In the past, Xie Yuechan had always hidden behind a heavy, garish mask of makeup. Now that the ridiculous decorations were gone, Gu Jing’an realized she was actually quite pleasant to look at.
His memory of her was a blur of exaggerated colors and expensive jewelry piled haphazardly onto flamboyant dresses. But today, her attire was simple and elegant, and she met his gaze with unshielded clarity.
Gu Jing’an looked away, feeling a strange brush of discomfort.
“I was just… stepping in your footprints?” she answered his previous question.
It had rained lightly the night before, and the path was mottled with mud that would surely ruin her hem. Only the spots where his boots had already pressed down were clean and dry. If she didn’t follow his lead, was she supposed to just stomp through the muck?
Gu Jing’an, however, completely misread her practical intent. A ripple of complicated emotion stirred in his chest. Is she following me so dutifully, step for step, because she loves me so much she even wants to mimic the way I walk?
A pity, then, that this marriage was destined to end in her disappointment.
“Let’s go in,” he said. The momentary softening in his expression vanished, replaced by his usual cool detachment as he took several steps back to put distance between them.
“Alright.”
The entire family was gathered in the main hall, waiting for the new couple. It was at this moment that Xie Yuechan’s thick skin truly shone. Under the pointed, judgmental stares of her twin sisters-in-law, she remained perfectly composed, greeting the elders and paying her respects to Grand Preceptor Gu and the Old Matriarch with practiced ease.
She seemed far more polite and well-mannered than her reputation suggested, and the tension in the room eased—if only by a fraction.
No matter how much they disliked her, the Gu family was too prestigious to go looking for faults in a new bride on her very first morning.
As the head of the household, Grand Preceptor Gu offered a few standard words of wisdom regarding sibling harmony and filial piety. The Old Matriarch, meanwhile, took her tea with a look of visible reluctance. She gave a few sharp warnings before asking Xie Yuechan about her hobbies and interests during her maiden years.
Xie Yuechan replied with a straight face that her only real passion was eating.
As the Matriarch listened, her last shred of hope for a refined granddaughter-in-law withered away. Finally, she sighed and handed over the traditional red envelopes.
Next came the introductions to the rest of the family.
There was the eldest brother Gu Jun and his wife, Lady Zhu; the second brother Gu Zheng and his wife, Commandery Princess Duanmin; the twin sisters who were nearing their coming-of-age ceremonies, Gu Qingli and Gu Qingming; and finally, the youngest brother, ten-year-old Gu Changsheng.
The Gu family was famously prolific. It was said that many families invited the Old Matriarch to their daughters’ weddings just to share in her “blessing of abundance.” Even the elder two brothers already had two or three children each—the eldest of whom was barely two years younger than Xie Yuechan herself.
When it was time to greet Gu Qingli, Xie Yuechan recognized her immediately: this was the girl who had been rolling her eyes at her the previous night.
The twins looked nearly identical, but their temperaments were polar opposites. Upon receiving Xie Yuechan’s gift, Gu Qingming blushed and offered a soft, tiny “Thank you,” before presenting her own return gift.
Gu Qingli, however, was dismissive. She took the gift, let out a sharp “Hmph” through her nose, rolled her eyes again, and said nothing more.
As a legitimate daughter of the Gu house, Qingli had been pampered since birth. She was undeniably beautiful—the Gu genes were strong in all the siblings—and her lively, charming personality usually made her outshine her quieter twin. Her aunt, Consort Gu, was childless and often sent for Qingli to stay in the palace, meaning the girl grew up befriending princes and princesses. Her life had been one long string of successes.
But the thought of having to call this “madwoman” her sister-in-law made her face burn with indignation.
She remembered that day at the Crown Princess’s banquet. She and her friends had been furious watching Xie Yuechan pester her third brother. Then, under the Sixth Princess’s instigation…
She never imagined that her brother would be the one to jump in and save her! Ever since then, their family had been stuck with this “sticky candy” of a woman.
Qingli was caught in a storm of fear—afraid Xie Yuechan would denounce her—and guilt for “ruining” her brother’s life. She couldn’t let anyone know what had happened that day. She maintained a cold, defiant mask to hide her cowardice, but if one looked closely, they could see her hands trembling beneath her sleeves.
Instead, it was Gu Qingming who spoke up, her face flushing as she explained nervously, “This is a gift from both my sister and me.” She was terrified that Xie Yuechan might lose her temper and fly into one of her infamous rages right there in the hall.
Xie Yuechan simply smiled and shook her head to show she didn’t mind, acting as though she hadn’t noticed Gu Qingli’s blatant rudeness at all.
The “original” Xie Yuechan might have caused a scene, but the new one genuinely didn’t care. Of course, it helped that she had no idea it was Gu Qingli who had shoved her into the lake that day; otherwise, she might have been tempted to settle the score then and there.
As far as she was concerned, her new life was proceeding perfectly. Having transmigrated as a side character meant she didn’t have to deal with the exhausting drama of being a heroine. All she had to do was wait for that inevitable letter of divorce, pack her bags, and head off to start her own business—maybe even keep a few handsome young men on the side.
As for the “virtuous” protagonists treating her like a pariah? It didn’t bother her. She was a natural extrovert; as long as she wasn’t embarrassed, the awkwardness belonged to everyone else.
Once the tea ceremony concluded, the charade of newlywed bliss came to an abrupt end as Gu Jing’an went his separate way. He holed up in the front courtyard study for the rest of the morning, only returning to their shared quarters at noon because the books he needed were still back at Falling Snow Residence.
When he stepped into the courtyard, he found Xie Yuechan in the middle of a full-scale operation: she was deep-cleaning the small private kitchen attached to their wing.
Gu Jing’an’s footsteps faltered for a moment.
Xie Yuechan was dressed strangely—not in her usual garish style, but in a way he’d never seen. She had a white cloth wrapped around her hair like a cap and a sturdy apron tied over her clothes. As she emerged from the kitchen, she casually wiped a smudge of grime onto the apron.
Seeing him, she flashed a bright, practiced smile. “Back so soon?”
Noticing his gaze fixed on the kitchen, she explained cheerfully, “I’m getting the small kitchen cleaned up. That way, if I want a snack, I can just whip something up here instead of bothering the main kitchen. Plus, this way I can actually eat while the food is still hot.”
“Did you… speak with Eldest Sister-in-law about this?” Gu Jing’an asked.
The moment the question left his lips, the enthusiasm vanished from Xie Yuechan’s face. She looked flustered, then annoyed with herself, and finally confused. “I have to ask her? Oh, right. Since it’s a large household, I suppose any changes have to be approved by the manager. I’m just used to acting first and asking for forgiveness later. My apologies—I’ll go ask her this afternoon.”
It was the first time Gu Jing’an had seen a look of genuine apprehension on her face. It felt jarring; he wasn’t used to her being this polite. Wasn’t she supposed to be the most arrogant woman in the capital?
He gave a noncommittal “Mm,” but seeing her worry, he added, “Eldest Sister-in-law is a kind person.” He didn’t want her to fret about being reprimanded.
Xie Yuechan’s eyes crinkled into crescents. “In that case, have you eaten yet? Er… I’ve made some fried noodles. They’re quite good—would you like to join me?” She felt it would be a bit awkward to eat a delicious meal by herself right in front of him. After a morning of scrubbing and organizing, she had finished just in time for lunch and had tossed together a quick dish for herself.
Gu Jing’an’s instinct was to refuse, but looking into her sparkling, expectant eyes, he found himself changing his mind. “Fine.”
It’s just a quick meal, he told himself. No harm done. If it’s truly inedible, I’ll just have a servant quietly dispose of it later.
Since one portion of noodles clearly wasn’t enough for two, Xie Yuechan took the leftover dough and quickly whipped up two “meat-stuffed buns” as an extra treat.