106 Thought Through (One Update)

Thinking of past events, Lady Tai's expression became somewhat absent-minded, as if a thin veil had covered her sight, and her thoughts drifted to a distant place.
The shadows of trees swayed again, and a few dried leaves fell, carrying with them some remnants of snow from the branches.
Lady Gu felt a cold sensation on her forehead and raised her hand to wipe away the snowflakes. She said in a deep voice, "Since he wants it, just give him the bow."
The snowflake quickly melted into a drop of clear and translucent water on her finger.
Madam Gu casually flicked away the water droplets from her fingertips, her gaze icy.
However, a bow can yield, but not a title.
"Have someone go and inform the Marquis," Madame Gu ordered, intending to have Gu Jian come over and entertain the guests.
And so, after a pot of tea, Marquis Dingyuan Gu Jian appeared with a broken right arm, "late as expected."
He apologized to the guests with his son, saying that he was ill and therefore arrived late. Whenever the other party asked why Gu Yuan was delayed, he could only smile helplessly.
"Excuse me, Yuange'er is always restless. He just said he was going to practice martial arts."
"He is a young person with a child's temperament. It's normal for him not to talk to us."
"Please bear with us."
"Gu Jian's statement was not very well-put, both explicitly and implicitly criticizing Gu Yuan's impetuousness and eccentric personality, as well as not fitting in with the group."
"These privileged people present here have immersed themselves in the court for several decades, and each one of them is experienced and can easily tell that there is a conflict between the main branch and the second branch of the Gu family."
How did the second branch of the Gu family get their titles? Even if it's not stated openly, everyone knows it very well.
At this moment, everyone couldn't help but recall those old stories, exchanging meaningful glances in pairs.
Eight years ago, after Marquis Xian Dingyuan Gu Ce "had an incident", Lady Gu immediately personally abandoned the eldest son to the former emperor. Some people praised Lady Gu for being decisive, some felt that Lady Gu was cutting off the tail to survive, but more people felt a little cold-hearted.
After becoming the second wife's nobleman, from the outside, the Gu family has also taken care of the eldest son's two children over the past eight years.
However, Gu Yuan, as Gu Ce's legitimate eldest son, was originally entitled to enjoy the privilege of being an official in the Marquis's mansion and could directly serve as a fifth-grade military officer. However, Gu Yuan had to start from a small soldier step by step... After years of tempering in the military, he has also achieved many military accomplishments, which is why he is where he is today.
Gu Yuan clearly has the demeanor of his father and is a natural talent. At such a young age, he has obtained the position of the Commander of the Imperial Guards and received the favor of the emperor and Duke Wei. Clearly, he is about to make a name for himself.
As for Gu Jian...
Gu Jian is an ordinary and unremarkable person, far inferior to his brother. He hasn't achieved much in all these years since inheriting the title. It's just a title that can deceive people. In the next generation, the title should be demoted from "marquis" to "count".
Who to get along with is clear to everyone present.
The Marquis of Yan'an, the eldest son, stood up first and bowed to Gu Jian with his hands folded: "Uncle, I still have some business to attend to today, so I will take my leave."
The Marquis of Pingjin quickly followed and said, "Brother, you are injured and need to take good care of yourself. I won't bother you today."
Gu Jian hurriedly stopped and said, "It's not a big deal, brother. You've come all this way, let's have a few drinks before you leave."
His right arm was still in a cast and wrapped in bandages, which actually didn’t have much convincing power. The other person laughed and said, "We'll have another drink another day," and then left.
Not only the two gentlemen from Pingjin Marquis, but also several other guests made excuses to leave perfunctorily, giving no face to Gu Jian. In less than half an incense stick's worth of time, the hall was empty.
Gu Jian's face turned green, white, and red from time to time, awkwardly looking at Mrs. Gu Tai for a long time without saying a word.
Originally, Mrs. Gu Tai thought that Gu Jian would treat guests the same way.
However...
As she watched the departing guests ahead, Lady Gu's heart sank, feeling as if something was missing.
Since yesterday, when Gu Yuan received the transfer order to the Divine Machine Army, something seemed to have changed. And today, they had completely lost control.
Gu Xiaonianshao yiqi de mianpang xiangshi ranle mozhi shi de, hard bang bang de ye gao tui le.
Gu Jianben jiu shi hard chengzhuo daike, zaijia shang xinkou menzhe yi gushi huo, zhengge ren hunbusuhuo de, likai dahuting shi, ta jiaoxia yi ge buliuxian, you jiao bangdao le mendie, shuai le yi da xia.
With this fall, the injury was aggravated as the right arm hit the ground, and screams echoed through the Marquis's residence.
On that day, prominent doctors from the capital were invited to the main courtyard for treatment. One doctor after another was summoned, causing a commotion that lasted until the middle of the night, making the entire Marquis's residence uneasy.

"Young Master, it is said that Lady Ben originally wanted to invite Doctor Li, but Doctor Li was offended and refused to come, so she had to settle for inviting other doctors in the capital renowned for treating external injuries."

"All those doctors said that Houye's old injury has not healed and has added a new injury. If this continues, he may not be able to hold a pen anymore."
"Gu Yuan had a good night's sleep and slept soundly until dawn. When he heard this news from the servant Wutong the next morning."
At the end, Wutong hesitated and asked, "Young Master, Lady Tai asked you to go and see Marquis Hou..."
"No need."
Gu Yuan left these two words and went out.
Today is his first official day as the commanding officer of the Luan Yi Guard. The first task he needed to do was to accompany the Crown Prince Chu Yi out of the capital.
This is the first time in eight years that the Kingdom of Yue has sent an envoy to visit Da Jing.
The envoy is the third prince of the Kingdom of Yue, born to a noble concubine. His elder brother, the crown prince of the Kingdom of Yue, was just proclaimed the crown prince this year.
On this occasion, Prince San of the Yue Kingdom came to visit. Naturally, the selection of the envoy to welcome him cannot be too casual on the side of the Da Jing Kingdom, in order to avoid offending the Yue Kingdom.
Therefore, in the court, it was decided a half month ago that Prince Kang, Chu You, will be sent to welcome the envoy and the others from the Yue Kingdom.
However, because King Kang recently inexplicably stabbed the British Prince Fang Mingfeng, this act has aroused the anger of the noble officials. Duke Wei and Duke Ying strongly oppose it.
The emperor immediately issued an edict, appointing the Crown Prince Chu Yi to be fully responsible for this matter.
The Kangwang faction has just suffered a major setback, but with the support of the Duke of Weiguo and others, this matter has been surprisingly smooth.
This is also the first task of the Crown Prince after returning home.
In the capital, with so many pairs of eyes watching, Gu Yuan was also very serious. Since then, he has not returned to the Marquis Hou's residence. He only had someone come back to tell Gu Yanfei that he was accompanying the Crown Prince to stay temporarily at the Ministry of War.
Anyway, Gu Yuan has always been away from home, and Gu Yanfei has long been used to it.
In the following days, she almost never left the house, putting all her energy into the flintlock gun left by Gu Yuan with her.
Gu Yanfei plans to draw a formation on this flintlock gun.
Last time, the one she casually drew in the garden was a disposable temporary formation, which could double the power of the flintlock gun.
At that time, even Gu Yuan was stunned, taking the flintlock pistol and examining it over and over again, which attracted the attention of half of the Marquis's Mansion. Gu Yanfei tested these two pistols and roughly determined their power, and then did not continue.
Drawing a formation is not difficult, but what's difficult is that there is no spiritual energy to borrow in this little world.
The spiritual energy in the phoenix pattern jade pendant is ultimately too little, not even enough for her to cultivate her qi. After depleting the spiritual energy in her body, it takes a long time to "recover".
An everlasting "Fengmang Formation", even the lowest level requires her to spend a lot of time. After drawing a section, she needs to wait for her spiritual power to recover before continuing to draw...
Fortunately, with the plum jade hairpin that Chu Yi gave, I can continuously nourish my sea of knowledge and accelerate the recovery of spiritual power.
Gu Yanfei, who never goes out, stays in the study every day, meditating, drawing formations, meditating again, and then drawing formations again.
It's been a monotonous repetition of days, and in the blink of an eye, seven days have passed, and it's already the 23rd of the twelfth month.
After putting in so much effort, the result is not satisfying.
Looking at the formation painted crookedly and intermittently on the flintlock pistol, Gu Yanfei sighed deeply.
She is so ugly that she can't bear to look at herself.
If she is seen by her teacher, she will not only be laughed at, but also be punished to draw three hundred of the same formations again.
Thinking of the days when she just followed her teacher to learn formations, Gu Yanfei smiled.
The milk cat was rolling carefree on the side, sometimes rubbing its back against the ground and sometimes gnawing on a plum blossom branch with its teeth.
Suddenly, Gu Yanfei reached out and grabbed the milk cat, pressing one of its front paws onto a vermillion stamp, leaving a vivid "plum blossom mark" on the gun.
Well, it looks much better now!
Gu Yanfei thought complacently.
"Miss, the young master is here," Ju Bi happily walked in, her hair tied up with a scarf, and she was holding a feather duster in her hand.
The Hou Mansion has started preparing for the New Year. On Little New Year's Day, we need to worship the Kitchen God and sweep away the dust and dirt. The maids and servants in the courtyard are all holding brooms, feather dusters, and other cleaning tools, sweeping away the dirt, clearing the gutters... Each one of them is happily engaged in cleaning.
It's already the end of the year. Gu Yanfei suddenly realized the passing of time.
She smiled and casually threw the flintlock gun aside, then picked up the rhino horn bow on the desk.
Out with the old and in with the new, a good omen.
Gu Yanfei, carrying her newly renovated rhino horn bow, left the study happily.
She wasn't afraid of the cold, so there was no charcoal brazier in the room. The afternoon sun poured into the second room through the open window, making it bright and transparent.
Gu Yuan has already sat on the Luohan bed and is drinking tea.
He is wearing a dark green lotus-colored robe with subtle patterns, tied around his waist with a silver silk belt, and a treasure sword on his side.
His posture is upright and straight, like bamboo or pine, exuding the unique charm of a soldier, with a hint of youthful pride in his expression.
"Sister!"
Gu Yuan heard the noise, put down the teacup and looked up at Gu Yanfei, his eyes shining brightly like stars.
Gu Yanfei also smiled.
It has only been a few days since they last met, but Gu Yuan has changed a lot. He has gained a bit more vitality compared to before. Even if he doesn't smile, he still appears confident and radiant.
It seems that he is doing well in the Luan Yi Guard.
"Big brother," Gu Yanfei sat down next to Gu Yuan and threw an orange from the fruit bowl to him, "Try this orange. It was sent by Zhuangzi and it's very sweet."
He caught the orange handed to him by his sister and smiled contentedly.
Then, he restrained his smile and said, "Mourong Yong was just transferred to a new position yesterday and is now appointed as the captain of the Divine Machine Corps."
That is, it replaced his previous transfer order.