Those present were stunned by him, their mouths practically agape.

They all stared speechlessly at the Gu family.

The Gu family... their family traditions and preferences are so strange. Is it an ancestral fondness for maids? And all of them are maids who served their fiancées!

Isn't this grass by the nest... especially fresh and delicious?

Old Madam Gu nearly vomited blood again. "Gu Shao, are you insane! You want to marry a maid? One of your fiancées, no less! Change it right! Change it right!"

Gu Shao closed his eyes, resigned to his fate: "I will not change! Grandmother... this is an imperial edict, how can it be treated lightly..."

"No--"

What a tragedy! Old Madam Gu felt as if the sky had fallen, and her vision went black as she fainted completely.

"Madam! Madam..." The servants of the Gu family hurriedly helped her up.

Empress Dowager Shen coughed lightly and said in a low voice, "Your Ningguo Marquis's family is really... a lineage. Anyway... it seems the late emperor did a great thing."

Otherwise, it would be another cycle of Gu's father, Que's family, and Mei's family.

Empress Dowager Shen said, "Alright, now that the matter of the succession of the title has been resolved, everyone may go back! Yu Kang, have someone send Old Madam Gu back."

"yes."

Madam Gu was carried away by the eunuchs, and Li Jiaojiao and the Duke and Duchess of Pingguo also left in a daze.

Shen Manman then grabbed Empress Dowager Shen's arm and said, "Thank you, Aunt."

"You..." Empress Dowager Shen affectionately pinched her nose, then looked at Shen Zhiyan and Ye Caiping: "In a few days, you will be returning to Nanzhou. Are you ready?"

Shen Zhiyan nodded: "It's almost all taken care of."

Empress Dowager Shen looked reluctant, but her mood improved as soon as she thought that Shen Zhiyan would stay in the capital for a long time a year from now.

......

Once outside the Imperial Garden, the Duke of Pingguo glared angrily at his wife and Li Jiaojiao:

"What kind of marquis? Bah! Now he has nothing left! All the effort I put into him these past few days was wasted. He even promised a dowry of ten thousand taels, a hundred taels would have been too much."

"Shut up!" the Duchess snapped. "The dowry is mine; I can give you as much as I want."

"Hmph!" Duke Pingguo flicked his sleeve and turned to leave.

Li Jiaojiao was completely disoriented, feeling a mix of emotions.

She was stunned: "Mother... what... what should I do? What do I do now?"

Lady Pingguo said, "It's not necessary to have a noble title. As long as the family property is abundant, life will be good. In the future, your children will work hard in the imperial examinations and, with the backing of the Ningguo Marquis's mansion, they will surely be able to enter the court as officials."

Li Jiaojiao's face turned pale. She recalled the verdict in the cheating case: her descendants would be barred from taking the imperial examinations...

The Duchess said, "Anyway... we have to talk to Old Madam Gu tomorrow. Now that the title is gone, we must get a larger share of the family property. Didn't she say she wanted to compensate Gu Han properly?"

Li Jiaojiao nodded blankly.

Upon returning to the Duke of Pingguo's residence, Gu Han was nowhere to be found.

Lady Pingguo had no choice but to send people to look for him. After searching for a long time, they finally found Gu Han in a tavern.

Gu Han was completely drunk, so they had to carry him back first and wait until he sobered up before going to the Gu family to argue their case.

......

Because the matter of Gu Shen poisoning his own child caused such a big uproar, the entire capital was waiting for the verdict and hoping that Gu Han could regain his marquisate.

Unexpectedly, a Cheng Yaojin appeared out of nowhere, and the title of Marquis was passed on to his nephew, Gu Shao.

Just as everyone was feeling sorry for Gu Han, the official explanation quickly came out:

Gu Han had been to prison before. Back then, when he learned that Ye Shuren had grown yellow-fleshed cassava, he stole her cassava in an attempt to steal Ye Shuren's credit.

This father and son are really something... Don't laugh at the second brother, they're both the same.

Therefore, Gu Hanhou's loss of his position is no one's fault but his own.

Just when everyone thought the gossip was over, Gu Shao, the newly appointed heir apparent of the Marquis of Ningguo, brought back some shocking gossip to celebrate his successful ascension to the throne, as a gift to both new and old listeners.

Everyone was so focused on Gu Shen's murder of his son that they almost forgot about the engagement between the heir of the Marquis of Ningguo and Miss Shen.

Now that the crown prince has changed, the person he loves should also be someone else.

Gu Shao wrote about... Zhao Ruying.

People in the capital: We don't recognize him!

The next second: Holy crap, Gu Shao already has a fiancée named Pang Xue'er.

The very next second: Holy crap, Zhao Ruying is Pang Xueer's personal maid!

This...this is such a familiar recipe, such a familiar taste.

In any case, the common people and nobles of the capital were all speechless, and could only sigh: The family tradition of the Marquis of Ningguo is remarkable!

Pang Xue'er's father is the current Vice Minister of Works, and he is quite well-known in the capital. He was furious when he heard about this.

He wished he could rush to the Gu family and grab Gu Shao to slap him a few times.

But since it was a marriage bestowed by the late emperor, they had no choice but to accept it.

The Pang family responded quickly.

That afternoon, a nanny from the Pang family, accompanied by a dozen servants, dragged a young girl dressed in plain clothes to the Gu family's gate.

The head nanny said coldly, "Our second young lady, Pang Xue'er, and Gu Shao are a proper engaged couple. But no matter how much you guard against it, it's hard to guard against a traitor within the family. A lowly maid took advantage of the time when the second young lady was delivering things to her future son-in-law to have an affair with him."

"Now that the new heir of the Marquis of Ningguo has been granted a marriage by the late emperor, the Pang family will not obstruct your good marriage. From this day forward, the engagement between my second young lady, Pang Xue'er, and Gu Shao will end, and their marriages will be separate matters."

Upon hearing this, the crowd clapped and shouted, "Good!"

The old woman sneered, "Here you are, this is your young master's wife."

As she spoke, the old woman pushed a young girl to the ground.

With a thud, the girl fell to the ground.

She was wearing only a thin white undergarment, shivering from the cold, and didn't even have a bundle.

At this moment, Gu Shao ran out of the gate and, seeing his beloved woman in such a disheveled state, rushed to help her up: "Ruying..."

"Third Young Master... Waaah..." Zhao Ruying cried and trembled in his arms.

The old woman got angry just looking at it and threw a piece of paper on the ground: "Here, take this. This is her indenture. Two taels of silver, no need to thank me."

The onlookers chuckled, "This young master's wife is so cheap."

"Why is it so cheap? A good maid would cost at least ten taels, and raising a person would cost more than two taels."

The old woman said, "Oh, when we went to the brokerage to choose someone, she was almost dying, and the brokerage wouldn't take care of her anymore. My second young lady saw that she was pitiful and that if we didn't buy her, she would have no way to survive. My second young lady couldn't bear it, so she spent two taels of silver to buy this sick girl."

“Young Master Gu, we will not charge you for the money she has spent on medical treatment over the years. Please take the two taels of silver. You are welcome.”