Peerless Physician: The Path of a Foolish Eldest Daughter's Rise to Power

"Let's postpone it for now. We don't know the details, and the current situation hasn't been resolved yet. It wouldn't be good if someone with ulterior motives took advantage of the situation."

"Yes, Miss is very thoughtful. Not to mention that Granny Li is a local, I didn't expect that someone who grew up with Miss would be so clueless. Xiaomei and I have similar backgrounds, and my heart always leans towards her. I didn't notice anything amiss, thinking she was a kind person."

"Granny Liu, don't blame yourself. Can you tell me about your background?"

Granny Liu smiled and said, "Alright, Miss. I am an orphan. When I was six years old, I got separated from my brother and sister-in-law while fleeing famine. Old Madam Yang rescued me from the brink of death under a willow tree and named me Liu Xiang. I have been following you ever since."

When Granny Liu's unfortunate childhood was mentioned, Gu Xinyue listened quietly. Everyone has to face their own misfortunes; this is the true nature of life.

Ten years ago, General Gu Siming and his wife were returning to the capital with their four-year-old daughter. On the way, heavy snow fell, and they stopped in a small town. There they saw a thin girl kneeling in the snow, selling herself to bury her father.

Madam Gu was moved with compassion and had someone help her bury her father. She saw a few plum blossoms by the roadside, named them Xiao Mei, and took them back to the capital to be her daughter's maid.

Five years ago, when Madam Gu was selecting people to work at the estate, she chose her. She has always been very well-behaved, kind-hearted, and respectful to her mistress. In fact, she and her mistress grew up together.

When Xiaomei first arrived at the estate, she was very dutiful. But she gradually changed. She started to make all the decisions about what the young lady ate, wore, and used, and she stopped telling Granny Liu about it.

Granny Liu, considering how devoted she was to her young mistress, didn't hold it against her.

Xiaomei used to not go out often, but now she goes out frequently, sometimes with her mistress, sometimes alone. But no one expected that she harbored rebellious intentions.

Where is Huilan?

“She was born into the Yang family and was skilled in cooking. When we came to the estate, Old Madam Yang specially chose her.”

“My maternal grandmother was afraid that I would be wronged.”

“Yes, Miss.” Granny Liu was very excited. Her young lady was so intelligent. She felt that this young lady was more like the madam. She preferred her young lady as she was now.

"Whose people are Gu An and the other three?"

"They are the Marquis's people. The Marquis bestowed upon them the surnames and names of his wives: Gu An, Gu Ran, Gu Wu, and Gu Yang."

"We are all safe and sound. Mother hopes we are all safe and sound."

“Miss, they didn’t set off from the Marquis’s residence with us. We met up on the road ten miles from the capital.”

Have you seen them before?

"No, we first met in the outskirts of Beijing, and then we traveled from Beijing to Shihu Town."

"Okay, I understand. You should get some rest."

Lying on the comfortable four-poster bed, covered with a warm silk quilt, Gu Xinyue's thoughts drifted to the life of the original owner of this body, which is now also her life.

After reviewing her childhood memories, thinking of her gentle and beautiful mother and her imposing father, Gu Xinyue fell into a deep sleep.

A dark figure entered Gu Xinyue's room, walked to the bedside, listened to her breathing, and looked at Gu Xinyue's beautiful sleeping face, which was calm and peaceful.

Fifteen minutes later, he quietly left.

In the early morning, Gu Xinyue does his morning exercise in the courtyard, a habit he has cultivated for many years.

Xiao Mei burst in. She was tall, with disheveled hair and a haggard face. She was wearing a light blue silk dress. Even after being locked in the woodshed for several days, she was still a pretty young girl.

She knelt down with a thud at Gu Xinyue's feet, clutching Gu Xinyue's clothes with both hands, tears streaming down her face, and said, "Miss, I was wrong. I was blinded by my own senses and made such a mistake. Please give me another chance."

Granny Liu quickly pulled away the sobbing and wailing Xiao Mei. Gu Xinyue took a few steps back and carefully examined this bold maid.

Gu An and the others came in, followed by Huilan. Huilan quickly said, "Miss, when I went to see her just now, she took advantage of my inattention, pushed me aside, and ran out."

A hush fell over the room. Gu Xinyue noticed that Xiaomei was wearing silk clothes, while Granny Liu and Huilan were wearing linen clothes, as were the four guards. The linen clothes were also quite old.

On this point, Gu Xinyue felt that she was restless. No wonder she dared to let the legitimate daughter of a noble family become someone else's concubine. Keeping her by her side would be a disaster sooner or later.

Gu Yang placed a chair in the courtyard and asked Gu Xinyue to sit down. Xiao Mei was horrified to find that all four guards were in the main courtyard. Hadn't he ordered the guards not to enter the inner courtyard?

Only then did Xiaomei realize that her mistress hadn't said a word. In the past, whenever she spoke, her mistress would unconditionally side with her.

The young lady relied on her, and she thought that the young lady would see her when she returned. However, the young lady did not let her out yesterday. Today, she took the opportunity to run out to see the young lady, because she was certain that the young lady would forgive her.

"How do you think I should forgive you?" Gu Xinyue broke the silence.

Still kneeling on the ground, Xiaomei whispered, "I want to continue serving Miss."

“You’re not wrong to continue being my maid. Then tell me, who ordered you to marry me off as a concubine?” Gu Xinyue said slowly.

Xiao Mei, who was kneeling, looked up at Gu Xinyue. What she saw surprised her, and she quickly lowered her head. Her mistress had changed; she was no longer dull and rigid. She felt uneasy.

Looking at Xiaomei who remained silent, Gu Xinyue asked, "If you don't tell the truth, how can you continue to be my maid? Who are you in contact with in the capital?"

This sharp aura startled Xiaomei. Although the voice wasn't loud, every word pierced through her body. Xiaomei belatedly realized that her mistress wasn't stupid anymore.

Tears streaming down her face, she straightened up and said, "Miss, I haven't contacted anyone in the capital. I did something wrong for your sake. We don't have much money left, and if Madam doesn't take care of you, you won't be able to live a life of luxury anymore."

"Your reason is good. I'll give you one last chance. Speak."

Xiao Mei hesitated for a moment before saying, "Miss, I really don't have any."

Gu Xinyue turned to Granny Liu and said, "Granny, should we check her room?"

"This old servant and Huilan checked, but there was nothing there."

Upon hearing Liu Mama's words, a fleeting look of joy crossed Xiaomei's face. Surely her young mistress would believe her now.

"Brother Gu, you guys go and investigate."

Xiao Mei trembled slightly upon hearing this; she never imagined that her usually dull-witted young lady would become so clever.

Gu Xinyue felt that the original owner of this body was too miserable. The noble legitimate daughter was separated from her parents and relatives by thousands of miles away, and her reputation was not good.

She was betrayed by her servants and ended up in a bandit's den, where a lazy, dissolute young master tried to make her his concubine. Her modern soul couldn't accept being a concubine; her husband could only have one wife.

This maid is vicious and arrogant. The original owner relied on her so much, and she felt sorry for the original owner.

A moment later, Gu An returned with several letters, an exquisite sachet, and some jewelry.

Seeing what Gu An took, Xiao Mei deflated like a punctured balloon. She put it in a hidden compartment in the wall behind the wardrobe, which was so well concealed that they discovered it.

Granny Liu stepped forward and gave the letter to Gu Xinyue. Gu Xinyue took out the sachet, untied it, and took out several silver notes, saying, "Miss, a total of five hundred taels of silver notes."

Upon hearing that it was 500 taels, everyone was surprised and had different expressions. For a maid to have 500 taels of silver was a huge sum of money.

The trembling Xiaomei finally realized that it was her daily routine to relay messages to the people in the capital about her mistress, and that she had betrayed her young lady.

The letter was written by Du Juan, and it was all ordinary greetings. In the previous letters, she mentioned that if the general hadn't disappeared in the past few years, they wouldn't be working so hard, and asked her to take good care of the young lady.

A recent letter mentioned that the Third Miss is mentally challenged and that bringing her back would bring shame to the Marquis's mansion. She can only spend her life on the estate. If a wealthy family takes a liking to her, she will have a place to settle down, regardless of her status.

After reading the letter, Gu Xinyue looked up and asked Granny Liu, "Granny Liu, who is Du Juan?"

“She’s a second-class maidservant of the old lady,” Granny Liu said with a puzzled look.

In her memory, her kind grandmother loved her the most. Dujuan had long been bribed by the person behind the scenes. The letter Dujuan wrote might have been written according to the wishes of someone with ulterior motives, guiding Xiaomei to harm her.

Granny Liu handed the silver notes to Gu Xinyue, who took them and asked, "Where did you get these five hundred taels of silver notes?"

Xiao Mei glanced at Gu Xinyue and quickly lowered her head. "Miss, it was given by Granny Li."

Seeing that Xiao Mei was still determined to get her way, Granny Li told Xiao Mei to take her out. She said that 10 taels of silver would be the most she could give, and that a few dozen copper coins would be enough to settle this kind of thing. She thought Xiao Mei was a fool.

"Granny Liu, what should be done about your betrayal of your master and embezzlement of money?"

"Miss, beat her to death."

Xiao Mei looked up in terror and said tremblingly, "Grandma Li gave me ten taels of silver. 500 taels, yes, yes, yes..." She wiped away her tears and couldn't continue.

Gu An stepped forward and said, “Miss, these 500 taels of silver notes were embezzled by Xiao Mei. The silver notes for your estate were all taken from the bank by me, and they were marked.”

Granny Liu quickly said, "These jewels were a gift from the old lady, and these jewels were prepared for you by the madam."

Gu Xinyue glanced at everyone, then looked at Xiaomei and slowly said, "If you have the guts to do these things, you should know what consequences you should bear. Granny Liu will deal with this according to the Gu family rules."

By dealing with Xiaomei, she had avenged the original owner of this body.

"Miss, please, please save me!" Xiaomei panicked completely; she didn't want to die.

The only sound in the courtyard was Xiaomei's heart-wrenching cries for help.

“Miss, I will handle these matters myself. They will not offend your eyes.”

"Go," Gu Xinyue said coldly.