Chapter 460: Worry
Chapter 460: Chapter 460: Worry
Bai Suihe and the others were drinking tea at the teahouse, waiting for the latest news. Before they received any updates, they saw another carriage emerge from the opposite side. Several older maidservants seemed to be carrying a person into the carriage.
"Is this person alright?" Mrs. Qian’s expression changed. "To carry someone into a carriage in such a state, could it be..."
Bai Suihe couldn’t help but feel a bit worried as well. She hoped nothing serious had actually happened.
"Should we send someone to ask around again?"
"There’s no rush," Mrs. Qian said, pointing at several figures that had suddenly appeared downstairs. "Someone has already gone."
Bai Suihe was speechless. It seemed there really were a lot of idle people around, themselves included.
The news came back quickly. Everyone immediately knew who the unconscious person was and why they had fainted.
After hearing the details, Bai Suihe felt even more guilty. That Mrs. Lin had probably truly taken the blow meant for her. She really hadn’t thought that much about it at the time; she had just wanted to stay away from trouble. Who knew they were actually coming for her? She would have to find a way to compensate the woman in the future, or her conscience would never rest.
That Madam Gu was truly a fool. She knew who she wanted to target, but didn’t even investigate if the person sitting there was the right one? Now look what happened. She had frightened someone into illness. With this, Madam Gu’s reputation would be ruined first. Who knew if she was regretting it at this moment?
"What a piece of work," Bai Suihe muttered. "So she invited us all over just to try and force the prices down. Relying on the Duke Mansion’s influence, she probably hoped we would just hand everything over on a silver platter."
Since the other party was coming for her, Bai Suihe decided not to point it out even though she had guessed it. She might as well muddy the waters a bit more.
"Their greed is simply too unsightly," she continued. "To pressure us women of the inner household like this for their own selfish interests—who would ever dare attend the Gu family’s banquets in the future?"
"Do you think if she doesn’t succeed this time, she’ll keep trying next time?" Mrs. Jiang had returned from gathering information, her face looking equally grim. Not only had she asked Mrs. Liu, the lady boss of the inn, but she had also questioned some of the ladies who had been sitting near the front. "The Duke Mansion isn’t someone we can afford to offend. If they want to deal with us, they wouldn’t even have to do it themselves."
"It wouldn’t go that far," Bai Suihe replied. "The Duke Mansion can’t dictate everything, and the one who came is just from a collateral branch born of a concubine. They don’t have that much power."
Hearing this, the others immediately gathered around Bai Suihe. After all, they had been away from that kind of social circle for a long time. They weren’t clear on the current situation in the royal court, let alone these inner household affairs.
Bai Suihe shared what she knew. "The Empress is not favored in the palace and keeps a very low profile. The Duke Mansion isn’t very prominent in the capital either. This doesn’t seem like something they would orchestrate. I’m afraid this is purely the personal doing of Mr. Gu and his wife."
"But they did come from the Duke Mansion after all. What if they..."
Bai Suihe understood what they were trying to express. No matter what, they were still one family. Sometimes, these noble families were just that unreasonable; they would simply feel that you were defying their authority.
"There is no way to cover up what happened today," Bai Suihe reassured them. "Besides, the Duke Mansion is not without political enemies in the court. For the sake of their reputation, the other party will probably have to apologize."
"Could that really happen?" Madam Li still found it hard to believe. "The way Madam Gu postured earlier, she didn’t seem easy to deal with. It’d be good enough if they don’t try to settle scores with us later. I think we should instead figure out an excuse to decline when they send out invitations next time!"
Without a second thought, Mrs. Jiang said directly, "What other excuse is there? We’ll just claim to be ill."
Bai Suihe was amused by them. "Everyone can’t possibly claim to be ill all at once."
"That’s true. If they disdain Lingnan so much, what are they even doing here? Should I go back to the countryside for a while?" Madam Li was actually contemplating whether she should go back to avoid the trouble.
"Could you bear to leave?" As the proper lady of the house, how could she possibly leave her estate?
"Sigh, what kind of mess is this?"
"Don’t worry," Bai Suihe said. "She definitely won’t be hosting another banquet like this anytime soon. Didn’t they say she’s already been grounded? Next, she’ll probably be dragged around by her husband to apologize door to door."
"That can’t be right." Several of the ladies felt it was impossible. If Mr. Gu really did that, how would his wife interact with anyone in the future?
"Why wouldn’t it be? After all, her actions genuinely threatened everyone’s interests. They hosted this banquet with the intention of forced buying and selling.
"If it succeeded, the masters of the house could step forward and offer a flimsy apology, since they would have reaped all the benefits anyway.
"Since it failed, they have a ready-made scapegoat right here."
"They are still husband and wife, after all. It shouldn’t go that far." Mrs. Qian felt her throat go dry. The news today had bombarded her until she felt dizzy. Were these people really that complicated?
Once this was asked, everyone fell silent. Husband and wife? In truth, the person everyone found most exasperating was often their own bedfellow. Although their families were somewhat wealthy, didn’t they all have concubines in their own homes? Perhaps those grand masters were eager for them to quickly step down and make way.
Bai Suihe had to step in to lighten the mood. "This is just my guess. But to prevent the situation from worsening, the Gu family will definitely have to show some stance. Otherwise, they probably won’t be able to buy a single plot of land in our Zhang County ever again."
The ladies’ eyes lit up. Actually, the Duke Mansion wasn’t that terrifying. Could they really dare to go against so many of them? Enough ants could bite an elephant to death. This was certainly an approach worth taking.
Bai Suihe took a sip of her tea, not hiding her own little motives. Since these ladies were sincere with her, she couldn’t let them down. "When the time comes, let’s see how the Gu family acts. If they really still want to force prices down and bleed us dry, we aren’t exactly fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered."
The other three ladies nodded solemnly, having reached a consensus. The group chatted for a while longer before dispersing.
As soon as she stepped out of the teahouse, Bai Suihe saw Gu Kaiyuan already standing by the carriage. Under the teasing gazes of the other ladies, she maintained a straight face and allowed Gu Kaiyuan to help her into the carriage.
"Why did you come?"
"Such a massive incident has already caused a stir throughout the entire county." Seeing that she was unharmed, Gu Kaiyuan finally let go of the worry in his heart. "Was the other party coming for you?"
Bai Suihe nodded. "They should have been. Earlier, they deliberately guided us to a specific area. The ladies who arrived later didn’t receive that kind of treatment.
"I felt something was wrong at the time, so I brought Mrs. Qian and the others to blend into the crowd. This time, I implicated Mrs. Lin, who ended up taking the blow for me. I’ll have to figure out a way to prepare a generous gift for her in the future."
If she simply bestowed a favor upon the Lin family, it might not necessarily benefit Mrs. Lin herself. Bai Suihe understood these nuances perfectly.
"It seems we’ve drawn too much attention," Gu Kaiyuan said. "When we get back, I’ll find a way to leak some news and hold another auction. It will be impossible for them to suppress the price; we will stick to the old rule where the highest bidder wins."
"I’m just afraid this man surnamed Gu will try to sabotage it from the inside," Bai Suihe voiced her concern. "After all, many people are unwilling to offend the Duke Mansion."