Chapter Thirty-Five: My Heart Aches for Ayao
After strolling around for a long time, Meng Jinyao finally parted ways with Zhang Shi.
After Zhang Shi had walked away, Qingqiu couldn't help but whisper, "Madam, the First Madam has ulterior motives. You must be careful."
Ningdong quickly chimed in, "Yes, the First Madam has no good intentions; every word she says is loaded with hidden meaning."
Meng Jinyao glanced at Zhang Shi's almost disappeared figure, narrowed her eyes slightly, and slowly said, "Well, the Gu family, which is rumored to be harmonious, is not so peaceful after all."
Zhang's actions are not hard to guess. If she loses in her fight with Gu Xiuming, she will definitely have a hard time in the future. If she wins, the heir should be replaced.
The position of heir apparent in the Marquis of Changxing's mansion is vacant. Gu Jingxi has a hidden illness and cannot have her own child. Zhang's eldest son, Gu Xiuyuan, is the eldest grandson of the Marquis's mansion. He is closest to the position of heir apparent and will definitely hope that she and Gu Xiuming will fight each other so that he can reap the benefits.
Zhang is quite cunning.
She doesn't get along with Gu Xiuming, but she won't take the initiative to scheme against him unless he makes the first move, in which case she won't be polite.
Seeing her lost in thought, Ningdong felt sorry for her and said, "Madam, it feels like you've just escaped one danger only to fall into another. I thought that once you became a marquis, your suffering would be over, but I didn't expect there to be other troubles. I don't know when these miserable days will end."
Meng Jinyao withdrew her gaze and smiled faintly: "Although the Gu family is not exactly peaceful, it is not a den of wolves either. It is much better than the Meng family. Apart from that unfilial son Gu Xiuming, who in the Gu family would dare to disrespect me?"
Qingqiu and Ningdong were stunned for a moment, then nodded in agreement. That was true. They couldn't help but shed a tear of sadness for their master's previous cautious life.
The Meng family was truly a source of both distress and suffocation. Madam Sun was kind on the surface but ruthless and scheming at all times. Her mistress was just a young lady who would marry sooner or later and would not inherit the title, so why was Madam Sun targeting her so much? It was as if she had some deep-seated grudge.
Madam Meng, the mistress's grandmother, not only disliked the mistress but also mistreated her, ostensibly to educate her disobedient granddaughter. Every time Madam Sun pretended to defend her, it only deepened Madam Meng's disgust for the mistress, while she herself earned the reputation of a virtuous stepmother.
Although the Earl did not mistreat his master, he ignored him. The young master and the second young lady, relying on being born to Madam Sun, were spoiled and arrogant, and disrespected their elder sister.
Of the entire Meng family, only the second son, born out of wedlock, is a good one. If the eldest son hadn't died young, he would probably be a good one too. After all, he and the second son are twins, and if the younger brother is good, the older brother probably wouldn't be bad either.
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The next day.
Meng Jinyao went out to Cha Ran Ju to keep her appointment.
Meanwhile, Song Xinning had been waiting in the private room for a long time, pacing back and forth. She had originally thought that Ayao would be able to live a good life after marrying the heir of the Marquis of Changxing and escaping the Meng family. Who would have thought that Gu Xiuming would elope with someone else? Heartbroken, Ayao married her future father-in-law, and she had been so worried that she couldn't sleep these past few days.
The moment the door opened, Song Xinning looked up and saw Meng Jinyao, who had her hair styled in a married woman's bun, slowly walking in with two maids.
Song Xinning quickly stepped forward, took Meng Jinyao's hand, and stared intently at her, carefully examining her. Seeing that Meng Jinyao looked well, with a rosy complexion and a smile on her face, she didn't seem to be having a bad time. But she was still worried and asked anxiously, "Ayao, how have you been these past few days?"
Meng Jinyao gently patted the back of her hand and replied softly, "A-Ning, don't worry, I'm fine and haven't suffered any injustice."
"You still say you haven't been wronged?" Song Xinning glared at her, her eyes immediately reddening, her voice choked with emotion. "After all this, how can you lie to me? That bastard Gu Xiuming ran away on his wedding day, how could he not be wronged?"
Meng Jinyao pulled her to sit down and said gently, "Gu Xiuming did run away from the wedding, but he's not the only unmarried man in the Gu family. Look, the wedding still went smoothly."
Song Xinning sniffed, forcing back her tears, and replied, "The wedding went smoothly, but do you know how people outside are talking about you?"
Although Meng Jinyao didn't pay special attention, she could guess how those people were gossiping about her, so she laughed and said, "They say the Meng family raised a shameless daughter who can't marry her son but has to marry her father? That's fine too. I'm not the only one being gossiped about. There's also my good father and good stepmother. Even the Gu family can't escape it, after all, the Gu family also raised an ill-mannered rebellious son."
Seeing that she could still laugh, Song Xinning became even more worried. She reached out and touched Meng Jinyao's forehead, then asked anxiously, "Ayao, have you been overstimulated?"
Meng Jinyao shook her head slightly, not caring much, and said, "A-Ning, I'm really fine. Let people say whatever they want. I can do something as shocking as changing the groom on the spot, so why would I be afraid of a few rumors?"
Upon hearing this, Song Xinning stared at her blankly and asked in confusion, "But you clearly have better choices, you could choose the second young master or the fourth young master, why did you marry that old geezer, Lord Gu, out of spite? You are only wasting your own life."
Old geezer?
When Meng Jinyao heard these four words, her expression froze. The image of Gu Jingxi's handsome face flashed through her mind. He had no fine lines at the corners of his eyes and looked to be only twenty-three or twenty-four years old. Such a handsome man with a bright and clear appearance could not possibly be associated with the adjective "old geezer".
Seeing the look of utter disgust on her friend's face, she couldn't help but say something nice for Gu Jingxi: "Actually, Gu Jingxi isn't that old. He's only twenty-nine, not even thirty yet. Besides, he has thick, black hair without a single gray hair. He looks quite young."
Song Xinning disagreed with her, feeling that she was blind, and glared at her, saying, "Why doesn't he count? He is Gu Xiuming's father, someone we all have to call Uncle Gu. As for not having gray hair, your father is in his thirties, older than him, and he doesn't have any gray hair either."
Meng Jinyao was slightly taken aback. She could understand why her friend would dislike Gu Jingxi, but she thought it was alright. She could accept an uncle like Gu Jingxi as her husband. She smiled and said, "Isn't that great? He is Gu Xiuming's father, so I am Gu Xiuming's mother. Gu Xiuming has to obediently bow and call me mother when he sees me."
Hearing this, Song Xinning was stunned and heartbroken. She choked up and said, "Ayao, you still say you weren't traumatized? You married a man so much older than you, who also has a hidden illness, just to get revenge on your fiancé and make him call you 'mother'? Ayao, how could you be so foolish?"
As she finished speaking, tears welled up in her eyes, her face was dejected and filled with despair. Looking at her almost collapsing expression, it seemed that her best friend marrying a lousy old man was more painful for her than if she herself had married a lousy old man.
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