Chapter 95: Something’s Wrong

Chapter 95

The elders at the table started chatting animatedly.

Mrs. Liu talked with Lady Zhang about many amusing anecdotes from when Gu Ying was little, and said that although she had little formal education, she was very sensible and would surely be a capable mistress of the inner quarters in the future.

What's more, her maternal grandparents were the Ye Family.

Upon hearing of the Ye Family, Lady Zhang gasped, "Oh my, I didn't expect that the second young lady is actually the granddaughter of the esteemed Elder Ye!"

Mrs. Liu smiled and said, "That's right."

Then she turned her head with a kindly expression towards Gu Ying and said, "Ying'er, why don't you smile a little? Today is a good day. In just over a month, it will be New Year's. In a few days, I'll have your eldest sister take you and your sisters, as well as your male cousin, to the temple to burn incense."

Gu Ying forced a smile and said, "Auntie, I have a frail constitution and am still recovering from illness. The weather is bitterly cold, so I'd rather not go out. Eldest Sister and Third and Fourth sisters can go. I'll skip the hubbub."

Having her face slapped in front of outsiders,

Mrs. Liu's expression noticeably darkened, though only for a moment, before she quickly resumed her benign smile. "This child is like this, always aloof from the crowd."

Lady Zhang didn't pay any mind to Mrs. Liu's veiled verbal attack on Gu Ying.

One look at Gu Ying's appearance and her bearing was enough to delight Lady Zhang. She spoke to Gu Ying gently, seeming quite satisfied. Although uneducated, her looks alone were pleasing to the eye.

Besides, a woman's lack of talent is itself a virtue.

If her son could marry the daughter of Elder Ye as his wife, who in their hometown would dare look down on them as a merchant family in the future?

The hot dishes were quickly brought out.

The elders chatted animatedly, leaving no opening for the children to interrupt, so each attended to their own meal.

The adults talked on and on, doing nothing but trying to settle Gu Ying and Liu Jianren's marriage on that very day.

Gu Ying sat at the table, listening quietly to their discussion, suppressing her feelings as her patience wore thinner and thinner.

Liu Jianren picked up a piece of hibiscus cake and put it in Gu Ying's plate, eyes smiling into slits. "Sister Gu Ying, eat up. I'll feed you."

Meeting his nauseating smile and vulgar manners, clearly picked up from some brothel, Gu Ying's small face was cold as she silently rejected his enthusiasm with her attitude.

"No need, I don't care for hibiscus cake." She then picked up the cup of hot tea at her hand and took a sip to quench her irritation.

Gu Ying could feel Liu Jianren's constant gaze on her face, staring at her till she felt dirty...

What was most worrying was that despite the icy weather, with heavy snowfall that evening and biting winds, as the young ladies sat in the open pavilion, it was very drafty, yet she felt strangely hot.

That heat gradually suffused her body from deep inside, soon making her cheeks flush and limbs weak.

She didn't know what was happening to her. She sensed a burning gaze on her back.

Glancing back discreetly, she glimpsed Jiang Yin's deep, murky eyes and swiftly realized something was wrong. She hurriedly grabbed Gu Shuang's little hand, heartbeat quickening anxiously. "Fourth Sister..."

"Sister, what's wrong?"

Yin Lan also came over, bending down to clasp her hand and asking quietly, "Miss, what's the matter? Did you eat something bad?"

Gu Ying closed her eyes uncomfortably. Her hands and feet were weak and barely listened to her commands. That inexplicable heat rushed straight to her core. She endured it, but the image of Jiang Yin's lingering smile rose in her thoughts as they started to scatter.

"I...don't know. I just feel a little hot and weak all over." Her mouth was dry, cheeks flushing.

She realized she might have been drugged.

But how could it happen in the Marquis's estate?

Could it be Mrs. Liu was already so audacious?

Or was it Jiang Yin?

But how could he have had the chance?

Was it the tea?

She clenched her teeth, hands balling into fists, knuckles white with force.

She had seen this trick before. She couldn't let herself fall prey too!

But to avoid Liu Jianren taking advantage of her state, she also couldn't keep staying in front of everyone. After all, once the drug entered her body, the only antidotes were to couple with someone, or...take an antidote.

If she stayed just to avoid giving anyone a chance, she was afraid she would end up doing something irreversible in front of all these people in the end.

She urgently pulled Yin Lan and whispered, "Yin Lan, take me away..."

As an experienced woman, Yin Lan immediately guessed seven or eight tenths of the situation upon seeing her young miss's flushed face. She promptly went before Grandmother and said, "Grandmother, my young miss's illness has not fully recovered. She has caught a chill again. Please permit this servant to take the young miss back to rest."