CH 7

Chapter 7: Advice

Mo Qiqi was smiling, she was immersed in her sweet dreams. The scene of brother Xi’s revisit yesterday was relived in the dream, and every detail was fully revealed.

As if feeling hot with embarrassment, Mo Qiqi unconsciously pushed the quilt away with a pair of slender arms, and put one hand on the edge of the bed. She turned over to reveal her thin shoulders, looking quite pitiful.

Yesterday afternoon, her brother suddenly asked her to go out to make tea, and closed the door with both big men inside, she heard Gu Ningxi muttering something.

After a while, when she entered the house, her brother said that Mr. Gu would want to become their righteous brother, and they started calling each other “Brother Gu” and “Brother Mo”.

Hearing this, Mo Qiqi first thought of the neighbor’s dirty talk, what love between brothers and sisters, her eyes fixed on Gu Ningxi and she froze.

After being away for many days, Gu Ningxi seemed to have lost weight a little, his face turned paler, and he looked particularly distressing.

Mo Qiqi inquired, but Gu Ningxi avoided the topic and said that he had other important matters to attend to. The brothers and sisters of the Mo family wished him a happy new year, and they bid him farewell.

Gu Ningxi walked out, and Mo Qiqi run into her boudoir in a flash, took out the scarf that had been carefully sewn for him and told her brother, “I’ll give it to Brother Xi”, and quickly chased after him.

It was a rare experience for them to walk side by side. Mo Qiqi wished that the time would stop at this moment.

She couldn’t find anything to say, and said coquettishly while suppressing her blushing and beating heartbeat, since they have become righteous brothers and sisters, Mr. Gu should change his words and call her “Sister Qi” like how she called him “Brother Xi”.

Mo Qiqi was still dreaming, her shoulders were exposed to the wind, and the hairs on her forearms stood erect under the thin pajamas.

She was woken up by the morning chill, then shivered. She opened her eyes hesitantly, and rubbed her face with sore fingers.

Although the sky was bright, she tried to listen attentively, whether there were any movements on her brother’s. He was probably still resting, after all he coughed and vomited in the middle of the night.

That being the case, Mo Qiqi got up lazily, and simply sat up against the corner of the bed. She hugged her quilt and dragged it to her chin. She then arched her thin knees under the quilt, and bent towards her flat chest and abdomen.

She rested her elbows on her hands, her face was just buried in her palms, revealing a few slender fingers and long withered yellow hair hanging over her shoulders.

The whole person huddled together, Mo Qiqi felt a little warm, and she was able to hide the shame of dreaming about brother Xi.

Although she couldn’t remember the specific content of the dream after waking up, but it didn’t prevent her from recalling the time when she sent brother Xi to the alley yesterday when they were alone for the first time.

After they went out together yesterday, Gu Ningxi took the neatly folded new scarf from her hand, and thanked her politely as they walked.

His eyes wandered around, he quietly increased his steps, and pulled the distance between the two of them without showing any traces. He looked extremely shy, even more shy than a girl’s family, and he really didn’t look like someone who had been married for several years.

Mo Qiqi felt that this was brother Xi’s respect for her, which secretly made her feel sweet.

He also said softly that it would be too abrupt to call her Sister Qi, it would be better to call her “Qiniang”1.

Mo Qiqi responded loudly to the “Qiniang”, and then rolled her eyes. She then quickly pulled out the scarf that brother Xi put in his sleeve pocket with his hands and feet, and wrapped the scarf that was warmed by the man’s forearm around his neck. She then said, “I’ll help Brother Xi wrap it up to see if it fits.”

Gu Ningxi froze in place as if he had been immobilized, and let Mo Qiqi do what she wanted.

“Can you bend over a bit, for such a tall man, I’m already on tiptoes.” Mo Qiqi tied Gu Ningxi’s scarf around twice. She twisted the ends, then took two steps back and clapped her hands, appreciating, coquettishly.

Gu Ningxi was silent for a long time before he stretched out his hand to caress the cotton scarf. Then he sighed and said in a low voice, “No one has ever touched me without telling their name first before.”

Gu Ningxi started another topic, seemingly casually asking: “Qiniang, what kind of gift do girls often like to receive in the new year?”

Mo Qiqi jumped up, hopped a few steps and stopped in front of Gu Ningxi, pointed her index fingers at each other and said, “As long as you have the heart, they would like anything. Cakes, fabrics, jewelry, anything is fine, Brother Xi.”

Gu Ningxi pulled his lips up and smiled, but didn’t answer, but it seemed that he remembered it in his heart.

***

Hearing Mo Qi’s familiar coughing sound, Mo Qiqi’s thoughts went back to the side room of her small courtyard. Today is the 22nd day of the twelfth lunar month, and brother Xi might be preparing a New Year’s gift for her.

(TL: Girl it’s not for you, definitely not for you, stop dreaming!)

Brother Xi didn’t say when he would come next time, so Mo Qiqi moved her hands to cover her heart gently, feeling the clear beating under her palms, and looked forward to the New Year’s Day even more.

There are still eight days until the new year, and the most important thing now is to take care of my brother. Mo Qiqi got up swiftly, made breakfast, brewed some medicine for her brother. She was really busy.

She thought over and over in her heart that she had already formed a foster relative with Brother Xi, so if she went to the Gu’s mansion to give a hand-made rice cake as a gift, just to see Brother Xi and his lady, who was considered outstanding, it would be reasonable right?

***

Gu Sicheng’s2 Mansion in the capital is also called Xin Gu’s Mansion by relatives who come and go frequently.

The old house left by Gu Xiang was where Mrs. Gu and the third room lived. Everyone called it Old Gu’s Mansion.

Gu Ningxi’s father bought a new house early when his mother made things difficult for his wife, and later left Gu Ningxi and Tao Xinhe in charge of it, so everyone called it New Gu’s House to show the difference.

As for Gu Runing’s father’s branch, that is, Gu Ningxi’s second uncle, no one became an official. It seemed to be forgotten by everyone, and was rarely mentioned by old officials in the court. That is to say, the family will be referred to as the second room.

On the twenty-second day of the twelfth lunar month, Tao Xinhe woke up just after dawn.

She felt that there were still tears on her face, and glanced at Gu Ningxi, who was still sleeping silently, then sneered in her heart. She had looked at this person’s sleeping face before, and she was fascinated by his appearance at that time?

Oh, by the way, at that time, I didn’t know that he was cheating outside, and came back full of lies. After what she saw with her own eyes yesterday, Tao Xinhe felt embarrassed for herself when she took a second look at her husband at this time, her infatuation was like a joke.

Tao Xinhe rolled over from the end of the bed and stepped on the ground, without disturbing Gu Ningxi, she pulled her hair and put on a cloak. She then walked to the door and knocked twice, and the voice of the maid Liu Guang sounded outside:

“Madam, are you up yet?”

She walked out to the side room and closed the door. She felt chilled by the blowing cold air, she couldn’t help pinching the tie of her cloak tightly, then felt refreshed.

Facing Liu Guang’s perplexed eyes, Tao Xinhe simply said: “Wait for me to go to the side room to freshen up.”

Probably because Liu Guang said something to Qingfang when he went to fetch hot water, Tao Xinhe, who was quietly watching the charcoal fire gradually burning in the side room, suddenly waited for two maids to come.

With more manpower, it is more efficient to serve the master.

Seeing that it was time to change clothes, Tao Xinhe ordered them unexpectedly: “Tomorrow will be Xiaonian3, it should be auspicious, so bring me the watery red suit.”

Although if the master was in the mansion, the mistress would always only wear her signature ginger yellow dresses, but she actually had other clothes with different patterns and designs.

Liu Guang was a bit surprised but didn’t show it on the surface, so she voluntarily resigned and went to the East Wing to get her mistress’ new clothes.

Tao Xinhe and Qingfang were the only masters and servants left in the guest room. Looking at the shadows in each other’s eyes, knowing that they hadn’t slept well, and the tacit understanding for many years made them laugh silently together.

Tao Xinhe looked serious first, took Qingfang’s hand and said:

“I messed up last night, and it’s my fault that caused you to be wronged.” As the master, she felt very sorry.

Qingfang shook her head, sighed then responded:

“The maidservant has been with the girl all day yesterday, knowing that you are aggrieved. At any rate, the master didn’t make any mistake, and he recognizrd that this maidservant is not you. Did you two talk later? Who was that Qiniang? Where did she come from?”

As a servant, Qingfang dared to pry into her master’s privacy. She deliberately called her old name “girl” instead of “madam”, which also showed that she didn’t care about being used as a gunman last night.

When Tao Xinhe was 15 years old, Qingfang came to serve her. She was only 10 years old at that time. She has been with her all the way to this day, watching her go from Miss Tao to Mrs. Gu Er’shao4.

Eight years of friendship is far better than any master and servant, they were almost sisters, and Tao Xinhe will only confide about some private things to Qingfang.

With her eyes blurry, Tao Xinhe forced a wry smile, and said dejectedly:

“I didn’t ask, he didn’t say anything. The cunning man Shishu, said that he doesn’t know who was in the alley yesterday, and we are tired in the cold wind. After waiting for a long time, he said that he guaranteed that Gu Ningxi and Mo Qiqi had never been alone together. Tell me, whom should I believe?”

With a sigh of relief, Tao Xinhe conjectured in her mind:

“Last night, you also noticed the rouge marks on his face and the smell of alcohol on his body. From what I think, Gu Ningxi has changed. Maybe it’s not just Qiniang, a Ba Niang, and even a Jiu Niang5 is already there. Who knows how many golden houses he built outside and how many little wives he’s hid.”

Qingfang heard that the mistress’ voice was wrong, she was a little anxious. She knelt down on the ground, hugged Tao Xinhe’s calf, and begged:

“Girl, don’t make yourself suffer. This servant feels that the master was not such a person, you should ask again to find out the situation?”

Every since she was a girl, Tao Xinhe has dealt with all kinds of scheming servants and merchants. She used to see her brother-in-law to preside over her second sister’s marriage, as an unmarried person, she was even criticized for it. Growing up, handling family matters, she had developed a decisive temperament.

This is why most people call her, the eldest daughter, of a bereaved mother, who can never be married. No one wants a wife who wasn’t submissive enough. The only marriage proposal Tao Xinhe received was from Gu Ningxi. Her parents and younger brothers disliked Gu Ningxi’s reputation of being innocent, arrogant and aloof, and they were quite picky.

When Gu Ningxi proposed marriage, he praised her work before even seeing her. Tao Xinhe thought that she had met a confidant, so she nodded and promised to marry him. After marrying, she would live with her husband wholeheartedly.

Three years passed quickly, and Tao Xinhe felt that the relationship between husband and wife was getting deeper and deeper, just like her husband had promised, there were no third person involved.

Who would have thought that since October, Gu Ningxi has experienced various anomalies, and Tao Xinhe guessed that he was out of his mind and violated the promise of “no third party”.

After a whole night of deliberation, she had already convicted Gu Ningxi in her heart, and now it was the time of deep love and hatred, so naturally she couldn’t listen to Qingfang’s advice.

Seeing that she couldn’t be persuaded, Qingfang had no other choice, she stood up to support Tao Xinhe, and started another topic in an embarrassing manner:

“Your dress last night, the servant has already sent it to the laundry room, and it will be hung up the next day at the latest, and be brought to your room.”

“I said I will reward it to you, so why hang it up?”

“Slaves don’t dare to wear those clothes. When the master found out that he got the wrong person last night, he seemed to want to swallow this slave whole. It’s quite scary.”

Tao Xinhe didn’t answer, but she thought to herself, this man is not worthy of her being stuck in the same clothes and hairstyle just to accommodate him.

***

TL NOTE:

I kinda’ feel that this novel, will be full of misunderstandings and drama. The ML has low EQ, and FL considers him as her ‘confidant’ but she doesn’t seem to communicate well with him at all? And that Mo Qiqi, ugh my blood is boiling. But we can’t really judge her, during her time, three wives and four concubines is quite common. So we can’t really say it was illegal to like a married man… BUT STILL, SHE’S TOO ASSUMING!