Chapter Twenty-One Return

  Thanks for the reward from Yuhou Tingyuan, thanks for the support~~~~

  Upon hearing the news of his return home tomorrow, Gu Qingjin's calm and peaceful demeanor, with a gentle expression, left him feeling slightly disappointed yet also relieved.

  "Tomorrow morning I'll be back, just have someone send over the scriptures then." Gu Qingjin replied calmly.

  "All right, I'll have someone send the scriptures to Master Gu shortly." After speaking, he still looked at Gu Qingyu with his usual gentle and calm demeanor.

  "Goodbye, Shuijingchen!" With a faint smile at Shuijingchen, she turned around and left with Yuanyang.

  Water mirror dust, after all, is not someone that Gu Qingjin can think of and get involved with, lest she harm others and herself. She and he are better off this way: she being the young lady of the Marquis's manor, he being a high-ranking monk in the Buddhist temple.

  Until Gu Qingjin and Yuanyang's figures completely disappeared, the monk who had been lowering his head with a calm expression and faint eyebrows finally raised his head, gazing in the direction they vanished, lingering for a long time without leaving...

  There is a saying that one day's plan lies in the morning, because the morning is a beautiful and hopeful start.

  Gu Qingjin instructed the maid who followed her to put the things she had sorted out last night on the carriage, and then took Yuanyang out of Banruo Temple.

  Outside the Banruo Temple, Gu Qingjin sat in the carriage, lifted up the curtain of the carriage, took a last look at the Banruo Temple behind him, and then said to the little servant who was driving the horse: "Let's go!" Then he put down the curtain.

  The horse carriage slowly left Banruo Temple and walked onto the official road in the suburbs.

  When Gu Qingjin woke up from his short nap, the horse carriage was already entering the city gate from the outskirts. As soon as he heard the hustle and bustle on the main streets of the capital, he knew they had arrived in the city. Listening to the lively voices outside the window, he slightly furrowed his brow. Having stayed at the Banruo Temple for a long time, he was used to waking up every day in complete silence and spending the whole day enjoying that leisurely peace and quiet. Suddenly hearing such a lively noise, he knew this was the environment he should be living in, but listening to the voices outside, his heart couldn't help but feel slightly annoyed.

  No matter what Gu Qingjin thought in her heart, the carriage slowly approached the direction of Anji Houfu. As the carriage got closer and closer to Anji Houfu, Gu Qingjin's heart also slowly calmed down. She was back, after all, no matter what, Anji Houfu was her home, where she had the closest relatives in this life, and Banzhao Temple was just a place for her to let go of her worries.

  Gu Qingjin walked with Yuanyang on the small path leading to her own courtyard in the mansion, seeing that the Anji Hou Mansion was filled with a joyful atmosphere everywhere. The sudden unfamiliarity of returning from the Banruo Temple to the crowd had completely disappeared. This was indeed Gu Qingjin's home. Although the Banruo Temple was good, staying there for too long made her feel cold and distant. Now back in the mansion, looking at the smiling faces and busy figures of the servants, Gu Qingjin's heart began to warm up slowly.

  As she passed by the front yard, she saw a few maids gathered together, seemingly excitedly talking about something. Ah, yes, today's atmosphere in the mansion seemed to be very festive. Qing Jin naturally didn't think that this festivity was because of her return today; it must have been due to some unknown event that occurred while she was away. Moreover, judging from the servants' behavior, it was clearly a joyful occasion.

  Qingyu hinted to the swan beside her, the swan nodded at Qingyu and immediately called over a little maid who whispered something in her ear. The little maid nodded after hearing what the swan said and left.

  Back in the courtyard, Qingjin changed into a new set of clothes and walked out of her inner chamber. Seeing that there was no one in the room, she calmly sat down on the round stool, hearing the conversation between Yuanyang and Xiaoyu coming from outside, and knew that Xiaoyu must have found out something and come to report to Yuanyang.

  After a while, Yuanyang walked in and spoke to Gu Qingjin: "Miss, Yuanyang has already found out why the servants in the mansion are so happy. It's really a big joyful event. Miss, can you guess what it is?"

  Upon hearing Yuanyang's words, Qingjin casually said: "What is it? Won't be Third Uncle returning, will it?"

  "Miss, you're absolutely right! It's true that Third Master is coming back. Just yesterday, a messenger arrived with a letter saying his term is over and he'll be returning to the capital. And according to what our little maid has heard, it's very likely that Third Master will stay in the capital this time and take up an official position. Old Madame was overjoyed when she received the news and rewarded all of us servants with a month's wages. Our household is usually quite sparse, and you don't have any playmates, Miss... but now that Third Master is coming back, it'll be great! Fourth Miss, who is Third Master's legitimate daughter, will also be returning, so you'll have someone to keep you company..." Yuanyang exclaimed excitedly.

  Gu Qingjin had long been absent-minded, repeatedly thinking in her mind that Gu Qingyao was coming back, the news that Gu Qingyao was coming back. Yes, in her previous life, wasn't it at this time that San Shu returned to Beijing? After spending a peaceful period at the Banruo Temple, she almost forgot even this most important thing.

  Thinking of meeting Gu Qingyao, she couldn't help but think of her past failures and Gu Qingyao's happy marriage. Gu Qingyun had a complicated feeling that was hard to express towards this fourth sister, whom she had always treated as a younger sister in her previous life. Perhaps in her previous life, she had been too utilitarian, lacking a sense of responsibility towards the family, being indifferent to her parents, but towards this fourth sister, she had truly used some genuine feelings.

  She couldn't help but think of Gu Qingyao's appearance and image, kind and generous, understanding and considerate, with a crystal clear transparency, this had always been the deepest impression she had of Gu Qingyao. However, the things that happened later, until she burned herself to death, she still didn't see through Gu Qingyao.

  She admitted that she was the one who wronged Gu Qingyao first, and it was she who snatched away Gu Qingyao's and Long Hanshan's marriage. She also received her punishment, and in the end, she only married Long Hanshan as a concubine. It was indeed her own doing to fall from being the wife of the Sixth Prince to becoming Long Hanshan's concubine, but why did Gu Qingyao keep appearing at the Third Prince's residence? The Third Prince and the Sixth Prince couldn't be considered close brothers, they just happened to have their residences adjacent to each other when they were assigned their fiefs.

  She remembered that the first time she saw Gu Qingyao at the Third Prince's residence was when Gu Qingyao married the Sixth Prince. After marrying Long Hanyan, the princess had invited Gu Qingyao over herself and had also called her over at the time. Later, after the princess left, she had also expressed her apologies to Gu Qingyao, who had forgiven her.

  After that, the princess did not invite her again, and Gu Qingyao never came to the Third Prince's mansion. When she occasionally met Gu Qingyao at royal banquets, Gu Qingyao was seated as the legitimate wife at the top, while she stood behind the Third Princess as a lowly concubine who couldn't even take a seat. It was the first time she clearly understood the hierarchy of wives in this era and the difference in status between her and Gu Qingyao. So, she began to decline the princess's invitations when attending such banquets, avoiding seeing her younger sister whom she used to admire. Fortunately, although their two mansions were adjacent, the imperial son's consorts would not visit each other casually unless they had a special relationship, so even if they didn't intentionally avoid each other, they might not meet once in a month.