Chapter 11 Getting Married

"Really?" Gu Youyou sneered, "Why don't you take another sip and test it for me, Second Aunt?"

Gu Youyou's gaze was piercing and unnerving. Already feeling guilty, the woman from the Huang Family trembled uncontrollably under such scrutiny.

"This medicine is too precious for me to dare drink it, you better finish it," she said.

With a forced laugh, she approached Gu Youyou, holding out the medicine.

As the medicine drew closer, a chill shot through Gu Youyou's eyes. She suddenly flung her arm out, knocking over the bowl. The Huang woman was caught off guard, splashed in the face, and even accidentally ingested some.

"Ah..." The Huang woman cried out in dismay, in a humiliating state, "You... You... You little wretch, I will beat you to death..."

As she lunged at Gu Youyou, prepared to attack, Gu Youyou retorted, "Second Aunt, don't you want to spit out my medicine? Such a precious potion, do you dare to swallow it?"

Only then did the Huang woman remember that she had mixed rat poison into the medicine. If Gu Youyou didn't end up poisoned to death, she might inadvertently poison herself.

Ignoring Gu Youyou, she hastily fetched a bucket of water from the yard, violently inducing herself to vomit and rinsing her mouth with cold water.

The sound of the bowl shattering was very loud, and since the door was open, soon a crowd gathered in the back courtyard.

Zhang the matchmaker and the woman from the Meng Family hurried in to check on Gu Youyou, who was unharmed, sitting upright on the bed. However, the woman from the Huang Family was suffering in the courtyard, still vomiting as if about to bring up bile.

Gu Feng shouted from outside, "Youyou, are you alright? What happened?"

The Meng woman hastily went to the doorway and responded, "Father, Youyou is fine. She just didn't want to take her medicine, and smeared it all over her second sister-in-law."

Gu Feng paused, then sighed, "Well, it's her special day, if she doesn't want to drink it, let her be."

As he turned to leave the yard, he saw the sickened Huang woman vomiting on the ground and scolded, "Clean up quickly after you're done. Were you poisoned by rat poison or what?"

His words hit the nail on the head, and the Huang woman felt a rage inside her but dared not retaliate.

She had only taken a small sip and had been vomiting for a long time, such a small amount of rat poison naturally wouldn't kill her.

Outside, the bridegroom had arrived, accompanied by a troupe of trumpeters.

The onlookers whispered among themselves, speculating that only a wedding in the Gu Family would warrant such fanfare.

"The patriarch of the Gu Family is too biased. When his eldest daughter married earlier this year, there wasn't this much spectacle."

"Exactly. I wonder what the old Master Gu is thinking. Let's hope today's wedding doesn't turn into a funeral tomorrow."

"Hey, careful with those words, Zhang. Don't let old Master Gu hear you."

By tradition, the bridegroom cannot enter the bride's courtyard. He must wait outside, and the bride must be carried out by the matchmaker.

Zhang the matchmaker gathered her courage to carry Gu Youyou on her back, enduring the ordeal for the silver that Master Gu would hand her.

And as she did, she couldn't help but feel pity for Gu Youyou, "Poor thing, she's become so thin, she feels like I'm carrying a paper doll on my back."

Gu Feng had been waiting outside the whole time. Ever since Youyou entered that room at the age of seven, he hadn't seen her. Now as she was carried out, all he saw over Zhang the matchmaker's shoulder was a loose robe; it was hard to believe she was carrying a person. He couldn't help but let his tears flow freely.

"Youyou, do you still remember Grandpa? What happened to you, child? You don't even resemble a person anymore!"

The bystanders quickly tried to console him, "Oh, Master Gu, you mustn't cry today. It's bad luck."