This question stunned everyone, including Chen Jiu’er. She looked at Gu Chusheng carefully for a moment, still unsure of what connection this man had with her family. Gu Chusheng noticed her confusion and explained, “I met your father-in-law’s father before. He asked me to find you all and inquire about your well-being. Now only you, a lone woman, have come to see me…”
Gu Chusheng pressed his lips together. Chen Jiu’er, however, understood. Her eyes reddened, and she lowered her head, saying, “At home… there is no one else left.”
Gu Chusheng didn’t speak. After a moment, he sighed and said, “I understand. You can go rest now. I’ll have someone make arrangements for you.”
Saying this, Gu Chusheng turned to Chu Yu and said, “There are so many people and things to deal with now…”
“It’s no trouble,” Chu Yu waved her hand and said, “Let me help.”
Indeed, Quanyong was short-staffed now, with more patients than healthy people. Chu Yu followed Gu Chusheng to assist Wei Qingping. It was midnight by the time the two of them returned to the government office.
Wei Qingping fell asleep immediately. After washing up, Gu Chusheng went to see Chen Jiu’er.
As it was midnight, it wasn’t appropriate for Gu Chusheng to see Chen Jiu’er alone. Fortunately, Chu Yu was also awake, so he brought her along to meet Chen Jiu’er. Gu Chusheng listened as Chen Jiu’er recounted what had happened to her family, his heart sinking bit by bit. After hearing Chen Jiu’er’s story, he sighed and said, “Since there’s no one left at home, I won’t write back to the old uncle.”
Holding onto hope was better than the despair of the elderly burying the young.
Chen Jiu’er pressed her lips together. After comforting Chen Jiu’er with a few words, Gu Chusheng stood up and led Chu Yu out.
However, after walking just a few steps, Gu Chusheng heard Chen Jiu’er call out from behind, “Lord Gu!”
Gu Chusheng stopped in his tracks and turned around to see Chen Jiu’er looking at him with tears in her eyes. “Lord Gu, may I speak with you privately for a moment?”
Gu Chusheng hesitated for a moment, then looked up at Chu Yu. Chu Yu voluntarily walked away, leaving the two of them in the room.
Chen Jiu’er looked at Gu Chusheng and lifted the child in her arms. “Lord Gu, I have an unreasonable request.”
Gu Chusheng frowned as he watched Chen Jiu’er raise the child. “I know that my lord has a kind heart. This child is the only bloodline of the Li family. In these chaotic times, I have no means to raise him…”
“You want me to adopt this child?”
Gu Chusheng frowned deeply. Chen Jiu’er hesitated for a moment before finally saying, “I hope my lord will agree!”
“Absurd!”
Gu Chusheng shouted, “As a mother, you’re still alive. How can there be any reason to give away your child?”
Saying this, Gu Chusheng turned to leave. Chen Jiu’er stood up, her voice trembling, “Does Lord Gu mean that because this child still has a mother, you won’t take him?”
“You are his mother,” Gu Chusheng looked at her seriously. “He is your responsibility. But don’t worry,” Gu Chusheng looked at the trembling woman and softened his voice. “I will send someone with silver for you. You can go back with him, bring back Old Uncle Li, and live a good life.”
“What if he doesn’t have a mother?”
Chen Jiu’er persisted. Gu Chusheng frowned and asked, “What exactly are you trying to ask?”
“If one day, something happens to me,” Chen Jiu’er calmed down. She stared at Gu Chusheng and said calmly, “Then, this child, would Lord Gu be willing to take him in?”
Gu Chusheng looked at Chen Jiu’er. He thought that Chen Jiu’er, as a woman adrift in chaotic times, was just trying to secure a future for her child.
So he nodded and said, “I would.”
Chen Jiu’er let out a sigh of relief. She bowed, holding her child, and knelt on the ground, sincerely saying “Thank you” to Gu Chusheng.
Gu Chusheng turned and left. When he reached the corridor, he saw Chu Yu waiting for him with her sword. The two walked out of the courtyard together, with Gu Chusheng insisting on escorting Chu Yu back to her room.
“What did she say to you?”
Chu Yu, accustomed to Gu Chusheng’s courtesy, casually made conversation. Gu Chusheng felt uneasy and slowly said, “She asked if I could take in…”
Before he could finish, Gu Chusheng suddenly realized something and shouted, “Not good!”
He then rushed back towards Chen Jiu’er’s room. Chu Yu was stunned for a moment before chasing after him.
Just as they reached the courtyard, they heard the earth-shattering cries of an infant. Gu Chusheng rushed ahead and kicked open the door, only to see blood spread across the floor. The woman lay in a pool of blood, a blade thrust into her chest.
The child was beside her, seemingly aware of what had happened, crying and flailing desperately.
Gu Chusheng rushed over, taking out medicine and bandages from his sleeve. He had become extremely proficient at emergency treatment lately. Chu Yu turned and went to find Wei Qingping. In the room, Gu Chusheng applied medicine to Chen Jiu’er and pressed on the bleeding area, his face filled with panic.
Chen Jiu’er managed a difficult smile. “My lord…”
She began to speak, “This child… hasn’t been named yet… Please… take good care of him…”
“You are his mother!” Gu Chusheng roared. “How can there be a mother like you!”
Tears slowly flowed from Chen Jiu’er’s eyes. She smiled with difficulty, “My lord,” her voice was as light as duckweed, “How can the noble understand the suffering of the lowly?”
“One life,” she gasped, blood gushing out wildly, flowing through Gu Chusheng’s fingers. Gu Chusheng’s entire body was shaking as he listened to her say, “In exchange for… half a life of peace… for my son… it’s worth it.”
“My lord,” her vision slowly darkened, “When… will this Great Chu… finally be at peace?”
After asking this question, her entire being seemed to wither away along with these words.
Gu Chusheng gritted his teeth, his hand still pressing on her wound, trying to stop the bleeding. His whole body was trembling. The child was beside him, seemingly aware of his mother’s departure, crying incessantly.
When Wei Qingping rushed into the room with Chu Yu, Chen Jiu’er’s heart had already stopped beating.
Gu Chusheng knelt there, still maintaining the posture of trying to save her. Wei Qingping rushed to the body and quickly examined it, and her expression sank.
After a moment, she shook her head and stood up.
She stood up and, seeing that Gu Chusheng hadn’t moved, said, “Lord Gu, she’s gone. Let’s send her off.”
Gu Chusheng still didn’t move. Chu Yu stepped forward, took the child in her arms, and patted Gu Chusheng’s shoulder. “Get up.”
Only when Gu Chusheng heard Chu Yu’s words did he show some reaction. He seemed to come back to his senses, standing up dazedly.
His hands were still stained with blood as he walked unsteadily. Seeing his condition, Chu Yu quickly followed.
She carried the child to Gu Chusheng’s room. First, she instructed someone to prepare a bowl of calming soup for Gu Chusheng, then carried the child into his room.
Gu Chusheng hadn’t closed the door. He sat on the edge of his bed, hugging himself with his blood-stained hands, staring blankly at the moonlight streaming in.
“I should have known earlier.”
Chu Yu entered, patting the child, and heard Gu Chusheng’s voice: “I should have realized why she asked me those questions. I should have understood that after enduring so much hardship, her world was much harder than I imagined.”
“For a woman alone, with a child, to survive, it’s too difficult.”
Chu Yu sat down beside Gu Chusheng with the child in her arms, listening to him say, “She couldn’t have survived. Even with my help, how many years could I have helped her? When I’m not by her side, perhaps soon after, I would have forgotten about her.”
“Chusheng,” Chu Yu sighed, “This isn’t your fault.”
No one could have anticipated that this woman would have such a plan.
“In her heart, she felt that if I didn’t help her, she and this child wouldn’t survive. So she had to force me to take this child.”
“But why did she live in such despair?”
Gu Chusheng slowly turned his eyes to look at Chu Yu. “Why do the common people of our Great Chu feel that their lives are as insignificant as insects, that they can’t survive without someone saving them?”
“Chusheng…”
Chu Yu was startled by the tears in Gu Chusheng’s eyes. He looked at her, his body trembling, and said hoarsely, “She asked me when Great Chu would be at peace. I’ve asked this question too, in my previous life and this life. I’ve asked it for two lifetimes…”
“But why isn’t Great Chu at peace?” Gu Chusheng stood up, hunched over, staring at Chu Yu, his teeth chattering slightly. “Our Great Chu has the vastest lands, the bravest sons, the most hardworking people, why isn’t it at peace? Because of people’s hearts…”
He raised his hand to his chest and shouted angrily, “Because that scoundrel Zhao Yue is heartless! Because that fool Emperor Chunde can’t distinguish right from wrong! Because that dog Yao Yong only cares for himself! Because I…”
He slowly closed his eyes and said with difficulty, “Because I… am weak and incompetent.”
“Chusheng,” Chu Yu gently patted the baby’s back and said slowly, “Don’t try to carry the weight of an entire country on your shoulders alone.”
“Recently, I’ve been watching people die every day.”
Gu Chusheng’s voice choked, “I watch them die in front of me every day. I try to save everyone, but I can’t save anyone. I can’t control life and death, I can’t stop natural disasters, and even for man-made calamities, I’m powerless.”
Tears rolled down his face as Gu Chusheng closed his eyes. “I eat the food of the people, wear the clothes of the people, serve as a Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, yet I’m utterly helpless.”
“Ah Yu…” He slowly fell to his knees, hunched over, raising his hands to cover his face, letting tears fall onto his hands, dissolving the fresh blood. “I’m completely helpless.”
In his two lifetimes, for himself, what he loved was unattainable; for the country, what he sought to protect was insecure.
He watched helplessly as everything he wanted was lost, left, destroyed, and collapsed, yet he was powerless to do anything.
He felt countless suppressed emotions surging forth in front of this woman. He knelt before her, wailing loudly.
Chu Yu listened quietly to his cries. She looked at the moonlight, feeling as if those cries were like a long river, washing this person beside her clean bit by bit throughout the night.
She raised her hand and gently patted his shoulder. After a long while, when his cries gradually subsided, she slowly said, “Wipe your tears and go get a good sleep.”
Her voice was calm and composed. “From now on, you’re going to be a father.”
Hearing these words, Gu Chusheng slowly raised his head and looked at the child in Chu Yu’s arms.
The child was sleeping sweetly. Chu Yu handed the child to Gu Chusheng. Gu Chusheng took the child and looked down at it.
“You’re not completely helpless,” Chu Yu saw Gu Chusheng calming down and smiled. “To change the fate of a country, it takes many people, each making a small change. Gu Chusheng, you’ve done a lot, haven’t you?”
“Great Chu will be at peace.”
Gu Chusheng looked up and saw Chu Yu’s eyes, hearing her say seriously, “In this lifetime, me, Wei Yun, my brother, Song Shilan, Wei Qingping… and many others.”
Her voice was steady. “We’ll work hard together.”
Gu Chusheng didn’t speak. After a long while, he slowly smiled.
“Alright.”
He said hoarsely, with tears in his eyes, “Together.”
In his previous life, he couldn’t stand by her side.
In this lifetime, being able to stand together, he was content.