Chapter 2: The Year We Saved the Marquis's Daughter

With one of our hands in each of hers, she led us into the duke's residence.

That afternoon, the duke, already past sixty, personally took Gu Lingjia to the palace and laid a formal accusation before the Emperor.

He charged the Marquis of Chong'an's second wife with treating human life as worthless and plotting to murder the marquis's legitimate daughter, leaving the girl adrift among commoners for days and nearly costing her life.

When the marquis learned the truth, he sprang from his sickbed and slapped his second wife, Lady Liu, to the floor.

"You vile woman! You dared plot against my daughter!"

I didn't know what happened after that.

I only knew the duke's household treated Mother and me as honored guests.

I'd never seen so many cakes or such a variety of dishes in my life.

Then, for the first time ever, I wore silk clothes and slept beside Mother in a great soft bed.

It all felt like a dream.

By the time we woke the following day, the duke had brought Gu Lingjia home.

The marquis knelt in the front hall, begging the duke to let him take her back, but the duke refused to see him.

Gu Lingjia came to find me.

"Big Sister, would you like a father?"

I stared at her, utterly lost.

"Where would I get one?"

She smiled.

"Mine! To get me to come home, he agreed to one condition. Whatever I ask, he'll do it."

I still didn't quite understand.

"So? Who do you want your father to marry my mother to?"

Her answer was astonishing.

"My father, of course! Then your mother will be my mother, and you'll be my sister. We'll never have to part!"

I'd always been bold. Even so, her words frightened me enough that I kept swallowing.

"But hasn't your father already remarried?"

"She tried to kill me. The servants in her courtyard have all confessed. His Majesty ordered her marriage to Father dissolved and sentenced her to beheading after autumn.

"She isn't my mother anymore. Your father is dead, and my mother is gone too.

"I thought it would be wonderful if my father and your mother could live together. You both saved me. I want your mother to be the marchioness, and I want you to be my sister. Can we?"

Dazed, I turned toward Mother.

"Mother, what do you think?"

"This is very sudden," she said. "May I meet His Lordship first? A forced match won't bring happiness."

She was afraid he might be unwilling.

But Gu Lingjia said,

"If he refuses, I'll never acknowledge him again. I'll take you as my adoptive mother. You'll still be my mother, and she'll still be my sister. Let him have no children!"

Her words warmed me through.

Even after escaping danger, she hadn't forgotten what Mother and I had done for her.

With her supporting us, life in the marquis's household shouldn't be too hard.

She took Mother to see him and said,

"She saved my life. I want her to be my mother. If you marry her and take her daughter as your own, I'll go home with you.

"Otherwise, I'll stay with Grandfather and go nowhere, rather than let you marry another woman who'll torment me."

The marquis was full of guilt. How could he refuse?

"Lingjia, as long as you'll come home, I'll do whatever you say."

Gu Lingjia breathed a sigh of relief, but still didn't think it was enough.

She also took Mother to acknowledge the duke as her adoptive father, turning an insignificant commoner into the duke's third daughter.

My status rose with hers.

When the marquis's old mother heard of the match, she cried until she fainted and loudly called Gu Lingjia a fool.

How could a widow of unknown origins become the marquis's principal wife?

She was determined to keep Mother out. She demanded that he marry another noblewoman from an eminent family.

If he refused, she would stop eating.

After twenty days of making a scene, she really did begin her hunger strike.

On its fifth day, after careful thought, the marquis brought Mother a marriage contract.

"Years ago, she tormented Lingjia's mother to death. She chose Lady Liu too. I won't let her bring in another woman to harm my only daughter. Nor will I let blind filial obedience keep me under her control."

So he still had some conscience.

Mother signed the contract and handed it back with both hands.

"From now on, I will love Lingjia as my own daughter."

As he reached to take it, the marquis got his first clear look at Mother's face.

His ears went scarlet.

"Rest assured. I will love your daughter as my own too."