fter finishing the gossip about ripples, she left Zhou Fenglin's office and started preparing for her trip abroad as usual. She also took some time to spend more time with Zhou Mengyu.Since Lianrou le...The Madame Gu of Youzhou received two letters from her daughter. One was sent back through the official post station, and the other was sent back through the Gu family's information network.

When she saw the first letter, Madam Gu was so furious that her eyes turned red, and she almost fainted. As a woman herself, she naturally knew what kind of life a woman who lost her ability to bear children would have in the palace.

At this moment, she hated the lofty imperial power and also hated her own impotence.

Only after reading the second letter did her heart settle back in her chest. She trembled as she poured herself a glass of cold tea, allowing herself to calm down before carefully reading the second letter again. This confirmed that all of this was a trap set by her daughter.

The daughter did this to prevent the household from being passive, allowing herself to avoid the entanglements of the concubines in the harem, and making the prince feel guilty. Whether out of compensation or comfort, it would allow her to live peacefully within the palace. She also hinted that she should prepare early.

"Poor Butterfly, what a good child. If I had known better, I should have arranged a marriage for her..."

Mrs. Gu let out a sigh.

The head servant serving by the side said:

"Madam, even if you arrange a marriage for your daughter, there's no guarantee that the suitor won't use underhanded tactics. After all, he's interested in the Gu family's wealth, not the person."

"Well, it's done now. We can only look forward and find a way out for the Gu family."

"Mother, my son said our elder sister has written a letter. Please let me have a look."

Before Gu Minglang arrived, his voice reached us first. It seemed like he had just returned from school.

After Gu Minglang entered the room, he first bowed to his mother and then eagerly looked at the letter on the table, clearly very concerned about his older sister's situation.

Have a look yourself!

Mrs. Gu had no intention of keeping the two letters from her son, so she handed them over to him and explained their origins.

After reading the letter, Gu Minglang's smile disappeared. He clenched his fists and said angrily:

"He was the one who originally wanted to marry my elder sister. He took our family's money when he married her, and now he can't even protect her What does this mean Mother, do you think he did this on purpose"

He despised me for being from a merchant family, deeming me unworthy to bear his children. He allowed others to target my sister. If not for my sister's quick wit, who was prepared and skillfully turned the situation to her advantage, our family would have been ruined.

Looking at her son, who was already showing signs of brilliance, Mrs. Gu felt a deep sense of contentment in her heart. Then she comforted him, saying:

My son's deduction was right, one shouldn't bet on the thoughts of those in power with ordinary kindness. Luckily, the Gu family had already begun laying out their plans.

"The son hopes to grow up quickly so that he can share the burden for the family."

"Lan'er, you're doing very well now. Keep it up, and one day you will have the freedom to soar like a bird."

"Yes, mother, child has taken it to heart."

Kyoto Imperial Palace East Study

Xin Yuan received 300,000 taels of silver from the Gu family, and they both explicitly and implicitly expressed their hope that the Crown Prince would look after his newlywed wife and protect her from being bullied by others.

Xin Yuan received the silver and went to Gu Die'er's place that night.

At this time, Gu Die'er had lost the grief and sorrow of before. She seemed to have accepted reality and still spoke to Xin Yuan softly and respectfully as she always had.

This made the Crown Princess and the other women furious, but they all had their own sources of information. They knew that the Gu family had sent another large sum of money into the palace. Even if they were angry, they swallowed it down.

After all, in their eyes, the other party was just a hen that couldn't lay eggs and had lost the right to be favored. Whenever the prince didn't need Gu Jia anymore, he would completely abandon Gu Die'er. They didn't need to fight for a moment of glory.

Gu Die'er naturally knew what these people were thinking, none of this concerned her. She only needed to guard her own heart and live her own life well.

The Crown Prince felt indebted to Gu Die'er, so he would stay at her place every month. This immediately made those in the palace who watched the dishes understand that Lady Gu had not fallen out of favor; the Crown Prince even valued her more than before.

And as the prince visited more often, he also discovered Gu Die'er's uniqueness. Unlike those women who only knew how to vie for favor, Gu Die'er had her own perspective on things, always giving him fresh insights.

Besides, Gu Die'er was respectful towards him but not servile. She had no demands of him, unlike the other women he went to, who either wanted his favor or sought benefits for their families. Over time, he grew tired of it.

Especially after Concubine Xu gave birth to a son, the Crown Princess focused all her energy on having children. It seemed that besides having children, there was no other way to consolidate her position. This made Xin Yuan very annoyed.

Wu Liangdi narrowly escaped death giving birth to a daughter, and her own body was injured in the process. However, she was very satisfied. A daughter was good; she wouldn't interfere with the status of the Crown Princess, and she herself had security. As long as the Prince ascended the throne, her daughter would be a princess, and there would be no worries about marriage in the future.

Those who gave birth to children all needed to be promoted in rank, but the prince was suppressed because he had finally made it to the top. The emperor had already drafted an abdication edict, and he was about to ascend to that supreme position.

Six months later, Xin Yuan ascended the throne successfully, changed the country's name to Tianyun, and began his thirty-year reign.

The Taishang Huang didn't want to leave any unwanted eyes around, so he took all his concubines and moved to the Imperial Summer Palace for a long stay. He said it was to recuperate, but everyone with discernment knew that this was the Taishang Huang abdicating.

The next three years were Xin Yuan's busiest. He rarely went to the inner court, and even when he did, he only stayed with Empress Yang Pei Rong or visited Gu Die'er for a while, as a way of supporting her indirectly.

His actions made countless women furious. They could only run to the Empress's Fengyi Palace, openly and secretly accusing Gu Die'er of seducing the Emperor, but each time they were brushed aside by the Empress with a light and airy indifference.

In Empress Yang's eyes, a woman who had never borne children was nothing to her. Since the Emperor wanted to protect her, she naturally wouldn't soil her own hands.

Time flew by, and five years had passed. Finally, the Empress gave birth to a prince, though he didn't secure the throne position, he did hold the position of the legitimate heir. This filled her with renewed ambition.

Gu Die'er, riding on Xin Yuan's rising status, was elevated to the rank of concubine and received her own private palace. She truly lived a secluded life within its walls, waiting for the Gu family to retreat from their predicament, awaiting the day she could escape the hardships.

The ripples had now reached Gwangju, the place where Kyoto was located. When she heard that Xin Yuan had fallen for Gu Die'er, but Gu Die'er remained unmoved, a tinge of schadenfreude arose within her. However, she didn't show it outwardly, able only to vent to Shi Ju in private:

"Mortar and Pestle, what kind of plot twist is this The esteemed descendant of heaven was actually rejected I estimate that for the rest of his life, he will experience the pain of unrequited love."

"...You have some nerve! You turned what was supposed to be a journey of mutual affection, a path where I carefully chose you from countless others, into an unrequited love disaster!" her true face."With a heart full of pity, Wu gently stroked the woman's head. Then she took a handkerchief, dipped it in water, and lightly moistened her lips."The doctor said you can't eat anything...