Chapter 8: Deep Schemes

By the end of the beating, Gu Caihe had no strength left to fight back. She lay on the ground, sobbing and begging for mercy, a mess of snot and tears—completely wretched.

Some of the softer-hearted village women began pleading on her behalf.

“She’s a mother too, after all. Have a little mercy.”

“Still, it’s wrong to hit your mother-in-law. Being beaten is what she deserves…”

Yan Fengru also joined in with some hypocritical coaxing, and soon a crowd of women surrounded them, trying to console her while also persuading Madam Hong to stop. By the time Gu Yuzhu woke up, she saw her own mother, Yan Fengru, looking calm and relaxed, even smiling slightly. She couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.

After a good nap, Gu Yuzhu felt refreshed. And she had made a discovery—she now possessed a portable space! Just like in transmigration novels! She never imagined something like this would actually happen to her. Gu Yuzhu thought, That old Taoist didn’t lie to me. I really am a lucky girl!

At the same time, she realized the peanut-shaped jade stone she had picked up in the back hills was gone.

Oops—turns out that random jade piece she picked up actually contained a portable space. How embarrassing! But… that wasn’t the point.

What was with her mother looking so pleased? That wasn’t right. Her precious daughter had fallen from a tree and suffered serious injuries. Why did she look so happy? Could it be that the person responsible had already been punished? Gu Yuzhu’s mind was working quickly.

Seeing her daughter frown with her delicate white face scrunched up, Yan Fengru’s heart melted. “What’s wrong, my sweet little pearl? Are you feeling unwell anywhere?”

Gu Yuzhu shook her head. “Just a little dizzy.”

“That’s normal. The doctor said you fell from such a high tree—after a few days of medicine, the dizziness will go away. Look what I’ve got for you!”

As she spoke, Yan Fengru happily pulled out a small package wrapped in oiled paper and, with a playful expression, coaxed like she was teasing a child, “Guess what’s inside. If you guess right, you get some sweet candied fruit.”

Gu Yuzhu: “…”

“It’s candied fruit.”

“My clever little darling! No wonder you’re my sweet girl!”

Gu Yuzhu: “…”

Meanwhile, when Gu Dapeng rushed to his daughter’s in-laws’ house, the crowd had already dispersed. The Han family’s doors were tightly shut. He wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination, but he thought he could hear his daughter crying inside.

To be honest, Gu Dapeng was feeling uneasy.

He knew Yan Fengru was a good woman—capable too. Otherwise, how could she have been a trusted maid in a wealthy household in the county town? But still, no matter how good she was, she was still just a woman, and not the birth mother. How could she truly care? In truth, Yan Fengru had already done more than enough. But for Gu Dapeng, it wasn’t that simple.

After all, Gu Qingshan and Gu Caihe were his biological children.

When they hurt Gu Qingbo and Gu Yuzhu, Gu Dapeng felt angry and upset. But if anything were to happen to Qingshan or Caihe, he’d be just as distressed.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have dropped everything to rush here the moment he heard his wife had gone to the Han family.

He stopped a neighbor who was about to shut the door and asked what had happened at the Han household. Was everyone still inside?

But the woman just gave Gu Dapeng a complicated look and said nothing—just shut the door, leaving him utterly confused.

What’s going on? Why look at him like that?

While Gu Dapeng was baffled, the villagers were all abuzz with gossip.

Word had been going around—after marrying a new wife and having twins, Gu Dapeng no longer cared about his first wife’s children. Everyone pitied those two kids. After all, the saying “a stepmother leads to a stepfather” wasn’t just for show. People are naturally biased, and the influence of pillow talk is powerful.

Because Yan Fengru never argued with the younger generation, the narrative had always been that Gu Qingshan and Gu Yuzhu were poor, pitiful kids suffering under their stepmother. But after this incident, though no one said anything openly, their views had changed.

Yan Fengru had admitted herself: she couldn’t love them like her own children, but she never mistreated them either. And when people thought about it, that was true—very honest words.

If a stepmother claimed she treated her stepchildren like her own, who would believe that? They didn’t come from her belly. Who would open their heart like that? Honestly, most people knew they wouldn’t be able to do it themselves. So how could they expect Yan Fengru to?

Besides, take Gu Caihe—she was a bit plump, even before marriage. After having a child, she looked even more well-fed. In a rural village where most were skinny and sallow from hunger, her figure said it all: she lived well.

Gu Qingshan, even more so—he inherited the Gu family’s tall genes. He was big, strong, and muscular.

If Yan Fengru really had been a wicked stepmother, would Gu Qingshan be so healthy and well-fed?

This wasn’t something anyone could deny—these villagers had lived together for generations. They saw everything with their own eyes.

And Yan Fengru had said that not long ago, Gu Qingbo had fallen into the water. Now Gu Yuzhu had fallen from a tree—both times when they were with Han Hui and Gu Changwen. As their mother, wasn’t she entitled to an explanation?

Even ignoring the incident at the pond, why was her young daughter climbing a tree to pick fruit for her niece? Didn’t Han Hui have legs?

Harsh words, yes—but harsh truths too. Besides, wasn’t it too much of a coincidence that only her own two children had accidents?

The thought made everyone shudder.

The pond at the village entrance was spring-fed and never dried up—not even in drought. It was currently the rainy season, and the water was even deeper. Qingbo was just a small child. Falling in wasn’t a joke.

And that loquat tree near the village head? Its trunk was so thick two people could barely wrap their arms around it!

Everyone began to wonder—had Yan Fengru been silently enduring mistreatment all these years?

They were shocked. Gu Dapeng had always seemed like an honest and reliable man. But now? He looked cunning. He had married a capable woman like Yan Fengru, had twins with her, and yet still showed favoritism toward the children from his first marriage. What? The twins weren’t his own? Yan Fengru had no credit? And he let her and her children be bullied by the older ones?

People naturally sided with the weak.

So, unbeknownst to Gu Dapeng, his reputation had changed overnight—from an honest and dependable man to someone deeply calculating.

Wasn’t that the definition of scheming? Yan Fengru, a skilled woman who had served as a senior maid, bore him twins and still lived like that—only speaking up after her own children were hurt. How wronged must she have felt?

…

Over the next half month of recovery, Gu Yuzhu came to a deep realization:

A child with a mother truly is a treasure.

She had to thank this transmigration for finally letting her become a treasure!

Gu Yuzhu had always been easily contented. Even now, she had no complaints.

Even though she had suddenly transmigrated into a fictional dynasty that seemed to be called “Da Zhou.”

Judging from her parents’ clothes, it looked like ancient times. The way they spoke had a northern accent—very close to modern Mandarin, just with a bit of local flavor.