People outside the mirror could see right through Gu Changqing’s uncle right away.
But how could five-year-old Gu Changqing see through it so thoroughly?
He just kept pleading.
‘Uncle, I can eat just two meals a day.’
‘No, just one meal a day.’
‘I can chop wood, I can hunt in the mountains…’
‘If that won’t do, then…at least take in this child please, as long as she can live…’
When the young Heavenly Emperor spoke the last sentence he knelt on both knees, his pleading gaze fixed tightly on the middle-aged man.
But the middle-aged man remained unmoved.
…
“I really didn’t expect the lofty Heavenly Emperor to kneel and beg…” murmured someone involuntarily.
The scene was too shocking for them.
The Heavenly Emperor they knew stood high above, ruling the Heavenly Palace with supreme authority. All beings bowed at his feet, all races trembled under his heavenly might.
Yet now he actually knelt and begged a mere mortal.
However, many people’s gazes held no mockery.
To go this far for a younger sister who wasn’t actually related to him—one must admit, the young Heavenly Emperor truly cared for this little baby girl.
Ye Chen’s gaze swept across the crowd, across Gu Youwei.
When he noticed the pity in everyone’s eyes, his expression slightly changed.
He immediately spoke, “When a person no longer values dignity, he is not far from becoming a villain.”
“I had already concluded that after facing hardships, the young Heavenly Emperor would inevitably abandon Miss Youwei. Now, indeed, it is coming true.”
“Perhaps in his eyes at this moment, Miss Youwei would live better away from him, but in the end he did abandon her, did he not?”
“Perhaps in his heart he had always regarded Miss Youwei as a burden.”
At Ye Chen’s words, the pity in everyone’s eyes vanished in an instant.
Indeed.
Those words were not without reason.
From an adult perspective, the uncle’s family, who would forget loyalty for profit, were cold-hearted people.
Being taken in by the uncle’s family would not end well for Miss Youwei.
From this viewpoint, the young Heavenly Emperor clearly treated Miss Youwei as a burden and was dumping her on his uncle’s family.
“As expected, Emperor Ye is worthy of his name, he foresaw this.”
“He could even guess that once the young Heavenly Emperor realized a single person would struggle to survive, he would abandon Miss Youwei.”
“No wonder Emperor Ye could lead us to attack the Heavenly Palace—this vision is truly unparalleled through the ages.”
“Emperor Ye’s farsightedness earns our admiration.”
The crowd’s flattery made the corners of Ye Chen’s mouth lift unconsciously.
He cast a sidelong glance at Gu Youwei, quite pleased with himself.
“Is that really what you were thinking about?”
Grief filled Gu Youwei’s eyes.
A moment earlier, when Gu Changqing knelt and begged for her, her heart had indeed stirred and a faint hope rose.
But at this moment, only desolation remained in her heart.
“So it turns out you only carried me out of the mountain and then abandoned me…”
A bitter smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.
…
“My husband, if you ask me, we should agree to Changqing’s request.”
The aunt, unable to bear it, coaxed softly, “The little girl eats little, and when she grows up she can marry Yi’er, which would save us a lot of money. Besides, she can help with our work.”
The middle-aged man was silent, seemingly still considering.
The young Heavenly Emperor did not know what a child bride was. He only knew that marriage was a very close relationship.
He grinned naively. “Yes, yes, married—she can marry Yi’er.”
…
When they saw this scene.
All the cultivators outside the mirror grew disgusted with the young Heavenly Emperor’s demeanor.
“Just as we expected, he treated Miss Youwei as a burden and would rather let her become someone’s child bride!”
Ye Chen’s smile broadened, “What did I say? Perhaps from this moment, an evil seed was born in the Heavenly Emperor’s heart.”
Gu Youwei’s expression turned to utter coldness.
Especially when she saw the young Heavenly Emperor’s bright smile as he sent her off to become a child bride.
Frost seemed to gather in her eyes. Endless hatred surged within like a rolling sea.
The faint hope she once had in the young Heavenly Emperor was completely extinguished at that moment.
…
“Changqing, we’ll take this child in for you.”
“You should go quickly. If you keep crying and wailing and the neighbors hear it, they’ll say we as a couple are cold-hearted.”
The aunt pulled Gu Changqing up and pushed his frail body out the door.
The wooden door closed, the candlelight inside flickered. The baby wrapped in blankets seemed tired from crying, clutching her tiny pink fists in her mouth as she fell into a deep sleep.
After pausing for a moment.
Gu Changqing left without looking back.
Like a lone wolf, he plunged into the forest.
At this moment, everyone outside the mirror showed disappointment.
Indeed, a little boy was just a little boy.
In just a single day he had already forgotten Aunt Wu’s dying instructions to him.
Not only did he fail to properly protect the younger girl, he instead threw Miss Youwei into the fire pit.
Although in their hearts they knew.
Eventually Gu Youwei did not truly become the uncle’s family’s child bride. During her youth she was taken in by a high master from an ancient sect.
But in everyone’s hearts, the anger remained hard to bear.