“Qingqing, General Qiaxi’s children have always wanted you to take care of them. So, I’ll let them follow you to Gong Yue. After I return to the capital, I’ll have the other children left by General Qiaxi come to Gong Yue to find you. My father has arranged everything. When you arrive, someone will come to assist you.”
“Shangheng…” Gu Qingtong wanted to follow him back to the capital, but everything he said made sense. She couldn’t hold him back or make him an unfilial son who abandons his family.
Jiang Shangheng saw her hesitation and cupped her face, giving her a deep kiss: “I’ll go find General Qiaxi, arrange your matters, and then return to the capital.”
Gu Qingtong watched him rush out, then slumped in the room, pressing her forehead: Even if she didn’t return to the capital, she should do something.
The daughter she had repeatedly claimed she would make amends to was now almost driven to desperation.
Gu Qingtong left a blood letter to Empress Dowager Guo with only the four characters “Spare a Life at the Sword’s Edge.” She did not know what waves her death news would stir up in Empress Dowager Guo’s ears, but at least she could seek a glimmer of hope for the Marquis. And when Shen Yuqing heard that she had died, she would probably no longer entangle with the Marquis’s residence and Jiang Shangheng.
The Marquis of Zhenyuan arranged for them a small town called Yanxing in the middle of Gongyu, very much like a water town in Jiangnan. Every morning, the black-canopied boats would creak by, and the market would become lively as the sun rose, unlike the tension of the Southern Capital, with its leisurely and relaxed atmosphere.
Gu Qingtong lived in a four-courtyard residence. The original owner, Master Min, had once received the kindness of the Marquis of Zhenyuan and Lord Gu, and therefore took extra care of her. The owner would instruct his wife and daughter to accompany her daily, ask if she needed anything, and take her out to stroll and sightsee when she felt bored.
