Only after leaving the southern part of the city did Wang Fugui dare to call him "Prince".

"Your Highness, your marriage has been arranged. It's with the second young lady of the Xie family."

"What? Second Miss?" Gu Chengyan almost fell off the carriage.

"Yes, it's Miss Xie the Second."

How could it be the second young lady?

Like a bucket of cold water poured over his head, Gu Chengyan was in a state of utter confusion. He returned to the mansion and immediately went to find his father, only to find that his father was not there. He asked the steward, who said that the master had not returned to the mansion since yesterday.

He went to the Tu family's courtyard again, where his mother was sorting out the accounts. It seemed that the accounts didn't match up, and she was angrily cursing.

When the people in the courtyard saw him return, they all greeted him with respectful smiles: "Young Master."

"Mm." He nodded gently, continuing on his way.

Madam Tu put down the accounts in her hand and signaled her personal maid, Granny Wan, to send everyone away first.

With no one else around, Gu Chengyan suppressed his anger and coldly asked, "Mother has betrothed me to the second young lady of the Xie family?"

Tu: "Yes."

"Wasn't it supposed to be the young lady's agreement?"

“The Living Buddha Yuanji has arrived and said that if you and Miss Xie were to marry, blood would flow like a river in both households, a very ominous sign.”

how so?

Gu Chengyan was also taken aback. Not wanting to say anything more, he stood up and went to find his grandmother.

The old lady Hou's courtyard was called Ci'en Courtyard. When the head maid, Taxue, saw him arrive, she quickly reported, "Old lady, the young master has arrived."

When the old lady saw Gu Chengyan enter, followed by Madam Tu, her expression immediately turned sour.

"Where have you been these past few days? You got engaged, but you haven't shown up at all!"

"Grandmother, wasn't it agreed that she would be the eldest daughter of the Xie family? How did she become the second daughter? I am in love with the eldest daughter of the Xie family."

The old lady said, "Didn't your mother tell you the reason?"

"Of course I asked!" Gu Chengyan suppressed a breath and asked only, "Is it still possible to replace it?"

The old lady frowned: "Do you think this is a vegetable market? We definitely can't change it."

Yesterday, the marriage between Xie's second eldest daughter and Yan'er was arranged. I don't know how the third son got the news, but he specially sent someone to deliver a letter to her, asking her to help arrange the marriage with the eldest daughter.

Coincidentally, Madam Xu also had the same idea, saying that there should be an order of seniority and marriage should not skip the eldest daughter. She also said that Grand Secretary Gu was a young and talented man and she did not want to miss the opportunity.

Both sides strongly supported it, and the old lady had no reason to object.

"Grandmother, you've told me since I was little that I should marry the eldest daughter of the Xie family!"

“The Living Buddha said that you and Xie’s eldest daughter are not a good match.”

"No way!" Gu Chengyan roared, utterly furious. "I don't want to thank Miss Xie!"

"Gu Chengyan, who gave you the audacity to yell at your grandmother and mother? Miss Xie was originally going to marry into the Prince Jing's mansion. Do you think they wanted to marry you?"

Madam Tu was furious. "They're willing to marry you, you should be burning incense in gratitude!"

Enraged, Gu Chengyan blurted out, "What does Living Buddha Yuanji know? He's a madman! How can you take his ravings seriously? Even if it's a terrible omen, what does it matter? At worst, I'll just marry the young lady and not consummate the marriage. I don't want to live a life of mutual respect with her. Do you really think I'd have children with her?"

"You scoundrel, how dare you disobey the Living Buddha?" Tu cursed.

Gu Chengyan was so angry he couldn't speak. Yingying had said that fortune telling and living Buddhas were all feudal superstitions.

Even His Majesty is just a mortal. The so-called Son of Heaven and True Dragon are all just ways to fool the people and make them blindly believe.

"The eldest daughter is Xie Anfeng's daughter with his first wife, Xie Yu's younger sister, and Xu Taifu's niece. What about the second daughter? Her birth mother is just a concubine's daughter in the Xu family. Xie Anfeng married her as his second wife only because he thought that as an aunt, she would treat his two children well."

"Yan'er, let me tell you, there's no point in arguing with me. The eldest daughter of the Xie family has already been betrothed to your third uncle," Madam Tu said angrily. "That kind of person is a jinx; he's already causing trouble in the household before he's even entered the family."

"What? You've betrothed her to Third Uncle? That's ridiculous!"

Enraged, Gu Chengyan grabbed a teacup on the table and smashed it to pieces, blurting out, "You've ruined my grand plan!"

The old lady could no longer contain herself and shouted at the door, "Bring the Marquis back immediately! Bring the family law; I want to teach this disrespectful descendant who disobeys the gods and his parents a lesson."

Gu Chengyan's mind went cold instantly. He knelt down, lowered his head, and said, "Grandmother, your grandson was wrong."

"Ha, wrong? It's fine if you say these things in my courtyard, but if they get back to the ears of the Xie family, not only will you, the heir of a marquis's mansion, disappear from the capital without a sound!"

"I had no idea you had such lofty ambitions that you would defy fate and force yourself into marriage!"

"If you didn't marry her to live a harmonious life together, or to have children, then what was your purpose? To exploit your wife? To embezzle her dowry? Or for something else?"

"You've ruined your grand plan! What grand plan? Tell this old woman about it, let me see it too. Is it big enough to turn the world upside down?"

Seeing that the old lady was very angry, Gu Chengyan immediately admitted his mistake: "Grandmother, I was wrong. I was just angry and spoke without thinking because I didn't agree to be engaged to Miss Xie."

The old lady insisted on requesting family discipline.

Pointing at Madam Tu, he said, "Go kneel in the Buddhist hall. You can come out when you realize your mistake."

Marquis Gu Boyu had been gambling for two or three days and had lost more than a hundred taels of silver. He was trying his best to win back his losses when he heard his old mother calling him back to the mansion. Reluctantly, he went to Ci'en Courtyard.

The old lady was so angry that she scolded him without saying a word and told him to carry out the family rules immediately.

Gu Boyu dared not disobey, so he immediately took an iron whip and lashed Gu Chengyan five times, which Gu Chengyan endured.

The old lady said sadly, "I've been shrewd all my life, but my mistake was finding you a short-sighted wife. Now I've raised a grandson who doesn't know the immensity of heaven and earth. The Marquis's mansion will be ruined in his hands. How can I face your father?"

Gu Boyu immediately apologized: "It's all because I'm an unfilial son. I haven't managed the household well, and I've made my mother worry so much at her age."

The old lady told Gu Boyu about the results of the marriage negotiations between the two families yesterday, saying, "Keep Yan'er under control and stop him from talking nonsense. Otherwise, not only will the Xie family be affected, but if your third brother becomes estranged from the Marquis's family, the Marquis's family will have no place to stand."

Although the matter at Ci'en Temple was handled behind closed doors, the Marquis's mansion was too large to be completely kept secret.

When Gu Shaoyu returned in the evening, he greeted the old lady.

The old lady was shrewd; fearing that the uncle and nephew might drift apart after what happened during the day, she spoke directly about it.

"Yan'er and you are both getting on in years. If you have no objections, we should arrange the betrothal as soon as possible. There is no end to the affairs of state, and the marriage will not prevent you from serving His Majesty."

Both uncle and nephew were outstanding, but both were still unmarried at an advanced age, and rumors circulated throughout the capital that they had a hidden illness.

"Okay, son, I've got it."

The two families exchanged betrothal gifts, originally intending to propose marriage to the Xie family before the end of the month, when the court suddenly received an urgent report from the south.

A strong spring hurricane struck Yangzhou, sinking more than a dozen large ships transporting official salt, killing all the captains and crew.