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

Upon hearing this, a hint of surprise flashed in Gu Xinyao's eyes, but it quickly turned into a trace of worry.

She slowly began to speak: "Okay, actually, I've been thinking about this issue for a long time."

Look, you are surrounded by so many outstanding people, even your maids are all very capable, each with their own area of ​​expertise and specialization.

In comparison, I seem rather ordinary...

Gu Xinyue quickly comforted her, "Oh dear, how could that be? You have many amazing skills too! For example..." However, she was interrupted before she could finish speaking.

Gu Xinyao shook her head with a wry smile, then said, "In terms of music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, I'm worlds apart from you. Are you suggesting I learn embroidery? But what kind of skill is that?"

Gu Xinyue blinked and said playfully, "Big sister, I always thought that someone who is proficient in embroidery must have a calm and peaceful mind, and would never easily become the kind of 'love-struck' person who loses their sense of self for love. Who knew you were one of them!"

"Love-obsessed?" Gu Xinyao repeated the term, paused for a moment, and then murmured to herself as if lost in memories, "You're right. The so-called love-obsessed person is probably someone like me who is single-mindedly devoted to a certain man, completely disregarding everyone else, and even willing to lose my true self. Sigh, thinking about it now, I was really too stupid back then."

Gu Xinyue nodded slightly in agreement.

Gu Xinyao took a deep breath and continued, "Actually, my grandfather was firmly opposed to this marriage at the beginning."

But at that time I was determined to marry him, and even threatened to starve myself to force him to agree to the marriage.

Looking back now, I really brought this on myself!

At this point, she couldn't help but feel saddened, and her voice became low. "What makes me feel even more guilty is that when I suffered all kinds of misfortunes, my grandfather not only did not blame me for my willful and reckless behavior, but also helped me step by step out of the abyss of pain and regain the freedom and peace of my soul."

After saying this, Gu Xinyao fell silent. He felt sorry for his grandfather and would listen to him in everything from now on.

Just then, a palace servant rushed over and invited Gu Xinyue and Gu Xinyao to the Imperial Study.

The two dared not delay and hurriedly followed the palace servants.

Upon entering the Imperial Study, one finds a somber atmosphere. Emperor Yongfeng sits upright at his desk, with Gu Yong and the ruler of Cangyun Kingdom standing beside him.

Gu Xinyue and Gu Xinyao quickly bowed and greeted them.

After the formalities were completed, Gu Xinyao inadvertently looked up and suddenly found a strange man staring straight at her.

She was startled, knowing full well that staring directly at someone was impolite, but for some reason, she didn't feel the slightest disgust in the face of this strange man's gaze.

Just as Gu Xinyao was pondering this, the stranger suddenly spoke up: "Miss Xinyao, may I take a look at the jade pendant you are wearing around your neck?"

Upon hearing this, Gu Xinyao couldn't help but feel uneasy, thinking that such a request was indeed inappropriate.

Strangely, her hands seemed to have a mind of their own, involuntarily taking off the jade pendant and handing it to the stranger in front of her.

Immediately afterwards, the King of Cangyun Kingdom also took out a jade pendant from his bosom that was extremely similar to the one worn by Gu Xinyao.

He carefully placed the two jade pendants together, and something amazing happened—the two jade pendants fit together perfectly without leaving a single gap!

Seeing this, the King of Cangyun Kingdom looked astonished and turned to Gu Xinyao, asking, "Miss Xinyao, who gave you this jade pendant?"

Gu Xinyao hesitated for a moment, then answered softly, "My lord, this jade pendant was a gift from my birth mother."

Upon hearing this, the King of Cangyun frowned and asked, "Then may I ask your mother's name?" Gu Xinyao took a deep breath and replied, "My birth mother's name is Zhu Wan."

No sooner had he finished speaking than the King of Cangyun Kingdom stood up abruptly, roaring in disbelief, "Impossible! This jade pendant was something I personally gave to Yunpei. If you are not Yunpei's daughter, how did this jade pendant end up in your hands?"

For a moment, the entire imperial study fell into a deathly silence, and everyone was stunned by this sudden change.

Gu Xinyao already understood that this jade pendant was actually an important token for that adult to find the child.

At that moment, she clearly realized that she was not the person the adults were desperately searching for.

Despite feeling sympathy for the man, she knew she should never rashly adopt such a significant child.

So she solemnly said, "My lord, although I do not know why my mother bestowed this jade pendant upon me, I am indeed the eldest daughter of the Marquis of Changning. The person standing here is my grandfather, and the Crown Princess is my third younger sister."

At this moment, the King of Cangyun Kingdom stared at Gu Xinyao in front of him, and memories of that woman from the depths of his mind surged like a tidal wave.

Although Gu Xinyao in front of me did not look exactly like Yun Pei in my memory, her eyes and nose were exactly the same.

Previously, he had already sent people to thoroughly investigate Gu Xinyao's background.

If the First Lady of the Marquis of Changning was able to pull off the "switching of the prince with a cat" scheme back then, then has her daughter been replaced in the same way now?

Could it be that this matter was handled solely by the former First Madam, while everyone else in the household was kept in the dark and knew nothing about it?

Thinking of this, the King of Cangyun turned to the old Marquis beside him with a solemn expression and said earnestly, "I hope that the old Marquis can enlighten me."

Emperor Yongfeng, having just learned the whole story, couldn't help but feel a great deal of emotion.

To treat someone not by blood as one's own and raise them with such care is truly admirable. It is precisely because of this that the Gu family has produced generations of outstanding individuals!

"Only three people in the entire Marquis's mansion know about this: myself and my two sons. As for the others, they know nothing about it, not even Xinyao!"

Gu Yong spoke slowly, as if gently pulling a long-buried past from the depths of his memory.

Rewind to twenty-three years ago, when Zhu Wan was just the first wife of the Marquis's household.

In order to win the Marquis's favor, she pretended to be pregnant and used this as an excuse to go to the temple to pray for blessings.

However, in this seemingly ordinary journey, the gears of fate began to turn quietly.

On the mountain behind the temple, Zhu Wan unexpectedly met Yun Pei.

It turned out that the two of them knew each other before, but they never expected to meet again here.

Through conversation, Zhu Wan learned about Yun Pei's many hardships over the years.

Yunpei lost her mother at a young age. After her father remarried, her stepmother made things difficult for her in every way.

When she reached marriageable age, her stepmother disregarded her wishes and insisted on marrying her off to someone else.

The stubborn Yunpei naturally refused to comply, and was thus imprisoned by her family.

But to her surprise, during her imprisonment, she unexpectedly discovered that she was pregnant.

Terrified, Yun Pei refused to submit to her fate and eventually escaped her cold and heartless home under the cover of night.