Chapter 23: Love
Qing Lan Courtyard.
Xue Yueying wiped her tears with a handkerchief and gracefully stepped over the threshold. Before Fu Shi could speak, she knelt down.
“Mother, Ying’er’s dowry is already meager. If more is given to Sixth Sister now, she might be looked down upon when she marries…”
Fu Shi glanced at her indifferently. “Everyone is coming to pressure me. What’s the use of crying to me? Do you think I’m like Third Madam? Relying on her maternal family’s ancestral property, she only knows how to eat, drink, and have fun all day. She doesn’t worry about money, doesn’t manage anything, doesn’t have to do any proper work, and has plenty of money to spend?”
She harbored great resentment towards the third branch.
After scolding Qian Shi, she then blamed Xue Yuechen.
“Your Eldest Sister also has no sense. She doesn’t listen to my words as a mother at all. Yet, she managed to coax Xue Liu into doing whatever she wanted. She even wrote a letter detailing the number of chests and carriages for her dowry, specifying that nothing should be lacking. If I don’t reduce your dowry, what will I use to fill such a huge hole?”
Xue Yueying’s tears fell like rain.
“Ying’er only hopes for Mother’s pity. Sixth Sister is about to surpass me even as a concubine…”
The First Madam leaned back in her armchair, taking a slight breath.
Although she had complaints about her eldest daughter, she was still her own flesh and blood, and she had to maintain her dignity as Princess Consort Duan.
“Xue Liu is going to Prince Duan’s Mansion. So many people are watching with wide eyes, seeing if your Eldest Sister and I will treat her poorly. For your father’s reputation and your Eldest Sister’s honor, her dowry cannot be insufficient…”
Xue Yueying’s face was stiff with crying, and she sobbed incessantly.
The First Madam put down her teacup, stepped forward to help her up, and her gaze inadvertently fell on Xue Yueying’s lower abdomen, staring for a long time. “Mother knows you’ve been wronged. But who made us the Xue Mansion’s Fourth Miss, who is kind-hearted? You are the most obedient and considerate. You understand your mother’s difficulties, you won’t blame me, will you?”
Xue Yueying’s teeth were almost ground to dust.
The First Madam was using a soft approach to control her.
She was filled with extreme hatred.
However, being pregnant before marriage, she couldn’t utter a single harsh word.
“Daughter will not make Mother difficult…”
Only then did the First Madam smile with satisfaction and help her sit on a soft stool in the room.
“Didn’t you say you wanted to share your mother’s worries? It’s just a few days of hardship for you, done to show Xue Liu. Be at ease, as long as you share your mother’s worries, even if Mother has to give up her personal savings, she will ensure you have a respectable wedding.”
Xue Yueying’s scalp tingled. Holding Xue Liu’s coin purse in her arms felt like holding a hot potato.
Could it be that the First Madam disliked her for being slow and not dealing with Xue Liu, and was deliberately making things difficult for her?
But the plan that night had failed, and for the moment, she really had no better way to deal with her.
“Daughter will definitely find a way to share Mother’s worries…”
–
Xue Yueying returned to Liuli Pavilion and cried bitterly.
She smashed all the porcelain objects and trinkets within reach.
Qing Zhu and Qing Hong, her two head maids, dared not approach. One accompanied her in tears, while the other remained silent in fear.
After their mistress had vented enough, they then let the rough maids come in to clean up.
A usually quiet little maid approached and boldly curtsied to Xue Yueying.
“Fourth Miss, please don’t cry anymore. Everyone in the mansion knows that besides the Eldest Miss, Fourth Miss is marrying well. Fourth Miss will be a Marquis’s Wife in the future, she is very noble.”
The servants of the Xue Mansion were either born into the family or bought from human traffickers. Xue Yueying usually only showed affection to the few maids in her room, and never paid attention to the lower-ranking maids or the rough servants outside.
However, this maid’s words struck a chord with her.
“You are right. I am the principal wife, and she is just a concubine, only a concubine.”
Hearing her grit her teeth, the maid said, “It’s good that Miss thinks this way. No matter how powerful Prince Duan is, he won’t protect a mere concubine. But Young Master Gu is different; he controls the treasury of the Ministry of Revenue! What are a few chests of dowry? With Young Master Gu’s affection, what can’t Miss have?”
Xue Yueying watched her lips move and found her somewhat unfamiliar.
“What is your name?”
“Replying to Fourth Miss, this servant has not been in Liuli Pavilion for long. My name is Qiao’er.”
Xue Yueying turned to Qing Zhu. “From now on, let Qiao’er serve in my room.”
–
Gu Jie came to find Xue Yueying three days later.
That day, he had promised Xue Yueying to meet her at night, but for some reason, his mother found out. Without a word, she had two servants carry him back, locked his room door, and he was nowhere to be seen except for his meals. He had no way to send messages or letters to Xue Yueying.
As soon as his confinement was lifted, he rushed over, sent word to the Xue Mansion, and waited for her outside the corner gate by the stable.
Xue Yueying went to meet him with a heart full of grief and indignation.
It was drizzling outside. Gu Jie, wearing a blue robe over his shoulders, held an umbrella and stood between the blue stone slab road and the white walls and black tiles. His tall figure looked quite elegant.
The anger in her heart subsided a little.
At this point, her pregnancy could not be delayed, and she absolutely could not offend Gu Jie.
“Ying’er.”
Gu Jie watched her walk over and raised the silk umbrella he was holding.
Xue Yueying’s eyes were red. She looked at him silently until Gu Jie became flustered, then she asked with a wronged tone:
“Why didn’t you come that night? Do you know how much you’ve harmed me?”
Gu Jie resented his mother for confining him, causing Ying’er to misunderstand. However, she was his mother after all, so he couldn’t say anything harsh.
He gently led Xue Yueying under the umbrella and walked with her to a farther eaves, tenderly brushing the moisture from her hair.
“I know you have a kind heart and want to pull Xue Liu out of the fire pit… But you and I are about to get married, and I have no feelings for Xue Liu at all. The thought of seeing her and pretending makes me feel sick. Ying’er, I would rather die than marry her.”
And I can’t face her…
Just looking at Xue Liu’s eyes was enough to make him uncomfortable all over.
Xue Yueying listened silently, not wanting to tell him what had happened in the mansion.
She only said coquettishly, “You didn’t listen to me this time, and you’ve angered me. You need to apologize!”
Gu Jie immediately bowed and said, “This humble student knows his mistake. Please, Sister Ying’er, be magnanimous…”
“No,” Xue Yueying said coldly. “Anyone can say such words. There’s no sincerity.”
Gu Jie smiled and coaxed her, “How should I act? I hope Sister can give me some guidance?”
Xue Yueying tilted her head slightly and gazed at him for a long time. Her eyes suddenly turned red. “You know I am a concubine’s daughter from the Minister’s Mansion, my birth mother died early, and no one doted on me. My dowry was already meager. Now, the First Madam, to appease Sixth Sister, has cut my dowry by more than half… Gu Lang, if I marry into the Marquis’s Mansion like this, I will surely be ridiculed…”
Gu Jie said with heartache, “No, my family is by no means a person who dislikes the poor and loves the rich, or only values money. Ying’er, don’t cry. My future salary will all be yours.”
“Silly, how much can that be?” Xue Yueying said, lowering her eyelids. “Why don’t you use some of the treasury silver to add a few chests to my dowry?”
Gu Jie was shocked by her words.
He worked in the Gold Department of the Ministry of Revenue. Although he could access a large amount of treasury silver, doing so was too risky. If his superiors investigated, it would lead to great trouble.
“Ying’er, this absolutely cannot be done.”
Xue Yueying looked at his timid appearance and felt annoyed.
She felt she wasn’t asking for much. Compared to Princess Ping Le, Yao Wei, and Xie Weilan, she was only taking a little easily obtainable wealth. What did it matter?
“You just don’t want to pity me. After I marry into the Marquis’s Mansion, I will be worse off than Sixth Sister, who is a concubine. I will probably become a laughingstock. How will I be able to hold my head up in the Marquis’s Mansion and in Princess Ping Le’s Women’s Society in the future?”
Gu Jie still shook his head.
Xue Yueying grabbed his sleeve and then placed his hand on her own lower abdomen.
“Gu Lang, I am not doing this for myself, but for our child. Without money, how can we, your concubine-born son and daughter, establish ourselves in the Marquis’s Mansion? How can you become the Heir Apparent and the Marquis? How can I become the Heir Apparent’s wife, the Marquis’s wife, and be granted a noble title? How will our children hold their heads high in the future? Gu Lang, tell me, which of these doesn’t require money?”
Gu Jie clasped her hand tightly. “Ying’er, it is my incompetence, but rest assured, I will never let you suffer any grievance…”
Xue Yueying flung his hand away. “You only speak empty words. My ears are calloused from hearing them.”
“Ying’er. This is not a small matter like buying a hair accessory or rouge…”
“What are you afraid of? Princess Ping Le and I are close friends… This afternoon, I am going to the Women’s Society in Ping Le Square to meet the Princess. The Princess doesn’t know about Xue Liu’s return yet. I will explain it to her then… If anything truly goes wrong, won’t the Princess have our back?”
Princess Ping Le was the only princess of this dynasty who had her own mansion and staff, with a rank equivalent to a Prince.
Gu Jie, working in the Gold Department, knew too well how much illicit wealth Princess Ping Le had accumulated.
She had plundered over five hundred li of civilian land, piled stones into mountains, diverted water into streams, and demolished countless homes, causing people to become displaced, all to build her racecourse and expand her villa. Ping Le was the Emperor’s beloved daughter, favored by the Imperial Heart, possessing everything others could not even dream of.
Just like his crippled elder brother, who was useless, but simply because he was the legitimate son, he could enjoy the wealth of the Marquis Jingyuan’s Mansion.
He didn’t want to be an incompetent concubine-born son for his entire life.
It was just a small amount of misappropriation, to add a few chests to the dowry of the woman he loved. When he had the money, he would replace it. He figured it wouldn’t be discovered?
Gu Jie tightly held Xue Yueying’s hand.
“Ying’er, for you, I am willing to go through fire and water.”
“Gu Lang…”
The two embraced in the misty rain of the alley.
Pigeon: Heavens! Come quickly and see, they are so affectionate!!!
Li Zhao: Xue Ping’an, tell me, who taught you to be so wicked?
Xue Sui: Wicked Li, I can be even more wicked.
