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Otherwise... why would she prefer to wander the Itinerant World with a slovenly Old Taoist Priest rather than return to her life as a noble lady!
Gu Yongping also mentioned his Second Aunt who entered the family later,
"She was quite pretty, also a lady of a good family. Initially, my uncle was very fond of her, but in recent years as she aged, my uncle took in four concubines..."
Gu Shi Yi snorted to show it was just as he expected, and Gu Yongping continued,
"However, none of the concubines bore him any children. Once, I overheard a servant from my uncle's courtyard saying..."
He lowered his voice and said,
"The Second Aunt had poisoned him, rendering him infertile. After my uncle found out, he beat her. Now, the couple is together in name only..."
He laughed heartily at this,
"I never thought that my uncle, who commands such respect outside and can lead our vast family, can't even control the women in his own backyard, and even got poisoned by one!"
Gu Shi Yi nodded repeatedly,
"Deserved it. The saying 'Lust can cut sharper than a knife' is simple wisdom he didn't heed. Seems like even the future head of the Gu Family isn't much of a figure!"
The means to poison the next head of the Gu Family mustn't be with something fierce that shows immediate result, perhaps that woman had her eyes set on it since she entered the door. What's the most covert way for a woman to poison a man?
Obviously in their daily lives, perhaps under the guise of a loving couple, coaxing Gu Huaimu to drink some tea, to have a few snacks, and just like that, silently doing the deed!
These kinds of things are common in aristocratic families, and the descendants of such families are educated from a young age to be wary of them. If Gu Huaimu fell victim, it only means he was blinded by beauty, completely unguarded!
Seeing her agreement, Gu Yongping felt he had found a kindred spirit and patted Gu Shi Yi on the shoulder, saying,
"Brother, you are absolutely right!"
Gu Yongping also felt that his uncle was truly useless, falling for a woman's trap not just once but several times!
Gu Shi Yi thought for a moment and asked,
"I heard that the missing young lady of the Gu Family has been found?"
Gu Yongping nodded, his face flushed from drinking, his thoughts a bit blurry and his reactions slow. After a long while, he said to Gu Shi Yi,
"But, I feel... I feel that she is not like our Lao Shi Yi..."
That was indeed what Gu Shi Yi wanted to ask,
"Since she was recognized by the family, there must have been elders who verified her identity. How come you think she isn't your sister? Could it be because she's been away for too long and you've grown unfamiliar with her?"
Gu Yongping shook his head,
"No, that's not it. Our Lao Shi Yi left home at five, and after all these years, although her appearance has changed, you can still vaguely see the resemblance..."
He thought for a moment and added,
"But I just feel that she's not Lao Shi Yi. Lao Shi Yi's temperament..."
When they were young, he used to bully Lao Shi Yi the most, pushing her into the bushes by the road out of the blue, or kicking her under the table during meals, causing her to jump up in pain and get punished by standing, or pulling her hair ribbon, leading to a scolding for looking disheveled. Such were the antics a child of five or six could come up with, quite mean indeed.
"Lao Shi Yi was stubborn, never crying when I pushed her over, clenching her teeth when unjustly accused by our grandfather, fists clenched, staring me down... Her nature was like that of a Copper Peas, impervious to reason. She could easily have softened the adults' hearts by crying, but she never would. But this current Shi Yi, she tears up at the drop of a hat, they say her husband is very susceptible to her act!"
Gu Yongping spoke with conviction, unaware that Gu Shi Yi's fists were clenched under the table beside him. But as soon as he turned and saw Gu Shi Yi's expression, he pointed and exclaimed,
"Hey hey... that's the look, our Xiao Shi Yi had that exact look. If it weren't for the adults holding her back, she would definitely have jumped up and punched me, or even bitten me!"
He himself had been bitten by Gu Shi Yi before, she was like a little dog!
Gu Shi Yi suppressed the urge to punch him on the nose, chuckled, and poured him another drink,
"You're talking about when we were kids. Now that we've grown up, it's natural for one's temperament to change!"
Gu Yongping took a swig, smacking his lips and shaking his head,
"That's not it. Although I was young back then, I always felt that with Gu Shi Yi's stubborn nature, something seen from childhood to old age, it's likely unchangeable!"
Gu Shi Yi just smiled, picked up a piece of soy sauce duck and bit into it crisply, as if he were chomping on Gu Lao Shi's flesh, and then pondered before asking,
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