Lin Yan couldn't help but laugh upon hearing Gu Yu's words.
"My aunt is truly something else!"
Although she wished to cause trouble for Lin Yan at every turn, it had to be said that if she continued to act out like this, she would eventually exhaust her uncle's patience.
"What happened next? How did my esteemed uncle resolve it?" Lin Yan asked after her laughter subsided.
"His Lordship paid for it himself," Gu Yu said with a hint of dejection. The reason the Marquise could behave so outrageously was simply because the Marquis tolerated her.
"This concerns the reputation of the Marquis's estate. By the way, Gu Yu, tell Steward Grandpa later to add two baskets of silver-thread charcoal to the New Year's gifts for all my cousins when we go to the Marquis's estate for the New Year," Lin Yan said with a smile.
"We can't let my cousins freeze this winter because of me! It will still be cold for some time after the New Year, and we can't always make Uncle pay out of his own pocket!"
Lin Yan's suggestion was rather mischievous, but it undoubtedly made people feel a sense of satisfaction.
"Miss is right. I'll have Steward Grandpa prepare them right away," Gu Yu replied with a smile.
Her young lady's idea was truly excellent. They certainly wouldn't take the blame for this.
"Alright, bring me that booklet and place it over there. I'll read it when I have time. Another batch of fabrics has arrived from Jiangnan. Have the tailors make some new clothes for us in the fashionable styles of the capital. We can't possibly continue wearing such plain attire after mourning."
"Thank you, Miss! However, as for your clothes, Granny Fang has already had them prepared. You will absolutely not be outdone by the young ladies of the capital."
"Alright, go and pick out the fabrics! I don't need anyone to attend to me here."
"Then Miss, I shall take my leave," Gu Yu said and departed immediately.
Her young lady had become increasingly fond of being alone in the past two years, disliking having people around her and always assigning them their respective duties.
However, Gu Yu felt that her young lady was doing very well like this.
On the day of ending mourning, Lin Yan did not make a grand affair of it, and even if she had wanted to, there were not many relatives of the Lin family here.
Lin Yan merely sent an invitation to the Marquis of Huaiyin's estate, preparing to receive them. Whether they came or not was beyond her concern.
However, she also knew that with the Marquis of Huaiyin present, people would definitely come.
On the day of ending mourning, everyone on the estate behaved cordially, and the Marquise did not cause any trouble.
A few days after ending her mourning period, Lin Yan went to the Marquis of Huaiyin's estate to prepare for spending the New Year there. Naturally, she still sent those boxes of New Year's gifts to everyone.
As for their reactions upon receiving these gifts, she paid no mind.
The news of Lin Yan's return to the Marquis's estate did not stir up much of a ripple, but it did not escape the notice of those who were observant.
Tang Leyi was precisely such an observant person. In her previous life, she had seen how well that woman was treated by the heir of the Marquis's estate. Compared to her own husband, who was infatuated with countless women, he was such an excellent prospect!
In her past life, after seeing so many men, he was the only one who could promise to be faithful for a lifetime.
Therefore, from the very beginning, she had kept an eye on the heir of the Marquis of Huaiyin. This attention led her to discover just how dazzling he was.
Not only was he handsome, but he was also talented. However, he already had a cousin betrothed to him.
In her previous life, because he was her stepsister's husband, she had never truly observed him. But now, since he had no connection with her stepsister, she could openly appraise him.
The more she looked, the more she felt he was the perfect husband candidate in her heart. She still remembered what he looked like the first time she saw him in this life.
He rode in on horseback, backlit by the sun, which seemed to cast a golden halo around him, making him appear even more handsome and extraordinary.
She was utterly tired of the effeminate pretty boys like her previous life's husband. Such a heroic man was the true man in her heart.
Her current thought was that she wanted this man to become her husband. She wanted him to make that promise of lifelong monogamy to her.
As long as she, Tang Leyi, could marry him, she could live the life she envied the most in her previous existence.
She did not remember how her fiancé in the previous life was dealt with, but since she did not marry the heir Feng in her previous life, then she was not snatching someone else's marriage.
Therefore, as soon as Lin Yan returned to the Marquis's estate, she found out. At the same time, she had also gone to see that fiancée.
She was a sickly beauty, her health seeming somewhat frail. It was said she had observed mourning for thirty months. However, Tang Leyi believed she would not be liked by the Marquise.
After all, she had been deliberately made difficult by her mother-in-law, and she knew that no mother-in-law would like such a sickly daughter-in-law.
Her pale complexion and her delicate, willow-like physique would not appeal to the Marquise. Moreover, she was an orphan, and her status could not offer any assistance to her son.
This was the greatest sin. Therefore, no matter how talented or capable this person was, she was worthless in her eyes.
In this era, a woman's backing was her family, and this cousin lacked a family, which was her biggest deficiency.
Tang Leyi had also heard some rumors about the incidents that had occurred at the Marquis of Huaiyin's estate. The Marquise was practically advertising her dislike for this cousin.
With such a relationship, if she were to marry into the Marquis's estate, her future life would not be easy. Given the cousin's weak health, if she were constantly harassed by her mother-in-law, she probably wouldn't last long.
Even someone as healthy as herself had been bedridden for a long time due to her mother-in-law's torment. If her father and mother had not intervened, her mother-in-law would likely have escalated her behavior.
It was fortunate for this cousin that she could not marry the heir. Therefore, she might as well help her.
As for whether Tang Leyi would have mother-in-law issues after marrying in, as the only legitimate daughter of the Duke of An's estate, she had plenty of confidence. Although the Marquise was a county princess, she was ultimately just a Marquise, while her own mother was the wife of a first-rank Duke.
For the sake of her son's future, she would not treat her harshly. Was it not the same when Tang Xinyi married in?
If her son refused to take concubines and remained faithful to his legitimate wife, she could only accept it grudgingly.
What Tang Xinyi could achieve, she certainly could too. After all, compared to that legitimate daughter who came from who-knows-where and joined their ranks halfway, she, a legitimate daughter personally educated by the Duchess, would surely be more pleasing to the Marquise?
Now that this cousin had returned to the Marquis's estate for the New Year, she must have made the Marquise very angry. By the time of the plum blossom banquet at the Prince of Ning's mansion, she would definitely make a deep impression on the Marquise and the heir.
As for that outsider who had occupied her stepsister's body, judging by her interactions in the past few days, she was utterly vulgar. She truly did not understand why she, in her previous life, had been so discouraged by her.
Her manners were rude, her speech was crude, and she even had an accent from who-knows-where. She didn't even know how to curtsy properly.
Were everyone in her previous life blind? Why had they not noticed at all that she was such a person?