Just as she turned around, she heard Gu Yanfei behind her say slowly, "By the way, Madam, remember to leave your monthly allowance before you leave."
Nanny Xu paused, turned back, met Gu Yanfei's eyes, and said sarcastically: "Didn't the second young lady refuse to return to the Marquis' Mansion? I thought you wanted to sever your ties with the Marquis' Mansion!"
A country girl is a country girl. She is obsessed with money and still thinks about the money from the Marquis's Mansion! Gu Yanfei took off a gold and jade bracelet with a carved swallow pattern from his wrist, stuffed it into Juanbi's pocket, and told her, "Pawn it."
Of course Nanny Xu recognized this bracelet. All of the Second Miss’s jewelry was prepared by the Lady Dowager, and each piece was engraved with the mark of Marquis Dingyuan’s Mansion.
The pair of pawned earrings have not been redeemed yet. If this bracelet is taken out for pawning again, wouldn't it confirm the rumors that the Marquis's Mansion is in decline?! Madam Xu bit her back teeth unwillingly and said, "I'll have someone go get the monthly salary right away."
"Juanbi, accompany Aunt Xu to collect my three months' salary." Gu Yanfei instructed Juanbi with a smile.
Aunt Xu's face turned pale and blue veins appeared on her neck.
She thought one month's salary would be enough, but she didn't expect this country girl to be so greedy and asked for three months right away.
All this money should have belonged to her! Aunt Xu's heart was bleeding, and she felt as if a piece of her heart had been cut out. She left in a state of dismay.
She had to return to the capital as soon as possible to report to the Madam, otherwise, if something went wrong with the marriage between the Gu and Fang families, she would be finished! ! Half an hour later, Madam Xu's carriage left Danyang City, galloping all the way, day and night.
As soon as she returned to Dingyuan Marquis's Mansion in the capital, she didn't even bother to wash up. The first thing she did was to rush to Cihe Hall and cry out in grievance: "Madam, although I can't say that I have been working very hard these days, I have tried my best to teach the Second Young Lady. But the Second Young Lady misunderstood me and thought that I was deliberately making things difficult for her!"
“…”
"The second young lady grew up outside and was used to the old days. She always liked to run outside and was not at home. That day, the carriage had an accident, and I tried to persuade her, but the second young lady attacked me..."
"That's how I knocked out my front tooth."
Nanny Xu vividly described Gu Yanfei as a rude, ignorant and uneducated wild girl.
In a corner of the east room, there is a cloisonné enamel incense burner, quietly emitting curls of smoke.
A graceful old woman in her fifties sat on a rosewood swastika-patterned Arhat bed, wearing a purple jacket with ten patterns of brocade, twirling a string of Buddhist beads in her hand. Her eyes swept across the black holes on Aunt Xu's upper front teeth, and her expression showed no sign of joy or anger.
An old maid with silver hair beside her gently advised: "Madam, calm down. The second girl is still young."
"Still young? She's almost 15 years old." Madam Gu sighed softly, "What a sin."
“……” The old nanny was speechless for a moment.
This incident was a scandal in the Marquis's Mansion.
The Dingyuan Marquisate has been a military family for generations, and the late Marquis Gu Ce was the eldest son of Madam Gu.
In the sixth year of Xuanren, Gu Ce and his wife Xie were stationed in Sishui County of Yangzhou. They did not want the sudden attack from Nanyue, so Xie, who was seven months pregnant, was arranged by Gu Ce to leave Sishui County.
Nanyue got the news from somewhere and sent people to hunt down Xie, trying to use Xie to force Gu Ce to surrender.
Xie was frightened on the road and gave birth to a premature baby girl, who died soon after giving birth. The wet nurse, Suniang, fled with the baby girl in her arms, and it took several months before they finally returned to the capital.
No one expected that Su Niang would secretly pass her own daughter off as the legitimate daughter of the Gu family, and kept the secret for fourteen years.
It was not until half a year ago that Su Niang's gambling addict husband came to the house and secretly blackmailed Su Niang, but was discovered by Madam Gu, and the truth about the real and fake daughter was revealed.
"Madam," Madam Xu pretended to wipe the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief, and glanced at Madam Gu at the top of the table with the corner of her eye, mumbling uneasily, "There is one more thing, it's about Master Fang..."
"It is the Prince of the Duke of Ying." Nanny Xu swallowed her saliva and then released the heavy hammer at the right time, "The second young lady ran into Prince Fang in Danyang City, and she...she actually ran to Prince Fang privately and told him to cancel the marriage between the two families!"
"The second young lady also said that she will not return to the capital, unless... unless you go to Danyang City to pick her up in person."
Aunt Xu avoided the main issue and pushed all the blame onto Gu Yanfei. She lowered her head and clenched the handkerchief tightly in her hand.
“Bang!”
Madam Gu slammed her palm heavily on the coffee table, pursed her lips tightly, and her whole body was shrouded in a thick cloud of gloom.
Mrs. Gu couldn't say whether she liked or disliked her second granddaughter, whom she had never met.
To her, Gu Yunyan was the granddaughter she raised personally, the granddaughter she was proud of.
Gu Yun'er was good at everything, from appearance, temperament to talent, all of which were top-notch. He was praised by everyone in the capital and even won the favor of King Kang.
Prince Kang is the biological son of the current Queen Mother. After the current emperor ascends the throne, he will be granted the title of Prince. If Gu Yunyan can become the Princess of Prince Kang, it will naturally be icing on the cake for their Dingyuan Marquisate.
However, the Gu family and the Fang family already had an engagement. When the old marquis was still alive, he promised the eldest daughter of the eldest house to Fang Mingfeng, the son of the Duke of England.
Once the engagement is cancelled, the Gu family will inevitably be accused of being treacherous and trying to curry favor with the powerful.
After much deliberation, Mrs. Gu decided to find the "real" eldest daughter of the eldest house.
In this way, not only can the marriage between the Gu and Fang families be carried out, but the reputation of the Gu family and Gu Yunyan will not be affected.
Mrs. Gu had already thought about the pros and cons and was mentally prepared. This second granddaughter grew up in the countryside. If she was not carefully trained for half a year or a year, she would not be able to show her face to others. But she did not expect that she would be so rude! It would be fine if she was rude and stupid, but the problem was that this girl had no self-awareness and dared to go to Fang Mingfeng and speak nonsense, which simply brought shame to the Gu family! Mrs. Gu raised her eyelids and said slowly: "I asked you to take good care of the second girl, and this is how you do it?!"
Her voice was so cold that it seemed like ice chips were about to fall out.
Nanny Xu cursed Gu Yanfei a thousand times in her heart, and quickly knelt down, admitting her fault, "I am ashamed, there is really nothing I can do about the Second Young Lady."
After he finished speaking, there was a depressing silence in the east room, and the air was stagnant.
The maids serving beside them all lowered their heads in silence.
At this moment, the clear voice of a little maid broke the silence from outside the door curtain: "Second... Third Miss!"
The air in the room suddenly relaxed.
The next moment, the door curtain was lifted from the outside, and a beautiful, slender girl walked in from the main room holding a cup of tea.
Soft lines outline a well-defined oval face, her skin is as white as jade, her eyebrows are as pink as willow lips, her eyes are like bright stars. When she smiles, a pair of cute dimples appear on both sides of her cheeks. Her temperament is smart and amiable, which makes people like her at first sight.
The girl had two buns on her hair, and wore a pair of ruby-inlaid, gold-threaded butterfly beads on her head. She wore a bright red skirt embroidered with broken branches of crabapple flowers. When she walked, her figure was graceful and her steps were light yet elegant.
Her arrival was like a warm spring breeze blowing into the house which was originally as cold as a chilly wind.
(End of this chapter)
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