Chapter 139.1
Gu Jiao was a very straightforward person. She would, at all times, totally make clear of the things she accepted and the things she did not.
She was incapable of untying the childhood knot in her heart, the very reason why she couldn’t live together with Yao shi comfortably. However, that didn’t mean she would not care about Yao shi.
She still got along well with Yao shi as a physician, and this time could be regarded as a house visit to treat Yao shi. Everyone else had nothing to do with her. She didn’t need to see them nor wanted to see them.
Grannie Fang already understood the temper of her eldest young miss and knew that she wouldn’t pay her respects to Old Madame Gu or any other people in the family. Thus, Grannie Fang simply didn't say anything about the eldest young miss’s coming to the estate in order to avoid having a bad image in the family.
The gatekeeper only thought that Grannie Fang went out to invite a physician at home.
Gu Jiao sat in the carriage and rode all the way into the inner residence of the Marquis Estate.
The first courtyard she saw was called Moon Tea Courtyard. Grannie Fang said that it was the courtyard of the first Madame. Although it remained empty even many years after her death, occasionally, the shizi would sit in there and reminisce about the memories of the first Madame.
"Madame's courtyard is over there." Grannie Fang said, pointing to the end of the path.
"Such partiality?" Gu Jiao uttered.
Grannie Fang merely sighed.
Right. Wasn't this too unfair?
The Madame had an awkward position in the family. How could Old Madame Gu let her live in a courtyard with a good location?
The nearest courtyard actually belonged to Concubine Ling; it was the closest to Marquis Gu's courtyard.
So much so that whenever Marquis Gu went to see Yao shi, he would have to pass by Concubine Ling's courtyard every time.
In order to make Concubine Ling gain Marquis Gu’s favor, Old Madame Gu had also done some calculations.
Unfortunately, no matter how many times Marquis Gu passed Concubine Ling's door, he never went inside her courtyard.
"That's Concubine Ling's courtyard." Grannie Fang pointed to a courtyard and introduced.
Gu Jiao cast a brief glance through the carriage window. Pavilions, terraces and an open hall; flowers that stretch as far as the eye could see, it was a fresh and elegant sight.
Gu Jiao didn't pay it much attention though.
Just a concubine.
Not worthwhile.
The carriage pulled to a stop in front of Yao shi's courtyard. Grannie Fang was going to get a stool for Gu Jiao to climb down with, but Gu Jiao already jumped down with ease.
Grannie Fang was startled. Which precious daughter was like a tiger ah?
"Madame is inside?" Gu Jiao asked.
"Ah, yes." Grannie Fang collected her thoughts and said, "She should be in the heating room at the moment. Back in the countryside villa, the winter isn’t so cold. The Madame is not used to the cold here so she stays in the heating room all day."
Gu Jiao then went to the heating room with Grannie Fang.
The heating room was indeed warmer than outside, but it was also a bit stuffy.
Yao Shi lay on the rattan chair in the room with her eyes closed. When she heard the opening of the door, she waved her hands feebly and said in a weak voice, “I told you I won't eat, you all can withdraw.”
After she spoke, she didn’t receive a response for a long time.
Realizing that something was amiss, she turned her head and looked towards the door. After seeing the familiar figure clearly, her dim eyes instantly brightened up, "JiaoJiao?"
She hurriedly sat up from the rattan chair. Nervous and at a loss, she fixed up her hair and adjusted her clothes, not wanting to lose her image in front of her daughter.
Gu Jiao didn't care about this. She went over and came in front of Yao shi, asking, "Is Madame feeling alright?"
Yao shi glanced at Grannie Fang who pretended to be deaf and quickly retreated. Yao shi sighed helplessly and said, "I'm fine. Grannie Fang is just making a mountain out of a molehill, even calling you to the estate..."
The Marquis Estate was not a good place. It was fine for her to be looked down upon by others, but she didn’t want her daughter to be wronged along with her.
"Take a seat." Yao shi took her daughter's hand and had her sit down on a chair.
Gu Jiao took off her back basket and put it on the small round table in front of her. Then she held out her hand to Yao shi, saying, "Let me take a look."
Yao shi handed her wrist to Gu Jiao. Gu Jiao checked her pulse carefully and then said, looking slightly dignified, "Have you not taken your medicine these days?"
Yao shi answered awkwardly, "Once or twice... I forgot to take it."
"Is it once or twice?" Gu Jiao asked.
Gu Jiao was very strict and thorough when it came to her medical treatment.
Yao shi thought about it carefully and replied, "Twice."
"Are you sure there aren’t more times?" Gu Jiao looked straight into her eyes.
"En, I'm sure." Yao shi nodded her head. Once was when she came back from Bishui Alley and learned that Gu Yan was bullied by Gu Chenglin. She rushed to Gu Chenglin's courtyard that time and made a scene. Maybe she felt so tired afterwards that she fell asleep upon returning to her own room.
She didn't take her medicine that night.
The next morning, she overslept and forgot to take her medicine again.
There were only these two times and no more.
"Is something the matter?" Yao shi asked.
Gu Jiao said truthfully, "Your pulse rate isn’t very good. If you forget to take medicine only twice, then the problem is not the medicine. It should be too much stimulation."
Yao shi, too, actually felt that she was already getting better. However, that day… She failed to control her emotions and almost took her life along with Gu Chenglin’s.
If Gu Changqing hadn't taken the dagger she was hiding, she would have killed Gu Chenglin and then hanged herself.
Speaking of which, the dagger was still in Gu Changqing's hand. He knew what she was going to do at the time, so she wondered why he had yet to come at her...
Yao shi thought a lot of things at once.
Gu Jiao could tell that she had a lot more in her mind compared to before, and told her, "Maybe you’ve developed immunity against the medicine. Let me change it to another two kinds of medicine for you."
Yao shi responded, "Okay."
Gu Jiao hadn't opened her small medicine chest for a long time. The last time she opened it was when she restitched up the injury of that young man, and that time was before her birthday.
However, she vaguely remembered from that day that the medicine chest was filled with new antidepressants.
Gu Jiao no longer deliberately hid her medicine chest in front of Yao Shi. Yao shi would occasionally see what was inside and feel strange, but she only attributed it to her little medical knowledge and never doubted anything.
Gu Jiao quickly found the antidepressant and told Yao shi how to take it, "Don't forget to take it in the future."
Yao shi nodded her head, saying, "I won't."
At that time, she was consumed by anger and lost her mind for a bit, but when she woke up the next morning, she felt a little scared. If she really killed Gu Chenglin and took her life afterwards, she would never see her children again.
JiaoJiao and Yan'er would become motherless children just like their three older brothers.
How could she do that to the pair of brother and sister?
Gu Jiao talked with Yao shi for a while, and then watched Yao shi take her medicine with her own eyes. One of the medicines had a nerve-calming effect, and Yao shi soon fell asleep on the rattan chair.
Gu Jiao took a blanket and covered her with it.
When Grannie Fang heard no movement inside, she gently opened the door, looked at the sleeping Yao shi and asked Gu Jiao in a low voice, "Is the Madame asleep?"
Gu Jiao nodded, got up and left the room.