My Sister Insisted on Swapping Marriages, and I Became a Marchioness Instead

Chapter 26: Chapter 26: Only That Woman Is Forbidden

The young girl, small in stature but of good memory, recited sentence by sentence.

After listening, Old Madam Gu’s face turned livid with anger, unable to suppress her fury, she scolded: ”Gu Baoshu, you are still a daughter who hasn’t married yet, and you dare to speak such nonsense in front of your third sister-in-law. I have raised you carefully for so many years, and never knew when you learned these bad habits.”

Seeing Old Madam Gu terribly upset, Gu Baoshu quickly stepped forward, threw herself into her arms, and sobbed, ”Mother, I know I was wrong, I beg for your forgiveness.”

Old Madam Gu massaged her forehead, sighing: ”You are the only girl of this generation in the Gu Family, raised by my side since childhood, people outside praise you only because you are the daughter of the Dingbei Marquis Mansion. How could you say something that would damage your third brother’s reputation like this?”

”Moreover, your third brother cherishes gratitude and treats that mother and child well, saying such things, where exactly do you place your brother and Lady Zhao in this regard?”

”If even our family speaks like this, outsiders will only spread the rumors even worse. If you still consider yourself a daughter of Dingbei Marquis Mansion, don’t say these crooked words anymore.”

These words were heavy, and Gu Baoshu didn’t dare to say more than a word, she could only sob and reply: ”Mother, I made a mistake. I will apologize to my third sister-in-law and promise never to say such things again. If I relapse, let heaven strike me with thunder and allow mother to punish me as she sees fit.”

Qin Yuan just lowered her head, staring at her own toes.

Gu Baoshu, nurtured by Old Madam Gu for many years, deeply understands the principle that family ties shouldn’t be neglected.

With a grim expression, Sixth Lady Gu said: ”Mother, your daughter-in-law was inconsiderate. The third sister-in-law is right; the younger sister-in-law spoke wrongly, and she should be admonished; one shouldn’t think she’s young and just indulge her.”

Qin Yuan slightly curled her lips.

In the end, Old Madam Gu punished Gu Baoshu with confinement for three months, reading the ”Four Books for Women” at home to correct her conduct and learning women’s crafts, which distressed Gu Baoshu, making her cry out.

Learning women’s crafts seriously is quite arduous. Previously, Old Madam Gu just turned a blind eye.

After ten years of learning, Gu Baoshu could only thread a needle and embroider two mandarin ducks that looked like ducks.

Now, Gu Baoshu must start learning anew.

Spinning yarn, weaving cloth, embroidering, and cutting all require a mistress to teach.

Old Madam Gu said to cultivate her temper before her betrothal and arrange a good marriage.

After driving away Gu Baoshu, Old Madam Gu shifted the topic to the household management of the Marquis Mansion.

”These years, I’ve been lazy and handed over household management to you, without considering whether you can handle it. You have to serve me, take care of Sixth Master, and bear and raise children, it’s indeed too tiring, it’s better to let your third sister-in-law help you with the house, more hands make things easier.”

While the words were kind, they made Sixth Lady Gu’s heart bleed.

Although knowing that the household management of the Marquis Mansion must ultimately be handed over, as the Marchioness is the rightful mistress of the mansion, Sixth Lady Gu really couldn’t bear it, delaying a day as long as possible.

Sixth Lady Gu forced a smile and said: ”It’s not as mother says, serving a mother-in-law like you is a blessing for your daughter-in-law, there are few as generous as the Marquis Mansion in the entire Capital City, the third sister-in-law and I have fallen into a nest of fortune.”

The words made Old Madam Gu laugh.

”Previously, it was just me managing, inevitably there were omissions and shortcomings. With a clever and sensible person like the third sister-in-law helping, I’m very pleased.”

After praising, Old Madam Gu praised Qin Yuan.

Qin Yuan thought, Sixth Lady Gu is scheming, unlike Gu Baoshu who jumps at every instigation, things have to be done gradually.

Old Madam Gu laughed as she said: ”Yuan’er is still young, though somewhat clever, she hasn’t managed a household before, still needing to learn much, I highly value her dedication to Marquis, putting the Marquis Mansion first in her mind, in the future you two will manage the house together, with her help you will be more relaxed, and the fence around the mansion will be tighter.”

Only then did Qin Yuan speak, ”Mother, Sixth Sister-in-law, I’ll ask you if there’s anything I can’t do in the future, and I hope you’ll teach me lavishly.”

”Haha,” laughed Old Madam Gu, ”Eager to take over the position already.”

Qin Yuan just smiled.

Sixth Lady Gu looked enviously at the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.

To show she wasn’t greedy for power, Sixth Lady Gu initially wanted to hand the kitchen and accountant over to Qin Yuan, but Qin Yuan laughed and declined, ”I’m new here; I don’t know anything. Following Sixth Sister-in-law to learn household management keeps me from being in the dark later.”

The words made Sixth Lady Gu’s heart twitch; she glanced at Old Madam Gu, whose face was all smiles, evidently in agreement.

Soon, the competitive spirit dimmed by half.

Eventually, Qin Yuan chose the tea room, carpentry room, and needlework room, all areas with a lot of chores but no benefits.

Sixth Lady Gu breathed a sigh of relief but missed the admiration in Old Madam Gu’s eyes.

The few sat together and chatted casually; Sixth Lady Gu then took her leave and agreed to hand over after lunch.

Leaving the main room, Sixth Lady Gu’s face suddenly darkened.

”Who would have thought, the turtle in the shell actually has the face to cause a scene. Does she even consider herself the bride?” Sixth Lady Gu complained to her confidant nanny.

The confidant nanny was also downcast: ”We thought the Seventh Miss would provoke her to lose composure; unexpectedly, the Seventh Miss was the one shut away.”

Sixth Lady Gu snorted angrily: ”She’s useless, spoiled by Old Madam, Marquis, and Sixth Master, pampered with a big temper but little capability, knocked down by Qin Yuan with just a few moves.”

The confidant nanny reminded: ”Madam, the third wife is formidable; you’ll need to be cautious. She’s only been in the mansion for a few days, yet manages Wutong Garden tightly. What happened in the main room with Marquis yesterday wasn’t heard outside.”

If it were just the main room, it’d be understandable; Old Madam’s age and long years of management, but Qin Yuan’s ability to manage like this after just a few days is exceptional.

Sixth Lady Gu furrowed her brow.

Against Qin Yuan, all the tricks for dealing with the new bride proved ineffective.

”Useless, all useless, Zhao is also useless, unable to stir up any trouble.”

Main room.

Old Madam Gu held Qin Yuan’s hand and asked: ”Good child, how is Hui’er?”

Qin Yuan smiled and said: ”Marquis is resting and recuperating; yesterday I sprained my ankle, called Doctor Li from Renhe Hall, and he gave me some ointment, which worked perfectly. I guarantee that in three to five days Marquis will be back to his old self.”

”Ah...” Old Madam Gu sighed, gently stroking Qin Yuan’s little hand, saying, ”I know my son, he waited until this age to marry not just because of the tense warfare, but also because, like his father, he didn’t understand things. Marrying him wronged you.”

Startled, Qin Yuan wanted to speak, but Old Madam Gu stopped her, saying: ”He doesn’t understand the inner mansion affairs, only thinking it’s just like the military, too simple-minded. We women, living in these four-square walls for a lifetime, seeking comfort, filial children, and harmonious spouses, is no simple task.”

After such a long prelude, the old lady finally got to the point.

”If he talks about giving the Zhao woman an empty title to block outside rumors, so she can raise the child in peace, or some nonsense like that, don’t agree just for the sake of a virtuous reputation, just shove him to me, the old lady. My words are here; anyone can enter the mansion, except that woman.”