Chapter Thirteen: Wisdom

  When Gu Qingyun heard that she was a concubine's daughter, Gu Qingxia subconsciously wanted to retort and mock Qingyun a few words. She opened her mouth but then thought that this was in Shen Shi's room. Since Gu Qingyun was speaking so unusually humbly today, if she were to say something provocative now, it would probably annoy Shen Shi and make her unhappy. Perhaps Gu Qingyun was doing it on purpose, but Gu Qingxia wouldn't fall for it.

  She hastily swallowed back the sarcastic words she wanted to spit out, and instead said sweetly to Gu Qingjin: "Then in the future, little sister will have to trouble big sister more often. I hope that when the time comes, big sister will really be like what you said today, not minding little sister's disturbance!" She didn't believe that Gu Qingjin could actually do as she said.

  "Don't worry, little sister. When you need something, come find big sister and I'll definitely not be bothered by your troubles. I'll take good care of you." Gu Qingjin replied to Gu Qingxia with a hint of ulterior motives.

  Gu Qingxia heard Gu Qingjin's watertight response and was somewhat dissatisfied.

  Shen's wife, sitting on the warm couch beside her, saw Gu Qingjin's performance today and nodded in satisfaction. This legitimate granddaughter had always been more satisfactory to her, showing unusual intelligence and cleverness since childhood. However, it was also because she was too intelligent that she wasn't steady enough. But this time, after being ill, she seemed to have become much more stable and not as frivolous as before. Still, this needed further observation to determine whether she had truly become steady or was just pretending in front of her.

  Gu Qingxia felt the satisfaction and admiration in her grandmother's eyes for Gu Qingjin, with some jealousy and discontent, but she was also clever enough not to pick a fight. Qingjin saw that Gu Qingxia had become more honest, shifted his gaze away from Gu Qingxia, turned around and looked at his grandmother, just about to ask Shen Shi about going to the temple to pray for blessings.

  At this moment, the door curtain of Shen's house opened, and a six or seven-year-old boy with clear eyebrows and white teeth walked in, followed by an attendant and a young maid.

  "Sun'er Ningxuan wishes his grandmother a happy and youthful life!" A clear and pleasant child's voice rang out.

  "Ah, Ning Xuan is here! Come to Grandma quickly! This little mouth of Ning Xuan's is getting more and more eloquent!" Shen Shi laughed happily as she hugged her eldest grandson.

  "What Ning Xuan said is all true, Grandma really doesn't look old at all!" Gu Ning Xuan sat down beside Shen Shi and said with a serious expression, winking at her.

  Upon hearing Gu Ningxuan's sincere words, Shen Shi's smile became even more genuine. "Alright, whatever Ningxuan says goes. By the way, your second sister also came to pay respects to her grandmother today, hurry up and go see your second sister."

  When he heard his grandmother mention Second Sister, Gu Ningxuan's originally happy face immediately scrunched up. His eyes darted to the side where Gu Qingjin was sitting, and he quickly made a silly face before turning away, saying that from now on, he wouldn't even glance in Gu Qingjin's direction again.

  She turned her head to face Gu Qingxia, who was sitting on the other side, and originally didn't want to bother with her. But thinking of something, she suddenly changed her mind and sweetly called out in the direction where Gu Qingxia was sitting, "Sister Xia, hello!" Then she turned back around and obediently sat down beside Shen Shi, not even glancing in the direction where Qingjin was sitting.

  Shen looked at Gu Ningxuan's performance and subconsciously wanted to frown and scold him, but suddenly thought of something and didn't force Gu Ningxuan anymore. Instead, he smiled and chatted with Gu Ningxuan about some trivial matters.

  Gu Qingjin remained calm and unruffled by Gu Ningxuan's neglect and rudeness, even ignoring the schadenfreude in Gu Qingxia's gaze, quietly sitting there listening to Shen Shi and Gu Ningxuan converse.

  After a while, Shen finally found that Qingjin was completely different from before. When she saw Gu Ningxuan, the two of them would normally be at odds with each other, but now, even when Gu Ningxuan was being deliberately rude, Qingjin remained calm and composed. Gradually, she shifted her gaze away from Gu Ningxuan and looked at Qingjin, who was staring at her and Gu Ningxuan, and asked: "Qingjin, just now when your brother came in, Grandmother seemed to have seen you saying that you had something to say to Grandmother?"

  "Yes, grandmother. After Qingjin recovered from her illness, she suddenly understood many things that she didn't understand before. She thinks it's all because of your blessings and protection as her grandmother. So, Qingjin wants to go to the Banruo Temple on the outskirts of the imperial city to stay for a while, to pray for the safety of our Anji Hou Mansion, for you, Grandmother, and Father."

  "Flattery expert..." The person next to Gu Ningxuan, Gu Qingjin, immediately spoke up with a critical tone upon hearing what was said.

  Shen's stern gaze swept across Gu Ningxuan, and Gu Ningxuan immediately shut his mouth. Only then did Shen turn to Qingjin, opening her mouth lightly: "Is that so? You want to go to the Banruo Temple to pray for blessings for our Anji Houfu? Aren't you usually busy attending this or that poetry gathering? What's wrong, no poetry gatherings to attend recently?" As she finished speaking, Shen's aura was fully unleashed, her sharp eyes shooting straight at Gu Qingjin.

  Seeing Shen's sharp and undisguised gaze, Gu Qingjin was taken aback for a moment. In her past life, she had always been most afraid of and dreaded her grandmother, Shen.

  It's strange to say, but Shen Shi has always been very kind and amiable towards her, even praising that she had a bloodline that only her great-grandfather possessed. However, in her past life, she never dared to be presumptuous in front of Shen Shi, always being proper and demure. Shen Shi was also the only person from her previous life whom she couldn't see through no matter how hard she tried.

  Now reborn, she finally saw clearly the thing on the old lady's body that she couldn't see and didn't dare to look at before, which was called wisdom. It was a kind of great wisdom that had experienced storms and ups and downs in life, still calmly facing it, and after years of sedimentation, hiding under the surface of peace and tranquility, with extraordinary foresight for the development of things and insight into human nature.

  If it were in the past, she would not have dared to look at Old Madam Shen with such sharp and scrutinizing eyes. But now, she was no longer afraid, and without hesitation, she met Old Madam Shen's piercing gaze. Qingjin spoke calmly, "In the past, being a granddaughter was narrow-minded. With a status like that of a granddaughter, although it's not suitable to marry into the imperial family or be the wife of a noble, marrying into a respectable family as a main wife is still acceptable. Things like music, chess, books, and paintings are just hobbies for a granddaughter to pass the time, but she shouldn't indulge in them excessively. As the eldest daughter of the Anji Marquis's manor, what's most important for her to learn is how to manage the household and host large events. This is what a young lady from a good family should learn, and it's also what she needs to understand and master as a future matriarch."

  Shen heard her granddaughter's words and saw Qingjin's direct gaze, the corners of her mouth involuntarily curled up in satisfaction. She withdrew the imposing aura and sharp gaze from her body, and lavished praise on Qingjin, "Good, this is what a young lady from a noble family should understand. You're not too foolish after all. The fact that you can think like this is truly the demeanor of a legitimate daughter of the Anji Marquis Manor. It seems that this illness has turned out to be a blessing in disguise... it's fitting to go to the Banruo Temple for worship..."