Chapter 370 Ex-Fiancée
In the evening, Gu Jingxi and Meng Jinyao returned from their trip to Taihu Lake. As soon as they arrived at Qinyaxuan, Steward Liu came over and presented them with an invitation, saying respectfully, "My lord, this is an invitation sent by the prefect of Huzhou."
Prefect of Huzhou?
Gu Jingxi frowned slightly, took the invitation, and glanced at its contents. The invitation succinctly stated that the day after tomorrow was the fifty-sixth birthday of the mother of the prefect of Huzhou, and a birthday banquet would be held at the mansion, inviting the couple to attend.
The prefect of Huzhou was a fourth-rank official, while he was a third-rank official. Logically speaking, he was of a much higher rank than the prefect of Huzhou, so the prefect of Huzhou would not have invited them to celebrate his mother's birthday.
However, the brother-in-law of the prefect of Huzhou was the governor of Zhejiang, a veritable regional official with the rank of second grade, higher than him. The prefect of Huzhou would have to pay his respects to him. With such a powerful backer, it was normal for the prefect of Huzhou to invite him as well. After all, on the day of the birthday banquet, the governor of Zhejiang, as the old lady's son-in-law, would also come to offer his congratulations.
The governor himself went; his absence was a clear sign of disrespect.
Seeing his master frowning, Steward Liu felt uneasy: "My lord, is something wrong?" After saying this, he looked at his wife, and as if realizing something, he quickly lowered his head.
Gu Jingxi said calmly, "It's nothing, you can leave now."
Steward Liu acknowledged and withdrew, saying, "Yes, Your Excellency."
Meng Jinyao took the invitation from her husband, read its contents, and then asked, "Husband, what connection does the Prefect of Huzhou have with our family?"
Gu Jingxi shook his head: "We have no connection."
Upon hearing this, Meng Jinyao nodded slightly: "Then shall we prepare a birthday gift and send it over the day after tomorrow? Although his official rank is lower than yours, we are both in the officialdom. Maybe he will be promoted in the future and become your equal. We should still give him some face. What do you think, my husband?"
“Our Ayao is very thoughtful.” Gu Jingxi praised her idea, then changed the subject, “However, we will both send birthday gifts and attend the birthday banquet the day after tomorrow.”
Meng Jinyao was taken aback, but didn't think much of it. She simply said, "Then I'll have Steward Liu prepare the birthday gifts tomorrow. We'll attend the birthday banquet the day after tomorrow. I also want to see what birthday banquets are like in Huzhou."
Gu Jingxi asked, "Ayao, do you know what the background of the prefect of Huzhou is? And who is his wife?"
Meng Jinyao shook her head. She knew nothing about officialdom, so how would she know what kind of background the prefect of Huzhou had? She didn't even know his background, let alone who his wife was. Even if she knew something, it would only be within the capital's social circle; she knew nothing about local officials.
Gu Jingxi said slowly, "The prefect of Huzhou is surnamed Wei. He was originally from the capital. He married a woman from the Mei family. After passing the imperial examination, he was sent to serve as an official in a local area. After his father and elder brother passed away one after another, he brought his mother to live with him. He has an elder sister who is the wife of Governor Han of Zhejiang."
After listening, Meng Jinyao nodded knowingly and replied, "So his brother-in-law is the governor. No wonder my husband attended the birthday banquet. We can disregard his face, but we must give face to the governor, after all, the old lady is the governor's mother-in-law."
Seeing that his young wife hadn't realized anything was wrong, Gu Jingxi reminded her, "Ayao, do you remember which family my ex-fiancée was from?"
Without hesitation, Meng Jinyao replied, "The Mei family? What happened?"
As soon as she finished speaking, she suddenly realized that her husband's ex-fiancée was a woman from the Mei family, and the wife of Prefect Wei of Huzhou was also a woman from the Mei family. Were they the same person, or sisters in the same family?
Seeing this, Gu Jingxi knew that she had realized what was going on, and said, "Madam Wei is my former fiancée."
Although she had already guessed it, hearing his words still caused a huge uproar in Meng Jinyao's heart. She never expected that there would be such a coincidence that Madam Wei was actually her husband's ex-fiancée.
In an instant, countless images flashed through Meng Jinyao's mind: meeting an old flame, comparing old love with new love. She even couldn't help but wonder if her husband still had feelings for someone else and wanted to see his old flame as soon as he arrived in Huzhou.
She lowered her eyes slightly and asked softly, "Then... what does my husband mean?"
Gu Jingxi replied, "What I mean is, you should be told this in advance, so you won't be the last one to know at the banquet and it will be awkward."
Meng Jinyao clenched her fists, suddenly looked up at Gu Jingxi, and mustered up the courage to ask the question that had been bothering her: "Then, did my husband go to the birthday banquet to see her?"
She felt uneasy, and her tone was somewhat unsteady when she asked the question.
Upon hearing this, Gu Jingxi was stunned for a moment. Then, he pulled her onto his lap and said gently, "Silly girl, what are you thinking? I told you last year that I have nothing to do with her. We were only engaged once, but now we are both married. Attending this birthday banquet has nothing to do with her. Even if Madam Wei wasn't her, I would still attend this birthday banquet."
Meng Jinyao asked again, "She's fine after she got married, but what about before she got married? You even ordered a set of plum blossom-patterned jewelry for her, but you haven't given it to her yet. You're going to meet her again the day after tomorrow. What are you thinking now?"
Upon hearing this, Gu Jingxi was slightly taken aback, and then explained gently, "When we were preparing to set a wedding date, my mother said that I was like a block of wood and didn't win the hearts of girls. She asked me to give her a gift on her birthday and told me that she liked plum blossoms and asked me to give her a gift that she liked to enhance our relationship. That's how this set of jewelry came about. Later, I got injured, so I never gave it to her."
Seeing that he didn't seem to be lying, Meng Jinyao's uneasy heart gradually calmed down, but she still had doubts, so she asked again, "But the Mei family took the initiative to break off the engagement, so why are you still keeping this set of jewelry?"
Gu Jingxi replied truthfully, "After I was injured, I learned about the extent of my injuries from the imperial physician and started thinking about announcing the engagement. I didn't want to ruin the young lady's life, so I casually threw that set of jewelry into the storeroom. But before I could even suggest breaking off the engagement, the Mei family came to our door to cancel it. I had forgotten about that set of jewelry in the storeroom. It was only when you found it that I remembered it."
Meng Jinyao was stunned. She hadn't expected this to be the reason. No wonder when she found the set of jewelry, it was in an inconspicuous corner and had been covered in dust for a long time. It turned out that her husband hadn't even remembered it.
Gu Jingxi said gently, "Ayao, I have never had any romantic feelings for her. The engagement was the idea of both families' elders. I also thought that Miss Mei was dignified and elegant, and a good girl, so I did not refuse."
Meng Jinyao believed him and said with shame, "Husband, am I being unreasonable?"
Gu Jingxi gently shook her head: "How can this be unreasonable? If you have any questions, just ask them directly. There's nothing wrong with that. The problem is that you haven't asked anything and are just making wild guesses in your mind."
After saying that, he reached out and cupped his wife's face, looked into her eyes, and said softly, "Ayao, don't overthink things. In all your life, your husband has only ever loved one girl, you."
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