After Su Qing married Gu Wangchen, he was initially very kind to her, helping her forget her regret of not being able to marry Prince Ping. However, after the Third Prince's downfall, Gu Wangchen's attitude changed. He still smiled warmly and spoke heartwarmingly, but she always felt that he was different from before, like the winter sun, brilliant but without warmth.

Especially after Xu Lanyin's father, Xu Qingyan, returned to Beijing, he changed even more. He didn't even pretend, and was hot and cold. Moreover, he was really not elegant, even tacky. He loved money, but he was just good at pretending. He was more subtle than his mother when asking for money...

In the previous life, were my eyes covered with dust?

Su Qing rubbed her belly and sat by the window, thinking carefully about Gu Chenwang in her previous life. It seemed that he was indeed so good... Wait, there was something else, as if she had overlooked something... Su Qing thought of the pain in her stomach, but she couldn't think of it anymore. She had to withdraw her thoughts and lie down on the bed.

As soon as she lay down, she heard the old woman's loud voice, "I have a miserable life. Even if my wife invites me, I can't come. I have to come here myself."

Su Qing was helped by the maid to get up from the bed and walked out of the bedroom. She saw Gu Po looking at her unhappily, followed by Honghua, who was dressed up and looked shy.

Su Qing covered her stomach and cried out, "Ouch, my stomach hurts." She also squatted down.

The room immediately became chaotic, and a maid shouted, "Quick, go get the doctor."

Gu Pozi was startled and quickly ran away with Honghua.

At midnight, Gu Wangchen and his colleagues finished their drinks before returning home. He'd endured the pain of drinking, but he didn't dare drink much, fearing he'd say something inappropriate. He didn't want to go back to the inner courtyard to see the two women, so he went straight to the outer study to rest.

He had been away on official business a few days ago and had only returned to the capital the day before yesterday. Upon his return, he heard shocking news: Princess Nanyang had actually adopted Xu Lanyin's mother, Qin, as her adopted daughter. This meant Xu Lanyin was the granddaughter of Princess Nanyang and the emperor's niece.

Oh my god, if I had married Xu Lanyin, wouldn't I have become a royal relative? Would I have needed to work so hard to get ahead? It turns out that what I didn't throw away was the real treasure, while what I tried so hard to get was just chicken ribs. If I had known this, I should have kept the engagement. My future, status, and wealth would have been effortlessly mine...

Gu Wangchen had just sat down to drink a sip of tea when the servant reported, "I heard that the eldest grandmother almost had a miscarriage, and the inner courtyard was in turmoil."

"What's going on?" Gu Wangchen asked.

Seeing that the servant was hesitant and didn't dare to say anything, Gu Wangchen's face darkened.

The servant could only say, "I heard that the old lady wants to give Miss Honghua to the master. That would be bad for the grandma."

Gu Wangchen was so angry that he slammed the table, got up and went to the inner courtyard.

Su Qing was lying in bed and opened her eyes when she heard him come back.

He was still handsome and elegant, and did not lose his composure even after drinking.

Gu Wangchen walked to the bedside and said gently, "My mother has always been bad at talking and doing things. Don't bother with her."

Su Qing smiled and pointed at the maid Xiaofeng beside her and said, "Xiaofeng is not only pretty, but also literate, smart, and knows when to act. Let her be a beautiful addition to your family, and you will definitely like her."

Xiaofeng blushed and lowered her head.

Gu Wangchen's eyes flashed with impatience. Without even looking at Xiaofeng, he said, "Don't you know my heart? I only have eyes for you, no one else."

It had been a long time since he had spoken to Su Qing in such a gentle voice, which made Su Qing feel a little dazed and touched.

Su Qing dismissed the servants, pulled out a deed from under her pillow, and said with a smile, "This is the deed to this house. I've had someone change the name to Master this afternoon. You're the head of our family, so the house you live in should belong to Master."

Gu Wangchen frowned and said, "Look at you, you're still so worried even though you're pregnant. Did my mother say something inappropriate again? I'll talk to her." He then said righteously, "You and I are husband and wife, and I don't care about that empty name. I'll have someone change the name tomorrow."

Su Qing stared at Gu Wangchen in a daze. Pulling his mother out would mean she would bear the bad reputation while he would reap the benefits. The words "changing the name back" were hypocritical.

It seemed that he had always been like this before.

He doesn't love women, he only loves career and money.

Tears welled up in Su Qing's eyes, but she quickly suppressed her worries and smiled, "I know that Master is of noble character and doesn't care about vulgar things. But the name has already been changed. Changing it back would make others suspicious, which would be unpleasant."

It seemed that her tears were tears of emotion.

Gu Wangchen thought about it and said, "That can only be done this way for now. When I have a bright future, I will buy Qing'er a bigger house..."

On October 26, the Beijing Xinyu Teahouse, which had been prepared for many days, officially opened.

At daybreak, Xu Lanyin, Chai Jun and Chai Jingjing took a carriage to the teahouse, while Princess Nanyang and Commander Chai followed behind.

The eldest princess attended to join in the fun, while Commander Chai participated entirely because he particularly liked Western chess and military chess, and hoped that these two types of chess could flourish in the Daimyo court.

Because the teahouse's selling points are chess, military chess, and checkers, and because of Chai Jun's superb skills, the favor of Princess Nanyang and Commander Chai, the Fourth Prince wants to be the uncrowned king of chess and military chess, so most of the contestants are officials, celebrities, and students, and there are even more people going to show their support.

The award presenters and judges were either high-ranking officials or renowned figures. Even at a checkers tournament, where most participants were children, three of the six judges were among the "Four Beauties" of Beijing: Chai Jingjing, Zhou Ziyou, and Huang Qian.

Huang Qian is the granddaughter of the Minister of Personnel. Another of the "Four Beauties," Su Yuan, has married and moved away.

When many young men heard that these three beauties were going to be checkers referees, they all signed up to participate in the checkers competition, but because of the age limit, they had to give up.

Due to the large number of people participating and spectating the game, the Princess Nanyang's Mansion also sent dozens of guards to act as temporary security to prevent it from being too crowded.

Sitting in the car, Xu Lanyin heard Chai Jun say that Gu Wangchen was among the people he had found to help. He wasn't qualified to be an award presenter or referee, but was just responsible for running errands, like a secretary.

Xu Lanyin was helpless. She hadn't had the chance to tell the Chai family about his past with Gu Wangchen. Now that things had come to this, she couldn't say much more.

Several people came to the teahouse. Not only were Wang Sanni and other staff busy, but Gu Wangchen was also there.

Gu Wangchen came over and cupped his fists to them, saying with a smile, "Master Chai, Miss Chai, Miss Xu."

He wanted to call her "Sister Yin", but he didn't dare to say it out loud.

Chai Jingjing nodded slightly, Xu Lanyin pretended not to hear, and Chai Jun pulled him aside to assign tasks.

Xu Lanyin went back to the teahouse to check again and listened to Wang Sanni's report on the process. Because of the experience of the Ningzhou Prefecture chess game, even though there were many people, the process was carried out in an orderly manner.