This is the sorrow of ancient women, no matter what status you hold, even if you are the lawful wife, if you lose the favor of a man, this is the kind of fate you end up with.
Lin Qianqing sighed, "I heard that Mr. Jie defended her several times, and Qinyun sometimes couldn’t bear it and also spoke up for her, but in the end, they are outsiders to the marriage and it’s not good to get involved too much."
Gu Youyou could understand, if Mr. Jie truly despised his lawful wife that much, then the more people who helped her, the more it would provoke his displeasure.
It’s a pity that the cost of a divorce for women in this era was far too great.
Gu Youyou raised her hand to knock on the door, but Lin Qianqing stopped her.
"Why don’t we just climb over the wall and go in, to avoid the trouble?" Seeing Lin Qianqing , one could guess she probably did this often; it must not have been easy for her as a young lady.
Gu Youyou thought it over carefully, knocking would require an explanation, and whether they could enter was another matter altogether.
But climbing over the wall wasn’t necessarily any better; Gu Youyou had never done such a thing in her life.
She estimated the height of the courtyard wall, about two to three meters; not to mention whether she could climb over it, if she did, how would she explain herself?
Ah, it came about so suddenly, she hadn’t thought through her excuses, what a trouble.
"Let’s not climb over the wall; let’s just go in directly." Either way, they would have to explain themselves, so it ultimately had nothing to do with whether they climbed the wall or not.
This was just Lin Qianqing’s habitual way of thinking.
Gu Youyou raised her hand to knock on the door, and before she could even knock, the door opened by itself from the inside.
The person who came out was a maiden, and from her dress, it was clear that she was a maid from the household.
Seeing two finely dressed young ladies outside the door, she was obviously extremely surprised.
But then she seemed to think of something and became relieved.
"You two ladies must be here to attend the Hairpin Ceremony of the third young miss, but you’ve gone the wrong way," she said, pointing in the direction they had come from, "The third young miss’s courtyard is over there."
"We..." Lin Qianqing was about to say something, but Gu Youyou pulled her back.
Giving her a reassuring look, Gu Youyou stepped forward and said to the maid, "Indeed, we are here to participate in the Hairpin Ceremony of your estate’s third young miss, but as it is still early, the third young miss allowed us to look around the garden of the estate, not wanting to disturb the... master of this place."
Gu Youyou surveyed the secluded courtyard and asked, "May I know who resides in this courtyard? Today seems so festive, yet I do not see them heading to the front hall?"
Thinking that these two misses from outside the estate were unaware of the situation, the other party didn’t overthink and said, "This is where our second lady resides. The second lady has been unwell recently and is not convenient for her to leave her chamber."
"The second lady unwell?" Gu Youyou raised her eyebrows, blooming with joy, there was a way in!
"Since I’m here, it must be fate. I happen to be a doctor; may I enter to examine the second lady?"
"You’re a doctor?" At Gu Youyou’s words, the maid looked at her with a face full of surprise.
Hearing all this, Lin Qianqing also started to smile.
She thought to herself: Cousin is indeed amazing; now we have a legitimate reason to go in.
"Yes, my cousin is a doctor, Doctor Gu of Jisheng Hall. She was even awarded the Divine Doctor’s Signboard by the current Emperor, the best female doctor in Beijing. Her rule is to not see patients unless it is a matter of life and death; ordinary people can’t request my cousin for medical attention. Your second lady is quite fortunate."
The maid looked at Gu Youyou, then at Lin Qianqing, blinked her eyes, and as if she had recognized Lin Qianqing, exclaimed, "Are you Miss Lin?"
"Yes, that’s me. How do you recognize me?" Lin Qianqing’s eyes brightened.