Chapter 773 Brother-in-law, can you lend me some money?

The koi pond in the Duke's mansion wasn't very deep, but after Qiao Zhiyu fell in, she couldn't stand up and struggled in terror, crying out, "Help... me... cough cough..."

Without hesitation, Gu Qianling jumped in and carried Qiao Zhiyu ashore.

However, once he got ashore, he immediately put the person down.

He knew that if what happened tonight reached Meng Yunlan's ears, there would definitely be another crying and arguing, so after putting the person down, he immediately wanted to leave.

Unfortunately, Qiao Zhiyu seemed to have anticipated his move and immediately grabbed his leg.

"Brother-in-law!"

She looked up at him, pleading pitifully, "Don't go, please, don't leave me here alone."

Gu Qianling looked down and noticed a clear handprint on her pale face.

He frowned slightly: "Who hit you? You're crying here because you were hit?"

Qiao Zhiyu lowered her head in a panic: "No, no one hit me. I just accidentally bumped into the wall."

Gu Qianling was silent for a moment, then said, "It's getting late, let's go back!"

Qiao Zhiyu suddenly knelt down in front of him: "Brother-in-law, I'm not crying because I was beaten, but because my mother is seriously ill and urgently needs money to buy medicine, but I... but I'm incompetent and haven't been able to raise the money."

"Brother-in-law, could you... could you... lend me some money? My mother only has me as her daughter. If I don't save her, no one else will!"

"Brother-in-law, I'm kowtowing to you!"

As she spoke, tears streamed down her face as she kowtowed to Gu Qianling, the kowtows landing solidly with a dull thud.

Gu Qianling quickly helped her up: "What are you doing? Get up!"

Qiao Zhiyu stood up, looked up, revealing her forehead, which was red from being banged on the ground. Tears streamed down her face as she said, "Brother-in-law, I really have no one else to ask. I know it's wrong of me to borrow money from you, but my mother and I have depended on each other for so many years. I can't let her just leave like this. As long as there's even a sliver of hope, I have to try!"

Gu Qianling sighed softly: "With such filial piety, how could I not help? But, didn't you tell your cousin about this?"

Qiao Zhiyu subconsciously touched the side of her face with the slap mark: "I told you, the first person I asked was my cousin, but she... she also has her difficulties."

Gu Qianling was skeptical: "She doesn't want to help you? Yunlan has always been kind and generous, how could she..."

Qiao Zhiyu quickly interrupted him, "It's not that my cousin is unwilling to help me; she wants to help me, but she's short of money, which is why she didn't agree."

"My cousin is actually very kind to me. Not only did she take me in to stay at the Duke's mansion and assign me a trustworthy maid to serve me, but she also gave me a new dress!"

"Brother-in-law, look, this dress was just given to me by my cousin. She says it's made of the finest material!"

Gu Qianling then noticed that she was wearing a new dress, but the dress looked... too ugly.

Even though it was soaked, you could still tell that the color scheme and style of the clothes were outrageously ugly.

Gu Qianling was still skeptical: "Did Yunlan really give you this dress?"

“It’s absolutely true, brother-in-law. Who else would be willing to give me such a nice dress besides my cousin? If you don’t believe me, you can ask my cousin or the people around her.”

Gu Qianling waved his hand: "No need, it's nothing. How much silver do you need?"

"Eighty taels... no, sixty taels will be enough for you!"

Gu Qianling took off his money pouch and tossed it to her: "There are one hundred taels in here. Take it to save your mother!"

Qiao Zhiyu was overjoyed and said with a face full of gratitude, "Thank you so much, brother-in-law! I will never forget your great kindness! When I earn money in the future, I will definitely repay you double!"

"You don't need to pay it back."

Gu Qianling shook her head, turned and left.

As Qiao Zhiyu watched his retreating figure, the corners of her lips curled up, and a hint of smug satisfaction appeared in her eyes.

Once Gu Qianling entered the courtyard and disappeared completely, Qiao Zhiyu let out a soft hum and weighed the money bag in her hand.

That's a full hundred taels! That'll be enough for her to live on for quite a while!

You still have to deal with rich men. Even a tiny bit of money they slip through their fingers can amount to a fortune.

The families her mother used to find for her husbands were, to put it nicely, frugal and simple, but to put it bluntly, they were destitute. They wouldn't even give ten taels of silver as a betrothal gift, and they said that she had to give birth to a son for them after marriage, otherwise she would become a divorced concubine.

At first, the mother thought it was okay not to give a betrothal gift, and it was okay to be poor. After all, the Qiao family had fallen so low that they could hardly make ends meet, so how could they have any choice in others?

But when he heard that the other party insisted that Qiao Zhiyu give birth to a son for their family, he stopped pressuring her to marry.

Even the mother herself did not give birth to a son; she only had a daughter.

Although my father had many flaws, he never blamed my mother for not giving him a son, never pressured her to have more children, and never took a concubine.

That one thing alone made his mother completely devoted to him.

Qiao Zhiyu walked back while thinking about these things.

She stuffed the money bag into her sleeve, planning to go home in a couple of days.

Her mother was indeed sick, but it wasn't anything life-threatening; it was just minor ailments like coughing and dizziness. No amount of medicine seemed to help, but eating more nourishing foods would alleviate her symptoms.

Qiao Zhiyu understood that her mother's health was severely depleted; once she was nourished, her illness would improve. Now that they had money, how could she not recover?

Qiao Zhiyu was smug to herself. Today she had killed two birds with one stone. She had gotten money, made an appearance in front of Gu Qianling, and even had close contact with him!

When he looked at the slap mark on her face and praised her for her filial piety, did he also begin to doubt Meng Yunlan's kindness and generosity?

Qiao Zhiyu touched her face and tugged at her ugly clothes, feeling extremely happy. What she said was half true and half false. Of course, Meng Yunlan did not slap her face, but Meng Yunlan gave her the clothes. Even if Gu Qianling asked Meng Yunlan for confirmation afterward, she was not afraid of being exposed!

She was in high spirits when her face froze the moment she stepped into Fucui Courtyard.

Because Fuling, who should have been fast asleep, had woken up sometime earlier and was now standing in the courtyard, looking at her with a gloomy expression:

"Young lady, it's the middle of the night, why aren't you sleeping in your room? I've been looking everywhere for you!"

Qiao Zhiyu immediately put on a pitiful expression: "I couldn't sleep, so I was thinking of taking advantage of you being asleep to secretly get back that dress I lost. It was the prettiest dress I ever wore, and I... I couldn't bear to part with it..."