FBC – Chapter 46 Repaying Kindness

When Gu Hua returned to the Duke’s residence and had just finished lunch, Zhou Zhilian came running over.

“Are you alright?” Zhou Zhilian looked anxious.

Gu Hua smiled and shook her head. “I’m fine.”

“I sent the carriage to pick you up, but Xuanhua Tower said you’d already left. When I couldn’t find you, I was worried sick!”

Seeing her so genuinely concerned, Gu Hua felt touched.

“I went out to buy two writing brushes,” Gu Hua said, showing the brushes to Zhou Zhilian.

“For something like this, you just need to say the word. The residence would naturally provide them for you—why go yourself?”

“I need brushes that feel right in my hand. Only then can I write well. Is the lord in the residence? I’d like to start transcribing Madam’s manuscripts.”

She was thinking of the book list the bookstore manager had given her and was eager to see if any of them were in the collection.

After all, if Mu Junyan really brought home a new wife in this lifetime, she’d be out of luck again.

“You just can’t sit still, can you? The lord isn’t back yet. I’ll take you to the study to get Madam’s manuscripts.”

“Thank you, dear sister.”

The two of them walked affectionately together to Guanshan Pavilion.

Zhou Zhilian pulled out a rattan basket from the bottom of a bookshelf and patted off the dust. “This is all of it. But which ones the lord wants transcribed, you’ll have to ask him.”

So Mu Junyan had hidden his late wife’s manuscripts in a study where few people were allowed?

Who said there was no true affection between them?

“Alright, I’ll have a look first.”

Gu Hua and Zhou Zhilian carried the rattan basket to the writing desk and began flipping through the poetry collections one by one. There were over fifty books, some with reflections on reading.

The poetry was proper and well-written but not as stunning as she had expected. The calligraphy wasn’t as good as hers either.

Gu Hua chuckled self-deprecatingly. Was she being competitive?

After all, the lady was a noble-born daughter of royalty.

Thinking this, Gu Hua quickly adjusted her mindset and seriously selected a well-written poetry collection to start with.

There was a stack of pale yellow xuan paper on the desk—Mu Junyan probably liked this kind—so she decided to use it for transcription.

“You know, last night there was another ruckus at Jinxiu Pavilion,” Zhou Zhilian whispered, leaning in.

Gu Hua perked up. “What happened?”

She was eager to know about Gu Wanru’s situation.

“For some reason, the young master was kneeling in the ancestral hall all day. Then he went and quarreled with the young madam, saying she lied to him about something and didn’t make him happy. He also accused her of deliberately letting Father find out and getting him punished. In the end, the young madam got so angry her pregnancy was affected again. The Sun family’s physician even brought Shen Li over—it was chaos all night.”

Gu Hua suddenly understood.

Gu Wanru and Concubine Pei had worked hard to get her out of the residence, trying to control her. Could it be they planned for Mu An to defile her outside?

A chill ran through her. She curled her fingers, nails digging into her palms, yet she didn’t even feel the pain.

Too vicious!

So after she ruined their plot, Concubine Pei sent that sixth young master to humiliate her, hoping to destroy her innocence and force her to leave the Duke’s residence?

“Is Eldest Sister still grounded?” Gu Hua asked, pretending to be calm.

“Yes. The lord ordered that she and Yinzhi and Jinkui are not to leave their courtyard.”

Zhou Zhilian glanced at her and added, “The lord doesn’t want them going out and spreading gossip.”

Gu Hua’s thoughts were complicated. “I need to transcribe as many of the manuscripts as I can before the lord heads to battle.”

She was the type to repay kindness.

“Alright, I’ll get back to work then.”

Once Zhou Zhilian left, Gu Hua quickly took advantage of the empty study to search the shelves for rare books and ancient texts.

To her surprise, she actually found a rare book listed by the bookstore—and it was a unique copy.

Overjoyed, she placed it on the writing desk and covered it with the poetry collection from Madam, planning to copy it later that evening.

She had to keep up appearances, after all.

Gu Hua pulled over a chair and sat at the writing desk. She ground ink, laid out the paper, and began copying Jiang Shi’s poetry.

Unknowingly, the sun began to set.

Dong Hua came to call her for dinner.

Still preoccupied with the rare book, Gu Hua bathed and changed after the meal. By the time she was done, it was dark outside.

Feeling energetic and with nothing else to do, she told Dong Hua and Dongqing she was heading out, then took an empty notebook and returned alone to Guanshan Pavilion.

She lit a pair of cloud-crane lamps on the desk. The bright candlelight suddenly illuminated the dark room.

Gu Hua opened the rare book and began to transcribe.

The scab on her palm had almost fallen off, and the new skin itched slightly. She scratched it absently while she wrote.

For some reason, she kept feeling like the study was filled with Mu Junyan’s scent, which made her uneasy.

Especially when she sat at this large desk—where they had once been deeply entangled…

Deep down, Gu Hua despised herself for using her body to seduce a man.

She felt shame and disdain, yet had no choice. These past few days, she’d been caught in emotional turmoil.

She kept falling into memories, unable to sleep.

Now, the matter of her slave status was resolved.

But as an illegitimate daughter, she couldn’t have her name recorded in the family genealogy. And it would be nearly impossible to establish her own household in the future.

She wanted to leave this mess behind, reunite with her mother, reclaim her status as the legitimate daughter of the marquis’s household, and help her mother restore justice and destroy the Pei family completely.

Too many desires…

There were too many obstacles ahead. She couldn’t afford to think too far ahead. All she could do was stay alive and make money as quickly as possible.

She didn’t have the luxury of wallowing in sorrow. She quietly urged herself to accept her temporary shame.

Gu Hua took a deep breath, focused, and resumed writing.

Time passed unknowingly, and the room grew silent.

Gu Hua set down her brush and curled her fingers to ease the pain from the still-healing wound in her palm.

The early autumn night wind blew in through the window, bringing a chilly draft.

She shivered slightly, stretched, then walked to the tea table and poured herself a cup of water.

The water was cold. She held the cup but didn’t drink, gazing into it.

Suddenly, a strange sensation struck her—a pressure that refused to dissipate.

She’d felt it earlier while writing. She had thought it was just lingering tension from seducing Pei Yi today, mixed with guilt over deceiving Mu Junyan…

But…

Gu Hua slowly, instinctively turned her head toward the center of the study, toward the soft couch half-hidden behind a screen.

Moonlight fell in silver slivers, revealing a tall figure.

Mu Junyan!

He was sitting properly at the edge of the couch, his dark eyes fixed on her.

Gu Hua froze completely.

What was he doing in the study?

Her heart started to race. Had he been there since before she entered?

But it had been pitch dark—why hadn’t he lit any candles?

Gu Hua had no idea how long she had been writing, or how long Mu Junyan had been watching her from behind the screen.

The candlelight on the writing desk had cast her slender, upright silhouette onto the screen—proud and poised, completely unlike someone who would climb into a man’s bed to curry favor.

Staring at the shadowy figure of Mu Junyan, Gu Hua’s legs trembled.

Should she go in and greet him, or quietly leave?

Their eyes met in the dim candlelight. The awkward atmosphere was unbearable.

“L-Lord… you… how, how come…”

Her hoarse voice cracked awkwardly.

Right—he had said he wanted to ask her something after she returned to the residence.

So… he had been watching her in secret, waiting?

The shadow rose, turning into a tall figure that stepped closer and closer toward her.