Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside Chapter 1598: Siege and Schemes

The concubine Gu Jinli referred to is the one from Company Commander Jin’s Family.

Company Commander Jin did not bring his wife and children along, but he couldn’t be without a woman. So, he took a liking to a young widow and accepted her as a concubine to serve him in the Northwest.

Concubines held low status in Great Chu, and both Mrs. Han and Ji Zhenniang were proud women who wouldn’t sit at the same table as a concubine. Therefore, whenever there was something to discuss, they would deliberate first and then send a servant to notify the people on Company Commander Jin’s side to follow the instructions.

Thus, Gu Jinli had never met Company Commander Jin’s concubine, but this time, she had to meet her.

"Bring her to the front yard. I want to see what’s driving her mad," Gu Jinli said, leading Nanny Tao and Sanqing to wait in the front yard.

Xiao Ji went to fetch Mrs. Han and Ji Zhenniang.

Erqing, taking people to the courtyard where Company Commander Jin’s relatives lived, said to the weeping Ms. Xiao Ji, "Our lady wants to see you. Come with us quickly."

Erqing did not refer to herself as a slave because Ms. Xiao Ji, as a concubine, was equivalent to a servant. There was no need to call oneself a slave in front of her.

Ms. Xiao Ji frowned upon hearing this. Why would the Gu Family simply send a servant to call her? Shouldn’t they come in person to persuade her not to leave?

Feeling displeased, Ms. Xiao Ji pressed her handkerchief to the corner of her eyes, wiping away tears, and gently rubbed her abdomen as she sobbed, "Miss Erqing, I must lead my relatives to escape. I don’t have the time to see Mrs. Qin. I hope Mrs. Qin will forgive me..."

After finishing, she stood up, changing her hand from supporting her abdomen to resting on her waist, addressing Company Commander Jin’s cousin and his wife, "Cousin, cousin-in-law, pack up quickly. If we’re too slow, once the city falls, we won’t be able to escape."

"Aye," replied the Tang couple, scolding their relatives, "Hurry up, why is it taking so long to pack? You’re waiting for the city to fall and be cut down by the Rong people?!"

Erqing laughed and asked, "Do you even know what you’re saying? What you’ve said is already disturbing military morale, and you can be executed for that!"

The Tang couple was slightly panicked upon hearing this, but seeing Erqing as a servant, they put on airs, pointing at her, "What right does a slave like you have to lecture us? In front of you, we’re the masters, understand?!"

"Masters? Is there a master who is ordered around by a concubine?" Erqing retorted and then looked at Ms. Xiao Ji, warning her, "My lady asked you to meet her in the front yard. Are you coming or not?"

Ms. Xiao Ji glanced at Erqing’s cold face, thinking of the ferocity of the Gu Family, and was somewhat afraid. But she was annoyed that the Gu Family looked down on her, never inviting her when discussing matters with the company commanders’ wives. She wanted to teach the Gu Family a lesson, so she stubbornly said, "Miss Erqing, I really can’t spare any time here. Apologies to Mrs. Qin."

After saying that, she wiped her tears again, adding, "Why not trouble Mrs. Qin to come to..."

She stopped mid-sentence, clearly egging for a beating.

Erqing said, "Since it’s like this, I won’t be polite."

Then, she rushed in, twisted Ms. Xiao Ji’s hand almost to the point of dislocation.

Ms. Xiao Ji was dumbfounded, never expecting that this wretched maid would dare lay hands on her. But unable to win against Erqing, she could only cry out, "Help, let me go; you can’t do this to me, it’ll hurt the chil... wah wah wah!"

Again, she stopped mid-sentence, but Erqing already understood what she meant and was unrelenting, directly dragging her away.

"What are you doing? Let go of my cousin-in-law! If anything happens to her, not just you, but even your lady won’t be able to bear the consequences!" Mrs. Tang Yang yelled, charging forward to hit Erqing, only to be kicked aside by Erqing, falling onto the ground with a thud.

Erqing warned, "Mrs. Tang Yang, don’t be foolish; you can’t afford the consequences of offending my lady."

The accompanying relatives all knew how fierce Gu Jinli was, especially when dealing with shrews. She had no mercy for shrews.

However, obedient relatives also gained numerous benefits from her, so the majority sided with Gu Jinli, while only a few troublemakers liked to stir up issues.

Mrs. Tang Yang was frightened but looked at Ms. Xiao Ji’s belly, thinking about Ms. Xiao Ji’s promises to their couple. She stiffened again, retorting, "There’s a long way to go; who knows who’ll be the final Mrs. Jin?"

The statement was puzzling, but its meaning was clear: Mrs. Tang Yang sided with Ms. Xiao Ji, intending to elevate her as Mrs. Jin.

Erqing listened, sneering, and ignored Mrs. Tang Yang, dragging Ms. Xiao Ji away.

Mrs. Tang Yang quickly grabbed her husband’s arm, calling to the accompanying relatives, "Let’s go, let’s go see what’s happening. We can’t let anything happen to cousin-in-law when cousin isn’t here!"

The relatives on Company Commander Jin’s side were frightened by the sudden news of the Rong people besieging the city, which is why they packed to escape. But over the months, they had also grown quite afraid of Gu Jinli.

Hearing this, they said nothing but dared not not follow, lowering their heads and following the Tang Yang couple to the front yard.

Gu Jinli was already waiting in the front yard, sitting in the guest hall, looking coldly at Ms. Xiao Ji below the steps, frightening her.

Yet, since Ms. Xiao Ji had already started causing trouble, she needed to see it through to get results. Otherwise, with Gu Jinli constantly keeping her out, how could she climb up? How could she truly become Mrs. Jin in the Northwest?

"Wah wah wah, Mrs. Qin, you had a servant bind me; what is it for? If you dislike me, you can just beat me, but you must not delay everyone else’s chance to escape!" Ms. Xiao Ji cried tragically, looking utterly wronged.

Mrs. Han, Ji Zhenniang, Mrs. Kuang, Ms. Lu, and others had just arrived at the front yard and heard this. They furrowed their brows but said nothing, walking into the guest hall.

Gu Jinli saw them arrive and then looked at Ms. Xiao Ji and her companions. Sneering, she said, "Not delay everyone’s escape? If you want to leave Xing’an Prefecture, you can! Hurry and go, and I’ll make spirit tablets for you, to bid you a good journey."

"Mrs. Qin, what do you mean by that?" asked one of the soldiers’ wives. "Are you saying we might die escaping?"

The other relatives chimed in, "Right, Mrs. Qin, what do you mean? Mrs. Xiao Jin said the Rong people besieged the city. If the city falls, we’ll either be killed or defiled; we must leave quickly. There’s a way out only by escaping!"

Gu Jinli laughed, "Mrs. Xiao Jin? You call a concubine a wife; isn’t that disregarding Mrs. Jin? Do you think the distance to the Northwest keeps Mrs. Jin unaware of your flaunting a concubine, trampling on her dignity?"

Wang Dayou’s wife hurriedly said, "Mrs. Qin, you’ve misunderstood. We did not mean to offend Mrs. Jin; it was Mrs. Tang who told us to address her that way."

She placed the blame on Mrs. Tang Yang.

Gu Jinli listened, laughing, and pointed at Mrs. Tang Yang, saying, "Mrs. Tang? You are just a commoner, having a small Section Leader’s wife call you ’wife’? Do you want to go to prison for insubordination?!"

Mrs. Tang Yang was startled, hastily explaining, "I didn’t tell them to call me ’wife’; they called me that on their own. Mrs. Qin, please don’t slander me!"

The Gu Family’s ferocity was notorious, and it was said the Gu Family loved involving officials. She needed to detach herself from this issue; otherwise, the Gu Family might indeed drag her to the government office, leading her to prison.