Forty-Three Omens

  Liu Liu's mother finally entered the mansion. On a cold winter day, a small sedan chair was carried in from the side door.

  When they arrived at the second gate, a young servant with a small hat came to lift the sedan chair. He did it lightly and quietly, which made Liu Liu's mother very satisfied. This marquis' residence was indeed different from ordinary wealthy families, everything was exquisite.

  Zhi Hua and Bao Yu both flushed with anger, they completely did not understand why Gu Man had to go welcome Liu Liu Niang at this moment. What Liu Liu Niang said was pleasant to hear, but in the end, wasn't she just a concubine? What qualifications did she have to make Gu Man, the legitimate master, come and receive her?

  "Even if the second master likes you, it's just a temporary novelty, miss. You don't have to go out of your way for this favor!" The painter was small in stature but big in heart, with only one thought in mind - to consider Gu Man's well-being, which had been harsh these days.

  Gu Man looked out the window and saw that in the icy sky and snowy ground, only a distant green pine tree was still thriving. In the vast expanse of white, there was finally a hint of life. She dodged the servant's attempt to take her hand, giggled, put on her wooden clogs herself, and said firmly: "Get me my clothes!"

  Bai Yu followed Pei Yin's lead, and the people who were learning also became more steady. Seeing this, she quietly pulled out a brush and handed it to her, turning around to get the large one that had gone away.

  Gu Man nodded in satisfaction with a smile, these two people seemed to be easy-going and not hard to get along with.

  Before long, the curtain was lifted, and it was Pei Yin and Pei Qin, rubbing their hands and flushed in the face. Seeing Gu Man looking over at them, they nodded to her with a knowing look.

  Gu Man took a glance at the four of them, who were all dressed up, and smiled: "Alright, let's go with the young lady to see the excitement."

  He trailed behind her with a bewildered expression on his face, unable to understand what excitement she was going to see.

  The sun had already set, Gu Man raised his head and took a look at the sky: most people in Da Zhou get married at dusk - "hun" (marriage) is homophonous with "hun" (dusk), and it's also auspicious.

  Liu Liu Niang was settled in the Xuan Yue Pavilion, which was a bit remote. From the second gate, you had to go around the rolled shed and Jin Cui Garden before arriving at Huan Yue Bay, where the water had already frozen into thin ice. The sound of water flowing through the ice echoed from time to time, responding to the two rows of willows planted on both sides of Huan Yue Bay.

  Standing at the very center of the arch bridge, with the sky still not completely dark, one can see that the Xueyue Pavilion in the distance is already brightly lit, with many servants coming and going, a scene of bustling activity.

  Gu Man walked forward at a moderate pace, and along the way, she saw her maids looking at her with surprise and amusement on their faces, but she pretended not to notice.

  It turned out that Liu Liuniang had heard the news from somewhere and knew she was coming, so she hurriedly brought a group of people to welcome her, and with an uneasy face, she paid her respects: "I've seen Ninth Young Lady."

  Gu Man didn't dodge, she smiled and accepted the courtesy, then gestured to Pei Yin to help her up: "Auntie doesn't have to be polite, although Auntie is also an aunt, but Father said that after all, it's different from ordinary aunts. In the future when you see me, just give me half a bow, otherwise how can I bear it?"

  One sentence hit Liu Liuniang's heart, thinking that her own children would not be able to call herself a mother in the future, she became remorseful, and thought that she should not have chosen that time to visit. But then she thought again, even if she changed the time of the visit, what could she do? With Wang having such a powerful elder brother backing her up, when would Liu be able to surpass her?

  Originally, I thought that as long as I had children of my own, it would be fine. But now Wang Shi is also pregnant, and if this child is a boy, then I will have no hope at all. I'm afraid for the rest of my life, I can only be a noble concubine.

  Unless there is no Wang family.

  The thought flashed through her mind, and before she could react, she heard Gu Man's terrified cry, his voice piercing to the extreme, startling her so much that she shivered with cold.

  She involuntarily took a few steps back, only to see that a small green snake had somehow appeared between her and Gu Manzhong, lazily crawling around on the ground.

  It's Zhu Ye Qing! Her complexion changed slightly, and she glanced at the wet nurse behind her. In a flash of inspiration, she understood what the wet nurse meant.

  This customer is too much trouble, always looking for problems, better get rid of him!

  Gu Man had already retreated several steps back, her face was terrified, but there was no fear in her eyes. She only stared at Liu Liu Nang with suspicion - now is winter, snakes are all hibernating, how could a snake suddenly appear? Moreover, they were standing at the entrance of Xiu Yue Pavilion, the residence of the two old men's new favorite, which should have been cleaned up spotlessly without even an ant, how could there be a snake?

  Soon, she saw Liu Liuniang change color and reflexively go to look at her wet nurse, but her wet nurse didn't even glance at the snake, as if it didn't exist.

  She remembered that in her previous life, Liu's wife had mentioned when talking about the death of Wang's family that there was a snake that came out of nowhere and bit Gu Boqi.

  Snakes, all snakes.

  What a coincidence!

  Liu Liu's mother couldn't help but think about what Gu Man would think, she just turned her head and lightly shook it at her wet nurse - there was no need to show their hand for a little girl, it was easy to get rid of a little girl, why would they need to use this kind of thing. Thinking of this, she felt slightly resentful towards the wet nurse for being too self-willed.

  Fortunately, no one would have guessed that this snake was carried by her wet nurse.

  Since the master had already refused, the wet nurse stared at Gu Man for a moment, and with a very light wave of her hand, the snake quickly slipped into the nearby thicket.

  Gu Man was chilled to the bone by her gaze, as if all his pores were blocked and he couldn't breathe, it was a gaze as cold as a snake's.

  She began to strain her memory to recall that this unremarkable and coarse-looking woman, who was no different from those shrews, was actually a wet nurse - This person absolutely couldn't be an ordinary person. She suddenly felt her heart beating extremely fast, as if it were about to jump out of her chest cavity.

  If one's own conjecture is not a groundless rumor, then... whether it's the Wang family or oneself, or anyone who poses a threat to Liu Liu'niang, they might all be able to die very quietly.

  The terrible thought had just flashed through her mind when she heard the sound of several maids crying and comforting her in a flurry of words.

  She finally came back to her senses, took a look at Liu Liuniang, and pretended to be frightened out of her wits, shouting loudly as she fainted.

  When she fell to the ground, she heard the crowd's cries of surprise, and Pei Qin and Zhi Hua hastily calling for someone to fetch a doctor, as well as... an extremely strange, somewhat shrill yet exceptionally loud whistle, very short and soft, urgent and fleeting, which if she hadn't pretended to faint, might have gone unheard.

  This wasn't a good omen, she thought, and then fell into a daze of sleep.

  Waterfall sweat, I didn't know there was no update, scared me to death, almost stopped updating~~~~

  Everyone, please collect and recommend, thank you all~~~