“Vicious woman, just you wait!”
Gu Wanning stared at the carved redwood bed canopy with wide, unblinking eyes, clutching a letter in her hand.
She couldn’t understand it. She had spent years performing good deeds and accumulating merit; how could she have transmigrated just by scrolling through videos of handsome men?
—She had transmigrated as the daughter of a treacherous high official and had been wed by imperial decree to Xu Weibai, her father’s young arch-rival.
The bad news was that to show his opposition, Xu Weibai had brought four Concubines into the manor on their wedding day.
The good news was that Xu Weibai had led his troops to the Northwest that very same day, leaving the four Concubines in Gu Wanning’s hands to be molded and manipulated as she pleased.
The even worse news was that three years had passed, and Xu Weibai was coming back.
The worst news of all was that, word had it, the four Concubines had been treated miserably by Gu Wanning. Xu Weibai had written a letter furiously denouncing her as a vicious woman, swearing he would settle the score the moment he returned.
It was no wonder that as soon as Gu Wanning accepted her new identity and saw the letter, she had fainted from pure terror.
Who was Xu Weibai?
He was the only legitimate grandson of the Grand Princess, a man who charged into battle with a saber in hand. He had been a little devil since childhood and grew up to accumulate countless military merits. He was violent and overbearing—the Yingchuan Hou who had even beaten the Emperor’s own son, Prince Qin!
With a man like Xu Weibai returning, it would be a miracle if he didn’t skin her alive!
There was only one day left before the enemy arrived at the battlefield—no, arrived at the backyard.
It was at this precise moment that Gu-Scapegoat-Corporate-Slave-Wanning transmigrated into this body.
No—
Gu Wanning screamed heart-wrenchingly in her mind.
If scrolling through videos of handsome men was a crime, then she was indeed a heinous sinner, but couldn’t they at least give her a quick death?
What should she do? Waiting for advice online, it’s really urgent.
“Madam, Madam, are you feeling any better?” Er Ya, her personal maid, walked in carrying a bowl of medicine. With tears in her eyes, she asked with deep concern.
—This was the childhood companion who had grown up with the original owner at the manor and had been brought back to the Gu family when she was reclaimed. This was the impression and memory the original host had left behind.
“I… I’m a bit better,” Gu Wanning said, not daring to reveal any sign of her transmigration.
“Even though the Houye is coming back, you shouldn’t have scared yourself sick.” Er Ya placed the medicine by the bedside. “I’ll feed you once it cools down a bit. Your marriage to the Houye was bestowed by the Emperor. He is a Houye, but your father is the Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat. We didn’t exactly ‘climb the social ladder’ to join the Hou manor.”
Is this about social climbing?
This is about him saying I abused his concubines and coming back to settle the score!
“Madam, what is wrong with you today? You weren’t like this before.” Er Ya wore a look of pure, innocent stupidity. “Didn’t you say that as the Matriarch, it was your duty to set the rules for those Concubines? Besides, you didn’t starve them, so how were you bad to them? What’s wrong with doing a little work? Is a life without work even living?”
She hadn’t denied them food; there were plenty of white flour buns to go around, and chicken, duck, and fish were common…
To Er Ya, that was a life fit for the gods.
Gu Wanning recalled the actions of her predecessor and didn’t think it could be glossed over as lightly as Er Ya suggested.
First, she had established harsh rules for the four Concubines.
Setting aside the morning and evening formal greetings, they had to memorize the “Concubine Rules” every day. For instance: talking back to the Matriarch, punishment by kneeling; disrespecting the Matriarch, punishment by kneeling; untidy clothing, punishment by kneeling; laziness, punishment by kneeling…
In short, the four Concubines likely had thick calluses on their knees from all the kneeling.
Secondly, although she was young and beautiful herself, she didn’t want the four Concubines to share the husband’s favor, so she had come up with a “vicious plot.”
—She mandated that the Concubines had to wake up at the second quarter of the Hour of the Tiger (3:30 AM) every day to perform manual labor alongside Er Ya.
The labor included, but was not limited to, feeding chickens, ducks, and geese. If the Hou manor’s steward hadn’t begged and protested through his tears, she probably would have started raising pigs too. They also had to sow seeds, transplant rice seedlings, weed, catch bugs, and harvest…
In short, she never let them stay idle.
In her view, why plant useless flowers in such a large garden when you couldn’t eat or wear them?
With such a massive lake available for irrigation, there was no need to fight other families for water; it would have been a waste not to farm.
The most important reason, however, was that by being exposed to the wind and sun every day, they aged incredibly fast.
As they were talking, hurried footsteps echoed outside, followed by a young maid’s report from the veranda: “Madam, the Houye is back!”
Gu Wanning felt as if she had been struck by lightning!
Holy crap! This guy is as unreliable as a weather forecast. He said he’d be here tomorrow, so why is he early?
“Quick, Er Ya! Where are those four? Call them all here!”
She couldn’t let Xu Weibai meet those four alone first.
If they were in her presence, the four Concubines would hopefully be too weighed down by their fear of the previous Gu Wanning to dare file a complaint.
She would take things one step at a time.
“They’re setting up cucumber trellises!” Er Ya replied.
“Good, then we’re going there too,” Gu Wanning decided instantly.
She wanted to prove she was “leading from the front lines” by working as well, and it would also avoid a direct confrontation with Xu Weibai, giving her more time to think.
When the four Concubines saw the Matriarch approaching, they knelt from a distance, keeping their heads low. One could see how strict the “house rules” and the Concubine Rules were.
“You lot, lift your heads.”
Witness the intimidation in my eyes!
However, when the four Concubines looked up, Gu Wanning almost lost her composure.
The four Concubines were each darker than the last. They were all around eighteen years old—the prime of their youth—but now they had been ravaged until they were… charred.
She wondered what Xu Weibai would think when he returned to find these four lumps of charcoal…
First Concubine Li Shi asked in a low, tentative voice, “Does Madam have instructions on what you would like us to plant?”
Gu Wanning thought to herself, Xu Weibai is back; do you want him to plant a son in you?
Despite her internal snark, she had to maintain her aura.
“The Houye said someone complained to him, saying I was bullying you. Hmm? I heard you sent some things to the Houye recently?”
“Replying to Madam… yes, I… no, I didn’t…” First Concubine immediately began to tremble, speaking incoherently. “I only sent the Houye a new robe, not a letter. I swear to the heavens, I have no intention of harming you.”
“Is that so?” Gu Wanning drew out her words.
Silence fell over the area once more, and the air seemed to freeze, making the pressure unbearable.
Li Shi’s father was a lowly sixth-rank official, a nobody in the capital. She was usually quiet and spent her spare time on needlework. She was very skilled at embroidery, so the previous Gu Wanning had treated her relatively well.
She probably wouldn’t have the courage… right?
As for the other three…
“If you want to know who complained, you can just ask me directly.” A man’s cold, harsh voice came from the garden entrance, interrupting Gu Wanning’s thoughts.
Gu Wanning looked up to see a man standing at the entrance. He looked to be in his early twenties, with sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes, deep-set sockets, a high-bridged nose, and a tall, straight posture. Clad in silver armor and holding a sword, he exuded an imposing aura.
If this wasn’t that stud Xu Weibai, then who was it?
Xu Weibai glared at Gu Wanning, his gaze sharp and piercing, hiding a blade-like ferocity. “In broad daylight, you are actually this brazen!”
“Houye, let’s speak civilly. Be careful not to let the wind catch your tongue.” Seeing him, Gu Wanning’s combativeness spiked. She spoke with a fake, skin-deep smile.
Though she was terrified deep down, she wouldn’t allow herself to lose.
Yes, her predecessor was wrong to torment these equally pitiful women.
But the problem was, what right did Xu Weibai have to shout?
Bringing in four Concubines on their wedding day—what kind of “good man” was he?
If it really came down to a head-on clash, she would sue him for favoring concubines and neglecting his wife!
Thinking of this, Gu Wanning sneered, “I am lecturing my concubines. Does the Houye have something to say?”
Though she didn’t want to cause trouble, since trouble had found her, she would fight.
You are the Yingchuan Hou with a Grand Princess for a grandmother, but my father is the Grand Secretary, my eldest brother is in the Hanlin Academy, my second brother married a princess, my third brother is in the Imperial Guard, and my brother-in-law is a Prince! Why should I be afraid of you?
She felt somewhat guilty toward the concubines, but against this stud, Gu Wanning’s battle spirit was instantly recharged to the max.
“Jealousy and talkativeness—you have committed the Seven Grounds for Divorce. I will divorce you!” Xu Weibai barked.