Gu Nuan sat on the firewood, holding her child, and sighed.
However, this body had been locked in the firewood shed without even doing the postpartum confinement, and she didn't know why, but surprisingly there was no discomfort at all!
Just then, Gu Yujin appeared at the door of the firewood shed and said softly, "Nuan girl, you'd better not keep arguing with your grandfather. Let Auntie raise the child here. Even if the child's father comes looking, he won't blame you."
"You're still in the postpartum period now, you must not catch a chill. Catching a chill is bad for a woman, and it concerns the rest of your life."
"The child's father?" Gu Nuan raised an eyebrow and asked.
"Yes, if the child's father comes looking later, and finds out you've suffered all this, wouldn't he feel heartbroken?"
"If he blames us, it won't be good for the Gu family either, so Auntie will definitely take good care of the child." There was a faint trace of excitement hidden in Gu Yujin's voice.
Gu Nuan rolled her eyes. So this person thought the child's father would definitely come looking for her, and also thought the child's biological father had an extraordinary identity, which was why she wanted to raise the child.
If the original host hadn't had some memory of that night, she would have thought Gu Yujin knew who the child's biological father was.
"No need, Auntie. I'd better raise the child myself. Although this place can't compare to Nuan girl's room, it's almost the same, just missing a bed."
"Auntie, rest assured, even if the child's biological father comes, I will tell him the truth and won't let him blame the Gu family."
Hearing this, Gu Yujin hurriedly walked toward the old lady's room. "You… think it over carefully."
Gu Nuan looked down at the child, saw him sleeping soundly, and sighed, "You're sleeping soundly, but your mother is suffering for you."
After muttering, she looked up and surveyed the firewood shed, thinking about how to escape without being controlled by the Gu family.
Set this firewood shed on fire, fake death, and escape?
But didn't ancient times require a travel permit? Without a travel permit, how could she escape?
Just as she was thinking, she smelled smoke. She turned around and looked—damn it! The entrance of the firewood shed had actually caught fire. Could someone be trying to silence them permanently?
She quickly covered the child's mouth and nose, so smoke wouldn't get into the child's lungs.
Just as she was thinking about how to escape, the door of the firewood shed fell down. Gu Nuan quickly carried the child and ran out. Seeing no one around, she hurriedly found a place to hide.
The fire grew bigger and bigger. Only when it grew so large that the nearby kitchen also caught fire did someone discover it.
"Come quickly! Fire! Come quickly and put out the fire!"
Although the Gu family was large, there were not many servants. Including the kitchen cook and the handyman, there were only five or six people, so naturally they could not put out such a big fire.
Fortunately, the firewood shed was only connected to the kitchen, with a small courtyard in between before reaching the main house. Otherwise, the Gu family would definitely have burned clean.
Everyone in the main house ran over and could only watch helplessly as the firewood shed and kitchen burned to nothing.
Gu Qingfeng asked angrily with a dark face, "Who was on duty in the kitchen today? Why wasn't such a big fire discovered?"
A person whose face was blackened by smoke ran out and said with trembling hands, "It was I who was on duty. When I discovered the fire, the firewood shed was already almost burned down. Then everyone tried to put out the fire but couldn't, and that's how it spread to the kitchen."
"You mean the firewood shed caught fire first?" Gu Qingfeng glared and asked.
The servant trembled all over and nodded vigorously. "Yes, I was chopping filling in the kitchen. I only discovered it when the beam of the firewood shed collapsed."
"Oh my, Nuan girl is still in the woodshed!" Gu Nuan's father, Gu Tao, finally reacted and cried out.
Cuiniang looked expressionlessly at the still-burning ruins of the woodshed, as if her daughter were not buried beneath the rubble.
Gu Yujin seemed to think of something and turned pale as she looked at the old madam.
The old madam lightly patted her hand. "This is her fate."
"Once the fire is out, search for her. See if we can find her body. If not, haul all the ashes up the mountain and bury them—that will count as giving her a proper burial." After Gu Qingfeng said this, he left.
Once he left, the others followed suit. The only one who stayed behind was Gu Yujin's daughter, Cheng Wenjing.
Cheng Wenjing gazed at the ruins still smoldering with fire and murmured, "I'm sorry. I didn't think it would turn out like this. I'm sorry. I hope you can be reborn into a good life."
Gu Nuan was hiding in the bushes right behind her, hearing every word clearly. Though she didn't understand what she meant, she seemed to be apologizing to the original owner of this body—but why was she apologizing?
From the memories Gu Nuan had received, there didn't seem to be much about Cheng Wenjing. This cousin had stayed indoors ever since arriving at the Gu household, never venturing out. What could she possibly have done to wrong Gu Nuan?
Could it be that Gu Nuan's accident was her doing?
But the two had no interactions. Why would she want to harm the original owner?
Before she could figure it out, she noticed Cheng Wenjing had also left, leaving only some servants behind to keep watch and prevent the fire from spreading.
Gu Nuan waited until they had all gone to clean up before quietly rising and heading toward the back gate of the courtyard, dodging and hiding the whole way until she found it.
At this hour, the servants were all cleaning up the kitchen, and no one was guarding the back gate. Gu Nuan carefully opened the door and slipped out.
Only after she had left Wutong Town did she truly feel at ease.
She stopped on a village road about two li from Wutong Town. She really couldn't walk any further, especially with a child in her arms.
She walked to a low-lying spot and looked at the original owner's appearance in a small puddle. Her complexion was somewhat pale.
Her features were of the delicate, petite beauty type—not overly glamorous, nor was she plain-faced. She was pure and pretty, bearing an eight-tenths resemblance to Gu Nuan herself, just much younger.
Well, of course. She herself was already thirty years old, while this body was only fifteen or sixteen. How could it not be younger?
She smeared mud on her face and then picked up some grass from nearby to tie around her waist, making herself look like a middle-aged peasant woman before she felt reassured.
She sat on a nearby rock, listening to her stomach growl, and sighed.
She had merely cursed "damn heavens" out of frustration over a career setback, and somehow got struck into this ancient era of some unknown dynasty, and even ended up with this delicate little baby for free!
Well, not exactly for free—she had nearly died from the pain of giving birth.
"Little one, you have to be good, okay? Your mommy's so hungry her front's sticking to her back right now. Sorry for making you go hungry with me, so you be good, and Mommy will be good too, okay?"
A passerby nearby laughed. "Auntie, if this child isn't good, how exactly do you plan to make him 'not good'?"
Gu Nuan looked at the speaker and smiled warily. "Just joking. The child can't even understand words yet—I'm just teasing him."
"Auntie, where are you headed? Why are you alone with a child?" another person nearby asked with a smile.
Gu Nuan glanced at him. He had a shifty, rat-like look about him, so she became even more wary.
"I'm going to visit relatives in Zhouyang Village in the neighboring town. My husband and my brother-in-law went to relieve themselves in the woods nearby. I'm waiting for them here."
The man was about to say something else when the person beside him pulled him back. "Well then, auntie, take your time waiting. We have business to attend to, so we'll be going now."
"Alright, they should be back soon. Take care." Gu Nuan naturally hoped they would leave quickly. This wasn't an official road, and there weren't many people passing by. If these two were human traffickers, she wouldn't stand a chance.
Once the two were far away, Gu Nuan immediately chose another small path and walked off. Who knew if they might turn back?
Shortly after Gu Nuan left, the two indeed turned back. "Brother, I was right. She was definitely bluffing us."
"There are only two paths here. Besides the one we just took, there's only this small trail. Let's chase along this path. I refuse to believe we can't catch this woman."