inside the house.

Qin Yuan's voice was soft and her movements gentle, but Lord Gu's heart was deeply shaken.

Could it be...

Outside the window.

A yellow leaf falls in the chilly autumn wind, tracing a poignant yet lonely arc in the air, a symbol of decay, decline, and despair.

Once a leaf falls from a tree, it loses its vitality.

What follows is certain decay and extinction.

...One leaf falling heralds the coming of autumn.

When Qiuju came to invite the Marquis and his wife to the main room to talk, the courtyard was unusually quiet. There should have been many maids under the eaves, but none of them were there.

It was fine that Hongye and Cuiming weren't there, but even Mozhu and the others were gone. Qiuju couldn't help but peek out the window and saw the lady inside drying the Marquis's hair, and she couldn't help but smile.

Hearing the commotion, Lord Gu finally snapped out of his reverie and looked up. Qiu Ju hurriedly said through the window, "The old lady has prepared fine wine and dishes in the main room, waiting for you and the Lord to come over for a meal and a chat."

Qin Yuan smiled and said, "You go back first, we'll be there in a bit."

Qiuju whispered, "The old lady wasn't very happy when she came back from outside. Even when the seventh young lady was being coquettish and Lan'er and the others were trying to coax her, she didn't smile once."

Qin Yuan nodded and said to Qiu Ju, "Thank you for your advice."

After Qiu Ju left, I turned around and saw white steam rising from Lord Gu's head. In an instant, his originally wet hair was completely dry.

Qin Yuan: ……

Lord Gu had already cleverly taken out a comb and handed it over, smiling as he said, "Good Yuan'er, how about you comb my hair?"

Qin Yuan had no choice but to take it, and casually picked up a hairpin to tie up his hair.

Lord Gu looked in the mirror again and again until he was satisfied. He quickly changed his clothes, took her hand, and went to the main room together.

When the couple arrived, both Master Gu and Gu Baozhu were there.

With a sullen face, Madam Gu rapidly moved her prayer beads, and anyone could see how furious she was.

Upon seeing them enter, both Master Gu and Gu Baozhu turned to look at them and breathed a sigh of relief.

Qin Yuan felt that they had relaxed their breath a little too soon.

After exchanging greetings and taking their seats, Madam Gu put down her prayer beads and tried her best to keep her tone calm: "Third son, you have been working very hard these days, and I have seen it all. I didn't want to ask about it, but today I just couldn't help myself."

Gu Jinghui shifted uncomfortably.

Gu Baozhu huddled obediently to the side like a quail, her eyes darting around. As the saying goes, "Better to die for your friend than for yourself." If she held on to her third brother tightly, she wouldn't want to think about her anymore.

Madam Gu then asked, "Third son, do you know what happened at the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion today?"

Without waiting for Lord Gu's reply, she continued, "The Crown Prince fell into the water, and it was caused by the You family, not by Baozhu. Yet we still stood outside to apologize. When Baozhu went to visit the Crown Prince, they blocked her from seeing him, saying they couldn't bear it and feared the Crown Prince would die because of her..."

This is clearly a sign that they despise Baozhu for being a posthumous child. Who is responsible for Baozhu's situation?

I get really angry just thinking about it. Our Marquis of Dingbei's mansion has sacrificed so many lives for the sake of the nation's prosperity, not so that our child would suffer this injustice.

As he spoke, his eyes became red.

Lord Gu dared not look any further.

Sixth Master Gu stood up abruptly and said angrily, "This is really going too far! Are they taking advantage of the fact that the Gu family has no one to rely on? How dare they say such things?"

"Mother, Sixth Brother, don't be angry. I turned around and left right there. I didn't stand there and suffer for nothing. The Crown Prince is too weak to take my visit. It's his fault. Why should I be blamed?"

Gu Baozhu quickly tried to comfort her.

She wasn't entirely uninvolved in the Crown Prince falling into the water. It was good that the Empress Dowager and others feared her strong fate, so they wouldn't scheme against her marriage anymore.

Madam Gu rolled her eyes at her: "You silly child, even if they think that way, they shouldn't reveal it. They say you can't see into someone's heart. No matter what they really think, they have to keep it a secret. Otherwise, are the lives of the people in my Dingbei Marquis's mansion just being wasted one by one? If we can't even maintain this dignity, then we are neither rulers nor subjects."

Qin Yuan silently took a sip of tea. Only members of the Gu family could bring up this topic.

Sixth Master Gu sat down again and looked at Marquis Gu: "Third Brother, say something."

Lord Gu asked helplessly, "What are Mother's plans?"

Madam Gu said, "Your mother and your sister have both been wronged. What are your plans?"

What face does a man who is in charge of the household have if he cannot make decisions for his family?

Gu Jinghui's suppressed anger resurfaced.

Not only his mother and sister suffered injustice, but his wife also suffered injustice!

What are my plans?

Gu Jinghui's expression turned cold, and his voice became hoarse: "If it weren't for this title, I would have done many more things."

Ten years ago, he watched helplessly as his childhood friend and confidant, the crown prince with whom he had made a lifelong promise, passed away. He watched his father and brothers go to the northern frontier, and then watched their coffins be carried back.

If it weren't for his mother holding him back, he would have given up his life long ago; how could he have survived?

His mother said that since there was no one left in the family, he would have no words to say to his ancestors in the afterlife.

He simply abandoned everything and went to the northern frontier.

At worst, I'll just die there.

Otherwise, who would he be fair to?

Now his mother is saying this again.

Madam Gu slammed her hand on the table: "A gentleman takes revenge even after ten years. Back then, we were weak and had no power to resist being schemed against. I only wanted to protect you all. I never expected you to go to the northern frontier and not return for ten years. You have made such great contributions and done so much, yet you still have to swallow your anger and be schemed against by these women. I feel so aggrieved."

Things are different now; Gu Jia is back on track.

Gu Baozhu immediately said, "That's right. If they embarrass me, they'll embarrass my brother. They've been scheming all day, they're just treating our Gu family like dirt."

Sixth Master Gu glanced at Gu Baozhu.

At this point, it's best not to cause any more trouble.

Speaking of what happened back then...

Gu Baozhu is only a little bit old, but he is physically weak and lacks talent, so he can't stand on his own.

Indeed, as my mother said, we can't live without closing the door.

It was the third brother who enabled the Gu family to turn things around.

The one who should be able to make the decisions is Third Brother.

Gu Baozhu was displeased and said, "Sixth Brother, you escaped a disaster by not going to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion today. Everyone in that family is cunning and calculating. Whether old or young, they all see us as easy targets. If they were only scheming about my marriage, that would be one thing, but they've even set their sights on my sister-in-law. They want to publicly cuckold my Third Brother. Who can tolerate that?"

With a crash, all the teacups and fruit plates on Old Madam Gu's table were swept to the ground and shattered into pieces. The string of prayer beads that she never parted with also fell to the ground.

"What?"

Old Madam Gu swayed suddenly, and Qin Yuan and Lord Gu immediately stood up on either side to catch her, saying, "Mother."

Sixth Master Gu and Granny Rong also squeezed in, looking very nervous.

The complete chapters of "My Eldest Sister Insists on a Marquis-Switch Marriage, Making Me a Lady of the Marquis" will continue to be updated on the Shuhaige Novel Network. There are no ads on the site, so please bookmark and recommend Shuhaige Novel Network!