kingnovel Chapter 358 Gui Family's Pawn
Chapter 358 Gui Family's Pawn
Naturally, there was dissatisfaction.
After a long pause, the Crown Prince said, "I promise you, I will rescind my decision on this matter."
Gui Shan bowed gracefully: "Thank you, Your Highness."
The crown prince stood up in front of her, bent down and lifted her chin, looking down at her.
"Gui Shan, I hope you won't let me down."
Gui Shan took a deep breath: "Your Highness, absolutely not."
Leaving the teahouse and returning to the carriage, Gui Shan felt completely exhausted. Her hands were still trembling; she had just managed to say those words, and her back was already soaked with sweat.
If the Crown Prince doesn't trust her, she could sow discord between him and the Zuo family. Even if the Crown Prince kills her, no one would dare say anything.
But she made the right gamble; at least Yuanyuan's future was saved.
However, she has not yet submitted her pledge of loyalty. If she doesn't, Yuanyuan's marriage will be affected.
She had to find a way to submit her pledge of loyalty as soon as possible.
Gui Shan slightly lifted the carriage curtain and saw the carriage moving forward. Ahead was a broad road, and beside it was a magnificent mansion with a plaque hanging above the main gate, with the four characters "Anle Marquis's Mansion" written above it.
She thought of the third young lady of the Si family who had helped her in the past.
Although the two didn't interact much afterward, they were at least acquainted.
She and the third young lady seemed to hit it off immediately; they could see through each other's thoughts without saying a word. She felt that she and the third young lady were the same kind of people, both desperately trying to climb the social ladder.
But that was before; she thought that was enough.
Now it turns out that it's impossible for her hands to be completely clean before she climbed up.
Gui Shan looked down at her hands, gave a wry smile, and said, "Go to the Marquis of Anle's residence and deliver a letter, saying that I wish to visit the Third Miss."
Normally, an invitation requires a written invitation in advance, but she did not. She only hoped that the Third Miss would be willing to see her even if she had not left the manor.
When the younger sister heard that Guishan had arrived, she was quite surprised and quickly had someone welcome her in.
Smiling, she said, "You are truly a distinguished guest. I was very busy with family matters recently and did not have the chance to visit you. I did not know how you were doing."
"All is well," Gui Shan replied with a smile.
The younger sister looked her over and asked, "Why have you lost so much weight? Are you unwell?"
"I was sick for a few days and didn't eat well, but I'm much better now," Gui Shan said with a smile. "It was my fault for coming here without sending an invitation in advance."
The younger sister said, "I happen to have some free time today. Perfect timing, the palace has bestowed chrysanthemums upon us, they're in full bloom, shall we go take a look?"
Gui Shan went with her to admire the flowers and chatted about everyday matters, only mentioning things in the palace: "After the preliminary selection next year, the Imperial Observatory will choose an auspicious day, and I will enter the Eastern Palace."
The younger sister said, "I also want to congratulate you on getting what you wanted."
But Gui Shan didn't show any joy on her face. Instead, she said, "I always thought everything was fine before, but now it seems that's not necessarily the case. The Crown Prince is currently in the limelight, and the Eastern Palace has a system of one principal wife and three secondary wives. I suppose the other two secondary wives will have to be found from high-ranking families. I..."
The younger sister understood what she meant and didn't say anything more.
Gui Shan felt stifled. In the past, she could talk to her younger sister Gui Yuan about anything, but now she couldn't.
"I am feeling distressed and want to confide in you. I hope you will not take offense, Miss."
“Of course not,” the younger sister said, then added, “Shanshan, there’s something I want to tell you: Do good deeds and don’t worry about the future. There are many things we can’t solve, so let’s not try to solve them. Time will give us better answers.”
Gui Shan was slightly taken aback, not quite understanding the meaning of those words, but she still nodded.
"These are the words my eldest sister often taught us. We didn't understand them at first, but we gradually came to understand them as we experienced more. We all want a better future, so let's work hard and do what we should do. That's enough."
Gui Shan grasped her younger sister's hand and nodded earnestly, "Thank you."
After returning, Gui Shan found Gui Yuan and said to her, "I have persuaded His Highness the Crown Prince to retract his order. Don't worry, he won't make you marry that kind of person."
"Is that so?" Gui Yuan's gaze was extremely cold. "You came all this way to tell me, indicating that this is a favor?"
Gui Shan paused for a moment, letting her anger dissipate, before saying, "I was just afraid you'd worry, Yuan Yuan. We're sisters, we shouldn't have such disagreements."
"Since you know we are sisters, please consider our sisterly bond in your future actions. Why do you always try to be above me?"
Gui Shan and she couldn't see eye to eye, so they had to let it go.
The Crown Prince indeed remained silent, but Lady Gui dared not get too close to the Feng family anymore. She felt it was more appropriate to leave her second daughter's marriage to the Crown Prince.
Gui Shan was dissatisfied with this: "Mother, it is only right to settle my sister's marriage as soon as possible. If it is delayed, things may change. We do not want any other changes."
Lady Gui hesitated, "I'm afraid His Highness the Crown Prince will not be pleased."
Gui Shan was even more indignant: "Does Mother really want the Crown Prince to casually marry off my sister and humiliate her?"
Madam Gui's tears fell: "Shanshan, what are you saying? You and Yuanyuan are both flesh and blood of my own flesh and blood, how could I want others to humiliate you? But our Gui family is not prominent, and it wasn't easy to raise two daughters like you, so naturally..."
"Naturally, you want to treat us as pawns, as stepping stones, right?" Gui Shan said urgently.
Madam Gui was even more heartbroken: "Shanshan has hurt me so badly. Has she ever considered that I have to consider not only you, but also the entire Gui family?"
"It's not just us, it's also our elder brothers and younger brothers, isn't it? You raised us to be other people's wives, taught us rules and etiquette, and made us climb the social ladder with all our might, just to pave a better path for the family and our brothers, right?"
"Shanshan!" Madam Gui was somewhat annoyed.
Gui Shan turned away, lay down on the quilt, and remained silent.
She didn't cry, because she knew it would be useless.
……
After Zhao Ning recovered from her illness, she went out for walks as usual. The Princess remembered the imperial physician's words, which said that she was depressed and needed to go out more to clear her mind, so she let her have her way.
Previously, he was always worried about Zhao Ning going out, so he would usually have Feng Zizhou accompany him. Now that the two of them had a falling out, it wasn't appropriate, and besides, Feng Zizhou was on duty at the Dali Temple and couldn't find the time.
He then had more guards accompany him and instructed Zhao Ning not to be willful and not to run around alone.
Zhao Ning had long since lost the desire to run around. She was now acting like a young lady from a noble family, going to teahouses, watching operas, or browsing jewelry and cosmetic shops.
One day, I went to a rouge shop and saw a lot of people. I inquired and learned that a courtesan was exceptionally beautiful and used the rouge from this shop, which is why many women flocked to it.
Zhao Ning lost interest: "Why use the same thing as the courtesan? It would lower your status."
The maid smiled and said, "If the county magistrate doesn't like it, there's another shop ahead. It's not as big as this one, and it doesn't have as many things, but you can still browse around."
Zhao Ning went there, but once inside, he saw an elderly couple and a middle-aged woman, who looked like a family, choosing rouge.
The middle-aged woman turned around and saw her, so she stepped forward to greet her: "Are you the county princess of the Princess's mansion? I am a woman from the Jiang family."