Seeking guidance on martial arts

  Liang heard the sound and turned her head to see her daughter standing under the corridor, she didn't even bother to wipe away her sweat, handed the sword in her hand to Chun Xing who came to greet her, then hugged Gu Yuqiu into her arms. "Why aren't you resting well in your room? What brought you here?" She said with a slightly reproachful tone, touching Gu Yuqiu's hands, which were warm and hot. "This place is not like Jiangnan, it's cold and freezing, take care of yourself, don't catch a chill."

  Gu Yuqiu looked at Liang Shi's concerned eyes, and her heart warmed up. She used her small hand to hold Liang Shi back, smiled and said, "Mother, I'm all better now. I missed you, so I came over." Gu Yuqiu was speaking from the bottom of her heart. In this life, the people she cared about were only Liang Shi and Yan Zhi. Yan Zhi accompanied her every day, while her mother lived in Yuan Xin Zhai. She had come from Jiangnan and was not used to the local water and soil, plus she had been holding back her emotions because of Liu Niang's matter, so she was ill all the time. Liang Shi was afraid of passing on her illness to Gu Yuqiu, so every day she would only go take a look at Gu Yuqiu but didn't dare stay for long.

  "Go. Let's go in first and talk later." A hint of relief flashed across Mrs. Liang's eyes as she took Gu Yuqiu's hand and led her into the warm pavilion, where the maids brought over cloths to wipe their faces clean and tidy up their appearances before they sat down.

  Although her husband had wronged her, she still had a daughter.

  Liáng shì zhe zhòng gù yǔ kuí, yǎn dǐ yī piàn róu guāng.

  Translation:

  Liang looked at Gu Yuqiu with a soft glow in her eyes.

  It's said that if she had followed her usual temperament, on the day she arrived in Beijing and saw Liu Shi and his illegitimate daughter, she should have handed over a divorce letter to Gu Huai Zhong and left immediately. However, for the sake of her daughter, she endured it. It wasn't that she didn't resent Gu Huai Zhong's ingratitude and heartlessness, but she had a daughter after all. If she really divorced him and returned to Jiangnan, what would happen to her daughter? Now, as the lady of the Hou Mansion with a first-class title, no matter what, in the future, her daughter could marry into a noble family in Beijing. If she really divorced Gu Huai Zhong, her daughter wouldn't be able to enter the Liang family's genealogy. In four or five years, when it was time for her daughter to get married, how would there be good families coming to propose? At that time, her daughter would inevitably marry down, and this wasn't something Liang Shi wanted to see.

  So the always proud Liang Shi could only hold her breath and endure. She had endured for ten years, exchanged for a heartless husband and a first-class title, why should she leave the capital to return to Jiangnan, and let the vast Hou Mansion be taken over by that Liu Shi and her two children?

  She knew that her husband's gaze at her had changed. In the many days since she came to Beijing, although he would still come to see her, his eyes were devoid of affection, replaced by a furtive and fearful look.

  It's really laughable, the dignified Dingyuan Hou seeing his wife like a mouse seeing a cat, where is the half of the elegance and romance of the past? He should indeed be afraid of himself. Liang Shi smiled coldly in her heart, marrying a concubine on the border, deceiving for ten years, she would have torn apart Liu Shi alive, and Gu Huai Zhong didn't dare to say another word. Gu Huai Zhong feared her because he was afraid that she couldn't bear to deal with Liu Shi and their two illegitimate children, the more he did this, the more uncomfortable Liang Shi's heart became. As the mistress of the house, she could have tortured Liu Shi in various ways, but she really couldn't bring herself to do it. It was all about suppressing herself, plus some discomfort due to the unfamiliar environment, that's why Liang Shi fell ill.

  Nowadays, the warmth in her daughter's eyes also makes Liang's heart feel both sour and sweet, so she still holds back a sigh in her chest, but it's much better than the past few days.

  "Mother, will you teach me martial arts?" Gu Yuqie is now completely transformed into a little tailcoat, pulling at Liang's hem and acting coquettishly.

  "You're a noble lady from a good family, what are you learning martial arts for?" Liang Huaiyu smiled and pinched her daughter's tender cheeks. Her daughter was born to be beautiful, in just two years she would have the looks that could topple cities. With such a beautiful daughter, how could she possibly marry down in Jiangnan? She said whatever it takes, she would find a good match for her daughter in the capital. "Learning martial arts is very tough!"

  "Don't worry, daughter. If she learns martial arts, no one will be able to trick her into being thrown into the water!" Gu Yuqie said with a raised face and a soft voice.

  "What did you say?" Liang's gaze tightened, grasping her daughter's shoulder. "You fell into the water because someone threw you in?"

  Feeling the force of her mother's grip on her shoulder, Gu Yuqie felt a bit uncomfortable and twisted her body slightly. "Mother, listen to your daughter," she said, recounting her thoughts to Liang Shi, whose eyebrows furrowed tightly.

  Yes, it's not like the daughter didn't say anything, but once she did, there were indeed many suspicious points. Firstly, how could a small white dog suddenly appear in the Hou Mansion? Secondly, that fence was indeed up to Gu Yuqiu's chest, so how could she have slipped inside?

  Li's family was previously weak due to illness, and had no energy to think about anything else. Moreover, her daughter was on the verge of death after falling into the water, so she devoted all her thoughts to curing her daughter and had no time to consider other things. Now that she heard her daughter say this, a chill ran down her spine.

  She was born into a noble family, but as the only daughter, General Town's love and care for his wife and daughter were unparalleled. She had never experienced the struggles of the inner courtyard, except when her mother told her a thing or two before she passed away. After marrying Gu Huai Zhong, she thought he would cherish her forever, and didn't think about those messy things in her mind. It wasn't until they arrived in the capital that she learned of Liu's existence, and although she was angry, she didn't think about other aspects.

  She doesn't think about it, but that doesn't mean others won't think about it.

  At this thought, a hint of coldness also flashed across Liang's eyes. She was ill and didn't want to bother with Liu, but that didn't mean her daughter could be bullied by anyone.

  "Spring apricot." She said to the big maid beside her, "Go and find out where that white dog came from? Don't hide or conceal it, just say I told you to go! I want all the evil spirits in this house to be careful, if they make a single mistake, I'll skin them alive!"

  "Yes." Chun Xing's expression changed, and he nodded his head in obedience before leaving.

  Gu Yuqie looked at her mother's suddenly enhanced aura, and couldn't help but secretly admire her. It was no wonder she was the eldest daughter of the Jiang family, with such a strong presence.

  As for practicing martial arts, Gu Yuqiu continued to persuade her mother. After a moment of contemplation, Liang Shi nodded and agreed.

  After this, in the capital city, I don't know what will happen, it's good to have martial arts by my side. Before, she didn't want her daughter to learn martial arts, first because learning martial arts is hard work and she couldn't bear it, second because she herself didn't want her daughter's temperament to become wild due to practicing martial arts, like hers when she was young, which ended in neither high nor low. However, thinking about it now, what does it matter? Didn't I also have a very happy time with my martial arts skills when I was young, traveling to many places in Jiangnan and experiencing many things that other young ladies from noble families couldn't experience?

  It's just that she was blind, mistakenly thinking that Gu Huai Zhong would be her lifelong partner back then, so she let herself fall into the current situation. This is not the fault of practicing martial arts, but rather that she was too foolish back then.

  Having obtained her mother's consent, Gu Yuqie was overjoyed and leaped with excitement. In her previous life, she had also practiced martial arts, but it wasn't taught by the Liang family. At that time, the Liangs were always ill, where would they have the energy to teach her? She herself had invited a riding and archery master back, teaching her horseback riding and archery. Back then, her mind was preoccupied with how to stand out in the circle of noble ladies in the capital, she didn't care about the Liangs' thoughts or physical condition.

  Because she had learned martial arts and was a connoisseur, when she saw Liang's swordsmanship just now, her eyes lit up. Her past self was really too foolish, spending such a great price to ask someone to teach horseback riding, her own mother was an expert!

  She had another purpose in teaching Liang's martial arts, which was to find something for Liang to do and prevent her from continuing to sink into depression, reliving the old path of her past life, and falling ill again.

  Gu Yuqiu felt that she had worked hard enough in this life to change her mother's fate.