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

Chapter 72: Chapter 72: Didn’t Expect They’d Come Again

Sixth Lady Gu was startled.

”Who did the Marquis bring here?”

The young maid was too flustered to speak coherently.

Sixth Lady Gu had no choice but to support the maid out the door to see what was happening. She saw Marquis Gu standing upright in the courtyard, hands behind his back, his expression dark and his sharp brows and eyes carrying a murderous aura, as if he was ready to strike her down at any moment.

Behind the Marquis followed two servants, holding two nannies tied up with rope.

”This...”

Sixth Lady Gu’s heart skipped a beat.

She recognized them as the ones who guarded Gu Baoshu’s quarters.

It seemed Marquis Gu was displeased with Gu Baoshu’s disturbance at Wutong Garden.

Was he here to demand an explanation?

Or perhaps...

Sixth Lady Gu thought of sending someone to invite Sixth Master Gu over.

Although Sixth Master Gu wasn’t very useful, having him present to shield the Marquis’s anger would surely be better.

Nanny Zhao murmured shakily, ”The Marquis... is truly frightening today.”

They seldom saw the Master of the house.

When Sixth Lady Gu married into the family, Marquis Gu was already off at the battlefield, replacing Old Marquis Gu, not returning home for years and exchanging only a few brief letters.

She often heard Sixth Master Gu recount how his third brother took care of him when he was at the mansion.

Back then, several funerals had repeatedly been arranged at home.

Old Madam Gu worried about the future of the Marquis Mansion and urged her to soon bear descendants, barely mentioning this surviving son, as if not expecting him to return alive.

In hindsight, this mother-son relationship was rather peculiar.

If it were others, regardless of legitimate or illegitimate, they would at least want to leave an heir, yet Old Madam didn’t mention it, nor did Marquis Gu seem hurried himself.

Sixth Lady Gu often thought, in the future, the Marquis Mansion might be left to her son.

Whether the title would be passed to Sixth Master Gu, or her son adopted under Marquis Gu’s name, she didn’t know.

No one expected Marquis Gu to return unscathed.

Sixth Lady Gu could never forget the moment she first saw Marquis Gu.

A towering man of seven feet, dressed in military uniform, dust-ridden, with a full beard, sharp brows and eyes, his expression cool, looking at her as if he were gazing at a corpse.

Just one look, and she buried all unspeakable thoughts deep within her heart.

Although over the past six months, Marquis Gu had been extremely lenient to family, she always remembered that icy glance.

Now, Sixth Lady Gu faced Gu Jinghui’s piercing gaze, her heart pounding and nearly leaping out of her chest, exerting great effort to keep her body from trembling.

”Third Brother, what is this?”

Sixth Lady Gu heard her own voice, dry.

Gu Jinghui bluntly spoke, ”These nannies didn’t watch over Gu Baoshu properly. Such a grown girl, yet she barges into her elders’ quarters recklessly. As her sister-in-law, you should pay more attention to her and keep an eye on her. If anything happens to her, how would you face Aunt Wen?”

His frosty tone left her uneasy.

Sixth Lady Gu hesitated for a moment before stammering, ”These nannies always slack off at any chance. The Marquis is right; I will discipline them well and keep Baoshu in check.”

Gu Jinghui asked, ”How do you plan to deal with them?”

Sixth Lady Gu was stunned again.

Gu Jinghui arched his brows, staring sharply at her, awaiting an answer.

Sixth Lady Gu shivered and immediately responded, ”Let’s first give them twenty lashes and punish them to guard the secondary entrance. What does the Marquis think?”

Gu Jinghui gave no opinion and asked, ”And Baoshu?”

”Baoshu?” Sixth Lady Gu looked at Gu Jinghui, perplexed.

Nanny Zhao quickly poked her in the back.

Sixth Lady Gu immediately responded, ”I’ll supervise her spinning and embroidering.”

Gu Jinghui said, ”For the Qixi Festival, Gu Baoshu must participate in the festival’s embroidery arts competition. If she embarrasses the Marquis Mansion, she’ll spend her time embroidering at home. If anything goes awry...”

Sixth Lady Gu felt like crying.

Gu Baoshu had grown this big, never once embroidering a duck clearly; the butterflies looked like bugs, the flowers were indistinguishable...

Gu Jinghui paused, glanced at her, then turned to the servant and said, ”Fetch Sixth Master for me.”

The servant quickly hurried off.

Sixth Lady Gu: ”...”

Why did they drag in Sixth Master again?

Gu Jinghui said nothing more, pacing back and forth in his boots at the steps.

Listening to the sound of boots stepping back and forth, Sixth Lady Gu felt a headache.

”Third Brother, what do you want from me?”

Sixth Master Gu was brought here by the servant, his face full of resentment.

Gu Jinghui ignored him, addressing Sixth Lady Gu: ”You are a woman; if you make a mistake, I can’t punish you, but I can chastise your husband. If Baoshu’s behavior doesn’t straighten out, Sixth Brother will take the lashes on your behalf.”

Sixth Master Gu, who thought his third brother might have changed his mind and brought money: ”...”

Sixth Lady Gu: ”...”

Gu Jinghui glanced at the stupefied pair before scoffing and turning to leave.

”Third Brother, Third Brother...”

Gu Jingjun stomped his feet angrily, but couldn’t call back Marquis Gu.

He frowned and grumbled at Sixth Lady Gu, ”What did you do to provoke my third brother?”

Sixth Lady Gu had been at odds with him these last two days, not speaking to him, but at this moment she didn’t quibble, saying: ”Your sister was supposed to be confined to the courtyard. Today, she took Lady Zhao’s two children to Wutong Garden, and not only did your third brother chase them back, he brought the nannies here for interrogation.”

”Heh,” Sixth Master Gu sneered, ”You play the virtuous one, and now you want me to take the fall. If Third Brother really learns anything, I’d like to see what you’ll do.”

Sixth Lady Gu innocently said, ”Lady Zhao wants to return to her hometown, causing a ruckus in the main house; her two children don’t want to go back and seek out Baoshu - how can all this be blamed on me?”

Sixth Master Gu cast a cold glance at her, whispered: ”Do you really think everyone else is a fool?”

Sixth Lady Gu didn’t bother listening to his sarcasm, threw out a sentence, ”I don’t have the good fortune like Third Sister-in-law, having Third Brother watch over. I still have to punish these nannies. Are you just going to stand there watching, or return to coax your Aunt Zheng?”

Sixth Master Gu glared at her, then turned to leave.

With nowhere to vent her full rage, Sixth Lady Gu harshly disciplined these nannies, punishing them to guard the secondary gate.

The secondary gate usually had little traffic, so keeping it was tedious, not to mention low paying.

In a short span, the nannies were all complaining bitterly.

Fengxuan Pavilion.

Lady Zhao felt a bit of dignity after being comforted by Old Madam Gu for half a day and then escorted back by Qiujie.

She sat by the window and called, ”Bai Que.”

No one responded.

Her heart then realized, Bai Que was gone.

Mr. and Mrs. Qian took Bai Que away, saying many harsh words about it. For this, she went to the main house to weep for half a day, demanding to take the children back to her hometown. Yet Marquis Gu never persuaded her; throughout, only Old Madam Gu comforted her.

It seemed she should start thinking of other plans quickly.

”Is there anything Lady Zhao wishes to command?”

A person who wasn’t supposed to be here joined the conversation, lifting the curtain to come in.

Lady Zhao frowned, ”Zihe? Why is it you?”

Zihe said indifferently, ”The servant’s leave has ended, and I have returned to serve.”

Lady Zhao looked at Zihe guiltily; she and Bai Que had squeezed Zihe out back then, not expecting her to return now.