Chapter 10 The Princess Royal

You’ve tried hard.

Despite her astonishment, she quickly sat down and wrote below that sentence, Who are you?

At a different time in the 7th year of Jianyuan, the thirty-year-old Gu Qiang was also shocked.

Followed by that was a burst of tears with joy.

She could communicate with her fifteen-year-old self! Then, everything could be changed.

She just needed to prevent herself from losing her memory that would happen unexpectedly a month later.

Then, all the tragedies would not happen.

Thinking of that, she quickly wrote to reply, I am you, you from fifteen years later.

The fifteen-year-old Gu Qiang was also overjoyed. She then continued to inquire, If you are me, do you know how Brother dies?

In the book, the thirty-year-old Gu Qiang replied, I don’t know. All I know is Brother went out to run some errands for the Ninth Prince and met with an accident. But there is one time when I overheard Shen Zhongbai’s adviser, Yi Cen, mentioning Brother’s name. However, when I ordered people to investigate the accident, all the people involved were killed.

When did Brother go out?

But this time, there was no reply.

It was only now that the fifteen-year-old Gu Qiang realized this page was already full and their conversation ended abruptly. Refusing to give up, she flipped to the next page and wrote down the same question, When did brother go out?

However, the writing vanished right after each stroke was made.

It seemed like there were some sort of rules which were controlling all of these, or some established settings.

She had no choice but to give up now and wait for the next day to try again.

At the same time, both the thirty-year-old and fifteen-year-old Gu Qiang thought of the same idea.

The next day was the Spring Feast.

The Spring Feast was held once a year, and it was Gu Family’s turn to host it this year. However, Old Master Gu had accompanied the Emperor to Shandong for prayers, and Madam Gu had a headache these few days, so Old Lady Gu had to manage all the affairs of the household.

“Is it true that the news says she had a headache?”

Since the day Gu Qiang returned to the mansion, she had enjoyed a few peaceful days. Therefore, when she heard of the Spring Feast, she could not help frowning as she had a hunch that something was about to happen.

Naturally, Chui Xue did not feel anything odd about it. She just gloated at Madam Gu’s misfortune and replied with a low voice, “They say it’s because of a headache, but I heard that Madam kneeled in Old Lady’s room for two days secretly. Only then, the Old Lady assigned her some petty matters of the Feast.”

Upon listening to that, Gu Qiang was sincerely impressed by Madam’s patience. She was already the wife of the Prime Minister, but she could still remain her equanimity and flexibility at times like this.

No wonder she was easily deceived by Madam in the past.

Nonetheless, although Chen Yun was dead now, the Old Lady still remembered his words. Therefore, Gu Qiang came up with an idea and smirked. “Go to check if Madam sent me anything else.”

Ting Feng and Chui Xue looked at each other in surprise upon receiving her command. Chui Xue, having a vivacious personality, shouted immediately, “My Lady, you are so smart! Madam has just ordered her maid, Aunt Zhang, to send you the garments and accessories to wear for this afternoon.”

Gu Qiang did not reply but just smiled. At this moment, Ting Feng had brought the clothes casket to her. Gu Qiang opened it casually and saw a delicately-sewn vermilion unlined garment, along with a set of gold-plated accessories adorning jades.

Floral patterns and peacocks were sewn on the unlined garment, while the pair of dangling hairpins were made into a peacock biting a pearl.

“This…”

Despite seeing all the precious things for many years since she served Gu Qiang, Ting Feng was still amazed by the things in the casket, “Madam gave you such precious things?”

She was not being narrow-minded to suspect there were underlying intentions from Madam. It was just that this set of garments was extraordinarily dazzling. Any noble maiden who wore it would certainly look outstanding at the feast. When did Madam suddenly become so kind to provide Gu Qiang this opportunity?

Gu Qiang gave Ting Feng a commending glance. “Not bad for you to think of this.”

Madam obviously bore no good intentions when she gave garments like this to her.

Instead, she intended to expose her to the public and make her the target.

“If that is the case, do you still want to wear this garment, My Lady?” Ting Xue asked carefully. But Gu Qiang just smiled and closed the casket while replying meaningfully, “Well, I am certainly not fit to wear this stunning garment. Why don’t we give it to Gu Zhihua? She will love it.”

The Spring Feast was often held to pray for favorable weathers throughout the year and prosperous yield in the following year. In the afternoon, the entrance of Gu Mansion was already packed with continuous carriages. Meanwhile, in the banquet hall, all the noble maidens were following their mothers to greet Ye politely and reservedly, “Greetings to you, Madam Gu.”

Ye was also meticulously dressed up today. There was not a trace of awkwardness from a few days ago on her face, only the usual gentleness remained. When the noble maiden in front of her raised her head after her salute, Ye smiled gleefully and praised, “How lovely. The daughter of Minister Yao has grown into a stunning lady!”

“You’re too flattering, Madam Gu.”

Madam Yao was proud and delighted that her daughter was praised by the Prime Minister’s wife. Despite her elation, she did not forget to return the courtesy. “Speaking of daughters, no one can outshine your two daughters, especially your younger daughter. She’s beautiful, and her personality takes after you too.”

“You’re flattering me.”

Ye broke into a hearty laughter upon hearing her compliments. However, she sighed right after that and said, “My younger daughter is still young, but my eldest daughter is almost of age this year.”

Upon hearing this, Madam Yao lowered her voice and whispered close to Ye’s ears, “I heard that the people from the palace came here today to look for suitable maidens. I even heard that Princess Changning came. This—”