Chapter 23: Doing It Out of Necessity

After helping Ziling into the carriage, Gu Yunfeng mounted his horse, and the two of them made their way back to the mansion.

When they passed the side gate of the Duke of Dongling's residence, the carriage came to a halt again. Ziling emerged from the carriage, and Gu Yunfeng took her for a horse ride around the streets.

In front of others, Ziling could display their affection without blushing or panting, but in the presence of the Duke of Dongling and the Tang family, she couldn't do it and had to keep her distance.

They paraded through the streets, making it known that she was the recognized young mistress of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, the apple of Gu Yunfeng's eye. Their love was genuine and not just a facade.

From now on, when others dared to throw rotten eggs at her, they would consider the weight of the Duke of Dongling's residence and the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion.

As they rode on horseback, chatting and laughing, Ziling enjoyed the comfortable luxury of lying inside the spacious carriage all by herself. She had intended to keep her distance from the Duke of Dongling and the Tang family and prevent them from finding out, but unfortunately, she couldn't hide it.

The Duke of Dongling, feeling uneasy, had sent a servant to follow them from behind, intending to escort them back to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion. However, the servant witnessed the scene and hurried back to report it to the Duke of Dongling.

The Duke of Dongling exclaimed with delight, "I was worried that they were pretending to be affectionate to deceive me, but it turns out they are even more in love than I thought."

Tang Shi couldn't help but suppress her laughter, "Our daughter has grown up. She has learned to be shy in front of her parents, but in front of others..."

Her daughter's face had indeed become thicker.

"It's only natural for them to grow closer while distancing themselves from others," the Duke of Dongling said with a pleased expression.

On horseback, Ziling sneezed, her nose feeling itchy.

She observed the curious glances and shameless stares from passersby, as well as the disdainful expressions directed their way.

Ziling pinched her own cheek.

Gu Yunfeng, instead of rubbing her nose, pinched her cheek and chuckled, "Is it your face that sneezed?"

Ziling gave him a disdainful look and sighed, "Today should be the peak of our thick-skinned existence. There should be no chance to surpass it in the future."

Gu Yunfeng remained silent.

"From your tone, it seems like you still want to challenge it in the future," Gu Yunfeng remarked.

"Who wants to challenge it?!" If possible, she wouldn't want it like this at all! She had inherited a mess and had to do it out of necessity!

Taking a deep breath, Ziling smiled and said, "Challenges are too difficult. Unless I marry another husband and walk around with him in front of you, then beat you up, there's no way it'll happen."

Gu Yunfeng's face turned as dark as the bottom of a pot.

Gu Yunfeng unconsciously tightened his grip on Ziling's hand, causing her some pain. She lightly tapped him and said, "Are you trying to strangle me?"

"I won't strangle you, but sooner or later, you'll drive me crazy," replied Ziling.

Gu Yunfeng took a deep breath and loosened his grip slightly. He recalled the question that had popped into his mind earlier in the study and asked, "If someone accused you of pretending to be wealthy, how would you refute it?"

Ziling stroked the horse's mane and rolled her eyes, saying, "With my current level of shamelessness and thickness of skin, my invisible wealth is beyond comparison. There are hardly a few in the entire capital who can match me. Do I need to pretend to be wealthy? It's shallow to flaunt everything on one's face."

Gu Yunfeng remained silent for a moment. Ziling asked, "Why aren't you saying anything?"

It wasn't that he didn't want to speak, but rather that his silence was a silent rebuttal. If he had something to say, it would be, "You're right."

There was another period of silence. However, this time, it was Gu Yunfeng who broke the tranquility. He said, "You don't actually plan to bring all eighteen weapons into the Duke's residence, do you?"

Ziling lowered her gaze.

He made it sound like she was the one who wanted to bring them in. Wasn't it something the Marquis of Dongling had sent specially from Qingyun Mountain's Fei Huo Stronghold? She had refused, fearing it would hurt her parents' feelings.

Ziling glanced at Gu Yunfeng and said, "Am I not allowed to bring a few things with me as the young mistress?"

"As long as you don't display them in the rooms," Gu Yunfeng replied.

He didn't want to wake up every day to a room full of swords, guns, and weapons of all kinds.

Ziling's eyes lit up. "In that case, I'll have them with me every night."

Gu Yunfeng raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"

Ziling suddenly realized those were lethal weapons, extremely sharp. It wouldn't be good if she accidentally harmed herself while turning over in bed at night.

"Not sure," Ziling quickly changed her statement, not wanting to give Gu Yunfeng a reason to laugh at her. "If it's more comfortable to embrace you, of course, I'd prefer to embrace you."

Gu Yunfeng thought to himself, What a hooligan!

He wished he could just throw her off the horse.

After walking for a while, Ziling took out a silver ticket from her pocket and handed it to Gu Yunfeng.

It was the same ticket she had given to Tangshi, the ten thousand taels of silver ticket that Tangshi didn't want.

Gu Yunfeng raised an eyebrow and said with a hint of satisfaction, "You actually returned a portion of the stolen silver ticket to me. Has your conscience awakened?"

"Don't think too highly of yourself. You'll pay when we go shopping later," Ziling replied.

"..."

A man who cherishes his wife would never let her pay for shopping. Even though wool comes from the sheep, it feels different. Since they were showcasing their love, they had to go all out.

When they arrived at the bustling street, Gu Yunfeng got off the carriage and helped Ziling down.

It was Ziling's first time going shopping, and everything looked novel to her. Together with Qianqian, who hadn't seen much of the lively capital, they wandered from one place to another, thoroughly enjoying themselves.

Gu Yunfeng's role was to follow behind, looking like an indulgent moneybag.

She would buy things, and he would pay. She would eat, and he would help wipe the corners of her mouth. If she choked, he would pat her back. If she accidentally sprained her foot, he would help massage her foot and ankle. ...

As for the whispers and pointing from others, they completely ignored them, as if they couldn't hear. To use the criticism of passersby, they treated the busy street as their own private room.

Ziling was looking at rouge and asked Gu Yunfeng which one looked better.

Gu Yunfeng had just learned a powerful move from Dongling Marquis, which not only injured a nearby stallholder but also hurt Ziling.

"Wife, whatever rouge you put on looks beautiful," Gu Yunfeng answered.

"...What about charcoal?" Ziling asked, rubbing the goosebumps on her arms.

Gu Yunfeng "...!!!"

Was this going against common sense, or a new way of showcasing their love?

Turning his head, Gu Yunfeng asked the servant, "Do you sell charcoal here?"

Ziling "..."

Stallholder "..."

On the other side, Qianqian hopped over excitedly and said, "Miss, everyone says that Young Master is an unparalleled good husband. There's only one like him in the Great Qi Dynasty, and you've taken him for yourself. They're so jealous that they want to push you into the lake to drown."

Ziling "..."

Seeing Qianqian's elation, Ziling patted her forehead and said, "They want to drown me, and you're still laughing."

Rubbing her forehead, Qianqian laughed heartily, showing her teeth but not her eyes, "I told them that you can walk on water, and those ladies got so angry they wanted to beat me up. Luckily, I ran fast."

Never seen someone so deserving of a beating.

Ziling massaged her temples and saw Gu Yunfeng looking at her. She said, "Husband, congratulations on earning the title of an unparalleled good husband."

At this point, they could take a break.

If they continued to show off, they would end up in disaster together with everyone else.

Gu Yunfeng didn't understand Ziling's meaning and thought she was urging him to show off again. He could only blink his eyelids and modestly say, "Without an unparalleled good wife, where would there be an unparalleled good husband?"

Ziling "..."

Were they addicted to showing off?

Ugh!

These two lunatics!

Vendor: The vendor's waist was pinched by his daughter-in-law, and he burst out, "I'm not selling anymore! Closing up shop! Take a right up ahead, then another right, there's someone selling charcoal there. Get as much as you want!"

Ziling: "..."

Gu Yunfeng: "..."