Chapter 13: Being Noble and Knowing Shame

Due to his eloquence and understanding, Mr. Shen used to take Shen Guiyan with him when he visited other noble families, so Shen Guiyan knew quite a few of the ladies from those families. Among them, Mrs. Wu from the Ministry of Rites was particularly fond of her, and she had even visited Madam Qin twice, so they had some acquaintance.

Now that Madam Qin had passed away, it was only proper for Shen Guiyan to send a white invitation to the Wu family to inform them, and there was nothing to fault about it.

However, Mrs. Wu was different from other noble ladies. She was straightforward and could not stand injustice. It was only natural to invite her at this critical moment.

"Good girl, everyone says you have good luck, why are there so many twists and turns this time?" Mrs. Wu, dressed in a simple white long dress with a dark blue edged white jacket, wearing no gold or silver, just a jade hairpin, held Shen Guiyan's hand as soon as she arrived. "I was going to prepare a gift for you to take to the Prime Minister's Mansion, but I didn't expect the bride to change, and now there's trouble with Nai Shui."

Shen Guiyan's eyes were a little red, feeling the warmth of Mrs. Wu's hand, her voice choked up a bit, "Aunt Qin's sudden passing, I don't know what to do. In a few days, I'm going to marry the Fourth Young Master of the Prime Minister's Mansion, and now the joyous occasion has been overshadowed by a funeral. I don't know if Aunt Qin will resent me in the afterlife."

"How could she resent you?" Mrs. Wu sighed. "She always doted on you. She only saw you twice this year, and each time she was looking forward to seeing you married. Now that you can't marry Young Master Gu, although it's a pity, I can't meddle in your marriage."

"I understand, Auntie. Your presence alone shows your concern." Shen Guiyan smiled and led her to the main hall. "Since you're here, why don't you meet my mother? She's been preparing my dowry these days."

Mrs. Wu nodded, but she was somewhat displeased. Madam Shen and she had never seen eye to eye, and she preferred to just exchange greetings and leave.

In the main hall, Madam Shen was having Shen Guiyan's dowry counted. The list of gifts was quite substantial, but the boxes were empty. There were fifteen large boxes, each of which made a sound when shaken.

As soon as Mrs. Wu stepped in, she saw an open box with red silk lining at the bottom, containing only three large plates of official kiln porcelain, not light but not heavy, yet they were packed in a whole box.

"Oh, did I come at an inopportune time?" Mrs. Wu quickly withdrew her foot, looking at the scene in the room, and smiled at the person in the main seat. "I just wanted to say hello, but I didn't expect Madam Shen to be busy."

Madam Shen frowned, glanced at the visitor, and put on a polite smile as she stood up. "So it's Madam Wu. Why didn't anyone announce your arrival?"

She waved her hand to have the servants move the items to the side, then looked at Shen Guiyan and forced a smile. "Madam Wu, please come in and have a seat."

Mrs. Wu didn't stand on ceremony and sat down. Glancing at the dowry piled up in the corner, she raised an eyebrow. "Is this Miss Shen's dowry?"

"Yes, she's about to get married." Madam Shen also sat down. She was wearing a white long dress with a red peony-patterned jacket, which overshadowed Mrs. Wu's simple attire, and she couldn't help but lift her chin as she spoke.

Mrs. Wu snorted and reached for the tea. "Last month, my fourth daughter got married, the daughter of the second wife. I didn't like it, but her dowry filled twenty large boxes. Oh, it's not that I want to meddle in your family affairs, but the mistress of the house should be more generous, or else people will laugh at her, and she'll lose face."

Madam Shen's face darkened, and she said displeasedly, "The customs of each family are naturally different..."

"Yes, the customs of each family naturally reflect their status." Mrs. Wu smiled and counted the boxes. "These items... I suppose Mr. Shen's salary isn't enough this year, so they had to be frugal."

The noble ladies were used to comparing everything, whether it was jewelry, clothes, their daughters' marriages, or their husbands' official positions. Madam Shen naturally couldn't bear to hear this and said through clenched teeth, "My husband's salary is none of your concern."

"Yes, it's not my concern either." Mrs. Wu took a sip of tea and tsked. "But when the time comes, I must have Mrs. Xia, the wife of the Assistant Minister, take a look. Last year, when her concubine daughter got married, she only gave eighteen boxes, and she was laughed at for a year. It's time for a change this year."

Madam Shen opened her mouth, not knowing what to say, and could only glare fiercely at Shen Guiyan.

Shen Guiyan felt that the situation was not right and quickly stepped forward to pull Mrs. Wu, saying, "Madam Wu, why don't you go and offer incense to Aunt Qin first? You came here today for that, not to talk about these things."

(Note: The translation is a creative interpretation of the original text to convey the meaning and tone in English.)

"Burning incense? Qin's daughter is so wronged underground, she probably can't rest in peace even if you burn a lot of incense!" Wu sneered, "I only saw it today. If I hadn't seen it, others would have said that Lady Bao is a virtuous and generous mistress. I don't meddle in your family affairs. On the day of the third miss's marriage, we just came to watch the excitement."

With that, she left first. Shen Guiyan quickly asked Bao Shan to see her off and stayed in the hall herself.

If she followed Wu, it would appear to Lady Shen as if she had brought reinforcements to suppress her, although that was indeed the case. She couldn't let Lady Shen see that.

"What a shrewd and bold woman!" Lady Shen said angrily, "Why did you let her come when there's nothing for her to do? She's even meddling in the affairs of the Shen family. Is her mansion not big enough?"

Shen Guiyan quickly said, "Madam, calm down. Lady Gao has always been like that, and you know that. I came today to burn incense for Aunt Qin. I didn't know you were tidying up in the front hall, so..."

Lady Shen snorted and sat in her seat, fuming for a while before waving her hand and saying, "You can go down first."

"Yes." Shen Guiyan replied and obediently left the front hall, hurrying to catch up with Wu.

Wu was waiting for her at the front door, with no trace of anger on her face. When Shen Guiyan approached, she sighed and said, "You clever girl, I knew there must be some difficulty for you to call me here."

Shen Guiyan blushed slightly and knelt down to thank her, "Thank you, madam."

"Enough, I'm willing to help you after all. It was right for you to invite me. If it were someone else, even the wife of the prime minister wouldn't be of any use." Wu smiled and said in a low voice, "Bao Shilan is very concerned about her reputation. After being scolded by me today, she will definitely not dare to reduce your dowry. Otherwise, at the next gathering, we will all mock her, and she won't be able to bear it."

Shen Guiyan nodded and whispered, "I don't seek a lavish dowry, just to maintain propriety. Thank you for your help, madam."

"You..." Wu patted her hand, "Find some time to talk to Jin'er. She's idle in the women's quarters too."

"Okay." Shen Guiyan nodded and watched Wu leave in her carriage.

After Wu's intervention, Lady Shen was angry for a while, but she quietly instructed the steward to procure some additional items, cobbling together at least twenty more boxes.

She had not considered it properly before, and it was a loss for Shen Guiyan, but losing face was a big deal. Having a few more boxes wouldn't hurt. When Shen Guiyan married into the family, she would still be under Lady Ya's authority, right?

With the dowry matter resolved, Shen Guiyan could prepare for her marriage with peace of mind. She would wear mourning for fifteen days, and then put on her wedding dress.

But before five days had passed since the previous family incident, there was another person hanging outside her window.

"Yan'er, I've thought about it and I just can't accept it." Gu Chaodong stood outside her window, looking serious. "The clothes and hair that day were messed up by you. When you opened the window to respond to me, everything was in order. Nothing happened between you and my fourth brother, right?"

Shen Guiyan looked at the person outside the window calmly and said, "Young Master Gu, everything that needed to be said has already been said last time. Since you willingly married my younger sister, you shouldn't come to me again. The matter between me and the fourth young master is none of your concern."

They were already married, and he was still coming to her window in the middle of the night like a bat. If Shen Guiya knew, what would she feel?

Gu Chaodong's face lit up, completely ignoring what she said, and said to himself, "I was right. You are still a virgin. In that case, why not just be with me? Even if I have to confess to my father, even if I have to be punished, I want to be with you."

"Snap." Shen Guiyan closed the window expressionlessly.

She had many expectations of this person before. Were her eyes covered in sand before? How could she have thought that Gu Chaodong, a suave and knowledgeable young master, would be a good husband?

She had been brought up with rules and regulations, and since it was her parents' command and the matchmaker's arrangement, she had always regarded Gu Chaodong as her husband, so she had placed a lot of emotional investment in him. But now this person not only betrayed her but also expected her to compromise with him?

Does he have no shame?

For the first time, Shen Guiyan found Gu Chaodong's behavior so repulsive. She turned and took the half-cold teapot from the table, and opened the window again.

"Yan'er, listen to me..."

She poured the tea out, and then casually placed the teapot in Gu Chaodong's hand, "A person should have a sense of shame. I won't see you off, young master."