Chарter 4: Do Yоu Remembеr Ноw Не Stоpреd аt Nothing tо Seizе Anothеr Мan’s Wifе?
As thеsе wоrds fell, Shеn Zuihuаn saw his gаzе tоwаrd hеr instаntlу grow сomрliсated.
But befоre Gu Сhangсе соuld speаk,
Gu Tang’s еуеs lit uр, and shе eаgerly lеаnеd fоrwаrd first.
Sitting at thе foot of thе соuсh, shе threw herself оvеr, tightlу hugging Shen Zuihuаn’s cаlf.
Her fаir, tеndеr сheeks rubbеd аgainst the sоft back оf Shеn Zuihuаn’s hаnd.
As shе rubbеd, she said, “That’s how you shоuld cаll mе, thаt’s hоw уou shоuld call me.”
“Мothеr used tо cаll Father that way too.”
“…Mother would also call me Tangtang.”
After speaking, she lifted her gaze again, looking at Shen Zuihuan with pitiful, longing eyes.
As if she desperately hoped to hear Shen Zuihuan call her “Tangtang.”
The little girl was adorable, her small face flushed red with excitement.
Shen Zuihuan’s heart softened at the sight.
She had once kept a little calico cat she adored.
It was very much like Gu Tang.
She had cherished it as if holding it in the palm of her hand.
But later, because her aunt disliked it, it was sent away to a manor in the outskirts of the capital.
From then on, Shen Zuihuan never saw it again.
The day it was sent away was a drizzly one. That night, Shen Zuihuan secretly buried herself under the covers and cried for a long time.
Afterward, whenever it rained, she would think of it.
She truly couldn’t bear the little girl’s endearing appearance.
Lowering her head in thought for a moment, she finally slipped her hands under the girl’s arms.
With a slight effort, she pulled the little girl into her embrace.
Gu Tang had never experienced such treatment before.
In the past, if her mother responded to even one out of ten things she said, it would make her happy for half a day.
Today, not only had her mother spoken many words to her,
but she had also pulled her into her arms.
Her eyes widened in shock, and the rims of her eyes turned slightly red.
She lowered her gaze, her breathing becoming light and careful.
Shen Zuihuan had no idea what was going through her mind.
She then looked up at the man beside her, whose thin lips were pressed tightly together.
There were things she wanted to ask him, so she leaned forward slightly.
Intending to get closer,
she didn’t expect the man, seeing her movement, to immediately take a quick step back, once again maintaining a not-too-close, not-too-far distance between them.
“???” Shen Zuihuan.
What was going on with this father and daughter?
Why were they so cautious?
Could it be that she became very fierce seven years later?
Today was her first time meeting Gu Tang, so it was hard to say whether the little girl was naturally shy.
But she and Gu Changce had grown up together.
Why did this notorious troublemaker of Chang’an City now seem to be afraid of her too?
Shen Zuihuan cleared her throat and asked him, somewhat perplexed, “Why are you standing so far away from me?”
Upon hearing this, she heard the man’s tense voice.
He leaned down, his gaze shifting uncertainly as he asked, “…Huanhuan, what… what do you remember at most now?”
Do you remember how he left without a word in the third year of Yuanshou?
Do you remember how he stopped at nothing to seize another man’s wife?
Do you… remember how Gu Tang came to be.
Shen Zuihuan’s eyes flickered, her dark eyebrows slightly furrowed as she concentrated, thinking carefully for a moment.
With some difficulty, she slowly opened her mouth: “I only remember… yesterday was my fourteenth birthday… it rained that day, I went to bed early, and when I woke up the next day, it was the tenth year of Yuanshou…”
The day after her fourteenth birthday was supposed to be her engagement ceremony with Wei Xianyù.
But today, after waking up, her husband had become another man.Shen Zuihuan’s feelings were undeniably complex…
…In fact, she had seen Gu Changce just last night.
After seven years had passed… she wondered if he still remembered.
Hearing Shen Zuihuan’s words, Gu Changce’s emotions settled somewhat.
She truly didn’t remember what happened afterward.
A mocking curve lifted the corner of his mouth.
Of course, if she did remember,
how could she treat him like this?
She probably would have kicked him out long ago.
The twenty-one-year-old Shen Zuihuan would have felt nauseated just by looking at him.
Shen Zuihuan licked her slightly dry lips.
Hesitantly, she opened her mouth to ask again, “…We… um… I, you…” She felt somewhat awkward.
But there were some things she really had to ask clearly.
Gritting her teeth, she finally blurted out, “…How did we end up in this kind of relationship!”
Gu Changce had no intention of hiding it from her.
After all, Liu Heyu had just said that Shen Zuihuan would eventually regain her memory one day.
There was no point in hiding their current relationship from her.
When he heard the news two days ago that Shen Zuihuan had attempted to drown herself after encountering Wei Xianyù while returning home to visit her family,
Gu Changce had been thinking.
Perhaps he shouldn’t have done what he did back then.
If he hadn’t forced Shen Zuihuan into marriage,
she might have naturally become Wei Xianyù’s wife by now.
But at least she wouldn’t refuse to speak a single word to him.
After all, the three of them had grown up together since childhood.
Just as he was about to open his mouth and tell her the truth, he was interrupted the next moment by Gu Tang.
The little girl spoke with her eyes wide open, burying her face in Shen Zuihuan’s embrace.
Her voice was soft and sweet as she said, “Because Father and Mother fell in love with each other, and Mother broke off her engagement with Uncle Wei for Father.”
Upon hearing this, Shen Zuihuan’s pupils suddenly contracted.
How could such a thing be!
But… but… how could this be!
How could she possibly have fallen in love with Gu Changce?
And how could she have broken off her engagement with Xian Yu for him?!
As Gu Tang finished speaking, Gu Changce’s expression also changed.
His thick eyebrows furrowed as he said sternly, “Gu Tang!”
Gu Tang had always been afraid of him, and his words startled her.
She secretly glanced up at her father, tightening her grip on Shen Zuihuan’s arm even more.
Seeing her pitiful appearance, Shen Zuihuan felt a pang in her heart.
She felt even more tenderness for this “bargain daughter” in her arms.
Her expression turned slightly displeased, and with a flicker of her eyes, she chided the man standing beside her, “Why are you scaring the child!”
“…” Gu Changce.
Because she’s lying to you.
Seeing her displeasure, Gu Tang quickly pretended to be obedient, turning to bury herself in her mother’s embrace.
She rubbed her furry head against Shen Zuihuan affectionately, as if to please her, and said, “Mother, don’t blame Father. He’s just shy.”
“…” Gu Changce.
This little devil.
Gu Tang was always good at acting spoiled.
When her watery eyes looked at Shen Zuihuan, her heart almost melted into a puddle.
When she was young, her own mother had passed away early. Even though her father later remarried her aunt for the sake of the children in the family,
she was still not her biological mother, and there was always a distance between them.
They were never that close.
Now, with her own daughter in her arms,
this feeling felt incredibly wondrous to Shen Zuihuan.
She wished she could offer all the good things in the world to her.
Thinking again of how Gu Changce had just scolded her daughter,
the anger she had just suppressed surged back up.
She shot him a displeased sidelong glance.
Her hand gently patted the little girl’s back.Then Gu Tang said, “In the middle of the third year of Yuanshou, Uncle Wei’s father was demoted to Jiangdu and appointed as the Chancellor of Jiangdu Kingdom. Uncle Wei followed him there. It was during the six months after Uncle Wei left that Mother and Father gradually fell in love.”