"Baby, since you can communicate with your mother so early, you must have an extraordinary origin. I won't ask too much, but I must warn you. We are about to face a great disaster, so you must be a good baby in my womb," Bai Suihe said, her heart filled with a bitter sense of helplessness.
Without any cheat abilities, she had already prepared for the worst. The events would likely follow the original plot of the book, where she would die along with her unborn child on the path of exile. The baby in her womb was entirely innocent, yet her chance to grow up would be brutally stripped away.
If she were seven or eight months along, she would have risked everything to induce labor early. But at only five months, the baby simply could not survive outside the womb.
"Mother, are you talking about the disaster of the Gu Mansion?"
Bai Suihe was startled. She wondered in shock, "Could the baby in my womb be reincarnated too?"
"How do you know that, baby?" Bai Suihe could not help but ask probingly.
"That's because I can predict the future! Don't worry, Mother. With me here, I'll definitely keep you all safe and sound."
However, Bai Suihe would not pin her hopes on an unborn child. She smiled bitterly. "Don't worry about it, baby. Just focus on growing safely inside my belly. I will do everything in my power to ensure you are born safely." Faced with such a predicament, Bai Suihe had no way out.
"Mother, don't panic. I will figure something out."
As soon as the voice finished speaking, her ears fell silent. Bai Suihe called out a few times but received no response.
Caressing her belly, Bai Suihe grew increasingly anxious. Looking at the room full of riches, she wondered if she really had to wait helplessly for the day their estate would be confiscated. Gazing through the window screen at the bustling servants outside, she thought of Dongmei and Chunxiang, who were unfailingly loyal to her. She could return their indenture contracts to them. They were hereditary servants of the Bai Family, and their entire extended family had come along as part of her dowry entourage. She decided to find a time to talk to them, to see if they wanted to return to the Bai Family or go back to their hometown. However, according to her memories, the Bai Family would directly expel her from the clan to protect themselves.
"Dongmei," Bai Suihe called out. She whispered some instructions into the maid's ear. Dongmei repeated them once before leaving in a hurry. Then, she called Chunxiang in, whispered similar instructions, and sent her out carrying a small box.
Being confined to the inner courtyard had its drawbacks; as a master, her movements were even more restricted than those of her servants. It was not that she couldn't leave the Gu Mansion, but she needed permission from the head of the household, Old Madam Gu. It truly was an evil feudal society. She felt uneasy entrusting such important matters entirely to her subordinates and knew she had to make a trip herself eventually. However, since she couldn't go out today, she decided to take inventory of her assets instead.
The Bai Family was a merchant family. The reason she was able to marry into the household of the Vice Minister of Ministry of War was because her father and Vice Minister Gu were close friends in their youth, and her father had financially supported his imperial examinations. Later, when Gu Baijiang became an official, he indeed offered protection to the Bai Family. However, everyone knew that favors wore thin over time. That was why the Bai Family came up with the idea of forming a marriage alliance between their children. They initially thought it would take a great deal of effort, but to their surprise, Gu Baijiang readily agreed. Among the children on both sides, only she and Gu Kaiyuan were of a suitable age. Thus, she married into the Gu Mansion.
She was marrying up, and since the Bai Family was incredibly wealthy in their region, they provided a substantial dowry. She heard her second brother mention upon his return that just reading her dowry list required the butler and two managers of the Gu Mansion to take turns.
Gu Baijiang always prided himself on his integrity. Having risen to prominence step by step through the imperial examinations, he had established strict family rules early on to secure a foothold in the capital. A few of these rules made the prominent families in the capital view him in a new light. The first rule stated that a man could only take a concubine if he reached the age of forty without a son. Another rule dictated that women who married into the Gu Family would retain full control over their own dowries, keeping them completely separate from the public expenses of the household. Because of these rules, no matter how green with envy Old Madam Gu was, she had to suppress her greed.
Taking her dowry list out of the cabinet, the set of jewelry mentioned earlier was listed prominently at the very top. They had summoned her over today in hopes that she would willingly offer it up with both hands. She remembered that according to the book's plot, this was exactly what the original owner of the body had done. In front of all the female relatives, no matter how reluctant she was, she was forced to lend the jewelry out. But this loan would never be repaid; even when the estate was eventually confiscated, she never got it back. Afterward, her husband in name only tried to ask the first branch of the family to return it, only to be dismissed with various excuses. Although she managed to protect her belongings today, she had no idea whose pockets they would fall into in half a month.
Bai Suihe was incredibly envious of the cheat abilities possessed by other transmigrators, especially pocket dimensions. Unfortunately, she didn't have such good luck. Otherwise, she could simply pack all these treasures away and leave nothing for anyone else to exploit.
Taking the dowry list, she headed to the storehouse next door. She pulled a key from her waist and unlocked the door. The two older female servants she had brought from her maiden home immediately stood guard outside.
Looking at the storehouse packed to the brim, Bai Suihe reached out and slowly ran her fingers over the items. In her previous life, she was just an ordinary salarywoman. Now, she had finally acquired immense wealth, only to realize that it would soon vanish like fleeting clouds.
She walked over to the innermost chest and opened it. Inside sat a small wooden box. She flipped open the lid, revealing a box filled to the brim with silver notes. It would not be easy to hide so many silver notes on her person. Her only option was to sew them into the lining of her undergarments, hoping to save a portion of them when the estate was raided. She grabbed a handful of silver notes, stuffed them directly into her robes, and then shut the box. She didn't let herself take another look, afraid her heart would ache too much.
The dowries for marrying off daughters in ancient times were truly elaborate. Golden belts, gold hairpins, feathered gold pins, necklaces, chokers, coronets, headpieces, earrings, bracelets, rings, engraved seals, chest pendants, charms, jade ornaments, Jade Pendants, and jade bangles—all were neatly arranged box by box. The larger items included a magnificent, gold-painted vermilion canopy bed that gleamed brilliantly, gilded wardrobes, exquisitely crafted vanity mirror boxes, intricately carved fertility buckets, a full wardrobe of clothes, and beautifully made shoes. The smaller items ranged from needles, threads, and scissors to a loom, thread boards, and spindles. Everything one could possibly think of had been prepared. There was even a red-lacquered coffin sitting in the corner.
Bai Suihe felt like a beggar who had stumbled upon a fortune. Her eyes could hardly take it all in. However, when she thought about where all this wealth would ultimately end up, she sighed heavily and opened the door to leave. She locked the door again, instructed the two older female servants to keep a close watch, and returned to her room.
Having inherited the original owner's memories, her needlework skills were flawless. Without rushing to rest, she immediately got to work. Once she started, time flew by. Dongmei and Chunxiang, whom she had dispatched earlier, had already returned, bringing back a few plates of food. After working for an entire afternoon, Bai Suihe was starving. It was only after finishing her meal that she asked them, "Are all the tasks settled?"
"Miss, everything has been taken care of." The two senior maids were still accustomed to calling her "Miss" in private. However, they knew their boundaries and strictly adhered to the Gu Mansion's rules in front of outsiders, so Bai Suihe allowed them this liberty.
"You two have been working hard all day, and I don't need any further attendance here. Go get some rest early," Bai Suihe said, noticing the exhaustion in their eyes. She would likely need to assign them more tasks in the coming days, and she couldn't afford to let them collapse from overwork.
"Miss, this servant will wait on you to wash up before resting." In truth, Dongmei could barely keep her eyes open. After all, she and Chunxiang had stayed up keeping watch all through the previous night.