“A mere concubine, yet treated better than the lawful wife—what audacity.”
“Exactly, exactly. How can a concubine compare to the lawful wife? She’s nothing more than a plaything, yet she truly thinks herself important.” The customers in the shop whispered among themselves. Most of these noble ladies were lawful wives in their own households, and upon hearing such words, they naturally felt displeased toward Concubine Yun. Since ancient times, lawful wives and concubines had been sworn enemies. These noble ladies, born as legitimate daughters of prestigious families, carried an innate pride—how could they tolerate a concubine climbing over their heads and throwing her weight around?
Gu Nanyin glanced at Liu Wan’er, who stood nearby with a face as pale as clay, and spoke in a calm tone, “Well? Did Miss Liu understand what was just said? If you still don’t understand, I can repeat it. But if you ever try to spread rumors about me again in the future, I’m afraid it won’t be so easy. And let me offer you a piece of advice: use your brain a little more, and don’t let others use you as a pawn again.”
Liu Wan’er instinctively wanted to retort, but the words died on her lips. Gu Nanyin’s words were reasonable and well-founded, leaving her with little room for rebuttal. Yet if what Gu Nanyin said was true, then Gu Qinglian’s insistence on keeping this matter quiet wasn’t to protect her elder sister’s reputation—it was only to avoid damaging her own.
Was Gu Qinglian still the innocent, naive, and unworldly young girl she had thought her to be? If she could lie about something as serious as a matter of life and death, how many of the things she had said over the years were also false? A chill ran down Liu Wan’er’s spine. As a concubine-born daughter in her own family, she had never been valued and had few friends. If Gu Qinglian hadn’t taken the initiative to approach her, constantly hovering around and calling her “sister, sister,” she wouldn’t have so easily given her sincere affection, only to be deceived in the end. And today, she had foolishly stood up for her, only to be publicly humiliated by Gu Nanyin.
Liu Wan’er’s face flushed red and then paled again. What she hated most in life was being deceived and used, and now Gu Qinglian had done both. She clenched her fists tightly, her heart overflowing with hatred for Gu Qinglian. She placed all the blame for today’s events squarely on Gu Qinglian’s shoulders—not only had she trampled on her sincere feelings, but she had also caused her to lose face in such a humiliating way. She would never let her off easily.
Gu Nanyin saw Liu Wan’er hanging her head, lost in thought, and didn’t rush her. It was only natural for someone to be shaken after having the true face of a close friend exposed, discovering that the innocent, kind-hearted little rabbit they thought they knew was actually a man-eating beast. In the end, Gu Nanyin bore no deep grudge against Liu Wan’er. It was just that Liu Wan’er was impulsive, acted without thinking, and was easily manipulated. If she hadn’t tried to lay hands on Qiuzhi earlier, Gu Nanyin wouldn’t have bothered with her at all.
After a moment, Liu Wan’er finally stood up. With her head lowered, she walked over to Qiuzhi. Though it was only a few short steps, her feet felt as heavy as lead. Gritting her teeth, she whispered an apology to Qiuzhi, then hurriedly left with her maid without looking back. She didn’t want to do this, but what choice did she have? Today, she had been outmatched and could only accept defeat gracefully.
Gu Nanyin wasn’t angry. Although today’s outing had brought trouble and wasted a lot of time, she had inadvertently gained an opportunity to expose Gu Qinglian’s true nature to the public. It was a loss, but also a gain.The onlookers were quite satisfied; they had gained such a juicy piece of gossip today, enough to keep them chatting for days during their leisure time.
As the crowd gradually dispersed, Gu Nanyin turned her attention back to the jewelry.
She ignored the shopkeeper’s long-winded explanations and instead found herself drawn to a hairpin in the display case. It was a white jade hairpin, crystal clear and flawless, with a lotus-shaped carving at the top, giving it an elegant and refined appearance.
Seeing Gu Nanyin stare at it for so long, Qin Xue thought she must really like it: “If you like it, Miss, you should buy it. Before I left the Prince’s residence, the Prince gave me a lot of silver notes and told me to spend them on you. You could buy the entire shop if you wanted—the Prince has plenty of money.” The shopkeeper trembled nervously beside them; his shop had been open for many years, and he wouldn’t be swayed without sufficient funds.
Gu Nanyin’s lips twitched. After so many days, she once again saw the words “extravagant and wasteful” written all over Qin Xue’s face. She wondered just how much money the Prince’s residence had to allow such lavish spending.
She gently tapped Qin Xue’s forehead: “Are all the people from the Prince’s residence so dismissive of money? At the slightest whim, you want to buy someone’s shop. What if I took a fancy to all the shops on this street?”
Gu Nanyin was only teasing, but Qin Xue replied seriously: “You have no idea about the Prince’s residence’s wealth. What’s one street? If you like it, Miss, buying all the shops in the entire capital would be no trouble at all.”
Gu Nanyin looked at Qin Xue with a complicated expression. Was she really that extravagant? And what would she do with so many shops anyway? Collect rent?
“Stop right there. Put away those strange ideas of yours. I just glanced at this hairpin a little longer, and you’re already talking about buying shops and streets. Don’t you know it’s unwise to flaunt wealth? Besides, your young lady is a noblewoman from a prestigious family—do I look like someone short on money? And I wasn’t planning to buy it for myself; I wanted to give it to all of you.” It was just a hairpin worth a thousand taels—could she really not afford it? Gu Nanyin picked up the hairpin and tucked it into Qin Xue’s hair, then asked the shopkeeper to bring two more of the same style, giving them to Qiuzhi and Baishao.
Qin Xue had originally intended to explain to Gu Nanyin that there was no need to worry about flaunting wealth—who in the world would dare to rob the Prince’s residence? But Gu Nanyin’s gesture made her forget what she was about to say. Dazedly, she reached up to touch the hairpin in her hair, and her eyes instantly reddened.
This was probably the first time in her life she had ever received a gift from someone. Although the Prince treated his subordinates well, he would never give her such girlish things. In the Prince’s eyes, shadow guards had no gender—even she thought the same way. She had trained hard since childhood, never falling short of any man, but today’s gesture from her young lady suddenly made her realize that she was just a teenage girl after all.
Seeing Qin Xue’s reddened eyes, Gu Nanyin was somewhat surprised: “It’s just a few hairpins. Your young lady can afford them—no need to worry about the money for my sake. You’re all at an age where you should look your best, and you deserve some proper jewelry. Otherwise, you’d embarrass me when we go out. Besides, Qin Xue, you just boasted about buying me a shop—I’m only buying you a hairpin.”Qin Xue listened to Gu Nanyin’s lighthearted words, but her heart felt as heavy as a thousand pounds. It was true that she wanted to buy a shop for the young lady, but she was using the Prince’s money—how could that be compared?