My younger sister insisted on marrying me and made me the Marquis' wife.

Chapter 126 Ox-hair Needle
When Gu Jinghui came back after changing his clothes, Cui's mother and daughter had already left.

“Why does your sister always say bad things about me behind my back?” Gu Jinghui looked at Qin Yuan dissatisfiedly, “Doesn’t she know that husband and wife are one? Saying bad things about me is saying bad things about you.”

Qin Yuan pursed her lips and chuckled.

Gu Jinghui couldn't help but laugh.

"Husband and wife are one" is what Qin Yuan often said, and now Gu Jinghui has learned it.

Qin Yuan rolled her eyes and asked tentatively, "Madam Zhao has been ill, and my sister is worried that you will be soft-hearted and let her stay in the Marquis' Mansion."

Gu Jinghui sighed, "It's a good thing I married you, if not... your sister is really not someone you can get along with. Madam Zhao is seriously ill, can I still kick her out? If someone from her husband's family comes, I will naturally arrange for them to be taken care of, it's just a matter of cleaning the two guest rooms and settling them. These things are all handled by mother, I won't get involved at all."

This is both an explanation and a guarantee.

Qin Yuan smiled and said, "From what mother said, it's just a recurring cold that won't get better. How could it be a serious illness? If it's really serious, and you're kicking him out now, I don't know how people will spread the news about us."

If anything happened to Madam Zhao, she didn't want to be hated by others for it. It wasn't worth it.

Gu Jinghui smiled when he heard this. He used some skill to pull her to his side. He pinched Qin Yuan's delicate jaw and looked closely at the scar on her face. He muttered in a low voice, "It's not bad. It's not a serious scratch and it won't leave a scar."

Qin Yuan said, "It's the ointment of Doctor Li from Renhe Hall that's good. Aunt Rong said that this Jade Beauty Ointment is hard to find, and it just so happened that I got it."

Gu Jinghui's thumb slid gently across the white skin of her jaw, and said softly, "That's right."

Qin Yuan's heart beat faster.

The hot scent of soapberry emanating from the man lingered around her nose and ears. His lips were getting closer and closer to hers, and they were about to touch. Qin Yuan's eyelashes trembled slightly, and she couldn't help but close her eyes.

The room was quiet, but Gu Jinghui's heart was beating like a drum.

This is his little wife.

The beautiful red lips tempted him to pick them at will.

"My lord, Gu Shiba is outside and has something to report," Hongye pushed open the curtain and came in. After she finished speaking, she realized what she had done and hurriedly retreated.

Qin Yuan: “…”

She quickly pushed Gu Jinghui away, lowered her head and dared not look at him, and said, "My Lord...my husband, please go and get busy."

Gu Jinghui was disturbed and felt a little annoyed, but seeing how shy she was, he smiled and said, “Yuan’er, I’ll go out and take a look.”

Qin Yuan didn't even look up, her hands were frantically twisting her belt, and she responded in a low voice.

Hongye was standing outside the door like a quail, looking frustrated, when she saw Lord Gu step out through the curtains, his narrow eyes sweeping towards her in a dignified manner. Hongye shrank her neck and said in a trembling voice, "Lord, yes, it was Gu Shiba who said there was something important."

Gu Jinghui responded from the back of his throat, and without stopping, he walked past her.

Hongye finally breathed a sigh of relief.

She stood there, not daring to go in and disturb Qin Yuan. What if Qin Yuan got angry out of shame?

Thinking of the passionate scene between the two of them just now, Hongye's face flushed. They were such a perfect match. It was a pity that Cuiming was resting and didn't see it.

Gu Jinghui took Gu Shiba out of Wutong Garden and went to the study room in the outer courtyard. Then he said, “Tell me, what’s going on?”

Gu Shiba said: "Madam's carriage had an accident because the horse was frightened. The driver handled it properly and there was no problem."

"Where's the groom?"

"The groom takes great care of the horses and has checked the manure. Everything is the same as usual, except..."

"Just what?"

"I found a needle while combing the horse's hair."

Gu Shiba took out a paper bag and opened it. Inside was a black needle as thin as an ox hair. Gu Jinghui was startled.

If I hadn't checked it carefully, I would have missed it. He examined it carefully and asked, "Who do you think usually uses this kind of acupuncture needle?"

Gu Shiba said: "A man from the underworld."

Only people in the underworld would use these fine needles when they were plotting against each other. How could those of them, who were used to fighting with swords and spears on the battlefield, use these?

Gu Jinghui frowned, his face gloomy, as if he remembered something.

Gu Shiba didn't dare to speak out to interrupt his thoughts.

After a long while, Gu Jinghui finally said, "Is it the King of Qi's people?"

Gu Shiba thought for a moment and said, "At that time, the Madam's carriage passed by the street corner. There were many stall owners at the street corner, and the King of Qi happened to pass by..."

Apart from the King of Qi, there were the stall owners.

Gu Jinghui bent his fingers and tapped the tabletop with his knuckles. After a while, he said with certainty, "It is the King of Qi."

First, they met Sang Jiawazi by chance, then he took the Seventh Princess to visit the camp, and then he escorted the Seventh Princess and the Ninth Princess to the Jokhang Temple, where Yuan'er was frightened and rescued.

Every step was pushing him and the King of Qi closer.

"How did the King of Qi know the whereabouts of the Madam?"

Gu Jinghui raised his eyebrows, his sharp eyes full of coldness.

Gu Shiba was shocked and asked, "Could it be that... the King of Qi has sent spies?"

Gu Jinghui said, “How long have you been back from the battlefield? You’re already so lax, this is wrong.”

Beads of sweat dripped from Gu Shiba's forehead.

Indeed, they were very careful in the northern frontier, but became careless when they returned to the capital, where there was peace and prosperity.

Gu Jinghui added: “The battle for succession is more dangerous than a battlefield. The Gu family can always find a way to regain the lost honor, but in the officialdom, if there is a slight mistake, the lives of the entire family will depend on it, and it’s all over.”

If the property is confiscated and the clan is exterminated, there will be nothing left.

Gu Shiba immediately said, "I will go check it out right away."

Gu Jinghui nodded and said, "Go ahead. Report to me as soon as possible."

After Gu Shiba left, Gu Jinghui looked at the cow-hair needles on the table and pondered for a long time. He pressed the teeth on the right side of the desk, and the hard rosewood table bounced a little, revealing a secret compartment.

He took out a small white jade box from the secret compartment.

Gently opening the jade box, there lay a slightly longer, black-purple-colored acupuncture needle.

Gu Jinghui's pupils shrank slightly, and his eyes were cold.

He looked at it for a while before putting the black cow-hair needle on the paper into the box. The needle looked even darker against the white jade.

The servant outside whispered, "My Lord, the Madam sent someone to ask if you would like to have dinner with us."

Lord Gu then put the white jade box back to its original place. His face, which was as cold as a sculpture made of solid ice, showed a little warmth. He said, "I will return to Wutong Garden in a while."

His clingy little wife really can't leave him for even a moment, so he has to bear this kind of trouble alone.

"When Eighteen comes back, ask him to look for me in Wutong Garden."

Lord Gu, with his hands behind his back, strolled towards the inner courtyard. Before he reached the second gate, he heard two old women talking in whispers from afar.

He had no habit of listening to other people's gossip, but he had sharp ears and eyes, and had been able to hear sounds from far away since he was young. When he was young, he did not know how to hide his ability, and was repeatedly reprimanded by his father not to show it in front of others. Therefore, few people knew about his ability.

One maid said to another, "The two maids from Fengxuan Pavilion have started to snoop around for information again."

(End of this chapter)