Chapter 273: Tears Streaming Down

Gu Qingsong, dressed in a deep blue long robe, arrived in haste, covered in dust from his journey. Fatigue was evident between his brows, but his eyes remained particularly sharp and bright.

He fixed his gaze firmly on the carriage, and when he saw Su Wan’s face through the window, the heart that had been hanging in suspense finally settled.

This direction led out of the city. Had he been a step later, he might have missed Madam Liu (Mother Gu) once again.

His Adam’s apple bobbed slightly as he prepared to speak.

With a sudden “swish,” the curtain was pulled down.

“Drive the carriage.”

Su Wan tapped her fingers against the carriage wall.

Mother Gu noticed that something was off with Su Wan’s expression. Her bright black eyes burned even brighter with worry and concern as she asked, “Wanwan, did something troubling happen?”

She was about to lift the carriage curtain when Su Wan abruptly pressed down on her hand. “Wait.”

Su Wan was truly angry. Gu Qingsong had appeared so suddenly beside Mother Gu without considering how she might feel.

Gu Qingsong wasn’t dead, and the moment he encountered Gu Huaizhi and attempted to mend their relationship, Su Wan knew that Mother Gu would inevitably find out.

She had planned to wait until they left the capital before finding the right moment to tell Mother Gu. This would give her time to process it calmly and think through how to handle this relationship.

But now, with Gu Qingsong showing up at this moment, he left no room for Mother Gu to mentally prepare herself.

“Wanwan, is it something difficult to handle?”

Mother Gu held Su Wan’s hand. Perhaps because she had lost weight and her health wasn’t as good as before, her hand felt as cold as ice.

“Mother, there’s something I need to tell you.” Su Wan bit her lip. It was better for her to be the one to say it than for Gu Qingsong to mention it himself—that he had married another woman and lived under the same roof with her for several years.

“Go ahead,” Mother Gu’s fingers tightened slightly, her unease deepening as she noticed the heavy concern in Su Wan’s expression.

“We did encounter Huaizhi’s biological father in Xiliang,” Su Wan began. “He joined the military there, earned merit, and was granted the title of a vassal prince of a different surname.”

“Back then, when he went hunting in the mountains, he didn’t die from a wild animal attack. Instead, he caught the eye of a wealthy young lady who had purchased his prey. She orchestrated a scheme, forcing him off a cliff. She then picked him up herself and created the illusion that he had been killed by a wild animal.

He was gravely injured, unconscious for nearly half a year, and unable to walk. Lady Liu… that wealthy young lady, had already taken him to Xiliang by then.

She lied to him, claiming that he had been targeted by an enemy seeking revenge because he had broken someone’s leg, and that person now wanted his entire family dead.

He didn’t believe it at first and insisted on returning to Great Zhou. Lady Liu accompanied him to Xinghua Village. By then, you had already sold the ancestral home. When he saw the village chief’s family coming out of the ancestral home and noticed the silver jewelry you had pawned, he believed Lady Liu’s story.

Lady Liu wanted to marry him, so she took advantage of him when he was drunk and climbed into his bed, creating the illusion that they had consummated their relationship. Not long after, she told him she was pregnant, and he married her to give her a proper status.

Lady Liu’s child was born with congenital deficiencies, with frail health from the start, requiring constant medical attention and treatment.

He was very protective of the child, but only recently did he discover that the child wasn’t his. Everything had been part of Lady Liu’s scheme to marry him.

He dealt with Lady Liu and arranged for the child to be placed in Baima Temple, where a high monk knowledgeable in medicine is now raising the child.”

Su Wan then explained the matter of Qin Yang being sent to Great Zhou by Gu Qingsong, leaving nothing out, neither distorting nor hiding anything: “He knows you are still alive and has been trying to mend his relationship with Huaizhi. Now that he’s come to Great Zhou, what are your thoughts on this?”

What were her thoughts?

Mother Gu didn’t know. The shock was too overwhelming, leaving her mind in complete disarray.

Her face felt cold and damp. When she reached up to touch it, she realized that at some point, tears had already streamed down her face.