Chapter Sixty-Five: Misunderstanding
Ancestral hall.
Gu Xuanyi endured the humiliation and, under the supervision of the nanny beside her mother, knelt down before the ancestors in the ancestral hall to reflect on her mistakes.
She had never been punished so severely in her entire life.
In the past, when they had conflicts with Gu Xuanling, their grandmother would punish them by making them copy the family rules together. She had never even tried confining them to their quarters. Now, not only would they have to copy the family rules, but they would also be confined to their quarters for half a month and forced to kneel in the ancestral hall for two hours.
This is an absolute disgrace!
Among the grandchildren of the Gu family, only she and her third brother had been punished before their ancestors. However, her third brother had eloped with someone after a failed marriage, which was a different level of severity.
She didn't run away from the marriage or do anything to bring shame to the family, yet her mother was so heartless as to punish her own daughter so severely for the sake of her illegitimate niece.
The old woman comforted her, "Young lady, please don't blame the Madam. She had no choice but to punish you."
Gu Xuanyi's face turned ugly, and she said irritably, "Go away, don't stay here and laugh at me."
The old woman opened her mouth as if to speak, but finally sighed almost inaudibly and said, "Then this servant will take her leave first. You should reflect on your mistakes here. When the two hours are up, this servant will come back to remind you. After leaving the ancestral hall, you will return to your courtyard. You are not allowed to step out of the courtyard gate for half a month."
Gu Xuanyi said impatiently, "Alright, I know."
The old woman said no more and left the ancestral hall.
At this moment, Gu Xiuming, feeling irritated from copying the family rules, left his small room and wandered around the ancestral hall. Unexpectedly, he saw his eldest sister kneeling before the ancestors and asked in surprise, "Eldest sister, what are you doing here?"
Gu Xuanyi heard a familiar voice behind her, and her face tightened. Now things were really bad. Even her brother, who was confined to the ancestral hall to reflect on his mistakes, had discovered her. The news must have spread to everyone else in the mansion outside the ancestral hall as well.
She turned her head and saw Gu Xiuming's thin and haggard face. She was stunned. In her memory, her third brother was a spirited young man. As the heir of the Marquis's mansion, her third brother always had an indescribable sense of superiority.
Now that sense of superiority is gone, his whole demeanor has changed; he has become haggard and gloomy, much like a person who is frustrated and unsuccessful.
Out of politeness, Gu Xuanyi did not answer his question directly, but asked with concern, "Third Brother, are your injuries any better?"
Gu Xiuming's expression froze slightly, but he pretended to be nonchalant and said, "Thank you for your concern, little sister. I'm much better now. Why did you come to the ancestral hall?"
When he asked again, Gu Xuanyi had no choice but to answer in a roundabout way: "I had a little argument with my second sister and she pushed me and I fell to the ground. I was not convinced and wanted to push her back, but my third aunt stopped me immediately and scolded me. At that time, I already knew that I was wrong."
As she spoke, her tone grew increasingly somber: "Later, my second aunt and my mother saw us and learned what had happened from my third aunt. Without saying a word, my mother punished me by making me kneel in the ancestral hall, copy the family rules twenty times, and confine me to my quarters for half a month."
Often, what is said without intention is taken seriously by the listener.
When Gu Xuanyi was speaking, she didn't actually intend to shift the blame to Meng Jinyao or guide Gu Xiuming to point the finger at Meng Jinyao. She was just angry at her mother's ruthlessness. Even if she had to copy the family rules fifty times or be confined to her quarters for a month, that would be fine as long as she wasn't forced to kneel in the ancestral hall. As the eldest granddaughter of the Gu family, being forced to kneel in the ancestral hall would only make the servants laugh at her. Gu Xuanling, that lowly concubine's daughter, was probably secretly gloating.
But what Gu Xiuming heard was that the two girls had a conflict, the older sister was pushed down and fell, Meng Jinyao took sides, and in the end the older sister was punished alone, while the younger sister got away scot-free.
A shadow of gloom flashed in Gu Xiuming's eyes. He thought to himself that Meng Jinyao really did come from a poor family. Was she biased towards Xuanling, who was born out of wedlock, to show off her own superiority? What a vicious woman. His father was truly blind to have married such a woman.
He felt great sympathy for his eldest cousin's plight, as if they were kindred spirits in misfortune. He said gently, "My dear cousin, you've suffered. I'll stay here and keep you company. Two hours will pass quickly."
Seeing that her brother didn't press the matter further, Gu Xuanyi secretly breathed a sigh of relief and nodded gently.
These days, Gu Xiuming has been confined to the ancestral hall and is unaware of what has been happening outside. The only servant who serves him has not told him anything, so he subtly inquires about Gu Xuanyi.
Although Gu Xuanyi was arrogant, domineering, and loved to bully her cousin, she was not very shrewd. She did not realize that her cousin was trying to trick her into revealing information, so she told him everything that had happened recently.
Upon hearing this, Gu Xiuming smiled mockingly and said with sarcasm, "She really is from a poor family. She married my father and became a marquis's wife. She has wealth and honor, yet she still makes such a fuss over a little dowry. Doesn't she feel ashamed?"
Gu Xuanyi dared not respond. She already held her third uncle in awe, and today, after being scolded by her third aunt, she had automatically categorized her third aunt as an elder as frightening as her third uncle.
-
The sun was setting, casting its last rays upon the western hills.
Wei Rui Xuan.
Meng Jinyao lay on the chaise lounge, flipping through a book with one hand and using a bamboo skewer to pick at the fresh fruit cut into pieces on the fruit plate with the other. Her two feet were raised and swinging slowly, looking leisurely and comfortable.
Gu Jingxi returned home early today and saw this scene as soon as he entered the house. It had been two or three days since he had seen his wife when she was awake. He had been very busy these past few days, leaving early and returning late. When he left in the morning, the girl was still asleep, and when he returned late at night, she was already asleep.
Hearing footsteps, Meng Jinyao assumed it was a maid coming in and casually ordered, "I'm thirsty, get me a glass of water."
Gu Jingxi was slightly taken aback. He subconsciously walked to the coffee table, reached out to check the temperature of the teapot. It was warm to the touch, and the tea inside was still warm. He poured her a cup of tea and handed it over, saying in a low voice, "Madam, the tea is not hot. You can drink it."
This long-lost voice hadn't been heard for two or three days. Meng Jinyao paused, slowly turning her head to look. She saw Gu Jingxi standing in front of the chaise longue with a cup of tea in his hand. Only then did she realize who she had been ordering around. She quickly put down the bamboo stick in her hand, sat up, and awkwardly took the teacup, saying, "Thank you, husband. Why did you come back so early?"
Gu Jingxi replied, "Yes, I'm not busy today."
At this moment, Xia Zhu came in and reported, "My lord, the old lady has sent someone to ask you to come over."
Gu Jingxi nodded slightly: "Okay, I understand. You can go now."
Meng Jinyao glanced at Gu Jingxi. The man was moving into the inner room, probably to change out of his official robes and into civilian clothes before going to Shou'an Hall. Looking at his tall and straight back, she hesitated for a moment, but still, out of a wife's duty, she politely asked, "Husband, are you coming home for dinner tonight?"
Gu Jingxi paused, turned to look at her, and saw that she was looking at him expectantly. He figured that she probably wanted to have dinner with him, and he didn't want to refuse her, so he nodded and said, "Yes."
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