Liu Anping closed his eyes, as if searching for the feelings of the past. When he opened them again, his eyes were filled with ferocity. "She was of no use, but she knew I'd been bribed with money. She was always a suspicious woman. If she didn't die, she'd eventually find out that I killed Gu Xian... She was my younger sister, but she only favored her own family and never regarded me as her elder brother!"
Gu Liyue stared blankly at Liu Anping. "Uncle... She was your younger sister, and he was your brother - in - law. If you had lived an honest life, would they have ignored you? Greed for money led you into the abyss step by step."
Liu Anping sat on the ground, his eyes hollow and his voice hoarse. "Yes, greed for money... But how can people not be greedy? If she hadn't gone out to sell embroidered items back then and had married the butcher in the village entrance peacefully, maybe none of this would have happened."
Gu Liyue covered her mouth, feeling nauseous. He still refused to repent. He actually thought that the fault lay in the meeting of her parents.
Liu Anping murmured, "Liyue, I held you when you were born. At that time, I was so happy, thinking that they'd been married for several years and my younger sister finally had a child. Whether it was a boy or a girl, it was good."
Gu Liyue staggered and leaned against Gu Junyan. After a long time, she asked, "Do I look like my mother?"
"Yes." Liu Anping lowered his head and thought for a long time. "Very much. Both of you were crybabies and timid. When my younger sister was bullied when she was a child, she'd hide behind me and cry. I was angry at her uselessness and also hated those who bullied her."
He looked up at Gu Liyue seriously and then shook his head. "Actually, you're not alike. You're like your father. You don't get angry easily, but you have a tough character and never admit defeat."
Gu Liyue just stared blankly at Liu Anping and almost laughed. She'd lived with her uncle for more than ten years, but this was the first time they stood calmly together and had a good talk.
Gu Junyan gently nudged Gu Liyue and whispered, "Sister, it's very late. Let's go back."
Gu Liyue nodded and turned to leave. Liu Anping just turned his face away, and two lines of tears slid down his face.
As soon as they walked outside, Liu Qinting rushed to the iron gate and shouted, "Gu Liyue, Gu Liyue! I hate you, Gu Liyue! Why are you good at everything? In both past and present lives, you've got it all! Why! Talk to me. Talk to me!"
Gu Liyue stamped her foot and then quickened her pace.
Liu Qinting shouted frantically, "In your past life, you were Feng Lanqing's wife. He passed the imperial examination and was promoted to a fourth - rank official, and you became a noble lady. Why, in this life, when I tried to drive you away and marry him, he was only a Jinshi by special grace and just a ninth - rank official? Why! Also, why was there no Marquis Mansion in your past life, but in this life, you became the daughter of the Marquis Mansion?"
Gu Liyue looked up at Liu Qinting and then turned to Gu Junyan. "Brother, look, she's crazy."
Gu Junyan nodded. "She's crazy."
It was Gu Junyan who accompanied Gu Liyue home. Gu Liyue leaned on his shoulder, and her tears fell like broken beads.
Gu Junyan said, "Liyue, it's all over. We're all here. From now on, we'll never let such people bully you again."
Gu Liyue sniffed and nodded. "Brother... Was my father's original choice right or wrong?"
Gu Junyan smiled. "Silly girl, since it's a choice, there's no right or wrong. In our lives, we face countless choices. As long as we have a clear conscience, we don't need to care or think about it."
A clear conscience?
Gu Liyue calmed down a little. Yes, when her parents chose to leave, they cared about their affection for each other rather than their future lives. They wanted to be soaring birds rather than be trapped in a corner like the capital city.
Just like the scenes she occasionally remembered, they were a happy and harmonious family. Since they were happy, how could they regret it?
Gu Junyan put his arm around Gu Liyue's shoulder. "If you want to say something, just say it."
Gu Liyue asked, "Brother, just now Liu Anping said that he was overjoyed when I was born. Why? Was it very difficult for my mother to give birth to me?"
Gu Junyan pondered for a long time before saying, "Your mother... was diagnosed by a doctor that she couldn't conceive. She'd been with your father for four years without getting pregnant. So we never thought that you'd exist in this world."
Gu Liyue was stunned. She finally understood why her grandfather hadn't looked for her for more than a decade. She didn't know about the rift between her grandfather and her parents, but her grandfather and the others didn't know about her existence, so they never thought to ask about her well - being.
She smiled and reached out to hold Gu Junyan's arm. The last bit of doubt in her heart was completely dispelled. She was very satisfied. It turned out that she'd never been forgotten or abandoned. When her relatives knew about her existence, they did their best to find her back, take care of her, and love her.
Gu Junyan rarely saw his younger sister being so affectionate and couldn't help being curious. "What's wrong?"
Gu Liyue shook her head. After thinking for a while, she asked, "By the way, did you find out who helped Liu Zhenghui and Liu Qinting? Without someone's help, they could never have transferred the Gu family's guards and replaced my coachman."
Gu Junyan's face darkened, and he didn't say a word.
Gu Liyue said seriously, "Brother, I've grown up. I want to know about these things. Only by knowing more can I protect myself better."
Gu Junyan rubbed her head. This younger sister had just come back, and the family just wanted to give her the best things in the world. Protecting her was their responsibility, but she was right. Hiding things from her would only make her naive and unaware of the danger.
"Do you remember the last time when you were framed by Jiang Yingyue? If it hadn't been for Cheng Zhi, you'd have been in great danger?"
Gu Liyue nodded. "I know. It was Jiang Yingyue who did it."
"No, it wasn't Jiang Yingyue." Gu Junyan's eyebrows were cold. "That time, I found something different. Although Jiang Yingyue was a daughter of the Jiang family, because Madam Jiang kept a tight rein on her, she could only control things in the inner courtyard, not necessarily outside. Those thugs couldn't be bribed by Jiang Yingyue with just a little money."
Gu Liyue was stunned and subconsciously asked, "So, was it someone else from the Jiang family?"
Gu Junyan mused, "I used to think so too, but all the clues seemed to have nothing to do with the Jiang family. But the Jiang family took all the blame, and even the Duke of Jiang thought that it was Jiang Che who did it for his younger sister."
It wasn't Jiang Che. Gu Liyue frowned. Although Jiang Che was impulsive, he was even more innocent and straightforward than Jiang Yingyue. Even if he was dissatisfied, he'd only come out in the open and wouldn't engage in so many underhanded tricks.
"I didn't find out anything last time, but I've found something this time. It's just not confirmed yet. I seem to be able to associate the similarities between these two cases."
Gu Liyue stared at him blankly. "Who... is it?"
"The Qi family."
The Qi family? Gu Liyue was completely stunned. If both incidents pointed to the Qi family, it could only be Qi Manyan. But clearly, in these gatherings of young ladies, Qi Manyan had shown enthusiasm for her, and there was no sign of anything strange.
Moreover, did the young ladies of the Qi family really have such great power?