When Gu Shaoling was "dismissed," she avoided everyone and returned directly to her room by another path. Xiao Man glanced at her from a distance and saw her red, swollen eyes and tear-streaked face. She found it strange. 'Gu Shaoling didn't run off to tattle to Granny Gu, Tian Xueqin, or Gu Qiyuan? That's rare.'
Tattling was Gu Shaoling's specialty. In the past, it didn't matter if it was Gu Shaozheng, Zheng Shaolian, or one of the others who unintentionally provoked her—even if Xiao Man simply went against her wishes, she would never pass up a chance to go and complain. But this time, after a harsh whipping with a tree branch from Gu Shaofeng, she didn't make a peep.
'Is this how she treats her own brother? Or maybe Gu Shaofeng really does understand his little sister, and his "violent suppression" was a powerful enough deterrent.'
