"No!" Mrs. Li declared firmly: "He let her go after barely exchanging a few words! I saw clearly that the young master’s heart is truly with you now. He no longer treats the distant cousin as he used to! The young master is wise. She is only a concubine now, how can she compare to you? The young master will never allow her to bully you!"
Sang Wan smiled noncommittally, "Mrs. Li, I understand your intentions! Don’t worry, as long as I am the wife of the Shi family, I will do my duty well!"
"This, this, the servant knows you are sensible..." Mrs. Li said with a busy smile, nodding, but still feeling something was off.
"Miss, let’s go, has this whole day’s effort been wasted now?" After leaving the study, Lan Xiang couldn’t help but ask softly.
"You talk too much!" Gu Fangzi, holding back a stomach full of anger with nowhere to vent, poked Lan Xiang’s forehead with a finger and glared, "What other option do we have but to leave? If we stayed, I fear I couldn’t help but start arguing with that damn old woman again, which would truly waste all efforts!"
Lan Xiang was stunned, a bit puzzled, thinking to herself, what has happened to the miss? Since when did she even fear Mrs. Li!
"Retreating as a way to advance, do you understand? Even if I explained, you wouldn’t get it!" Gu Fangzi said irritably, "Enough, let’s hurry back!"
She wanted to change her image, and had to seize the opportunities bit by bit, without any haste; otherwise, she would truly have no hope left.
Thinking of Mrs. Li’s astonished expression and her somewhat regretful look afterwards, Gu Fangzi felt invigorated, convinced her night’s grievances hadn’t been in vain. And the young master, his demeanor had also been very calm, not getting angry like he did during previous instances. Clearly, there was an effect!
Gu Fangzi suddenly stopped walking. "Tomorrow morning, get up early, and find out if the young master returned to Ningyuan to rest."
"Yes, miss!" Lan Xiang hurriedly agreed.
If the young master spent the night in the study, it means he truly had a fallout with that cheap woman Sang Wan, and even Mrs. Li’s mediation was ineffective! Then her chance would truly have come. If tonight he was persuaded by Mrs. Li to return to Ningyuan, then would it mean—
Gu Fangzi became restless, furrowing her brows, "You go to the gate of Ningyuan now and secretly watch to see if the young master returns!"
She didn’t want to wait until tomorrow, otherwise she would be unable to sleep all night.
"Miss," Lan Xiang said with a troubled face, "How long do I need to keep watch? We don’t know when the young master will return—"
"Fool!" Gu Fangzi said irritably, "It’s already late. If the young master were to return to Ningyuan, he’d surely be with Mrs. Li. You just need to check if Mrs. Li returns alone!"
"Yes, I understand!" Lan Xiang’s spirits lifted, feeling better with a sense of hope. If she had to keep watch outside Ningyuan in the cold night, she surely would have frozen to death.
After seeing Gu Fangzi back to the peony garden, Lan Xiang went back to her room to add a thick garment and promptly hurried off.
Not long after, Lan Xiang brought back good news to Gu Fangzi. Excitement shone in Gu Fangzi’s eyes as she kept saying good and greatly commended Lan Xiang, even giving her the best silver hairpin.
Tonight, she could finally have a good night’s sleep!
The next morning, as usual, Gu Fangzi went to see Mrs. Wang to have a chat. Sang Wan felt somewhat uneasy seeing her, afraid that she would indirectly complain to Mrs. Wang about Shi Fengju spending the night in the study. Regardless of the reason, Mrs. Wang would blame her for not taking good care of her husband, otherwise why would he prefer to sleep in the study rather than return home?
Unexpectedly, Gu Fangzi did not bring it up at all, just politely greeted her with a smile and exchanged a few jokes. This really puzzled Sang Wan.
After leaving Mrs. Wang’s side, Sang Wan suddenly realized: Of course she wouldn’t mention it, for if she did, Mrs. Wang would not stand by and watch her have a disagreement with Shi Fengju without intervening. Certainly, Gu Fangzi wouldn’t want that! Perhaps she wouldn’t even tell, but instead would kindly cover for her!
Sang Wan was not wrong; that was exactly what Gu Fangzi had thought. She would rather their quarrel worsen, not doing anything that might harm her own interests.
Not long after Sang Wan left, Shi Fengju also came. Unless there was something extremely urgent to deal with, he would always make sure to greet Mrs. Wang before leaving.
After Shi Fengju left, Gu Fangzi couldn’t help but say to Mrs. Wang, "Cousin seemed a bit haggard!"
"Oh?" Mrs. Wang immediately became concerned upon hearing this and pondered while recalling, "Is that so? I didn’t notice much—"
"I think so," Shi Yumei seized the opportunity hoping to implicate Sang Wan and said, "Brother’s complexion did look a bit off. I wonder how his wife is taking care of him! Mother, you should call her and ask her properly!"
"Yumei!" Mrs. Wang glanced at Shi Yumei disapprovingly, chiding, "There you go again!"
"Mother! What have I done!" Shi Yumei complained, "I’ve been listening to you these days; when I see her, I pretend I didn’t. I haven’t been bothering her, are you still unsatisfied? What more do you want, should I become her slave and follow her commands? You might as well finish me off with a knife then! Besides, I wasn’t wrong. As a wife, shouldn’t she take care of brother? If his complexion is poor, who else should we ask?"
"Look at you! I just mentioned one thing and you responded with so many!" Mrs. Wang scolded, "What do you mean by pretending not to see her, is that how you speak!" However, her daughter did have a point, it was necessary to call Sang Wan for questioning.
"Aunt, cousin has always been straightforward and sincere, she means no harm. Please, don’t be upset with her! I think cousin’s nature is very good, real, and unpretentious!" Gu Fangzi said quickly with a smile.