Chapter 195: Even More Intrigued

But he couldn't. Shuntian Prefecture only accepted one hundred twenty-six candidates, and he was ranked one hundred twentieth. During the provincial examination, scholars from all over the country cam...The next morning.

Gu Jingxi went to the Dali Temple, just sat down, the door opened, he looked up and met a pair of mournful eyes.

Only to see Qi Yunwen's face was pale and tired, with stubble on his face and dark circles under his eyes. His eyes were bloodshot from exhaustion, staring at him resentfully, like a wronged wife.

Qi Yunwen's voice was soft as she asked, "Do you still have the heart to come back I've been so busy that I went crazy. I didn't even go home last night."

As he spoke, he kept moving, striding towards Gu Jingxi. His voice was heavy with annoyance as he said: "You smell this, in this sweltering heat, I spent a night at the Dali Temple, and last night I went to the jail to interrogate prisoners, without changing clothes. My whole body reeks."

Gu Jingxi seemed to have no guilt, calmly responding: "Yesterday was my father-in-law's birthday

"

At that, Qi Yunwen rolled her eyes at him with a huff and said coldly, "I don't remember your relationship being that good. Is it worth you taking a day off for him Don't you know how busy we are lately"

Gu Jingxi replied, "Accompany my wife back.

Qi Yunwen fell silent for two breaths after hearing this, helplessly saying: “Is there a need to watch so closely With your sister’s personality, could that group of people from the Meng family possibly eat her”

Gu Jingxi said softly: "She's timid, she might really

Qi Yunwen scoffed and said, “If she were timid, she wouldn't have agreed to marry you. On the wedding day, I saw clearly that she was very bold. I ask you, in all of Beijing, how many young ladies dare to do what she did”

Gu Jingxi glanced at him: “You don’t understand”

"Line after line, I don't understand, only you do."

Qi Yunwen was too lazy to argue with him about this matter. She was just about to take a short break to rest and regain her energy. After turning around and taking two steps, she stopped and turned back to look at him, smiling: "Yao Ling, I've noticed that you're paying more and more attention to your little daughter-in-law. It seems like you're about to fall into the trap of love."

Gu Jingxi retorted, "Mo Bai, don't you care about your sister-in-law at all"

Qi Yunwen's smile deepened: "I care about her because she has a place in my heart. What about you and your little daughter-in-law Why do you care about her"

Gu Jingxi was slightly taken aback after hearing this.

At this time, a man of standing came over. He first bowed to Gu Jingxi and then bowed to Qi Yunwen, saying, "Lord Qi, Lord Jiang wants to see you. He said that there were doubts about the case in last night's testimony and he wanted to discuss it with you. He asked me to come and check here at Master Temple’s side, I didn’t expect to find you here.

Qi Yunan responded, "Okay, I'll be right there."

Here is the translation:

Let me know if you have any other text you'd like me to translate!

Changxing Houfu.

The Princess Jingning and Song Xining made an appointment to come see Meng Jin Yao.

Song Xinning had attended banquets with her elders before and had also been to Changxing Houfu, but this was her first time visiting after Meng Jin yao married into Changxing Houfu.

After meeting Meng Jinyao, the two went to Shougantang with her to greet their elders. It would be impolite to visit without first greeting the elders.

After leaving Shuan Tang, Meng Jin Yao took them to the Zui Lian Ge in the mansion. It was cooler there, built in the center of a lotus pond, a good place to escape the heat and admire lotuses. Normally, it served as a venue for entertaining guests.

Song Xining suddenly asked, "A Yao, I see the old mistress treats you very well. Why haven't you been in charge of the middle office after being married here for so long"

Upon hearing this, Princess Jingning also remembered the issue and followed up by asking, “Indeed, why wasn't it entrusted to you The mistress is after all from a concubine's family. You are the legitimate daughter-in-law and the clan wife.”

"A few days ago, my mother-in-law said in front of the whole family that she wanted to give me control of the household finances, but I refused. She then rolled up her sleeve, revealing a translucent emerald green jade bracelet on her wrist and said, 'My husband told me that this bracelet has been passed down through generations of our family, it symbolizes the head of the household. When I went to pay respects to my in-laws on my wedding day, my mother-in-law gave me this bracelet, which means that the power over the household finances will eventually be mine, so I'm not in a hurry.' "

Jingning County Princess was very puzzled: "Since the Matriarch recognized you right after you married into the family, why would you refuse This is a privilege that many aristocratic daughters-in-law yearn for. You're actually pushing away this opportunity that's already within your grasp Are you foolish Even if it eventually falls into your hands, wouldn't it be better to have the power now"

Meng Jinyao pursed her lips into a faint smile and said slowly, "I lived too hard in the boudoir, my mind always tense like a taut string. Now that I've finally had a chance to relax, I don't want to be tied down by chores every day, busy as a top. Besides, other people enjoy being busy, so I can have some peace and quiet."

I can wait to take charge of the family business after we divide the estate. My sister-in-law and my second sister-in-law are already managing it, and they don't get along anyway. They constantly watch each other and wouldn't dare to try to benefit themselves.

Song Xining listened, first startled, then nodded in agreement: "That's good too. Your health isn't great, so take advantage of this downtime to rest properly and recuperate. Get your body strong before doing anything else, or you'll collapse from overexertion."

Jingning County Princess glanced at Meng Jinyao, puzzled. "A Yao seems fine and healthy. Why is her body weak"

Meng Jinyao replied, "I'm a little weak, but I'm better than before."

Song Xining looked at her friend, whose complexion had improved significantly, and smiled with relief. "Now that you've married into the Gu family, your complexion has noticeably improved. It seems like the Gu family is truly a nurturing place. Ayo used to get sick easily in cooler weather and in hot weather as well. This summer, however, she's been doing well. I guess it's because she's living comfortably in the Hou Mansion and being carefully attended to by maidservants."

She sighed as she spoke, "Ayan, you wouldn't know. When Ayao was in the Meng family, because she wasn't favored, even the servants would neglect her. She lived worse than even her younger half-brother. And her courtyard was poorly located, cold in winter and hot in summer. Her constitution was a bit weak, and she could get sick from the heat in summer."

Jingning County Princess was both surprised and astonished: "Ai Yao, as the eldest legitimate daughter, lives a worse life than the concubines' daughters"

With a family like this, how could things ever go well

Song Xining grew angrier and angrier as she spoke: "Her courtyard was originally quite nice. It was given to her by her grandfather. Later, Meng Jin'yu took a liking to it, and Mrs. Meng (Meng Lao-fu) directly said that the elder sister should give way to the younger sister, so she was forced to move out and was given a random courtyard that was cold in winter and hot in summer."

Being given such a courtyard, she had no cooling in the summer and her charcoal was rationed in winter. The good silver-frost charcoal was nonexistent, only inferior smoky coal, and even that wasn't enough. So she either suffered from heatstroke or frostbite. What's worse, her grandmother still said she was delicate and difficult to take care of.

Jingning County Princess fell silent after hearing this. She had previously only known that A Yao was not favored, but she hadn't expected her life to be worse than even the maidservants around her. The maidservants in her circle used silver frost charcoal, while lower-ranking maidservants used medium-grade gray flower charcoal, but none used inferior thick smoke charcoal.

For a moment, she softly asked, "Did Ah Yao ever resist"

Meng Jin Yao wryly smiled: "There's no use resisting. If there was a sensible elder in my family, I wouldn't have endured for so many years."

Song Xining said, "To marry an unvirtuous wife is to bring disaster upon three generations. Lady Meng and Lady Gu are simply worlds apart. As elders, they are unreasonable. The Yongchang Marquis's family falling into decline can also be partly attributed to Lady Meng's efforts."

Meng Jinyu nodded in strong agreement. Her father was of average ability, but her second uncle, who drowned after falling into a lake while drunk, had the potential to be a scholar. It was his grandmother's excessive indulgence that made him frivolous and pleasure-seeking. He couldn't bear the hardship of studying, so despite his grandfather's education, his grandmother's love and pampering overshadowed it all, leaving his education in vain.

Later, her uncle also developed a gambling addiction. Her grandmother helped cover for him, but he gambled more and more. When the rest of the family found out, her uncle had already lost a considerable amount of family property under his grandmother's indulgence.

But not long after that, my second uncle died after drinking too much with his friends and falling into the lake. My second aunt, being young and childless, remarried soon after.

Had her uncle not been spoiled by his grandmother, had he been successful and not succumbed to bad habits and died young, the Yongchang Marquis's Mansion would not have fallen into such disarrayamily, the glory of the Marquisate could continue, and the ancestors who had passed away could finally rest in peace.Not only was Mrs. Gu delighted, but even Zhang shi had a genuine sense of happiness...