Gu Liuer was terrified. She had personally seen the masked man hiding less than ten paces away from her. She was convinced that if she hadn’t reacted quickly enough and hidden herself, she would have been silenced on the spot. But she would never tell anyone that. In her mind, as long as General Lu was willing to step in and vouch for her brother, he should be fine. Surely General Lu wouldn’t just stand by and watch his future son-in-law rot in prison?
Not noticing the murderous look in Zhu Shumei’s eyes, Gu Liuer simply kept urging her onward.
“Hurry! Hurry! The guards have already arrested my brother as a vagrant violating the curfew! If even a little more time passes and he’s thrown into the Military Command prison and formally charged, it’ll all be over!”
Idiot. A whole family of idiots. Completely incapable of accomplishing anything, yet perfectly capable of ruining everything.
Zhu Shumei remained seated without moving. “Handle your Gu family’s affairs yourselves. If you can’t handle them, then cancel the marriage.”
Gu Liuer’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Aunt Zhu, how can you say something like that?”
“How should I say it?” Zhu Shumei snapped back sharply. She knew there was little point in venting her anger at a junior, but she simply couldn’t help herself.
What kind of mess was this? The Gu family had clearly set her up and dragged her into their troubles.
Zhu Shumei genuinely regretted it now. If she had known things would come to this, she should have told her niece the truth from the beginning and let Lu Zhaohua make the decision herself.
If Lu Zhaohua truly had her heart set on marrying Gu Jiangzhi, she could have gone to her father herself and discussed how to handle the situation.
Instead, Zhu Shumei was the only one exhausting herself, hiding the truth from one person while deceiving another, ending up disliked by everyone. What irritated her even more was Gu Liuer’s attitude. It was obvious the girl looked down on her and showed no respect to an elder. That alone made it clear how Madam Jin must speak about her behind her back.
The more Zhu Shumei thought about it, the angrier she became. And the angrier she became, the less she could stand the sight of Gu Liuer.
Gu Liuer had inherited her mother’s temperament: selfish and timid, yet capable of becoming utterly shameless when she started throwing a tantrum.
“Fine! Then I’ll go tell my future sister-in-law!” she snapped. “At the end of the day, you’re still an outsider. You don’t get to make decisions for Marquis Jinliang’s household!” With that, she turned and stormed out.
In the middle of the night, she ran all over the Marquis’s residence, forcing several servant women to chase after her.
Zhu Shumei was nearly driven mad with frustration. Her head felt ready to explode. To have a younger outsider point at her nose and call her an outsider, saying she had no authority in the household, struck directly at her deepest insecurity.
This marriage absolutely could not go forward. Yet just moments later, Gu Liuer came hurrying back, still fuming.
“Aunt Zhu, don’t think you can wash your hands of this now! When I see Uncle Lu, I’ll tell him it was your idea. You were the one encouraging our family to drive Miss Nian out of the capital. You even told us to handle everything cleanly and eliminate future trouble once and for all!”
“You!” Fury shot straight to Zhu Shumei’s head. She wanted nothing more than to slap Gu Liuer across the face. Her fists clenched tightly inside her sleeves. Her chest rose and fell violently as she ground her molars together, forcing herself not to strike.
After several deep breaths, she finally forced the words out through gritted teeth, her voice frighteningly low. “Gu Liuer, have you lost your mind? How can you spout such nonsense? When have I ever said anything about ‘eliminating future trouble forever’? I merely told your family to resolve the old engagement quickly so it wouldn’t affect Zhaohua’s future. Don’t you dare slander me!”
“Aunt Zhu,” Gu Liuer said, her tone softening. She had no real desire to ruin the marriage alliance either. “Why make things so ugly? Before long, our two families will be related by marriage. We’ll all be one family. Isn’t it a bit much for you to keep talking about breaking off the engagement?”
Madam Zhu’s face turned ashen, and she didn’t feel like speaking.
Then Gu Liuer continued: “Don’t worry. My mother has a backup plan. Tomorrow she’ll have the ward chief drive the Nian family out of the capital. That’ll make sure nothing goes wrong.”
For all her anger, Zhu Shumei knew that if this marriage fell through, her chances of interfering in the affairs of Marquis Jinliang’s household would likely disappear as well.
Hearing Gu Liuer say this, she allowed herself to come down from her earlier outrage. “Really?”
“Of course it’s true.” Gu Liuer answered boldly. “You can just tell Uncle Lu that lately vagrants have been causing trouble outside the city. My brother came specially to warn Sister Lu not to go out. But while he was standing at the gate, he ran into some vagrants, and they threw a hood over his head.”
Zhu Shumei frowned. “So was it really vagrants who caused your brother to be arrested, or did that family have a hand in it?”
Thinking carefully, Gu Liuer suddenly realized that the masked person she had seen was very likely one of the Nian family. But there was no way she would admit to having seen him. And there was even less chance she’d reveal that the Nian and Gu families were currently battling each other. She feared that might scare Zhu Shumei into calling off the engagement altogether.
So she straightened her back and declared: “Of course it was vagrants! The Nian family doesn’t have that kind of ability. They’re outsiders from another region. They’re timid. All they know how to do is come crying to our door.”
After considering it, Zhu Shumei found the explanation reasonable and relaxed. She arranged for Gu Liuer to stay in a secluded guest room and strictly instructed her not to make noise or wander about. Only then did she hurry off to seek out her brother-in-law and try to rescue Gu Jiangzhi.
As she walked, Zhu Shumei forcibly suppressed the anger churning inside her. At the same time, she repeatedly rehearsed her explanation in her mind, turning over every word and detail, preparing what she would say when she finally met the Marquis.
When Zhu Shumei finally arrived at the study and met her brother-in-law, the anxiety on her face was perfectly measured.
“That young man from the Gu family heard that vagrants have been causing trouble lately and that things are rather unsafe. Worried Zhaohua might run into danger if she went out, he rushed over to warn her, forgetting the time entirely. As a result, he ran afoul of the curfew and was mistakenly arrested by the night patrol as a vagrant! Really, it’s a case of good intentions leading to a terrible misunderstanding.”
After listening, General Lu finally understood why a guard had just reported that a young woman from the Gu family had been running about the Marquis’s residence in a panic. So it was because her brother had been arrested as a vagrant. That explained her desperation.
General Lu felt no suspicion; he actually believed most of the story.
After all, vagrants had indeed been causing frequent disturbances lately. The Emperor had recently ordered tighter security around the capital because of the problem. He had specifically appointed him to oversee the East City Military Command and strengthen the city’s defenses.
Even so, General Lu frowned and said sternly, “Reckless! Does my Marquis’s residence need him rushing over to warn us?”
After all, he was personally in charge of that very matter. The Gu family was worrying over nothing and creating trouble for themselves.
Zhu Shumei smiled apologetically.
“I’m afraid it was probably his mother’s idea. Since our two families are joining through marriage, we’re practically family now. Naturally, we should interact more and grow closer. I imagine the young man couldn’t refuse his mother’s wishes, and that’s how… this whole incident came about.”
With that explanation, General Lu had nothing more to say.
As for Gu Jiangzhi, General Lu was quite satisfied. The young man was handsome, well-mannered, and could even offer a few intelligent remarks on military affairs and current events. Though somewhat immature, he was already quite promising. As long as the foundation was there, he could be properly guided and trained.
To be fair, from an objective standpoint, if anyone was marrying above their station, it was his own daughter, Lu Zhaohua. That child was too ordinary and unremarkable. He knew it well.
If one thing about the engagement displeased him, it was Madam Jin, the Gu family heir’s wife. She struck him as the type who openly displayed her shrewdness and desperately sought to climb higher socially. Wanting her son to visit often and curry favor in front of him was exactly the sort of thing such a woman would do. But then again, who acted without some calculation or personal desire?
As for the Gu family’s imperial consort in the palace, General Lu paid her little attention. A neglected consort couldn’t stir up much trouble, much less influence political alignments.
“Enough,” General Lu said, waving a hand. “Tomorrow, I’ll personally secure his release. Tell the Gu family not to worry, and warn that boy not to make the same mistake again.”
Zhu Shumei felt somewhat relieved and could only pray that everything would pass smoothly and no further complications would arise.
But in this world, how often do things truly go smoothly?
No sooner had Zhu Shumei left the study than Chen Tongzhou, General Lu’s personal guard, silently pushed aside the curtain and entered, carrying a plain letter.