ch 36 – The Duchess (2)

　　There were not houses within dozens of miles around here and there were beasts inside the mountain. It would certainly be dangerous to camp out in the wild. This courtyard provided a relatively safe place for travelers to rest.

　　It was beginning to get dark and they were still about several miles from the courtyard. Looking at Gu Ye, she must have blisters by now; every steps she took felt like she was dancing on a knife and the pain was excruciating. Limping like she was, she fell more and more behind from Mrs. Gu and the rest of them.

　　A distinct howl from a wolf came from the dark forest and Mrs. Gu shuddered. Gu Qiao turned around and frowned. He suppressed his anger and said impatiently, “Why are you so slow? If the wolves come, we will all be dead!”

　　“Dad, why don’t you just go and leave me behind!” Gu Ye’s feet felt like they were on fire, naturally she wasn’t any less angry than he was and her tone wasn’t much better than his.

　　Gu Qiao snorted inwardly and thought to himself: If it wasn’t for the money that I’d get for you, I would have! But, he put aside his anger and begrudgingly said, “Come over, dad will carry you!”

　　That was too good to be true! Gu Ye pursed her lips and climbed onto his back without hesitation. From the original owner’s memory, this father had never even hugged her. He had always been distance and cold to her. She never thought there would be a day that he’d be carrying her. If this was the original owner, she must be crying from happiness. Gu Ye, on the other hand, acted as thought it was the most rightful thing in the world – if she could conserve some energy, why not?

　　The hidden guard that were following behind them noticed how happy the little girl looked and he sighed to himself: You are about to be sold by our parents, and you are still so happy right now! You won’t be smiling once you’ve reached the town!

　　That being said, he had a dilemma – should he tell that to the little girl? But, when his master took off, he made it very clear that he should not expose himself to her unless it was a matter of life and death… perhaps he should wait a bit longer!

　　Spending the night in the courtyard, Gu Ye secretly applied some medicine on her feet, took some recovery potion and had a good night sleep. She felt energized all over again the next morning. Gu Qiao and Mrs. Gu, on the other hand, walked for a whole day and didn’t get a good night rest, looked very exhausted.

　　The four family members continued on the mountain path to the town with no name.

　　Far away in the capital city of Dongling and inside the house of the Duke was a beautiful middle-aged woman around 40 or so years old. Inside her hand she was toying with a piece of white jade, tears slowly started to form and pool around her eyes.

　　Picture: White Jade (“sheep fat jade”)

　　Source: jade999.com

　　The door was pushed open and in came a handsome and majestic looking middle-aged man. He was the rightful owner of this property, the Duke Chu Bufan. Seeing that his wife was crying while rubbing the half piece of white jade necklace, he sighed helplessly. He walked over to her quickly and held her soft, white hand in his calloused one and said to her tenderly, “Are you thinking about Bo-er again?”

　　“Husband, Bo-er has been weak since the day she was born. She wasn’t even a month old when she left me. It has been over ten years, and I worried that….” She could no longer see straight through her tears. She looked up at the Duke pitifully, her face pale from worries.

　　“Don’t worry. I am sure that Bo-er is safe. Liao Er (second) and Liao Wu (fifth) are already on their way to Yan, I trust they will be updating us soon. Your body is weak too, don’t think too much. If you get sick too, who will be taking care of our daughter when we find her and brings her back?” Naturally the Duke had his own doubts in his mind, but he wasn’t going to let that show in front of his wife.