Chapter 30 Mother and Daughter
Duke Yong's carriage stopped in front of the Marquis Wenchang's mansion.
The doorman was shocked to see a wooden plaque with the Chinese character "Yong" carved on it hanging in front of the luxurious carriage. He hurried over and saluted respectfully.
"Is the eldest girl back home?"
Zhou Chunyu turned over and dismounted: "It's the second young lady from the Gu Mansion who is returning home."
The concierge was stunned: "Second Miss?"
Donghua and Shen Li got off the carriage first. Zhou Zhilan helped Gu Huan out. Donghua reached out to catch Gu Huan, and Zhou Zhilan protected her and helped her get off the carriage carefully.
Gu Huan looked up at the plaque on the door, which had four large characters written in a flamboyant style: Wenchang Marquis Mansion.
The title of Marquis of Wenchang has been passed down for five generations, and the plaque was bestowed by the ancestor emperor of Daliang himself.
Lord Gu is the president of the Hanlin Academy and was once the teacher of the late emperor. Going further back, Gu’s ancestors produced a grand tutor, a privy council envoy, and two assistant prime ministers.
The ancestors of the Gu family were great writers and the best among the civil servants.
The Gu family has always been known for its strict etiquette and rules.
But by my father's generation, except for my father who had won the third place in the imperial examination, none of the other uncles and younger generations in the Gu family had achieved success. They all enjoyed the benefits of the Gu family's ancestors.
Because the Gu family members lived beyond their means, the Gu Mansion, which was originally famous for its elegance and nobility, was now in ruins and unable to make ends meet.
According to Daliang law, her father is the last generation to inherit the title of Marquis, unless her father or descendants have made outstanding achievements.
Therefore, the Gu family's noble style changed by the time her father's generation came around.
Without money to bribe various parties, my father married the daughter of Jiangling's royal merchant Pei as his concubine and allowed her to act tyrannically in the marquis's mansion.
He used his daughter as a bargaining chip and married her off to a wealthy and prominent family who could help him consolidate his position.
The more Gu Huan looked at it, the more ironic it seemed.
What would people think if they knew about the dirty things going on in the Gu family?
Her biological mother, who was born in the Wang clan of Langya, had to endure her father's favoritism towards his concubine in order to support the declining Langya Wang clan and to maintain her status as the lady of the marquis's mansion. She also had to endure the humiliation of Aunt Pei showing off in the marquis's mansion because of the generous dowry she brought.
The doorman was stunned. This beautiful lady looked familiar.
Could it really be the least favored second young lady in the Gu family?
"The Marquis' Mansion asked the Second Miss Gu to return home, why haven't you informed them yet?" Zhou Chunyu shouted coldly.
The doorman came to his senses and quickly told someone to go in and pass the message.
After a while, Aunt Pei rushed out in a hurry. When she saw Gu Huan dressed completely new from head to toe, and then looked at the luxurious carriage and the group of people who came back with her, her face suddenly darkened.
When her Ru'er came back home, she rode in an ordinary carriage. How dare that little bitch Gu Huan act so arrogantly in front of Ru'er?
Didn’t we agree to bring her back and send her to her brother-in-law in Jiaochun Garden soon?
Why didn’t Ruer come back with us?
I haven't received any message from her. Has something changed?
It was not easy to get angry in front of the people from the Duke's Mansion, so he asked in a bad tone, "Where is your sister? Why did you come back alone?"
Gu Huan glanced at her, ignored her, and walked straight towards the door.
Seeing that she dared to turn her back on him in the Marquis's Mansion, Aunt Pei became furious and went forward to pull her, but her wrist was suddenly grabbed by someone. When she turned around, she saw that it was a maid who was about seventeen or eighteen years old.
How dare a little maidservant act so wild in front of the Marquis's mansion!
Aunt Pei's face turned cold: "This is the Marquis' Mansion! Do you think it's your turn as a maid to discipline my own daughter?"
Zhou Zhilan pushed her away, quickly caught up with Gu Huan, and walked inside holding her hand.
Aunt Pei was furious. She lifted her skirt and chased after him, cursing: "The slave girl in the Duke's Mansion is so unruly. She is bringing shame to the Duke's Mansion!"
Donghua pushed her shoulder with her sturdy arm and said, "How dare you! Miss Zhou is the housekeeper of the Duke's Mansion. How can you, a maidservant of the Marquis' Mansion, speak up?"
Aunt Pei staggered after being pushed, and when she heard the voice of the housekeeper of the Duke's Mansion, she immediately shut up, saw that something was wrong, and hurriedly followed behind.
The news was received inside the Marquis' Mansion, and Mrs. Wang was a little surprised when she heard the news.
"The Marquis' Mansion asked her to come back? How come I didn't know?"
Nanny Zhou: "I guess it was Aunt Pei who called in the name of the Marquis."
Wang was feeling a little lazy, and she didn't want to get involved in the mother-daughter relationship, so she said calmly, "Let her go back, and let her go back to Pei's room."
"yes."
Nanny Zhou turned around and went out, but when she reached the gate of the courtyard, she saw from afar a beautiful woman walking towards her, surrounded by a group of people.
I was stunned and muttered to myself, didn’t they say that the second girl is coming back?
How come the older girl is back?
Suddenly, she thought that maybe the eldest girl had come back with her, and she immediately said to the maid beside her happily, "Go and tell the lady that the eldest girl is back."
She went to greet him personally, and when she got closer, she was startled to see that bright face.
This... is the second girl?
When Gu Huan saw her mother's dowry nanny, she bowed respectfully and said, "Nanny Zhou."
Nanny Zhou came back to her senses. As she often served in the mansion of the marquis, she immediately understood that what she saw was unusual.
Let's not talk about what Gu Huan was wearing, just look at the two people, a man and a woman, who were following her. They were dressed no worse than the masters of the Marquis' Mansion and had the air of people in higher positions. One could tell at a glance that they were of extraordinary status.
Following behind him were a servant and two maids.
This ceremony is even more luxurious than when an older girl returns home.
She quickly put on a smiling face and said, "It turns out that the second young lady is back. Madam is not feeling well at the moment, so she specially ordered me to tell the second young lady that she doesn't need to pay respects, and that she can go directly back to Anxiang Courtyard to talk to Auntie."
Her biological mother didn't want to see her.
Gu Huan felt a slight pain in her heart.
You can't blame her, the mother doesn't even know that she is her biological daughter.
But she longed to see her biological mother, even if they could not recognize each other.
Gu Huan pretended to be surprised: "My elder sister said that the Gu family sent me a letter asking me to go home. Could it be that mother doesn't know about it?"
Nanny Zhou hurriedly glanced at the two people behind her and said that if the mistress didn't even know that the young lady was called back, then this mistress probably has no status at all.
She quickly changed her words: "Not really. I called the girl back with Madam's permission. Madam is considerate of the girl and the aunt. I think you have something to say, so let the girl go to Anxiangyuan first."
Gu Huan: "It is not reasonable for my daughter to see my aunt first when she returns home. I should come to see my mother. Besides, I am not a married woman, so when I return home, I should greet my mother first."
Madam Zhou was helpless: "Then please wait a moment, young lady. I will go and tell them."
"Thank you, Ma'am." Gu Huan said politely.
Zhou Chunyu said to Gu Huan, "Second Miss Gu, I will go down to pay my respects to the Marquis."
"Okay." Gu Huan nodded.
"See me?" Wang rubbed her brows. "I'm really tired. Please send me away."
There are several illegitimate daughters in the mansion, but this second daughter is the only one who is cowardly. Apart from a nice face and figure, she always looks like a slave, submissive and unpresentable.
She has never had a very good impression of it and usually doesn't bother to care about it.
Madam Zhou was embarrassed: "Madam, five people from the Duke's Mansion came with us, and two of them seem to be of high status. The second young lady is still unmarried and has lived in the Duke's Mansion for more than a month. She suddenly came back like this, there may be some internal reasons. Aunt Pei has always been scheming, you have to be careful."
Wang was startled and keenly heard what Nanny Zhou was reminding: "You mean, Pei wants Gu Huan to take Ru'er's place?"
Madam Zhou nodded: "This is my guess."
She moved closer and lowered her voice: "I heard that Aunt Pei sent the second young lady to the Duke's Mansion with bad intentions. It seems that she wanted her to be the eldest brother-in-law's concubine. You see how Aunt Pei has raised the second young lady to be so attractive. She is very ambitious.
Aunt Pei expresses her loyalty to the eldest girl all day long, but I don't know what her intention is. But the eldest girl always listened to her, thinking that she was really doing it for her own good. What if she fell into Aunt Pei's trap and ended up hurting the eldest girl? ”
Since the matter concerned the future of her own daughter, the only legitimate daughter of the Marquis's Mansion, Wang did not dare to take it lightly.
He forced himself to order, "Change my clothes."
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