She's here!

  Gu Yuqiu sat in the carriage of the Hou Mansion, warm and cozy. Although it was winter, the carriage had thick cushions and a heater, blocking out the biting cold wind outside.

  Li sat beside Gu Yuqie, constantly discussing with her who they would meet today and what they should say to them, fearing that his daughter might make a slight mistake. Gu Yuqie felt that her mother was even more nervous than herself.

  In fact, Liang's was indeed a bit nervous, this was not only Gu Yuqie's first time, but also her first time appearing in the circle of nobles in the capital as the wife of Dingyuan Hou, it really made her legs tremble slightly.

  Noticing Liang's tension, Gu Yuqie couldn't help but grasp Liang Huaiyu's slightly chilly fingertips. "Mother, I think you're even more nervous than your daughter. Don't be afraid, just treat those people like they're ordinary cabbage."

  Gu Yuqiu's words made Liang Shi unable to bear it and scolded her, "What nonsense are you talking about? Those are the wives and daughters of royal nobles, where did you get that from? If someone hears you, they'll laugh at you for not knowing what's proper!"

  However, after being stirred up by Gu Yuqie, her tense heart had calmed down a lot. What her daughter said was also true - with her status as the wife of the Marquis Hou, a first-rank noblewoman, she was already quite high-ranking; going any higher would put her on par with princesses and duchesses, who could look down on her. But that didn't matter - as long as she wasn't being rude, she could ignore them like they were nothing. Thinking too much about it wouldn't do any good; if she was always looking over her shoulder, she would only appear petty and timid.

  The horse carriage went a long way out of the East Gate of Beijing and drove along the official road towards the suburbs.

  This post was posted by Princess Pinghu, who has a villa in the suburbs of Beijing called Lengxiang Villa. The villa is filled with all kinds of plum blossoms. In her previous life, Gu Yuqiu had been there several times and was quite familiar with it. As for Princess Pinghu, Gu Yuqiu described her with only two words in her previous life: cruel to her husband.

  In this life, she still overcame her husband.

  Princess Pinghu is the emperor's older sister, and she has also reached a certain age. When she was young, she married three times, and as expected, all of her husbands passed away within five years of marriage. After being widowed multiple times, Princess Pinghu became disenchanted with romantic love affairs. She spent many years living in solitude, but after reaching old age, she began to enjoy lively gatherings again. As a result, she often organizes outings and excursions for the noblewomen of the capital city.

  Mr. Liang was afraid of being impolite, so he rushed to arrive early. When he arrived at the Cold Fragrance Villa, there were only a few other carriages from different estates parked sparsely at the entrance.

  Attended by maidservants, she got off the carriage. The servants at the gate of the other courtyard looked at Liang's note and then led them in.

  In her past life, Gu Yuqiu had hoped that every time she appeared, it would be like a heavenly flower rain, with everyone's attention focused on her. In this life, she wished to become an invisible person, muttering to herself "You can't see me, you can't see me" as she walked in.

  Fortunately, they arrived early, and there were only a few people scattered in the warm pavilion. The maid at the door reported their names to the inside, and the ladies who had arrived early in the warm pavilion only then knew who this mother-daughter pair was that had just entered through the curtain.

  Li's first appearance naturally received great attention, and the ladies in the warm pavilion all looked at her with their eyes. Chen Hanlin and the instructor ayi's tireless propaganda also made Gu Yuqiu, a young lady from the Hou Mansion who was raised in a deep house, very famous in the capital for the time being. Therefore, Li Huaiyu attracted everyone's attention as soon as she appeared with Gu Yuqiu.

  Everyone carefully sized up the mother and daughter from head to toe, especially Gu Yuqiu who was following behind Liang Shi. She was indeed as beautiful as rumored, so beautiful that it was hard to look away. These noblewomen couldn't help but feel a little sour as they looked at Gu Yuqiu, thinking that their own daughters were also beauties, but compared to this young girl, they seemed to be lacking something.

  Gu Yuqiu only felt a bit awkward being stared at, and involuntarily shrank back behind her mother. This shouldn't be happening, she had already hidden herself quite well, so why was she still attracting the attention of so many people? Gu Yuqiu was somewhat perplexed.

  Noticing her daughter's withdrawal, Liang Huaiyu straightened up.

  The Liang family was still a bit tense, but as soon as they thought of the big white cabbage and their daughter's dependence on it, they immediately calmed down. There were still a few smiles in her eyes. She was pulled by the enthusiastic wife of the Minister of Works, Mrs. Wang, to greet the other wives and exchange a few words before blending in. Of course, Mrs. Wang knew who she was - the wife of the Minister of Works, a very kind-hearted person with a good reputation among the noblewomen. So, Gu Yuqiu also felt at ease with her mother by her side. The noblewomen naturally praised Gu Yuqiu to the skies on her first appearance, constantly complimenting her for being intelligent and sensible. This time, not only did Gu Yuqiu feel strange, but even Liang Huaiyu felt that something was off.

  She first smiled and socialized with many noblewomen, then also found some topics to shift the attention of those noblewomen away from Gu Yuqiu.

  The Liang family didn't mind others praising their daughter, but everyone was over the top with their praise after just one meeting. No matter how she listened to it, it all sounded insincere. Not to mention that there were other princesses and noble ladies present, and soon a couple of real princesses would arrive. If Gu Yuqiu stole the show on her first appearance, it would be really bad. She racked her brains to bring up some stories about her time in Jiangnan.

  These ladies had been living in the capital for a long time, and the most they ever did was go to temples in the suburbs of Beijing to burn incense. When Liang spoke about his experiences in Jiangnan, they were gradually drawn in and surrounded Liang Huaiyu, asking him about Jiangnan.

  Liáng shì shì chūshēn wǔ jiàng zhī jiā, suī rán bèi mǔqīn yuē shù zhe, dàn shì zài jiāng nán lǐ fǎ yě méi nàme zhòng, tā yòu huì wǔ, yòu hǎo dòng, zuò gūniang de shíhòu kě hái zhēn de shì yóulù le hěn duō dìfang, jiàn duō shí guǎng, zài jiā tā de jiāng nán kǒuyīn ruǎn ruǎn de, shà shì hǎo tīng, sān yán liǎng yǔ de, dào jiào nàxiē fūren dōu wéi dào le tā de shēn biān.

  Gu Yuqie watched as the noblewomen finally shifted their attention away, and she let out a sigh of relief from the bottom of her heart. Something's off! There must be something off somewhere! As for what it was, she couldn't think of it for the time being. If it were in her past life, receiving such attention would have made her happy, but in this lifetime, she wished she could become an invisible person, and being excessively noticed by others actually gave her goosebumps.

  She took a look at the decorations in the warm pavilion, and it was really no different from the previous generation. She also felt a little sigh in her heart.

  "Madam Chen of the Prime Minister's residence has arrived with her younger sister!" The maid at the door announced and lifted the curtain.

  Gu Yuqie's heartbeat seemed to have skipped a few beats, and she somewhat numbly shifted her gaze away.

  Only a noblewoman in purple clothes walked in with a girl wearing a white cloak, the cloak revealing a face as beautiful as a lotus flower, with a delicate and elegant spirit like water, her eyes were like ink dots, and her lips were pale pink.

  It's really her, always wearing that white dress as pure and clean as snow, always gentle like water, always smiling so charmingly...

  Gu Yuqiu's mouth curled up into a faint cold smile as soon as she saw Zhang Wanxi.

  It's this face, it's this person, who knows how many times she has secretly harmed her. And yet, she used to follow me around and sweetly call me "sister", I really don't know how she could bring herself to say that word!

  It's also self-deception, thinking that as a heavenly favorite daughter, she can control others at her fingertips just by crossing over, and be the model in the eyes of the public, the object of admiration for others. But little does she know, she is actually the one being controlled by others.

  The one in front of me is like a snow sculpture, and the person made of water is truly ruthless.

  Ten years in the cold palace!

  Gu Yuqiu's eyes slightly drooped, and a few degrees of coldness flashed at the bottom of her eyes.

  "Ah Nong, come and meet Mrs. Chen, and also Wan Yi Miss." The sound of her mother's voice came from beside her ear, Gu Yuqie slowly raised her eyes, which had already opened with a hint of a smile, but it didn't reach the bottom of her eyes.

  "Mrs. Chen is well, Miss Wan Yi is well." Gu Yu Gui curtsied sweetly and before she could straighten up, her hand was already grasped by Mrs. Chen, "So this is the legitimate miss of Dingyuan Marquis's manor, truly one can't compare to seeing in person, indeed a beautiful young lady." She pulled Gu Yu Gui's hand, smiling intimately.

  Gu Yuqian's lips curved into a shy smile, "You're overpraising me, madam."

  She smiled just right, Zhang Wanji came over to see Liang Shi after, also held Gu Yuqiu's hand, and said with a smile: "This sister, I took a look at her and felt like it, she is really beautiful."

  Gu Yuqie was slightly stunned, then a little lost in thought, only to lower her eyelids and gaze at the pair of hands covering her own, as perfect as jade carvings. It was these very hands that had brought her the medicine that would cut off her descendants, it was these very hands that had personally poisoned her, and it was also these very hands that had sent her into the Cold Palace.

  Zhang Wan-yi's calm and composed demeanor didn't show any hint of the humility that followed her in her past life, nor could anyone detect a shred of the resentment and arrogance she had shown every time they met after her downfall.

  Gu Yuqiu was a bit dazed, she should have hated Zhang Wanxi.

  But at this moment, she suddenly felt that in her previous life, Zhang Wan'er might have hated her even more. She hated Zhang Yang's arrogance, beauty, daring to love and hate, talent, everything, Zhang Wan'er must have been hating deeply, so she would humble herself like a maid and follow behind her, intentionally numbing her, getting close to her, grinding away her vigilance, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

  Gu Yuqiu slowly pulled out her hands and smiled slightly, "Where can I compare to Sister?" She said lightly.

  In her previous life, she called herself sister, but this life is reversed.

  Seeing Gu Yuqiu's faint smile, Zhang Wan'er also didn't say anything more and sat down with her mother.

  Gu Yuqiu let out a faint sigh, she was that kind of person, always knowing the right measure, advancing and retreating, not blaming Yun Ke for having her in his heart all along, thinking only she deserved to sit by his side, motherly virtues shining through.

  "Is Ah Nuan uncomfortable?" Liang asked in a low voice, sensing something was amiss with her daughter.

  Gu Yuqiu came back to her senses and quietly grasped her mother's arm, giving her a sweet smile. "Don't worry," she comforted.

  Forget it, the things of the past have all dissipated, now she has started anew and will naturally live for herself and the Liang family. She will distance herself from that person and there won't be any more entanglements or interactions with Zhang Wan'er either.

  The thought of revenge, just now in the flash of lightning she wasn't without it, but what about after taking revenge? The cycle of cause and effect, the retribution won't be pleasant, why not seek peace and tranquility in this life instead? Why throw oneself into the storm again to suffer? Since I've already been reborn, just protect myself and those I want to protect!

  At this thought, Gu Yuqie's eyes were calm and peaceful.