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

Chapter 222 Frankness

Qin Yuan glanced at Lord Gu and ate quietly.

She continued to chew slowly, as if she had just made some casual remarks.

I don't care whether Lord Gu agrees or not.

Seeing her like this, Gu Jinghui couldn't eat anymore.

"Yuan'er, do you suspect Cheng'er and Yu'er of doing something wrong?"

Qin Yuan put down his chopsticks, slowly swallowed the food in his mouth, and then said, "Yes."

"You and I, as husband and wife, why can't we be open and honest with each other?"

Gu Jinghui adjusted his sitting position.

Qin Yuan lowered his eyes and said, "...But as I said just now, half of the reason for my doubts is because of Zhao..."

Gu Jinghui interrupted, “But you also advised me to go to the upper room before to reassure the two children. I promised to arrange their future well, but I broke my promise time and time again.”

Before, it was said that Cheng Ge'er would be sent to the Imperial College.

Later, he said he wanted to hire a teacher for Cheng Ge'er.

If he simply sends the two children out of the house now, then what does his actions matter?
Qin Yuan sighed. So this was Lord Gu’s concern.

"But it wasn't you or me who caused all this, but Zhao, the biological mother of the two children. The fact that Zhao abandoned them already made me uneasy. If there was no hidden secret that couldn't be made public, why would she abandon her children and run away?"

"escape?"

Gu Jinghui pondered the word carefully, a trace of trouble flashing across his sharp eyebrows.

Qin Yuan raised her cold phoenix eyes, looked directly at Gu Jinghui, and said, "My husband must have understood it in his heart, otherwise why didn't he want to report the case to Jingzhao Yinfu in the beginning?"

Gu Jinghui turned his face slightly, avoiding Qin Yuan's sight.

Qin Yuan said: "If I hadn't convinced mother, my husband would have just wanted to suppress this matter first to cover it up for the sake of the two children."

Gu Jinghui sighed, “I just thought that Zhao and Brother Pang must have some unspeakable secrets, otherwise they would not have left their children to me. The two children are only five years old, their father’s family is unknown, and they cannot be without a mother.”

Qin Yuan said, "It's fine that Pang Hai falsely reported his name to join the army, but why did Zhao poison her and completely disregard the safety of her own children? Has the Marquis ever thought about it?"

Lord Gu looked confused and said, "I am puzzled by this. Yuan'er, you didn't spend much time with Zhao, but I met Pang Hai in Saibei. Although we didn't have a deep relationship, he saved my life. Before he died, he entrusted Zhao and his two children to me. I watched the two children grow up. Perhaps it is just as the saying goes - those who are involved are often confused."

Qin Yuan took a sip of tea and said, "I'm not Zhao, so I don't know what she's thinking. But as a wife of the Gu family, I naturally put the safety of the Gu family before anything else - whether it's Zhao, Pang Hai or the two children, they are not half as important as the Gu family in my eyes."

Lord Gu looked at her, his eyes were surging and his chest heaving violently, as if he was deeply touched.

Qin Yuan lowered her eyes to look at the yellow-green tea, and said slowly, word by word, "When Zhao learned that Gu Shiliu went to Jizhou to look for the Pang family's relatives, she gave up her plan to pretend to be sick and stay in the mansion, and quickly left the mansion. It can be seen that she knew very well that Pang Hai was not a member of the Pang family."

Lord Gu nodded.

Qin Yuan twirled her fingers and continued, "Before, Zhao had repeatedly invited the Marquis to Fengxuan Pavilion, and later came to Wutong Garden to block people. The Marquis must have known what Zhao was up to, so I must have been a thorn in Zhao's side. Why didn't she come to Wutong Garden to poison before she left, but went to Sixth Brother's wife's yard to poison instead?"

Lord Gu frowned.

Qin Yuan chuckled and said, “Zhao knows your temper. She thought that since you couldn’t find her and there was an outbreak of smallpox in the mansion, you would not care about her and would never think that it was related to her in the future. But she forgot my temper and didn’t expect to report it to the police so quickly and smallpox was discovered on the same day.” Qin Yuan raised her eyes to look at Gu Jinghui and said, “My Lord, think about it. If her idea was followed and many people in the mansion got smallpox, what would you do?”

Lord Gu moved his lips and finally said, "Of course I am too busy to handle everything. I am overwhelmed. If another relative leaves me, how can I bear it?"

Qin Yuan leaned back and said lazily, "You keep saying that Zhao doesn't care about the safety of her children, but I think she has already considered it clearly. She knows that you won't report to the authorities, so she just hides somewhere. If smallpox breaks out in the mansion, you won't suspect her. I'm afraid her two children are not afraid of smallpox. By then, most of the masters in the mansion will be dead or injured, and you will have your adopted son and daughter by your side. Those who get in the way will be gone. Wouldn't it be just right for her to show up again?"

Lord Gu was so frightened that he lost his composure and grabbed Qin Yuan's hand and said, "It won't come to this. It won't come to this."

Qin Yuan pulled out her hand and said calmly, "Whether this is the case, you can think about it carefully. I am just speculating. What the facts are and what Zhao is planning, only she knows. I said this just to let you know that I really have some grudges against Zhao and her two children. For this reason, I specially ordered people to guard the second gate. You have seen the result."

Lord Gu said after a while: "Yuan'er, I understand."

Qin Yuan said softly, "Zhao doesn't know that I have close ties with Renhetang, nor that I am good at incense recipes, and even less that my master has a recipe that can prevent smallpox. If one of them is not prepared, even without the intervention of Imperial Doctor Liu, the Marquis's Mansion may be in danger now. I asked the Marquis to go to mother to comfort the two children that day, but I saw that they have become well-behaved under mother's teaching in recent days, and I didn't want them to cause trouble to mother because of their mental illness."

As soon as these words came out, Lord Gu's body turned cold.

"Yuan'er..."

Qin Yuan said coldly: "Whether it is because of what Zhao did, or because these two children are violent and stubborn, I suggest that you properly place them somewhere else after you open up your mansion. Maybe you can capture Zhao and ask her what happened."

Lord Gu glanced at Qin Yuan with a complicated look.

After Qin Yuan finished speaking, she said softly, "My Lord, the soup is cold. Let's eat quickly."

Lord Gu nodded woodenly, not knowing what he was thinking.

Qin Yuan ignored him and slowly picked up a piece of fish skin, savoring it carefully.

Lord Gu glanced at her from time to time, then quickly looked away.

The meal was really tasteless.

After the meal, Lord Gu sat for a while and then went out. He no longer stayed with Qin Yuan to take a nap as usual.

Qin Yuan didn't care. When Hongye and Cuiming came in to help her change clothes, she said, "Put out a suitcase for the Marquis later. Prepare his daily clothes and outer clothes. Don't forget the perfume pills and accessories."

Cui Ming said nothing.

Hongye asked in surprise: "Why is this?"

Qin Yuan said, "It's better to be careful these days. Let the Marquis live in the front yard and we can talk about it after we open the mansion."

The real purpose was revealed. Lord Gu saw a corner of her true nature, and he was probably afraid of her or even annoyed with her.

It would be better to live separately for a few days.

It just so happened that she didn't want to consummate her marriage with Lord Gu for the time being.

Once the mansion is opened, Lord Gu can stay in the main camp, and things will be easier since he won't have to stick to one place day and night.

Hongye was about to say something, but Cuiming gently pulled her back and stopped her from talking.

The two of them helped Qin Yuan take off her hairpins and rings, and combed her hair before they left.