The husband I snatched halfway through his life is strange.

The streets are wide and long, lined with shops. Every now and then, you can hear the laborious shouts of vendors.

Zhou Yurou was breathing rapidly, trying to find traces of lying in Gu Wu.

"If only that were true."

She looked around and said, "I'm not one to gossip behind people's backs, but there are some things... I just can't stand to see them. I wanted to tell you, so you'd be at ease, otherwise I'll feel uneasy."

She was delicate and gentle, biting her lip, looking pitiful. It seemed she was truly considering Gu Wu's feelings.

"As far as I know, the general's wife is exceptionally difficult to get along with."

"When she first arrived in the capital, she silenced Shen Zhiyi in Jinluxuan."

Zhou Yurou smoothed her hair and said, "The Shen family's daughter has always been fierce; who in the capital doesn't know that? This general's wife is quite capable."

Gu Wu frowned, recalling the many conflicts she and Shen Zhiyi had had.

"Shen Zhiyi deserves it."

Zhou Yurou: ?

Gu Wu continued, "Shen Zhiyi has been causing trouble all these years. How many people hasn't she offended? She's just the daughter of the Director of the Imperial Household Department. If it weren't for her connection to the Dowager Consort, she wouldn't have the confidence to act so arrogantly."

"My sister... My sister was offended by her, should she just swallow her anger and do nothing?"

Moreover.

Gu Wu pursed her lips.

She and Shen Zhiyi are on good terms now.

"But...but the General's wife didn't give Princess Jiashan a kind look that time either."

Zhou Yurou: "Although I don't owe anyone a debt of gratitude for raising me, I do owe them the debt of gratitude for giving me life..."

He was interrupted as soon as he finished speaking.

"That's understandable."

Putting herself in Yu Tingwan's shoes, Gu Wu felt that she was loyal and righteous.

Zhou Yurou: ? ?
“A few days ago, an official visited the general and heard that she was sitting on a rockery that was at least four people high, sunbathing. She climbed up there herself and even put a chair and a wooden table on it, with snacks and tea. She seemed quite content, but this is not something that women like us, who have been taught etiquette since childhood, would do.”

“I know about this. The rockery in the Gu family's house is quite tall. It would be nice if she could come back and climb it.”

Zhou Yurou: ? ? ?

She felt a lump in her throat for a moment.

"The general's wife and her children are illiterate and don't know any rules. They still need to be taught by the Duchess of Shunguo, their mother-in-law."

“I know about this. These past few days, Mother has been sighing and lamenting, wishing she could go to the Wei family to teach them herself. She's worried that she'll get tired and that the Duchess of Shunguo is too strict and might scare her.”

The necklace on her wrist shone brilliantly in the light. Gu Wu's eyes also shone brightly in the light: "Let alone the housekeeper, if she wants to learn, what can't Father, as the Grand Tutor, teach her?"

No, why are you, an imposter, so concerned about the real deal?

That's a huge joke.

Zhou Yurou didn't believe that Gu Wu really had such magnanimity.

If she were Gu Wu, she would have harbored resentment long ago, wishing her own daughter would die out there and never appear again. Let alone never seeing her again, she would want to eliminate this threat and menace as quickly as possible.

However, Gu Wu's status put her at a disadvantage, and she dared not clash with the daughter of the Gu family. Even if she felt uncomfortable, she could not say it out loud.

Gu Wu looked at Zhou Yurou, seemingly easy to talk to: "What exactly do you want to say?"

See, they couldn't sit still any longer.

Zhou Yurou, who prided herself on her ability to understand human nature, used her trump card: "The Empress Dowager wanted to marry you to the General before, so... although we're now family."

Gu Wu became uneasy.

She did have feelings for Wei Zhao before.

She was still unconvinced at the time. Wei Zhao didn't like her; who else could he possibly like?

Now she's convinced.

They even felt that Wei Zhao had gotten the better deal.

Seeing that she remained silent, Zhou Yurou felt relieved.

She said gently, "I was afraid you would be disappointed. Looking at this, apart from her appearance, the general's wife doesn't seem like a daughter of the Gu family at all. To be honest, I think you are Princess Jiashan's true daughter."

Gu Wu smiled. "You really think so?"

"Can this be false?"

Gu Wu handed Yingluo to the maid behind her and gestured for Zhou Yurou to come closer.

As soon as Zhou Yurou leaned closer, Gu Wu raised her hand and slapped her without hesitation.

With a loud thud, everyone was caught off guard. Even passersby craned their necks to look in this direction.

Caught off guard, Zhou Yurou took the slap squarely. Gu Wu's long fingernails left a scratch on her skin; it didn't bleed, but it broke the skin and stung terribly. Her head was knocked to the side.

She cried out in pain, her previous soft voice gone, replaced by a sharp and piercing cry: "Miss Gu, why did you hit me?"

Her face turned deathly pale, and she was about to go find a doctor, fearing that her face would be ruined.

But the maids of the Gu family blocked her way.

"Let you go?"

"You were quite talkative just now."

Gu Wu's expression turned cold.

As expected of someone carefully raised by the Gu family, his aura when he's stern is indeed intimidating.

"What the Gu family is like, what the General's wife is like, is their business, and it's also the Gu family's business. I have no right to interfere, so who are you, the daughter of a mere Minister of Works, to jump out and presumptuously criticize me?"

"Who says she's illiterate? She's read the classics. Even if she isn't, it's a loss for the Gu family, a loss for the Zhou family who are currently bedridden and recovering from their injuries. You, on the other hand, are literate, yet you're doing things that sow discord."

"If you feel wronged, you are welcome to visit the Gu family, the Wei family, or even the Jingzhao Prefecture right now. Do you dare repeat what you just said to me again?"

"If Yu Tingwan doesn't want me to call her 'sister,' I'll still have to treat her with respect. If she does, I'll be secretly thrilled. Understand?"

She wiped her hands with a handkerchief, as if she had just touched something dirty.

"Get out of here, don't embarrass yourself."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The teahouse wasn't far from here, and Yu Tingwan and Shen Zhiyi walked there together.

Shen Zhiyi felt extremely relieved.

"Her way of swearing is somewhat similar to yours."

How could they not be similar?

Gu Wu was brought up by Princess Jiashan.

Yu Tingwan's temperament is like her birth mother's.

Shen Zhiyi sighed, "Gu Wu isn't a very good person usually, but she knows right from wrong when it matters. What do you think after hearing that?"

She asked cautiously, "What about Gu Wu..."

"If it wasn't her, it would have been someone else."

Yu Tingwan's lips moved slightly.

"Actually, things are fine as they are now."

Now that the Gu couple knew she was alive, she no longer resisted them. They could even exchange pleasantries calmly when they met in the future.

She had let go of everything with everyone except herself.

Yu Tingwan has been stubborn since childhood; once she has made up her mind about something, she will stick to it to the end.

If her mother were still alive, she might gently persuade her.

But the only person who could make her compromise and change her mind had already died saving her.

"Gu Wu is reasonable, which shows that the Gu family has a good upbringing."

Yu Tingwan smiled slightly.

"But my Yu family is not bad either."

Didn't you hear me?

There are so many good qualities about Yao Yao that it's impossible to count them all.

(End of this chapter)