Chapter 379 - 215: Meeting an Old Friend

Chapter 379: Chapter 215: Meeting an Old Friend

There were many items to buy this time, and quite a few people, so Gu Chengyu arranged for Ming Mo and the others to drive a separate carriage.

"Mother! Since we’re all going to the Capital to study, there’s no need to buy too many things for the new house in the village. Once we reach the Capital, we can let Second Sister and the others handle it. I’ve already arranged for good furniture in the Capital."

Gu Chengyu and Mrs. Lv shared a carriage and began discussing the items they needed to purchase soon.

"Xiao Bao! Can Xian’s mother agree to let Wan’er go to the Capital with us?" Mrs. Lv was somewhat worried about this; after all, she herself was used to living in Shangling Village and wasn’t keen on moving elsewhere.

"Mother! She will agree."

The carriage traveled quickly yet smoothly. Before long, Gu Chengyu and the others arrived in the county. Gu Chengyu hurriedly delivered a note to Manager Liu at Huichun Hall, and then they set off again.

Mrs. Lv watched the increasingly close city walls, her heart involuntarily growing uneasy. It had been over twenty years since she had last returned to this place.

As the carriage entered the city gates, Mrs. Lv lowered the curtain, having long passed the age of being curious about new things.

"Mother! Didn’t you say you’re still missing a few festive quilt covers? This is the largest fabric store in the Prefecture, and I’ve asked Ming Yan to accompany you. I need to visit my teacher."

He didn’t mention Prefect Jiang, not wanting to worry Mrs. Lv. At the end of this year, Prefect Jiang’s performance evaluation was sure to be excellent, and by then, he would leave Jingyuan Prefecture to return to the Capital to report for duty. Next year, he might even be promoted, meaning he wouldn’t stay in Jingyuan any longer.

"Then go ahead! Isn’t there still the eldest brother and sister-in-law?"

Gu Chengyu helped Mrs. Lv down from the carriage in front of a fabric store and instructed Ming Yan to stay and assist with errands.

Prefect Jiang sat in the sedan, preparing to return to the government office. He had just bought some pastries from First-class House, which his mother liked. He was in a good mood today because his connections in the Capital informed him that he might be promoted to a position there next year.

"Master! Look, isn’t that Young Master Gu?" The steward recognized Gu Chengyu, as Gu Chengyu had frequently visited them for matters related to experimental fields in recent years.

"Oh?" Jiang Mingyuan lifted the curtain to take a look.

He calculated that Gu Chengyu should arrive these days and would surely visit his residence. He had specifically instructed the gatekeeper to report any arrival immediately.

He could only see a back view from here, so it wasn’t clear. However, Jiang Mingyuan saw Ming Mo, so it must be Gu Chengyu. Since they would come to the mansion later, he decided not to greet them.

Unexpectedly, Gu Chengyu helped a woman out of the carriage. As the sedan drew closer, Jiang Mingyuan saw the woman’s face and was suddenly stunned, as if struck by lightning.

The maiden smiling at him in the peach blossom forest overlapped with the lady’s face before him.

After more than twenty years, he thought he had blurred that face in his mind. But now, it seemed so clear.

"Mother should dress like this more often; it makes her look much more spirited." Gu Chengyu sincerely praised Mrs. Lv, who was rarely dressed elegantly.

Today, Mrs. Lv wore a grape-purple narrow-sleeved jacket paired with a fragrant concubine-colored pleated skirt. Her hair was styled in a round bun adorned with a hairpin Gu Chengyu had gifted her, and she had a bracelet of excellent quality on her wrist. This ensemble was something she never wore at home.

"How could I dress like this at home? It’s too much trouble," Mrs. Lv said with a smile.

Jiang Mingyuan gazed steadily at Mrs. Lv, and even after so many years apart, her face showed few signs of aging. She simply had a touch of maturity that came with time.

Until the sedan grew further from Gu Chengyu and the others, turning a corner, Jiang Mingyuan lowered the curtain. It seemed Mu Jin had been living well these years, which reassured him. Some people, once missed, are missed forever.

His thoughts flew back to more than twenty years ago when she was still a youthful maiden. When his mother spoke of betrothing Mu Jin to him, he was delighted. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have brought it up again after the Yu Family strongly opposed it.

Who would have thought that fate would play such tricks, and in the end, the two of them were meant to be, yet not meant to be together? His heart remained unchanged, but she had already become someone else’s wife.

"Oh my! Is it really Mu Jin?"

Gu Chengyu was helping Mrs. Lv, ready to enter the shop, when a woman’s excited voice came from the side. Gu Chengyu was about to turn and look when Mrs. Lv grabbed his hand and quickly headed into the shop.

"Mu Jin!"

The woman, seeing that Mrs. Lv was not responding, hurriedly ran up to the two of them.

Gu Chengyu knew, of course, that she was calling his mother. His mother used to be called Mu Jin when she was a maid in the mansion.

"It’s really you!"

A woman in a ginger-yellow satin jacket looked at Mrs. Lv with heartfelt eyes.

Gu Chengyu glanced over; the material was considered below average in satin, and the woman wore only a silver hairpin and carried a basket. Her attire suggested she was a favored servant in a prominent household.

Mrs. Lv forced a smile as she looked at the woman before her, "It’s Cui Ming!"

"It’s me! It’s been over twenty years since we last met, and I almost didn’t recognize you earlier. You still look so good, but I’ve aged."

Back in the day, her relationship with Mu Jin in the mansion was quite cordial. Both were favored maids of the old madam, but Mu Jin’s favor was different from theirs! She had long known that the old lady wanted Mu Jin to be the concubine because Mu Jin was beautiful.

"We’re the same age; how could I not age?" Having run into each other, there was no avoiding it, so Mrs. Lv replied openly.

In fact, Cui Ming was puzzled. Back then, it was said that Mu Jin was betrothed to a farmer’s widower. However, now it seemed like her life was quite good? Her skin was well-maintained, unlike someone who toiled in the fields, and her attire was expensive.

Actually, because Gu Chengyu often added Spiritual Spring water to the tea, Mrs. Lv aged slower than most. A few years ago, Mrs. Lv would not have looked like this.

"Look at me! I haven’t introduced you. This is my youngest son. Xiao Bao, call her Aunt Cui." For the schemes Cui Ming attempted against her back then, Mrs. Lv no longer cared. It was nothing more than the Yu Family using Cui Ming’s parents to threaten her into those schemes.

What happened years ago had passed, and her life was going well now, so there was nothing to regret.

Cui Ming, who was previously focused on talking with Mrs. Lv, didn’t notice Gu Chengyu standing beside her. Hearing the reminder, she turned to look, "Young Master Gu?"

Cui Ming was greatly surprised, not expecting that the Young Master Gu, who frequented the Jiang Mansion, was actually Mu Jin’s son.

"Aunt Cui!" listening to his mother, Gu Chengyu greeted her with a nod, confirming that this woman was indeed a servant at the Jiang Mansion. It would be inappropriate to bow with his scholar’s status.

"Oh no, no, no! Young Master Gu is a distinguished guest of the master; how can you call me Aunt Cui?"

Cui Ming waved her hands repeatedly, having seen Gu Chengyu in the mansion a couple of times. However, those were from a distance due to passing messages, but her impression of him was quite strong.