Dad, don't be greedy! My brother climbed into the emperor's bed, and I became famous overn

The old man looked up at the pomegranate tree and sighed deeply.

"I remember that day, the scholar rushed back in a hurry. He asked the neighbors to help take care of his wife."

He said he had urgent business to attend to and needed to go on a long trip. He left in a hurry and didn't pack much luggage. He just hastily stuffed a bundle into his bag.

"As a result, just a few days after he left, people came looking for him."

As the old man spoke, he subconsciously lowered his voice and glanced towards the gate of the courtyard.

"We don't know who those two people are."

"I only remember that they seemed to be passing by and had stopped to rest. The two of them were chatting and laughing, talking about the latest happenings in the capital."

"Later, I don't know which of those words was overheard by my wife, who was resting during her pregnancy."

"The two men had barely left when the young woman suddenly started crying..."

The old man shook his head and sighed deeply.

"She was rushing out the door when she tripped on the threshold and fell over..."

That night, her water broke before she was even ten months pregnant... she was born prematurely!

"I remember that night... there was no moon, and it was extremely dark. But torches were lit throughout the entire alley."

He pointed towards the courtyard gate.

"The women from our dozen or so neighborhood families came over, dressed in their coats and carrying candles, to help out."

"That night, the midwives and midwives were all crammed into the room."

The old man's gaze shifted to the back wall in the corner of the yard.

"Baskets of bloody water were brought out and splashed against the back wall of the yard."

"The blood...it wasn't completely dry until the next morning. The soil at the base of the wall was stained a dark reddish-brown. It wasn't until a heavy rain that it was washed away."

Gu Mingyue felt a slight tightness in her chest and couldn't help but glance sideways at the base of the wall.

The old man's eyes were filled with sighs as he spoke.

"A few days later... when the scholar rushed home..."

His wife is dead.

When the old man said these words, it was with a hint of regret and emotion.

But for Gu Mingyue and Gu Mingli, these words carried immense weight.

The old man looked up at the pomegranate tree.

"However... that woman managed to give birth to her child before she breathed her last."

"My wife said... she gave birth to a baby girl. She's as beautiful and delicate as her mother... with a fair and clean little face, and her cries are soft and weak, like a kitten."

"Her mother looked at her one last time, smiled... and then she was gone."

The old man stopped talking.

The wind swept across the small courtyard.

The old wind chime hanging in the corner swayed and jingled.

Gu Mingyue bit her lower lip, her eyes still reddening.

Gu Mingli's jawline was taut, his Adam's apple bobbed slightly, and his voice was low and hoarse.

"Old man... why did that scholar from back then suddenly go out before his wife went into labor?"

The old man shook his head.

"Some people say that the scholar's father-in-law is a very important person. That day... something happened to his father-in-law and mother-in-law."

"……father in law?"

The old man glanced instinctively towards the door and said in a low voice:

"It seems he was an official in Kyoto. I wonder who he offended back then? I heard... he committed a treasonous crime that resulted in the execution of his entire family."

Execution of the entire family?

These four words were like a bucket of ice water poured over Gu Mingyue's head.

Her back stiffened.

The old man exhaled, a hint of fear in his eyes, and waved his hands repeatedly.

"We only heard about this, so don't take it seriously. That happened more than ten years ago; who can really tell if it's true or not?"

"Later, soldiers came to the door. Several of them, with knives at their waists. That very night, the scholar took the two children and left with the soldiers."

"The next morning, three or four groups of people came to their door, asking where the family had gone."

As the old man spoke, his gaze fell on the stone path outside the courtyard, as if he were looking at that dark dawn more than ten years ago.

"Before the scholar left, he gave me a sum of money and asked me to take care of the house for him, saying that he would come back in the future."

At this point, the old man smiled, looked up at the pomegranate tree, and then sighed.

"As a result, he left and never came back for more than ten years. However, money for maintaining the house was sent to him every year."

"Every year I help him sweep the yard, fix the leaky tiles, and water the pomegranate tree."

A woman's voice called from outside the door, tinged with impatience.

The old man responded and turned to the brother and sister, saying, "My wife is calling me, I'm going back to check on her. You two take a look and then leave, don't worry about this place."

He turned and went out the door.

The courtyard fell silent.

The wind rustled through the old pomegranate tree.

The tree branches are like a pair of outstretched arms, providing a patch of dappled shade.

Gu Mingyue looked at the pomegranate tree.

In a daze, I could still see that young and beautiful woman under the tree, wearing a clean silk skirt, sitting in a wicker chair, head down, smiling as she sewed a small garment...

That was her mother.

A woman she had never met before.

A woman who brought her into this world with her last breath.

Before this, Gu Mingyue had little memory of her mother.

Before she transmigrated, her parents died in an accident when she was young, and her older brother raised her.

At that time, she thought she had long since gotten used to the fact that she "did not have a mother".

Now that she's in Dayong, she has a adoptive father, but she still hasn't seen her mother.

Gu Mingyue felt a sharp pang of sadness in her heart.

She turned her head to look at Gu Mingli beside her.

"elder brother."

"Um?"

Gu Mingli did not look at her.

Her gaze was fixed on the pomegranate tree, her eyelashes trembling slightly.

He was a few years older than his sister and had memories of seeing his mother.

He remembered his mother's face.

She was a very gentle and beautiful woman.

"Mingyue, let's kowtow to Mother."

"it is good."

The two men lifted their robes and knelt down before the old pomegranate tree in front of them.

"Thump."

"Thump."

"Thump."

Three kowtows.

The brother and sister called out in unison.

"Mother, we've come to see you."

The wind is blowing from the north.

The shadows of the trees swayed gently.

It swept across the tops of the siblings' heads and shoulders, like a gentle hand softly stroking their hair.

Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the pomegranate tree branches and leaves, falling on their faces.

The light and shadow flickered, warm and delicate, outlining their youthful silhouettes.

Gu Mingyue looked up at the pomegranate tree.

What exactly happened between the government and the people back then?

Who exactly is their maternal grandfather?

A man serving as an official in Kyoto, a case involving the execution of his entire family...

Gu Mingyue slowly stood up and patted the dust off her knees.

She gazed at the old pomegranate tree, her eyes gradually darkening.

She wanted to find out the truth from her father after returning to the capital.