Chapter 31: Are They One and the Same?

  Thank you for the reward of Ping An Fu from Yu Hou Ting Yuan, thank you for your support for Qian Qian!

  Mother.

  Gu Qingyao leaned her cheek close to Su Shi and said, "But they say that Second Sister is not only a talented woman of the capital, but also knows how to run a shop."

  Su held Qingyao in her arms and smiled softly, "Your second sister is as old as you are, and she has many good qualities too. But no matter how good she is, she's still the daughter of your aunt, whereas Mother only has one daughter, and that's you, Y'ao."

  Qing Yao lay in Su Shi's arms, her small hands hooked around his neck, and said softly: "Yao'er must make an effort, Mother, Yao'er wants to make you happier, and give you a boost."

  Su comforted Qingyao, one hand lifting the scattered hair in front of her forehead, and carefully analyzed: "Your second sister is well-behaved, intelligent and sensible, but she's too dazzlingly beautiful, overbearing and intimidating, not as lovely as Y'ao. She makes it difficult for people to get close to her, although she's radiant and charming, she doesn't have Y'ao's loveliness, pure and transparent."

  Qing Yao thought about Qing Jin's dressing, and only remembered that it was beautiful. Now thinking back, it was indeed not much different from herself. She said: "Are you saying that Yao'er also has a better place than Second Sister?"

  "That's natural, your second sister is not bad, but nobody is perfect. We should see the strengths and weaknesses of her, Yaoke. As long as you don't belittle yourself and don't speak arrogantly, you will catch up with your second sister one day, understand?"

  "Yeah, Y'ao had heard it before."

  Seeing Qingyao regain her confidence and show a smile, Su Shi stood up, "Alright, it's getting late, let Green Tea attend to you and get some rest. You have school with your second sister tomorrow, don't stay up too late."

  "Alright, Mother, take care." After seeing off Su Shi and her personal wet nurse, Gu Qingyao returned to the room.

  The sweet smile on her face was gone, she wasn't an innocent little girl who didn't know the ways of the world. On the contrary, after all these years by Su's side, she had learned a lot from him and wasn't some ignorant child in his eyes.

  She remembered that at the beginning, her father did not like her mother the most, but rather liked Liu Niangniang who gave birth to her younger sister Gu Qingqi. Liu Niangniang was beautiful and charming, and was deeply favored by her father. Often in the middle of the night, he would leave her mother's side to go to Liu Niangniang's place. Every time this happened, her mother would carefully help him get dressed and gently send him out the door.

  At first, she didn't understand, but somehow, Father slowly began to rest in Mother's room more and more often. He no longer left at midnight when the maid from the Liu family came. Mother was still gentle and patient as always, even persuading Father to go see her. However, Father gradually became impatient with the people sent by Madam Liu, until he refused to go on his own initiative when she sent someone again. Father also increasingly favored her over Gu Qingqi.

  After growing up in her parents' hands for so many years, although she doesn't think she's particularly excellent, she still feels that ordinary girls can't compare to her. However, when she returned home today, she saw a second sister who was thousands of times more beautiful than Liu Niang, and this beauty made her feel insecure. She wasn't jealous of her second sister, but just wanted to get close to her. But from the way her second sister acted today, it seemed like she didn't particularly like her. Why wouldn't such a beautiful second sister like her? She thought maybe it was because they weren't familiar with each other yet, and once they became more familiar, her second sister would definitely come to like her just as much as her mother did.

  What's most important is that she thinks her second sister knows a lot of things. When they were in the carriage, her mother told her about her second sister's literary name and the Flowing Clouds Pavilion under her care. Her mother also said that all those beautiful clothes at the Flowing Clouds Pavilion were thought up by her second sister. At first, she didn't quite believe it when her mother was telling her in the carriage, but today, after hearing her second sister tell their grandmother stories and jokes she had never heard before, she got a feeling that what her second sister told their grandmother today must be things even the teacher father invited for her brother doesn't know.

  Was it Eldest Aunt who invited the gentleman to give it to Second Sister? She was a bit suspicious, why didn't Second Sister's younger sister Gu Qingxia know about it? It was said that Eldest Aunt also let Gu Qingxia and Second Sister study together, but when Second Sister told those stories and jokes, Gu Qingxia was clearly listening very seriously by her side.

  But tomorrow she can go to school with her second sister, if it's really the master who gave it to her second sister, then she believes that the master must have many more things, but what if not? How would her second sister know such an interesting story and thing? Anyway, she must get along well with her second sister, and deep down in her heart, there is also a voice telling her to be close to her second sister, as if she and her second sister are destined to be sisters. This further solidified her desire to be close to her second sister. Thinking about these things, Gu Qingyao entered a sweet dream.

  On this side, Gu Qingjin bid farewell to Jun Shi and returned to her room. She replayed the words Jun Shi had said to her over and over in her mind. She couldn't help but admit that she didn't really understand Jun Shi before. She always thought Jun Shi was a straightforward person without any schemes. After being reborn and meeting Jun Shi for the first time, she still thought so. However, after following Jun Shi to learn about managing the household, she gradually began to feel that Jun Shi wasn't simple at all. Tonight's conversation completely overturned her previous impression of Jun Shi.

  Jun said that as long as she didn't make a wrong move, Gu Qingyao would never be able to surpass her. Indeed, the reason why she was so miserable in her past life was entirely because she had taken the wrong path herself. Now that she thought about it, what Gu Qingyao had said to her the last time they met was completely right - she had brought all this upon herself and got what she deserved.

  If she hadn't been so naive and blind to reality before the marriage, wanting to marry Long HanYuan, she wouldn't have gone from being the official wife of the Sixth Prince to becoming Long HanYuan's lowly concubine. If she hadn't tried every means possible, disregarding everything to escape from home and run to Long HanYuan's side, shamelessly confessing her feelings in front of everyone, she wouldn't have angered the Emperor and gone from being a secondary wife to a lowly concubine. If it wasn't for her ambition, trying to monopolize Long HanYuan's favor, she wouldn't have ended up so tragically, burning herself to death.

  One wrong step, every subsequent step is wrong. She has been pushing herself towards the final outcome step by step. Even if there were external factors in between, it was because she chose the wrong path first. Alright, at this point, she can finally acknowledge her past mistakes without any hesitation and take responsibility for what Gu Qingyu did wrong. Fortunately, she also has a chance to start over again. What if she doesn't make another mistake this time?

  Gu Qingyao, you want to get close to me so much, do you really like me? Alright, since that's the case, I can temporarily treat you as a good sister, hoping you are genuinely sincere.