Chapter 12 – Courage to Do What’s Right (Part 2)

After hearing what happened that day, the old lady immediately believed her eldest daughter-in-law’s words. Looking at her second son, she questioned sharply, “Is this true? Are you really going to be an unfilial son?”

Gu Hai Xiong had no idea where his daughter had gone, so in the face of his mother’s questioning, he had no choice but to lie.

He replied, “Mother, you’ve misunderstood us. My daughter—your granddaughter—just went out to take care of something. She should be back soon. Nothing will happen.”

His sister-in-law, Yang Shi, sneered coldly and said sarcastically, “Getting married has really given her some nerve. Now she’s always running off somewhere.”

Gu Le Shu, standing nearby, clenched his fists tightly.

This aunt of his always seemed to be picking fights with their family. She looked happiest whenever something went wrong for them.

He finally decided not to stay quiet and boldly spoke up to defend his family.

“Aunt, stop accusing us unfairly. If you didn’t see it happen, don’t make things up. My sister is very obedient. She only goes out when she has a reason!”

Yang Shi scoffed with disdain, “Hmph, even if she had a reason, it’s not normal to be out this early in the morning. Don’t tell me she didn’t even come home last night?”

This line made Lin Shi furious. “Sister-in-law, stop spouting nonsense! My daughter went to bed early last night and only left early this morning. You say she didn’t come home—then where do you think she was?!”

Called out like that, Yang Shi clearly felt guilty.

“How would I know where she was? She’s your daughter, not mine. Besides, she has her own legs. How am I supposed to control where she goes?”

Gu Le Shu let out a snort of laughter.

It was obvious this aunt was just here to stir up trouble.

Yang Shi, seeing a junior mocking her, instantly got angry. She raised her hand and scolded, “You little brat! What are you laughing at? What’s so funny? Am I wrong?”

Old Madam Gu saw her daughter-in-law raise her hand and immediately grew alert.

She glared and said coldly, “What do you think you’re doing, eldest daughter-in-law?”

Yang Shi quickly lowered her hand, forcing a smile. “Nothing, mother. My arm just went numb, so I stretched it a little.”

Nobody present believed that excuse—except perhaps the old lady. The second son’s family definitely didn’t buy it.

Gu Le Shu directly exposed her, saying, “Grandma, don’t be fooled by Aunt. She raised her hand to hit me because I talked back to her.”

Afraid of getting scolded, Yang Shi denied it immediately. “Mother, don’t listen to this child’s nonsense. I would never dare!”

Despite her words, there was a flash of venom in her eyes.

She was going to remember this, and one day, she’d get her revenge.

Old Madam Gu decided not to leave anymore. She would stay at the second son’s house to wait for the girl to return, so she sent Yang Shi away.

“There’s nothing more for you to do here. Go home. I’ll wait here for that girl.”

Yang Shi forced a smile. “Alright, Mother. I’ll head home then.”

With that, she left swiftly.

After collecting her herbs, Gu Le You found a quiet pavilion where she sat down and entered her spiritual spring space to retrieve some medicine.

She rested for a bit, then shouldered her basket and headed home.

But on the road back to the village, she ran into her ex-fiancé—the one who had recently broken off the engagement—and his friend.

The two were talking loudly, and although they hadn’t noticed her yet, she could hear everything. She originally intended to take a different path, but they spotted her and moved to block her way, clearly up to no good.

Seeing them in her way, she became very wary.

“What do you want? Don’t block me. I’m going home.”

But the two men stayed right in front of her, refusing to let her pass.

Zeng Sibo said, “We have a question we can’t figure out. Since you studied a bit, help us out.”

“What kind of question? Didn’t you both go to school? Why ask someone like me, who barely studied anything?” Gu Le You asked suspiciously.

“We’re talking about a tongue-twister, but there’s something confusing in it. We want your opinion.”

Seeing they wouldn’t let her go, she figured she’d better just play along—maybe once she answered, they’d leave her be.

“Fine, go ahead. Let’s hear it,” she said calmly.

Gu Tang recited, “From the south came my grandpa. I was riding my grandpa, leading my grandpa, dragging my grandpa—giddy-up—and ahead of us was another grandpa.”

Hearing this ridiculous tongue-twister, Gu Le You laughed so hard she could barely stand.

Seeing her reaction made the two furious.

Gu Tang frowned and snapped, “What are you laughing at? What’s so funny?”

But Gu Le You couldn’t stop laughing, holding her stomach.

She hadn’t eaten breakfast, but now her stomach hurt from laughter. She hadn’t expected to hear a joke like this on her way home.

Her unrestrained laughter enraged the two men even more. Zeng Sibo raised his hand, about to strike her—but at that moment, a familiar voice rang out from behind.

“Stop! What do you think you’re doing?”

All three turned their heads. It was Lu Yan, accompanied by Xu Qingshan.

Zeng Sibai, not wanting to lose face in front of his friend, bravely retorted, “We’re comparing poetry. Why? Is that a problem? This is between the three of us. It’s none of your business—you can leave.”

Seeing someone on her side, Gu Le You quickly added, “Brother Lu, don’t listen to their nonsense. They wouldn’t let me go and were about to hit me. You saw it just now—he raised his hand!”

Gu Tang panicked. “Don’t make things up! You were the one mocking us. We didn’t even hit you!”

Xu Qingshan spoke up angrily, “Shut up! We saw what you were doing. If we hadn’t arrived in time, you’d have hit her. Two grown men bullying a young girl—how shameful!”

Gu Le You, hearing Xu Qingshan speak, finally realized something—he was a known miracle doctor. If he was around, someone was probably sick again.

She asked, “Brother Lu, why is Brother Xu here? Did Lu Yao fall ill again?”

Lu Yan replied, “No, I just have him check on my child regularly, just in case. I worry that something might happen when I’m not home.”

Xu Qingshan, meanwhile, had noticed the herbs in Gu Le You’s basket—including some rare ones he didn’t recognize.

He was puzzled. How did this young girl know how to identify herbs—and even ones he didn’t recognize?

Could it be… she knew medicine too?