"Come to think of it, I have to thank you for helping me face my own face." Gu Yanran touched her face and smiled sarcastically.
Although she had no choice but to marry Gu Cheng at that time, as a girl getting married for the first time, and Gu Cheng being her first husband, her feelings towards him were naturally different. But now Gu Cheng's words have made her completely wake up.
Everything in the past was wrong. Since she already knew it was wrong, why couldn't she get over it? Gu Yanran looked at Gu Cheng and said seriously, "Even though I am disfigured and married once, I am still the daughter of the Marquis's mansion. My ancestors were such heroes. I will not complain about myself, and I will not go back to your harem that has made me lose all my dignity. Your Highness, the Seventh Prince, please give up."
Gu Cheng, "You!"
Gu Yanran smiled coldly, with a hint of sarcasm, "Oh, I forgot to tell you, don't bother my sister anymore, she's already engaged. If you, the Seventh Prince, still insist on not changing your ways, I was once the Eleventh Princess's companion, so I can find a way to enter the palace to meet the Empress and ask her to seek justice for our mansion."
Gu Cheng was shaking with anger, and for a long time he pointed at Gu Yanran and couldn't speak, "You, Gu Yanran, good, you are really great!"
Gu Yanran just curled her lips and smiled.
At this point, no matter how thick-skinned Gu Cheng was, he could no longer stay there, so he just turned around and left. The people he brought with him also left quickly.
Gu Yanran saw him go and staggered. Her legs were still hurting. She had said so many words and had shown great momentum, but now she was a little exhausted. Shen Qingqiu, who was standing by, hurriedly supported her and asked, "How are you? Are you okay?"
Gu Yanran shook her head, "It's okay."
"I didn't know...he would say something like that to me." Shen Qingqiu didn't know how to explain. Gu Yanran used to be obsessed with trivial matters, and she was afraid that she would be obsessed with trivial matters again now.
"I know, that's his problem." After all, who can not like a woman like Qingqiu?
"Qingqiu, don't worry. I am also the daughter of the Marquis' Mansion. I was mistaken before, but now that I have figured everything out, I will not let the Marquis' Mansion bear the blame. After I return, I will leave the Marquis' Mansion..."
Shen Qingqiu shook his head, "Reputation is mortal, talent is what matters."
Gu Yanran was stunned for a moment, and then she heard Shen Qingqiu say, "Reputation is for outsiders to see, we know the truth in our hearts. I won't be a auntie, and Daddy won't care. I hope you don't care either." She took Gu Yanran's hand and placed it on her chest, "Only when you are strong inside, you are truly strong."
When Gu Yanran heard this, she couldn't help crying, "Qingqiu, I understand..." She only understood now.
But it’s not too late now, she still has a chance.
Shen Qingqiu felt relieved when he saw that she had finally figured it out.
After Gu Cheng's men left, the place became more spacious. Most people could squeeze into the pavilion, while Shen Qingqiu and Gu Yanran sat in the carriage to rest. As soon as the next day dawned, the group hurried down the mountain.
When Liu saw her daughter's carriage coming back, she was a little suspicious, "Didn't the old lady say that this trip would take at least ten days or half a month? How come she's back now?"
Shen Qingqiu jumped down from the carriage and said only one sentence, "Something unexpected happened on the way."
Just as Liu was about to ask what was going on, Gu Yanran also got off the carriage, but she was limping. "Quick, Mama Chen, help the fourth young lady." Liu ordered, and Mama Chen hurriedly went up to help Gu Yanran.
"What's going on? Wasn't he fine when you left?" asked Liu.
Gu Yanran just said: "It's nothing, I just twisted my ankle accidentally."
"Come in first," Liu asked Mother Chen to help the person into the house, and then asked her to find a bonesetter for Gu Yanran.
Seeing that her mother was busy, Shen Qingqiu left first. She still had important things to do.
Shen Qingqiu would not bring the bandits captured in the mountains directly back to the Marquis' Mansion. If her mother and Old Madam Xu saw them, they would probably be frightened.
So Shen Qingqiu asked Tu Jiu to take the people to his own underground bank not far from the Marquis' Mansion.
After changing his clothes, Shen Qingqiu went through the secret passage.
Tu Jiu was waiting to pick her up from another entrance of the secret passage. When he saw her, he told her the results of the interrogation. "Those people kept shouting slogans and insisted that they were real men and said nothing. But before they were tortured, they confessed everything. They are worse than the other."
Shen Qingqiu just said: "Stop talking nonsense, just tell me what the result is."
Tu Jiu said: "Master, you must listen carefully to this news."
Tu Jiu was also a man who had seen the world. He told her so seriously that there must be some twists and turns in the process. Shen Qingqiu looked at him seriously, and only heard Tu Jiu say: "Old Madam Dao, does Master still remember?"
How could Shen Qingqiu forget this old lady? Nowadays, those who dare to come to the Marquis's Mansion to ask for money are either desperate or stupid. And Old Lady Dao is the latter.
"That old lady, although I know that she is greedy, but she is an old lady from the countryside, she shouldn't be that capable, right?" Shen Qingqiu said.
"This old lady is very capable. She found the black market herself," Tu Jiu sneered. "These days, as long as people are willing to spend money, anything is possible. The old lady found the black market to find bandits. She knows that you are a martial arts expert, but she offered two thousand silver coins. She only wants experts."
"Master?" Shen Qingqiu was suspicious. None of the people they met yesterday could be called masters.
Tu Jiu said, "There aren't so many experts in the capital. Most of them are people who took advantage of an old lady who didn't know what she was doing, and randomly found some ruffians to fool her." Tu Jiu continued, "If it was an ordinary person, we probably wouldn't be able to find out. It's only thanks to our many informants and the fact that the old lady didn't care about what she did that we were able to find out."
Shen Qingqiu shook her head after hearing the last part, "Dao Yue and I are an engaged couple after all. Why did Old Lady Dao ask a martial arts master to come and take my life?" Even though she didn't give the old lady face last time, seeing how much the old lady loved wealth and glory, how could she push the princess's granddaughter-in-law out of the door.
"Besides, the Dao family is not wealthy. Even if Qin holds the wealth that Dao Yue has saved over the years, I think it is only five thousand taels at most. How could she give two thousand taels to a mother-in-law who is not close to her?" And as far as she knew, Qin had almost used up all the cash in the Dao Mansion in recent times to prepare for the wedding.
Even if Old Lady Dao wanted to harm her, where would she get the money?
"You'll have to ask Princess Changping about this," Tu Jiu said.
Hearing this name, Shen Qingqiu frowned fiercely, "Her again?" She would not be at peace until this Princess Changping came out to stir up trouble.
"She was probably afraid of us, so she was very secretive this time, but she forgot one thing. The banknote she gave to the old lady had the mark of the Princess Mansion on it. Our people checked the banknote and found out the whole thing."
Shen Qingqiu narrowed his eyes when he heard this. If the matter involved Princess Changping, then everything would be clear. After all, this woman always liked to go against her and was very eloquent. Even Empress Pei was fooled by her, let alone an old lady.
"Master, what should we do with these people?" Tu Jiu asked.
Shen Qingqiu looked inside and saw those hooligans begging for mercy, saying that they were only doing the job for money and had no intention of harming the princess in the slightest.
"Hand them over to Lin Xuanfeng from the Dali Temple, and tell him to suppress the case for now and not investigate it until I say it's ok." This time the blow would be fatal.
As the saying goes, wildfires cannot be extinguished; they will spring up again with the spring breeze. She has given Changping too many chances before.
Tu Jiu nodded, "What about old lady Dao?"
Shen Qingqiu raised his eyes slightly, "I think there should be someone who is more anxious than me to deal with that old lady." During this period of time, the Marquis' Mansion has been annoyed by the old lady's extortion, let alone the Dao Mansion.
——
Qin received a letter from Shen Qingqiu, put on a cloak, and went to the hotel she mentioned late at night.
"Greetings, Princess." Qin hurriedly bowed to Shen Qingqiu.
"Aunt, you don't have to do this. You are my elder." Shen Qingqiu said.
However, Qin Shihuang was a stickler for rules. "The princess hasn't married Yue'er yet, so there is a distinction between the high and the low."
Seeing her like this, Shen Qingqiu could only give up and wait until she finished her greetings before asking people to get up.
"I wonder why the princess called me here so late at night?" After meeting Shen Qingqiu several times, Qin Shi already knew her well enough. Although she was a princess, Princess Kangle did not have the arrogance and troublesomeness of other noble ladies. Instead, she was very easy to get along with. If something serious had not happened, she would not have called her here so late at night.
Shen Qingqiu said: "Aunt is smart, so I will just tell you what I have to say."
Qin nodded, and Shen Qingqiu spoke, "Aunt should know that I went to the mountain to pray with my fourth daughter a few days ago, right?"
Qin said, "Of course I know. There have been bandits in the mountains these days, and didn't Yue'er go to escort the princess?" Qin was also wondering, the Marquis's Mansion has the custom of offering sacrifices in summer every year. She had also inquired about it and it was estimated that it would take more than ten days for him to come back, but her son returned home after just over three days.
No matter what you ask him, he is like a clam and won't say anything.
Shen Qingqiu knew that Dao Yue was a principled person, and he did not even tell his closest relatives about this matter involving the Marquis' Mansion.
"We did encounter bandits on the way up the mountain," Qin was startled when she heard this and was about to speak.
Shen Qingqiu had already spoken, "Don't worry, Auntie. If something really happened, I wouldn't be here to talk to you peacefully. But there are some things I still have to tell you."
Qin nodded, "Princess, please speak."
"After we caught those bandits, we found out that they were not bandits at all, but some ruffians roaming around the capital. They were hired to stop me at places I had to pass in order to ruin my reputation. Auntie, do you know who this person is?" Shen Qingqiu looked at the person in front of him steadily.
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