Chapter 5

That night, Jun Mo did not stay at Jiangxue Pavilion. He had no habit of waking someone in the middle of the night to serve him, nor did he have any interest in quietly slipping into bed beside someone after they had fallen asleep. Thus, after standing beside the bed for only a quarter of an hour, he turned and left. In Cui E's eyes, however, his departure was no different from storming off in anger. So when she reported what had happened to Gu Nanjin the next morning, her account inevitably carried a hint of personal resentment. Cui Ping, on the other hand, had an entirely different opinion. “As a man, His Highness naturally hopes that when he comes over, someone will treat him with warmth and tenderness. But you—since you saw His Highness, why didn't you find a way to make him stay? I shouldn't have let you keep watch last night.” If it had been her, she would certainly have found a way to make His Highness stay and spend some intimate time with Miss. Perhaps they might even have conceived a child. By then, Miss's position in the Prince's residence would be firmly secured. Cui E did not want to hear any more of this and snapped back, “Exactly who is your mistress?” “Of course it's Miss.” Cui Ping answered as though there could be no doubt about it, then continued explaining. “But Miss is still the Princess Consort. A woman who marries and becomes a wife needs to live the rest of her life in peace and happiness, and the most important thing is to maintain a harmonious relationship with her husband. Right now, you only want to vent your anger. But what if His Highness grows increasingly distant from Miss because of this? Who will suffer in the end? Our Miss, of course!” Cui E was not an unreasonable person. After hearing this, she fell silent. Cui Ping continued, “To be fair, is His Highness really that bad? I don't think so. Throughout the entire capital, His Highness is still considered a good husband candidate. Besides, every household has its own difficulties. Compared to other families, I think there are far fewer messy affairs in the Prince's residence.” Cui Ping's words were undeniably reasonable. But Gu Nanjin had asked herself the same question on countless nights. If Jun Mo really wasn't that bad, then why had her previous life been so miserable? Was it because she had loved Jun Mo too deeply? Or because she had indulged Yun Tan too much? After turning the matter over in her mind again and again, Gu Nanjin still had no answer. But one thing was certain. In this life, she would never repeat the same mistakes. At the very least, she would never lose herself because of Jun Mo again. And she certainly would never allow Yun Tan to walk all over her again! Seeing that her mistress remained silent, Cui Ping worried that she might have said too much. She turned and pulled Cui E away. “Madam Wang and her daughters will be arriving soon. Let's go check how the preparations are coming along. We shouldn't let trivial matters disturb Miss.” Cui E glanced back at Gu Nanjin. Seeing her mistress's calm, unruffled expression, she finally left. Yet the two maids soon returned. “Miss, Miss Yun was sent to the convent first thing this morning, and Mama Qin went with her.” Cui Ping's face was full of delight. She then lifted her chin and glanced at Cui E. Her expression seemed to say: See? His Highness didn't lie to our Miss after all. Cui E realized that she had misunderstood Jun Mo and awkwardly rubbed her nose. Gu Nanjin was slightly surprised. Although she had remained silent the previous night, deep down, she had actually been more inclined to agree with Cui E. At the time, she had even thought that if Jun Mo truly forgave Yun Tan again, she would ask her mother-in-law to intervene. She had not expected Jun Mo to actually send Yun Tan away, and he had even arranged for Mama Qin to accompany her. Mama Qin had been by Princess Dowager Chen's side since before she was married. She was highly experienced and commanded considerable authority. Moreover, Princess Dowager Chen had never been particularly biased toward Yun Tan, so Mama Qin was even less likely to show her any favoritism. It was obvious that Yun Tan's stay at the convent would not be a mere formality. Still, Gu Nanjin would never be conceited enough to believe that Jun Mo had done this to defend her. Most likely, Jun Mo was simply angry that Yun Tan had behaved like an ordinary woman, becoming jealous and spiteful. After all, in his heart, Yun Tan had always been as pure and beautiful as the bright moon in the night sky. Now that the moon had become stained, Jun Mo might very well have turned his anger toward her instead. After all, it was because of her that Yun Tan had made that mistake. Gu Nanjin even suspected that Jun Mo had gone to her room the previous night with a stomach full of anger, intending to pick a fight with her. As for why he ultimately gave up, only he knew. Cui Ping and Cui E, however, were both in high spirits, their faces glowing with happiness. When Princess Dowager Chen saw them, she assumed they were simply delighted to welcome her younger sister and smiled along with them. Gu Nanjin, meanwhile, maintained a proper and dignified expression. She was neither distant nor overly familiar. Thinking back to her previous life, when Madam Wang had arrived with her daughters, Gu Nanjin had personally gone to the city gates to welcome them. Instead, the three of them had taken that as a sign that she was easy to bully and caused trouble in the residence day after day. Naturally, Gu Nanjin would not allow them to behave so arrogantly again. Even if she had not been pretending to be ill, she would never have personally gone to greet them at the city gates as she had in her previous life. After all, this was only proper according to etiquette. She was the dignified Princess Consort, while Madam Wang did not even hold an official title. She had no qualifications whatsoever to expect Gu Nanjin to set aside her status and personally welcome her at the city gates. Back then, Gu Nanjin had only done so because Madam Wang was Jun Mo's only maternal aunt and she wanted to show her some warmth. But since Madam Wang clearly had no intention of treating her with the same affection, there was no reason for Gu Nanjin to keep up the pretense. Before long, Madam Wang and her two daughters arrived at the entrance of the Prince's residence. Princess Dowager Chen did not move an inch. Gu Nanjin merely took a small step forward. The servants of the residence lowered their gazes and helped the three women down from the carriage. Just like in her previous life, Madam Wang had a shrewd, calculating face that was completely different from Princess Dowager Chen's kind and benevolent appearance. It seemed one daughter had taken after her mother, while the other had taken after her father. As for Wang Yarong and Wang Yapei, their mother had originally married their father because of his handsome appearance, so the two sisters were fairly attractive, though they could only be considered above average. They were rather conceited, however, and believed themselves to be even more beautiful than Gu Nanjin. “Sister, I've finally seen you again.” Madam Wang's voice was choked with emotion as she clasped Princess Dowager Chen's hand, as though she had been longing for her dearly. Princess Dowager Chen had indeed missed her younger sister. She took Madam Wang's hand and led her into the residence, with everyone else following behind. After getting out of the carriage, the sisters Wang Yarong and Wang Yapei reluctantly called Gu Nanjin “Sister-in-law.” Naturally, Gu Nanjin had no intention of forcing her affection upon people who clearly did not want it. Most of the time, she simply walked quietly behind them. Once they arrived at Welcoming Pine Hall, Princess Dowager Chen took her usual seat at the head. Assuming the sisters would want to sit together, Mama Zhao brought over a chair and placed it beside Princess Dowager Chen, where Madam Wang sat down. Next should have been Gu Nanjin's seat. But Wang Yarong took it first. Princess Dowager Chen felt that something was inappropriate, but Madam Wang was already crying and recounting her past grievances through a stream of tears and mucus. She could not bring herself to interrupt her sister and could only give Gu Nanjin an apologetic look. Gu Nanjin smiled in response and simply took another seat. This not only relieved Princess Dowager Chen somewhat but also left her feeling a little guilty toward Gu Nanjin. Such a good child. Why was her son, Mo'er, so hopelessly dense when it came to matters of the heart? “Sister, there are some things I've kept bottled up inside for a long time. It's only in front of you that I can finally talk about them.” At that moment, Madam Wang suddenly began crying even harder. She took out a handkerchief and repeatedly wiped away her tears. “Ever since that wretched husband of mine brought a vixen home, there has been no place for me in that household. He even wanted to divorce me, his legal wife, for that woman. And he actually listened to that vixen and wanted Rong'er and Pei'er to marry other men as concubines! Tell me, how could there be such a man?” Princess Dowager Chen looked incredulous. “He actually dotes on his concubine while mistreating his wife?” “If that were all, I could still endure it for a while. After all, I still have Rong'er and Pei'er. But he... he...” Madam Wang became so emotional that she struggled to speak. After a long moment, she finally said, “He actually wanted to listen to that vixen's sweet talk and marry Rong'er and Pei'er off as concubines to other men. How could I possibly tolerate that?” By the end of her tirade, Madam Wang was furiously tearing at her handkerchief. She actually ripped it to pieces, showing just how much she hated Wang Sui.