Gu Chaobei’s lips twitched slightly as he listened, and when he looked down, he saw that Shen Guiyan had become even more tense.

“That voice really is quite terrifying,” Gu Chaobei muttered. “I wonder if she would still shout like this if it were her own biological daughter?”

Shen Guiyan glanced back at him with a peculiar expression, then prepared to enter the front hall. But just as she took a step, Gu Chaobei pulled her back.

“Are you stupid?” Gu Chaobei rolled his eyes, grabbed both her hands in one swift motion, took a deep breath, and marched aggressively toward the front hall with her in tow.

“What are you doing…” Shen Guiyan was startled by him, stumbling along as she followed, nearly falling in the great hall.

Everyone’s gaze turned toward them. Shen Guiyan wanted to pull her hands free, for this fellow’s grip was too strong and really hurt, but Gu Chaobei refused to let go no matter what. He even smiled with perfect composure as he looked at the people in the hall and said, “Everyone’s here?”

Master Shen had gone to court today and wasn’t at the manor. Madam Shen had planned to handle this matter severely. But with Gu Chaobei dragging the struggling Shen Guiyan in like this, how could she possibly blame it on Shen Guiyan?

No matter how one looked at it, it was clearly this Fourth Young Master Gu who had forcibly taken her away.

“Where did you two go?” Madam Shen asked with a stern expression.

Shen Guiyan wanted to speak, but Gu Chaobei pulled her behind him and faced Madam Shen directly. “The weather was nice today, so I took Yan’er to offer incense to Concubine Qin. Since Yan’er’s and my marriage is settled, I naturally should pay my respects to Concubine Qin.”

“Concubine Qin?” Madam Shen snorted coldly. “That thing unfit for the main hall—what’s the point of visiting her? Setting aside how inauspicious matters clash with joyous ones, Fourth Young Master Gu, your coming to see Yan’er today already broke the rules.”

“Aren’t rules all made by people?” Gu Chaobei scoffed lightly. “It’s just that Madam has taught Yan’er to be too rule-abiding—taking her out once was incredibly difficult. If I weren’t so strong, I wouldn’t have been able to bring her at all.”

He then turned to look at Shen Guiyan with a rather reproachful expression. “I’m practically your husband already, yet you’re still concerned about maintaining proper distance and such. Isn’t that a bit too rigid?”

Shen Guiyan froze, staring into Gu Chaobei’s eyes, somewhat dazed.

This man was actually making excuses for her.

His words were beautifully crafted, leaving Madam Shen at a loss for how to respond. Should she scold Shen Guiyan? She was still the victim—not only had she done nothing wrong, she’d been trying her best to follow the rules all along. But should she rebuke Gu Chaobei?

He was a young master from the Prime Minister’s Manor—it wasn’t her place to lecture him.

Madam Shen fumed in frustration for quite a while before finally saying to Shen Guiyan and Gu Chaobei, “Today’s matter ends here. Yan’er, return to Swallow Tower first. Fourth Young Master Gu, please return as well. After the wedding, there will be plenty of time to see each other.”

“Very well.” Gu Chaobei released Shen Guiyan’s hands.

Shen Guiyan breathed a long sigh of relief. She gently helped up Baoshan, who was still kneeling on the floor, paid her respects to Madam Shen, and left together with Gu Chaobei.

“Miss…” Baoshan hadn’t cried until now, but upon seeing Shen Guiyan return, tears finally fell.

Shen Guiyan looked at her swollen face with distress. “You’ve been wronged.”

Baoshan shook her head and glanced at Gu Chaobei. “As long as Madam didn’t get a chance to punish Miss, that’s good. This servant getting slapped a couple times is nothing unusual—it doesn’t matter.”

Gu Chaobei laughed awkwardly and casually pulled a medicine bottle from his robes. “This is for promoting blood circulation and removing bruises. I use it often—it works well. Here, take it as my apology.”

Baoshan extended her hand in a daze as the white porcelain bottle dropped into her palm.

“…Thank you, Fourth Young Master.”

Waving his hand dismissively, Gu Chaobei looked at Shen Guiyan. “The next time we meet will be on our wedding night.”

Shen Guiyan’s face flushed red as she pressed her lips together and nodded. “Mm.”

“There are still several days until then—don’t let anything happen to you.” Gu Chaobei’s smile faded, and he spoke very seriously. “No matter who hangs outside your window again, don’t pay them any attention.”

Shen Guiyan froze and looked up at him. “You know?”

Did he know that Gu Chaodong had been hanging outside her window?

Gu Chaobei curved his lips and leaned closer to her. “There’s nothing I don’t know.”

Liar! Shen Guiyan silently cursed this scoundrel in her heart, but she obediently nodded anyway. She wouldn’t pay attention to Gu Chaodong again either. Even if she couldn’t let go completely for now, that was her own problem to think through behind closed doors. When facing Gu Chaodong, she absolutely would not show any mercy.

“Marry me, and you’ll get what you want.” Gu Chaobei touched his nose bridge and said quietly, “Even though I seem very unreliable.”

His self-assessment was quite accurate. Shen Guiyan nodded.

“Well then, farewell.” Gu Chaobei straightened up and displayed that infuriatingly smug smile again. “Wait for me to come marry you!”

Shen Guiyan: “…”

After Gu Chaobei left, Shen Guiyan returned to Swallow Tower with Baoshan. Sitting in her room, she suddenly felt very curious. “What kind of person is Fourth Young Master Gu really?”

Baoshan had keen ears and sharp eyes, knowing the most gossip about everyone’s affairs. Hearing Shen Guiyan ask this, she eagerly came forward. “I’ve heard that Fourth Young Master Gu is an inauspicious person.”

Shen Guiyan froze.

“He’s a child Prime Minister Gu brought back from outside—said to be an illegitimate son whose mother died long ago. As soon as he returned to the Prime Minister’s Manor, the household was robbed repeatedly and even caught fire. That’s why people in the manor don’t really like him. It’s only because Prime Minister Gu dotes on him that he’s managed to survive until now.”

Baoshan spoke with some emotion. “He’s considered the best-looking in the capital and has won many young ladies’ hearts. Even Princess Duanwen is infatuated with him. But he’s naturally romantic and frequents pleasure districts, so few respectable families want to marry their daughters to him.”

She didn’t know whether her young miss marrying him would bring joy or sorrow.

Shen Guiyan propped her chin in thought for quite a while before smiling softly. “He seems quite interesting though.”

“What’s interesting?” Baoshan asked, confused.

Shen Guiyan shook her head and returned to her bed to continue embroidering her wedding dress. She’d originally thought Gu Chaobei was just an ordinary wastrel young master, but after these two encounters, he seemed like rough hemp wrapped around embroidered silk—extremely interesting.

Finally, she felt some anticipation for this marriage.

The second wedding between the Shen and Gu families was rushed and hasty. Few relatives and friends were notified, and there wasn’t even time for a proper betrothal gift ceremony—the gifts could only be sent along with the wedding procession.

The news that Third Miss Shen was marrying Fourth Young Master Gu only spread on the wedding day itself, causing the capital’s residents to rush about telling each other and come watch the excitement.

“Such a fine young lady—how could she marry someone like him!”

“What a pity, what a pity—like sticking fresh flowers in cow dung.”

“I heard many men wanted to marry this Third Miss Shen. How did it end up being that wastrel Fourth Young Master Gu?”

Gu Chaobei turned a deaf ear to the surrounding comments, wearing only his red wedding attire and sitting handsomely on his horse as he headed toward the Shen Manor.

Today was the great joyous day. Thirty boxes of betrothal gifts followed behind him—no less than what the legitimate eldest son Gu Chaodong had given. Who knew what Madam Gu was thinking? But looking at it this way, the Gu family did seem to take this marriage seriously.

Shen Guiyan had again risen early to dress up, but this time, Concubine Qin wasn’t there to help arrange her hair. Instead, Xiurong, a maid from Madam Shen’s service, came.

“Once you go to the Prime Minister’s Manor, you should naturally support Fifth Miss. You’re a concubine-born son’s wife, so naturally you must follow Fifth Miss’s wishes. If Madam learns that you harbor resentment about past matters and are hostile toward Fifth Miss, there certainly won’t be any good consequences.”

Xiurong lectured Shen Guiyan while arranging her hair, her expression quite arrogant.

Shen Guiyan didn’t even lift her eyelids, only laughed softly.

Xiurong’s hands paused. “What? Does Third Miss think this servant is wrong?”

“Not at all.” Shen Guiyan looked at her through the mirror with a very gentle smile. “How could what you say be wrong?”

Xiurong frowned. This Third Miss had somehow changed recently, becoming increasingly difficult to control. She used to be easy to threaten, but ever since Concubine Qin’s death, she seemed to have no more scruples.

That person had also been too impulsive—why strike such a fatal blow? Fortunately, Fifth Miss hadn’t made any mistakes there, and could now suppress this Third Miss at every turn. Otherwise, if the truth were discovered and she sought revenge, wouldn’t that bring disaster upon them?

Muttering a couple Buddha’s names, Xiurong said no more and, after finishing the preparations, helped Shen Guiyan outside.

The Shen Manor’s preparations this time were truly perfunctory. Aside from red silk hung at the manor gate, other places were barely decorated at all. When Master Shen questioned Madam Shen about it, she simply brushed it off with the excuse that time was tight.

The Gu Manor’s wedding procession arrived outside. Gu Chaobei entered the Shen Manor with the betrothal gifts and said to Master Shen, “This son-in-law greets Father-in-law.”

No matter how dissatisfied with this Fourth Young Master Gu, now that they were marrying off their daughter, Master Shen could only nod with a smile.

“This is the betrothal gift list.” Steward Gu handed over the list.

Madam Shen smiled and stepped forward to hand over the dowry list as well. Both sides examined the lists—this completed the formalities. The items written on the betrothal gift list were quite generous, making Madam Shen’s eyes crinkle with pleasure. She thought it was like selling off a person, and what they’d earned back was no small amount.

“Wait!” But after Gu Chaobei looked at the dowry list, he suddenly called out.

Everyone was somewhat stunned. Gu Chaobei took back the gift list from Madam Shen’s hands and tore off a portion.

A deathly silence fell all around. Cold sweat broke out on Steward Gu’s forehead. “Fourth Young Master…”

“I see Yan’er’s dowry is rather meager.” Gu Chaobei returned the gift list to Madam Shen, with the torn-off portion listing twenty bolts of fine silk and two hundred taels of gold. “These are unnecessary—I’ll take them back to supplement Yan’er’s dowry.”

The faces of everyone from the Shen Manor instantly became quite colorful—red, white, black, green, every shade imaginable. Master Shen opened his mouth, not knowing what to say. Meanwhile, among the relatives and friends standing outside, Madam Wu from Minister Gao’s household commented, “This Fourth Young Master Gu really knows how to cherish people. When the bride’s family slights the daughter, he still knows not to let his wife be wronged.”

Madam Shen’s face turned iron-blue. In her fury, she crumpled the gift list. “Is Fourth Young Master Gu slapping the Shen family’s face? Are you dissatisfied with the dowry we’re giving Yan’er?”