SGEIRS -Chapter 134 Fashionably Late

Looking at the young lady with such confidence, Gu Jingxi asked with interest, “Madam, what’s your plan?”

Meng Jinyao turned to him. Seeing the man’s gentle expression as he looked at her, she felt an inexplicable sense of trust. After hesitating for just a moment, she explained her plan to him in full.

Gu Jingxi listened. Honestly, the young lady’s plan was still quite naive from his perspective. But as a girl raised in the inner quarters, her scope of action was limited, so it could only be this way.

He nodded slightly and replied with two simple words, “Not bad.”

Hearing his approval, a deeper smile spread across Meng Jinyao’s face. She rested her elbows on the table, cupped her cheeks in her hands, and asked with a sweet smile, “Husband, do you have a better plan?”

Gu Jingxi looked at her and nodded. “I do, but it’s not suitable for you.”

Meng Jinyao blinked in confusion. “Hmm?” She raised her eyes to question him.

Gu Jingxi said softly, “Young ladies shouldn’t touch bloody methods.”

Upon hearing this, Meng Jinyao pursed her lips. She hadn’t dared to tell Gu Jingxi that, in reality, if there were a simple and brutal method, she would have preferred it—no mercy for murderers. But she had neither the means nor the ability, and so she could only set traps and manipulate others.

Gu Jingxi added, “Madam, just proceed according to your original plan.”

Meng Jinyao glanced at him, puzzled. “Husband, you won’t offer suggestions, yet you’re confident in my plan? What if it fails?”

Gu Jingxi smiled gently and replied, “If it fails, your husband will handle it.”

He spoke with a calm, natural ease, as if he were soothing a child. Meng Jinyao was stunned. It felt like he was watching a child play a game, letting them enjoy it fully, reassuring them that an elder would back them up if they lost.

Even so, Meng Jinyao felt inexplicably reassured. A faint sense of emotion spread in her heart. Besides her grandfather, only Gu Jingxi would speak to her this way—backing her up, giving her a safety net, letting her act boldly.

In truth, Gu Jingxi could have married her and then ignored her entirely. As long as she was properly provided for, no one could fault him.

Meeting her stunned gaze, Gu Jingxi smiled and asked, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

Meng Jinyao shook her head slightly. “Nothing… it’s just that you treat me better than your own son. No wonder our eldest gets angry.”

Gu Jingxi froze, then chuckled softly. “That’s because you deserve it. You’re more obedient and sensible than that wayward son.”

Meng Jinyao blinked. “What if I were more rebellious than him?”

Gu Jingxi laughed and said, “Then I would discipline you properly. I can’t quarrel with a child younger than my own son.”

Meng Jinyao was momentarily struck silent. So her favorable treatment came from being young. But on second thought, if Gu Jingxi were ten years younger, he probably wouldn’t speak to her so calmly.

After a moment, she reminded him, “Actually, many girls have become mothers by sixteen.”

The implication being: she was no longer a child; she was an adult.

Speaking of age, she suddenly remembered that her age was why she was married this year. Gu Xiuming, at just sixteen, wasn’t in a rush to marry. His brother, the second young master Gu Xiuhong, married first only because he had reached the appropriate age.

When she came of age, her grandmother had been anxious because the Gu family had not mentioned her marriage to Gu Xiuming. She feared that the declining Meng family would be looked down upon and lose this marital opportunity, but she didn’t dare approach the Gu family directly.

It wasn’t until the end of last year that her now mother-in-law hosted a banquet and invited her grandmother to discuss the marriage at the Gu residence. Only then was her grandmother’s mind at ease and she began preparations for her daughter’s marriage.

Gu Jingxi, seemingly unaware of the implication, smiled. “Madam, you’ve become a mother too.”

Meng Jinyao: “……”

As for a wayward son like Gu Xiuming, forget it—she didn’t want him. A son like him would shorten anyone’s life by a few years.

The next day.

Nanny Qiao wore a worried expression as she arrived with her son, Li Cheng, at the private room of the tea house as agreed. Previously, her son had run up gambling debts before, but never such a huge amount.

Even setting aside the gambling house’s five thousand taels, the one-thousand-tael deficit from the estate’s revenue was beyond her ability to cover.

As the trusted maid of the madam, she was about to make a deal with the eldest young lady—who had grievances against the madam. Doing so would undoubtedly feel like a betrayal of the one who had once been kind to her.

Her heart was already tormented, and now, after waiting a full cup of tea at the agreed time and place without Meng Jinyao’s appearance, she grew even more anxious and restless.

Li Cheng was equally uneasy. After all, six thousand taels was no small sum. If the eldest young lady backed out, even if he wasn’t beaten to death by the gambling house, his master would punish him severely for misappropriating the estate funds.

Nanny Qiao looked at her son and scolded bitterly, “Cheng’er, I’ve warned you not to gamble before. Nine times out of ten you lose. You always promise to listen, yet you throw my advice aside. Now look at the huge debt—you how on earth will you pay it back?”

Li Cheng looked remorseful. “Mother, I truly will change this time. If you help me repay this sum, I will reform and live an honest life from now on.”

Nanny Qiao’s eyes reddened as her heart twisted in inner conflict. “Six thousand taels! We are making a deal with the eldest young lady, and we don’t even know what she will ask us to do. If it harms the madam, how could I face her?”

Li Cheng dismissed her concern. “Mother, you once saved the madam yourself, nearly at the cost of your life. That debt was already repaid long ago.”

His tone carried a hint of indignation. “Must you risk your son’s life for your master? The madam is important, but am I, your only son, not?”

Having said that, Li Cheng suddenly stood and made as if to leave the private room and face the gambling house to meet his death.

Nanny Qiao could not bear to see her only son go to die. If she could, she wouldn’t have come with him to the meeting. The madam was important, yes, but so was her son. She had no choice.

Seeing her son move to leave, she quickly grabbed his arm and scolded in a low voice, “You greedy debtor! Truly, you are collecting debts owed from a past life. Now it is already the agreed hour with the eldest young lady. Where is she?”

Li Cheng felt uneasy. “Perhaps the eldest young lady was delayed by something. Let’s wait a little longer.”

About half an hour later, there was a knock at the door. Li Cheng stood and hurried to open it. As the door swung open, they saw the fashionably late Meng Jinyao, accompanied by her two senior maids.