Gu Qingtong’s heart softened. She touched her soft hair, thinking she was still just an eleven-year-old girl with hidden thoughts, and sighed secretly: “Go wash your face. I’ll take you out for a walk.”
Gu Qingtong, intending to lift her spirits, chose a scenic place. On this spring afternoon, the sunlight was bright, willows swaying by the lake, a feast for the eyes.
Despite her low spirits, Luo Xue gradually relaxed amidst the flowers and greenery.
“Oh, Gu Qingniang!”
Gu Qingtong was enjoying the scenery when she heard a slightly hoarse male voice. Turning back, she saw Fan Xifeng, whom she had pushed into the water days ago. Unexpectedly, he had become thin, even his voice now sounding like a duck’s.
Fan Xifeng saw her half-smiling expression and his anger rose: “Gu Qingniang, you’re quite leisurely, with no sense of guilt.”
“Guilt? Why should I feel guilty?”
“You pushed this young master into the water, causing me to catch a cold that I haven’t recovered from. Don’t you owe me compensation?” Fan Xifeng, backed by a group of servants, stepped closer, forcing Gu Qingtong into the depths of the bamboo grove.
Gu Qingtong didn’t think she had any chance of escaping the servants’ encirclement.
Fan Xifeng was holding her, and two or three servants were harassing Green Fruit with vulgar language, proving that the superiors were corrupt and so were their subordinates.
Green Fruit, lacking Gu Qingtong’s composure, was already crying in fear.
Gu Qingtong sighed secretly, knowing she could only rely on herself. She suddenly grabbed Fan Xifeng’s wrist: “Young Master Fan, your health is not fully recovered. Why don’t you rest? I’ll treat you to Zhu Qingyue as an apology?”
“Zhu Qingyue? Haha, how can its dishes compare to Miss Gu’s beauty?” Fan Xifeng’s fingernail traced her cheek, “Truly the daughter of the Gu family, even more beautiful than her mother. But would her mother lament that this beautiful appearance has harmed not just her, but her daughter too?”
“You’ve met my mother?” Gu Qingtong discovered that the Gu family’s matters were not a secret, though most people were reluctant to discuss them.
“Of course I’ve met her. I even attended your third birthday celebration. Even then, you were a beautiful child, and you haven’t disappointed me now.”
