MYSIOAMEWTMMAlTWOAM: Chapter 44

Glossary

· Qin Yuan: The female protagonist, Marquise of the household.

· Gu Jinghui: The male protagonist, the Marquis.

· Gu Shiliu: Gu Jinghui's personal attendant.

· Zhao Niangzi: The widow the Marquis brought back.

---

Chapter 44: Zhao Niangzi's Ploy of Feigning Illness

Gu Shiliu didn't have time to explain in detail to Hongye and hurriedly entered the side room.

As soon as he entered, Gu Jinghui asked with a dark face, "What have you been busy with these past two days?"

Gu Shiliu had served him for a long time and knew this was just an opening; it didn't require an answer.

Sure enough, Gu Jinghui continued, "How is the investigation I asked you to conduct some time ago going?"

Gu Shiliu felt a bit wronged.

He was only one person, yet he had to serve the Marquis, protect the Marquise, investigate the rumors, and occasionally be assigned other tasks.

He was simply stretched too thin.

He had suggested several times to bring Gu Shiqi into service as well, but the Marquis insisted it wasn't necessary.

He wasn't the Great Sage Equal of Heaven, Sun Wukong.

"I've looked into some of it, but this lowly one is overwhelmed. There are too many people in the household spreading these words."

Saying there were too many was an understatement; in fact, Gu Shiliu felt that aside from the people the Marquise brought with her, everyone else was talking.

To investigate each one individually would be quite troublesome.

But he had already gotten a general idea and had a vague notion of the source.

"Then tell me, what have you found out?"

At this moment, Gu Jinghui was like an interrogator in the central army tent questioning a scout about enemy intelligence, his sharp features frosted with coldness.

"This lowly one... this lowly one roughly knows which factions are spreading these matters."

But he didn't have more detailed information yet.

"Mmm, speak."

Gu Jinghui responded indifferently.

"Those from the Sixth Madame's side, Seventh Miss, and..."

(read @cherrybombbertranslations.blogspot)

With each name he mentioned, Gu Jinghui's face grew colder.

"And others?"

The Dingbei Marquis household only had so many masters; who else could it be?

It couldn't be his own mother, could it?

Gu Shiliu glanced at Gu Jinghui and said, "And Zhao Niangzi."

"What?"

Gu Jinghui waved his hand in shock, knocking the jade pillow to the edge of the couch. It then slid off the smooth bamboo mat and fell to the floor with a crisp sound.

Gu Shiliu felt a pang of heartache for the pillow.

But Gu Jinghui paid it no mind.

"You're saying Zhao Niangzi is spreading rumors outside about me... and me?"

Actually, what these people said wasn't entirely the same.

The people from the Sixth Madame's side consistently said that the Marquis doted on Zhao Niangzi and the two children, ensuring they had the best of everything, the finest food, and must not suffer the slightest grievance. They were the people the Marquis held dear in his heart, the future masters, and everyone in the household should be mindful and stay on their toes.

Seventh Miss frequently mentioned at social gatherings the weight Zhao Niangzi and the two children held in the Marquis's heart, using it as conversation fodder.

As for Zhao Niangzi herself...

She was in mourning, residing in the household. Apart from throwing her weight around within the household as the mother of the Marquis's children, she associated with the wives and children of the Marquis's subordinates.

In her words, she always implied that the Marquis was the children's father, she was just a woman who had to rely on the Marquis's household. Fortunately, the Marquis was deeply devoted to them, so she had something to depend on in her later years.

All these combined led everyone in the household to believe that Zhao Niangzi was just waiting for the mourning period to end before entering the household as the Marquis's concubine.

If even the people in the household thought this way, let alone outsiders.

(read @cherrybombbertranslations.blogspot)

Outside, it was rumored that Zhao Niangzi was a woman the Marquis brought back from the battlefield, deeply favored by him, and she had even borne him a pair of dragon-phoenix twins who might potentially inherit the Marquis household in the future.

"Absurd! Absurd!"

Gu Jinghui wrinkled his dark brows in disgust.

"You say..."

Gu Shiliu strained his ears to listen.

But Gu Jinghui swallowed his words.

What use was it to say these things now?

After a long silence, Gu Jinghui sighed deeply. "No wonder Madame said those things."

Things about face, about how to arrange for Zhao Niangzi and her children.

About having no heart to be estranged.

Gu Shiliu restrained himself repeatedly before saying, "This lowly one has heard..."

Before he could finish, Gu Jinghui asked, "Heard what?"

"I heard that Zhao Niangzi has fallen ill. Moreover, Zhao Niangzi has forbidden anyone from fetching a physician. I'm afraid..."

Gu Shiliu hesitated, leaving his words hanging.

Gu Jinghui's brows furrowed tightly, his face cold and stern, his eyes filled with anger.

He was clearly furious.

"What does she intend to achieve by doing this?"

Gu Shiliu said, "Can't the Marquis see? This is Zhao Niangzi's ploy of feigning illness?"

Here he was, an unmarried man, having to help the Marquis figure out such matters.

The Marquis was stunned.

Gu Shiliu: "..."

So the master truly hadn't realized.

(read @cherrybombbertranslations.blogspot)

Gu Shiliu had no choice but to spell it out. "Marquis, Zhao Niangzi has developed certain intentions. Her actions led to you being punished by the Old Madame. Zhao Niangzi can't find another way to approach you. If she were to threaten suicide, you could naturally ignore it. But if she slowly wastes away from illness, can you just stand by and watch? The two young masters will inevitably come begging to you. What will you do then?"

Gu Jinghui agitatedly got up and paced back and forth like a headless fly.

After a long while, he finally said, "Tomorrow, I will return to the military camp. Have someone convey a message to Cheng Ge'er and Yu Jie'er: tell them I have gone to the camp. They have reached the age to enter the elementary school of the Imperial College and can no longer be raised solely by their mother. Arrange for Cheng Ge'er to live in the outer compound and find a tutor to instruct him. As for Yu Jie'er..."

Gu Jinghui paused.

When it came down to it, Cheng Ge'er and Yu Jie'er were Zhao Niangzi's children.

Even though he was their foster father, he couldn't make decisions arbitrarily; he needed to discuss it with Zhao Niangzi.

But now, he simply did not want to see this woman.

A knocking sound came from outside the door.

Only then did Gu Jinghui snap out of his thoughts. "Who is it?"

Qin Yuan's soft voice came from outside, "Husband, it's me."

Gu Jinghui had originally been harboring some irrational anger towards Qin Yuan, but now he felt inexplicably guilty and in the wrong, afraid to face her.

"May I come in?"

Gu Jinghui said, "Come in."

Qin Yuan pushed the door open and entered. Seeing that both men in the room looked rather grim, she became even more certain that Gu Jinghui's anger was due to other matters and had nothing to do with her. She said with a smile, "Husband, what would you like for the evening meal?"

Gu Jinghui, wanting to send her away quickly at that moment, said, "You decide. I'm not picky. Have it sent here later. Gu Shiliu and I have matters to discuss."

Qin Yuan tactfully left.

Gu Jinghui asked Gu Shiliu, "What should we do now?"

Gu Shiliu didn't know what to do either.

Zhao Niangzi was determined to be ill; no one could stop her. The Marquis could keep his distance from Zhao Niangzi, but he couldn't just watch her seek her own death.

Nor could he watch the two children lose their mother.

But...

Knocking sounded outside the door again; a young maid had come to set the table for the meal.

Gu Jinghui asked in surprise, "Didn't Madame just say she was going to have the meal prepared?"

The young maid said with a smile, "The Madame had already arranged the Marquis's meal earlier. She was just asking if you had any specific requests."

Gu Jinghui's expression relaxed slightly. He looked at the young maid with a complex expression as she set out the food and withdrew before saying, "So Madame just wanted to have the meal with me earlier."

His little wife was quite clingy.

Gu Shiliu stared blankly at the two sets of tableware before him. If possible, he would rather not share a meal with the Marquis.

Qin Yuan ate her evening meal comfortably and leisurely with her maids. After resting for a while, she lit incense, completed the first half of the poem "Buddhist Dancers," copied it onto decorative paper, and had Hongye and Cuiming dig out the copybooks she often practiced from when she was at home. She placed them on the desk, planning to practice writing two hundred large characters daily.

As for how long the Marquis and Gu Shiliu continued their secret discussions, she had no idea.

(End of Chapter)

← prev next →