Chapter 9: Yun Lin

“……” Mama Xu flicked her sleeve violently; she couldn’t bear to stay in this godforsaken place for even another second.

She had just turned around when she heard Gu Yanfei say in a leisurely tone from behind her: “By the way, Mama, remember to leave the monthly allowance before you go.”

Mama Xu’s body stiffened. She turned back around, met Gu Yanfei’s gaze, and said with a sneer, “Isn’t the Second Miss refusing to return to the Marquis’s mansion? I thought you wanted to sever all ties with the mansion!”

A country girl is just a country girl, she thought—completely obsessed with money. Deep down, she’s still coveting the Marquis’s silver!

Gu Yanfei took a gold-inlaid jade bracelet carved with swallow patterns off her wrist, shoved it into Juanbi’s hand, and instructed, “Take this and pawn it.”

Mama Xu naturally recognized this bracelet. All of the Second Miss’s jewelry had been prepared by the Old Madam, and every piece bore the mark of the Marquis of Dingyuan’s mansion.

The pair of earrings that had been pawned hadn’t even been redeemed yet. If this bracelet were also pawned, wouldn’t that confirm the rumors that the Marquis’s mansion was in decline?!

Mama Xu gritted her teeth in frustration. “I’ll have someone go fetch the monthly allowance right now.”

“Juanbi, accompany Mama Xu and go fetch my monthly allowance for the past three months,” Gu Yanfei said with a beaming smile.

Mama Xu’s face turned ashen, and blue veins bulged on her neck.

She had thought that handing over one month’s allowance would be enough; she hadn’t expected this country girl to be so greedy, demanding three months’ worth right off the bat.

That money was supposed to be hers!

Mama Xu’s heart bled as if a piece of her own flesh had been carved out. She left in a state of agitation.

She had to return to the capital as soon as possible to report to the Old Madam. Otherwise, if anything went wrong with the marriage between the Gu and Fang families, she would be finished!!

Half an hour later, Mama Xu’s carriage left Danyang City, traveling day and night with constant whipping of the horses.

As soon as she returned to the Marquis of Dingyuan’s mansion in the capital, she didn’t even bother to wash up. The first thing she did was rush to the Cihe Hall, where she tearfully poured out her grievances

“Old Madam, although I dare not say I have exhausted my efforts during this time, I have done my utmost to instruct the Second Miss. Yet, the Second Miss misunderstood me, thinking I was intentionally making things difficult for her!”

“……”

“The Second Miss grew up outside since she was a child and is used to her old ways. She loves running out and never stays home. That day, when the carriage had an accident, I only offered a few words of advice, and the Second Miss laid her hands on me…”

“This front tooth of mine was knocked out just like that.”

Mama Xu vividly described Gu Yanfei as a crude, ignorant, and ill-bred wild girl.

In a corner of the east side room, a cloisonné incense burner sat, quietly emitting curling wisps of smoke.

A dignified old woman in her fifties sat on a rosewood Arhat bed, dressed in a dark purple brocade jacket. She was twisting a string of Buddhist prayer beads, her gaze sweeping over the black gap in Mama Xu’s upper teeth. Her expression remained unreadable.

Beside her, an old maid with silver hair softly advised, “Old Madam, please calm your anger. The Second Miss is still young.”

“Young? She’s nearly at the age of capping,” Old Madam Gu sighed lowly. “What a disaster.”

“……” The old maid fell silent.

This matter was a scandal for the Marquis’s mansion.

The Marquis of Dingyuan’s family had been martial for generations. The late Marquis, Gu Ce, was Old Madam Gu’s eldest son.

In the sixth year of Xuanren, Gu Ce and his wife, Lady Xie, were stationed in Sishui County, Yangzhou. Unexpectedly, the Southern Yue launched a surprise attack. Gu Ce arranged for Lady Xie, who was seven months pregnant, to leave Sishui County.

The Southern Yue somehow obtained the news and sent men to pursue Lady Xie, attempting to use her to force Gu Ce to surrender.

Lady Xie was frightened on the road and went into premature labor. She died after giving birth to a baby girl. The wet nurse, Su Niang, carried the baby and fled for months before finally reaching the capital.

No one expected that Su Niang would secretly pass off her own biological daughter as the legitimate daughter of the Gu family. She swapped the fake for the real, and this deception lasted for a full fourteen years.

It wasn’t until half a year ago, when Su Niang’s gambler husband showed up and tried to blackmail her, that Old Madam Gu discovered the truth, revealing the secret of the real and fake daughters.

“Old Madam,” Mama Xu said, pretending to wipe the corner of her eye with a handkerchief while glancing at the Old Madam at the head of the room. She stammered uneasily, “There is one more thing, regarding the Young Master Fang…”

“Mingfeng?” Old Madam Gu stopped twisting her prayer beads, her brows slightly furrowed.

“It is indeed the Heir of the Duke of Ying,” Mama Xu swallowed hard, then dropped the bombshell at the right moment: “The Second Miss encountered Young Master Fang in Danyang City, and she… she actually went to tell Young Master Fang on her own initiative that the marriage between the two families should be called off!”

“The Second Miss also said she would not return to the capital unless… unless you go to Danyang City to fetch her yourself.”

Mama Xu downplayed her own faults and pushed all the blame onto Gu Yanfei. She lowered her head, clutching her handkerchief tightly.

*Slap!*

Old Madam Gu slammed her palm heavily onto the tea table. Her lips were pressed into a thin line, and her entire being was shrouded in a dark cloud.

Regarding this second granddaughter she had never met, Old Madam Gu could not say whether she liked or disliked her.

To her, Gu Yun’e was the granddaughter she had raised herself, the granddaughter who made her proud.

Gu Yun’e was excellent in every way—from her appearance and temperament to her learning, she was top-tier. She was praised by everyone in the capital and had even caught the eye of Prince Kang.

Prince Kang was the biological son of the current Empress Dowager and had been granted the title of Prince after the current Emperor ascended the throne. If Gu Yun’e could become the Princess of Kang, it would naturally be the icing on the cake for their Marquis of Dingyuan’s mansion.

However, the Gu and Fang families had a long-standing marriage contract. When the old Marquis was alive, he had betrothed the eldest daughter of the main branch to the Heir of the Duke of Ying, Fang Mingfeng.

Once the engagement was broken, the Gu family would inevitably be accused of being treacherous and fawning over the powerful.

After much deliberation, Old Madam Gu decided to bring back the “real” eldest daughter of the main branch.

In this way, they could fulfill the marriage between the Gu and Fang families without tarnishing the reputation of the Gu family or Gu Yun’e.

Old Madam Gu had weighed the pros and cons repeatedly and was prepared for the fact that this second granddaughter, having grown up in the countryside, might not be presentable without a year or so of careful training. She never expected her to be this crude!

Being crude and stupid was one thing, but the problem was that this girl lacked self-awareness and dared to run off and spout nonsense to Fang Mingfeng. She had completely disgraced the Gu family!

Old Madam Gu lifted her eyelids and said slowly, “I told you to look after the Second Miss properly. Is this how you do things?!”

Her voice was as cold as if ice shards were about to fall from it.

Mama Xu cursed Gu Yanfei a thousand times in her heart and quickly knelt down, admitting her fault: “This servant is ashamed; I truly had no way to handle the Second Miss.”

After she spoke, a suffocating silence filled the east side room; the air seemed to stagnate.

The maids serving nearby all lowered their heads, trembling like cicadas in winter.

Just then, a crisp voice from outside the door curtain broke the silence: “Second… Third Miss!”

The air in the room suddenly eased.

The next moment, the curtain was lifted from the outside, and a beautiful, slender young girl walked in gracefully from the outer hall, carrying tea.

Soft, beautiful lines outlined a distinct egg-shaped face. Her skin was as white as jade, her brows like willows, her lips pink, and her eyes like bright stars. When she smiled, a pair of adorable dimples appeared on her cheeks. Her temperament was clever and amiable, making one feel a sense of affection at first sight.

The girl wore her hair in a double-flat bun, adorned with a pair of gold-thread butterfly hairpins inlaid with rubies. She was dressed in a crimson ru-skirt embroidered with crabapple blossoms. As she walked, her posture was graceful and delicate, her steps light yet elegant.

Her arrival was like a warm spring breeze blowing into the room, which had previously been as cold as a winter gale.

(End of chapter)