SGEIRS -Chapter 297 Her Future Stepmother

Inside the carriage.

Holding a hand warmer in her arms, Meng Jinyao looked at the man sitting across from her and asked, “Husband, don’t you think my father was unusually nice to me today? It feels like ‘no kindness without reason’—either he’s plotting something or he wants something. He didn’t say anything to you, did he?”

Gu Jingxi smiled. “A-Yao really can see through things.”

Hearing this, Meng Jinyao straightened up and asked curiously, “What did he say to you?”

Gu Jingxi didn’t hide it from her and replied honestly, “He found out that there’s currently a vacancy in the Ministry of Revenue, but many people are eyeing that position. With his own connections, he can’t get in. So he wanted me to help smooth things over.”

Meng Jinyao immediately understood. No wonder all the dishes at lunch were her favorites, and even the pastries were what she liked. He had really put in effort just to please her.

Her father was an ordinary man, but he could read situations fairly well. Knowing her husband cherished her, he didn’t dare flatter Gu Jingxi directly. Instead, he tried to take a roundabout approach through her.

There was no need to ask about the outcome—she could guess that her husband would never agree.

She smiled and asked, “So he got angry again?”

Gu Jingxi replied, “He didn’t dare get angry. But he did beat around the bush and ask me what you think about him remarrying.”

Meng Jinyao was stunned. “In his heart, has my opinion become that important? If he wants to remarry, he can just do it. Why does he care what I think?”

Gu Jingxi smiled helplessly. “I think he’s probably a little afraid of you.”

Hearing this, Meng Jinyao’s expression became subtle. Her father, who always had the final say at home, could actually be afraid of her one day? Maybe he really was—after all, she had a reliable husband backing her, and because of Madam Sun, she had developed some psychological shadow toward stepmothers. He was probably afraid that she might sabotage things at the last moment and ruin his plans.

She sneered lightly. “Then he’s worrying too much. I’m not going to play any tricks. Instead of worrying that I’ll ruin things, he’d better worry about those two good children he had with Madam Sun.”

Gu Jingxi said, “So I told him that you don’t mind and would even bless him. After hearing that, he finally felt at ease.”

Meng Jinyao pondered for a moment and asked, “If he’s asking things like that, does that mean he’s already chosen someone?”

Gu Jingxi nodded.

She became curious. “So which family’s daughter has such poor eyesight that she actually took a fancy to my father?”

Gu Jingxi replied, “It’s the youngest daughter of Hanlin Scholar Dong. Scholar Dong has had bad luck—he’s spent half his life in the Hanlin Academy without making much progress. Your father said the Dong family has already agreed to the marriage.”

Half a lifetime?

An old Hanlin scholar?

Meng Jinyao caught the key words. She felt that Scholar Dong must be quite old—probably much older than her father. Usually, men of that age didn’t have daughters close to her own age unless they were concubine-born. So she asked, “How old is this Second Miss Dong?”

Gu Jingxi answered, “She’s a legitimate daughter, twenty-five years old.”

Meng Jinyao’s eyes widened in shock. “A twenty-five-year-old unmarried woman?”

Other than nuns, it was extremely rare for a woman to remain unmarried at twenty-five. Poor families married their daughters off at thirteen or fourteen. Wealthy and powerful families might keep them until sixteen.

A twenty-five-year-old woman from an official family who hadn’t married must have had some problem. Would her face-conscious father really agree?

Gu Jingxi explained, “It’s not that she couldn’t get married. She was married before, but her husband died, and she had no children. After observing mourning for three years, she returned to her natal family in the capital, and they arranged another match for her.”

Meng Jinyao nodded in understanding. “So she’s a widow. Twenty-five and previously married—and my father still agreed. That means she must be quite good-looking. But with the Meng family’s reputation now, and its decline, families worse than ours wouldn’t meet my grandmother’s standards, and proper young maidens surely wouldn’t want to marry my father. A previously married woman would be more willing. And Miss Dong comes from a respectable scholarly family, so it sounds decent.”

Gu Jingxi smiled. “You’re surprisingly calm about it.”

“What else can I do? Juniors can’t interfere in elders’ affairs.” Meng Jinyao shrugged helplessly, then clicked her tongue twice. “My son wants to get married, my father wants to get married. Young and old are both worrying over marriage. In the end, the old one gets his wish first.”

Gu Jingxi couldn’t help laughing. After a moment, he analyzed, “The Meng family did cause a scandal, but Madam Sun took all the blame. Your mother’s death was shouldered by her alone. In outsiders’ eyes, your father is a victim—someone who lost both wife and son because of Madam Sun. Xiuming is different. He ran away from marriage, keeps a favored concubine, and now that concubine is even pregnant.”

Meng Jinyao nodded lightly. “That’s true. On the surface, my father doesn’t seem as outrageous as Xiuming. By the way, did he mention when the wedding will be?”

Gu Jingxi replied, “It’s not set yet, but the engagement is about to be finalized. They’re preparing to choose an auspicious day to formally propose.”

Meng Jinyao chuckled. “He really told you everything, yet didn’t say a word to me. Is he really that afraid I’ll sabotage things? So he tested the waters through you first, and only dared to proceed after knowing I had no objections. If he’s stupid, he still knows how to probe. If he’s smart, why probe through you? Isn’t he afraid we’re in this together?”

Gu Jingxi said gently, “No matter what, it’s enough that we know who he plans to marry. Your younger siblings probably don’t know yet.”

Meng Jinyao disagreed. “I don’t think so. My ‘good’ little sister came to me today and tried to use me as a knife.”

Gu Jingxi frowned. “What happened?”

“She wanted to persuade me to pressure Father with you and make him give up on remarrying. That means she probably knows he’s about to propose to the Dong family and got anxious. But I ignored her. I don’t want to interfere in who Father marries. And now, I can protect Second Brother too.”

After speaking, she seemed to think of something and laughed. “All the weddings I’ve attended have been for people of my generation or younger. Thinking that I’ll soon attend my father’s wedding with my stepmother—it feels strange, and kind of novel.”

Gu Jingxi laughed helplessly. “There aren’t many sons-in-law who get to attend their father-in-law’s wedding.”

“That’s true.” Meng Jinyao nodded. After a while, she started worrying again. “When my son gets married, I know what to give—just a gift when my daughter-in-law serves tea the next day. But when my father remarries and I go back home for the banquet, what gift should I give?”

That question actually stumped Gu Jingxi for a moment. Gift-giving was particular, and he really couldn’t think of a suitable present right away.

Before he could answer, Meng Jinyao said, “Forget it. Let’s talk about it later. Husband, since we’re already out, let’s stroll around before going back. I haven’t been on the streets for a long time.”

Gu Jingxi agreed. “Alright.” Then he smiled and asked, “You’re not afraid of the cold anymore?”

“Today there’s sunshine. It feels fine—much warmer than yesterday,” she replied.

They wandered around until evening, bought many interesting little trinkets, had dinner at a restaurant outside, and only then returned home.