“Mianmian! Mianmian! Where are you?”
“Mian—oh! Sister? Brother-in-law…”
Xie Yuewan burst into their view like a startled fawn, her expression a mask of frantic anxiety as if she had lost something of vital importance.
“Good afternoon, Little Sister,” Xie Yuechan drawled. Having eaten her fill, she was currently slumped lazily against her seat, barely lifting an eyelid to acknowledge the newcomer.
Gu Jing’an looked away, clearly disapproving of her lack of decorum.
Neither of them seemed to appreciate Yuewan’s perfectly staged entrance. Feeling ignored, she bit her lower lip, casting a wounded, soulful gaze toward Gu Jing’an.
“Are you looking for something, Sister?” Xie Yuechan asked. Seeing that the girl was still standing there like a statue, a glint of amusement sparked in her eyes, and she decided to give her a graceful out.
“Sister, have you seen a rabbit? Her name is Mianmian. She’s my pet…”
On the ground around them lay a scattered array of picked-clean bones.
In that instant, Xie Yuechan caught a reflection of her own panic in Gu Jing’an’s eyes. Her expression shifted into a mask of uncharacteristic solemnity. She sat up straight and asked, “That rabbit… was yours?”
Blindsided by their sudden gravity, Xie Yuewan froze for a beat before offering a dazed nod. The little “white flower” allowed her eyes to brim with tears as she forced a fragile smile.
“If you’ve seen her, Sister, could you please tell me where she is? Mianmian is very important to me,” she whispered timidly.
Xie Yuechan felt the echo of her own words—“It probably squeezed in through a dog-hole; no one in my family keeps these as pets”—ringing mockingly in her ears. Who could have guessed that Yuewan’s rabbit would wander all the way to the front garden?
Caught red-handed, Xie Yuechan felt a surge of guilty embarrassment. Under the cover of her long skirts, she tried to kick the telltale bones toward the underside of the table to hide the evidence. Instead, she accidentally sent them skittering right to Gu Jing’an’s feet.
A sudden spark of inspiration hit her. She pointed a finger directly at Gu Jing’an. “He ate it.”
“…”
“???”
Xie Yuewan was so stunned by this audacious slander that she lost control of her facial muscles. Her expression turned stiff and suspicious. “That’s impossible! How could my brother-in-law be that kind of person?!”
The Third Master Gu she knew was a man of the highest moral standing—lofty, refined, and pure.
“He really did eat it!” Xie Yuechan’s voice grew louder as her initial guilt morphed into bold conviction. She pointed to the bone fragments at his feet. “Look for yourself, the bones are right there! You’re just in time to take them back and give Mianmian a proper burial.”
“…”
The scene was damning: a freshly extinguished fire pit and, most significantly, a set of bowl and chopsticks sitting right in front of Gu Jing’an, while Xie Yuechan’s side of the table was conspicuously empty.
“Ahem…” Under the collective gaze of nearly a dozen people, Gu Jing’an let out a dry cough to mask his utter mortification.
How was it that he was being forced to take the fall, yet found himself unable to argue?
“My apologies,” he said, his voice tight with regret. “I was unaware that the rabbit… belonged to anyone.”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. We’ll buy you a new one,” Xie Yuechan interjected. Seeing Yuewan’s face turn from red to white, she decided to set aside their past grievances for a moment and offered a magnanimous consolation.
“No… there is no need,” Xie Yuewan stammered. Her composure was crumbling rapidly as she beat a hasty, bewildered retreat.
“Sigh…” Xie Yuechan watched the retreating figure of her delicate half-sister and let out a long, wistful breath. “I hope I didn’t just give the poor girl a psychological trauma.”
Gu Jing’an’s emotions were a tangled mess. On one hand, he wanted to blame Xie Yuechan for luring him into laying his sinful hands on a pet; on the other hand, that roast rabbit had been… undeniably delicious.
Xie Yuewan’s original plan had been to showcase her kind and tender nature before Gu Jing’an. She had spent a fortune gathering secret intel about the man, and the word on the street was that the Third Young Master Gu possessed a heart of gold—a man who couldn’t bear to see even the smallest creature suffer.
Acting on this, she had ordered her servants to fetch a snow-white rabbit from the market at the last minute. Now, sitting in her room, she was left to wonder: How could the rumors be so wrong? Had her informant been a fraud?
She locked herself away to re-evaluate her life, so distraught she didn’t even emerge to see the couple off when they departed for the Gu manor that evening.
The Marquis and his wife, however, were more than pleased with their son-in-law after the day’s festivities. The Marchioness took Xie Yuechan’s hand, casting a furtive glance toward Gu Jing’an as he bid farewell to the Marquis.
“Now that you’re a married woman, you must stop that nonsense from before,” she whispered urgently. “I can see your husband’s looks are quite a draw for the ladies. You must keep a tight rein on him. Do not let some wandering bird or bee dazzle his eyes before you produce a legitimate heir. Your maid Jitao is a steady girl who has served you since childhood, and her parents are still with our estate. If you find yourself pregnant in the future, it would be wise to raise her to the status of a concubine to keep him at home.”
Xie Yuechan lowered her head in feigned bashfulness, though in truth, she simply didn’t know how to respond to such a pragmatic ancient lecture.
The Marchioness took her silence for shyness and let out a long sigh. Once she started, she couldn’t stop. “Don’t take this lightly. Have you not seen how Concubine Xu and her daughter have lorded over this manor all these years? Hmph.”
Mentioning her rival caused the Marchioness’s tone to turn icy, but she softened again as she remembered something. “Still, even if your father is a muddle-headed man, your grandmother dotes on you most. She won’t allow anyone to bully a daughter of the Xie family. Besides, the Gu family is famous for their strict discipline; they’ve never had a scandal involving a concubine usurping a wife. Just live your life in peace, and stop acting like an impulsive young girl.”
Xie Yuechan pulled her hand back gently and performed a graceful, flowing curtsy. “Your daughter understands. Mother, please look after your own health and do not overexert yourself.”
“Oh, you…” The Marchioness was about to say more, but Gu Jing’an’s voice rose slightly as he concluded his farewells. “Anshi will not impose on Father and Mother-in-law any further. Please, Father-in-law, stay your steps here.”
“Good, good! Ha ha ha… Anshi, my boy, when you have a free moment, bring A-Chan back to stay for a while. You and I must chat more.”
“Of course.”
A small smile touched Gu Jing’an’s lips as he stepped aside to clear a path. Seeing this, Xie Yuechan bid her mother a final goodbye and trotted to his side, hitching up her skirts. With his hand steadying her, she climbed into the carriage.
As the carriage began to move, a sudden wave of melancholy washed over her—the lingering attachment of the original body’s soul to its parents. Xie Yuechan leaned out of the window and saw the Marchioness still standing at the gate, watching them.
After waving one last time to the crowd, Xie Yuechan sat back in her seat and stole a wary glance at Gu Jing’an. Today, she had not only broken his “vegetarian” streak with roast rabbit but had also made him the villain in her sister’s eyes.
Now that they were alone in the carriage, she wondered…
Gu Jing’an’s expression was neutral, showing no sign of anger. Catching her looking at him with that hesitant, fidgety air, he found it odd. “What is it now?”
“Well… you see…” Xie Yuechan gave him a smile that bordered on fawning, playing the part of a loyal lackey as she poured him a cup of tea. “I know you were wronged today. I’ll make sure to compensate you properly in the future.”
“…No need.” So that was it. Gu Jing’an was genuinely surprised that a woman like her was capable of feeling a sense of guilt.