Qin Yuan saw this and smiled as she instructed Mo Zhu to pour tea for the Marquis, and then asked the Marquis if he wanted to have a meal together later.

After a few gentle words, Lord Gu's arrogant and aloof demeanor gradually softened.

Gu Baozhu secretly grimaced in her heart, but dared not show it on her face.

As soon as Lord Gu sat down, he turned to look at Gu Baozhu. Before he could speak, Gu Baozhu stood up abruptly and said, "Third brother, third sister-in-law, I have something to do to find my mother, so I won't stay any longer. If you have any questions, just send someone to call me again."

Qin Yuan couldn't help but find it amusing and said, "Alright, thank you for your trouble, little sister."

He personally escorted the person to the corridor before turning back.

Lord Gu asked, puzzled, "What's wrong now? I'm not a tiger, why is she hiding from me the moment she sees me?"

Qin Yuan laughed and said, "The tiger won't force her to pick up the embroidery needle, so of course she'll avoid you."

Lord Gu then remembered, chuckled, and said, "Evil people always need to be tormented by other evil people. After being tormented by me, she really changed her ways. Sixth Brother and Mother spoiled her too much at home."

Qin Yuan smiled and said, "Seventh Sister said that she was originally a great talent for embroidery. You placed your hopes on her too late, otherwise she would have brought honor to the Marquis's mansion at the Qixi Festival. At the end of the year, just wait for Seventh Sister to give you a fan cover that she embroidered herself. I'm just curious, what are your plans for settling her in after the Qixi Festival?"

"Let's see how long she can endure it and how she behaves," Lord Gu said, then thought for a moment and glanced at Qin Yuan with a smile, "I only have high hopes for you. When will the smallpox lady be sent away? I, the newly appointed censor, am about to be put on the shelf..."

"Censor-in-Chief?"

Qin Yuan, disregarding her shyness, looked at Lord Gu with a mixture of shock and anger.

The Censor-in-Chief is only a minor official; what is the Emperor doing?!

Lord Gu laughed and said, "It was just a joke among the people in private. I brought it up when I was talking to you earlier. Don't worry, the Emperor has entrusted me with an important task, but has not appointed me to an official position. In other words, I am only responsible for this inspection in the capital. It is just a temporary measure."

Qin Yuan was relieved and scolded, "You're talking nonsense. You scared me. I thought the Emperor had done something again."

The Emperor was vying with the highest officials for the sake of the Crown Prince and Empress Lin, but he insisted on putting Marquis Gu in a difficult position, turning a war god into a knife that could be discarded at any moment.

Qin Yuan felt deeply indignant on behalf of her lord.

Lord Gu had already incurred the suspicion of the Crown Prince and Prince Jin, and had submitted a secret memorial to the Emperor. The Emperor should have been fully aware of this, yet he still placed Lord Gu in this position.

Lord Gu smiled slightly, reached out and took Qin Yuan's hand, saying, "I know you're not happy, but I'm very happy."

Qin Yuan rolled her eyes at Lord Gu.

Her face involuntarily flushed red.

"Husband and wife are one, so naturally I should think of you."

Lord Gu's lips curled up even higher.

Qin Yuan then asked, "Has the Emperor agreed to your request?"

Lord Gu replied, "Not yet, His Majesty is still considering it."

The so-called deliberation was merely because his suggestion did not satisfy the emperor.

Qin Yuan said, "My lord, I have an idea, but I don't know if I should say it."

Lord Gu immediately said, "We are husband and wife, so just speak frankly."

Qin Yuan smiled and said, "Your Excellency spent ten years in the northern frontier, driving out the Yelü clan. This is an unparalleled achievement, and you have done right by your ancestors and this title, haven't you?"

Lord Gu blushed, steeled himself, and with his fingers slightly curled inside his sleeve, asked, "Yuan'er, do you think so?"

Qin Yuan's eyes widened, and she nodded seriously, "Of course."

Lord Gu didn't even look at her, and said, "That's right, you're right."

Qin Yuan slowly said, "If military generals are not afraid of death and civil officials are not greedy for money, there will be no trouble in the court. But there is no reason for military generals to make decisions for civil officials. If there is another war in the court, the Marquis should serve the country, but now the world is at peace. We can rest on our laurels, and besides, the title is hereditary... What do you think, Marquis?"

Lord Gu stared at his young wife, speechless for a long time.

There are many implied meanings in these words.

Actually, Lord Gu has been somewhat unhappy these days.

What was a military officer like him doing when the civil officials were conducting the capital inspection? Moreover, the emperor expanded the scope of the capital inspection to include officials of the first rank and below, which meant that the emperor intended to use him to deal with the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers.

The civil officials had always wanted to suppress the military general, but they hadn't had time to do so because he had only recently returned to the capital and held military power.

This seemingly prestigious appointment was actually extremely dangerous.

“Yuan’er…you…this…”

Loyalty to the emperor and love for the country are engraved in the Gu family's ancestral precepts, like a shackle that has bound the hearts of generations of Gu family members.

No matter how dissatisfied Gu Jinghui was, he couldn't voice it.

Those who have visited recently either hinted to him, like the King of Qi, that he should take the opportunity to consolidate his power, or they wanted to win him over or pledge allegiance to him.

There's never a moment of peace.

Even the home of Qin Jijiu was bustling with visitors.

His narrow, sharp eyes met Qin Yuan's phoenix eyes, which were as clear and bright as cold stars, instantly cooling down the turbulent thoughts in Lord Gu's heart.

Then, Lord Gu heard her gentle voice explode like thunder in his ear, startling him so much that he didn't know how to respond.

"Has the Marquis listened to Mr. Songshan's storytelling recently? I imagine Mr. Songshan could also tell the story of Sima Yi feigning illness in a very interesting way."

Lord Gu's ears twitched, "..."

He had always known that his young wife was a clever, capable, shrewd, resourceful, and talented woman, but he always felt that she was a delicate, frail woman who needed to be cherished and pampered.

Ever since Qin Jijiu asked for advice over wine that day, his little wife seems to have let go of her inhibitions and is now openly reaching out her little claws into his territory.

It surprised him greatly.

But it also seems to make sense.

Didn't her father-in-law say that she is good at planning and making decisions?

Since he could break up once, he would naturally do it again. In fact, he didn't really resist it, and even liked the way his little wife planned things for him.

Lord Gu took a deep breath and sighed, "Then I'll go talk to him about it."

Seeing that he agreed, Qin Yuan's eyebrows curved slightly, and her eyes seemed to be full of affection. Lord Gu was stunned for a moment. When he came back to his senses, he found that Qin Yuan had already instructed the maids to set out the food.

Lord Gu was pulled to sit at the table by Qin Yuan, and it took him two bowls of soup to come to his senses—he looked just like a foolish emperor who had fallen for a honey trap.

"Of the Thirty-Six Stratagems, running away is indeed the best. Who can resist a beauty trap? Those who can resist are definitely not the ones they truly desire. If you can't afford to offend them, you might as well avoid them..."

Gu Jinghui suddenly realized.

"Everyone says even heroes can't resist the charms of a beautiful woman, but I just didn't believe it. I often felt that I was a hero in my own right, yet no beauty could ever hold me back. It's clear that these are just rumors. I never expected this..."