SGEIRS -Chapter 23 How Could She Be Made a Concubine?

After hearing this, Li Wan’er’s heart trembled. She stopped crying, quickly lifted her head, and timidly stole a glance at Gu Jingxi. The man had a tall, slender figure, refined features, and a noble, elegant aura. He looked only about twenty-three or twenty-four years old. She was secretly astonished—she had not expected Marquis Gu to be so young.

Meng Jinyao maintained a gentle smile and nodded as she replied, “Rest assured, Husband. In the future, I will educate Xiuming properly and treat him as my own son.”

Gu Xiuming looked at her and felt as though he were facing a vicious stepmother—gentle on the surface, yet secretly plotting revenge. In his mind, she must be resentful because he had fled from the marriage and failed to marry her. So she shamelessly married his father instead. That way, she could use her status as an elder to control him and also become the glorious Marchioness of Changxing. And his usually wise father had lost his judgment at a critical moment.

Angrily, he questioned, “Father, she was my fiancée. How could you marry her?”

Gu Jingxi frowned, his sharp gaze falling on him as he coldly retorted, “When you abandoned her on your wedding day and eloped with another woman, did you ever think she was your fiancée?”

Gu Xiuming was left speechless. Knowing he was in the wrong, and facing his father’s piercing stare, he guiltily lowered his head and muttered, “Even so, you shouldn’t have married her. Second Brother and Fourth Brother are still unmarried. Even if I wasn’t around, it should have been one of them.”

Hearing his self-righteous words, Meng Jinyao couldn’t help but let out a light laugh, filled with mockery.

“So he shouldn’t marry me—does that mean you were right to run away from your wedding? If you hadn’t fled, would he have needed to clean up your mess? What gives you the right to think that because you ran away, Young Master Gu Second or Fourth should become scapegoats and bear responsibility for your mistake? If Gu Jingxi weren’t your father, he wouldn’t even bother dealing with this mess for you.”

She glanced at Gu Xiuming. Seeing him rendered speechless, she added, “Oh, and there’s something you’ve misunderstood. The ones who have the right to hold others accountable are your father and me—the victims. What you should be doing is apologizing to us and begging for our forgiveness.”

“The two elders?”

Gu Jingxi glanced at the young wife beside him. Seeing her still-childish face tightly composed, he thought inwardly: She’s still a child herself, yet she’s already calling us ‘the two elders.’

He raised an eyebrow almost imperceptibly and echoed her words, “Your mother is right, Xiuming. You’ve studied the classics—you should know how to respect your elders. She is my wife and your mother. Disrespecting her is disrespecting me. In the Gu family, those who violate the rules and disrespect elders are punished by family law.”

Gu Xiuming panicked. “Father!”

Gu Jingxi showed no mercy and declared firmly, “Besides disrespecting elders, you committed the outrageous act of eloping, betrayed trust, disregarded the family’s honor, and caused serious damage. For multiple offenses combined: twenty lashes, confinement in the ancestral hall for one month to reflect before the ancestors, and copying the family rules one hundred times.”

Gu Xiuming’s face instantly turned pale.

Being whipped twenty times was bad enough, but confinement in the ancestral hall and copying the rules—where would he put his dignity? The servants would mock him, not to mention outsiders.

He hurriedly begged, “Father, I know I was wrong. Please be merciful!”

Gu Jingxi looked at him steadily, unmoved.

“Xiuming, you are the heir of this household and will inherit the title someday. You should set an example, yet you knowingly broke the rules. Since this is your first offense, I’ve already been lenient. If there’s a next time, you won’t be treated so lightly.”

Knowing there was no room for negotiation, Gu Xiuming lowered his eyes. A trace of hatred flashed within them, and he tugged faintly at the corner of his lips.

This is called lenient? He’s not my real father, that’s why he’s so ruthless. If I were his biological son, would he treat me like this? Twenty lashes from the Gu family could cost half a life. Someone weak might even die from it.

Seeing her beloved’s pale face, Li Wan’er trembled all over in panic.

Even the heir was treated like this—what about her? Xiuming himself could barely protect himself now. How could he possibly protect her?

Meng Jinyao glanced at the couple still sitting on the ground, clinging to each other. Then she turned to the man beside her.

“Husband, what about this Miss Wan’er? We don’t even know which family she’s from. If her parents knew what she’s done, they’d probably be furious. Eloping may be mutual, but it still needs to be handled properly.”

Just moments ago, Li Wan’er had been worrying about her fate. Now that Meng Jinyao mentioned her, her heart jumped to her throat. Tears blurred her vision again as she looked at the couple with fear in her eyes.

Gu Jingxi studied her with a slight frown.

The girl who had made his unfilial son disregard family honor was fairly pretty—graceful and delicate, though not stunning.

At this moment, she was crying softly and clinging limply to his son. Put nicely, she was weak and helpless. Put bluntly, she lacked decorum—slouching, improper, and frivolous.

How could she compare to the young woman beside him? They weren’t even on the same level. Truly blinded by greed—picking up worthless glass and throwing away a pearl.

He withdrew his gaze and said, “My men have already investigated. She is the daughter of a poor scholar surnamed Li from the east of the city. Her parents are dead, and she once depended on her grandfather, who has also passed away. She is now alone. What does Madam think should be done?”

Meng Jinyao understood immediately.

No wonder she dared to ruin her reputation and elope with another woman’s fiancé—she had no parents, no relatives, no one to restrain her. If she won, she would enjoy wealth and honor. If she lost, she would just consider herself unlucky. In any case, Gu Xiuming wouldn’t abandon her. Even as a kept woman, she would still live comfortably.

Seeing Li Wan’er’s fearful, pleading expression, Meng Jinyao didn’t deliberately make things hard for her. She handled it impartially and said calmly, “Since Xiuming likes her, then after he marries his proper wife, we’ll choose an auspicious day and bring Miss Wan’er into the household.”

Marry a wife and take a concubine.

The meaning was clear—Li Wan’er would be made a concubine.

Li Wan’er froze.

She felt relieved that she wasn’t whipped or punished, but this outcome was not what she wanted.

Being the heir’s concubine and being his wife were worlds apart.

Even as the legitimate wife, she would have Meng Jinyao as her domineering mother-in-law—already miserable enough. As a concubine, she would be suppressed by Meng Jinyao and, in the future, by the legal wife as well.

No principal wife liked her husband’s concubines. When the time came, mother-in-law and wife would join forces against her. She would only be bullied.

Not only Li Wan’er, but Gu Xiuming was also dissatisfied.

His eyes burned with fury as he glared at Meng Jinyao and snarled, “Meng Jinyao, you poisonous woman! You’re clearly taking revenge in the name of justice, pretending to be righteous! Wan’er and I love each other. If you hadn’t stood between us, she would’ve been the heir’s wife. How could she be reduced to a concubine?”