On that day, at the end of the play, someone proposed to look for Chun Xueyu, the most famous diva. Then a bunch of uninhibited childes went to the backstage by crowd and tried to find out what that performer would look like after she had taken off the make-up. It was then he met Manniang.

That girl who was around ten years old was waiting for her brother in the yard. She was playing by herself in simple clothes with wide sleeves and had no make-up on her face. She danced and sang in a clear voice, “I am like the cattail, dropping into the river, floating by the stream, having no root. My master, please pity me.” Her voice sounded so melodious.

Seeing that, those childes stopped and took a few glances at her. A few of them even flirted with her. Gu Tingye couldn’t help defending her and urged everyone to leave right away in case Chun Xueyu would be invited by others.

Those childes who were obsessed with the drama players got anxious as he expected and rushed to the backstage at once. In no time, those childes dispersed.

The girl looked at Gu Tingye with a grateful look. As she looked into his eyes, she suddenly flushed with her head lowered, not daring to say anything. He then had a crush on her. The girl was not so gorgeous and even less pretty than the two maids Old Madam Qin had sent to him. However, the bashful look on her face made her look so delicate like the weeping willow by the river.

He wasn’t drama fan, but he remembered the lyrics she had sung. After so many years, he suddenly realized that Manniang had made it clear at the first place. She was truly like a cattail which looked weak, but actually very touch and strong…

“She’s capable of so many things but has an evil heart. She never has any scruples when she does things. I said everything I should said to her and gave everything I could give to her.”

Gu Tingye continued sadly, “But Chang…”

Minglan listened to him quietly and suddenly felt a bit guilty, “You didn’t bring Chang here… for me, right?”

“No, don’t blame yourself for it. It’s because Manniang has rejected that.” Gu Tingye hugged her tightly and comforted her softly, “She claimed that she didn’t want to marry anyone and begged me to leave her someone that she could rely on.” Actually, it was all because he wasn’t cruel enough.

This was a typical multiple choice.

The rich father offered to take the children with him but not the poor mother. If the mother agreed to let the children go, then they would enjoy a bright and wealthy life. If she kept the child, the latter had to be in poverty with her. In the old-fashioned TV series, there would be a pair of siblings going on separate ways. Those drams always won lots of tears of the audience.

“Since it was decided, nothing will change.” Gu Tingye said in a calm voice firmly, “I won’t neglect my duty. I’ll protect him and find someone to teach him, but I cannot let his name show in our family tree. He doesn’t belong to the Gu family.” As he spoke that, Minglan couldn’t help raising her head from his arms. However, it was too dark in the room and she was unable to see his face. At last, she had to lie down again.

He had something in reserve after all.

The talents who could learned without teachers were few in this world. Even a genius like Mozart had grown up in a musician’s family. Even he hadn’t received special musical education, he did have been influenced by what he had constantly seen and heard. If he had been from a butcher’s family and seen his families chopping meat every day, he might probably find cutting board more pleasant to the eyes than the stave. As for Gu Tingye, he had only become a general because his father had taught him martial arts all year around.

Chang grew up in the countryside and played with the children of the farmers or the peddlers. He had neither a capable tutor to instruct him the martial art or a literate teacher to give him lessons. With the basic economic knowledges that he had learned, he was very likely to become a happy and rich landlord.

In a society with clear class distinction, the best education resource was already fixed. Sheng Hong had spent a lot of efforts on inviting Sir Zhuang to open a private school in his family because the Sheng family was not a noble family. If Gu Tingye asked Sir Zhuang if the latter could teach an illegal son of a drama player, Sir Zhuang would definitely fly to a rage and considered it a humiliation even if Gu Tingye invited him by himself and Chang was a super talented boy.

Minglan understood why Gu Tingye had sighed. He felt guilty. In order to protect his legal sons and daughters, he had cleared the threats to them in advance and eliminated Chang’s name on the family tree as well as the possible development of the boy.

As his large hand was on her belly, the heat of his body transferred to her skin through her clothes. Minglan suddenly felt the child in her belly quite lucky, because before he had been born, his father had already made plans for him unconsciously.

“I’ve thought about this before. If Chang and your child fight with each other, I’ll definitely protect your child. No one can bully our child. Now come to think about it, my father, he…” In the quiet night, Gu Tingye’s voice even started to tremble slightly.

When he had been a little boy, he had heard the servants in his family saying how biased his father had been toward his brother. However, now Gu Tingye suddenly felt that he was just like his father or even worse, because at least his father had taught him carefully.

“One can never be impartial…”

‘Of course, that is a common sense. That’s why a human’s heart is not in the middle of his body!’

Minglan’s heart beat drastically. She detected how guilty Gu Tingye felt. Now he loved and cared for his wife and legal child more than his former lovers, but it didn’t mean he would stay that way forever. If she didn’t say something now, she might face a huge problem in the future. Thinking of that, she said right away, “Master, do you think you and Chang are the same in your childhood?’

Gu Tingye got dazed first and said surprisedly, “How can we be the same?” Gu Tingye was the legal son, but Chang couldn’t even be considered an illegal son.

Minglan said in a hurry with a soft voice while putting on a naughty face on purpose, “Then… Master, do you think Manniang’s condition is a bit like your mother?”