Originally, during this visit to the Shen residence, she had wanted to secretly take away Concubine Qin’s spirit tablet. Leaving it in this residence, there would be no one to look after it. Who knew Madam Shen would pull this move?

She said it was placed in the ancestral hall, but who knew what she actually planned to do with it? In the future, if something happened, wouldn’t she still use the spirit tablet to threaten her?

Her eyes reddened as she wanted to argue, but she remembered that Concubine Qin was ultimately a person of the Shen household, and she was a daughter who had married out—she couldn’t decide anything.

Gritting her teeth and swallowing her anger, she laughed coldly.

“Yan’er… thanks Mother.” Shen Guiyan slowly closed her eyes and bowed down toward Madam Shen.

Her head struck the ground with a dull thud.

Madam Shen laughed lightly. “I know you’re a filial child. Naturally you can’t bear for your birth mother to have no peace even after death, so you’ll certainly be obedient and well-behaved, won’t you?”

The other two concubines in the great hall were watching, but no one spoke up to help her. Shen Guiyan’s gaze was icy as she kept her head lowered. “Yes.”

In life, they threatened her using Concubine Qin; in death, it was the same. Bao Shilan probably thought she was the type of soft persimmon who, once someone had leverage over her, would always obediently listen.

In the past, Concubine Qin couldn’t leave the Shen residence, and she had no recourse. Now she had already married out. All that remained of Concubine Qin was just a spirit tablet—did they truly think things could still be the same as before?

Master Shen and Gu Chaobei arrived at the main hall one after the other. Seeing Shen Guiyan kneeling, Gu Chaobei thought the farewell ceremonies had started early and knelt down as well.

But as soon as he knelt, he turned his head and saw her reddened eyes.

Had she been bullied? Gu Chaobei froze, his expression darkening somewhat. “Yan’er?”

Shen Guiyan came back to her senses, lowered her eyes, and said, “Following protocol, we’ll perform the farewell ceremony, then return.”

Gu Chaobei nodded. Without even bowing his head to the ground, he perfunctorily performed the ceremony, then pulled her up to stand. “I will take good care of Yan’er. Please set your minds at ease, father-in-law and mother-in-law.”

“Mm.” Shen Shiqing didn’t look much at Gu Chaobei. He truly had no expectations for this son-in-law. What a pity for Yan’er.

After the two had packed their things and boarded the carriage, only then did Gu Chaobei turn Shen Guiyan’s face toward him. “What happened?”

Shen Guiyan looked up at him. Large tears welled up in her eyes, frightening Gu Chaobei into immediately softening his voice. “Who bullied you? What happened? Don’t cry. Just tell me.”

Shen Guiyan took a breath and wiped her eyes with a handkerchief, her voice extremely calm. “Husband, can you help me with something?”

Gu Chaobei froze. Rarely had his heart softened so much. He asked gently, “What is it? Tell me.”

“You’re quite skilled at climbing over walls and through courtyards.” Shen Guiyan looked at him. “Help me steal something.”

Gu Chaobei: “…”

So in her heart, this was all he was good for?

Shen Guiyan sat up straight and said in a low voice, “My teacher always taught me to endure. I can endure everything else, but if I endure this matter as well, I would be unworthy as a daughter.”

Gu Chaobei didn’t know the full story. He was just about to ask when he saw her eyes so red. After thinking about it, he decided against it and asked directly, “What do you want me to steal?”

“In a few days, steal Concubine Qin’s spirit tablet from the Shen family ancestral hall.” Shen Guiyan said, “But it must be in a few days.”

Gu Chaobei raised an eyebrow, clearly seeing the hatred flash through her eyes.

The look of hatred wasn’t cute at all. Gu Chaobei grinned and pulled her into his arms. “Fine, I’ll handle it for you. But what reward will my wife give this husband?”

Her emotions interrupted by this man’s playful manner, Shen Guiyan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “What reward do you want?”

“Mm, how about my wife kisses me for the duration of one incense stick, without stopping? How’s that?” Gu Chaobei rubbed his chin, speaking very seriously.

Shen Guiyan’s face flushed. She instinctively pinched him. “Can’t you be more proper?”

“I’m already proper enough in front of others. If I’m still proper between you and me, wouldn’t that be exhausting?” Gu Chaobei smacked a kiss on her cheek. “Once you and I have time to consummate the marriage, you won’t pinch me like this anymore.”

Her face turned even redder. Shen Guiyan, embarrassed and annoyed, temporarily forgot her troubles and just vigorously twisted the inner side of Gu Chaobei’s arm—pinching a bit and turning in a circle. That sensation—whoever tried it would know.

At first, Gu Chaobei could still manage to continue teasing, but soon after, Zhuiyun only heard waves of miserable screams from inside the carriage.

Returning to the Gu residence, Shen Guiyan went to her room and changed into plain, simple clothes, then went to pay respects to Prime Minister Gu and Madam Gu.

“Did you inquire after our in-laws’ well-being for us?” Prime Minister Gu was in a good mood today and asked with a smile.

Shen Guiyan performed her courtesy properly. “I’ve already conveyed father-in-law and mother-in-law’s concern. Father and Mother also send their regards for your health and well-being.”

When she raised her head, the redness and swelling around her eyes hadn’t yet subsided.

Madam Gu frowned slightly. “What happened?”

Shen Guiyan smiled. “It’s nothing. I just went back to see my birth mother’s spirit tablet. Thinking about how Yan’er is so happy now, yet she can’t see it, I felt somewhat sad.”

If it weren’t for Gu Chaobei’s act of cooking the raw rice into cooked rice, she would still be in mourning.

Prime Minister Gu nodded. “Your filial nature is commendable.”

Shen Guiyan lowered her eyes. “Mother has already agreed to move Yan’er’s birth mother’s spirit tablet into the Shen family ancestral hall. Yan’er is extremely grateful and has already thought of sending some things back to the Shen family for Mother. They will also be troubled to help Yan’er look after my birth mother’s spirit tablet. Would this be acceptable?”

“Of course it is.” Prime Minister Gu said, “You may decide for yourself. There’s no need to be so cautious.”

“Yes.”

Having obtained permission, Shen Guiyan packed up several boxes of items and had someone deliver them to Wu Shi, also sending along a letter.

The letter didn’t say much else, only that she was grateful to Madam Shen for placing Qin Shi’s spirit tablet in the ancestral hall and was specially sending gifts in return. Since she couldn’t easily leave the Prime Minister’s residence, Wu Shi would deliver them on her behalf.

This was clearly just a pretext—what she wanted to borrow was Wu Shi’s mouth.

Wu Shi happened to be idle and bored, so she made the trip for her. Not only did she deliver the gifts, but she also praised Madam Shen to the skies.

Madam Shen was somewhat surprised. However, who doesn’t love to hear praise, especially coming from Wu Shi? In her good mood, she actually ordered someone to place Qin Shi’s spirit tablet in the ancestral hall—previously she had merely put it away casually.

However, placing it in the ancestral hall was just for show. Normally there was no one in the ancestral hall, and even if there were, no one would look after a concubine’s spirit tablet.

Shen Guiyan continued distributing porridge, but no longer said it was from an anonymous donor. Instead, she set up an incense altar to the side, explaining that Fourth Young Madam Gu was praying for blessings for her deceased mother and specially distributing porridge to accumulate merit.

“This Fourth Young Madam Gu is quite filial.” The man in plain clothes came to observe again. Looking at the incense altar beside the porridge tent, he asked the servant behind him, “How did her mother die?”

The servant with a high-pitched voice answered him, “It’s said she mistakenly consumed arsenic and died. Even Master Shen didn’t want to investigate the Shen family’s internal affairs. As a secondary daughter, naturally it would be even harder for her to investigate.”

“How pitiful.” The man in plain clothes said, “Fortunately, after death she could still enter the ancestral hall. That’s not too bad.”

“It’s all blessings accumulated by this daughter.” The servant laughed. “Master, when will you return today?”

The man in plain clothes sighed. “There’s nothing to do going back. Better to come here and look around. Seeing that there are still women in this realm who haven’t abandoned the common people, I also gain some strength to carry on.”

The servant raised his pinky finger, his nose tingling. “Master…”

These past two days, Shen Guiyan had been personally distributing porridge. She changed into plain clothes with only a white jade hairpin remaining in her hair. When the refugees saw her, they all looked at her as if seeing a celestial maiden, unable to help whispering, “Why has Fourth Young Madam Gu come in person?”

“I heard her birth mother’s spirit tablet entered the family ancestral hall. She was so happy that she came to distribute porridge personally.”

“Truly good people receive good rewards.” The refugees all said this, holding their porridge and enjoying it with great satisfaction.

Refugees were distributed extremely widely throughout the capital. The matter of Fourth Young Madam Gu accumulating merit by distributing porridge for her birth mother quickly spread. More and more people came to receive porridge. Within a few days, nearly all of the capital knew about it.

On the third day, General Yuwen entered the capital. What he heard were all these rumors. People praising Fourth Young Madam Gu were everywhere.

After leaving Swallow Tower that day, he had realized—who else could the person upstairs be? It could only be Gu Chaobei’s newly married wife, Third Miss Shen.

What a pity for such a fine beauty to be ruined by that stinking brat. Meeting her too late—Yuwen Changqing thought, if he had known, he should have stolen a kiss before coming to his senses. Otherwise, pining for her these several days was such a loss.

In the evening, Gu Chaobei changed into night clothes and prepared to go to the Shen residence.

Shen Guiyan was very ingratiating as she helped him adjust his clothes. “Husband, everything depends on you. Don’t make any mistakes.”

Gu Chaobei rolled his eyes. “This is something you’ve planned for so long. Would I cause you trouble? Stealing a spirit tablet is extremely simple.”

Shen Guiyan looked at him with concern. “The Shen residence keeps dogs in the back. Are you truly capable?”

Dogs? The corners of Gu Chaobei’s mouth twitched. “I know. There won’t be any problems.”

Fourth Young Master Gu feared neither heaven nor earth, but was still somewhat afraid of dogs.

The entire ride over on horseback was quite anxious. He wondered if he should have Zhuiyun go instead. But Zhuiyun’s martial skills weren’t up to par—if discovered, all efforts would be wasted.

Just as he was worrying, arriving near the courtyard wall at the back of the Shen residence, he ran into someone.

“Why are you here?” Gu Chaobei’s eyeballs nearly fell out. “Didn’t the Empress just say today that the palace was holding a banquet to welcome you?”

Yuwen Changqing was standing by the courtyard wall, looking quite melancholic. “Yes, Empress Dowager summoned me to the palace. But I only came out to return to the residence to change clothes, and when I walked here, I got lost.”

Gu Chaobei: “…”

Although Yuwen Changqing looked very foolish, he was indeed the person the Empress currently valued most. Holding military authority and excelling in battle, he was absolutely not the type one could run into by chance on the street.

“If you go now, there’s still time.” Gu Chaobei looked at the moonlight. “You can make it to the evening banquet.”

“I can’t.” Yuwen Changqing said, “I’ve already told my servant that if I don’t return within the time it takes one incense stick to burn, tell the Empress I got drunk and collapsed halfway.”

The corners of Gu Chaobei’s mouth twitched. “Then what are you doing here now?”