Sweet and Naive

"Speak." Gu Wanning disliked this kind of hesitation.

"Madam," First Concubine replied, not daring to look up at her. She seemed to summon all her strength. "I already had someone in my heart. Back then, I was so eager to enter the marquis's residence because I didn't want to marry..."

Gu Wanning thought the explanation was absurd.

"Do you think I'm that easy to fool?" She gave a soft laugh. "You didn't want to marry as someone's principal wife, yet you were willing to become the marquis's concubine, and now you don't want to attend to him... Should I take that to mean you actually want to be his principal wife?"

"No, no! Please see clearly, madam, I have no such thoughts." First Concubine was flustered. "I merely have someone in my heart..."

"You have someone in your heart, so you chose the marquis and turned everyone else down?"

Seen that way, the person she loved was Xu Weibei. Nothing wrong with that conclusion, was there?

"No." First Concubine explained through her tears, "The man I love is my legal mother's nephew, my older cousin. He was willing to marry me too, but neither family would agree, so..."

"Then why didn't you plead with your legal mother?"

"My cousin is the only son in his family, and he does well in his studies, so his family has better plans for him, so..."

"Since it was impossible, you still insisted on saving yourself for him? Besides, when you were brought into the marquis's residence three years ago, you should have known you had a duty to attend to him. Surely you can't have only regretted it today."

"No." First Concubine shook her head, tears falling. "I've never regretted it. I had no better choice..."

Her cousin was three years older than her. Three years ago, he had sat the examination, expecting to pass with flying colors and bring up their marriage to his family.

To their surprise, he failed the examination.

Both of them were dealt a heavy blow.

"...We both knew the marriage couldn't happen, and there was no room to delay any longer. My cousin, he cast aside his brush and joined the army, going far away to the southwest..."

The southwest?

If it were the northwest, he'd be serving under Xu Weibei.

That would make him difficult to find, too.

"I know he did it because he didn't want to take a wife, and he didn't want to watch me marry someone else..."

"What did he promise you?"

"A promise?" First Concubine froze, then shook her head. "Nothing. Madam, it was my own foolish hope... If I married, I couldn't get a divorce and remarry. But if I became a servant, and my cousin made something of himself one day, perhaps, perhaps he could come looking for me, and the marquis might bestow me on him..."

Gu Wanning: "..."

You really dare to dream!

Xu Weibei would help someone else find happiness?

She wouldn't dare dream of anything so wonderful.

Leaving everything else aside, the fact that he had taken four concubines in one go showed he had no tenderness for women.

He simply treated women as objects.

Besides, he was domineering. Would he casually give his belongings away?

And even if he would, the recipient would have to be somebody important, wouldn't he?

Could someone just go into the army for a few years and rise above the rest?

Unless her cousin was another Xu Weibei.

But if geniuses were everywhere, what gave Xu Weibei the right to be so arrogant?

"I really had no other choice..." First Concubine covered her face and wept, tears soaking the front of her clothes.

Er Ya stood beside her, weeping along with her. These ill-fated lovebirds were just too pitiful.

She couldn't help looking at Gu Wanning, pleading for First Concubine with her eyes.

Gu Wanning didn't look at her. She picked up her teacup, took a small sip, and set it down again. "The marquis's residence has its rules. When it's your turn, I'll put you on the schedule. As for whether you're on your monthly courses, feeling unwell, or otherwise indisposed, you can explain that yourself."

"Yes. Thank you, madam."

"You may go," Gu Wanning said with a wave.

First Concubine took a folded handkerchief from her sleeve and respectfully presented it to Gu Wanning with both hands. "Madam, I embroidered a new handkerchief for you in my spare time. I hope you won't find it unworthy."

Gu Wanning took it, and a touch was enough to tell her.

There was something inside.

In front of First Concubine, she leisurely unfolded it and took out a banknote.

One hundred taels.

Though it wasn't as lavish as Second Concubine's gift, it was still a considerable sum.

A concubine received two taels of silver a month, and her predecessor had withheld half of that, which meant that even without spending a coin, First Concubine would have saved just over thirty taels in three years.

So she had to pay out of her own pocket to refuse to share his bed?

Good grief. They had to pay to sleep with Xu Weibei, and they had to pay to avoid sleeping with him too.

So Xu Weibei really was her money tree.

Gu Wanning just really wanted to ask where everyone was getting their silver!

How come she seemed to be the only poor one?

Let her in on the money-making too!

Chapter 13: Sweet and Naive

With that on her mind, Gu Wanning couldn't help asking.

"Madam, I have no other skills, but I learned some needlework from my mother. I have a little rudimentary talent, so I can earn a few taels of silver each month to supplement my allowance."

Really just a few taels?

Gu Wanning looked at the double-sided embroidered handkerchief and knew she was holding something back.

But Gu Wanning didn't take the silver.

"Take the banknote back. Consider this a favor from me," she said. "I've never heard anything about your situation."

One must not harbor the intent to harm others, but one must always be on guard against them.

She didn't know whether the story was true, nor did she know what First Concubine's purpose really was.

She could barely protect herself, so all she could do was give First Concubine a few words of warning. The rest was up to her.

First Concubine left with the banknote, looking apprehensive.

Er Ya couldn't help saying, "Madam, First Concubine is so pitiful."

"She is."

If she were holding out for a promise, that would be one thing.

But the man had given her nothing, so what was she holding out for?

Gu Wanning hoped it was her own heart that was dark, making her think the worst of others.

But she felt there really wasn't much hope in this matter. In the end, First Concubine would probably only... move herself.

"You accepted Second Concubine's silver, so why not First Concubine's?"