A Model Example

Gu Wanning blended in with the crowd, paid her respects to Gu Wanqing, and sat down. Now she was eating melon with her head lowered, thinking that the melon at the Princess's Residence was truly sweet.

Then she heard the Grand Princess say, "Go sit with your younger sister. You two should have a nice chat."

Gu Wanning: No!

Chapter 38: A Model Example

Gu Wanqing sat down beside Gu Wanning and took the initiative with a smile. "You seem to have put on a little weight lately, Sister."

Gu Wanning: "...Not really."

Insulting me the moment we meet? Do you even know how to make conversation?

Where have I gotten fat?

Have I?

After that exchange, the sisters both fell silent.

Lu Baozhu looked down on Gu Wanning. She gave a cold snort and said, "Wanqing, don't talk to her."

Gu Wanning thought she was brain-dead.

Gu Wanqing said gravely, "Baozhu, this is my younger sister. I know you well enough to understand that you don't mean what you say, but if someone else heard you, they might think you were trying to sow discord between us sisters and get angry."

Lu Baozhu said, "You're just too nice. That's why she keeps bullying you."

"We sisters get along very well. There's no bullying involved. If you keep talking like that, I really will get angry."

"All right, I'll stop, then. But I don't like her anyway."

"The feeling's mutual," Gu Wanning said lazily, leaning back in her chair.

Lu Baozhu glared at her.

Gu Wanqing stood up and said, "I saw a few old friends outside just now. I'll go see them."

Then she took the string of people behind her away.

Gu Wanning instantly felt that the space around her had grown clear and bright.

Fourth Concubine murmured to Qingxing, "Good thing Madam isn't like the Consort of the Prince of Qin. The Consort of the Prince of Qin's presence is truly frightening."

Being a concubine at the Prince of Qin's residence seemed even harder. She might as well work in the fields.

First Concubine, however, corrected her. "That concubine didn't know her place. What right did she have to speak on an occasion like this?"

Second Concubine said, "She probably got a little favor and floated right up into the sky, forgetting how much she weighs."

Third Concubine said nothing.

Her gaze rested on the table in front of Gu Wanning, as though she meant to stare a hole through it. There was no telling what she was thinking.

Gu Wanning, however, said, "What use is it for the Consort of the Prince of Qin to be formidable? Her concubine still made her lose face in public, didn't she?"

"I don't think so," Fourth Concubine said. "I think it was the concubine who lost face."

"If she really had no face left, she wouldn't dare jump up and down like that today. How often do we see them? How much of their everyday dealings can we see? If that concubine dares interrupt in front of so many people, you can imagine how arrogant she is at the Prince's residence."

Gu Wanning found it all terribly dull.

She would rather have seen a lovestruck Prince who, for the sake of the one he loved, kept himself in line and held fast, staying with one woman for life and living as a clear stream amid the murk.

She did not want to see a couple everyone praised as a perfect match end up just as vulgar and trite as the rest of the world, gold and jade on the outside but rotten rags within.

They were deceiving themselves.

But on second thought, those were her values, not this world's.

Perhaps the others were perfectly content. What business was it of hers to meddle?

At that moment, a maid from the Princess's Residence served a dish of Golden and Silver Crab-Filled Rolls. They were a kind of pastry roll, with crab roe and crab meat providing the gold and silver.

There were six on the plate. Gu Wanning ate two, and each of the concubines had one. They all said they were delicious.

The plate was empty in an instant.

Looking around at the others, who were all talking or observing one another, who else was eating so attentively?

Gu Wanning and the four concubines all laughed.

The Grand Princess, who had been quietly watching them all along, was deeply comforted in her old age at the sight.

At her age, what storms had she not weathered? What human faces and painted skins had she not seen? She could tell that Gu Wanning and the four concubines truly got along.

Her grandson was blessed!

It would be hard to find another household in the Capital where so many women lived together in harmony.

Gu Wanning: We live together in harmony because none of us has a man.

Without men, women are all sisters.

She had always felt that they could maintain their present peace because Xu Weibei's heart belonged to someone else, and he had not touched any of them.

Once someone gained his favor and the balance tipped, their relationships would have to change.

In that environment, most people drifted with the current.

All of them were wives and concubines. You sleep with her but not me? You sleep with her and leave that other one out?

There was no use saying now that they would neither compete nor fight. People changed.

One thing Gu Wanning was very open-minded about was that she enjoyed all the healthy relationships she had in the present.

For instance, the Grand Princess treated her well, so she accepted it with an easy heart, without thinking about future nonsense like the Death-Exemption Gold Plaque.

And since she and the four concubines could have fun together, why should she think about what would happen if Xu Weibei went crazy and disrupted their relationship later?

She did not even know if she would live to see tomorrow. Why dwell on so many hypotheticals?

The Grand Princess said to Gu Wanning, "Go out for a stroll and meet some people too. They're all enjoying themselves in the garden. You're young; don't stay here keeping us old folks company."

Gu Wanning thanked her and prepared to go out.

Then she heard the Grand Princess tell someone to send several more portions of pastries out to her.

Gu the foodie was delighted.

The Grand Princess's garden covered a vast area, and there was a lake in the middle of it. One stretch of the lake was especially narrow, only a little over a zhang wide. From a distance, it looked like a shimmering jade belt, so it was called Jade Belt Lake.

Jade Belt Lake divided the male and female guests, who faced one another across the water.

Gu Wanning found it amusing. It felt rather like being separated by the distant Milky Way.

When courting, people had to show off a little skill. There was nothing shameful about that, so both sides of Jade Belt Lake were lively at the moment.

Some displayed their skills in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, while others discussed the past and present. Everyone did whatever best showed off their talents.

Gu Wanning watched for a while, but she hardly knew anyone, so she had someone bring her a fishing rod and sat down by the lake to fish.

"Madam, you like fishing?" Fourth Concubine said. "How boring."

Basking in the sun, Gu Wanning said lazily, "I'm not fishing. I just don't want anyone disturbing me."