"Heh," Marquis Gu sneered lightly, "Isn’t it just a beating? It’s not like it hasn’t happened before, a few days of rest and it’ll be fine."

Gu Baoshu was annoyed, leaned in and pointed at his nose.

"Are you still my good third brother or not?"

Lightly brushing her away, Marquis Gu said nonchalantly, "In your eyes and heart, I haven’t been for a long time. Oh, I almost forgot something. There’s always next year if you missed this year’s Qixi Festival. Didn’t you say the embroideress at Jixiu Pavilion praised your great talent, only that you haven’t studied for long? Now you have over a year to study hard."

He emphasized the words ’study hard’ particularly.

Gu Baoshu stomped her foot in anger.

"Third brother, you’re just taking advantage of the situation." 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Qin Yuan came out, laughed, and said, "How old are you? Why tease her?"

Gu Baoshu hurriedly ran over, tugging at Qin Yuan’s sleeve, "Right? Only sister-in-law cares for me and speaks fairly for me."

Marquis Gu just watched Qin Yuan with a silly grin.

Qin Yuan scolded, "I’ll say something fair. You ran off last night, scaring me half to death. If something had happened to you, how would I explain it to mother and your third brother?"

Gu Baoshu sighed.

"I admit it was my fault, but I knew my limits. I wouldn’t have forced it if I couldn’t win."

"You know your limits, know your limits. Didn’t you get scared playing polo that day? If I hadn’t gone, who knows how you’d have handled the situation?" Marquis Gu mercilessly uncovered her old secrets, adding with a cold laugh, "Again making your sister-in-law worried, failing in your learning arts and making a fool of yourself. From tomorrow, come to the outer courtyard early in the morning to practice martial arts with me."

"...Really...third brother..."

Gu Baoshu was both happy and sad.

Happy because third brother would personally teach her martial arts.

Sad because she could no longer sleep in.

Marquis Gu said, "If you can persist in practicing martial arts with me, I’ll cover up this matter for you, saving your sister-in-law from embarrassment. How about it?"

Gu Baoshu hesitated for a moment: "...Alright..."

If she was confined for several more months, she’d surely go mad.

Qin Yuan then asked, "Little Sister Baozhu, do you want to go back and change clothes before going to the main room?"

Gu Baoshu agreed, quickly ran out, leaving behind a sentence: "Sister-in-law, you go first. I’ll change clothes and come over later."

This little while was left for Qin Yuan and her husband to negotiate with the Old Madam for her.

Qin Yuan chuckled.

Marquis Gu sighed, "The little troublemaker has finally run off."

Then came a bear hug, holding Qin Yuan tightly, he sighed with satisfaction, "Dear Yuan’er, leaving me in the manor for these past few days was so boring. Good thing you’re back. Life without you here is truly hard to bear."

Qin Yuan nestled into his arms, asked, "How goes the Capital Inspection matter?"

Holding her, swaying leisurely, Marquis Gu said lazily, "People from all factions are trying to send notes and gifts my way. So I simply ordered them all detained, eating, drinking, and attending to nature’s calls all in the government office. No messages allowed. Only after they complete the agreed memorandum approved by the six departments can they leave. Appeals to me are useless."

Tackle it one item at a time.

Sounding methodical, Qin Yuan laughed, "So you, the head, are leisurely and carefree."

Marquis Gu chuckled dryly, self-excusing, "As the leader, I can’t bury myself in minor matters like the others. As Mr. Songshan says, I’m just a martial artist, not their match in scholarly matters. But first, use force to awe them, show them my might, then keep a respectful distance in major decisions. This way, they can’t grasp my depth, and naturally, they don’t dare act rashly."

Qin Yuan just laughed.

It sounds like quite the process.

That Mr. Songshan is willing to advise Marquis Gu, and that Gu listens, is really good.

She teased, "Do you still need to keep a beard, husband?"

Marquis Gu laughed, "No need. Ha! Only in front of you... Others seeing my stern face are terrified."

"I don’t believe it," Qin Yuan gently brushed his handsome profile with her delicate hand, smiled, "How could such a handsome, charming husband inspire fear?"

It was truly amusing to him.

Marquis Gu squinted with happiness.

Everything the little wife did made his heart itch with fondness, such a rare treasure indeed.

What to do about it?

Good thing the Yelv Clan was sent off so he could marry her, otherwise, crossing the beauty’s gate would be impossible.

Marquis Gu pinched her cute nose, his gaze lingering on the small mole at its tip, laughed, "You are truly wise and brave, how did you catch Yelv Xianyong? From what Shi Ba said, he didn’t notice anything initially."

Qin Yuan said, "It was just coincidental, someone broke into the courtyard last night. I make it a habit to place different incense at night as a precaution. Yelv Xianyong got some on him and then just walked right in, naturally he got caught by me."

Marquis Gu cupped her face, lightly kissed that cute nose tip, said, "Mother’s probably waiting for us. Let’s have a meal together and then come back for a proper chat."

Qin Yuan leaned lazily against him, "I don’t want to talk, I just want to rest. You don’t know how chatty and noisy Baozhu is, I didn’t sleep well at all."

Marquis Gu felt for her, "Knowing you’re tired, I’ll take you to the main room, so you walk less. Let Hong Ye and Cui Ming walk over on their own."

Qin Yuan smiled brightly, quickly wrapped her arms around Marquis Gu’s waist, "Okay, take it slow, taking me flying through the air, everything looks different."

The couple instructed the maids to follow and quickly headed to the main room.

Hong Ye, watching them disappear, clicked her tongue.

Cui Ming said, "Let’s go, if you’re envious, try it privately."

"Who should I try with?"

Hong Ye looked like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

Cui Ming sneered, "Who do you want to try with?"

"No one."

Hong Ye swiftly walked out.

Cui Ming said slowly behind her, "I’m the one who can’t find anyone to try with."

Hong Ye turned back angrily, "Hurry up, let’s go."

The two, with the little maids and nannies in tow, rushed to the main room.

Qiujie greeted with a smile, "Marquis and the lady are having a meal with the Old Madam. Sixth Master and the little ones are also there. The lady said you all must be hungry, so the kitchen sent food as well. Let’s eat in turns and then go in to serve."

Everyone indeed was hungry, having ridden the carriage halfway through the day, bodies swayed with fatigue, they all exclaimed, "The lady truly considers us."

So they divided into turns to eat in the outer room, just as they were eating, Gu Shiliu hurriedly entered the front corridor.

Cui Ming glanced at Hong Ye and lightly coughed.

Hong Ye raised her eyes to see, then quickly lowered them, her ears already pricked up, hearing Gu Shiliu stand in the corridor, loudly saying, "Marquis, Yelv Guza has come to visit."