The wind was cold and the night was breaking dawn early in winter, the person in the low room was delirious. Lin Wei Xi was lying on the bed with her fine eyebrows frowning, at once you could see that she didn't have a peaceful sleep.
The sound of cooking gradually could be heard from the village, the farmers did not have a fortune to be idle. Even on such a cold day, many people got up to burn wood and cook. There's also noise in the brightest room in the main courtyard. It seemed that Aunt Lin had risen. Lin Wei Xi had a vague thought, but her limbs were weak and confined in a dream, unable to break free.
In the dreamlike vermilion courtyard, there was a maid wearing double bun hairstyle and the fabric of her clothes were crisp and bright lu silk, she lowered her head as if she did not dare to face the person in front of her, her voice was as fine as a mosquito: "Shizi Consort, the front yard come over and pass the words, saying that shizi is busy today, and he was just arrive. If madam is uncomfortable, to call the imperial doctor to come and have a look."
The woman opposite seemed to have stopped for a long time, with hoarse voice before faintly sounded: "Busy? I don't know what is so important that even more important than I this dying wife."
"Madam..."
"Stop talking, I don't want to listen." The woman coughed twice. She seemed to try to suppress the cough, and refused to show weakness in front of others. The maids standing outside also knew the master's rules, held their breath and lowered their head, not looking at the other side's sickness appearance. After a while, the cough finally eased a little. The woman didn't care about moistening her throat with tea, but insisted on asking: "Who came to pass the message?"
The maid couldn't bear it: "Shizi consort..."
"Say it! "
The maid sighed and said, "It's Miss Yun Hui."
"Yun Hui..." The woman laughed lightly, unsure whether it was sarcasm or mocking herself, "It turned out to be her, can't compete, really can't compete with her. She serve shizi for many years, bestow by Shen Wangfei herself, this mutual affection for many years, do I as an outsider can match it?"
Obviously the Shizi Consort, but she said she was an outsider, if other people heard they would thought that was a joke, but in the Yan Wang Mansion the maid knew that the consort did not speak wrong.
Shizi and his consort had been married for one year, but they were even worse than strangers. The Shizi Consort was seriously ill, and these servants secretly went to the front yard and invited Shizi three or four times, but the result was chilling. The maid knew that although Shizi Consort was tough and forbid them to intercede with her problem, but she turned a blind eye to their little actions, showing that she also wanted to see him. But no, Shizi never came.
Lin Wei Xi was still lying on the simple wooden bed with her eyes closed, tears continued to flow from the corners of her eyes, making the pillow wet. Lin Wei Xi knew that she had been caught by a nightmare. Even in the dream, the memories of the past would not let her go. It took her back to the Yan Wang mansion and her failed marriage.
In fact, she was not originally called Lin Wei Xi, nor was she a girl from this small village. Her former family was very prominent. She was originally named Gao Xi, the eldest di granddaughter of Duke Yingguo Mansion. Her biological father was the only di son of the duke. Her biological mother was the only daughter of Grand Princess Shou Kang. She was born in this kind of family and she came from quite a good background.
Because of her high status, Gao Xi was very strong minded since she was a child. Later, her marriage didn't make her lose honor. Relying on the face of her grandmother, she actually married Gu Cheng Yao, the only son of Yan Wang. After the announcement of the marriage, the whole capital was shocked that Grand Princess Shou Kang was able to make Gao Xi married the only son of Yan Wang, and the face of Princess Shou Kang was very real.
Speaking of Yan Wang, in the land under heaven regardless if it was men, women, young and old, even ignorant baby had heard of his prestigious name. The previous emperor's final years of Jianzhao was very turbulent, Bu Guifei with the help of powerful eunuch controlled the court, if it weren't for Yan Wang to send the troops to the capital in time, corrected the chaos and killed the eunuch, afraid that the future would change drastically.
Yan Wang protected the emperor and calm the upheaval, and after the death of the previous emperor, he supported the new emperor who was only eight years old to succeed the throne. The Great Zhou Dynasty's vassal state in the border took advantage of the new emperor young age. In the second year, many places in the border were becoming restless. Yan Wang took the initiative to ask for battle and brought the troops out of the capital to pacify the chaos. At that time Gao Xi was seriously ill bedridden for several days. The front line heard the news that Yang Wang had great victory, after the good news came, the court cheered. To put it more bluntly, the little Emperor was young, the Empress Dowager was cowardly, and the bureaucrats in the court were in chaos. Now the whole Zhou Dynasty was guarded by Yan Wang.
Yan Wang had only one son, Gu Cheng Yao. As Gu Cheng Yao's wife, when father-in-law repeatedly made military achievement, Gao Xi should feel proud. It was a pity that the glory of Yan Wang Mansion belongs to Yan Wang Mansion and had nothing to do with her.
Gao Xi sometimes wondered, when she first married Gu Cheng Yao, he had a deep affection, but why did he became cold all of a sudden?
She still remember that on the first night of their marriage, when Gu Cheng Yao lifted up her veil, he deliberately avoided everyone and said to her with a smile: "Look, I still found you."
Gao Xi was confused. What does that mean? However, the newlyweds were already thin-skinned, and Gu Cheng Yao regarded her silence as shy and stopped mentioning it with a faint smile. Which girl didn't cherish spring, Gao Xi grew up listening to Yan Wang's achievements, and now she married Yan Wang's only son, and the other person was such a deity, Gao Xi's small heart was instantly hit, and she became both anxious and happy to be Gu Cheng Yao's wife. In the next month, the two of them were very affectionate, almost inseparable, Gao Xi was so happy like she was falling into a honeypot. Since she was a child she grew up seeing her mother suffer from concubine's tricks. She never thought that her marriage would be an unexpectedly happy one.
But she still miscalculated God's kindness. The flowers will wither, a beautiful face will grow old, and things that are too good will never stay long. In just one month, Gu Cheng Yao's attitude took a sharp turn. That day, he looked at her coldly and asked: "Why did you lie? Why become an imposter?"
What?
She was sewing clothes for Gu Cheng Yao at that time. She was not very good at female's art, because she was always compared to Gao Ran, she didn't like doing it even more. But now, she wanted to make a set of clothes for Gu Cheng Yao with her own hands, even piercing her fingers with needles. Hearing Gu Cheng Yao's words, Gao Xi was confuse, what lie? What imposter?
Since then, Gao Xi and Gu Cheng Yao's husband and wife relationship had cooled down. Gao Xi was the eldest granddaughter of a Duke mansion, and had a princess grandmother that always spoiled her so she had stubborn personality. If Gu Cheng Yao didn't want to come then don't come. Don't expect her to be like a concobine, fighting for favor to make him stay.
Later, the husband and wife became more and more alienated, and they turned into enemies. In the end, when Gao Xiyu fell ill and couldn't get up again on the sickbed, Gu Cheng Yao refused to even look at her.
Gao Xi was a very proud person, but this failed marriage completely destroyed all her pride.
Gao Xi was not reconcile when she's facing death. Where did she not do well? Why Gu Cheng Yao didn't like her? Even if he didn't like her, how could he not even give her the last dignity as his wife?
Because of remaining grievances her soul was not taken away by the Ox-head and Horse-face, she floated for a while and then she returned to the world again.
This time, Gao Xi finally knew why Gu Cheng Yao asked her those two questions and why she suddenly fell out of favor.
Gao Xi saw a book amidst the vast expanse of whiteness. She was puzzled and flipped through it tentatively. Then she was shocked and trembling by the contents.
There was Gao Xi's life in the book, but unfortunately, the protagonist was not her, but Gao Xi's shu younger sister, the torn on her side since childhood, Gao Ran.
The book said that Gao Ran was a transmigator and Gao Xi didn't understand what transmigator was, but this was just a passing point in the book and it was not important. What Gao Xi really care about was the following story.
According to the description in the book, Gao Ran transmigrated into an unfavored concubine daughter in Duke Yingguo Mansion when she was six years old. She had just gotten a serious illness and almost died. Perhaps she was already dead, so that Gao Ran could replace her.
Gao Ran reincarnated into the body, the shell was only six years old, but the soul was a 26-year-old adult. With the help of modern knowledge and adult experience, she pretended to be stupid, pretend to be a pig and eat tiger, and not only helped herself, but also her biological mother Han shi became the favorite concubine of the Duke Yingguo Shizi, and even taught her own younger brother, who would later be established as the heir of Yingguo dukedom. Gao Ran saved a masked man in a Buddhist temple when she was 13 years old. She didn't want to reveal her identity, but the other party held her hand and refused to let go. Gao Ran had no choice but to remove a jade pendant from her body. Let him find her by himself if he was capable.
Gao Xi laughed mournfully when she saw this, and burst into tears. No wonder when she was a child Gao Xi always accused by her elders to be not as sensible and caring as Gao Ran. No matter what she learned, Gao Ran was always ways ahead. Gao Xi originally thought that Gao Ran might really born smart. Now she understand that Gao Ran was not a child at all, her age was even comparable to Gao Xi's mother, an old ghost who lives in a child's body, it's not surprising that she was so well-rounded.
No wonder Gu Cheng Yao said to Gao Xi that day in the bridal chamber, "Look, I still found you." No wonder Gu Cheng Yao later said she lied.
That's it, that's it!
The corners of Gao Xi's eyes were red with anger. Her mother, Wei Shi, was the daughter of Grand Princess Shou Kang. The Princess had only this one child. It was not surprising that her character accustomed to being pampered. Therefore, Wei shi had always been putting on an air of noble lady, with a cold expression, refused to soften her body to coax her husband and master, and refused to make a gentle gesture. From a young age, Gao Xi watched her mother guard the lamp alone and waited until dawn for the arrival of her husband. At this time, Gao Xi's father, the duke shizi, was mostly in Han shi's courtyard.
Gao Xi felt sorry for her mother and was angry with the fox concubine in the west courtyard. But she was a di daughter and it's impossible for her to lower her status and fight with a concubine, so she desperately studied, trying to surpass the daughter of the west courtyard. However, the strange thing was that no matter how much work Gao Xi spent in private, she could never be as good as Gao Ran. Gao Ran could play novel song which surprised the zither master. She invented gomoku and checkers, which attracted brothers and sisters in the clan to vie for friendship. Sometimes, Gao Ran would blurt out some extremely delicate verses, but when asked again, Gao Ran smiled faintly, saying that she only thought of this sentence, and forgot the rest.
No one believed that Gao Ran had really forgotten such subtle verses, but felt that she was hiding something behind her, so everyone in the mansion paid more attention to her. Under the light of such a little sister, Gao Xi was under a lot of pressure. Fortunately, Gao Xi's identity could leave Gao Ran behind. With the influence of Grand Princess Shou Kang, Gao Xi could married Gu Cheng Yao of Yan Wang Mansion. Gao Xi once thought to herself that she finally won against Gao Ran. There would never be anyone in the capital higher than Gu Cheng Yao. Gao Ran, even if Gao Ran jumped again, in the future her husband's family would certainly lower than hers.
It's a pity that things were so funny. Gao Ran once rescued a man in a Buddhist temple. By coincidence, this man was Gu Cheng Yao. At that time, Gao Ran pulled a jade pendant off her body in order to get away. The jade pendant was in the shape of a fish. It was originally a pair. This was made by someone outside and gave it to Gao Xi. Gao Xi felt that the carving was quite delicate, so she gave the half of it to Gao Ran.
That was originally Gao Xi's jade pendant, but Gao Ran was afraid of getting into trouble, so she took Gao Xi's things out to eliminate the disaster. Gao Xi gave it to her in private, and if someone came to the door in the future, it would be Gao Xi who was left to handle it. Gu Cheng Yao fell in love with the mysterious woman who saved him on that moonlit night. Although he didn't see her face, he decided to marry her. By mistake, Gu Cheng Yao used the half jade pendant to find Gao Xi and married her. He was so sure that Gao Xi was his lifesaver. In the first month after marriage, the two of them get along well. However, in the second month, when Gao Xi returned to her family's house, Gu Cheng Yao accompanied her back and in the Duke Yingguo Mansion met his wife's sister Gao Ran.
Without knowing the truth, Gao Xi was accused to lie and abandoned.
The malicious older sister that deceived feelings and replaced kindness had been dismantled. After that, her marriage was full of misfortune, but Gao Xi had a strong personality. The more Gu Cheng Yao ignored her, the more she had to prove it to everyone. Gao Xi personally managed Yan Wang Mansion, drastically rectifying the fields and shops of Yan Wang Mansion, internally suppressing the people around Gu Cheng Yao, and fighting against the personal girl Yunhui who had served Gu Cheng Yao for ten years. Gao Xi fully believe that as long as she was good enough, Gu Cheng Yao could see her, and changed his mind.
But she simply brought herself down and slowly died, to the end could only wait for Gu Cheng Yao to change his mind.
If the story only ends here, Gao Xi would only sighs and thought that she had no luck and didn't have enough fate with Gu Cheng Yao. But the story in the book had only progressed for a while, and the real climax had yet to arrive. After Gao Xi as failed elder sister and wife died, the Duke Yingguo also felt that Gao Xi was unqualified. She was simply not good example of what a wife should be. Duke Yingguo Mansion felt guilty towards Gu Cheng Yao and proposed to let Gao Ran marry him as a successor. Gu Cheng Yao certainly agreed. So not long after Gao Xi died, Gao Ran married as the second wife.
After Gao Ran married into Yan Wang Mansion, she always treated Gu Cheng Yao with gentleness and subtle intention. Gu Cheng Yao also very much cherished someone that he thought he lost, the two hearts beat as one. Gu Cheng Yao was moved by Gao Ran's sincerity, and even dismissed his concubine for her, only favor her alone. Many years later, Gu Cheng Yao took over the mantle of Yan Wang and became the new mainstay of the country, but even so he never took a concubine. The second half of the book was the sweet daily life of Gu Cheng Yao and Gao Ran. Between the lines, it was said that Gu Cheng Yao loved how smart and capable Gao Ran was. She was a graceful and caring wife and everyone in Yan Wang Mansion respected this Shizi Consort. When people in the capital praise Gao Ran, they would always pull Gao Xi out and use Gao Xi's downright failure to contrast against Gao Ran's high EQ. Finally they conclude: "Sure enough, we can't just marry a wife based on family background, the most important is still character and temperament. The eldest di daughter of Duke Yingguo Mansion and the second wife of Yan Wang's Shizi are the best examples." Look, Gao Xi, the original wife, was not even qualified to become the Shizi Consort.
When Gao Xi saw this, she didn't want to read anymore, she closed the book and let the tears ran down her cheeks.
The Buddha said that there are seven sufferings in the world: birth, old age, sickness, death, resentment, separation from the loves one, and not able to achieve what ones asked for.
Gu Cheng Yao was what Gao Xi coundn't ask for. She was dislike by her father and elders since she was a child. After marrying someone she liked, she saw that he ignored her, so she had to cover it up with toughness and carelessness, and then tried her best to attract him to come back. Until she exhausted herself and died in depression, she couldn't keep her husband from turning his back on her. In fact, when Gao Xi died, she knew that Gu Cheng Yao was young and had an outstanding family background. He would definitely continue to marry in the future. With the power of Yan Wang, there were many noble women in the capital who were not inferior to her, rushing to marry Gu Cheng Yao. But that person, cannot be Gao Ran. Gao Xi hastily scanned the second half of the book, and she realized that Gu Cheng Yao could also tossing and begging, he would get off his high horse to please a woman, he even had no regrets. He could even keep himself pure for one woman and never touch other women.
When Gao Xi reading the book she thought: 'Scumbag'. Even if Gao Xi had never heard the word before, she could guess the meaning. Was Gu Cheng Yao a scumbag? It didn't seem so, he could also be deeply affectionate, and only take one scoop for three thousand weak water, but then again this affection was not given to Gao Xi.
Gao Xi was very embarrassed, and her eyes gradually blurred. Before losing consciousness, Gao Xi saw a delicate girl smiled shyly at her: "Benefactor sister, I'm going to find my father. Six years ago you saved me but I'm unable to repay you, and now I have to bother you to keep on living for me."
Gao Xi was in dazed and not knowing how long she was asleep. When she woke up again, she saw a semi-old bed curtain, a dark wooden cabinet, and a pair of slender white hands.
It seemed to be very noisy outside. Many people were clamoring, and Gao Xi vaguely heard words like "to die for one's country", "Yan Wang's decree," and "to confer as Marquis" and so on. Gao Xi walked to the vanity mirror with her weak body, and stared at the face in the mirror for a long time.
Yes, the eldest granddaughter of Duke Yingguo Mansion and Yan Wang Mansion's Shizi Consort Gao Xi is dead. From today on, she is Lin Wei Xi.