Arrogance Beyond All Bounds

Since she had said she was ill, Gu Wanning couldn't very well make her work while sick, could she?

"I understand," Gu Wanning said.

Today happened to be the eleventh of June. Second Concubine had the middle of the month, Fourth Concubine the end, and First Concubine the beginning. Come to think of it, they were in order of seniority after all.

As for herself... what excuse should she find?

What a headache!

Once the eggplants had been picked, Gu Wanning sent Third Concubine back. Then she went back to eat breakfast, still pondering the question.

It wasn't Xu Weibei she needed to explain herself to. It was the Grand Princess, her golden thigh!

Er Ya asked in confusion, "Madam, you didn't think this way before! Didn't you think being the Marquis's wife would do?"

It wasn't as good as being the Princess of Qin, but she was already married, so she had to make the best of it and couldn't let those seductive little hussies walk all over her.

"I don't think it'll do anymore," Gu Wanning said. "Hurry up and help me think of something."

"This servant wasn't born with a brain, so I can't think of anything."

Gu Wanning said, "Where's your brain?"

"My mother said I wasn't born with one."

Gu Wanning said, "...Out, out. I want some peace and quiet."

"All right! This servant will go measure the pigsty."

Gu Wanning looked wordlessly up at the heavens. Didn't I just say we couldn't raise pigs anymore?

Oh, well. She could do as she pleased.

To her surprise, Er Ya had only been gone a short while before she came hurrying back.

"Something terrible has happened, Madam! Something terrible!"

Gu Wanning thought, What, did Xu Weibei kick the bucket?

Chapter 15: Arrogance Beyond All Bounds

The news Er Ya brought left Gu Wanning speechless.

It was bad news.

Xu Weibei had shown outrageous audacity and struck someone at court.

And the person he had struck was his brother-in-law, Gu Wanning's own elder brother, Gu Anqi.

It was also good news.

Xu Weibei had even struck Gu Anqi. Did that mean the two of them could get a divorce by mutual consent?

"What did the emperor say?"

"I heard the emperor gave the Marquis a thorough scolding. The emperor is wise indeed!" Er Ya looked like someone who had found an enlightened ruler, her eyes brimming with grateful tears.

Gu Wanning closed her eyes. When she opened them again, they were clear.

Xu Weibei had done it on purpose.

His achievements were so great that they threatened the throne, so he had deliberately exposed a weakness to the emperor, giving him a chance to suppress and punish him.

On the other hand, he was also showing that he was at odds with his wife's family. Perhaps he could then divorce her by mutual consent as a matter of course.

That venomous husband!

But this one incident probably wasn't enough for a divorce by mutual consent. He would have to keep stirring up trouble.

"How did you hear about it?"

Court should have already been dismissed by now, but had the news really reached the Marquis's Residence and her ears so quickly?

Gu Wanning didn't know whether she was seeing conspiracies everywhere, but it seemed to her that the news had traveled a little too fast.

"Ah, I really don't have a brain." Er Ya slapped her forehead. "Someone from our residence came to tell me."

As it turned out, after Gu Anqi was struck, he had left court early and gone home.

Once home, he had sent someone to tell Gu Wanning what had happened.

"The eldest young master said you should be prepared."

"Prepared for what?" Gu Wanning smiled. "We can't get involved in this. Let them do as they please."

Why pretend to care now?

Neither her birth family nor Xu Weibei cared about her at all.

"But what if the Marquis comes back and takes it out on you?" Er Ya asked, full of worry.

"Takes it out on me? He struck first, and my elder brother got the worst of it. Would he have the nerve to come home and keep making trouble? Besides, even if he does come after me, surely he won't hit me?"

"Why wouldn't he?"

There were all too many men who hit women.

"He won't," Gu Wanning said.

Although she hadn't spent much time with Xu Weibei, she could tell he was proud to the core.

Her earlier "provocation" had also been an attempt to see exactly where this man's limits lay.

But even when she had made him so angry he stamped his feet, Xu Weibei had shown no sign of violence.

This man disdained to raise a hand against a woman.

But that didn't mean he was compassionate.

On the contrary, he was hard-hearted and gave no thought to a woman's feelings.

Whatever he did, his aim was to achieve his goal.

He was working toward a divorce by mutual consent.

But why had he chosen to strike her elder brother?

By rights, wouldn't a father-in-law in a high position be a great help to him?

Even if he wanted to avoid suspicion and keep the emperor from growing wary, he didn't have to go this far.

"I wonder how the eldest young master is now," Er Ya said, pacing around the room. "Madam, should you go back and see him?"

"No one from the residence has come to fetch me, and the Marquis hasn't given me permission to visit my birth family. How could I go back?" Gu Wanning said mildly.

She kept feeling that her predecessor's resentment still lingered in her mind.

And no wonder. With the way the Gu family had treated their twin daughters differently, who wouldn't go mad?

In this era, there were certain taboos surrounding twins.

But they applied only to identical twins, only to two men who looked exactly alike, came from a noble family, and had inheritance rights.

She and Gu Wanqing looked completely different, so why had she been sent to the estate?

Was it because she affected her father's and brothers' official careers?

The Gu family's explanation was that her deceased grandmother had appeared in a dream and asked her to go to the estate and keep her company.

Heh. When people told ghost stories, they made them sound more real than ghosts did.

"Has the Marquis gone mad?" Er Ya couldn't help cursing.

She had an extremely good impression of Gu Anqi. He was the most upright and gentle young master she had ever met.

If Er Ya had an ideal type of man, Gu Anqi was unquestionably the top-of-the-line model.

When someone from the Gu residence had come with the message earlier, she had asked about it repeatedly. Hearing that Xu Weibei had knocked Gu Anqi down with a punch to the face, Er Ya wished she could hit him back on Gu Anqi's behalf.

"Let them make trouble," Gu Wanning said, standing up with a calm expression. "I'm going to see about spraying the corn with some more water."