Chapter 796: My cousin is reborn and wants to snatch my marriage (5)
"Ms. Zhou! What's wrong with you? You can't even accommodate an orphan girl?" Gu Taoxing returned to the main courtyard angrily, found the eldest lady, Mrs. Zhou, who was looking at the account book, and questioned her.
Zhou got angry at him as soon as he came in, and said something so inexplicable that she felt very confused: "Master, what are you talking about? Why do you say that I can't tolerate an orphan girl?"
"Are you still pretending? Let me ask you, what do you want by deliberately letting the servants mistreat the only child left by your third brother? You even care about a little girl who has no father or mother? How can you be the wife of a duke with such a narrow mind?" Gu Taoxing said impatiently.
Zhou immediately understood what her husband meant. She showed an expression of disbelief on her face, and angrily and sadly retorted: "Master, I didn't let the servants mistreat the third girl! This is a slander against me... I have always treated Shichu the same as Shiyao. I treat them equally in terms of monthly allowances, clothes and jewelry for each season. How can you accuse me of mistreating her?"
"Ms. Zhou, how could I not know what kind of person you are? On the surface, you treat everyone equally, but in fact, you have a lot of ways to play tricks on her. Why doesn't the third girl have even a piece of bright clothes on a weekday? And you only wear the familiar pieces of jewelry in turn? Humph!" Gu Taoxing looked at Zhou sarcastically.
He knew the true nature of his wife, whom he had been married to for nearly twenty years. To the outside world, she was indeed a dignified, capable, versatile, and lady of a noble family. She had been competent over the years, but only those who had experienced her methods firsthand knew that she was a person who was used to pretending.
His outward kindness and generosity were all fake. In fact, he was very cunning. Otherwise, why did he never have a son born out of wedlock, but only two daughters? Wasn't this something Zhou deliberately controlled?
Those concubines who were pregnant with boys either had miscarriages or died during childbirth. After a long time, couldn't Gu Taoxing figure it out? He just turned a blind eye to Zhou's actions because she had a strong family background, two outstanding legitimate sons, and was able to manage the household affairs.
But now, she deliberately indulged her servants to mistreat the only child of the third room, and the child found a lot of evidence and complained to him openly, so he could no longer pretend to be blind.
When his niece showed him the evidence and all the cruel treatment she had experienced over the years, he felt so embarrassed that his face was burning. He only blamed Zhou for not doing things more quickly and efficiently and leaving all the evidence for Gu Shichu to discover.
Yes, Gu Taoxing was not angry because his wife treated his niece harshly. He was only angry that Zhou did not do a good job and did not thoroughly investigate the evidence.
In fact, he didn't care about this niece at all. After all, she was just the daughter of his half-brother. He didn't even like his half-brother back then, so how could he like his half-brother's daughter? If it weren't for the reputation of the Duke's Mansion, he wouldn't want to keep this burden.
Now this burden is complaining to him. The hateful thing is that in order to avoid being used by his political enemies as an excuse to attack him, he really has to treat this poor niece well. Otherwise, if it is revealed that he mistreats an orphan girl, how will others view him? Are they saying that he mistreats even his brother's only daughter? How cold-blooded is that?
"In short, I don't care what you think in your heart, but you have to pretend to be nice to the third girl. Those servants who dare to bully their masters should be sold out! Although I don't like the third girl either, she is the master of the mansion after all, but even a mere servant dares to bully her head. If others know about it, they will not say that she is cowardly, but will only say that I am cold and heartless!" Gu Taoxing said coldly to Zhou.
Zhou gritted her teeth in anger and tried to argue her innocence: "Master, I really don't know what happened! Did the servants bully Shichu? I will punish them severely..."
"Stop pretending." Gu Taoxing didn't believe her at all and just warned her, "Don't do those little tricks anymore. She's just a little girl. She'll be married in a few years. She can't be a problem for us at all. But you're fighting with her. You really don't know the difference between the important and the unimportant! If you have that energy, you might as well find suitable girls for your two sons."
Zhou knew that her husband was sure that she was treating his niece badly. It was useless to argue with him. She could only swallow her anger and said, "Master, I understand."
Gu Taoxing nodded, thinking that the problem had been solved, and wanted to leave the main room. Suddenly, he remembered that he had not told Zhou about the compensation proposed by Gu Shichu, so he added: "By the way, send someone to build a small kitchen for the third girl's yard. If there is nothing important in the future, she will be responsible for the food in her yard. You just need to give her her share of food and firewood every month."
"What? This won't work. She's just a little girl. How can she know how to manage her own yard? Isn't this nonsense? And if we set her as an example, what if the second house follows suit?" When Zhou heard what he said, she immediately disagreed.
Gu Taoxing sneered and said, "I'm not asking for your opinion, I'm asking you to do it. If you hadn't allowed the servants to bully the third girl, would she have made this request to me? This is all your own fault."
Zhou choked and felt extremely aggrieved. She hated Gu Shichu even more in her heart. However, Gu Taoxing had made it clear that he would not allow her to do anything that would cause criticism again, so she had to endure it for the time being.
Soon, several servants in the kitchen were sold out, and a small but fully equipped kitchen was built in the courtyard.
Zhixia was so happy that she watched the craftsmen work all day long, giving them some pointers from time to time, and Gu Shichu followed her.
In the Wanfo Temple, Gu Shiyao blushed as she looked at Tang Buqing, who was pale but had a straight back, and said softly, "Mr. Tang, there is no need to be so polite. It is fate that I have met you. It is only a piece of cake for me to send you back to the Wanfo Temple after you fainted on the road. But your health does not seem to be very good, you are too thin. If you want to participate in the Spring Examination, you have to recuperate well..."
Tang Buqing didn't wake up until this morning. As soon as he woke up, he saw a beautiful and unfamiliar young lady waiting by his bed. He was shocked, thinking it was a mountain monster in the storybook who turned into a girl to seduce him. After all, he had just arrived in the capital and didn't know any women at all. The ancient Yao people wore gorgeous and luxurious clothes, which was obviously not something that people of his level could recognize. It would be strange if he didn't think of something wrong.
However, his suspicion was soon dispelled by Gu Shiyao who discovered that he had woken up. He learned that he had fainted on the road yesterday and was saved by this kind young lady. He immediately felt grateful to Gu Shiyao and felt very guilty for his suspicion of her.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
