Chapter 269: Chapter 269: Standing on the Daughter-in-law’s Side

When Gu Qingli and Xiao Yunjing went into the mountains, Xiao Yuling also got up early to help.

“Aiyo, Granny’s little darling!” Xiao Yuling truly let herself go. Without Gu Qingli at home, she had no inhibitions and immediately hugged and kissed the little dumpling.

The little dumpling was exceedingly aloof; she didn’t cry, laugh, or fuss, yet Xiao Yuling loved to tease her the most.

“Old Madam, the little miss needs to be fed,” Wuqing said, reaching out to take the little dumpling.

Xiao Yuling reluctantly passed the little dumpling to Wuqing, then sat to one side, curious about the baby bottle in Wuqing’s hand.

“Wuqing, have you all been busy making medicine these days?” Xiao Yuling finally found the chance to ask, having suppressed her curiosity for a long time.

“Yes,” Wuqing nodded, then focused on feeding the little dumpling.

“Is your medicine sold at the medical clinic?”

Wuqing didn’t even lift her head. “Miss has her own medical clinic.”

“Oh, where is it? In the town or the county seat?” In Xiao Yuling’s eyes, Gu Qingli and the others were just dabbling in minor ventures. How could they possibly afford to open a medical clinic and drugstore in the County City?

In the County City, never mind buying a shop, the annual rent alone would be several hundred taels.

Wuqing turned her head, glanced at her, and said, “Miss owns Gu Clinic.”

“What? G-Gu Clinic?” Xiao Yuling’s eyes widened. Everyone in the Daqian Kingdom knew of Gu Clinic. So it belongs to my daughter-in-law!

Heavens! One pill from Gu Clinic was worth a hundred taels. Ten pills would be a thousand, a hundred would be ten thousand, and a thousand pills would be one hundred thousand taels!

Xiao Yuling swallowed hard. So much silver! Those were the only words echoing in her mind.

“Could there be two Gu Clinics in Daqian?” Wuqing shot her a sidelong glance. That’ll teach you to underestimate my Miss!

Xiao Yuling could only chuckle awkwardly.

Wuqing felt a touch of disdain. So what if she was an Imperial Consort? How different was she from the common village women? They were all the same. The moment they heard their daughter-in-law was successful, their attitude completely changed.

“Don’t go blabbing about this everywhere. Miss says to make a fortune quietly,” Wuqing warned. “Don’t be a gossip, telling everyone you meet.”

“I won’t, I won’t say a word.” Xiao Yuling understood this. She knew the efficacy of her daughter-in-law’s pills; they were miraculously effective, curing illnesses upon administration.

She herself had been poisoned for decades, and just two pills had completely cured her.

She even suspected her son and daughter-in-law lived in this remote, out-of-the-way corner precisely to avoid attracting attention.

She wouldn’t breathe a word of it, even if it killed her.

If someone got jealous and came looking for trouble, implicating her precious granddaughter, that would be unacceptable.

Once Wuqing finished feeding the little dumpling, Xiao Yuling eagerly took the baby for a stroll.

Wuqing’s lips curved into a knowing smirk.

Gu Qingli and Xiao Yunjing didn’t return home until late that evening. They had a bountiful harvest that day, enough to make tens of thousands more pills.

That night, Gu Qingli and her two servants began processing the medicinal ingredients again.

「Seven days later」

News arrived that the epidemic in the affected region had been brought under control. Anyone who took the pills from Gu Clinic experienced immediate, remarkable improvement, their illnesses cured as if by magic.

“Li’er, some of the pills weren’t sold for money,” Xiao Yunjing told Gu Qingli that night. He looked like a child who had done something wrong, anxiously awaiting a scolding from his parents, appearing quite flustered.

“How much is ’some’?” Gu Qingli asked, looking at him.

When this fellow says ’some,’ it usually means at least half. Those pills cost one hundred taels each; not everyone can afford them. There are poor people in the south too.

“Th-there was a quarter,” Xiao Yunjing stammered.

A quarter? That’s forty thousand pills! How much money would forty thousand pills sell for? That’s millions of taels of silver! Gu Qingli clutched her chest; her heart ached terribly.

“Phew!” Gu Qingli took a deep breath. Forget it. They’ve already been given away. What could she say? What could she do? Just consider it a good deed, accumulating blessings for the family.

“This is not to happen again. Your allowance is halved,” Gu Qingli finally managed to squeeze out through gritted teeth.

“Okay, okay! I don’t need any allowance at all!” Ever since they returned to Qiyang County, Gu Qingli managed all the accounts and money. He only received one hundred taels a month as pocket money. To appease his wife and let her calm down, he wouldn’t mind losing all his allowance, not even a single cent.

Gu Qingli clutched her chest and said, “You said it. Not a single cent for the next ten years!”

“Alright, alright.” Xiao Yunjing immediately came forward to help calm her down.

“Stay away from me! When I see you, I’m reminded of all my gleaming silver that’s gone!” Gu Qingli pushed him away with her hand.

“Alright, alright, Li’er, don’t be angry. I’ll leave, I’ll leave.” Saying this, Xiao Yunjing quickly exited and stood by the door.

Inside the room, Gu Qingli watched him go and finally felt a little better.

「A short while later」

Xiao Yunjing pushed the door open and came back in.

Gu Qingli glared fiercely at this prodigal. Doesn’t he know how to be flexible? There are so many poor people; can they all be saved? He should have at least recovered some of the costs!

Seeing that she had calmed down a bit, Xiao Yunjing approached to embrace her.

“Get away from me.”

Her anger wouldn’t dissipate that easily.

Xiao Yunjing awkwardly withdrew his hands.

That night, Xiao Yunjing slept on the daybed.

「The next day」

Xiao Yunjing was assigned to personally deliver the pills.

At noon, Xiaoliu asked, “Young Master, should we go home for lunch, or eat out before heading back?”

Xiao Yunjing had wanted to say they should go home to eat. But then he’d have to go back with an empty stomach. Could he admit he didn’t have a single copper coin on him? When he left that morning, Gu Qingli had confiscated every last bit of his money. Ah, right! I can go to the Auspicious House Restaurant!

“Let’s go! We’ll eat at the restaurant,” he declared.

“Ah, great!” Xiaoliu immediately drove the carriage towards the restaurant.

When Xiao Yunjing arrived home in the afternoon, Gu Qingli asked him, “How was business at the restaurant today?”

She had been so muddled by her anger that morning, she’d forgotten to have him take some vegetables to the restaurant.

Xiao Yunjing, thinking she was alluding to his lack of money and subsequent decision to eat at their own restaurant, scratched his head and nodded. “It was alright.”

“Oh. Then send some vegetables to the restaurant tomorrow.”

“Huh? Oh, okay, okay.” Only then did Xiao Yunjing realize he had misunderstood.

「The second day」

Sure enough, Xiao Yunjing delivered another cart full of vegetables to the Auspicious House Restaurant.

「The third day」

Xiao Yunjing was tasked with breaking the ice on the river to catch fish.

「The fourth day」

Xiao Yunjing was again sent out, this time to deliver the fish.

The people at home finally sensed that something was amiss.

Wuqing asked, “Wuyou, what’s going on with the Young Master?”

Wuyou shook her head. “I don’t know.”

Xiao Yuling also sidled over. “You two have noticed something’s wrong as well?”

The two young women nodded. “Yes!”

Wuqing then asked Xiao Yuling, “Do you dare to ask her?”

Xiao Yuling glared at her. “I wouldn’t dare! Would you?”

Her relationship with her daughter-in-law had only just begun to thaw; she didn’t want to risk upsetting her now. She had seen it clearly: in this household, the daughter-in-law called the shots. To live comfortably here, one had to side with the daughter-in-law. Even her own son willingly submitted; she wasn’t foolish enough to rush into the line of fire.

Wuqing and Wuyou simultaneously shook their heads. They dared even less. Their Young Miss rarely lost her temper. For her to be giving the Young Master the cold shoulder these past few days, he must have done something to displease her. They certainly wouldn’t dare to inquire. They would have to wait until their Young Miss’s anger had completely subsided before anything could be said.

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