novelraw Chapter 227 That was her fate, it was her destiny.
Chapter 227 That was her fate, it was her destiny.
Chapter 227 That was her fate, it was her destiny.
Gu Tang almost couldn't help but turn around and look at him.
Was she plotting against herself and her father?
What are you scheming about?
Gu Qing's gaze, which had been fixed straight ahead, fell on Gu Lian. She seemed to be pestering Gu Qing. The two sisters were talking very loudly, and their voices could be heard clearly even in the noisy fabric shop.
Gu Lian said she would spend copper coins to buy Gu Qing a few feet of cloth to make clothes.
Gu Qingchun was only thinking about taking advantage of the situation. She happily squeezed into the crowd to pick out fabrics, without even glancing at Gu Tang. If she had just turned around, she would have seen that Gu Tianbao was standing right behind Gu Tang.
Only Gu Lian would occasionally glance this way with a worried expression.
It seems that Gu Lian is intentionally trying to get Gu Qing away.
Gu Tang tilted her head slightly and asked Gu Tianbao in a low voice, "Did they say how they would scheme?"
"He didn't say it, but he said he would scheme against you and your second uncle at the winter market, that he would make your second uncle cry and regret it, and that he would never be able to see you again in his life..."
Will she make her father cry with regret, knowing he'll never see her again in his life?
Gu Tang pondered these words carefully.
If we follow the meaning of these words, it seems that Madam Feng and Gu Zhier were not plotting against her father.
They should be scheming against themselves.
Only if something happens to her will her father cry with regret, knowing he will never see her again.
As for what they might do to scheme against themselves, it's not hard to guess.
They could either take advantage of the crowd, kidnap and kill her, or find a slave trader to secretly sell her.
There are only two ways to ensure that her father will never see her again in his lifetime.
"I'll remember this and be careful," Gu Tang replied softly.
Gu Tianbao didn't say anything and slowly moved away from behind her.
Gu Tang suddenly called out to him, "Did you really hold your mother's funeral?"
Mentioning this, Gu Tianbao was filled with gloom: "It's all done. They all think it's best that my mother died. My father has already hired a matchmaker to look for a wife everywhere. He said there's news, and the wedding should be before the New Year..."
Gu Tang: ...Damn! I'm impressed! Every outrageous thing Gu Liansheng does refreshes her understanding of what's acceptable and what's the lowest level she can go!
A thought struck her: if Wei were to return alive on the day of Gu Liansheng's wedding... that would surely be quite a spectacle!
They're a family, they're bound to fight like dogs!
"Do you still want to save your mother?" Gu Tang asked him in a low voice.
Gu Tianbao froze, then suddenly turned around: "Yes!"
The word "want" was very loud, and both Third Uncle and Gu Ping'an heard it.
Only then did the grandfather and grandson notice Gu Tianbao, a look of surprise flashing in their eyes.
Gu Tang quickly reassured her, "It's okay, don't pay any attention to him, he means no harm."
Then, she glared at Gu Tianbao and hissed, "What are you shouting for! Are you afraid Gu Qing won't hear you?!"
Gu Tianbao looked on with lingering fear and quickly turned to look at Gu Qing. He saw that Gu Qing was still focused on choosing the fabric, while his second sister secretly waved to him, indicating that Gu Qing hadn't heard her.
"I'm sorry..." He suppressed his pounding heart and apologized to Gu Tang with a look of embarrassment and annoyance.
Hearing the "I'm sorry" he said, Gu Tang was really surprised. She looked him up and down and saw that he was wearing an old padded jacket. His once chubby figure had become much thinner.
With that physique, no one would call him fat. The key thing is that this person seems to have suddenly grown taller, much taller than me.
Her face was not chubby, and her features gradually relaxed, revealing a rare and delicate beauty.
He just doesn't look like Gu Liansheng, nor does he look like Wei Shi.
"You are... Tianbao?" Third Uncle stared straight at him, his face blank with astonishment.
“Uncle, it’s me.” Gu Tianbao smiled shyly.
"You've lost so much weight, child... It's good that you're thin! You look more energetic when you're thin! You look just like your great-grandmother!" Third Uncle sighed, quite emotional.
Does she look like my great-grandmother?
Gu Tang looked at him a few more times. He didn't look like his parents but like his great-grandmother. He was definitely a member of the Gu family.
She was startled for a moment, thinking that Madam Wei had cheated on Gu Liansheng.
"Go find your sister first. Don't mention your mother at home for now. I'll talk to my dad about your mother later and ask him to help find some people to look for her."
Upon hearing this, Gu Tianbao's eyes reddened, and he nodded repeatedly as he walked towards Gu Lian.
He had only taken a few steps when he suddenly turned back, approached Gu Tang, and told her about Gu Qing's plan to become a servant in the Cheng family.
Gu Tang blinked: "Which Cheng family?"
"It's the Cheng family in Bei'an City. I heard they even produced an empress. My aunt's sister-in-law, Aunt Li, helped with the introduction."
After saying this, Gu Tianbao didn't linger and hurried off to find Gu Lian.
Gu Tang was somewhat stunned by these words.
She looked at her third uncle, only to see his chest heaving and his face so black it looked like ink could drip from it.
"Has my uncle gone mad? Is he no longer going to take the imperial examinations?"
If outsiders find out that he sold his daughter into a wealthy family as a slave during the imperial examinations, even if he were to get lucky and become the top scholar, he could forget about becoming an official!
Those censors could impeach him to death!
"Fortunately, your branch of the family has been adopted, so the impact isn't too great. It's just... how could this person be so stupid? After decades of studying, has all that knowledge gone to waste?"
Third Uncle was so angry he didn't know what to say.
Gu Tang comforted him, "It's not worth getting angry with them. Heaven's sins can be forgiven, but self-inflicted sins cannot. He has to walk the path he has chosen, even if he has to crawl on his knees. It has nothing to do with us, so we don't need to pay attention to them."
That being said, it's just so infuriating.
The family isn't starving; they support two scholars and have considerable savings. How could Madam Feng do something so foolish?
Uncle San couldn't understand it at all. He frowned and sighed several times.
Gu Tang told Gu Ping'an to appease the people while she went to ask Yang, the clan chief's wife, if the accounts had been settled. She gave her the copper coins so she could go home, as there were still people outside waiting to scheme against her.
There were too many families buying kapok wadding, and each family had a different amount. When Yang heard that Gu Tang was leaving, she put aside the accounts of other families and settled Gu Tang's accounts first.
After calculating, Gu Tang handed over the copper coins, told everyone that he had to leave first, and asked Gu Ping'an to carry the cotton wadding. The three of them then turned around and left the cloth shop.
Li and the men waited for Gu Tang at the door, carefully scrutinizing each person who came out.
They finally saw the person they were waiting for.
Knowing that someone was plotting against her, Gu Tang became vigilant as soon as she stepped out of the fabric shop.
When those seven unusually intense gazes fell upon him, Gu Tang felt a chill run down his spine and immediately sensed that something was wrong.
She tugged at her third uncle's clothes and continued walking forward, casually striking up a conversation with him: "There are still so many people; they haven't dispersed yet."
As she said this, she looked around, as if she was genuinely surprised by the large number of people.
Uncle San, oblivious to everything, turned to Gu Tang and said, "I reckon it won't disperse until the afternoon. Winter days are short, and some people who don't stay in the city will definitely head back early in the afternoon so they don't have to walk back in the dark." "Then let's go back. We can come back to stroll around when there are fewer people in the afternoon." Gu Tang had already noticed that several men with different expressions were staring at her.
He probably thought she wouldn't notice, so he didn't try to hide his gaze at her.
The three of them hadn't walked more than a few steps when Gu Tianbao suddenly called out from behind, "Uncle!"
Hearing Gu Tianbao's voice, the three of them turned around and saw Gu Tianbao leading Gu Lian towards them, with Gu Qing, who had a gloomy face, following behind.
After finally squeezing to the front, Gu Tianbao smiled obsequiously and said, "Uncle, cousin, cousin, I heard from my aunt that you were going to wait for my second uncle at the city gate. I told my aunt that we would go with you to the city gate to wait for him. If my grandma and the others come back to find us, my aunt will tell them."
Gu Tang's reason for going to the city gate was to go first.
The village's oxcarts were all parked at the city gate, so she said she would go over there and wait for others.
That was just an excuse; in reality, they intended to go back to the courtyard.
Uncle San was somewhat troubled, but Gu Tang had a sudden inspiration, feeling that this was an opportunity.
She took the initiative before her third uncle could speak up: "My grandfather told Ping An that he was going to buy writing brushes and ink, but I thought it was too tiring and didn't want to go with him. I was worried that no one would accompany me to the city gate. Since you want to come along, then we can go together."
Third Uncle's eyelids twitched, and he secretly glared at Gu Tang before hurriedly saying, "I'm worried about you children going to the city gate. I'll go with you. After I get you there, I'll take Ping'an to buy writing materials."
How can this be? If the old man and Ping An go, how will she get rid of them?
Gu Tang reached out and tugged at her third uncle's clothes, then winked at him behind his back.
"After all this back and forth, can your legs handle it? I'm quite familiar with Bei'an City now, and there are government officials patrolling the streets everywhere. What do you have to worry about? It's settled then!"
Without giving her third uncle a chance to react, she led Gu Tianbao and the other two onto another road.
Third Uncle panicked and wanted to chase after her: "That girl!"
"Master!" Gu Ping'an hurriedly stopped him. "Don't chase after her. Haven't you realized? My second sister is trying to do her own thing behind our backs. Don't worry about it. With my second sister's brains, ordinary people are no match for her. She'll be fine."
Uncle San looked worried: "There are too many people today. Every year at this time, those child kidnappers are incredibly brazen!"
And your second sister is so beautiful, she's exactly the kind of woman those kidnappers would want! How can I possibly feel at ease?"
Gu Ping'an hadn't considered the possibility of a kidnapping, but upon hearing his third uncle's words, his earlier indifference vanished, and he began to worry as well.
"Then... shall we follow them now?"
Third Uncle looked down the road where Gu Tang had gone, but Gu Tang was nowhere to be seen, and even Gu Tianbao and the others had vanished.
Several children, who were not yet fully grown, were squeezed into the crowd, like drops of water in the sea, and could not be found at all.
“If you can’t squeeze through the thirty pounds of cotton wadding on your back, take the cotton wadding to your grandmother and tell her that we are going to buy things elsewhere, so we will leave the cotton wadding at the cloth shop for now and pick it up when we come back.”
"it is good!"
Gu Ping'an pushed the cotton wadding on his back up a bit, squeezed back into the cloth shop, and delivered the cotton wadding to the clan chief's wife.
After he came out of the cloth shop, the grandfather and grandson chased after Gu Tang and squeezed towards the city gate.
If the streets were cleared, Gu Tang wouldn't be far from her third uncle, only about twenty or thirty meters away.
As Gu Tang pushed her way forward, she kept looking around and noticed that the men were getting closer and closer to her.
She turned to look at Gu Tianbao, puzzled: "Since you know that Grandma and Aunt are plotting against me, why are you still coming up to me now?"
Gu Tianbao pursed his lips: "If I go with you, Grandma and Aunt might not dare to make a move..."
If something happens to Siya, Second Uncle definitely won't be in the mood to help her find her mother!
Therefore, Siya cannot get into trouble!
Gu Tang twitched the corner of her mouth: "That's hard to say!"
After the men following her got a certain distance away, they stopped approaching and deliberately blocked their way, pushing them eastward.
Gu Tang followed their movements eastward without making a sound, but the further they went, the further off-center they became.
Neither Gu Tianbao nor Gu Lian noticed anything amiss, and they were both focused on following Gu Tang, thus straying from the right path.
Gu Qing, who was lagging behind, was stopped outside the encirclement. Watching the three people walk further and further away, she was both angry and flustered, and actually started shouting and cursing in the street.
"Wait for me, you brat! Why are you in such a hurry? Are you rushing to be reincarnated?!"
Hearing Gu Qing's cursing, Gu Tang turned around and glanced at her: "Why are you so angry? Who provoked her?"
Hearing this, Gu Lian felt a little embarrassed: "She wanted to buy satin to make clothes, but I didn't have enough copper coins, so she scolded me for playing tricks on her..."
Heaven and earth conscience!
Although she did deliberately send her older sister away to help her younger brother, it was true that she bought cloth for her older sister.
The copper coins in her hand were enough to buy several feet of linen, enough to make a set of clothes.
But to everyone's surprise, the eldest sister had her eye on the satin!
Even the lowest grade of that kind of satin costs several hundred copper coins per foot; how could she afford it?
Gu Tang didn't speak. Greed and vanity were Gu Qing's true nature, and there was basically no hope for such a person.
No wonder she was willing to become a slave in the Cheng family.
When she and Ah Gou broke into the Cheng residence at night, they discovered that the head maids serving their masters were far more refined than the young ladies raised by ordinary merchant families.
Gu Zhier's sisters-in-law have probably used this matter to deceive Gu Qing quite a bit.
As they strayed further and further off course, the men surrounded them and closed in on them once more.
Gu Tang ignored Gu Tianbao and Gu Lian and simply went along with them, continuing eastward until they ended up in an alley.
At this moment, the men stopped hiding and walked straight out, passing Gu Tianbao and Gu Lian, all chasing after Gu Tang into the alley.
The siblings turned pale upon seeing this scene! They were so frightened that they trembled all over.
"Hurry, hurry back to find Second Uncle!" Gu Lian grabbed him and started to leave.
Gu Tianbao didn't move: "Where are we going to find Second Uncle? By the time we find him, he'll have already disappeared!"
"What should we do?!" Gu Lian panicked and tears streamed down her face.
"What are you two doing?" Gu Qing, who had finally caught up, glared at them angrily. "Why aren't you moving?"
"Someone's trying to catch Siya!" Gu Lian wiped away her tears and pointed to the alley. "Siya ran into the alley! Several men chased after her!"
Gu Qing was taken aback for a moment, then laughed: "Grandma was cursing God for being blind before, but now God heard Grandma's words and finally opened his eyes to punish Siya!"
"What are you talking about!" Gu Tianbao glared at him. "Those people are probably kidnappers! If Siya gets taken away by them, her life is over!"
"That's her fate!" Gu Qing said coldly. "She deserved it!"