and taunted Gu Chengzhi, "Gu Chengzhi, what are you sneaking around for? What, are you bullying an innocent girl again? Too bad you've met this princess today. I won't let you have your way."
She whispered to Gu Liyue, "Don't be afraid, miss. I'm here to save you."
Furious, Gu Chengzhi roared, "Lu Yunxi, stop acting crazy! She's my sister!"
"Sister?" Lu Yunxi looked at Gu Liyue in surprise. "You're his sister?"
Gu Liyue trembled all over. Suppressing her fear with great effort, she nodded. "Yes... My name is Gu Liyue..."
Lu Yunxi let go of her but didn't get out of the carriage. She sized up Gu Liyue on her own and then glanced at Gu Chengzhi who had climbed up. She curled her lips and said, "Oh, with your toad - like appearance, how could you have such a beautiful sister? Gu Liyue... Why haven't I seen her before?"
Gu Chengzhi said crossly, "You're the toad. Your whole family are toads."
Lu Yunxi let out an "oh". "My whole family? Which whole family? The emperor is my uncle. Does he count?"
Gu Chengzhi gritted his teeth. "Lu Yunxi!"
Lu Yunxi giggled and said to Gu Liyue, "When did you come out of nowhere? Why haven't I seen you before?"
Gu Liyue answered honestly, "I'm... the daughter of the third branch of the Gu family, Gu Liyue. I just recently reunited with my grandparents."
Gu Chengzhi sneered. "Liyue, come here. Don't pay attention to that crazy woman."
Lu Yunxi quickly pulled Gu Liyue into her arms and wouldn't let her go to Gu Chengzhi. Then she said, "I'm Princess Yunxi of the Qingling Prince's Mansion. You can just call me Yunxi."
Naturally, Gu Liyue didn't dare to really call her by her name. She obediently called out again, "Princess."
Lu Yunxi burst out laughing. She patted Gu Liyue on the shoulder and said to Gu Chengzhi, "Your sister is quite interesting. When can you lend her to me for some fun?"
Gu Liyue was greatly frightened. Did this princess want to borrow her for fun? How? Judging from the way she waved her long whip, it was quite terrifying. Wouldn't she be made a target?
Gu Chengzhi rolled his eyes. "Get out of my sight as far as you can."
"So stingy!" Ignoring Gu Chengzhi, Lu Yunxi said to Gu Liyue, "I accompanied the Empress Dowager to pay respects to the Buddha. I just came back a few days ago, and I don't know a lot of things. You don't know. It was so boring in the Buddhist temple. I had to have classes every morning and evening. It was really hard to bear. Now that I'm finally back, I'm going to relax well. Since you're his sister, I'll send you an invitation to have fun in a few days."
After saying that, Lu Yunxi shouted to stop the carriage, flipped out of it, and ran away in a flash.
Gu Liyue blinked her eyes. It took her a long time to come back to her senses and ask, "That Princess Yunxi..."
Gu Chengzhi explained, "The Qingling Prince is a general, highly regarded by the late emperor and the current emperor. Lu Yunxi grew up in the military camp when she was a child. She's a bit of a wild one. She only returned to the capital when she was older and was raised under the Empress Dowager's care. You don't have to be afraid of her. She's just annoying, but not a vicious person."
The encounter with Princess Yunxi was just an episode. Gu Liyue had only been home and rested for a short while when an old maid from the outer courtyard came to pay her respects and said that the heir of the Liang Prince's Mansion had sent gifts.
Tangyuan asked curiously, "The heir of the Liang Prince's Mansion? For the miss? I've heard that he has a good relationship with the fourth young master. Is it a congratulatory gift for the miss's return to the mansion? The banquet for the miss hasn't been held yet. Isn't it too early to send gifts at this time?"
On the third day after Gu Liyue returned to the mansion, Old Master Gu had someone open the ancestral hall in the clan, officially allowing Gu Liyue to recognize her ancestors and return to the family. However, a grand banquet had to be held to truly introduce Gu Liyue to everyone before it could be considered complete.
On the one hand, there were too many affairs during the New Year. On the other hand, the old lady's health hadn't fully recovered yet, and they were afraid that Gu Liyue would be too constrained after being frightened. So it was decided that the banquet would be held after the spring.
However, Tangyuan soon found out that it wasn't a congratulatory gift. After all, which ordinary family would use maltose as a congratulatory gift? And there were even two whole baskets of it.
It was Danju, who had accompanied Gu Liyue out today, who explained, "When we had lunch at the Fugui Building today, the miss saw a maltose peddler downstairs and wanted to buy some. But then we were delayed by those things and didn't buy any."
Tangyuan's mouth opened in a big circle in surprise. It took her a long time to say, "The heir of the Liang Prince's Mansion is really thoughtful."
Yunniang beside her was only worried. She knew that the heir of the Liang Prince's Mansion had shown interest in Gu Liyue that day. In the past, their families didn't match. What about now? These days, the most she had inquired about was the Liang Prince's Mansion, but it didn't seem to be a good place.
Even though Gu Liyue was now a legitimate daughter of the Gu family, Yunniang still hoped that she would marry an ordinary family in the future and live a peaceful life.
The Liang Prince's Mansion was really out of reach.
Gu Liyue blushed. Because of Feng Sui, the maltose peddler had run away quickly, and she hadn't been able to buy any. But Lu Jinchen remembered and even sent it to her home.
He remembered her, and she...
Gu Liyue thought of the hairband. Except for the poor color - matching, it had no other flaws. Why not embroider a hairband for him?
Seeing Gu Liyue bustling around, Tangyuan was very curious. "Miss, are you going to embroider again?"
Since returning to the Gu family, Gu Liyue had spent much less time embroidering. She no longer had to rely on embroidery for a living. She only spent half an hour a day practicing. Even so, if Jiang and Qin saw it, they would still feel sorry for her.
Gu Liyue explained, "I'm just idle. I might as well embroider something."
Tangyuan helped her separate the threads and said, "The miss is so filial. Since this is for the family, there's no need to rush. Just embroider slowly. Otherwise, the old lady will feel sorry for you again."
Gu Liyue's ears turned red. In the carriage, she had told her fourth brother that she was going to embroider for the family. But as soon as she got home, all she could think about was Lu Jinchen.
Before dinner, someone from the old lady's courtyard came to ask Gu Liyue to go there for dinner. As long as the old lady was in good health, she would always ask Gu Liyue to accompany her for dinner. Gu Liyue was used to it.
But when she got to the Muchun Garden, the eldest aunt, the second aunt, and the eldest sister - in - law who had just given birth were all there, each with a serious expression, which startled Gu Liyue.
Gu Liyue carefully paid her respects and was pulled by her grandmother to sit on the couch. "Your fourth brother told us about what happened today. Those Feng people dared to bully you like this. They simply don't put our Gu family in their eyes."
Jiang nodded and continued, "Liyue, your grandmother is right. The girls of our Gu family won't be bullied without saying a word. Our opinion is that this matter can't end well. We called you here because we were afraid that you might still care about the past, so we want to ask for your opinion."