Chapter 66
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Chapter 66:
Li Chunzhou gritted her teeth, her voice filled with anger, and asked fiercely, "Who did this to you?" while looking at the bruise on Gu Lingfan’s body.
Li Chunzhou was known for her friendly demeanor at Spring Flowers Tower, especially as a new Oiran. Seeing her angry now caused the gossip among the onlookers to quiet down.
Moreover, seeing the usually proud Gu Lingfan in her current state made the other girls in the building feel uneasy. Even though some had disagreed with Gu Lingfan in the past, they now stood silently, watching Li Chunzhou and Gu Lingfan.
Gu Lingfan remained calm, but tired-looking. She explained, "I accidentally bumped into a table. No one laid a hand on me."
Li Chunzhou bit her lip tightly, frowning at her. The girls exchanged uncertain looks. An older courtesan approached, examined the bruise on Gu Lingfan’s collarbone, and nodded, "It indeed doesn’t look like it was caused by a fight."
Another younger girl couldn’t contain her curiosity and whispered, "Then how did you come back by yourself?"
Before she could finish speaking, someone next to her covered her mouth and pulled her away. Gu Lingfan remained silent for a moment before saying, "Lady Chun, I would like to speak with you alone."
Li Chunzhou looked at her for a moment, dismissed the crowd, and went to a private room with Gu Lingfan.
Li Chunzhou closed the door, had Li Zhexuan watch at the door to see if anyone was eavesdropping, and angrily asked as soon as she sat down, "Is it Bi Yuansi…"
"I am pregnant," Gu Lingfan interrupted her, "Could you please have someone inform Mama Li and prepare me a dose of Five Poison Powder."
"Five Poison Powder" is a potion used for contraception, containing mercury, arsenic, and other poisons that can kill the fetus and cause infertility. Although it is an effective contraceptive method, if the dosage is not handled properly, it could lead to death.
Therefore, in Daliang, only prostitutes usually take it.
Li Chunzhou was shocked by her words, her brain in chaos for a while, Gu Lingfan had known Bi Yuansi for less than ten days, and for a doctor to diagnose pregnancy, it would have been at least a month. So, the child in Gu Lingfan’s belly was definitely not Bi Yuansi’s.
Thinking back to the bruises on her collarbone, the two were destined to have a big dispute.
Li Chunzhou lowered her head and said in a hesitant voice, "You know well how harmful that thing is…"
She wanted to suggest keeping the baby and offered to raise it if Gu Lingfan didn’t want to, but on second thought, giving birth would also bring suffering. For Gu Lingfan, having this child would be even more tormenting for her.
Gu Lingfan heard the hidden meaning in her words, lowered her eyes calmly, and said, "If you don’t want to, it’s okay. I can take this child with me to the river…"
Li Chunzhou, feeling uneasy at Gu Lingfan’s firm attitude, said, "Let’s call a doctor, there must be gentler methods…"
Gu Lingfan spoke with a sense of resignation, saying, "You have lived here for so many years, don’t you know none of those remedies are safe? Using Five Poison Powder might be quicker."
Currently, there are three methods of abortion in Daliang. Apart from using medication, there are also forced abortions and acupuncture abortions. Forced abortion involves repeatedly hitting the abdomen to induce miscarriage, which not only causes great harm to the pregnant woman, but may even endanger her life. Although acupuncture abortion is gentle, it requires a high level of skill from the doctor and has a low success rate.
So Li Chunzhou silently watched Gu Lingfan call for a maid to fetch Mama Li for the herbal soup.
Mama Li glanced at the two, held Gu Lingfan’s hand, sighed, gave some comforting words, and then went back to supervise the staff.
Rumors about Daliang’s defeat were spreading wildly in the city, and today Mama Li planned to disband the Spring Flowers Tower.
Soon after Mama Li left, a young maid brought in the brewed herbal medicine.
Li Zhexuan, who had been guarding the door, seemed to be avoiding the maid carrying the medicine. Li Chunzhou noticed this and remembered Li Zhexuan’s dislike for "Five Poison Powder".
Li Chunzhou touched her stomach, wondering if Li Zhexuan would die if she drank the Five Poison Powder.
After all, his "heart" was still within his own body.
Gu Lingfan tested the temperature of the soup medicine in the bowl with the back of her hand, then drank it all in one breath.
Li Chunzhou pursed her lips and silently watched her.
Gu Lingfan wiped her mouth with a handkerchief, then looked up at Li Chunzhou and calmly said, "Lady Chun, a royal official visited Young Master Bi yesterday and I overheard them mentioning your name… You better be careful."
Li Chunzhou was surprised that Gu Lingfan would say such caring words to her, she nodded in a daze.
She walked out of the elegant room upstairs, leaving the space for Gu Lingfan.
Going downstairs, people occasionally cast curious glances her way, but when Li Chunzhou looked back at them, they quickly averted their eyes.
People were bustling up and down Spring Flowers Tower, Li Chunzhou saw Xinlan leaving happily with a small package on her back. She watched Xinlan’s cheerful figure, unsure if Xinlan was leaving with a guest or escaping on her own.
No matter what, they shouldn’t be so happy-looking.
She stood on the steps and saw Xinlan holding hands with someone, walking behind that person, talking and laughing together, looking very close.
Based on a chance encounter, Li Chunzhou recognized the man dressed as Wang Ruyu. She remembered seeing Wang Ruyu on TV and thought this kid seemed reliable.
So, Li Chunzhou suppressed the urge to stop them and silently watched them walk away.
***
Almost everyone in the Spring Flowers Tower had left, leaving behind over a hundred vulnerable individuals with nowhere to go, who couldn’t leave on their own.
Li Chunzhou didn’t want Gu Lingfan to stay alone upstairs, so she took her to her own resting courtyard and prepared a small room for her to stay in.
That night, Gu Lingfan dreamed of her mother, after a long time.
In the dream, Gu Lingfan’s mother, almost a blurred figure, touched her face gently and said, "My dear, don’t be afraid. I’ve been waiting for you. Come find me when you’re tired."
When Gu Lingfan woke up, she was crying. She lay on the bed quietly crying for a while, then quietly opened the door and walked outside under the gentle moonlight.
The evening breeze dried the tears on her face, and Gu Lingfan’s emotions gradually calmed down. She stopped crying and just kept thinking about wanting to go home.
Actually, she didn’t have a home anymore from the moment her parents sold her to the brothel.
But Gu Lingfan couldn’t help but want to go back home. She really wanted to go home, to find a place she could call "home," anywhere would do, she just didn’t want to stay in this dreadful world anymore.
It was still dark outside, the sky covered by clouds was a chaotic orange-red color, like thick smoke about to ignite. Everything was silent, no morning drum had sounded yet, and except for Gu Lingfan, over a hundred people in the Spring Flowers Tower were all still deep in sweet dreams.
Gu Lingfan stopped by the pond, looked for a while, lifted one foot ready to jump in.
At that moment, hands suddenly embraced her from behind, pulling her forcefully backward. Gu Lingfan was caught off guard and fell to the ground along with the person behind her.
When she turned her head, she saw it was Li Chunzhou who was cushioning her fall.
Li Chunzhou was much smaller in size compared to Gu Lingfan, and the collision had hurt her so much that her small face was creased in pain. But she didn’t have time to cry out in pain, anxiously staring at Gu Lingfan and shouting, "What are you doing?! Hasn’t everything been resolved?"
Gu Lingfan saw Li Chunzhou’s face, and her emotions became more intense. She turned her face, easily broke free from Li Chunzhou, and tried to jump straight into the river.
Li Chunzhou quickly got up and rushed to pull Gu Lingfan. The two of them struggled and ended up falling into the pond together.
Li Chunzhou choked on some water, but somehow found the strength to pull Gu Lingfan up forcefully. Gu Lingfan’s cheeks were wet, unsure if it was from the water or tears.
"Why… do you have to die?" Li Chunzhou saw the look of despair on Gu Lingfan’s face, felt a pang in her heart, sniffled, and cautiously said, "Sister, are you afraid of gossip? With me around, they won’t dare to speak ill of you. I promise…"
The way Li Chunzhou addressed her suddenly stung Gu Lingfan, and she pushed Li Chunzhou into the water. The water was actually not deep, and after falling, Li Chunzhou sat in the mud with the water only reaching her chest.
Gu Lingfan glared fiercely at Li Chunzhou, shouted recklessly, "Stop pretending to be kind here, and stop calling me ‘sister’! Do you know how much I dislike you? You live so easily, of course, you can be indifferent… You always take things for granted, everyone protects you! Do you know how jealous I am of you?! Why do you pity me?! Disgusting…"
Li Chunzhou never needed to stoop to fighting with others for the same thing, so she thought too highly of others and the relationships between them. She treated Gu Lingfan with such sincerity that it made Gu Lingfan seem foolish and detestable.
If Li Chunzhou could mock her, taunt her a little, Gu Lingfan might feel better. But Li Chunzhou’s feelings were so pure and clear that they made Gu Lingfan feel ashamed of herself. She hated her, especially hated how she treated this child.
Gu Lingfan couldn’t finish speaking before tears started to fall.
She did not want a luxurious life, but traditional morals held her back.
Gu Lingfan remembered Li Chunzhou’s words, "Everything is resolved," and felt like her life was over, everything was finished.
Without blinking, tears kept falling from her eyes, some falling into the water, creating small splashes, and some landing on Li Chunzhou’s face, as if both were crying.
Li Chunzhou looked at her speechlessly.