Chapter 36: The Excuse

Gu Caihe was absolutely livid—she wished she could skin Gu Yuzhu, her half-sister, and flay Yan Fengru, her stepmother, alive. Ever since Yan Fengru had married into the family, the Jiang family, including the younger Madam Jiang, had been constantly feeding Gu Caihe the idea that stepmothers were wolves in disguise—that a stepmother would never treat her well and would only abuse her.

So, Gu Caihe was afraid.

In reality, whether or not her stepmother was truly cruel didn’t matter anymore. What mattered was Gu Caihe’s mindset.

This belief had been instilled in her by the elders on her birth mother’s side since she was little, creating a deep-rooted hostility and prejudice toward Yan Fengru. Combined with her experiences over the years, Gu Caihe now hated Yan Fengru to the core, and naturally didn’t like Gu Yuzhu either—the half-sister with whom she only shared part of her bloodline.

Being forced to apologize this time only deepened her hatred for this mother-daughter pair. But what made her angrier was that she found herself completely powerless against them. She was so furious, it felt like her liver was about to burst.

That day, the Han brothers were all home, but there were only three of them. And since Gu Caihe and her daughter were clearly in the wrong this time, Han Zhengqing didn’t want his wife and daughter to go be “humiliated,” but the Yan brothers didn’t come off as aggressive—they simply stated the facts and reasoned calmly. If Gu Caihe and Han Hui didn’t apologize to Gu Yuzhu and the Yans, it would only make them look petty and vicious.

Gu Caihe didn’t want to go, but her in-laws couldn’t bear the shame and forced her to go.

Even though she went reluctantly, she held the grudge tightly in her heart, waiting for a chance to get back at them.

Gu Yuzhu had no idea that Gu Caihe and her daughter were now secretly resenting her too.

In fact, she was rather surprised that Gu Caihe actually brought Han Hui over to apologize. The original host, at age five, might not have known Gu Caihe’s temperament, but the adult Gu Yuzhu certainly did. In some ways, this so-called elder sister was completely at odds with her.

Not that Gu Yuzhu wanted to be petty, but she just didn’t believe the apology was genuine.

Of course, she didn’t care either way.

Because of that, Gu Yuzhu didn’t take the matter to heart. As soon as Gu Caihe and her daughter left with dark faces, she slipped out the back door to visit her Brother Fu—but unfortunately, Fu Chang’an wasn’t home.

“Brother Fu isn’t home? Where did he go?”

Aunt Zhou smiled and replied, “Your Brother Fu has gone to the academy to study. Why don’t you play together next time he’s off?”

Oh, so Brother Fu really went to study. Having already gone through over ten years of school in the modern world, Gu Yuzhu wasn’t even the slightest bit envious.

Still, she didn’t want to remain “illiterate.” Since her mother was planning to send her little brother to school, Gu Yuzhu thought she could tag along and use that as a reason to learn to read too.

This era used traditional Chinese characters, but there were no girls’ schools. Feudal society didn’t value women’s education, believing “a woman’s lack of talent is a virtue.” Though Gu Yuzhu had always disagreed with that notion, she couldn’t single-handedly change the world.

Fortunately, in this lifetime, she was well-loved at home. If she wanted to learn to read, her family surely wouldn’t object. From what she had observed, this country she had transmigrated into—called “Dayue”—seemed fairly accepting of women appearing in public and even doing business. That was good enough.

Because she’d been raised by a Taoist adoptive father, Gu Yuzhu already knew how to read traditional characters. But without a proper excuse, she would still appear to be an illiterate village girl in others’ eyes.

Gu Yuzhu wasn’t content with that.

On her way home, while thinking it over, she spotted her little brother Gu Qingbai and suddenly remembered—based on her aunt’s efficiency, they should have news soon, right? Gu Yuzhu recalled that her mother had asked her aunt to help arrange a place at a school.

There were two academies near Qingyun Town: one called Qingsong Academy and the other Songyun Academy. Aside from those, there were also a few private schools run by scholars.

But private schools weren’t that common, because although scholars were respected, they were relatively few in number. A town with four or five scholars was already considered fortunate. The term “scholar” here didn’t refer to children just starting out, but to someone who had formally passed the county-level exam and earned the title of “Tongsheng.”

Some scholars, after repeatedly failing the imperial exams, would give up and return home to open private schools as a livelihood.

Ordinary farming families who couldn’t afford the big academies would send their kids to such private schools instead. Even learning a few characters was better than nothing.

If the child showed real talent, the family would scrape together all their resources to send them to an academy and study under a more capable teacher.

Gu Yuzhu didn’t know exactly what Yan Fengru had planned, but given the lack of convenient transportation in ancient times, she figured her little brother would most likely end up at either Qingsong or Songyun Academy.

Sure enough, when Gu Yuzhu got home, she heard voices in the yard. She and her little brother exchanged a look and immediately dropped their tree branches and ran over. Their older and younger cousins also dropped their dead branches and followed along.

The youngest, Little Shitou, tripped and fell. Luckily the sandy ground was soft, so it didn’t hurt—he picked himself up with a face full of sand, still smiling like a silly goose.

Gu Qingbai, the little man of the house, and his cousin Yan Meihua washed their faces and hands with water drawn from the well, then helped the younger kids wash too. Gu Yuzhu, blessed to have her brother look after her, was about to enjoy being pampered when Yan Meihua suddenly snatched the soft cloth towel from Gu Qingbai’s hands and looked at Gu Yuzhu with excitement.

“Zhuzhu, how about I help you wash your face?”

His eyes were practically sparkling. Gu Yuzhu found it baffling—it felt like his gaze was about to blind her.

Having never experienced the love of siblings in her past life, Gu Yuzhu had only just begun to enjoy having a real brother. Of course, maybe it was because her little brother was still young, and though she could feel his love and care, as a woman with an adult soul, she couldn’t help but view Gu Qingbai with a “you little rascal” kind of attitude.

Sometimes when Gu Qingbai gave in to her, Gu Yuzhu even felt a little embarrassed. And now, with another little rascal coming at her, all eager to wipe her face and hands with a soft towel…

Gu Yuzhu was totally against it.

But cousin Yan Meihua was not one to give up easily. With the towel in hand, he immediately began scrubbing Gu Yuzhu’s face with enthusiastic force.

Whoosh!

Afterwards, Gu Yuzhu’s face was red all over. Gu Qingbai immediately tattled to their mother, Yan Fengru. “It was Cousin Meihua!”

Yan Meihua: “…”

Madam Lin looked at Gu Yuzhu’s soft, fair little face, now flushed, and grew furious. She gave Yan Meihua a hard spanking on the butt. She wanted to hit him again, but was Yan Meihua the type to sit there and take it? As soon as he saw his mother coming at him, he took off running—and ran straight into someone.

“Oh, if it isn’t our Meihua!”

The newcomer was none other than Aunt Yan Fengjiao. She had come regarding her nephew Gu Qingbai’s schooling. After some inquiries and comparisons, Yan Fengjiao had decided to personally deliver the news to her elder sister. Behind her were a maid and a servant woman, each carrying items. With her impressive entourage, she looked every bit the rich young madam—radiant and well-off.