Chapter 722 They've Lost All Shame

Shen Wantang casually made room for Gu Qianling so he could sit down.

Qiao Zhiyu accidentally touched Gu Qianling's leg, and immediately blushed: "I'm sorry, brother-in-law, I didn't mean to."

Gu Qianling didn't take it seriously: "It's alright, cousin, sit tight. I'll have someone take you back to your residence first."

Faced with such a golden opportunity, Qiao Zhiyu was unwilling to go home. She quickly said, "There's no need for such trouble. Brother-in-law and Sister Shen can just go back to the Duke's Mansion. If brother-in-law doesn't mind, I can go and visit my cousin. It's been a long time since I've seen her, and I miss her very much. But... if brother-in-law doesn't like me, I will go home on my own and will not trouble my sister and brother-in-law at all!"

Since she had already said that, what could Gu Qianling say? He couldn't very well say that he disliked her and wouldn't let her into the Duke's mansion, could he?

Anyway, there are other relatives staying at the house, so one more won't make a difference.

Gu Qianling nodded: "In that case, let's go back to the Duke's Mansion together. Your sister will arrange a place for you to stay. You can stay there for now and go home after the rain stops."

Qiao Zhiyu could hardly contain her joy: "Thank you so much, brother-in-law, for taking me in. You're so good to me!"

Gu Qianling remained silent.

To be honest, he was unwilling to take in Qiao Zhiyu, because Meng Yunlan had previously taken her to stay at the Duke's mansion for a while, and she was anything but peaceful while she was there.

All the other younger siblings who were staying at the family home were as troublesome as Qiao Zhiyu.

If it weren't for Meng Yunlan's sake, he wouldn't have kept her; he would have had her sent away long ago.

But now, he wants to personally take the person back to live with him.

How did things end up like this?

Gu Qianling couldn't help but feel a headache coming on; he had a feeling that the course of events was completely out of his control.

As he was thinking, the carriage, which had been moving quickly forward, suddenly stopped.

He was about to ask the driver what had happened when he heard a calm, familiar voice from outside.

"Du Juan? Why are you following Big Brother's car? Is A Tang in the car?"

It's Gu Qianhan.

Gu Qianling couldn't help but turn to look at Shen Wantang. Had her second brother come out specifically to look for her? But why didn't she react at all when she heard her second brother's voice?

Outside the carriage, Du Juan held an umbrella, looking straight ahead, seemingly ignoring Gu Qianhan as if she hadn't seen him.

Even Granny Yan, who always respected Gu Qianhan, did not respond.

The next moment, the carriage curtain was suddenly lifted.

Gu Qianhan saw Shen Wantang sitting in the carriage. Without saying a word, he stepped in and sat down next to Shen Wantang.

The person was already sitting next to her, but she still didn't react. Even if Gu Qianling was slow to notice, she knew that something was wrong between the two of them.

"Qianhan, did you have a fight with your sister-in-law?"

"No."

Gu Qianhan denied it outright, and instead asked, "Big brother, how come A-Tang is with you?"

As for the other person in the carriage, he completely ignored him.

Qiao Zhiyu wisely decided to act as if she were invisible, shrinking into a corner to minimize her presence and avoid provoking Gu Qianhan, that jinx.

Because she had actually considered marrying Gu Qianhan before, since Gu Qianhan wasn't married yet. Marrying him as his legal wife would naturally be much better than marrying Gu Qianling as a concubine.

Unfortunately, Gu Qianhan was too ruthless and cold-blooded, and she returned defeated and utterly humiliated.

Gu Qianling glanced at Shen Wantang again, and seeing that she still didn't intend to speak, he had no choice but to say, "My sister-in-law's carriage broke down on the road, and I happened to run into her, so I let her get in."

As for the part about Shen Wantang going to the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, he didn't mention it to avoid causing misunderstandings.

Gu Qianhan frowned slightly: "The carriage broke down? How did it break down? When did it break down? Why didn't you send someone back to the manor to let us know and send a new carriage to pick us up? Why didn't you tell me?"

Gu Qianling almost blurted out, "This is your wife. You're asking me? Who should I ask?"

But considering his younger brother's feelings, he held back and said, "I'm not quite sure how it got damaged or when it started... It's probably been a while. When I saw my sister-in-law, her clothes were mostly wet."

He actually knew when Shen Wantang's carriage broke down, but he couldn't say that, otherwise he would still have to explain Shen Wantang's trip to the Imperial Household Department.

Gu Qianling's forehead began to sweat. What was going on? He hadn't done anything wrong, so why did he feel like he had done something wrong? Why was he starting to hide things from his younger brother about his sister-in-law?

Today's events are getting stranger and stranger!

Gu Qianhan didn't notice the sweat on his older brother's forehead, but he had already noticed that Shen Wantang's new dress was mostly wet, and even her embroidered shoes were completely soaked.

But in front of Gu Qianling, he couldn't take off her shoes, so he simply reached out and grabbed Shen Wantang's hand.

Shen Wantang didn't resist and let him hold her: "The carriage broke down an hour ago. Granny Yan also sent someone back to the manor to tell them, but it's probably because the rain was too heavy and the carriage sent by the manor was slow, so they didn't pick me up. It's okay, I can go back to the manor in my elder brother's carriage. It's the same. My elder brother is more reliable than anyone else."

Gu Qianhan's expression was rather unpleasant.

Gu Qianling started sweating even on her back.

What does this mean? Is Shen Wantang saying in front of Gu Qianhan that Gu Qianhan and the Duke's Mansion are unreliable?

No wonder Shen Wantang seemed off today; it turns out the couple had a fight!

"An hour has passed, and no carriage has come to pick you up?"

Gu Qianhan's voice turned cold: "How dare you treat you so disrespectfully? I think you're all tired of living!"

Du Juan, standing outside the carriage, tried to hold back, but finally couldn't resist and used all the sarcastic remarks she had learned from Qin Xin on Gu Qianhan.

"Who are you calling a liar, Second Young Master? Is it the steward who refused to send a carriage to pick up our young mistress? Or the one who blocked the young mistress from entering the study and disturbing your and the eldest young mistress's guards? Or perhaps someone who can order the steward not to send a carriage to pick someone up?"

"They can't all be tired of living, can they? Without the authorization of their superiors, would the subordinates dare to do this? Aren't they just taking advantage of our young mistress's new arrival, thinking she's easy to bully, so they're making things difficult for her in all sorts of trivial matters?"

"Even our humble Shen family would never treat people so disrespectfully! I never expected that a noble family like the Duke's would resort to such low-class methods to bully people! They have no shame whatsoever!"

After he finished speaking, both Gu Qianling and Gu Qianhan looked rather grim.

Gu Qianhan didn't speak, because he was indeed in the wrong about what happened today, but this wasn't the place to explain.

Gu Qianling had no choice but to speak up for Meng Yunlan: "Sister-in-law, today's matter must be a misunderstanding. Your sister-in-law has always been in charge of the household. She has managed the entire Duke's mansion in an orderly manner and has never made a mistake."

"Perhaps the messenger failed to deliver the message, or perhaps there were too many things to do at the manor today, and your sister-in-law was too busy to think about the carriage."

"But no matter what, I apologize to you on her behalf and on behalf of the Duke's Mansion. Now that you have married into the Duke's Mansion, you are our family. The Duke's Mansion has no intention of neglecting you."