The rest of the words were swallowed back by Lady Lou who suddenly stood up and covered her mouth, giving Gu Zii a fierce glare and sternly shouting, "Shut up!"
In Gu Zii’s eyes, her legitimate sister-in-law Lady Lou had always been gentle and kind, carefully considerate in speech to her and her sisters.
She had never seen her looking so fierce and intimidating, and was suddenly scared, leaving nothing but tears streaming down.
After shocking Gu Zii, Lady Lou turned around and bowed to the maidservant who had co to deliver the ssage.
After all, this was the personal maidservant of the Lady of the Gu Family, an elder who had served for decades; naturally, as juniors, they had to show respect.
It should be known that such an elder, in front of the seniors, was even more well-regarded than they.
The maidservant avoided Lady Lou’s bow, returned the gesture, and continued expressionlessly, "Since the Second Mistress is here, this old servant will go back to report."
Upon saying this, she was about to leave.
Lady Lou beca anxious and hurriedly said, "Thank you, Sister, for personally coming to deliver the ssage. It’s a lot of trouble!" As she spoke, she removed a golden bracelet from her hand and stuffed it into the maidservant’s hand.
The maidservant half-heartedly accepted it.
Lady Lou personally escorted her out, and only then did the maidservant quietly give a couple of reminders: "The Fourth Miss was indeed a bit out of line today; the Second Mistress should advise her more. Such a fuss is not fitting for a girl from a noble family."
After speaking, she left.
When Lady Lou returned, Gu Zii was already lying on the bed, bawling loudly, occasionally sneaking a glance at the door.
Seeing Lady Lou co in, she imdiately cried louder.
Lady Lou only felt a headache but had to muster up the energy to comfort her.
No matter how Lady Lou soothed Gu Zii, the entire courtyard remained disturbed and restless.
anwhile, Old Madam Gu carefully inquired about the current situation of Old Granny Zhang and Wang Yongzhu’s family in Chicheng County, and Gu Changque answered patiently one by one.
After lunch, Wang Yongzhu presented all the different gifts prepared for everyone.
Lady An, accompanying on the side, saw that the gifts filled more than half the room, with tags attached, ensuring that no one among the nearly twenty masters of the Gu Family was left out.
Just from such thoughtfulness, Lady An asked herself honestly; if it were her, she would also like this cousin.
For these past three years, she had received items sent by her aunt and cousin from Chicheng County every year.
People often say that a token sent from afar represents deep affection despite its lightness—and the gifts sent over were all splendid items.
Fourth Miss never complained about the things sent by her cousin and aunt but could quickly turn around and stab them in the heart. Such ungratefulness!
Lady An was well-aware that despite the second branch living together with their big branch without splitting, and seeming intimate and warm before, it had been due to the troubleso third branch.
With the contrast of the third branch, everyone compared looked superior.
Moreover, back then, the third branch annoyed both the big and second branches together; they were all victims, thus unified in effort.
Since finding the real Third Uncle and with the third branch’s disturbances gone, unnoticed changes have occurred between the big and second branches.
Speaking of nothing else, the big branch and the second branch split the family, but because the old lady still presided, they divided the property but not the household.
These years, while managing the household for her eldest sister-in-law, she ca to know that although they said the property was divided but not the household, the second branch’s daily expenses were entirely covered by the public institution, all solely borne by the big branch.
They, too, had seven or eight family mbers, with considerable annual expenses.
Except for at the end of the year when the second branch would hand over two thousand taels of silver to the big branch as a token; no consideration was given to what two thousand taels could do.
Not to ntion that when the second branch’s Third Miss got married, the big branch gave a thick dowry, yet she occasionally heard the returning Third Miss complaining privately that the Lady of the Gu Family hadn’t given enough, unlike the grand occasion when the eldest sister married.
She didn’t consider that she wasn’t originally part of the big branch, and secondly, the big branch’s eldest daughter married high, naturally with a substantial dowry accompanying.
Third Miss only married into a moderately respectable family, hoping for a rich dowry tied to the second branch, yet blad the big branch - what nerve was that?
However, she, being the second son’s wife, knew that her in-laws had always been kind to the two uncles, so she remained silent.
Yet Lady An also noted that her mother-in-law’s attitude had shifted.
For instance, while before, her mother-in-law always looked after the two girls of the second branch, once Third Miss married, her mother-in-law declared she had to seek a marital match for Laosi, unable to look after others, thus leaving Fourth Miss in the care of her sister-in-law Lady Lou.
No one could fault her for that.
Not to ntion what the Lady of the Gu Family previously said, Lady An, being perceptive as glass, imdiately understood her mother-in-law’s stance.
She had resolved to be cooler towards the second branch in future.
anwhile, at the Duke Weiguo Mansion.
Wang Yongzhu was ticulous and would not leave room for criticism. Since Gu Changque had returned to the Capital City bearing gifts for the Gu Family, naturally the Song Family would not be left out.
Half of it had, upon reaching the Capital City, been sent by the Gu Family to the Duke Weiguo Mansion.
Upon hearing that it was the Third Master of the Gu Family returning to the Capital City, sent back on behalf of her Master Heir-Apparent and the Wife of the Heir-Apparent, Lady Gao naturally didn’t slack off.
Each of the ssengers from the Gu Family who brought the gifts were rewarded with a thick pouch.
It happened that Song Hong was feeling unwell these few days. With no significant matters at court recently, he simply requested sick leave to rest at ho.
Today, he happened to be in Lady Gao’s room.
Having heard the commotion, he ca out to see Lady Gao looking over the gift list and casually took it to glance through it without comnt.
He did remark a few words nostalgically: "In the blink of an eye, it’s been two or three years. Matters over there should be almost done by now—"
Lady Gao understood that Song Hong was estimating that if all went smoothly, Song Chongjin and the others should be scheduled for transfer back next year.
But once they returned, the Song Family, already fraught with undercurrents, might just explode.
Knowing that Song Hong was unwell, stayed at ho nurturing himself, it was rare for Lord Duke to be ho daily; how could the concubines let this chance slip without vying for favor and attention?
Therefore, early in the morning, they all neatly gathered in Lady Gao’s room, stating they were there to pay respects, finding any excuses not to leave after paying respects.
Nowadays, Lady Gao had long since dismissed such behavior and ignored the antics of these concubines.
Having overheard a bit earlier, and now hearing Song Hong’s comnt, the concubines, with their thoughts as clear as mirrors, worried that Lord Duke wanted to bring back the Princely Heir?
How could that be? Currently, Song Chongjin’s montum was high; these concubines also knew that they couldn’t stand against it openly. They might not win the position of Princely Heir, but they had to grab what else they could, right?
If the Princely Heir returned, wouldn’t their own sons end up empty-handed? At that ti, Lord Duke wouldn’t have any room in his heart or eyes for their sons?
So they were anxious, fretful, eager to imdiately whisper pillow talk to make Lord Duke lose favor with the Master Heir-Apparent.
Everyone had their own calculations, but Lady Hou was most anxious. Her eldest son was thoroughly ruined; the second son was now active, but anyone with a discerning eye could tell that once Song Chongjin returned, her second son would surely lose hope.
Thus, gritting her teeth and forcing a smile, she began to praise Song Chongjin and Wang Yongzhu, saying how pious they were, how deeply they inherited Lord Duke’s teachings.
She praised Song Hong so much that he was delighted and couldn’t help but shift the conversation to a sigh: "Speaking of it, the Master Heir-Apparent is now good in every way, accomplished at a young age, and with the Emperor’s favor, his future is promising. But ultimately, there’s one flaw—"
Song Hong raised an eyebrow: "What flaw?"
While it might have been said in the past that marrying that Lady Wang lacked status, now this has been rectified; being the niece of the Gu Family was no small matter, where’s the lack anymore?
"Lord Duke, you’ve always focused on significant matters at heart, never bothering with the small things of the inner residence. You probably forgot that the Master Heir-Apparent and the Wife of the Heir-Apparent have been married for four or five years now. Yet until now, the Master Heir-Apparent still has no offspring beneath him."
"Isn’t it true that even the Second Young Master, and Third and Fourth Young Masters, all of them had children within a year of marriage?"
Before Lady Hou’s remark even settled, the other concubines—except Lady ng—hastily chid in agreent.
Song Hong’s frown gradually deepened.
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