Chapter 446: Sisters-in-Law
Chapter 446: Chapter 446: Sisters-in-Law
Liu Yun really didn’t want to engage with Xu Yulan, but she didn’t dare completely offend her either. After all, Xu Yulan’s maiden family was Gu Kaiping’s maternal family.
If those old fogeys from the Xu family came looking for trouble, Liu Yun and her husband would be at an inherent disadvantage.
Because of this, even though she had been giving Xu Yulan the cold shoulder these past few days, she didn’t dare go too far.
"It’s nothing, I was just thinking about some troublesome matters," Liu Yun said. "Have you sorted out all the mess in your own backyard, Yu Lan?"
"Sigh, what can I do? I’m just destined to toil," Xu Yulan replied. "Without a senior maid to serve me, I have to figure out how to train Fan Meibao myself.
"By the way, Liu Yun, this courtyard of yours is a bit too deserted. Why don’t you find a companion for yourself?"
Having lived in this courtyard for a while now, Xu Yulan knew that the Gu Mansion plaque hanging outside was in name only. The servants inside only did their assigned duties. Other than their father-in-law, none of them could order the servants around.
Let alone a maid, the entire courtyard only had a few old women doing chores. Since Liu Yun had brought up the matters in her courtyard, Xu Yulan couldn’t resist mocking her back.
"You don’t need to worry about that, Yu Lan," Liu Yun retorted. "It’s quite peaceful on our end. We don’t have all that petty drama, so we don’t need extra hands serving us. However, Concubine Fan is Aunt Xu’s biological daughter after all. You should show some leniency for her mother’s sake and not go too overboard, lest you permanently damage relationships."
"What relationship do I have with them?" Xu Yulan scoffed. "But I should remind you, Liu Yun, you’re the one managing our courtyard now, so you ought to pay closer attention.
"That Xu woman struts out every day with her daughter, dressed to the nines. Don’t let them do anything that disgraces the family’s reputation. I don’t have a daughter, so I’m not afraid of being dragged down by them, but An Tong is a different story. Don’t let her be implicated. Outsiders who don’t know any better might think the women of the Gu Family are promiscuous."
Liu Yun took a deep breath. There were only a handful of people in the family, yet there was a mountain of trivial bullshit to deal with. She could manage things before their home was confiscated. Now, they had no manpower and no silver. Her authority as the household manager existed in name only, and she even faced the constant risk of taking the blame for everything.
"Then what do you suggest?" Liu Yun asked. "Am I supposed to forbid them from leaving?"
Xu Shuanghong could suppress her with her status alone, and their father-in-law hadn’t said a word, which meant tacit approval. How could she step out and play the villain?
"You’re the head of the household. You can just order the gatekeeper to deny them entry and exit," Xu Yulan suggested.
Xu Yulan knew she couldn’t let Xu Shuanghong and her daughter find a new backer. Otherwise, who knew who would truly rule over their two branches of the family?
Xu Shuanghong and her daughter’s greatest hopes were now pinned entirely on Fan Meilin. Right now, Xu Yulan actually wished Fan Meilin would marry into the first branch, but alas, the girl looked down on Gu Kaiping, seeing him as an old man.
"Since you are so capable, Yu Lan, why don’t you take over managing the household and give the orders yourself?" Liu Yun sneered. Did she really think she enjoyed cleaning up this mess?
The so-called "head of the household" merely entailed telling the butler how many people would be eating at home each day, requesting small necessities, or deciding the daily menu. But she couldn’t make any further demands, nor did she dare to—because even if she did, the servants would completely ignore her.
"Liu Yun, you really know how to joke. You’ve always been the one managing our family," Xu Yulan replied. Even if she hadn’t understood at first, after living here for a while, how could she not see it clearly? The Gu Family’s current situation was nothing more than a hollow facade.
"I should give you a chance anyway," Liu Yun muttered to herself, having made up her mind right then and there. "Don’t say I’m clinging to power. I’ll have a word with Father later. I can’t mistreat your second branch too much; I should give you the opportunities you deserve."
Having said that, Liu Yun turned to leave, but unexpectedly, her path was blocked again.
"Liu Yun, you still haven’t told me what was bothering you," Xu Yulan pressed. "When you went out earlier, did you visit the Third Prince Mansion?
"Is there any good news about my niece?
"Even though she is only a concubine and any child she bears will merely be the Third Prince’s illegitimate son, he would still be an Imperial Grandson. Our family could bask in the glory. If there’s good news, spit it out so we can share in the joy."
How could Liu Yun miss the sarcasm in her words? Her daughter was a concubine, but so what? Could the royal family be compared to ordinary households?
"Oh, Yu Lan, what do you mean by that?" Liu Yun snapped. "Are you mocking our own family? Don’t forget, we are all in the same boat now. If Tong Er suffers, do you really think you’ll have it any better?"
"I didn’t say anything bad," Xu Yulan replied defensively. "After all, the Gu Family exhausted all its resources to send Gu Antong off to enjoy wealth and glory. She ought to give something back; otherwise, she’d be a total ungrateful wretch. She took so much dowry with her, yet watches her whole family live on scraps here..."
"I wasn’t aware the family was in such dire straits that you had to live on scraps."
Gu Baijiang had finished his tasks and was just heading to the study to see if his foolish eldest son had figured things out yet, only to unexpectedly stumble upon this little drama.
He knew that ever since the family had fallen on hard times, everyone had become divided, but seeing and hearing it for himself was an entirely different matter.
"Father," the two women immediately bowed in greeting.
Xu Yulan gave an awkward smile. "Father, you’ve misunderstood. We were just talking and got a little carried away in the heat of the moment. However, couldn’t our family’s meals be improved a bit? Kai Chen is injured and needs to recuperate."
"He brought that upon himself," Gu Baijiang scoffed.
He was the one who had beaten him; how could he not know the severity of the injuries? Given the family’s current situation, he wasn’t about to waste money on medical treatments.
"Go back and tell Kai Chen to stop lying in bed all day," Gu Baijiang ordered. "His wounds have probably already healed by now. If he can’t even endure a little pain, how will he ever accomplish anything in the future?"
"Father, you are wrongly accusing him. Kai Chen’s wounds really are quite severe," Xu Yulan protested. "Right now, Concubine Fan and I are constantly by his side serving him. He needs to recover fully; otherwise, he’ll suffer when he gets older."
Xu Yulan wasn’t actually heartbroken over Gu Kaichen’s condition. If he wanted to fake an illness, so be it—it was far better than him going out and causing more trouble.
She had already figured it out: her husband was unreliable, so she planned to rely on her son instead.
Her son had already secretly revealed to her that he would take the next provincial imperial examination. She was still waiting for him to earn her an imperial mandate as an aristocratic lady.
"Tell him not to lie in bed all day moaning over nothing," Gu Baijiang said. "Didn’t you all learn how to farm back in Lingnan? I noticed that empty patch of land in the back garden is quite decent. If cleared out, it’s about two acres. Your second branch can grow some vegetables back there. That way, we can also save some grocery money for the family."
"Wait, is our family really struggling that much?" Xu Yulan didn’t believe it. Although they were just an ordinary family now, and her father-in-law claimed he had handed all his silver over to the Third Prince, it was impossible that he hadn’t kept a secret stash.
He might have reservations about bringing it out now, but the Third Prince had given them such a massive courtyard; he must have secretly provided some silver to subsidize their living expenses as well. They really didn’t need to live such a miserable life.
"Use your heads to think and your eyes to look," Gu Baijiang said, truly disappointed in his two daughters-in-law. The family was on the verge of collapsing, yet they were still here at each other’s throats.