His Peasant Wife: Yao Ling

Xiao Fang nodded. "I can confirm this. Han Yi already told me about Tao Gu Gu and the last time she saw Tao Gu Gu was when we were still little girls. That's why it took a long time for Han Yi to recognize Tao Gu Gu's face." Xiao Fang had never really paid attention back then, so she didn't recognize Tao Gu Gu at all.

"Tao Gu Gu, how did you manage to leave the palace? Didn't the Emperor give you the lowest job in the palace just to torment you? How did you manage to stay alive and look after Han Xiang?" Lin Jian asked carefully. He knew that it must have been a painful memory, but he really wanted to know everything Tao Gu Gu had gone through.

Tao Gu Gu stayed in the prince's manor until Han Xiang was five and moved along with the prince to the palace when he had become the Han Emperor. The maidservants were given new duties, but she was still given the same job --- taking care of the manure. She already wanted to leave for a long time, but her loyalty to Ce Fei helped her carry out the last bits of her tasks.

Tao Gu Gu laughed bitterly. She stayed around to convince the prince that Han Xiang was Ce Fei's treasured daughter by guarding her closely. However, the prince started to lose his mind after the Ce Fei was gone, and become more aggressive, when he couldn't find her despite searching for her every day.

He directed his anger at Tao Gu Gu --- the closest person to the Ce Fei. He didn't believe that Tao Gu Gu knew nothing about the plan. Tao Gu Gu had to kowtow a hundred times, making her forehead bleed to beg for justice and refute her involvement in the matter --- just to appease the heartless prince.

At that time, Tao Gu Gu in secret, took care of Han Xiang along with the new wet nurse.

At first, the prince was still visiting Han Xiang occasionally and showing that he cared for the cute baby. After all, she was the only thing left from his beloved Ce Fei. He started to hate the baby after the persuasion of his several concubines during their pillow talks. They even targeted Tao Gu Gu and how the prince was too lenient towards Shu women, hence it gave them the chance to help the Ce Fei run away. Since then, the prince started to hate Shu slaves and he started to behave more atrociously. One by one, he demoted the Shu slaves' rank, including Tao Gu Gu.

The prince's hatred toward Shu people was known by everyone in the prince's manor, so the treatment they received gradually got worse. They could only accept that they became the lowest of the lowly slaves in the Han Kingdom.

All of the Shu slaves weren't allowed to go near Han Xiang because he was afraid that they would give the Ce Fei chance to take the baby away. In his mind, Han Xiang was more like bait than his own daughter. He didn't have enough tender feeling for the little baby after a few months had passed. He hoped by sparing the baby's life, someday... the Ce Fei would come back to take the baby away and he would catch her once again!

Tao Gu Gu saw all these actions from the prince with her own eyes and she felt pity for the baby. That was why she wanted to give the baby a chance to survive in the palace by giving the baby the secret medicine once a month secretly. After the scent started to permeate, more concubines wanted to kill the baby but the prince gave them a warning. Whoever killed the baby would be killed along with their nine familial generations. He didn't bother to conceal the reason he saved the baby --- for his own benefits when the little girl grew up.

That was why although the treatment that Han Xiang grew up in was bad, she could still preserve her life. Tao Gu Gu waited until the time Han Xiang had trusted personal maidservants and she gave the secret recipe to them. Tao Gu Gu knew that they wouldn't let other people know about the secret recipe, because they needed it to survive. Hence, she was calm when giving the secret recipe to them.

Han Xiang trusted her because Tao Gu Gu was Ce Fei's personal maidservant, but there was no bond between them. Thus, when Tao Gu Gu left, Han Xiang didn't stop her. Han Xiang knew that Tao Gu Gu planned to fake her own death while being beaten by the other maidservants. Her body was thrown out without a care and she was saved by her sister-in-law. After that, they were gone from Han Xiang's life.

The quartet nodded in understanding. They were silently pouring and drinking tea while digesting the story. Lin Jian asked softly, "Now... Can you tell us about my dear little sister, Tao Gu Gu? Even though we may not be related by blood, I'm still worried about her..."

Tao Gu Gu asked, "After knowing her whereabouts, what do you exactly want to do?"

Lin Jian was stupefied. "I... I am not so sure yet..." Indeed, Lin Jian wasn't too sure about it himself. If she was happy, then wouldn't it be selfish to get close to her and reveal the truth? If she was unhappy, he would certainly bring her along back with him. His father and he would certainly cherish this little sister.

Tao Gu Gu sighed. "You should not force her to accept the reality. If she's happy, then let her live her life at the Han Kingdom and set her free. You can inquire her well-being from time to time through your subordinates, isn't that good enough?" Tao Gu Gu gave him advice. She knew this the trio wasn't as simple as they looked... They must have a few spies inside the Han Kingdom, so monitoring the real daughter would be an easy feat for them.

Although Lin Jian felt disappointed and unreconciled, what Tao Gu Gu said was indeed true. It was better if the girl didn't know about the Han prince and how her mother didn't bring her along when she ran away. He was afraid that his sister would hate her mother for abandoning her. Because of that, Lin Jian nodded his head in agreement and said, "I understand, Tao Gu Gu. Please tell me, where is she living now?"

Tao Gu Gu explained that after she faked her death, she inquired about the baby's condition and found she was living well with her new family. She felt relieved and without delay, she left the Han Kingdom. Her job was finally done, and she never imagined that fate would bring Lin Jian to her.

"When the man found the baby, the man was actually still a third rank official back then. The man was a talented scholar from another province, and he had just moved into the Capital because he was appointed to get a promotion by the previous Emperor. He probably wasn't aware of the Capital's situation at that time, otherwise, he would have been cautious around an unknown baby. As fate would have it, around that time, his wife was still out of the city due to her pregnancy. Unfortunately, the baby was a stillborn. The couple had waited for this daughter for a long time because they already had one son and it was difficult for them to conceive a baby..." Tao Gu Gu trailed off.

Then, she continued with her story. When he found the baby... was actually the time he had just received the news of his daughter's death. The man went out for grieving and to drink his sorrows away. How unexpected that, a baby girl was thrown towards him out of nowhere. He took the Ce Fei's real daughter as a treasure because it seemed like God had sent her to him as a blessing.

---Edited by: L0v3lamb---