Guo Yan was still smiling, waiting for Gu Qinghan to make a fool of herself. Unexpectedly, the master of the Lotus Bud Pavilion knelt on one knee before Gu Qinghan, performing a grand salute.
“Your servant Chundie pays respects to Miss Han! It has been so long since Miss Han last visited the Lotus Bud Pavilion to inspect. Did you review the accounts I asked Sister Chun Tao to bring you this year?” His voice trembled slightly.
Gu Qinghan nodded indifferently and simply said, “I did. Rise.”
Not only Guo Yan, but even Gu Rongxin was shocked. She never imagined her third sister had such a vast business.
Guo Yan exclaimed in disbelief, “Impossible! How could you hide such a large business without saying a word?”
Chundie declared firmly, “Miss Han owns at least hundreds of businesses in the capital, with dozens like the Lotus Bud Pavilion. It is already an immense honor for Chundie that she personally steps foot here! Guards, throw her out and forbid her from ever entering the Lotus Bud Pavilion again.”
Gu Qinghan finally smiled at this moment. As Guo Yan was dragged away, she muttered to herself, “Impossible, this can’t be…”
Once Guo Yan was out the door, Gu Qinghan struck Chundie across the face with a folding fan.
The sharp “crack” echoed through the shop, startling everyone inside. Some noble ladies already looked at her with reproachful eyes.
Though Gu Rongxin was also astonished, she believed her sister must have her reasons for acting this way.
Gu Qinghan lowered her gaze to Chundie and asked coldly, “Since when did the Lotus Bud Pavilion require a threshold to enter?”
Upon hearing this, Chundie’s face showed clear panic. He had never seen Gu Qinghan in such a state. He opened his mouth to explain, fear appearing on his delicate features.
“Miss, your servant only wanted to increase the revenue a bit more, hoping to satisfy you…”
Chundie’s voice even seemed to choke up toward the end. Gu Qinghan frowned in annoyance but quickly regained her composure, then glanced at Chun Tao. The two exchanged a look.
“Chun Tao, help him up.”
Hearing this, a faint smile of victory appeared at the corner of Chundie’s mouth. When he looked up again, he wore an expression of fear.
“How can your servant, who has displeased Miss, dare to speak while standing?”
The noble ladies shopping for clothes grew even more furious. One even pointed at Gu Qinghan with a sharp voice, accusing her.
“Chundie has worked tirelessly to manage your shop for you, and now he merely thought of a different business method, yet you treat him like this! You truly have a heart of venom!”
Gu Qinghan laughed in anger. Adopting a pitiful expression, she asked softly, “Chundie, on ordinary days, you take forty percent of the shop’s income, sometimes even sixty percent. I pretended not to know, out of consideration for your years of managing the Lotus Bud Pavilion. How else should I treat you well?”
At this point, she let out a long sigh, her delicate and pitiful appearance making the surrounding customers feel sorry for her.
Only then did Chundie realize that Gu Qinghan had long been aware of his behind-the-scenes actions. He quickly kowtowed and loudly admitted his fault.
“It is your servant’s wrongdoing! Blinded by greed, I forgot how well Miss has treated me. Your servant deserves death! Please give me another chance, Miss!”
Gu Qinghan’s expression remained unchanged as she said softly, “Of course, you will continue managing the Lotus Bud Pavilion. However, I do not wish to see any strange thresholds next time.”
With that, she stood up and walked out of the Lotus Bud Pavilion, leaving Chundie kneeling on the ground, unable to rise, his mind in turmoil with swirling thoughts.
Gu Rongxin hurriedly followed her out. Once they were outside, she leaned close to Gu Qinghan’s ear.
“Sister, I noticed many of the dresses in the shop were worn by Gu Xu before.”
Gu Qinghan laughed upon hearing this. “So obvious, yet I was blind to it before.”
In her previous life, on her wedding day, she had seen Chundie disguised among the guards blocking her at the door, plotting against her alongside them.
The corner of the handkerchief peeking from Chundie’s chest was embroidered with a clear “Xu” character. His heart had long belonged to Gu Xu. Regardless of Gu Qinghan’s life-saving grace, he only knew how to flatter Gu Xu endlessly. Calling him an ingrate would be too generous.
Back then, when he was sold into a brothel by traffickers, it was Gu Qinghan who rescued him on her way back from a banquet, passing by and saving him on a whim.
Knowing his parents had sold him there, Gu Qinghan pitied him and casually named him Chundie, hoping he would leave the darkness behind and be surrounded by flowers. Little did she expect he harbored such treacherous ambitions.
The “talent threshold” he set up in the shop was meant to elevate Gu Xu’s reputation, and he eagerly gifted many limited-edition dresses to Gu Xu as well.
Though she now knew the truth, she still needed to keep Chundie at ease. She would seize the right moment when they least expected it, striking at their weakest point to make them suffer a thousandfold the pain she had endured.
Gu Qinghan regained her usual composure and reassured, “I understand, no need to worry, sister. Let’s go to Yong’an Tower for tea and music. I heard the pastry chef there is from the Western Regions! Let’s try something new.”
Lotus Bud Pavilion.
Chundie stood frozen in place, his heart in turmoil. He hadn’t expected Gu Qinghan to spare him, nor had he anticipated her treating him so kindly.
For a moment, he recalled the day Gu Qinghan rescued him. It was pouring rain, his body covered in wounds as he struggled in the brothel district, dragged through the mud by two thugs until filth stained him from head to toe.
He had already lost hope then, thinking to himself: Just end it now. Life isn’t worth clinging to, but I refuse to submit to others. Yet, dragged along by the thugs, he was powerless to resist. Just then, a sharp cry pierced the air, brightening the world around him.
“Let him go!”
He looked up to see a beautiful woman standing at the mouth of the alley, a maid beside her holding a paper umbrella over her head.
As she shouted to stop them, a group of burly men behind her swiftly rescued him. The noblewoman who had spoken tossed a silver ingot at the thug, glancing at his pitiful state with amusement, her eyes filled with curiosity.
He realized saving him was merely a way for the noblewoman to pass the time. As she turned away, he caught a clear glimpse of his savior’s face.
Beneath willow-like brows were large, round almond-shaped eyes, thick and curled lashes, and rosy lips unconsciously pouting. In a daze, he caught a whiff of a rich fragrance, like flowers yet also like fruit.
He would forever remember being awestruck by such a luxurious and beautiful scene, one that would reappear in many of his dreams thereafter.
He followed this noblewoman into her carriage and learned she was the treasured daughter of General Gu—Gu Qinghan.
Watching Gu Qinghan act coquettishly with her cousin, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy.
Just as he was chastising himself for such feelings, Gu Xu’s voice chimed in, “What a handsome young man. How did you end up in such a state?”
After he recounted all his misfortunes in a low voice, Gu Xu’s eyes were already brimming with tears. She sighed and said to him, “How tragic. But with such an extraordinary bearing, you are sure to achieve great things in the future.”
In their conversations, he was drawn to Gu Xu’s gentle kindness, unable to resist becoming infatuated with that voice.
Gu Qinghan casually gave him a name and instructed her attendant to arrange all his subsequent studies and miscellaneous affairs.
His business gradually expanded, and his reputation soared. Gu Xu also visited the Lotus Bud Pavilion multiple times. Gazing into her tender, watery eyes, he gradually sank into this ambiguous relationship known only to the two of them.
He completely forgot that it was Gu Qinghan who had pulled him out of the mud, while Gu Xu had merely spoken a few words on the side.
Gu Xu confided in him about her difficult life in the Gu residence. Despite her reputation as a talented woman, she could hardly hold her head high in public. He became immersed in the secret shared only between them.
He took it upon himself to set a threshold for the Lotus Bud Pavilion, allowing Gu Xu to elevate her status in the capital through it.
He never regretted doing so, but today, Gu Qinghan’s various actions reminded him of that rainy night, stirring feelings of gratitude within him.
What should he choose? Chundie sat blankly on the ground, wrestling with such thoughts for the first time.