SGEIRS -Chapter 195 Growing More Attentive

Early the next morning.

Gu Jingxi had just arrived at the Dali Temple office and taken his seat when the door opened. He lifted his eyes and was met with a pair of resentful-looking ones.

Qi Yunwen stood there looking exhausted. Stubble had grown on his face, dark circles ringed his eyes, and bloodshot veins filled them from staying up all night. He stared at Gu Jingxi with a mournful, aggrieved expression, like a wronged wife.

In a gloomy tone, Qi Yunwen asked, “So you finally decided to come back? I’ve been so busy I’m going crazy. I didn’t even go home last night.”

As he spoke, he kept walking toward Gu Jingxi and complained irritably, “Smell me. In this scorching weather, I stayed overnight at the Dali Temple, then went to the prison for interrogations. I didn’t even change clothes. I’m covered in sweat and stink.”

Gu Jingxi showed no sign of guilt and replied calmly, “Yesterday was my father-in-law’s birthday.”

Qi Yunwen rolled his eyes unhappily and snorted. “Since when were you that close to your father-in-law? Close enough to take a whole day off for him? Don’t you know how busy we’ve been lately?”

“I went back with my wife,” Gu Jingxi answered.

Qi Yunwen fell silent for a moment, then said helplessly, “Do you really need to watch her that closely? With sister-in-law’s temperament, could the Meng family really eat her alive?”

“She’s timid,” Gu Jingxi replied lightly. “It’s not impossible.”

Qi Yunwen disagreed. “If she were timid, she wouldn’t have dared marry you. On your wedding day, I saw it clearly—she was bold enough. How many young ladies in the capital would dare do what she did?”

Gu Jingxi glanced at him. “You wouldn’t understand.”

“Fine, fine. I don’t understand. Only you do.”

Qi Yunwen couldn’t be bothered to argue. He was about to go rest for a while when, after taking two steps, he stopped, turned back, and smiled.

“Yaoling, I’ve noticed you’re paying more and more attention to your little wife. Looks like you’re about to fall into the net of love.”

Gu Jingxi countered, “Mobei, don’t you care about your wife as well?”

Qi Yunwen’s smile deepened. “I care because she’s in my heart. You care about your little wife—so why do you?”

Gu Jingxi was slightly stunned.

At that moment, an official approached. He first saluted Gu Jingxi, then clasped his hands toward Qi Yunwen.

“Lord Qi, Lord Jiang is looking for you. He found some suspicious points in last night’s confession and wants to discuss them with you. He asked me to come check if you were here. Turns out you really are.”

Qi Yunwen replied, “Alright, I’ll go now.”

Changxing Marquis Residence

Princess Jingning and Song Xinning came together to visit Meng Jinyao.

Song Xinning had previously visited the Changxing Marquis Residence when accompanying elders to banquets, but this was her first time coming since Meng Jinyao married in.

After meeting Meng Jinyao, the three of them first went to Shou’an Hall to pay respects to the elders. It would have been rude to visit without greeting them.

After leaving Shou’an Hall, Meng Jinyao took them to the Zuilian Pavilion. Built in the middle of a lotus pond, it was cool and pleasant, making it an ideal place to escape the heat and admire the flowers. It was also used to entertain guests.

Song Xinning suddenly asked, “A-Yao, the Old Madam treats you quite well. Why haven’t you been given control of the household affairs yet, even after being married for so long?”

Princess Jingning also remembered this and added, “Yes. Why haven’t you been put in charge? The First Madam is from a concubine branch. You’re the main-line daughter-in-law, the principal wife of the clan.”

Meng Jinyao replied, “Some time ago, my mother-in-law said in front of everyone that she wanted me to take over, but I refused.”

As she spoke, she lifted her sleeve, revealing a translucent green jade bracelet on her wrist.

“My husband said this bracelet has been passed down in the Gu family for generations. It symbolizes the mistress of the household. On the second day after our wedding, when I went to serve tea, my mother-in-law gave it to me. That means the authority will be mine sooner or later, so I’m not in a hurry.”

Princess Jingning was puzzled. “If she already acknowledged you when you first married in, why did you refuse? This is something countless noblewomen dream of. You already had it in your hands, yet you pushed it away. Are you silly? Even if it’ll be yours someday, isn’t it better to hold power now?”

Meng Jinyao smiled gently and said slowly, “When I was unmarried, life was exhausting. I always had to stay on edge. Now that I can finally relax, I don’t want to be buried in trivial affairs every day like a spinning top. Since others like being busy, I can enjoy some leisure. As for managing the household, I can take it over after the family divides. For now, my eldest sister-in-law manages it, with the second sister-in-law assisting. Those two don’t get along and keep watch on each other, so things won’t get chaotic, and neither of them dares to line her own pockets.”

Song Xinning was stunned for a moment, then nodded in agreement. “That’s good too. Your health isn’t great. Take advantage of this free time to recuperate properly. Build up your strength first. Overworking yourself might ruin your body.”

Princess Jingning looked her over and asked in confusion, “A-Yao looks perfectly fine. Is your health really bad?”

“I’m a bit weak,” Meng Jinyao replied. “But it’s much better than before.”

Seeing her friend’s decent complexion, Song Xinning smiled in relief.

“Since marrying into the Gu family, you look much healthier. It shows their household suits you. Before, you used to fall sick easily in both cold and hot weather. But this summer, you’ve been fine. It must be because you’re well cared for by the maids.”

She sighed. “A-Yan, you don’t know—when A-Yao was in the Meng family, she wasn’t favored. Even the servants neglected her. She lived worse than her illegitimate younger brother. Her courtyard had a bad location—freezing in winter and scorching in summer. She was weak to begin with and would get sick from the heat alone.”

Princess Jingning was shocked. “As the eldest legitimate daughter, she lived worse than the concubine-born children?”

“With a family like that, how could she live well?” Song Xinning said angrily.

“That courtyard was originally good—her grandfather gave it to her. Later, Meng Jinyu took a liking to it. The old madam said the elder sister should give way to the younger, so A-Yao was forced to move out and was assigned a random courtyard that was cold in winter and hot in summer. In summer, they didn’t even give her ice. In winter, her charcoal was deducted. She never got silver-frost charcoal, only low-grade smoky charcoal—and not even enough of it. So she was either sick from heat or from cold. Yet her grandmother still said she was delicate and troublesome.”

Princess Jingning fell silent. She had known A-Yao wasn’t favored, but she hadn’t expected her life to be worse than that of a maid. Even her own servants used silver-frost charcoal, while lower maids used medium-grade charcoal. No one used smoky charcoal.

After a while, she asked softly, “Did A-Yao ever resist?”

Meng Jinyao smiled bitterly. “I couldn’t. If there had been even one reasonable elder in the family, I wouldn’t have had to endure it for so many years.”

Song Xinning said, “An unvirtuous matriarch ruins three generations. Old Madam Meng and Old Madam Gu are worlds apart. The decline of the Yongchang Marquis’s estate has a lot to do with the Old Madam Meng’s lack of sense.”

Meng Jinyao nodded in agreement.

Her father was mediocre, but her second uncle—who later drowned after falling into a lake while drunk—had talent for studying. However, her grandmother indulged him excessively, making him playful and pleasure-seeking. When her grandfather disciplined him, her grandmother would pity and spoil him again, rendering the lessons useless.

Later, her second uncle became addicted to gambling. Her grandmother helped cover it up. He gambled more and more, and by the time the family discovered it, he had already lost a great deal of their assets under her indulgence.

Not long after, he got drunk with bad friends and fell into a lake and died. His wife, still young and childless, remarried.

If he hadn’t been spoiled, if he had achieved something and avoided bad habits, how could the Yongchang Marquis’s household have declined to this extent?