“I also have business.” Yuwen Changqing interrupted her, saying indifferently: “I won’t be keeping you company.”
Shen Guiya’s words stuck halfway in her throat, unable to go up or down. She looked at Yuwen Houde beside her somewhat frantically.
Yuwen Houde hurriedly blocked his way and helped smooth things over: “General, since you’ve already come, how can you leave without even hearing her out? Wouldn’t that make the journey a complete waste?”
Yuwen Changqing impatiently brushed away his hand and strode out the door.
Madam Gu, what a fine Madam Gu. He had thought it was… but it turned out to be a deception. Yuwen Changqing felt he was probably somewhat humiliated and angry. The thought he had secretly harbored in his heart had been exposed somewhat by this incident.
He really was shameless—so all these days he had been harboring such thoughts. If Gu Chaobei found out, he’d surely tear him in half.
“General!” Shen Guiya quickly stood up and chased after him, grasping Yuwen Changqing’s arm: “Please hear this humble woman out.”
Yuwen Changqing reached out to shake her off, but Shen Guiya took advantage of the momentum to tumble into his embrace. Her robe’s sash came undone, revealing all her splendor in his arms.
“Ah.” Shen Guiya let out a deliberately alarmed cry and hurriedly gathered her clothing, her eyes gazing at him with tender affection.
Frowning slightly, Yuwen Changqing looked at the person in his arms and finally recovered some of his senses, remembering who she was.
The Eldest Young Madam Gu—wasn’t she Shen Guiyan’s fifth sister, Gu Chaobei’s sister-in-law?
Previously when he had someone investigate Shen Guiyan’s background, he learned about this Shen Guiya. He’d heard there had been a sudden turn of events—she became pregnant with Gu Chaodong’s child and stole Shen Guiyan’s marriage arrangement. He had originally praised this woman’s tactics as truly brilliant. Just now in his momentary confusion and anger, he only now reacted.
Looking down at her appearance where she couldn’t properly cover herself, Yuwen Changqing raised an eyebrow. Indeed, brilliant tactics—no wonder such a clever woman had been bullied by her into yielding again and again.
Seeing his expression soften, Shen Guiya felt delighted and quickly stood up to smooth her hair: “General, shall we return to the private room to talk?”
Yuwen Changqing smiled meaningfully and nodded: “Very well.”
Yuwen Houde behind them let out a long breath, watching the two return to the private room with somewhat complicated feelings. Gritting his teeth, he closed the door for them.
He did rather like Shen Guiya’s body, but no matter what, he couldn’t bear to wrong Xue’er. If he sent Shen Guiya away today, from now on he would definitely devote himself wholeheartedly to Xue’er.
Shen Guiya sat down with Yuwen Changqing. The robe she had clutched tightly earlier now loosened somewhat, half-covering and half-revealing, hesitant to speak: “Today I sought an audience with the General to discuss matters concerning the imperial examinations.”
“Mm.” Yuwen Changqing smiled slightly, looking at her: “Doesn’t everyone say your husband is extraordinarily talented and will surely triumph in these examinations?”
“That’s what they say.” Shen Guiya moved closer to him, saying coquettishly: “But my husband has been burdened by various trivial matters. On examination day, he didn’t perform to his standard, so…”
“What trivial matters?”
Shen Guiya paused and pressed her lips together: “The General must know—the Gu family’s Fourth Young Master has neither learning nor virtue, yet obtained the position of Vice Minister of Justice. Naturally my husband’s heart is unbalanced. Moreover, the Fourth Young Madam, once she gained power, became extremely arrogant. His heart is troubled and unsettled, so naturally he couldn’t perform well.”
“Oh?” Yuwen Changqing nodded cooperatively: “I know the Fourth Young Master Gu has neither learning nor virtue, but the Fourth Young Madam is actually very arrogant?”
“Isn’t she?” At the thought of Shen Guiyan, Shen Guiya’s eyes contained some disdain: “Even after being beaten by family law, she still wasn’t honest. She grabbed the servants in the kitchen and claimed our Eastern Courtyard used arsenic on the Fourth Young Master. And she keeps seducing my husband—truly thinking that having a pretty face makes her something special!”
“I see…” Yuwen Changqing smiled and glanced at her clothing again: “Then what is Madam’s purpose today?”
Shen Guiya snapped back to attention and quickly softened her expression: “This humble woman wishes to ask the General to help my husband make a comeback. As for the price… whatever the General wishes.”
“Help the Eldest Young Master Gu make a comeback?” Yuwen Changqing stroked his chin, appearing to ponder deeply.
This woman probably hadn’t returned to the manor today, so Chancellor Gu hadn’t told her that Gu Chaobei had already vacated the Vice Minister position, which would soon fall into Gu Chaodong’s hands. Otherwise she wouldn’t be making such a fool of herself here.
Shen Guiya looked at him earnestly, thinking this General’s profile was truly extremely handsome—his features so beautiful she wanted to reach out and touch them.
“It’s not impossible.” Yuwen Changqing finally made an expression of coming to a decision, looking at her very seriously: “I have very few female confidantes. If we’re talking about price… Madam might as well come out often to sit with me and chat.”
Shen Guiya’s eyes lit up and she immediately grabbed his hand: “Really?”
“Mm, really.” Yuwen Changqing said with world-weariness: “Nowadays, women like Madam who are so devoted and special toward their husbands are truly rare.”
Her face reddening, Shen Guiya pulled his hand to her heart: “This humble woman is also very willing to become acquainted with the General. If the General helps with this great favor, this humble woman will be endlessly grateful and will give the General whatever he wants.”
The words were already so obvious, yet Yuwen Changqing still seemed not to understand. After giving her an affectionate look, he stood up: “In that case, I’ll take my leave today. After the matter succeeds, we’ll meet again.”
“Good, General take care.” Shen Guiya was wild with joy. She hadn’t expected this General Yuwen to be so easy to handle. At first she’d been startled by him. Yuwen Houde saying his temperament was peculiar wasn’t wrong—unpredictable and changeable.
But fortunately, being so different from others, she had ultimately made an impression on him.
Yuwen Changqing left. Yuwen Houde entered the room and glanced at her: “It’s done?”
“It’s done. Many thanks, my lord.” Shen Guiya stood up with a beaming smile, but her legs went soft and she fell down with a cry.
Yuwen Houde quickly caught her. Just as he was about to tell her of his decision, he saw her robe fall open, revealing she wore underneath only fabric that barely covered the crucial parts.
His gaze darkening, before Shen Guiya could gather her clothing back, Yuwen Houde had already reached his hand inside.
“Ah, what are you doing!” Shen Guiya screamed.
Having seen Yuwen Changqing, who would still be willing to be intimate with this attendant? Shen Guiya hurriedly tried to push him away, but Yuwen Houde fiercely captured her lips and tongue.
“What, crossing the river and demolishing the bridge?” Yuwen Houde frowned: “I didn’t expect you to be this kind of person.”
Shen Guiya froze, then quickly softened: “No, I was just startled by your actions. I… hasn’t this slave’s body long been given to you? Whenever my lord wishes, it’s fine.”
Only then did Yuwen Houde smile. Casting aside the decision he’d just made, he hastily carried Shen Guiya upstairs.
Shen Guiya endured through gritted teeth, thinking having a few backup options was also good. She’d just consider it going to a host club—without even having to pay.
Gu Manor.
Shen Guiyan held the records, frowning as she looked for quite a while. Beside her, Doctor Liu was still unhurriedly grinding medicine.
“Doctor, were these truly recorded on your first day at the manor?”
Doctor Liu hummed a little tune and glanced at Shen Guiyan: “Being dragged to the manor by the Fourth Young Master in the middle of the night, this old man at least has an iron rice bowl now, so naturally I wouldn’t lie to you. Ordinary doctors with imprecise medical skills take pulses carelessly and write things like ‘everything is well,’ showing no respect for our founding master. This old man’s pulse readings are most accurate. Whatever problems exist in someone’s body can all be detected.”
Shen Guiyan’s gaze grew darker. She pointed to Shen Guiya’s page and asked: “What does ‘vital energy and blood flow smoothly’ mean?”
“It means there’s never been stagnation, menstruation is regular, and blood vessels are unobstructed.”
Menstruation is regular?!
Shen Guiyan couldn’t help but stand up: “Doctor, do you know this Eldest Young Madam just suffered a miscarriage? How could menstruation be regular…”
“Now, Young Madam, you can think this old man looks unremarkable, but you cannot doubt this old man’s medical skills.” Doctor Liu set down his pestle, somewhat displeased: “When I entered the manor, I heard the Eldest Young Madam had just suffered a miscarriage. Wasn’t Young Madam beaten by family law because of this? Aiya, beaten so terribly.”
Shen Guiyan frowned. Doctor Liu clapped his hands and continued: “But when I took her pulse, I came to this conclusion—there’s never been stagnation in her body. If she’d truly miscarried, her body would be extremely weak, requiring avoidance of fruit and movement. But when this old man went to take her pulse that day, I saw a fruit plate in the Eldest Young Madam’s room, and the color in her face was also excellent.”
To put it plainly, there was no miscarriage at all. No stagnation meant no pregnancy.
How could that be? Shen Guiyan couldn’t help saying: “When she became pregnant initially, it was the Gu Manor’s own physician who personally diagnosed and confirmed it.”
Doctor Liu made two tsk-tsk sounds and shook his head: “Creating the appearance of a pregnancy pulse is so simple. There are plenty of half-baked doctors nowadays. If you drink a bowl of contraceptive decoction, menstruation delays, the pulse becomes unstable—it’s very easy for it to be mistaken as a pregnancy pulse.”
Shen Guiyan gasped, clutching the records as her face turned slightly pale.
In other words, Shen Guiya was never pregnant from beginning to end, yet held her belly and caused so much trouble?
“Too excessive!” Baoshan couldn’t help saying: “She truly used every means available. To steal the marriage arrangement and bring down my young mistress, would she disregard even her own body?”
Contraceptive decoction could prevent pregnancy, but it was commonly used by courtesans. Drinking that could easily make one unable to conceive ever again.
Doctor Liu stroked his white beard: “Individual karma returns to the individual—cause and effect have their cycle, indeed.”
Shen Guiyan closed her eyes: “Doctor, could you help me with a favor?”
“Easy to discuss, easy to discuss.” Doctor Liu produced a small abacus from somewhere and gave it a light tap: “Big favor costs one tael of silver, small favor costs half a tael of silver.”
Baoshan glared at him: “Are you a doctor or a merchant? So miserly. If the Eldest Young Madam came to you for help, would it also just be a matter of one tael of silver?”
Doctor Liu smiled and shook his head: “I won’t help people lie or help people commit evil. Only because the Young Madam is kindhearted do I agree to help. But owing personal favors is hard to repay—silver transactions are purest. What does the Young Madam think?”
Shen Guiyan looked at him and actually smiled: “The Doctor is correct. Baoshan, go back and weigh out one tael of silver for Doctor Liu.”
“Yes.”
This favor she was asking would count as a big favor, surely.