Fourfold life

  At the third watch, the mansion of Dingyuan Marquis was quiet everywhere, only the servant girls who got up early to prepare soup and water for the masters to go to court were making a slight noise, and the sky was faintly showing some pale light.

  "I say, Ninth Sister's illness has lasted for over a month, it's really too strange." A stout and short woman with a chubby figure ladled some water into the pot, then squinted her eyes and poked at the ingredients prepared by the thin and frail woman beside her.

  The thin woman nodded, seemingly thoughtful and echoed: "Isn't that so? For more than a month now, we haven't had a peaceful day. The mistress has been worried about this, it's strange to say, but she was fine just a while ago. Could she have been bewitched?"

  The fat woman was startled, and after glancing around, she whispered: "This kind of talk can't be said, if Second Mistress hears it, it won't be good! The other day Old Mistress said that the young lady might have gotten some bad influence and wanted to send her to the countryside for a while. Now you're saying this, if Second Mistress hears it, won't she skin us alive?"

  The thin woman also knew she had misspoken, and hastily shut her mouth. Just as she was about to say something else, she looked up and saw several women entering the kitchen from front and back.

  At this time, I think Jiuniang had another nightmare and wanted hot water. She hurried to prepare it and asked: "Is Jiuniang feeling any better?"

  The old woman took the hot tea handed over by the fat woman, sipped it lightly and complained: "It's all day long, can't live in peace. One night doesn't know how many hours can sleep, if this goes on, how can the body bear it?"

  Several people sat around the stove, and the conversation became more lively and numerous.

  Gu Man let out a soft "ah" and sat up with a start, looking around to find that the candles in the outer room had already been lit.

  She stared blankly at the canopy above her head, still in a daze.

  The door was pushed open, and the maids sleeping on the outer couch heard the noise and all scrambled up in a hurry.

  Pei Yin reached out to feel her forehead, but found only a thin layer of sweat. She quickly grabbed a handkerchief to wipe it away for Gu Man, and softly asked the people in front of her: "Miss has woken up, but was frightened by another nightmare?"

  Gu Man couldn't tell whether what she had experienced was a dream or reality, and the scene in front of her was a dream. She numbly pinched her own arm until the pain clearly came, and then let out a sigh of relief.

  It's okay, it wasn't just a dream.

  For more than a month, she had been waking up in the middle of every night, never having a good sleep. She kept dreaming of her terrifying face in her past life and Qiu Cangyu's cunning face, restless every night.

  She also thought she had died from that cup of poisonous wine, but when she opened her eyes again, she didn't end up in hell as expected, nor did she travel back to the modern era.

  On the contrary, she returned to when this body was eight years old.

  At this time, her wolf-hearted husband Qiu Cangwu had not yet appeared, and Gu Yan was just a concubine daughter with no threat to herself. Even if it were Gu Chengyu, he was only a cleverer illegitimate son who could not ascend to high positions.

  I was eight years old when I crossed over from modern times, and the owner of this body was already eleven years old at that time. And now, the time I've returned to is three whole years earlier than it was back then.

  The current emperor's body is still very healthy, and the situation in the court is also very calm. These few years are enough to change many things.

  She looked up at Pei Yin who was anxious in front of her and shook her head gently: "Nothing. What time is it now?"

  "Just now at the third watch, do you want to sleep a bit more?" Pei Yin looked at her and saw that the dark circles under her eyes had deepened again, and she anxiously said: "This way of having nightmares every day is not a solution either. I don't know what kind of food the imperial physician eats, but this sedative medicine doesn't seem to have any effect at all."

  She let out a sigh, even the best doctor couldn't cure this fearful and apprehensive heart. Heaven knows, she didn't dare to close her eyes every night, afraid that if she wasn't careful, she would return to her previous life again.

  But she couldn't say that to Baiyin who knew nothing about it. She shook her head and said to Baiyin, "Prepare hot water, I want to take a bath."

  Pei Yong hurriedly agreed to go out, seeing that the several madams sleeping in the outer room were all somewhat tired, and smiled: "This time is really tiring for everyone, it's still early now, why don't you all go back to your rooms to rest for a while? I'll take care of things here."

  Everyone under their eyes indeed can't hold on for a while, so they all agreed to disperse.

  It was Gu Man's wet nurse, Qi Shi, who felt somewhat uneasy: "Today is the day that the young lady returns, and yesterday the old lady instructed everyone to prepare for today's family banquet early, but the young lady is like this..."

  Pei Yong also had some worries in her heart. This lady was the old lady's only daughter, and she had always been pampered. This time she followed her husband back to Beijing to report on her duties, it was not easy for them to return to Beijing, and the old lady attached great importance to it. If Gu Man did not attend the family banquet, the old lady who had never liked Gu Man would have another chance to vent her anger.

  Gu Man heard it clearly in the house and her heart also added a few more worries.

  She had transmigrated into this era, and the mother of this body had already passed away. The one in power in the manor was her aunt from a different branch of the family, and this aunt was an extremely difficult person to deal with. She would often speak ill of herself in front of the old lady, causing the old lady to become increasingly disgusted with her, which indirectly led to her losing her footing in the manor.

  And this time, everything should still be in time.

  Thinking of this, the only trace of sleepiness she had also disappeared without a shadow, and she wished to fly to De'anju where the old lady was living immediately to curry favor.

  She was really too afraid that this life would repeat the tragedy of her previous life, and she was willing to try any possible action that could change her fate.

  Before she could think of a way to get along with the old lady who actually held the power in the Hou Mansion, footsteps echoed in the courtyard, accompanied by the soft and gentle voice of a woman.

  A moment later, the curtain was opened, revealing a worried but still beautiful face.

  "Ah Man!" Wang gently took the hand of her personal maid, Yue Tong, and stepped inside in three strides. She examined Gu Man for a moment before using a handkerchief to wipe away the sweat on his forehead: "I was feeling uneasy in my sleep just now, I kept thinking you were calling me, so I came over without waiting for you to come pay your respects. How are you? Still having bad dreams?"

  The fragrance on Wang's body smelled good. In the previous life, there was no chance to meet Wang, and in this life, due to the memories of the previous life, she was a bit dazed for more than a month, so she didn't know how to get through it herself, so she couldn't be close to her cheap mother. However, at this moment, Wang's eyes were full of thick love and heartache, which was absolutely impossible to fake maternal love. Gu Man was stunned, couldn't help but feel a sour nose, stretched out his hand to hold Wang's waist, buried his head in her arms and sobbed softly.

  This is a feeling that Gu Man has never had in her past life, sour but full of security.

  Wang stretched out his hand and hugged her, heartache shouting that he wanted to dismantle the door of the hospital.

  Gu Man cried even harder, she needed an outlet to vent out the discomfort and pain, but for a month now, she hadn't found one. However, now she had finally let it all out in Wang's arms, pouring out all the grievances and resentment from her past life.