Contraceptive Medicine

She just didn't quite understand why her senior brother insisted on making her Xu Weibei's concubine.

But their values were different. Perhaps, to them, this was the best arrangement.

"What could happen to an outer mistress like her?" Second Concubine said. "I'd say she probably heard that Madam went out with the Marquis today and wanted to stir something up to compete for his favor."

"Then show some ambition. I'll send you to snatch the Marquis back," Gu Wanning teased with a smile.

Second Concubine had probably realized she was easy to talk to and couldn't hold back. "If this servant really had that ability, would I have needed to come begging you for help?"

That was eight hundred taels of silver!

It pained her to death.

If she could do it herself, she would never have let someone else earn that money.

"What this servant was thinking," Third Concubine said, "was whether the princess sent someone to warn that woman?"

That sounded like something the Grand Princess would do.

Gu Wanning yawned. "Never mind. Whatever happens, happens. That's all, off you go. All of you, go back and rest. Yaya, take good care of First Sister."

First Concubine really hadn't seemed quite herself today.

She didn't seem to have recovered from the blow.

Even if others wanted to help with that, their hearts might be willing, but their strength fell short.

After the four concubines withdrew, Er Ya came over with her big palm-leaf fan and fanned Gu Wanning. "Honestly, the feast at the Princess's Residence has probably started by now. Neither of us got to eat. Luckily, we got some pastries to fill our stomachs, or we'd have lost out all the way to Grandma's house."

"Oh, we haven't eaten yet! I'm not hungry, though. I filled my stomach with pastries."

"Actually, neither is this servant. The pastries at the Princess's Residence are much tastier than the ones here."

"Of course. The princess grew up eating imperial cuisine, so she's much more particular than we are. Besides, the Marquis is a grown man who isn't particular about food. We have no status and no money, so who would take us seriously?" Gu Wanning said.

The servants in this residence all took their cues from Xu Weibei.

But Gu Wanning had no intention of wasting away here, so there was no need to set anything in order. Good enough would do.

"Oh!" Er Ya slapped her forehead. "Look at this servant's memory! If you hadn't mentioned money, I'd have forgotten."

She pulled a silver note from her robes. "Bi He, the eldest young lady's maid, insisted on giving this to me. I knew you definitely wouldn't accept it, but Bi He kept insisting, she just had to give it to me... We were tugging it back and forth when you fell into the lake. I didn't get a chance to..."

Gu Wanqing had given her a silver note for two hundred taels.

Gu Wanning noticed that the people around her all seemed to like communicating with her through money.

Did everyone know she was poor?

"Keep it." Gu Wanning still couldn't quite see through her predecessor's elder sister.

You couldn't really say she was bad.

How should she put it? She was a bit of a green tea bitch.

She was the upright and proper type, but she just had to show everyone how she gave way to her predecessor.

She really had given way, but that deliberate display left a bad taste in the mouth.

Still, Gu Wanning believed she had been sincere in giving her the silver.

Who would say no to silver?

"Yes, this servant will put it away right now. We have much more to spare now," Er Ya said happily.

She didn't understand too many lofty principles. In any case, she liked silver, and if it was given to her for free, she'd be a fool not to take it.

That afternoon, Gu Anqi's wife, her eldest sister-in-law He Shi, brought Ling Ge to visit Gu Wanning.

He Shi was a modest beauty from a humble family. Her father was a teacher who had repeatedly failed the examinations.

But her father and Gu Yuanshi were fellow disciples with a deep friendship, so they had arranged Gu Anqi and He Shi's marriage early on.

The Gu family didn't look down on the poor and fawn over the rich, either. Even though Gu Anqi had displayed astonishing talent at a young age and matchmakers had nearly worn down the Gu family's threshold, the family had not broken off the engagement.

He Shi was gentle by nature and spoke in a soft voice. "Mother was frantic with worry when she heard you fell into the water, Sister. My husband specifically told me to come see you."

"Thank you for thinking of me, Sister-in-law. I'm fine." Gu Wanning wasn't very good at this sort of conversation, so she turned her gaze to Ling Ge.

Six-year-old Ling Ge had fine features, red lips and white teeth. He wore a stone-blue, round-collared robe. Though he was at an age when children usually couldn't sit still, he sat there primly, his hands on his knees.

A little grown-up.

"Er Ya, pick out a few of the pastries the princess sent over for Ling Ge to eat."

The Grand Princess's gifts had just arrived. Besides jewelry and fabric, there were the pastries Gu Wanning had been gobbling down.

"Yes."

When Ling Ge saw the delicately made pastries, he first looked at his mother.

He Shi smiled. "Your aunt isn't an outsider. She truly dotes on you, so eat them if you like. Remember to be filial to your aunt when you grow up."

All right, all right, all right, Gu Wanning thought.

She had no plans to marry and have children anyway. She would save up money and be a wealthy, well-liked elder.

If she got lonely in her old age, she would shower money on whoever came to visit her.

Someone like Ling Ge, for instance, who was good-looking and had a steady, endearing temperament, was just the sort she liked best.

Chapter 41: Contraceptive medicine

He Shi had something to say to Gu Wanning, so she had Er Ya take Ling Ge outside to play.

Gu Wanning said, "The sun is blazing outside. It's too hot. Er Ya, take Ling Ge to look at the parrot under the eaves."

The Grand Princess had sent the parrot over today. It could say, "Good health to Madam," but it would only say it once in exchange for a pine nut.

Payment and goods exchanged, transaction complete. Don't even think about buying on credit.

Gu Wanning had just played with it for a while and even joked that she should give it to Second Concubine, because it was like Second Concubine's own child.

Ling Ge watched the parrot obediently and quietly.

The parrot's perch was hung high, so he had to tilt his head back to see it.

Gu Wanning called to Er Ya, "Take the perch down and put it on the ground. It's tiring to keep his head tilted back."

Er Ya took the parrot's perch down and put it on the ground.

Gu Wanning had something else to say. "Keep a close eye on him. Don't let the bird peck Ling Ge."

"Yes, yes, yes, I know. Go on and talk to your sister-in-law."

Hearing this, He Shi smiled. "Er Ya is just the same as before, but you're rather different, Sister... You're married now, and there are so many people in this enormous household, with all sorts of matters to deal with. You must have suffered grievances."