Forced to be a concubine? I turned around and married the scumbag's father.

Why accuse them without even asking what happened?

There really isn't a single reasonable person in the Gu family.

Zhou Zhilan's almond-shaped eyes widened, and she was about to speak when Zhou Chunyu's gaze stopped her.

Zhou Chunyu smiled and said, "This concerns the late Duke's wife, so my master is particularly concerned. The gift I brought today is as a token of gratitude to Miss Gu."

"How dare Zhilan interfere in the Marquis's residence? What we were just discussing was the matter of Miss Gu's status as a slave. We were ordered to come and inquire about this matter as well."

Originally, Mu Junyan said he would give Gu Hua a dowry, but after last night, their relationship changed, so he changed it to a thank-you gift for hiring her.

Wang was taken aback: "A thank-you gift?"

Zhou Chunyu gestured for his servant to step forward, who was carrying a wooden box.

"A mere thousand taels, please accept it with a smile, Lord Marquis and Madam."

He would spend a thousand taels at a time.

The Duke really gave me face.

Gu Yuan's expression immediately brightened.

His tone was polite.

"It's just copying a manuscript. It's Hua'er's good fortune to be valued by the Duke of Yong. Why give so much silver?"

Aunt Pei became anxious.

“Hua’er can’t write many characters at all. She only knows a few when she’s reading with the eldest young lady. Hua’er must have been deceiving and fooling the Duke.”

Zhou Chunyu smiled enigmatically: "Is this concubine questioning the Duke's judgment? Does she think our lord is blind?"

Gu Yuan lost face and glared at Aunt Pei: "Who are you to speak here? Shut up!"

Aunt Pei would never give up.

If that little slut were to seduce Ru'er's father-in-law, she would definitely become a stumbling block for Ru'er.

She was determined to stop that bitch from succeeding, no matter what!

Aunt Pei tugged at Gu Yuan's sleeve.

With a sob in her voice, she said sweetly, "My lord, you know my own limitations. We can't let Hua'er ruin the reputation of our manor."

"Didn't the Marquis say he wanted her to return to the manor? She's already back, and from now on, I'll definitely discipline her strictly."

Gu Yuan recalled what Aunt Pei had said in bed last night: that Gu Hua had done something outrageous that affected Gu Wanru's reputation in the Duke's mansion, and that she should be called back.

In his confusion and infatuation, Gu Yuan didn't even hear what she was talking about, but he agreed to let her use his private seal to send a message to the Duke's mansion.

Gu Yuan had always disapproved of sending Gu Hua into the Duke's mansion. If the unmarried girl caused any trouble, he would lose all face.

After considering the possibilities, Gu Yuan was startled.

After careful consideration, he said to Zhou Chunyu, "Gu Hua really doesn't know many words, and it's not appropriate for her to stay in the Duke's mansion for a long time. Since she's back home today, she can stay and listen to his teachings."

Zhou Chunyu smiled broadly: "Aunt Pei is really good at talking nonsense. Miss Gu does indeed have beautiful handwriting. Not only did the Duke see it with his own eyes, but we were all witnesses as well."

Coincidentally, Miss Gu and the late Madam both wrote in the same small regular script, and since the two families were related by marriage, Miss Gu was the most suitable person to help with this task.

If Lord Gu listens to his concubine's one-sided account and continues to belittle his daughter, showing no respect for the Duke, then I have nothing more to say. I will return to the Duke's residence immediately.”

After saying that, he called to Zhou Zhilan, "Miss Gu, please stay at home. Let's go back to the manor."

Gu Hua remained calm.

She knew her father; he was a greedy man who wanted both substance and appearance.

Gu Yuan's expression changed slightly, showing some anxiety.

Zhou Zhilan suddenly remembered that Gu Hua had told her that she had done all the reading and writing for Gu Wanru.

Zhou Zhilan's eyes darted around.

"Miss Gu has beautiful handwriting, so the young mistress should be even better. Since the Gu family won't let Miss Gu help with this, then having the young mistress copy it is just as good."

In any case, it was to show filial piety to his deceased mother-in-law; the lord only wanted to take a set of manuscripts as a way to remember her.

Aunt Pei's expression changed.

She knew Gu Wanru's handwriting best; it was nowhere near as good as Gu Hua's.

If Gu Wanru were to actually plagiarize... then her reputation as a talented woman would be ruined.

Gu Yuan felt a little better upon hearing this, at least he wouldn't offend the Duke.

He nodded: "Ru'er is known as a talented woman, so she is naturally more suitable than Hua'er to transcribe the questionnaire for her mother-in-law. Then we will trouble Steward Zhou to explain the reason to the Duke."

Aunt Pei blurted out anxiously, "Ru'er is pregnant and her body is not in good condition. She cannot overexert herself."

"Ru'er is pregnant?"

Wang's eyes widened: "How could I not know? And how did you know?"

She never expected that her daughter would become so close to Aunt Pei. Such a big thing, and her own mother didn't even inform her, but her aunt knew about it.

Gu Hua glanced at Aunt Pei, and her face paled.

It would be best if she continued to be anxious, further demonstrating that she cared for Wanru even more than her mother.

Aunt Pei stammered, "It was...it was Yinzhi, the maidservant of the eldest young lady, who said it..."

Zhou Zhilan said crisply, "No, Aunt Pei went to the Duke's mansion late at night and found out that the young mistress was pregnant. At that time, Aunt Pei wanted to take Miss Gu away."

She pointed at Donghua: "Donghua accompanied Miss Gu to see Aunt Pei."

Madam Wang's face darkened: "How dare you go to the Duke's mansion without permission?"

"This servant...this servant..." Aunt Pei looked at Gu Yuan pleadingly.

Gu Yuan was angry that she acted without any sense of propriety, but he certainly couldn't say anything about his own people in front of outsiders.

Her eyebrows furrowed into a deep frown: "Alright, let's not talk about anything else for now."

He looked at Gu Hua: "Can you copy manuscripts?"

The Marquis of Wenchang's mansion is the head of all civil officials; they mustn't bring shame to the Gu family.

Gu Hua curtsied to her father: "Father, I can do it. I know just as many characters as my elder sister."

Gu Yuan breathed a sigh of relief; this wasn't entirely unacceptable.

Seeing that Gu Yuan's expression had relaxed, Aunt Pei became anxious: "No! Hua'er is still unmarried, and she spends all her time with the Duke... If outsiders find out, won't her reputation be ruined?"

Gu Yuan recalled the pillow talk he had given her last night.

He nodded in deep agreement: "That is somewhat inappropriate."

Zhou Chunyu said calmly, "Is Marquis Gu questioning our lord's character? Our lord isn't afraid of being talked about, but Marquis Gu is being swayed by his concubine. His concubine is ignorant; surely Marquis Gu isn't like that too?"

That's right to say...

No one dared to voice any doubts.

Gu Yuan's face turned pale and then red as he was rebuked.

Gu Hua suppressed a laugh.

As expected of the chief steward of the Duke of Yong's mansion, he easily hit his own weak spot with just a few words.

Aunt Pei was caught in a dilemma, unable to say whether to go up or down, and fearing that the Marquis would change his mind.

Lady Wang realized that the Duke of Yong was convinced that Gu Hua had copied the manuscript. Perhaps Gu Hua's handwriting was truly beautiful?

Not wanting to embarrass her husband, she quickly said, "Steward Zhou is joking. My husband is just worried that Gu Hua's handwriting is not good and will delay our father-in-law's business. We really don't know how good Hua'er's handwriting is. Why don't you write a few words now so that Father can take a look?"

Gu Hua was delighted to hear this.

"My daughter obeys."

Aunt Pei felt a chill run down her spine: "Her handwriting is terrible..."

Madam Wang was truly enraged: "How dare you! What do you know? Can you even write the delicate small regular script?"

Aunt Pei is literate, but how could she possibly know the delicate calligraphy style that only noble ladies would use?

Gu Yuan thought it was a good idea: "Write it. If your handwriting is good, it will be a good thing to share the burden with your elder sister and fulfill your filial duty to your mother-in-law."

Gu Hua was overjoyed.

Granny Zhou hurried to prepare the writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone.

Gu Hua walked to the desk, picked up the pen without hesitation, and wrote down her thoughts with clean, crisp movements and a smooth, silky touch.

Gu Yuan and Madam Wang couldn't help but walk over and look at it from the left and right.

With her biological mother by her side, Gu Hua felt even more energized.

In her past life, all her efforts were to let her parents see her good qualities.

I never expected to have such an opportunity after being reborn.

To conceal her shortcomings, she did not write her own poems, but instead wrote a passage from the manuscripts she often copied to earn money.

Gu Yuan's eyes widened in disbelief. He never expected that his second daughter, whom he looked down upon the most, had the best handwriting of all his daughters.

No, even better than his sons.

Wang was also surprised and looked at the little girl who was writing diligently with her head down in disbelief.

Beneath her long, curled eyelashes, her clear eyes shone with confidence; her delicate nose was straight and her pink lips were tightly pursed.

She had underestimated this second daughter born out of wedlock.

Suddenly, an inexplicable sense of familiarity arose, causing a sharp pain in a certain part of her heart.

She didn't understand why she felt this way, but she did feel somewhat guilty.

They pay too little attention to this illegitimate daughter.

She had hoped that her husband would favor Concubine Pei, but since most of the household's expenses depended on Concubine Pei's dowry and the Pei family's support, she had no way to compete for it.

In order to protect her position as the matriarch and not tarnish the reputation of the Langya Wang clan, she turned a blind eye to them.

They also neglected their own daughter, Aunt Pei.

Unexpectedly, among all the young ladies in the entire Marquis's mansion, Gu Hua was the most outstanding in calligraphy.