Chapter 342 - 343: Purpose
Chapter 342: Chapter 343: Purpose
When the mother and daughter-in-law from the second branch saw the old madam’s expression sour, their hearts sank. ’This is bad.’
Before they could even think of a plan, the old madam launched her attack. "What is the meaning of this? Is everything the first daughter-in-law said true?
You dared to bring a new widow into this house? Are you trying to bring me bad luck?"
Seeing the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law huddled quietly in the corner, the old madam knew it was true. "Wife of Huang Tong, you speak."
Madam Huang pursed her lips. ’The old crone is still protecting her precious second daughter-in-law,’ she thought. ’Now she plans to make an example of the granddaughter-in-law.’
Shoved forward by her mother-in-law, Xiao Shi Yu could only stand before them alone, facing the old madam’s harsh glare.
"Grand Madam, my sister may be newly widowed, but she has already decided to leave the Niu Family and is preparing to move on to her next marriage."
Xiao Shi Yu was trying to soften the blow, but she didn’t realize the old madam disapproved of both parts of her explanation.
The old woman’s face instantly darkened. "Whether she’s a new widow or preparing to remarry, it has nothing to do with our mansion. If you’re not worried about the bad luck she brings, you can arrange to meet her outside. Don’t bring her to the mansion again."
"Yes, your granddaughter-in-law understands."
"Grand Madam," Madam Huang interjected, standing up as she saw they were about to let the matter drop. "This issue has caused such a stir that even the Lady Doctor has complained to me. It’s one thing for the second daughter-in-law to send out invitations behind our backs.
Relying on her mother’s status—a mere seventh-rank lady—she brought a gaggle of so-called relatives and had the audacity to sit with a holder of a fifth-rank imperial decree as an equal, even trying to put on the airs of a senior. Our two families are not related to them in the slightest. If word of this were to get out, who knows what people would say about the decorum of our mansion."
Hearing Madam Huang’s words belittling her maiden family, Xiao Shi Yu opened her mouth to retort, but she knew their actions on this occasion could not bear scrutiny. In the end, she simply lowered her head and twisted her handkerchief.
"He’s just a fifth-rank physician. Is our mansion supposed to be afraid of him?" The old madam didn’t take the matter seriously at all. "You, the madam of this house, are simply too soft. You should have issued a warning right then and there, and none of this would have happened."
Madam Huang almost gasped. "Grand Madam, you must not be aware of who this person is. Just three months ago, this Doctor Gu was only a scholar. To have become a fifth-rank physician in such a short time—do you still think he is someone we can offend so lightly?"
"You’re talking about that top scholar, right?" The old madam still thought her first daughter-in-law was making a mountain out of a molehill. "He’s just a new official with no connections. No need to take him so seriously."
Looking at the old madam’s contemptuous expression, Madam Huang could only grit her teeth and endure it. ’This family is getting harder and harder to manage.’
* * *
Gu Wenheng had just left the Hanlin Academy and was about to head home when he was stopped by a servant he didn’t recognize.
"Mr. Gu, our Lord Huang requests your presence."
"Which Lord Huang?"
"Forgive me for not announcing my master, Mr. Gu. I am an attendant of the Second Master, the son of the Minister of the Ministry of Justice. He invites Mr. Gu to join him to discuss a matter."
A certain figure immediately came to Gu Wenheng’s mind. The second son of the Minister of the Ministry of Justice had, as he recalled, only managed to secure a minor post as a small historian in the Capital City’s North and South Army. ’And this attendant dares to address him as Lord Huang?’
"My apologies, but I have other business today. We can speak of this another time." Gu Wenheng certainly didn’t think some small official had enough standing to summon him like this.
Even out of respect for the Minister of the Ministry of Justice, Gold, he was not someone to be beckoned at will.
Bypassing the servant still blocking his path, Gu Wenheng walked straight to his carriage and told Hong Da, who was waiting, to return home.
Only after Gu Wenheng had departed did the servant hurry over to a carriage parked in a nearby corner.
"Get in," an arrogant voice called from inside the carriage.
"Second Master," the servant reported softly from outside, "Mr. Gu ignored me and left on his own."
"And you didn’t give him my name?"
"I did, but he paid you no mind whatsoever. As soon as he heard it was you, he left immediately."
"Insolent peasant!" The sound of something being thrown and smashed came from inside the carriage.
"..."
* * *
During dinner, Jin Qianqian recounted the day’s events at the Huang Mansion to Gu Wenheng, treating the whole thing as a joke.
"Those people are truly clueless. That mother and daughter from the Xiao Family, do they really think Mr. Xiao is still that Fourth-rank Prefect? They put on such airs.
It’s a pity I was too angry at the time to figure out why they set up that whole situation."
Gu Wenheng set down his bowl and chopsticks, looking thoughtfully at Jin Qianqian. "I suspect this whole affair was aimed at me. You were right to leave immediately."
Although Gu Wenheng sensed something was amiss, he couldn’t quite understand the Huang Mansion’s motive.
If it were about forming factions, that seemed unlikely. The new emperor had only recently ascended the throne, and the Little Prince in the palace was still in his swaddling clothes.
Besides, all the court officials already had their own allegiances. He, a fifth-rank physician, wasn’t so important that a small official would be sent to recruit him.
Jin Qianqian, however, frowned. "I just found the way the Xiao Family’s Concubine looked at me very unsettling."
"The Xiao Family’s Concubine?" Gu Wenheng thought of that time he was stopped on the street. He especially remembered her eyes, which stared so intently, and a feeling of disgust welled up in him.
Jin Qianqian said, "I’ve already sent someone to investigate, but they haven’t returned yet."
She had barely finished speaking when Li Qiu appeared at the door with the servant who had been sent out.
After the servant delivered his report, both Jin Qianqian and Gu Wenheng were lost in thought.
"Darling, would you say this woman is unlucky or fortunate? Her husband passes away, and her mother-in-law, who always found fault with her, dies right after."
Gu Wenheng, however, focused on a key point. This Niu Xiao had been visiting the Huang Mansion quite frequently these days, and they had been targeted as a couple, but separately. It was impossible that nothing was going on.
"And what a coincidence that we both received invitations to the Huang Mansion at the same time, right after she finished her mourning rites," Gu Wenheng reminded her.
"Yes, quite the coincidence," Jin Qianqian mused. She considered the relationship between Xiao Wanyu and the Huang Mansion; she couldn’t imagine the daughter of a concubine being that close with the legitimate branch of the family.
Thinking again about the way the woman had stared at her, and the fact that Gu Wenheng had been accosted by the master of the second branch today, a suspicion began to form in Jin Qianqian’s mind.
"I just did a little calculation," Jin Qianqian said, staring at Gu Wenheng. "And I believe their target is you. I’d even guess you’re about to have a romantic encounter." As she spoke, she kept her eyes on him. ’He drank in the gardens of the Prefect of Dao City back when he passed the scholar exam,’ she thought. ’Don’t tell me he attracted this trouble way back then?’
Gu Wenheng gently flicked her on the forehead. "Even if some ’peach blossom’ came my way, wouldn’t you pluck it before it even got near me?"
"I’m being serious," she said. "I suspect if I hadn’t left when I did, she might have tried to offer herself to you."
The mere thought of that scene made Jin Qianqin’s stomach turn. In a fit of displaced anger, she walked over and pinched the soft spot on his waist.