After being forced into a marriage with a wealthy family, the virtuous wife caused a huge uproar.

Su Jingyi was taken aback. Opening the storeroom? That wouldn't do.

"It's a good thing that you want to make clothes for A-Ce. It seems that you and A-Ce get along very well. As his mother, I am very happy. It means that I married the right person for A-Ce." Su Jingyi said with a loving smile, and beckoned Rong Yingluo to sit on the edge of the bed.

"Mother." Rong Yingluo feigned shyness, looking exactly like a newlywed bride, and sat down by the bed.

"What's there to be ashamed of when a couple has a good relationship? Isn't this just natural?" Su Jingyi joked. "If you want to make clothes, you don't need to use your dowry. Our Duke's mansion has plenty of good fabrics."

"Mother, but I want the Crown Prince to know my feelings." Rong Yingluo's words implied that she wanted to use the fabric from her dowry.

"You silly child, your heart is in the needlework, not in the cloth. You didn't weave the cloth." Su Jingyi sat up, took Rong Yingluo's hand, and patted it gently, as if the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law was as close as that between mother and daughter. "Granny Zhao, take two bolts of sky-blue silk from the storeroom for Liuli."

She immediately gave the order not to give Rong Yingluo a chance to refuse.

But as she casually touched Rong Yingluo's hand, something felt off.

How come a young lady's hands are so rough, and there are calluses on the base of her thumb?

Rong Yingluo noticed that something was wrong with her expression, and that her eyes were fixed on her hand, as if she wanted to take a closer look. She immediately withdrew her hand and said, "Thank you, Mother."

She got up from the bedside and bowed.

Seeing Rong Yingluo's feigned innocence, Gu Xi snorted disdainfully, "Mother, I have something to attend to, I'll be leaving now."

He needed to ask his friends for help in figuring out how to get revenge on the Rong family and settle the score for that slap.

She calls her the eldest sister-in-law and treats her like a mother, but she doesn't even know her background.

Granny Zhao quickly brought over two bolts of silk fabric.

Rong Yingluo let Yinghong take it.

She knew that Su's purpose was to prevent her from seeing her dowry.

He scoffed inwardly.

However, she wasn't in a hurry; she'd use her dowry as bait. She wanted to see how the Su family would devour her dowry.

As long as she doesn't die, the Su family can't keep her dowry locked up forever.

After leaving the main courtyard, she was about to visit Gu Qingya, but was stopped at the gate and not allowed to enter.

She didn't really want to see her in the first place, so not letting her in suited her just fine.

Gu Ce was somewhat surprised to see Rong Yingluo return with two bolts of fabric for making men's clothing: "Who are you going to make clothes for?"

"You," Rong Yingluo replied casually.

She can make clothes; she made all of her master's clothes, inside and out.

Every time she went home to reunite with her family, her eldest sister would teach her some needlework.

She learned to make simple designs when she was twelve years old, as Taoist robes are inherently simple.

Unfortunately, she couldn't embroider.

Gu Ce's eyes lit up when he heard this.

His clothes were all made by the embroiderers in the mansion; this was the first time his wife had made clothes for him.

A strange, warm feeling welled up inside me, like the spring sunshine on my skin.

Yinghong brought over a sewing basket, which was actually for her use; the young lady didn't have one.

The master and servant began to get busy.

Yinghong's skills were certainly superior to Rong Yingluo's; she would offer suggestions one moment and correct her mistress's mistakes the next.

"Yinghong, why is this so complicated?" This was the first time Rong Yingluo had made such a complicated dress.

"Miss, it's not complicated. This is your first time making an outer robe like this. You'll know how to cut it once you get used to it," Yinghong comforted her gently.

After some twists and turns, it was finally cut.

Gu Ce leaned against the bed, watching his mistress and servants busy themselves, his book remaining untouched for a long time.

He realized that she was not skilled in needlework.

After cutting the fabric, Rong Yingluo began to sew it.

The sewing technique was quite skillful.

"I'd like to ask you about the dowries of the four wives you married before?" Rong Yingluo began to chat casually, giving only half-hearted answers.

"Mrs. Su said she returned them all." Gu Ce's eyes were dark.

"Really?" Rong Yingluo didn't believe it.

"It's fake." Gu Ce already knew, but he didn't know what method Su had used to prevent those families from coming to his door to make trouble or demand an explanation.

"I knew it. Today I needed to get some fabric, and to avoid opening the storeroom, she took these two bolts of fabric from the Duke's mansion's storeroom for me." Rong Yingluo couldn't understand it even more. Was the Duke's mansion really that poor that it needed to use its daughter-in-law's dowry to make up for it?

"By the way, do you know where all those dowries went?"

"Gambling den," Gu Ce said coldly.

"What? A gambling den? Ouch!" Rong Yingluo exclaimed in surprise, pricking her hand with a needle.

Gu Ce stiffened, sat up straight, and grabbed her hand.

Sure enough, a bead of blood appeared.

Without thinking, he opened his mouth and took her finger in, gently sucking on it. When his tongue lightly traced the wound, the unique taste of the blood made his heart tremble slightly.

Rong Yingluo was dumbfounded. He actually made such an intimate move to her.

She tried to pull her hand away, but Gu Ce held on tightly.

Three breaths later, Gu Ce released her hand, and there was no more bleeding from her fingers.

Be careful.

"You..." Rong Yingluo's face suddenly turned bright red.

Gu Ce was no less impressive.

"Ahem, didn't I lose too much blood? I should eat something to replenish myself, don't waste it." Gu Ce coughed awkwardly, quickly picked up the book, and continued reading.

It's a pity I didn't even realize I was holding it upside down.

The awkward atmosphere between the two grew stronger, and neither dared to look at the other.

"I'll go tell the kitchen to add a dish of pig's blood for lunch today." Rong Yingluo hurriedly left.

At lunchtime, a dish of stir-fried pork blood and chives was indeed added to the table.

Rong Yingluo enthusiastically placed a piece of food on Gu Ce's plate: "Eat more of this, it'll help you recover."

By this time, she was no longer embarrassed. She only needed to silently recite the Taishang Laojun's Heart-Cleansing Mantra once, and everything would be fine.

"Thank you, Madam." Gu Ce naturally picked it up and put it in his mouth.

"What do you mean by saying all the dowry went to the gambling den?" Rong Yingluo didn't understand.

"My second brother is a gambler; he's the one who usually gambles away the money." Gu Ce said this as if those things weren't his.

"You're just going to let him gamble with it? That's your stuff." Rong Yingluo couldn't understand why Gu Ce didn't care.

"Mrs. Su said she had already returned them to their respective families, so those things were practically nonexistent. As the mistress of the Duke's mansion, I couldn't very well ask her. Even if I did, she would just give me the most plausible excuse."

The entire Gu family is under the control of Madam Su and my second uncle. Even though I am the heir apparent, I have no right to interfere until I inherit the title.

"I wrote to my father, and he replied that I shouldn't worry about it and that we should wait until he came back to discuss everything," Gu Ce said.

"Don't you feel like an outsider in the Gu family? You're just occupying the position of heir, but you don't live up to it." Rong Yingluo had this feeling for a long time.

"You're right." Gu Ce had already sensed this.

There are just many things I don't understand.

While his father may not have cared much for him, he did his best to raise him to be successful. After suggesting that he take the imperial examination, he hired a famous teacher to instruct him.

To ensure he could protect himself, his father would personally teach him martial arts every time he returned home, but he wouldn't let him go to the battlefield.

He had asked his father some questions, and his father always told him not to overthink it and just to do his own thing.

"I dare say, is it possible that you are not a child of the Duke of Zhenguo's family?" Rong Yingluo said, making a startling statement.