Gu Baozhu seemed unable to distinguish between good and bad words, and said, "Of course my third brother has no affair with her. If her husband hadn't saved my third brother's life and my third brother hadn't promised to take care of his family, how could this have happened? When we were in the north, my third brother raised those twins as his own children. After returning to the capital, the customs in the north and the capital are very different. My third brother also wanted to get married and have children. That woman was unwilling to accept this and caused a lot of trouble. In short, I was deceived before, which led you to misunderstand. Now I'm not stupid anymore."
Everyone: "..."
Would someone who isn't stupid talk so freely about family matters with others?
However, Miss Gu Qi was quick-witted and spoke clearly and logically, so they only needed to listen to understand the whole story.
Miss You continued, "Indeed, your third brother has made unparalleled military achievements and is handsome. Countless women want to climb the social ladder and get rich. No wonder they have their eyes on him. It's just a pity that none of them are as lucky as your third sister-in-law."
"Sigh, my third brother was so focused on hunting wild donkeys that he had no interest in love. Now that he's married a goddess like my sister-in-law, who else could he possibly be interested in? Quite a few women have come to our house with their eyes on me, but alas..."
Seeing that Gu Baozhu was interested, Miss You hurriedly said, "If your third sister-in-law can give birth to a son or daughter, she will be able to gain a foothold in the Marquis's mansion. She is so favored that when you get married in the future, I'm afraid she will take away a lot of the dowry that was originally meant for you."
Gu Baozhu rolled her eyes and stammered, "You can't say that. Who knows when she'll give birth? Even if she can, I'm not afraid. My dowry is already prepared, why should I compete with her for it?"
Everyone felt as if they had learned some truth, and they entered the hall in twos and threes. When they saw the Gu family mother-in-law and daughter-in-law already seated, their expressions were somewhat strange.
Seeing this, Old Madam Gu muttered to Rong Mama, "I wonder what Baozhu is doing outside again. The people who came in with her all look a bit strange."
Rong Momo said, "Madam, don't overthink it. No matter how unruly the Seventh Miss is, she won't break any major rules. If she says anything... we can just bear with it and it will pass. It won't happen many more times anyway."
These helpless words surprisingly managed to comfort Old Madam Gu.
Old Madam Gu was too lazy to worry about it: "Forget it, let's ignore her. If something happens, I'll just pretend I don't know anything about it."
Qin Yuan saw this and knew that Gu Baozhu must have spoken freely in front of Miss You.
Sure enough, Gu Baozhu met her gaze and even winked.
Lotus smiled and asked, "What are you doing, Seventh Miss?"
Qin Yuan picked up the teacup beside her, took a slow sip, and chuckled, "I guess I was having a good time chatting with my girlfriends."
Yang'er stood silently to one side with her hands hanging down, her eyes scanning the people walking around her warily out of the corner of her eye.
Hongye and Cuiming stood guard behind, being extremely careful not to make the slightest mistake.
It was their first time entering the Duke's mansion, and they were afraid that if they were not careful, they would be seen as unruly and ignorant, thus tarnishing their mistress's reputation. Therefore, they dared not take a step or look too far, and simply followed behind their young mistress.
Fortunately, the young lady was composed, and her relaxed and carefree demeanor outshone many officials' wives.
“Your mother and the others are sitting over there. Let’s girls sit here so we can chat,” Miss You said, pulling Gu Baozhu along with a smile. “We haven’t seen you come out much these days, and even Song Wenyu and the others have been coming out less often.”
After Gu Baozhu took her seat, she asked, "Are they all coming?"
"Of course," Miss You said, "You should at least give me this much face."
Gu Baozhu then asked, "Have you been to the palace to play with the Ninth Princess these days?"
Miss You paused for a moment, then laughed and said, "I've been there a few times now, and the Ninth Princess complained that you rarely come out these days, and it's not even possible to join in the polo match."
“Oh,” Gu Baozhu said without making a sound.
Miss You added, "Let me tell you, the Ninth Princess said she's coming. If she invites you to play polo, you must accept. Without you, no one can really enjoy the game."
Gu Baozhu's eyes flickered, and she sighed, "We'll talk about it later. Last time I provoked the wild donkey while playing polo, and Mother and Third Brother were very unhappy. They told me to behave myself lately."
Before Miss You could say anything more, a maid came in to announce, "Miss, Miss Song, Miss Chu, and Miss Chang have all arrived."
"Shall we go out and greet them?"
Miss You quickly got up and pulled Gu Baozhu out.
These people often hang out together, so they'll inevitably find a place outside to chat privately before returning, once all the guests have arrived and before the old lady comes out.
Qin Yuan wasn't too worried when she saw the two of them go out together.
In the past two days, Gu Baozhu has received a lot of training on how to deal with things. Even if there are any mistakes, Gu Baozhu's skills are so good that no one can do anything about her.
Furthermore, the banquet hasn't started yet, and the main characters haven't made their appearance, so nothing bad is likely to happen.
Not long after they sat down, the head maidservant of Old Madam You came over and invited Old Madam Gu to go to the inner room with her for a chat. Qin Yuan stepped forward and helped Old Madam Gu slowly get up. They walked through the halls and courtyards, along the long corridor, and finally arrived at the courtyard where Old Madam You lived.
The Duke's mansion's wealth was accumulated by their ancestors and was quite substantial.
The old lady's courtyard was grand and luxurious. It was her birthday, so it was decorated very festively. A row of maids stood under the eaves, dressed in red and green, and those who were decent had one or two gold ornaments on their heads.
Qin Yuan raised an eyebrow.
Judging from the account books of previous years, the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion and the Marquis of Dingbei's Mansion did not interact much. However, Old Madam You sent someone to invite them, which seemed to indicate that they were very close.
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