I Had No Brains

Gu Wanning said, "All right, go on back. None of you need to come here anymore. I'll take care of it myself."

Don't damage my corn!

None of the four women dared speak.

Chapter 14: I Had No Brains

In the end, Fourth Concubine could not hold back and spoke first.

"Madam, am I really free to go? You're not angry?"

Gu Wanning waved her hand, signaling for her to leave.

Fourth Concubine took First Concubine by the hand and left.

Second Concubine looked on, then left as well.

She probably felt a little more confident now that she had given Gu Wanning the silver.

"You stay," Gu Wanning said to the hesitant Third Concubine. "I have something to discuss with you. Come, help me carry the basket. I'll pick the eggplants."

Third Concubine hurried forward.

Er Ya, meanwhile, looked at the empty cages and said with a sense of loss, "You know, Madam, I feel empty inside now too. How about we buy some more young ones to raise? Oh, right, you mentioned raising pigs last time. Shall we have a pigsty built while we're at it?"

Gu Wanning said, "We'll talk about it later."

She dared not imagine the smell of raising pigs in the middle of summer.

The first time she had entered this back courtyard, the smell of chicken droppings had nearly sent her to the afterlife.

Besides, even if she could bear it, Xu Weibei couldn't.

And since she had already made up her mind to leave, she would make a clean break when the time came.

Draw a blade and cut through water, swift and decisive, head held high and striding forward—even against ten million men, I shall go forth!

That's the kind of spirit I need!

What would it look like if I had a flock of chickens, ducks, and geese behind me, plus a few big fat pigs!

Er Ya, however, thought Gu Wanning really meant they could "talk about it later" and went off eagerly to plan where to put her pigsty.

Gu Wanning then asked Third Concubine which dates she wanted to avoid sharing the marquis's bed.

Third Concubine said softly, "Madam, I had intended to come to you, but I didn't know how to bring it up."

Gu Wanning spoke gently to her. "Whatever you have in mind, come and tell me. You were given to the marquis by the Grand Princess, after all, so you have a more respectable position than the others. In a marquis's residence this large, all sorts of matters fall on my shoulders. You can't expect me to attend to everything, so tell me what you want, and I can make arrangements."

Even the gatekeeper of a prime minister's residence was a seventh-rank official.

Someone given to the marquis by the Grand Princess had to be shown proper respect.

"Madam, I am unclean and fear I would sully the marquis, so I cannot serve him."

Gu Wanning was genuinely shocked.

When Third Concubine said she was "unclean," she spoke so casually, as though she were talking about whether she had eaten that day.

But to a woman in ancient times, this was more important than life itself.

As the saying went, starving to death was a small matter; losing one's chastity was a grave one.

Third Concubine, however, smiled gently, as though the hurt she had suffered long ago had already faded like clouds in a light breeze. "What I said is true."

Her name was Hua Ying. After her father died and her mother remarried, she had been raised by her grandfather, a girl who had grown up steeped in the fragrance of medicinal herbs.

She had accompanied her grandfather, who had retired from the Imperial Medical Academy, in treating many nobles.

Then she had met a frail young master, and as they spent time together, feelings had gradually grown between them.

"I couldn't resist his sweet words—or perhaps I was shameless myself. I crossed the line with him, and then I became pregnant..."

As she spoke of the past, only self-mockery remained in Third Concubine's eyes.

"Grandfather was furious, but what was done was done, and there was nothing he could do. He could only go to his family and hope they would let us marry as soon as possible."

To her surprise, his family wanted her to be a concubine. They said that given her status, even becoming a concubine was marrying above herself, and she was pregnant besides.

"I was indeed marrying above myself, but he had promised to take me as his wife."

She had believed every word he said, and so, in a moment of passion, she had given herself to him.

Even after his family rejected her, she had still believed it was not what he wanted.

She went to him, but he urged her to accept reality.

Only then did she learn that he was already betrothed.

"I aborted the child at five months, when it was already fully formed, and sent it to him in a box."

Tears glistened in Third Concubine's eyes as she spoke of the child she had been fated to conceive but not to keep.

I'm sorry, my child. I'm so sorry.

Gu Wanning's heart jolted as she listened.

Third Concubine was so fiercely resolute.

Though she still did not dare believe her entirely, Third Concubine had shaken her deeply.

"Grandfather once saved the Grand Princess. He never asked anyone for favors, but for my sake, he went to beg her for help, and then I entered the princess's service..."

Later, the Grand Princess had bestowed her upon Xu Weibei.

"Then does the Grand Princess know about your past?" Gu Wanning asked softly.

"She does." Third Concubine nodded. "The princess said I was only a concubine, and in many households, concubines had been with other men before..."

The Grand Princess pitied her and treated her very well.

There was one other thing Third Concubine could not say: the Grand Princess knew well how to make use of people.

Others might grow jealous, but after all she had been through, and knowing herself to be unclean, she felt beneath others and would not stir up trouble.

Moreover, she was grateful for the Grand Princess's kindness and would tell her about anything that happened in the residence.

She had been given the task of ensuring harmony between Xu Weibei and Gu Wanning and seeing that they soon had a legitimate son.

For a moment, Gu Wanning felt somewhat dazed.

Why does this dynasty feel both feudal and open-minded to me?

She seemed to have been poisoned by television dramas, taking too many things for granted.

"But the Grand Princess agreed to it. Do you think being unclean matters?" Gu Wanning asked.

Xu Weibei might well know about it too.

That couldn't be her reason for not sharing his bed, could it?

"Ever since the abortion, I've had a lingering ailment. I've had a constant trickle of discharge down below and haven't been very clean."

"Didn't you examine yourself?"

"I did, and I took a great deal of medicine, but it didn't do much good."

Was this a case of a physician unable to heal herself, or merely an excuse?

Gu Wanning did not know, nor did she intend to press further.

All she knew was that Third Concubine did not want to share the marquis's bed.