Gu Qingtong didn’t expect her age and birthday to be such a mystery, but since Lü Guo said so, she would just accept it. After all, there were no birthday cakes in ancient times. Longevity noodles and such, she had never eaten and wasn’t interested in for now. When others asked, she would answer like Lü Guo did.
Gu Qingtong sat in front of the mirror, looking at herself, gently touching her face. Although she knew this body wasn’t old, she didn’t expect to not even be sixteen yet.
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She lowered her head to look at her chest, then looked back at her buttocks, noting they were well-developed. Ancient children matured so early.
“Miss, you’ll need to return the clothes to the Yang family tomorrow.”
“Oh.” Gu Qingtong hurriedly changed her clothes, almost forgetting she had to go to the Yang family tomorrow. She saw the marriage between the Jiang and Yang families was likely to succeed. Jiang Youping’s temperament wasn’t bad towards Yang Shanyi. She hoped they would become a couple.
“Gu Qingniang.”
Gu Qingtong had just changed her clothes and was preparing to have dinner when a young servant entered. This servant usually delivered unimportant messages. She put down her chopsticks: “What is it?”
“Young Master Yu Qing sent a message, asking you to try the new delicacies at Zhu Qing Yue.”
“My master?”
“Yes, Young Master Yu Qing is already there, waiting.”
Gu Qingtong looked at the untouched meal and nodded: “Tell them to prepare a carriage.”
“Yes.”
Gu Qingtong thought that her master was really good to her. With these thoughts, she and Lü Guo boarded the carriage.
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“Please, Third Madam, come find me when I’m free.”
Third Madam sees that there’s no room for negotiation and can only withdraw, slightly twisting the corner of her mouth: “Fine, you’ll definitely be free tomorrow afternoon. I’ll come find you then.”
Gu Qingtong, seeing her stop pestering, pushed open the door and left: “Where is Young Master Yu Qing? Take me to him.”
“Yes.” The servant was still waiting outside and hurriedly led her around a corridor.
“Tong’er, you’re finally here.” Young Master Yu Qing was pouring tea, catching a glimpse of her sleeve from the corner of his eye.
“Tong’er has kept her master waiting,” Gu Qingtong hurriedly apologized.
Young Master Yu Qing gave a look, and the servant led Lüguo out and closed the door.
“Tong’er, come here.”
Gu Qingtong went to sit across from him, watching him pour tea.
“I heard you’ve been doing quite well these past few days?” Young Master Yu Qing looked at her with his beautiful phoenix eyes.
“No one’s been giving me a hard time, so it’s been okay.”
“No one gave you a hard time before either. How did someone as smart as you fall for Liang Luoxian’s trick?”
Gu Qingtong knew little about what happened at the Hua family and simply took the tea from his hand in silence.
“Never mind, I know you were the victim. I’ll get justice for you next time.” His voice was pleasant, soft when speaking to her, but this didn’t diminish his determination.
“How will you get justice?”
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Gu Qingtong looked at him in surprise.
Young Master Yu Qing just smiled lightly and said nothing. Just then, a waiter brought two dishes and introduced them: “These are two new dishes from Zhu Qingyue. One is called ‘Lovers in the World’, and the other is ‘Mutual Cultivation’.”
Gu Qingtong looked at the dishes, wondering why they were given such “meaningful” names and why Young Master Yu Qing had invited her to eat together.
“Tong’er,” Young Master Yu Qing suddenly looked at her steadily, his expression slightly flustered, “You didn’t actually fall for Hua Jianwei, did you?”
“Ah?”
Seeing her reaction, he smiled again: “Right, my Tong’er has such high standards. How could you fancy Hua Jianwei?”
Gu Qingtong was confused but shook her head: “I’m just a lowly maid. No matter how good Young Master Hua is, I wouldn’t dare to have such thoughts.”
“Lowly?” Young Master Yu Qing suddenly grabbed her hand, “Tong’er, how can you think like that? You’re different from others. Even if your family has fallen, you’ll always be that noble young lady. If there’s a chance to turn things around, you’ll definitely be able to return to the Gu family.”
“Return to the Gu family?”
Young Master Yu Qing seemed to think he’d said too much and sighed silently: “You haven’t had dinner; you must be hungry. Eat.”
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Gu Qingtong knew there was definitely more to the story, but she couldn’t ask. She barely ate a few bites, though his gaze was intense.
Young Master Yu Qing thought she was remembering past events and pulled out a hairpin from his pocket: “I’ve redeemed your mother’s hairpin. Keep it.”
Gu Qingtong took it in surprise, looking carefully. The hairpin was of excellent quality, with a white magnolia flower at the end, supported by openwork silver at the base – elegant and understated. “You were young, so you probably don’t remember much, but this was your mother’s favorite hairpin. You should have some memory of it.”
“Mm.” Gu Qingtong responded nervously.
“Well, that’s what we’ll call it, don’t forget in the future.” Young Master Yu Qing finally seemed satisfied, “It’s quite late. You’ll need to go to the Yang family tomorrow morning, so go back and rest early. If you need anything, just come find me.”
“Mm.” Gu Qingtong felt his grip loosen, quickly opened the door and escaped, running down the stairs.
Green Fruit was waiting downstairs. Seeing her come down, she hurriedly called the carriage driver.
Until she returned to the Flower and Moon Pavilion, Gu Qingtong’s head was still somewhat muddled, filled with Young Master Yu Qing’s suggestive words.
“Wuwu… I don’t want to be a Li’niang… I don’t want to…”
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Just as Gu Qingtong entered, she heard a group of girls being pushed in through another door, crying with tears like falling flowers.
“What’s going on?” Gu Qingtong grabbed a passing maidservant and asked.
“Lord Leng has committed a crime and been imprisoned. These are all Leng family’s maidservants. Born without a mistress’s fate, they will naturally become Li’niang now.”
“What about the Leng family’s young ladies?”
“The Leng family’s two young ladies have been taken by Ruan’niang and Color Sister. They’re only ten now, but already show promise as beauties. In the future, they’ll be trained as Qing’niang, definitely top-notch.”
Gu Qingtong now truly understood Young Master Yu Qing’s words. She realized the origins of Qing’niang and Li’niang. No wonder their status was so lowly – they were demoted due to their family’s misdeeds. Li’niang were trained from maidservants, because they were inherently lowly. Qing’niang were originally from wealthy families, with a more noble status, ultimately trained to maintain a pure reputation. This meant her current body was originally from a noble family, only becoming a Qing’niang because of her family’s transgressions.
Gu Qingtong was pondering this when Liang Luoxian swayed over: “Oh, Gu Qingtong, reminiscing about your Gu family’s glorious days again? But no matter how glorious, you’re now just a lowly Qing’niang, worse than these newly dragged-in young girls.”
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