Chapter 31: A Woman's Heart Shouldn't Be Too Big

  A man's emotions are really like the weather. When it's sunny, there isn't a cloud in the sky, and he treats you with kindness in every way, so kindly that you think it will never rain again. But once it rains, no matter how long the sunny days were before, they don't count for anything. The changes between cloudy and sunny are completely up to their mood, and women just have to endure them.

  Gu Zhaobei took her back to the room, smiling and saying: "Tomorrow is the day of return, are all the gifts ready?"

  Shen Guiyan nodded: "All the necessary courtesy are in place, and you will also need to stay for three days when you return. Can you bear it?"

  He fell onto the bed and said casually: "What's so boring that you can't stay? Go back to your mother's house, no matter how dull it is, I'll be able to stay for three days."

  "Thank you."

  She no longer has high expectations of him, as long as he doesn't run off to the Drunken Flower Inn when he comes back.

  "Madam, with your husband being so flirtatious, you truly don't mind?"

  Shen Guiyan raised an eyebrow and poured a cup of hot tea, handing it over: "Do you mind if I'm useful? Your husband likes that place, I couldn't stop him from going even if I wanted to."

  "But if it were someone else's wife, they would be angry." Gu Zhaobei looked at her, dissatisfied, saying: "You seem to have no reaction at all."

  "Does the husband want to see his wife get angry?" Shen Guiyan cried and laughed: "Other people's husbands are all trying their best to coax their wives, this is the first time I've met someone like you who deliberately tries to anger me."

  Gu Zhaobei was stunned and drank tea with a sullen face, taking off his outer garment and throwing it on the ground: "I want to rest now."

  "Good." Shen Guiyan stood up, picked up the clothes on the ground with her hand, and prepared to hang them aside.

  But as soon as she picked it up, she couldn't help but sniff it, and Shen Guiyan frowned.

  When he went out, Gu Zhaobei wore this blue-based silver flower arrow sleeve long gown. He stayed outside for seven days without changing and got drunk to death. As a result, his clothes were very clean, and there was no rouge or wine smell.

  "Can you still help people with laundry in this drunken flower shadow, Husband?" Shen Guiyan asked softly.

  Gu Zhaobei lay on the bed and turned over, drowsily saying: "That golden border, who will do your laundry for you."

  Is this garment unwashed?

  It's too strange, anyway, after staying in the Drunken Flower Shadow for seven days, his clothes should have been full of makeup and wine smell, but they were not dirty at all. As a result, this one actually only had some sweat smell, not dirty at all.

  She hung up her clothes and couldn't help but go to bed to take a closer look at Gu Zhaobei. This man had a face of exhaustion from overindulgence, with dark circles under his eyes that seemed even deeper.

  She suddenly became curious about what he had been doing for these seven days.

  Gu Zhao Bei obviously wouldn't tell her, and asking was futile. Shen Gui Yan could only follow him to rest and wait for tomorrow's return home.

  Returning home was just a woman returning to her mother's house to talk about how she spent her days, Qin Yiniang had already passed away, Shen Guiyan really didn't have much to say, but following the rules of propriety, she still got up early in the morning to prepare to go out.

  The housekeeper had a horse-drawn carriage ready for them. Gu Zhaobei got on the carriage with a sleepy look, and continued to sleep.

  The swallow perched on the car window and looked outside all the way.

  Recently, many refugees have arrived in the capital, all of whom were displaced by the flood disaster in Qingzhou. However, the imperial court only provided a small amount of silver for disaster relief, and after passing through layers of embezzlement, not even a single coin was left in the hands of the people.

  As a result, there were many more people in tattered clothes on the streets, leaning against street corners and crying.

  Shen Guiyan's eyes scanned the area and saw many children sitting next to adults, helplessly looking around. The pedestrians in the capital city avoided them as much as possible, let alone lend a helping hand.

  "How pitiful." Shen Guiyan sighed softly.

  Gu Zhaobei, who had been sleeping beside her, said: "The world is so big, you can't sympathize with everyone."

  Shen Guiyan was startled and turned her head to look at him: "Are you awake?"

  "The carriage is so bumpy, can you sleep?" Gu Zhaobei leaned against her shoulder with his eyes closed: "Wait until we arrive at the Shen Mansion to sleep."

  Shen Guiyan nodded and continued looking outside.

  It was unclear which noble's carriage it was, but a group of refugees were frightened and shrank to the side of the street. The carriage stopped, and someone burst out laughing: "Look at these people, they're probably not used to seeing such tall carriages? They're actually scared like this!"

  Shen Guiyan furrowed her brow, looking out of the car window to see that the horse carriage had actually turned around playfully and was now rushing towards where there were more refugees, scaring them into scattering in all directions. The laughter coming from inside the carriage grew even louder: "How delightful! How delightful!"

  "Stop!" Shen Guiyan's face sank.

  Gu Zhaobei opened her eyes and followed her gaze to look at the horse carriage outside, smiling softly: "Madam, don't bother with trivial matters, let's go first."

  "That carriage is obviously from an official's family!" Shen Guiyan was somewhat indignant: "As officials, they do not take care of the people's will, but instead treat refugees as playthings and recklessly drive their carriages to scare them. Shouldn't such things be stopped?"

  Gu Zhaobei pulled her over with one hand, and chuckled: "You should know that many things in this world are not right to do, but you can still do them. That is Wen Guojun's carriage, even if my father came, he couldn't stop it."

  Wen Guogong, the younger brother of the Empress Dowager.

  Shen Guiyan was stunned for a moment, and then pursed her lips. The Empress's party had always been arrogant, and the Emperor also turned a blind eye to it. Loyal ministers died on the court, while treacherous officials ran amok among the people. Indeed, it was not something that she, a small woman, could stop.

  But looking at that mad carriage and then at the refugees crying and fleeing everywhere, Shen Guiyan said with a gloomy face: "They will have their retribution."

  "Let's go to the Shen residence first." Gu Zhaobei smiled and poked her nose: "You, this girl, don't care about makeup, what do you care about, the people?"

  "What the teacher taught." Shen Guiyan lowered her eyes and said: "Since I am from the people, how can I not work for the people?"

  Gu Zhaobei slightly surprised: "Is that Mr. treating you as a son? Women should focus on domestic affairs, managing the household is enough, leave external matters to men."

  Shen Guiyan looked at Gu Zhaobei with a complex gaze, she didn't mind taking charge of things within the Gu Manor, but as for things outside, could this young master still have a say in them?

  The horse carriage had gone far away and Shen Guiyan couldn't see Wen Guojun's violent behavior anymore. She didn't speak a word all the way, lost in thought with her head down.

  Gu Zhaobei glanced at her and only spoke when they arrived at the Shen manor to get off the carriage: "Everyone has their own duties, and the world will not be in chaos. Yan'er, you are a woman, so don't think about saving the common people, you can't save them anyway."

  Shen Guiyan's mouth twitched slightly at the corner, she didn't say a word, how did this person know what she was thinking?

  The people of Shen's house had been waiting early, only Mr. and Mrs. Shen hadn't come out yet, outside were two concubines waiting.

  As soon as she saw them, Ding Niang said with a smile: "It's actually earlier than the fifth young lady, probably because there are fewer things and the wheels run faster."

  When visiting relatives, one should bring gifts. As Gu Zhaobei is an illegitimate child, it's natural that the gift wouldn't be as valuable as the one for Gu Zhao Dong. But I didn't expect Ding Niang to mention this right after getting off the carriage.

  Gu Zhaobei got off the car first and pretended not to hear Ding Niang's words, turned around and stretched out his hand, directly pulling down Shen Guiyan who was about to get off the car.

  The two bridesmaids were startled, and Shen Guiyan's face also turned red, saying in a low voice: "What are you doing?"

  Gu Zhaobei smiled: "As your husband, I don't want you to walk too much, so I think it's better to just carry you in."

  Shen Guiyan: "......"

  Ding Niang and Fang Niang were both at a loss for words, such intimacy in broad daylight... Well, they are husband and wife, others can't say anything about it.

  But obviously two people who got married without much feeling, what's the point of being so sticky?

  Ding Niangniang snorted disdainfully and followed them in. She thought to herself, what's the worst that could happen if she just went ahead and hugged him? It might be a bit awkward, but so what?

  The result was that Gu Zhaobei had planned it out long ago. All the way, he didn't look at the road, but instead gazed deeply and affectionately at Shen Guiyan: "Are you tired?"

  Shen Guiyan shook her head and glanced at the servants standing around with their heads hung low, saying in a soft voice: "Master doesn't have to be like this..."

  "I'm willing." Gu Zhaobei smiled at her and hugged her as they headed towards the main hall.

  Mr. Shen and Mrs. Shen looked up to see Young Master Gu in a white robe with blue floral patterns, holding Shen Guiyan in his arms, smiling warmly as he entered the door.

  "Give greetings to your father-in-law and mother-in-law."

  Shen Guiyan glared at him, "You're asking about her well-being? You've already put her down, but she hasn't even paid her respects yet!"

  Mr. Shen's expression was somewhat complex: "No need for excessive courtesy."

  "Give greetings to Father and Mother." Shen Guiyan finally struggled down from bed, tidied up her clothes and paid respects.

  "Alright, just be sure to return safely. I have some words of advice for you, so come with me."

  "Yes." Shen Guiyan lowered her eyes and followed Mrs. Shen into a side hall.

  Shen Lao Ye stood up and walked closer to Gu Zhen Bei, saying: "Fourth Master, I have some words, I don't know if they should be spoken or not."

  "Then let's not talk about it." Gu Zhaobei said with a mischievous grin.

  Shen Shi Qing's forehead had a faint blue vein, and he didn't bother to make small talk with him. He directly said: "Yan Er married the Fourth Young Master, but I heard that the Fourth Young Master still often lingered in the brothels?"

  Gu Zhaobei straightened up and smiled lightly: "Yes, a man's nature, how can it change just because he gets married?"

  "Shen Shiqing thought that in front of his elders, this person would at least be more restrained, but unexpectedly it was like this..."

  "Please rest assured, Father-in-law." Gu Zhaobei smiled and said: "I am also sincere with Yan'er."

  Bullshit! Shen Shiqing was so angry that he took a deep breath. If this guy had any conscience, the sky would rain blood!

  "The imperial examination is imminent, doesn't the Fourth Master have any ideas?" Shen Lao Ye asked calmly after a while.

  No parents would be willing for their son-in-law to always achieve nothing.

  Gu Zhaobei smiled and shook his head: "It's really boring to enter the officialdom, nowadays it's a woman's world, is there still a place for men to show their skills?"

  Shen Shi Qing was startled and hastily pulled on his sleeve: "Fourth Master, be careful what you say!"

  Half of the empire is the Empress's, if people were to hear about it, wouldn't that bring disaster to the entire family?

  "It's boring." Gu Zhaobei curled his lips and said, "Father-in-law, don't worry, I have my own way of living."

  Having said that, he turned around and asked: "Which way is Yanzhi's courtyard?"

  Shen Shiqing was both angry and helpless, originally thinking that using his connections to get a job would be good, but he didn't expect this person to be so unambitious, it's really a waste of his efforts!