Unrepentant

Chapter 4:Winter Solstice; Wànshùn Year 30

　　Gu Hong Jian first saw Lin Si Ze in the Wànshùn 1 Year 29. At that time, Gu Hong Jian was only five years old while Lin Si Ze was 6 years old.

　　Lin Si Ze's birth mother was merely a palace maid. The late Emperor had gotten drunk. After a night of the Emperor's generosity, he had casually bestowed upon her a t.i.tle and then abandoned Lin Si Ze's birth mother. Lin Si Ze's birth mother was a little lucky,and unexpectedly conceived a child, Lin Si Ze. Because of the difficult birth, however, she died.

　　Lin Si Ze had to grow up without the love and care of a mother, and because of his mother's rank, the Emperor also didn't particularly love him.

　　Lin Si Ze had four older brothers and three older sisters. Moreover, the Emperor was vigorous and lively, so he gave Lin Si Ze many younger brothers and sisters. Naturally, he didn't pay a lot of attention to Lin Si Ze.

　　Ever since his birth, Lin Si Ze hadn't been treated well. Even though he was called a prince, all the servants in the palace could humiliate him as they wished. They could even make him pick up after his messy older brothers and younger brothers. They didn't see him as a person.

　　Gu Hong Jian was sold into the Emperor's palace at a young age as a palace maid, and every day the older palace maids would bully her.

　　Originally, the customs of the palace prevented extremely young girls from entering. As it happened, the palace had an old mómo 2 at that time who had quite a bit of influence. From the beginning, she wasn't able to leave the palace as she was also too old. She then thought about raising a clever girl to be her helper until her deathbed.

　　One day, she left to purchase things for the Emperor and coincidentally came across a child trafficker who was selling Gu Hong Jian.

　　Gu Hong Jian's hometown flooded, and her parents and younger brother died. With no one to look after her, Gu Hong Jian was taken by a child trafficker to the capital.

　　That same child trafficker kidnapped many people, the majority of which were little girls. Among them was a cute little boy who was half a year younger than Gu Hong Jian. Because Gu Hong Jian split a steamed bun with him, he always liked to follow Gu Hong Jian around, calling her Big Sis. Gu Hong Jian had taken care of her younger brother since she was a child, so she quite easily took care of this new younger brother.

　　Upon finally reaching the capital, Gu Hong Jian was chosen by the old mómo on the first day of their arrival—Gu Hong Jian was born with good health. With a thin, pet.i.te body, pointed face, and doe eyes, she held within her hands a very large bag of steamed cornbread. Her head was practically buried into the bag. The split second she raised her face from the bag's contents, the old mómo caught her gaze and felt something pierce her heart

　　The old mómo asked for Gu Hong Jian's name—Gu Hong Jian originally had a common name like 'Chun Hua,'3 but the old mómo thought it was extremely coa.r.s.e. She then gave Gu Hong Jian her own surname 'Gu.' As this was around the Pure Brightness micro-season4, when 'Rainbows begin to appear'5 to be more specific, the old mómo christened her as 'Gu Hong Jian.'

　　When the old mómo asked her if she was willing to follow the old mómo back to the palace, she didn't have any objections. The child trafficker had scrambled over from the side to reply that there was no objections. The old mómo ignored the child trafficker and asked Gu Hong Jian once again. Gu Hong Jian had hurriedly shaken her head, signalling she had no objections, but she did say she had a request.

　　Gu Hong Jian pulled up that small boy and requested for the old mómo to buy him as well.

　　The small boy looked up at Gu Hong Jian with grat.i.tude and admiration.