Since Madam Xu passed away, Master Gu has paid much more attention to these children than before, especially the frail Lan'er.
He immediately turned around and rushed inside to check on the child, without even having time to speak with Madam Xu.
Xu followed them inside.
She had hoped to win over Master Gu by comforting Lan Jie'er, but instead she saw that Master Gu's two sons were covered in dirt, Lan Jie'er was crying uncontrollably, and the children she had brought were also disheveled, with one of them having bloodstains on his face.
Before he could even speak, Sixth Master Gu hurriedly picked up Lan'er, gently patted her, and softly coaxed her, "My dear daughter, where does it hurt? Why are you crying like this? Father is here. Don't cry, don't cry."
Lan Jie'er finally stopped crying in her father's arms. Trembling, she pointed her thin index finger at the Xu family's brat and sobbed, "Father, they're bad. They said nasty things. My eldest brother told them to stop, but they kept talking. My second brother protected me and hit them, and then everyone started fighting."
With a flushed face, Xu Shizi immediately smacked her youngest son on the shoulder and shouted, "I told you to come in and play with your cousins, why are you fighting?"
Sixth Master Gu frowned.
Madam Xu added, “Quickly apologize to your uncle and cousins. Your aunt is gone. When she was alive, she loved you the most. You should be a close family. Why didn’t you help take care of your cousins? Instead, you started fighting. You are so ignorant. You have forgotten how I taught you at home.”
Kang Ge'er immediately said in a muffled voice, "What do you mean by family? We don't want to be family with you. You have no chance of marrying my sister."
Fu Ge'er chimed in, "That's right. We don't have a mother anymore, but we still have our grandmother, aunts, and other relatives to protect us. Do you think we don't know? Our mother was driven to her death by your Xu family. Now you're trying to trick our sister into becoming your wife and taking our mother's dowry. You're utterly despicable."
Sixth Master Gu's face suddenly darkened, and he angrily asked, "What's going on?"
Kang Ge'er complained, "My cousins came in and ransacked my things, and they even pulled my sister's braids. When my sister tried to stop them, they said that pulling braids was nothing, that she was going to marry into the Xu family and become their wife, and that my sister should take my mother's dowry back to the Xu family. We all know that even cousins can't say such things about their daughters, so we told them to stop, but they kept talking, and that's when we started fighting."
A few words made Master Gu's chest heave with anger. Madam Xu quickly said, "They're just children who don't know any better. I don't know where they heard this nonsense from, and they're just spouting it here."
He grabbed his youngest son's ear and twisted it hard, and the youngest son immediately started wailing.
Madam Xu also scolded, "You are just as troublesome and clueless as your father. She is a young lady from a marquis's family. What is she doing marrying into our family? There is a limit to your nonsense. Do you still think you are children? Can't you see that your uncle is angry?"
Her outburst rendered Sixth Master Gu speechless once again.
But I'm not willing to just let it go like this.
At this moment, Dai and the others were drawn by the crying. Seeing the situation, they said, "If Madam Xu wants to hit or discipline the children, she should go somewhere else. The three children are keeping vigil for their mother. Children don't understand, but we adults should also know our limits."
Madam Xu's expression was unfriendly. Qin Yuan squeezed in and said, "Sister-in-law, why don't you take the children to sit in the pavilion? The vegetarian meal will be served soon. The children are probably just hungry, that's why they're making such a fuss. After the meal, those who want to hear the head monk chanting can listen from the side, and those who don't can take a walk in the courtyard to digest. The guards are on guard outside. There might be thieves around here, so it's best if everyone stays home at night."
Madam Xu had no choice but to pull the children away.
After she walked away, Madam Dai said, "They're just taking advantage of your youth and innocence, saying whatever they want to a child. What do children know?"
The implication was that he was only saying this because he had heard the adults' plans.
Master Gu frowned, looking with pity at his youngest daughter, whose tears were still wet in his arms.
Her thin body had only managed to gain a little weight.
His features vaguely resembled those of Madam Xu, but he mostly resembled him and his birth mother, Aunt Wen.
Even a poor family like the Xu family dares to covet his daughter.
Qin Yuan smiled and said, "Thank you for speaking up for us, Sister-in-law Cheng. There are some things we can't say ourselves."
Madam Dai laughed and said, "I understand. I've seen this kind of thing many times. People always blame it on the child. If you delve deeper, they'll say you're stingy and look down on them. You'll inevitably be called a snob."
Sixth Master Gu also said, "Thank you for protecting me, Sister-in-law Cheng. I was standing here just now, holding my breath, but I couldn't say a word."
Seeing his appearance, Dai couldn't help but marvel.
Unexpectedly, after Xu's death, he became even more sensible than before.
Dai raised her hand and said, "Hey, what's this? We're clansmen and neighbors. If I don't help, who will?" She looked at the clansmen beside her and laughed, "If I hadn't spoken so quickly, we would have all pushed her out with a few words. We wouldn't have been able to handle her."
Everyone laughed.
In the evening, after the monks had eaten their vegetarian meal and rested briefly, they beat the drums, sang hymns, and began a night-long Buddhist ritual.
Qin Yuan watched for a while, then felt tired and went back to her bedroom.
Gu Baozhu was talking to the three children inside. When she saw her return, she asked, "Third Sister-in-law, are you going to rest?"
Qin Yuan smiled and patted Lan Jie'er's head, saying, "No, I was a little sleepy listening to the monks chanting sutras, but a walk outside refreshed me."
“Just like me,” Gu Baozhu said with a look of satisfaction, as if she had found a kindred spirit.
For no apparent reason, Qin Yuan thought of how Master Gu looked when he saw Qin Siyuan, and couldn't help but chuckle.
Hongye and Cuiming were tidying up the house.
Gu Baozhu kept talking to Qin Yuan, recounting all the ladies and officials who had visited during the day. Seeing that Qin Yuan remembered them all clearly, she exclaimed in amazement, "Third Sister-in-law has such a good memory. She will definitely not make any mistakes when she goes to various households with my mother in the future."
Qin Yuan smiled but remained silent.
She was familiar with these people and things from her previous life, so they were nothing special.
Gu Baozhu continued, "Third sister-in-law, You Da praised you today, saying that if I could learn some of your skills, Mother wouldn't beat me, and my life would be easier in my husband's family in the future."
Qin Yuan then said, "Why is it Miss You who came today? Her mother came last night."
Gu Baozhu said, "She said that she went back home last night and had a late-night snack. Her mother and sister-in-law both had diarrhea and made a fuss all night. Only she came."
Qin Yuan sighed, "Funerals are the most exhausting thing. Each family has to come three times. It's fortunate that we are a family like ours. If it were a poor family that couldn't follow the proper customs, it would be even more difficult."
Gu Baozhu didn't care much and casually agreed, then asked, "Third Sister-in-law, today You Da said it would be better to give the life-or-death contract to the Ninth Princess as a favor. Do you think she's here to act as an intermediary?"
Qin Yuan glanced at her in surprise.
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