Rebirth of the Excellent Daughter of the Marquis Household (REDMH) - Chapter 55

The horse was like a black ghost, carrying the two women as it galloped fast on the streets of the capital. Liang Huai Yu’s cheeks were being blown by the night wind but she did not feel any coldness. Instead, her heart was bursting. An emotion that she had suppressed for many years had been released in the fight just now, making her whole. Every pore felt a sense of relaxation.

Unfortunately, after she got married, she had neglected to practice. It was only by accompanying her daughter to practise martial arts in the past few years that she had picked up marksmanship and practised it again. If she put more of her mind on this, Gu Huai Zhong would definitely not have matched up to her tonight.

Thinking of this, Liang Huai Yu felt extremely proud although she had not won just now. Of those who practised martial arts, many people had a bit of a competitive spirit. Although Liang Huai Yu had been a madam for so long, she was no exception. Once she took it up, she thought about how to win. Perhaps the blood of the Liang family battle god flowed through her body. She actually felt that she should not be trapped in the back of the house.

Although her daughter’s words sounded shockingly treacherous and outrageous, now that she thought about it, it was also lofty and delightful.

If you are ruthless then I will leave! This sentence was easy to say, but how many women in the world were able to do it so casually?

The world was unfair and the shackles were placed on the womens’ bodies one after another. Yet, there was so much forgiveness for men. Why was this the case?

“Ah Nan, do you regret it?” Liang Huai Yu asked her daughter who was sitting in front of her in a low voice.

“Mother, do you regret it?” Gu Yu Qi smiled sweetly, looking back at her mother.

“Never,” Liang Huai Yu laughed heartily, feeling that her mind had never been so open and refreshed! That hearty battle just now made her feel like she was about to fly.

Although she had not beaten Gu Huai Zhong, she also forced him to have no way out! For the military commander of the dynasty to be forced to this point by a woman who did not go out of the house and was confined deep in the courtyard, in Liang Huai Yu’s view, she had already won! Moreover, she had gotten out of the confinement that she had never thought of leaving before. After this time, she could never look back. She understood that all the titles and social standing she had as the wife of a first ranked minister, as the madam of the Marquis’ residence, as the daughter of an aristocratic family, would be completely stripped away from her.

Yet what this stripping away brought was not pain but relief!

From tonight, she was just Liang Huai Yu, the mother of Gu Yu Qi and the daughter of General Liang, the Qi dynasty’s God of War.

If her father was still alive, he would not be ashamed of what she had done tonight. Instead, he would be proud of her and that was what a father should do, unlike Gu Huai Zhong who did not ask for a reason when something happened and just pushed his own daughter out directly. He also wanted to marry his daughter into the imperial family to pave the way for him.

“As long as Mother is happy, daughter will be happy!” Gu Yu Qi said softly. She hurried the horse and made it run faster.

Gu Yu Qi’s words penetrated Liang Huai Yu’s heart like a fine rain in spring. “It’s just that our path in the future may be difficult to walk,” Liang Huai Yu sighed deeply. She was incredibly happy, but could not help worrying about her daughter’s future.

“Then, Mother, what kind of road is not difficult to walk?” Gu Yu Qi knew Liang Huai Yu’s worries and smiled, “If I was still the young miss of the Marquis’ residence, then I would have to marry in two years. But what kind of person would I marry in the future? Even if I married, does that mean I would have peaceful days? In life, not everything is satisfactory. If I married a good man, the days with a husband and teaching a son would certainly be peaceful. However, how does Mother know that this is the kind of life daughter wants?

“What kind of life does Ah Nan want to live?” Liang Huai Yu asked involuntarily.

“To be free and unconstrained by others. It would be even better if there’s a man who loves me with all his heart, but if there isn’t, it’s not required.” Gu Yu Qi thought about it and said slowly, “These kinds of days are enough, although it’s just a fantasy.”

Her previous life was too demanding, always demanding feelings she could not have, taking insisting on solving an unsolvable problem and bogging herself deeper and deeper. The deeper she fell, the more she was unwilling. She forced herself into a dead end and lit herself on fire. In the end, even as she was set on fire, was she not still holding her breath?

She had hoped wildly to leave an indelible impression on that person’s heart in the end. She had died, what use was it to leave an impression?! It was all because she could not understand, could not figure it out!

What separated her and Yun Ke was not a mountain, but a gap created by thousands of years!

She had her way of thinking, her obsession, and Yun Ke was a man of this era. To him, a woman was just an embellishment to his life. Moreover, her behaviour had long exceeded the cognition of women in this era. Even if she tried her best to restrain herself, she would inevitably follow her heart and be criticised by others. In Yun Ke’s eyes, she was not a good woman, not a woman who was worthy of his trust and affection.

It was a pity that in her previous life, she had not understood this at all and thus had come to a tragic end.

Humans were such strange animals. When you were up to your chin in something, it was like there was a veil before your eyes and you were unable to see the way forward. When you jumped out and looked back again, you would have felt that you had taken a detour while there was originally a road behind you that you ignored.

“Aren’t you ashamed?!” Liang Huai Yu was startled. Obviously, she had not expected her 14 year old daughter would suddenly say something that rebelled against orthodoxy. She could not help but feel a flush of redness on her cheeks.

“Mother, aren’t you always worried that your daughter won’t get married?” Gu Yu Qi laughed and said jokingly.

“Pooh! My daughter is so good, she’s more than enough to be the empress!” Liang Huai Yu laughed at Gu Yu Qi’s words and spat.

She had beat up Prince An and her biological father, and had set the Ding Yuan Marquis’ residence on fire, so what if she said something that rebelled against orthodoxy? Besides, her daughter was right. Was she not just worried that her daughter would not be able to marry in the future?

Forget it, forget it. She would accept it if she could not marry, as long as Gu Yu Qi lived happily.

“However, we made such a fuss tonight, I’m afraid that person won’t leave the matter at that.” When Liang Huai Yu thought of this, she could not help sighing. She said, “It’s likely that we’ll have to become anonymous in the future and live in hiding.”

“Mother need not worry about this.” Gu Yu Qi smiled lightly. She had planned for four years. Did she really think she had not done anything other than studying and practising martial arts for the past four years? “Let’s go to Kuizhou!”

“Alright!” Contrary to Gu Yu Qi’s expectations, Liang Huai Yu agreed readily this time.

Liang Huai Yu thought that since it had already come to this, they might as well go to the border. Daughter spoke right, Kuizhou was the place where the three kingdoms met and with more people, there were more eyes. It would be a good hiding place.

It was just that she had not expected her daughter to have already bought a house there…

The mother and daughter arrived under the city wall of the north gate. They halted the horse and looked around to see the figure of a woman flashing out of the darkness, waving to them. “Eldest Young Miss, Young Miss!”

“It’s Chun Xing,” Gu Yu Qi pointed at the figure and smiled.

Chun Xing was a very clever person. After she brought everyone to the north gate, they had not foolishly stood in front of the city gate and waited. She had made everyone hide in the corner, then she ran over to wait for Liang Huai Yu and Gu Yu Qi.

Only the heavens knew how anxious she was while waiting there, afraid that the two of them would be unable to get out of the Marquis’ residence. She thought if they did not come by the time two more incense sticks had burned, then she would go back to the Marquis’ residence and inquire about them. She had not expected to hear the sound of hooves and for the Eldest Young Miss and Young Miss to have escaped so soon.

“Well done!” Knowing Chun Xing’s arrangement, Gu Yu Qi could not help but give Chun Xing a thumbs up.

When Liang Huai Yu and Gu Yu Qi came, Chun Xing called out to the others hurriedly.

Liang Huai Yu counted everyone and not a single person was missing. Only then did she use the jade pendant from the Imperial Princess to open the city gate.

After the group left the city, Liang Huai Yu handed the jade pendant to the sergeant guarding the city. “Go and return this jade pendant to Her Highness the Imperial Princess.” After she finished speaking, she stuffed some silver change onto him. Then she got onto her horse and followed Gu Yu Qi away.

Liang Huai Yu looked back in the darkness at the walls that were drifting further and further away. She gave a long sigh. Years ago, she had brought all these people from Jiangnan to the capital with hope. Unexpectedly, a few years later, she was leading them away. She had mixed feelings too complicated to be expressed in words.

Liang Huai Yu and her party did not dare to stay overnight as they hurried on with their journey. Fortunately, the ten guards she brought out were all very experienced people. With them opening the way up in front, it was not hard to travel that night.

They were all orphans from the border town taken into the military camp by General Liang since they were children. They had been trained in order to protect Liang Huai Yu in the future. It had been so many years and although Liang Huai Yu had the mind to let them go, they were grateful to General Liang for his life-saving grace and like Chun Xing and the others, even as they aged, they refused to leave Liang Huai Yu and go to start a family.

To them, Liang Huai Yu leaving the Marquis residence was not a bad thing. Almost all of them felt that such a shabby place was not as comfortable as the old house in Jiangnan. Besides, the capital was undoubtedly a huge cage for them. In order not to embarrass Liang Huai Yu, they had always restricted their actions. In the Marquis’ residence, they had not even dared to laugh out loud. The past few years had been very frustrating for them.

Tonight, as they followed Liang Huai Yu and left the capital, everyone had a look of relief on their faces.

As Liang Huai Yu and her party hurried without stopping, Gu Huai Zhong also ran to the north gate shortly after Liang Huai Yu left the city.

As a dignified Ding Yuan Marquis, his daughter had angered him until his face had turned black and blue. With no horses, he could only run wildly on foot. Although he was a soldier and had been through all kinds of hardships, he had after all been pampered in the capital for so many years. Running like this, he felt like his heart was about to pop out of his mouth.

He was only sustained by one thing, and that was he had to chase those two women back!

***

At the gate of the city, the sergeant guarding the city naturally stopped him.

“Open the city gate!” The Ding Yuan Marquis gasped for breath for a long time before his heartbeat finally calmed and he roared.

“Where did the drunk come from?!” The sergeant guarding the city smelled the alcohol emanating from him. He said with a frown, “It’s late at night. If you want to go out of the city, come back early tomorrow!”

“Open the gate for this Marquis!” Gu Huai Zhong was really angry. Liang Huai Yu and Gu Yu Qi had already made him angry. He had come running out of breath and even a small sergeant guarding the gate dared to disobey him.

“Ha, just because you say to open the door, we’ll open the door? Alright, as long as you hand over a token or signature, we’ll open the door for you!” The sergeant smiled disdainfully and said, “For the Marquis? If you are the Marquis, then I’m a prince!”

The sergeant saw that although Gu Huai Zhong was well dressed, his hair was messy and he had a flushed face with the smell of alcohol all over him. Where was there even a little bit of the noble and refined nature of a Marquis? That was why he thought he was just a drunk babbling nonsense and making trouble for no reason.

Gu Huai Zhong was annoyed and pulled the sergeant over, “Open the door for this grandpa of yours!” He yelled.

“Oh, I’ve seen crazy, but nobody as crazy as you! What’s going on? Not pretending to be a Marquis anymore, but now pretending to be my grandpa? Let me tell you, I’ve never seen my grandpa! He’s already dead!” The sergeant who guarded the city was also furious and he spoke sarcastically, “Hurry up and let go! This soldier doesn’t want to argue with you for the sake of your drunkenness. Otherwise, I will drag you to prison and be beaten, just be honest!”

“Goddamn it! Are you courting death?! Open the gate!” Gu Huai Zhong threw the sergeant angrily. He was very strong and the sergeant was really thrown by him, falling heavily onto the ground.

“Who’s courting death?! I think it’s you who’s courting death!” The sergeant was furious at having been thrown and he called to the tower, “Brothers! Someone is courting death, come and help him!”

There were a few soldiers guarding the city on the tower who were already confused. When the sergeant called to them, they all came to their senses. They went down the tower, took out their swords, and surrounded Gu Huai Zhong.

“Boss, what’s the matter?” Someone asked the sergeant and someone else went over to help the sergeant up.

The sergeant dusted himself off and snorted coldly, “Catch this ignorant drunk who doesn’t know the immensity of the universe for Lao Zi!”

“Which one of you dares to move?!” Gu Huai Zhong was about to explode with anger! He growled, “This Marquis is the Ding Yuan Marquis!”

“Ding Yuan Marquis my foot!’ The sergeant immediately roared back, “Lao Zi is the Jade Emperor! Stop telling Lao Zi nonsense! Grab him!”

Gu Huai Zhong touched his waist. He originally wanted to show the golden seal of the Ding Yuan Marquis, but when he touched it, he found there was nothing at his waist. Then he remembered that after returning home, he changed his clothes and left the golden seal in the study.

Damn! He watched the passage of time little by little. The more time that passed, the harder it was for him to catch up with Liang Huai Yu and Gu Yu Qi! Gu Huai Zhong cursed from the bottom of his heart until the whole world turned upside down.

“This Marquis really is the Ding Yuan Marquis!” With the wind blowing on him, Gu Huai Zhong’s mind seemed to clear up a bit and he said this. It was not hard for him to beat the soldiers around him, however, the moment he made a move more soldiers would come. How long would he have to fight for?! So he slowed his voice and said, “There’s really an urgent matter out of town, please do me a favour.”

“Oh, not pretending to be my grandpa anymore?” The sergeant was also a chatterbox. Seeing that Gu Huai Zhong slowed his voice, he only thought that it was because he saw there were a lot of people against him and was afraid. So he smiled and said, “Are you the Ding Yuan Marquis just because you say so? You don’t even look like that type! I also said I’m the Jade Emperor!”

After he finished speaking, the soldiers surrounding Gu Huai Zhong also burst into laughter.

Gu Huai Zhong suddenly felt that a scholar was always wrong in front of a soldier.

“Open the gate! There will be a great reward from the Ding Yuan Marquis’ residence tomorrow,” he gritted his teeth and endured his anger.

“No need for that. You have no token and no signature, so this gate cannot be opened. But I also have a great reward!” The sergeant said glibly, “Someone come, grab him and lock him up overnight! Trespassing the city gate! Insulting this sergeant! You’ve flipped the sky over! Ding Yuan Marquis? Bah!”

“Yes!” The soldiers laughed and tightened the circle around Gu Huai Zhong.

When Gu Huai Zhong saw this, he thought to fight, otherwise he would not be able to go back! So he struck first to gain an advantage. He had been on the battlefield before so his shots were efficient without hesitation. With a few clean and neat strikes, the soldiers around him were knocked down. As soon as the sergeant saw that the situation was far from good, he lost no time in calling for others!

He had not turned around yet when his neck tightened and he was pulled back by Gu Huai Zhong. Gu Huai Zhong did not throw him this time. Instead, he took out a sword and held it against his neck, “Open the gate! Give me a horse!”

God damn it, he should not have talked nonsense with them! So much time was wasted.

The sergeant felt pain in his neck and something hot oozing out. He panicked, playing along with this drunk was a real joke! It was not worth dying at the hands of a drunk. He hastily called out to his brothers lying on the ground, “Go, go, go, open the gate quickly.”

Two of the soldiers who were not seriously injured got up immediately. They worked together to lift the 100 jin door latch. Then they opened the city gate and led a battle horse out of the tower.

Gu Huai Zhong snorted coldly. He let go of the sergeant, flew onto the horse, and sped out into the darkness.

‘Boss, are you alright?” After Gu Huai Zhong left, several soldiers helped the sergeant up, “Oh, Boss, you’re bleeding!”

The sergeant cursed and touched his neck, and so it was! It was bloody!

“Why are you still standing around?! Go and report to the official!” The sergeant scolded.

“But, Boss, aren’t you an official?” A soldier asked ignorantly.

“Idiot! Go and report to the Governor! Report that someone broke through the city gate at night, wounded the sergeant, and stole a battle horse!” The sergeant scolded in disgust that his subordinate did not live up to expectations, “The rest of you, hurry up and chase after him!”

Only after he yelled at them did the soldiers come to their senses. Someone rushed swiftly to report to the city’s military forces. Someone else ran up the city gate and called for others. For a while, there was chaos under the north gate and men and horses were utterly overwhelmed.

After Gu Huai Zhong left the city gate, he rode for a while until he reached a fork. One side continued north and the other side faced south. He pulled the reins to stop the horse, then looked around. He had been in a hurry when he came out and without a torch, he could not see the traces on the ground. He just thought that Liang Huai Yu would take Gu Yu Qi back to Jiangnan. Then they would definitely have chosen to go south. So he turned around and chased the road down south.

He never imagined that Gu Yu Qi, this weirdo, would actually have bought a house in Kuizhou and led Liang Huai Yu north.

Let alone how those two sides were rushing on their paths, even the capital was in a mess.

The fire that Gu Yu Qi lit was in too perfect of a position! The fire took advantage of the wind and in addition, the stacks of hay burned into ashes were blown up by the wind and fell into the courtyard. It was early spring now and the peach blossoms had bloomed, but the other trees had not yet budded. It had not rained recently so it was dry everywhere. The sparks ignited the withered grass in the yard and gradually set the prairie ablaze. After Gu Huai Zhong left, there was no one in the Marquis’ residence who had a powerful voice. The housekeepers and servants were all in Wan Xin Zhai. By the time they reached the backyard, the fire was already large and even several nearby yards were on fire. For a moment, the fire blazed into the sky and the orange flames following the wind reached as high as two stories. Almost half of the sky was lit up.

The Ding Yuan Marquis’ residence trying to put out the fire turned into a complete mess. Sounds of people crying out for their parents could be heard endlessly. Liu Yue was also taken aback by fright. When could she have experienced this before? She just watched the burning fire stupidly, all the while only knowing how to cry. On the other hand, Gu Si Yang, who had come here after hearing the news, showed a courage that did not match his age. He panicked at first but calmed down very quickly and commanded the people in the residence to put out the fire and move things.

The fire in the Ding Yuan Marquis’ residence was only extinguished at dawn. Half of the residence was burnt down. Facing the ruins, Liu Yue sat on the ground and felt like crying but had no more tears. From the bottom of her heart, she hated Liang Huai Yu and Gu Yu Qi with gritted teeth! She wanted to sleep on their skins and eat their meat because her Wang Yue Ju had been burnt to an empty shell.

Inside Wang Yue Ju, the money and jewellery she had accumulated for many years were all destroyed in the fire. Her years of hard work had dissipated without a trace, just like the fire.

“Mother.” Seeing Liu Yue’s pale face, Gu Si Yang, whose face was darkened by the smoke, walked over silently and helped Liu Yue up, “Don’t feel bad.” He soothed her softly.

“Don’t feel bad?” Only then did Liu Yue return to her senses. She grabbed her son’s arm suddenly and she happened to grab the place where Gu Si Yang had been scorched by flames while fighting the fire. He could not help baring his teeth in pain but he held back and did not cry out, “How can I not feel bad?! The money is gone! Gone!” She shrieked, eyes red and hair dishevelled like a lunatic.

Gu Si Yang looked at his mother in surprise and felt a chill in his heart for no reason.

Such a major event had happened at home. In his mother’s heart, was the safety of himself and Gu Si Yu not worth as much as money? Why did she not ask him if he was tired, if he was injured?

Gu Si Yang’s heart sank gradually. He seemed to see how when he and Gu Si Yu had been rescued after being kidnapped by gangsters in the past, the moment they saw Liang Huai Yu and Gu Yu Qi, the two of them had shown genuine concern in their gazes and embraces.

If they were still here, they would definitely ask everyone if they were safe before thinking about other things.

Gu Si Yang only felt that his heart was cold, very cold, and it actually felt colder than the early spring morning breeze blowing on him.