Gu Liyue had lost a lot of weight after her illness, but she had also grown a bit taller. The old lady busied herself every day arranging Liyue's clothes, accessories, soups, and medicinal diets. Attending to these details gave her something to focus on, and her spirits improved.
"In a few days, the old lady of the Qi family has booked a play. Will you go with me? But you've just recovered. You might not be able to withstand the wind."
Gu Liyue pursed her lips and smiled. "Grandmother, I'm not that weak. It was just that I was in a bad mood before. Now I've figured it out. I have you and our family. The past is over. Why should I keep dwelling on it?"
The old lady nodded happily. "It's great that you can think like this. But the Liu family treated you so badly. Why don't you let your uncles and brothers handle them for you?"
The family knew about Liyue's childhood experiences. Everyone was so angry that they were itching to go and beat up the entire Liu family right away.
Gu Liyue didn't explain. After the old lady left, she called Tangyuan in and asked, "Did you find out why Miao came to the capital as I asked you to?"
Tangyuan quickly nodded. "I've inquired. When the Liu family drove you out of the house, the magistrate was already very dissatisfied with your uncle. Later, when Lady Jiang sent people to inquire about you, the magistrate probably knew that you had connected with a wealthy family, so he dismissed your uncle from his post. After that, the situation of the Liu family deteriorated. And your cousin..."
"Wait a minute." Gu Liyue interrupted her and said seriously, "Tangyuan, his name is Liu Anping, and his son's name is Liu Zhenghui. They have nothing to do with me. You don't need to be so polite. You can call them by their names directly without any scruples."
Tangyuan paused and looked up at Gu Liyue. For some reason, although she had been with the young lady for a year, the young lady had always been gentle and weak. Even when she had her own thoughts, she was always reserved. But today, there was ice in the young lady's eyes, and even a strong sense of disdain.
She lowered her head, adjusted her mood, and continued, "Liu Zhenghui barely passed the county-level imperial examination but failed the provincial-level one. The family was running out of money, and they relied solely on Miao to earn a living."
Gu Liyue was a bit confused. Liu Zhenghui failed the provincial-level imperial examination?
"Previously, I asked others, and they said that Liu Anping pawned the house so that Liu Zhenghui could have the travel expenses to go to the capital for the imperial examination. Since he failed the provincial-level one, why did he still go to the capital for the exam?"
Tangyuan explained, "Liu Zhenghui failed the provincial-level imperial examination, but he told everyone that he had passed. Liu Anping was also deceived by him at first. It was not until Liu Qinting returned to the Liu family and made a fuss that they found out that Liu Zhenghui had not passed."
Gu Liyue thought for a moment and understood. Feng Lanqing took the exam with Liu Zhenghui, so he must have known whether Liu Zhenghui had passed or not. But Liu Qinting didn't tell Liu Anping and Miao for a long time. Maybe she had her own selfish motives. Although she didn't know why, Liu Qinting seemed to be crazy about marrying Feng Lanqing and always took things from the Liu family to support him.
It was probably because Miao had told Liu Qinting that if Liu Zhenghui passed the imperial examination, they would pawn the house and go to the capital for the exam. Feng Lanqing was just a successful candidate in the imperial examination. If he wanted to take the exam, he either had to find a suitable squire to sponsor him or raise the money himself. Compared with the two, it would be easier to let the Liu family support him.
Tangyuan added, "After Feng Lanqing passed the highest imperial examination and became an official, his whole family moved to the capital. The Liu family still rented a house in Yangxin Town. It wasn't until early summer when they really couldn't make ends meet that Liu Anping brought his family to the capital to rely on his son-in-law. However, it seems that the Feng family is also having a hard time and doesn't intend to support the Liu family much. And Liu Anping and Liu Zhenghui are reluctant to go out and find a job. So Miao had to go to a shop to work to support the family."
Gu Liyue pondered for a moment and said, "Go and find out how the Feng family is doing now."
Tangyuan's eyes were big, and she looked at Gu Liyue proudly. "Miss, I've already sent my brother to find out."
Gu Liyue asked in surprise, "You did?"
Tangyuan nodded. "Yes. After my brother found out about the Liu family, I thought that since Liu Qinting is also a daughter of the Liu family, you might want to know."
Gu Liyue smiled. "You're the smartest."
Tangyuan quickly told her everything. "I heard that the Feng family didn't recognize the marriage with the Liu family at first, but Liu Qinting was pregnant. So she married into the Feng family last September. Later, because she worked day and night to support Feng Lanqing's exam, she fainted from overwork and lost the baby. After Feng Lanqing passed the highest imperial examination and became an official in the capital, he brought his widowed mother and Liu Qinting to the capital. However, Feng Lanqing took a concubine, the niece of a salt official. The concubine has been pregnant for more than half a year."
Gu Liyue lowered her head and calculated the dates. This meant that Feng Lanqing took the niece of the official as a concubine soon after he came to the capital and even got her pregnant. What about Liu Qinting?
She let out a soft laugh. Liu Qinting had brought this on herself. She was so ridiculous. How could she feel sorry for Liu Qinting?
"The information I got is that Lady Feng doesn't like Liu Qinting at all. She dislikes her low birth and that she hasn't given birth to a son. She's not even as good as a concubine. It's said that the Feng family is in a complete mess every day. If the concubine gives birth to a son, Liu Qinting might even be divorced."
Yunniang had been sitting beside Gu Liyue. After listening to Tangyuan's words, she let out a sigh of relief and gestured with her hands. Liyue, no matter what you think of me, but when I hear that they're having a hard time, I'm really happy.
Gu Liyue smiled slightly. "Me too."
On the day when the play booked by the old lady of the Qi family was on, Gu Liyue got dressed early and followed the old lady into the carriage and headed for the theater.
After getting off the carriage, they met the old ladies of various families with their granddaughters and grandsons. Most of them were quite young, but not too young.
Gu Liyue was the oldest among them.
The old lady had some familiar sisters. They were chatting and discussing the five new plays today.
"Is the play about the female general based on the general from your Gu family's ancestors?"
The old lady nodded with a smile. There was a female general among the Gu family's ancestors. She was brave and good at fighting and helped to pacify the country. But after that, there had never been a girl in the Gu family.
Now that they were talking about this play, someone sized up Gu Liyue. It was said that there had never been a girl in the Gu family for so many generations, and Gu Liyue was the first one. Although Gu Liyue was not as famous as her ancestor, she had caught the eye of the Crown Prince of the Liang Kingdom, who personally asked the emperor for a marriage. It showed that she was not an ordinary person.
As soon as they entered the theater, they saw Princess Jing walking towards them. After receiving the salute, she said, "Liyue, you're here? I haven't seen you for half a year. Why have you lost so much weight?"
The old lady answered on Gu Liyue's behalf. "Thank you, Princess, for your concern. Liyue was ill for a while, but she's fine now."
Princess Jing didn't say much. She stretched out her hand and said, "Today, most of the people here are old ladies or children. It's rare to meet someone I can talk to. May I borrow her from you, old lady, to have a chat?"