MYSIOAMEWTMMAlTWOAM: Chapter 67

 Glossary

·Qin Yuan (秦鸢): The female protagonist, Marquise of the Dingbei Marquis Household.

·Gu Jinghui (顾靖晖): The male protagonist, the Marquis.

·Gu Baozhu (顾宝珠): Gu Jinghui's younger sister.

·Cheng Ge'er (程哥儿): The twin boy.

·Yu Jie'er (玉姐儿): The twin girl.

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Chapter 67: You and I Are One, Husband and Wife

Qin Yuan sighed and said, "Is it Zhao Niangzi's two children who have come?"

Gu Jinghui examined her expression carefully but could discern nothing. He asked, "How did you guess?"

"When Qian Da and his wife came, I thought it was them. I didn't expect them to come only now. Perhaps Qian Da and his wife said something that provoked Zhao Niangzi."

As she spoke, Qin Yuan pursed her lips and smiled. "Didn't you say you wanted Qian Da and his wife to help clear your name outside, and also that you would provide a dowry for Zhao Niangzi?"

How shrewd Qian Da was! Originally, he intended to use his seniority to keep Bai Que in the estate. But upon hearing the Marquis's stance, he immediately decided to take Bai Que away. Would he swallow this grievance without retaliation? When taking Bai Que away, he would certainly break with Zhao Niangzi to show his loyalty.

Gu Jinghui was taken aback for a moment, then smiled wryly. "You are still the clever one. I actually didn't think of that."

Qin Yuan said with a smile, "Your concerns, Marquis, are not these inner household matters, so of course you wouldn't think of it. Just as I cannot comprehend matters of the battlefield. I suppose you still have some muddy waters to wade through later. Zhao Niangzi's making a scene is also a method of advancing by retreating, right? But I am a bit curious, who brought the two children?"

Sixth Madame Gu would definitely not do such a thing.

Gu Jinghui said in a displeased tone, "You would never guess—it's Baozhu."

Qin Yuan looked at him without speaking, but her beautiful eyes clearly expressed her thoughts—wasn't Gu Baozhu under confinement? How did she get out? Is this how confinement is done?

Gu Jinghui said angrily, "She actually managed to run out. I must punish those scoundrels properly."

Before he finished speaking, Gu Baozhu's voice came from outside the corridor, "Third Brother, where are you? Cheng Ge'er, Yu Jie'er, and I need to see you urgently!"

Her voice was loud, somewhat impatient, and accompanied by the two children's crying.

"You are becoming more and more unruly. How dare you barge into your third brother and sister-in-law's courtyard?" Gu Jinghui leaned out and glared at Gu Baozhu. "How old are you? It's bad enough that you run wild without any decorum, but you're leading Cheng Ge'er and Yu Jie'er astray too. See if I don't discipline you."

Gu Baozhu cried, "Aiya, there's no time for details! Third Brother, Zhao Niangzi went to Mother crying, saying she wants to return to her hometown!"

"Hometown?"

Gu Jinghui frowned, looking at the two sobbing children, feeling a wave of annoyance.

Was this what Yu'an'er called advancing by retreating?

(read @cherrybombbertranslations.blogspot)

He clenched his fingers.

Gu Baozhu said, "Yes! Cheng Ge'er and Yu Jie'er had nowhere else to go, so they came to my courtyard. That's why I ran out. Third Brother, you can't let Zhao Niangzi return to her hometown! Cheng Ge'er and Yu Jie'er are so young. If they follow Zhao Niangzi, they'll have no one to rely on. How can you bear it?"

Yu Jie'er screamed, "Father, Yu Jie'er doesn't want to be separated from you! Father, Father!"

Cheng Ge'er also had tearful, blurry eyes, extremely sad.

Gu Jinghui sighed, pulled his head back, and complained to Qin Yuan, "What is she making a fuss about now?"

Qin Yuan understood that "she" referred to Zhao Niangzi.

"Have Baozhu come in and speak. The stewardesses will be coming soon."

Gu Jinghui was taken aback for a moment, then realized that if Zhao Niangzi wanted to leave, she wouldn't just pick up and go immediately.

He looked at the calm and unruffled Qin Yuan and asked, "Yu'an'er, in your opinion, what should be done?"

Qin Yuan countered, "What do you think should be done?"

The one who could make the decision was Gu Jinghui, not her.

If one day Gu Jinghui regretted it, wouldn't he blame her again?

Although she very much wanted to ask the Zhao mother and children to leave,she did not want to make the decision for Gu Jinghui.

She would only help move things along.

Gu Jinghui said苦恼 (distressed), "I want them to move out of the estate but not too far from the Marquis estate. If anything happens, the Marquis estate can look after them. Their daily expenses go without saying. As for the two children's futures, I won't stand by idly. But Zhao Niangzi is making a scene about taking the two children back to her hometown... Ah, how can I face my former brothers-in-arms like this?"

Qin Yuan understood that military officers were different from civil officials.

Civil officials liked to form cliques and support each other in court.

Military officers had to share life and death with their comrades, binding them with gratitude and righteousness.

As the saying goes, fathers and sons fight together in battle.

The natural blood ties between fathers and brothers were best, but without blood relations, other methods were used to bind them together.

(read @cherrybombbertranslations.blogspot)

Many military officers raised house generals and recognized adopted sons.

Looking back three generations, the servants in the Dingbei Marquis estate were all those who had followed their ancestors through seas of blood and mountains of corpses.

Gu Jinghui had received the life-saving grace of others, so he should repay this grace by taking care of their families. If he failed to do so, he would lose the hearts of the brothers behind him.

This was exactly why Old Madame Gu and Marquis Gu found Zhao Niangzi棘手 (troublesome).

She said with a smile, "Hasn't the Marquis already thought clearly about how to arrange it? If I may speak out of turn, if Zhao Niangzi really wants to return to her hometown, the Marquis cannot force her to stay, but you can still take good care of them."

Listening to her tone and seeing that she had an idea in mind, Gu Jinghui immediately said happily, "Yu'an'er, what you did just now by showing favor to Qian Da and his wife was very good, very clever. Not only did they not insist on keeping Bai Que in the estate, but they also let go of their resentment. You and I are one, husband and wife. You must still help me with an idea regarding Zhao Niangzi. Not for anything else, but I don't want to disappoint the two children's hearts and ruin their futures."

The implication was that he could not afford to provoke Zhao Niangzi but could avoid her, but he had watched the two children grow up, genuinely loved them, recognized them as adopted children, and hoped they would have a good future. He couldn't let Zhao Niangzi's actions ruin that.

Qin Yuan did not agree but pushed him and said嗔 (admonishingly), "Aren't you going to call them in? Baozhu ran out for their sake and is making a scene. Whatever you have to say, listen quickly and then send them back immediately. Otherwise, Mother will be angry when she finds out."

Gu Jinghui couldn't help but smile.

His little wife was also one to repay every slight. Now she still remembered to watch him and make sure Gu Baozhu was locked up again.

He had to be careful not to offend her.

"Baozhu, bring them in quickly. Your sister-in-law is here too."

Since Gu Jinghui had spoken, no matter how reluctant, Gu Baozhu could only lead the two children in.

The three were brought by Cuiming into the outer room of the main chamber. There were not many things inside. The curio shelf held objects of simple and elegant design. Next to it stood a lush green potted plant. On the wall hung a painting of a spring outing and a couplet. The window faced the lush flowers, plants, and trees in the courtyard. The room was scented with a fragrance they had never smelled before, long and distant.

This was the first time Gu Baozhu and the others had entered this room.

They felt inexplicably restrained.

In the seat of honor, Qin Yuan and Gu Jinghui sat close together.

(read @cherrybombbertranslations.blogspot)

Qin Yuan wore gold hairpins in her hair and a floral decoration on her forehead, luxurious and gorgeous. Gu Jinghui wore a blue casual robe, his thick black hair tied tightly with a white jade crown, handsome and arrogant. His narrow, dark eyes looked at them unhappily, appearing very unapproachable.

"Baozhu, you fool around all day long."

Yu Jie'er's short legs, which had been about to run over, halted.

"Your father is different from before. He doesn't want us anymore," her mother had told her. She had refused to believe it, but now she had to believe.

(End of Chapter)

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Translator's Note: check out my other work— The Marquis’s Beloved is a Black-Hearted Lotus and Rebirth as the Matriarch of a Noble Family (⁠*⁠＾⁠3⁠＾⁠)⁠/⁠～⁠♡

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