"Thank you for your concern, Second Aunt. With the tonics and doctors sent by His Highness the Ninth Prince, I'm much better now," Gu Jiangyue said, showing no sign of annoyance. With a proper smile on her lips, she bowed gracefully to the Grandmatriarch.
"Jiangyue pays respects to Grandmother."
Xie Jiuan was busy stealing glances at Gu Jiangyue every day. Where would he have the time to send tonics? Moreover, Gu Jiangyue's health was not really a big problem. She just mentioned Xie Jiuan to stop these people from making things difficult for her.
When the Grandmatriarch heard that Xie Jiuan cared so much about Gu Jiangyue, she couldn't help feeling happier, and even her face beamed with smiles.
"Good, good. As long as you're all well, Grandmother will be happy."
Gu Jiangyue cast a furtive glance at Chen Yanqin. Gu Zhengwan had caused a scene in front of so many people. Although she was already engaged to Xie Chengrui, the Third Branch still lost a lot of face.
Chen Yanqin was indecisive. Usually, she did whatever Gu Zhengwan told her to do. Now that Gu Zhengwan was no longer around to give her advice, her arrogance had diminished a lot. She was lowering her head, trying to reduce her presence.
How could Gu Jiangyue let her have her way? Now that the Third Branch was in trouble and the Second Branch was becoming more and more arrogant, there had been many conflicts between the Second and Third Branches before. They just took Gu Jiangyue as a punching bag. Now was the right time to stir up the conflict between them. She was the Ninth Prince's Consort now, and no one could do anything to her.
Under everyone's gaze, Gu Jiangyue walked towards the Grandmatriarch. With a sweet smile on her face, she didn't forget to massage the Grandmatriarch's shoulders and beat her back when she stood beside her, which made the Grandmatriarch laugh frequently and praise Gu Jiangyue for being sensible.
Hearing the laughter, Chen Yanqin finally raised her head. There was a moment of confusion in her eyes, followed by unwillingness and hatred. The position Gu Jiangyue was standing in used to be Gu Zhengwan's. Even if Chen Yanqin was stupid, she could tell that Gu Jiangyue was constantly changing.
It seemed that everything was related to Gu Jiangyue, and she was always the one who benefited. It was the same now. Gu Jiangyue was slowly replacing Gu Zhengwan.
But now Gu Zhengwan's leg could no longer dance. And because the skin on her leg didn't get better, Gu Zhengwan was in a very bad mental state. Chen Yanqin didn't know what to do to help Gu Zhengwan and restrain Gu Jiangyue.
Just then, Gu Jiangyue seemed to sense the envious and dissatisfied looks from everyone. With a smile, she said,
"I heard that the rouge from the newly opened Huayan Tower is very good. His Highness the Ninth Prince specially sent some to me. He also said that the rouge from Huayan Tower has a strange fragrance, and all the princes like it very much. If the sisters need it, I can give you some."
Gu Jiangyue smiled brightly, as if she was really harmless and sincerely wanted to share with them. But if you listened carefully, you would find that Gu Jiangyue was clearly showing off, showing off Xie Jiuan's favor for her. Ordinary people could hear it, not to mention those who were on bad terms with Gu Jiangyue.
Sure enough, as Gu Jiangyue expected, Shen Menglan was the first to speak. She never hid her emotions, especially in front of Gu Jiangyue. In the past, Gu Jiangyue was easy to bully, but now Shen Menglan was still used to it. Her face was extremely ugly, and her words were full of dissatisfaction.
"No need. You can keep it for yourself, Jiangyue. We don't want His Highness the Ninth Prince to scold us. Although we're not as wealthy as the Ninth Prince, we can still afford to buy some rouge."
Hearing that Shen Menglan really refused as she expected, Gu Jiangyue secretly curled her lips into a mocking smile. But she still pretended to be wronged and compromised.
"Okay, but I didn't mean that. I just wanted to help everyone. After all, we're all like sisters."
The Grandmatriarch let out a long sigh. She stretched out her old hand and gently patted Gu Jiangyue's hand on her shoulder, as if to comfort her. Her sharp eyes looked at Shen Menglan. Shen Menglan knew she had said something wrong when she was looked at by the Grandmatriarch, and she also lowered her head.
"Jiangyue means well. You, as the Second Aunt, should understand. I think Jiangyue's suggestion is good. I've also heard of the rouge from Huayan Tower. From now on, the rouge for the young ladies in the mansion will be changed to the ones from Huayan Tower."
No one dared to protest against the Grandmatriarch's decision.
The Grandmatriarch supported Gu Jiangyue not because she liked Gu Jiangyue very much, but because Gu Jiangyue's words reminded her. All the princes liked the fragrance of the rouge from Huayan Tower. In that case, maybe as long as the young ladies in the Gu Mansion used the rouge from Huayan Tower, they could get more favors from the princes.
After all, two young ladies from the Gu Mansion had already engaged with the princes. No matter what happened at Gu Jiangyue's coming - of - age ceremony, the engagement was a fact and had spread, bringing a lot of good reputation to the Gu Mansion.
Although the Grandmatriarch rarely went out and stayed in the Gu Mansion all year round, she could basically hear any news in the capital. The rouge from Huayan Tower was no exception. The Grandmatriarch had also sent someone to buy it, and it was really good. Even if the young ladies in the Gu Mansion couldn't get the attention of the princes with the rouge.
But as long as a woman had a good appearance, other high - ranking officials and nobles would also take a fancy to her. So Gu Jiangyue's suggestion was really good.
Hearing the Grandmatriarch's affirmative tone, Gu Jiangyue felt much more comfortable.
After all, no matter how much the Grandmatriarch calculated, she didn't know that Huayan Tower was opened by Gu Jiangyue. As long as all the young ladies in the Gu Mansion used the rouge from Huayan Tower, she could earn more money. The Gu Mansion was not easy to deal with. Gu Jiangyue guessed that it would be a considerable income.
Gu Jiangyue rolled her eyes. Since the Grandmatriarch had agreed, half of the matter was done. The other half was how to stir up the conflict between the Second and Third Branches.
Gu Jiangyue seemed to have thought of a way. She spoke again,
"Grandmatriarch, don't be angry. Second Aunt must be too busy checking the accounts these days and didn't have a good rest, so she said something wrong."
The previous dissatisfaction on Gu Jiangyue's face disappeared. With a gentle smile on her face, she looked at Shen Menglan. Although Shen Menglan didn't know why Gu Jiangyue would suddenly speak for her, this was indeed the only reason that could excuse her. So she quickly followed Gu Jiangyue's words,
"Jiangyue is right. It's my fault. I've really been too busy these days."
The smile on Shen Menglan's face looked more and more fake. But when she looked at Gu Jiangyue again, she read a mocking look in Gu Jiangyue's smiling face. She didn't understand, but Gu Jiangyue's next words made her almost crazy with anger.
"Second Aunt really needs a good rest. The burden of the whole Gu Mansion is on your shoulders. If you're tired, what will happen to the Gu Mansion?"
Gu Jiangyue's words seemed to be praising Shen Menglan for taking on this important task, but if you thought about it carefully, Gu Jiangyue was clearly implying something, trying to get the Grandmatriarch to deprive her of her power.