Qin Yuan breathed a sigh of relief; the discomfort she had felt had dissipated.

As Gu Shiba watched his wife's expression gradually soften, he cautiously asked, "Does Madam wish to send a message to the Marquis?"

Qin Yuan said, "Forget it, the Crown Prince is weak and won't be able to sit for long. But you can ask the Marquis, the Ninth Princess has brought the youngest daughter of the Chang family to ask the Gu family for help. I'm not sure about the weight of this matter, so I don't dare to agree rashly."

Gu Shiba responded, lightly touched the ground with his toes, and his figure had already covered three or four feet before disappearing swiftly.

Qin Yuan returned to her seat and sat for a while. A young eunuch came in and whispered something in the Ninth Princess's ear. The Ninth Princess then stood up and said, "Madam Gu, Madam, His Highness the Crown Prince and I have matters to attend to and cannot stay long. Please enjoy your meal."

Madam Gu tried to persuade her to stay: "The manor has also invited acrobatic and opera troupes from Wuqiao. It's a real pity that the Ninth Princess has to leave before even seeing them."

Upon hearing this, the Ninth Princess was also somewhat reluctant and said, "Brother Crown Prince is urging us on, so we can only look at it another day."

Chang Qingling had no choice but to get up with the Ninth Princess. Before parting, she said with reluctance, "I came in a hurry this time and have not yet met the Marquis. I deeply regret this."

Madam Gu said, "It's alright, it's alright. Your father is going back to the capital. There will be opportunities to see him in the future."

Qin Yuan served by his side, only smiling and remaining silent.

The Ninth Princess was escorted out of the mansion by everyone, who then turned back to take her seat. She was much more relaxed in her speech and actions.

Lady Dai smiled and said, "With the Ninth Princess here, we dare not speak too loudly, for fear of offending the royal dignity."

Madam Jin also said, "This is the first time I've seen a princess from the palace so closely. Her grandeur and her attire... I wonder if the old lady dares not even breathe loudly when she attends a palace banquet."

Madam Gu laughed and said, "This old woman went to the palace for the first time to attend a palace banquet. She didn't eat a single bite of food. She went in hungry and came out hungry. She didn't even dare to drink a drop of water. She really suffered a lot."

Madam Jin said regretfully, "That's such a pity. The food in the palace is all made in the imperial kitchen, and there are all sorts of rare and exotic dishes."

Madam Gu said, "There's nothing to regret. Think about how many people attended the palace banquet. Could they all possibly eat dragon liver and phoenix marrow? It was winter then, and the dishes were all frozen when they were served. Who could eat that?"

After chatting and laughing for a while, the banquet was cleared away, and everyone went to the theater in the mansion to watch a play.

The male guests had finished their banquet and were seated downstairs and in the lobby. The female guests came upstairs through the back door, where they had a good view of the entire scene.

The Wuqiao Acrobatic Troupe performed first.

The opening scene features rope crossing and plate spinning, which are popular with ladies and girls.

On a thick hemp rope strung together by two men, a man and a woman walk towards each other. When they meet, they bump shoulders and pass each other, hence the name "bump rope".

This caused the crowd to gasp in astonishment.

Madam Gu smiled and said, "Hurry up and reward them."

The old women guarding the stage quickly scattered a basket of copper coins, which landed on the stage with a clattering sound.

Hongye was delighted and couldn't help but laugh, "It sounds quite nice."

Qin Yuan also stared at it with great interest.

The rope was tied higher, and as the two walked towards each other, they would occasionally do some extremely dangerous things, almost falling off the rope, but then stopping in a close call amidst the gasps of the crowd.

Amid cheers, basket after basket of copper coins were scattered.

The rope was tied higher and higher, and it became thinner and thinner. The two of them moved more and more on the rope, and Qin Yuan's heart was in her throat, afraid that if something went wrong, one of them would fall.

But the two people on the rope were not afraid at all, and even joked around, making everyone laugh.

In the end, the woman, taking advantage of her lightness of body, even started dancing on the rope.

Gu Baozhu watched with great interest, clapping her hands and exclaiming, "Good, a reward is due!"

As she spoke, she pulled a hairpin from her hair and threw it over.

The woman was standing on one leg on the rope, her head slowly tilting back, her waist bending into a bow shape. Just as she was about to fall headfirst from the height, her leg on the rope was struck by a heavy blow. She screamed and was about to fall headfirst from the rope.

The man on the rope was also swaying precariously, and he was still holding up a dozen thin sticks with both hands, spinning a porcelain plate.

Gu Baozhu covered her face: "..."

Madam Gu hurriedly shouted, "Quickly, save them!"

Before the guards could move, a whistle blew, and the woman somersaulted high in the air, returning to the rope and firmly stepping on the swaying rope. The man opposite her also gradually stabilized his body, and the plates in his hands were still spinning, with none of them falling.

Gu Baozhu lowered her hand from her face and exclaimed in surprise, "Amazing!"

Madam Gu glanced at the reckless fellow without saying a word.

The tips were scattered like rain, mixed with many gold and silver ornaments thrown from the theater seats.

Those downstairs who were unaware of the situation thought it was a deliberate mishap.

They all loudly exclaimed, "Great!"

Qin Yuan breathed a sigh of relief and said to Hongye, "Later, give those two ten taels of silver to calm their nerves. This was Seventh Miss's recklessness."

After being glared at by Old Madam Gu, Gu Baozhu dared not act presumptuously again. She could only stare longingly at the woman on the rope who was tapping her head with her toes, and kept praising her: "How did she train like that? This is what you call being as light as a swallow, right? Can my third brother fly like that?"

Someone laughed and said, "The Marquis is skilled in killing enemies, how could he do this? These people are all lowly commoners who have been learning these skills since they were young and are showing them to us. How can they be compared to the Marquis?"

Gu Baozhu said, "You don't know, my third brother can also jump very high, but he's not as agile as them."

Qin Yuan seemed to be deep in thought.

One expert said, "These people were selected from a young age. They are soft-boned and light-bodied, and they can't eat much, which is why they are so agile. The martial arts that the Marquis practices emphasize 'strength and health,' which are completely different skills."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

The man standing on the rope was thin and frail. If he were to wear iron armor and carry a gun and shield, he would probably break down before he could walk two miles.

Gu Baozhu sighed, "It's a pity I'm a woman, otherwise I would at least follow my third brother to learn martial arts and make a name for myself on the battlefield. Who wants to get married and have children? It's so boring."

Qin Yuan listened from the side: "..."

It's unbelievable that the seventh young lady of the Gu family has such lofty ambitions.

Madam Gu angrily said, "What nonsense are you talking about? I haven't even punished you for the trouble you caused earlier, and you still want to learn martial arts? Don't you think you've caused enough trouble already?"

Gu Baozhu said, "These are two different things. If my husband is unreasonable in the future, I will use my fists to reason with him."

Madam Gu was quite angry and said to Qin Yuan, "As her sister-in-law, you'd better put in the effort to teach her a lesson. She really doesn't know her place. Every son of our military family has a fist the size of a sandbag. Does she think she can reason with people using fists?"

Qin Yuan was having a headache dealing with this mother and daughter.

Gu Baozhu said, "What's the big deal? I'll just marry a scholar from a family of officials."