Chapter 238: Husband-in-Law
The surprise came too quickly, and the Second Madam was rather stunned. She asked uncertainly, "You said the guards have withdrawn?"
The maid replied, "At about two quarters past midnight, I saw the guards coming out of the alley at the side gate of the West Garden."
The bitter look on the Second Madam's face faded away: "Our good days are coming soon."
She wished she could grow wings and go to the Duke's Mansion to move out her private property immediately.
But thinking of the loss he suffered at the hands of Shen Qingtan, he dared not act rashly.
Take your time to plan.
-
As night falls, the bustling streets are still bustling with people.
Pei Wuyan came out of Yijiang Tower, waving a folding fan, stepped onto the wooden ladder of the carriage, and stood on the shaft. He inadvertently caught a glimpse of a young girl squatting next to a small vendor at the end of the light, blowing a candy figure with her cheeks puffed out.
I blew several of them in a row, and each one broke.
She rubbed her sore cheeks with her hands, looked up at the old man setting up the stall, and said something with an annoyed look.
The stall owner handed her another piece of malt sugar and instructed her to continue blowing.
A cute rabbit took shape in her hands.
She jumped up happily, her watery almond eyes sparkling, as if the starry sky was reflected in her eyes.
Pei Wuyan chuckled, walked towards the girl, stood behind her, and unexpectedly snatched the jade rabbit from her hand.
The jade rabbit in Qin Yao's hand was snatched away, and she suddenly turned around to look at the culprit.
"Yaoyao." Pei Wuyan saw the anger in her eyes and smiled, "We meet again."
"Give the rabbit back to me." Qin Yao raised her hand to grab the Jade Rabbit.
Pei Wuyan avoided her hand and said in a friendly tone: "If you say that we are destined to meet again, then you should accept my invitation."
Qin Yao glared at him: "Master Pei, when did I ever say such a thing?"
She met Pei Wuyan when she was inspecting shops in Jiangnan.
Pei Wuyan snatched a business deal from her, and finally handed it back to her and cooperated with her.
He said, "Ms. Qin, the Qin family is well-known in Jiangnan and has a good reputation. They are an excellent partner. Of course, I also have selfish motives."
"Selfish?"
"I want to make friends with Miss Qin."
Qin Yao had a very bad impression of him. He was so smooth-talking and must have cheated many girls, right?
Even though she thought so in her heart, she would not go against the money and immediately agreed to cooperate with Pei Wuyan.
Because of their cooperative relationship, the two people had close contacts. As Qin Yao got along with him, her impression of him changed greatly.
He is considerate and will remember her preferences. He will cook her favorite hometown dishes himself.
She casually mentioned that the lychees were ripe, but unfortunately there were no lychees in Jiangnan.
Because of this sentence, Pei Wuyan personally went to pick litchi for her, put them in an ice bucket, and sent them to her at full speed.
He did a lot of things like this.
I never think her personality is unusual, and I think girls should be so frank and cute.
These words touched her heart deeply, and she had an idea to ask a matchmaker to go to his house to propose marriage and invite him to be her husband.
Unexpectedly, she found out that his family background was not a merchant family as she thought, but a serious scholarly family that attached great importance to rules.
It happened that she heard that something happened to Sister Shen, so she rushed back to the capital.
Pei Wuyan said helplessly: "You didn't say that, I remembered it wrongly."
Qin Yao ignored him and left with her maid.
Given Pei Wuyan's family background, it was absolutely impossible for him to be her live-in husband.
She had promised Sister Shen that she would not marry far away.
Pei Wuyan looked at Qin Yao's back as she walked away, then lowered his eyes to look at the jade rabbit in his hand, with a gloomy look in his eyes.
When he was in Jiangnan, he clearly felt that Qin Yao was interested in him.
When we met again today, she returned to the coldness she had when we first met.
He didn't know what he had done wrong to cause her attitude to change so drastically overnight.
Pei Wuyan took the jade rabbit back to Qinyuan, the Duke's Mansion.
The servant handed over a letter: "Sir, this is a letter from the second house."
Pei Wuyan opened the letter, read it, and his eyes suddenly became cold.
"Sir, this letter..."
Pei Wuyan didn't want to say more: "Keep an eye on what's happening in Lanxueyuan. Remember to report to me no matter how big or small the matter is."
"Yes." The servant responded.
Pei Wuyan took out a box from the drawer, opened it, and inside was a hairpin carved from a peach wood branch.
This was a hairpin he carved himself, originally intended as a gift for Qin Yao.
Pei Wuyan closed the box and handed it to the servant: "Give it to Yaoyao privately."
The servant looked at Pei Wuyan in surprise, and saw a hint of affection in his eyes.
When he was in Jiangnan before, the young master spent a lot of time and effort on Miss Qin.
They, the servants, all saw it and knew that the young master treated Miss Qin sincerely.
Unexpectedly, the young master suddenly came to Beijing, intending to discuss marriage with the daughter of the Duke's Mansion, clearly choosing to let go of Miss Qin.
But the young man's current behavior clearly shows that he still can't forget his old love for Miss Qin.
-
The next morning, after Pei Wuyan finished practicing calligraphy, he heard footsteps coming from outside the yard.
After a while, the servant came in and said breathlessly, "Sir, I heard a piece of news. The Second Master and Second Mistress of the mansion went to the Zhenbei Palace today and will stay for a few days before returning."
Pei Wuyan pondered, "How can a married woman live in her parents' home for long?"
"Second Grandma's situation is different. She has been separated from her parents for more than ten years. The old lady in the mansion has given her the grace to return to her parents' home for a few days."
At this point, the servant remembered something else: "Sir, I heard that Second Madam's cousin will also stay at the palace for a few days."
Pei Wuyan asked, "Gu Changsheng?"
"It's him." The servant told Pei Wuyan everything he had learned. "Gu Changsheng lost Second Madam. He felt very guilty and ran away from home for more than ten years. Now that he knows Second Madam has returned to her roots, he has returned home too."
Pei Wuyan always felt that there was something strange about this matter, but he couldn't tell what was wrong.
He pondered for a while, put down the wolf hair brush in his hand, and went to the back garden of the Duke's Mansion.
Pei Wuyan sat in the pavilion, admiring the lotus flowers blooming in the pond.
He held his breath, like a very patient angler.
I don’t know how much time passed before I heard footsteps behind me.
He opened his eyes and looked in the direction of the sound, only to see the Third Madam standing outside the pavilion.
"Third Madam." Pei Wuyan stood up and saluted.
Seeing Pei Wuyan's gentleness and courtesy, the Third Lady no longer hesitated, "Brother Yan, are you here to enjoy the scenery too?"
"I've heard the lotus flowers at the Duke's Mansion are truly exceptional. Since I have nothing to do today, I decided to come and take a look. Sure enough, the lotus flowers here are truly worthy of their reputation."
Pei Wuyan asked casually, "I heard there's a century-old ginkgo tree in the Duke's Mansion?"
"Yes, this tree is in the West Garden." The Third Lady said enthusiastically, "Brother Yan, if you have nothing to do, you can go and have a look."
"Well, I'll go to the West Garden to paint today." Pei Wuyan said with a smile, "I can't let the beautiful scenery go to waste."
The third lady's eyes rolled and she started to make plans in her mind.
After saying goodbye to Pei Wuyan, she hurried back to the third room and went straight to Zhao Wan's room.
The house where Zhao Wan lived was very simple.
On the left side of the door, there was a wall-high bookshelf, a desk, and an armchair against the wall. Next to the window was a plain couch with a plain ivory panel and no carvings.
The inner room contained a step-out bed, a dressing table, and a large four-piece cabinet with rosewood frames and burl wood doors.
Apart from this, there are no other ornaments, let alone gold, silver, jade and other ornaments.
The third lady withdrew her gaze from the room and looked at Zhao Wan, who was sitting on the bed and sewing shoe soles.
"Wan'er, mother heard that the old lady is interested in matching you with Yan'er." The third wife took the needle and thread and shoe soles from Zhao Wan's hands and said: "Mother has made some inquiries. Yan'er is well-educated and has excellent moral character. He can be considered a good match."
Zhao Wan tidied up her sewing basket and didn't respond to her mother's words.
When Pei Wuyan came to the Duke's Mansion, she met him in Shi'an Hall and had a very good first impression.
Not only are their statuses very different, but he is also too outstanding, so she doesn't have much confidence.
"Wan'er, Yan'er comes from a wealthy family. He's the legitimate eldest son and is related to the old lady. If you marry him, you'll be the mistress of the house and enjoy endless wealth."
The third lady advised, "Your parents were both illegitimate children, and they don't have any real abilities. If it weren't for the old lady's influence, how could you be Yan'er's wife given your background? You're only fit to be his concubine."
"Mother, I know my worth." Zhao Wan threw the basket onto the bed. "Since I'm not worthy of being Cousin Pei's wife, I won't marry him."
"You silly girl, you're born with a blockhead, why can't you understand?" The Third Madam was so disappointed with Zhao Wan that she poked her forehead fiercely. "Our family won't get a single cent of the things in the Duke's Mansion. I'm counting on you to marry into a good family and help your brother."
The third wife wanted to live a rich and prosperous life, and she relied on her two children.
Although her son was promising, she did not have the courage to ask the Duke for promotion, for fear that the eldest wife would mistakenly think that she was trying to seize the family property and power.
She could only place her hopes on Zhao Wan, hoping that she would marry into a wealthy family and support her parents.
The Third Lady continued, "Your brother has made great progress and will support you from now on. Isn't it wonderful that you two siblings support each other?"
Zhao Wan closed her eyes. Her mother wanted her to marry into a wealthy family and then use the money from her husband's family to support her own family.
No matter how well her in-laws treat her, they will dislike her in the long run.
She felt even more ashamed in her husband's family.
"The old lady wants to bring you two together. Unless Yan'er doesn't want to marry you, you have to marry him even if you don't want to."
Seeing that Zhao Wan refused to budge, the Third Lady was so angry that her chest felt tight. "Yan'er is painting in the West Garden. Go and bring him some snacks later."
"I won't go." Zhao Wan felt resistant to Pei Wuyan, her brows furrowed. "The old lady might not match us up. If I rush to see him, not only will I lose my dignity, but my reputation will also be damaged."
"I'll ask you again, are you going?"
"No."
The Third Lady burst into tears. "Zhao Wan, you're so disappointing and ungrateful. Who am I doing this for? Isn't it just to give you a good life? In the end, I've ended up being blamed by you."
Zhao Wan clenched her fingers tightly and remained silent.
"The husband I married is a nobody, but my son is promising, but unfortunately, no one supports him. My daughter has a good marriage prospect, but she has her own ideas and doesn't want to get married."
The third wife sobbed and cried, "My life is so miserable. I've had enough of this kind of hard life."
Zhao Wan dug her fingers hard, forcing herself not to be soft-hearted.
Every time she didn't want to do something, her mother would cry, make a fuss, and even threaten to commit suicide to force her to compromise.
Seeing that Zhao Wan refused to give in, the Third Lady made up her mind, grabbed the scissors in the sewing basket, and stabbed herself in the neck.
Zhao Wan stood up in fear: "Mother..."
The third lady pressed, "Are you going or not?"
Zhao Wan opened her mouth, but no sound came out.
The third wife exerted force with her hands, and the sharp scissors pierced the skin on her neck, and blood flowed out.
"I'll go." Zhao Wan clenched her fists and said with red eyes, "Mom, I'm going to Xiyuan."
-
When Shen Qingtan and Zhao Yi arrived at the Zhenbei Palace, Gu Changsheng and Gu Zongci had already arrived.
Zhao Yi has been recuperating for a few days and can start detoxification today.
After much deliberation, Shen Qingtan decided to detoxify himself at the Zhenbei Palace.
First, it is very safe to detoxify in the Zhenbei Palace, and no one dares to be good at it in the palace.
Secondly, if she left the Duke's Mansion, it would be easier to lure out the Second Lady.
"Brother Changsheng." Shen Qingtan walked to Gu Changsheng and found that he had taken off the veil covering his eyes: "Are your eyes better?"
Gu Changsheng looked towards Shen Qingtan following the sound. He could vaguely make out her outline, but could not clearly see her facial features.
"Much better." Gu Changsheng's long eyelashes trembled, and he half-closed his eyelids, covering his pupils. "I have prepared all the medicines. I will prepare them today and officially detoxify my brother-in-law tomorrow."
Shen Qingtan asked: "How long will it take?"
Gu Changsheng said slowly, "Manman, he has been poisoned since childhood. It won't be easy to cure. It will take four to five days."
Shen Qingtan had a clue in her mind and was about to ask what preparations they needed to make. Suddenly, she noticed that Gu Changsheng's face was very pale and asked with concern, "Brother Changsheng, are you feeling unwell?"
Gu Changsheng's face was cold: "I'm fine."
Shen Qingtan was skeptical because his face was abnormally pale and he looked a little weak, as if he was sick.
"Don't worry. If I'm sick, how can I help my brother-in-law detoxify?" Gu Changsheng explained and warned, "You can't see him these few days."
"I……"
"His body is very weak, and the detoxification process is very dangerous. We cannot afford any mistakes." Gu Changsheng's tone was calm, but his words were frightening: "If there is any mistake, I will be unable to save him."
Shen Qingtan's heart tightened: "I know."
Gu Changsheng picked up the pulse pillow prepared by the palace, took Zhao Yi's pulse, asked about his recent condition, then took a bundle on the table and handed it to Shen Qingtan beside him.
"Boil this packet of medicine and give him a medicinal bath."
"good."
Shen Qingtan handed the bag to Liu Yue and told her to go to the kitchen to cook medicine.
After Zhao Yi finished taking the medicinal bath, Gu Changsheng gave him acupuncture.
After acupuncture, Zhao Yi fell asleep.
Shen Qingtan sat by the bed, looking down at Zhao Yi. He lay quietly on the bed, the bright red quilt making him look even paler and sicker.
At this time, Tingxue came in from outside and whispered in Shen Qingtan's ear: "There is movement in the West Garden."
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