Chapter 57 The Future Mistress's Need
On the Double Ninth Festival, officials in Songjiang City have a total of three days off. Today is the third day. Officials from various families can visit relatives, travel, or rest at home to not miss this good day.
Su Guang arrived in time. He did not send an invitation beforehand, and he did not know whether Gu Wen and his wife were at home. He came to Gu's house as soon as he came out of Prince Qi's Mansion. At this moment, the doorman of the Gu family hurried to the backyard to report to his master.
The doorman knew Su Guang and couldn't bear to ask him to stand at the door, so he invited him in to sit down. Su Guang waved his hand and said with a smile, "I'm not tired. I'll stand for a while and get some fresh air. It'll be cool."
The concierge smiled and agreed, "It's indeed hot today."
The weather is hot, but it can’t compare to the coldness of my heart.
Su Guang stood in front of the Gu family's door and sighed. Yesterday, his wife complained to him that Cai Erlang of the Cai family ignored Ah Xiang at the Double Ninth Festival banquet and was a blind fool. She also said that it was better to choose a civil servant as a son-in-law, and Gu Wenqing was a perfect match for their daughter.
It turned out that the Gu family was unwilling to marry into the Su family, but they were reluctant to say it out of consideration for their feelings. After today, the situation has changed. If the Su family wants to save face, it will be difficult for them to take the initiative to approach them.
Gu Wen has a good daughter, and the Gu family is about to prosper.
When Su Guang arrived, the five members of the Gu family were drinking tea in the main courtyard. Gu Wen and Mrs. Du were discussing the gift list for their eldest son's marriage proposal, and Gu Youan was giving advice.
Gu Wenqing teased Ah Xuan while saying, "The gift list is just a convenience. Should we mention An An's matter to the Duan family?"
"Don't mention it. Some words become distorted when they come out of our family's mouths. If An An is really destined to be with Prince Qi, he will come to propose marriage, and the Duan family will know about it."
Mrs. Du reminded her son, "Who An An marries has nothing to do with you getting a wife. You should know your own limits."
"My son knows."
As the family was talking, the doorman came with the news that Lord Su Guangsu had arrived.
Gu Wen quickly stood up: "What did he say? Requesting an audience?"
"Lord Su asked for an audience and said he had something important to discuss with you."
Gu Wen said: "Then what are you still standing there for? Come on, please come in."
After Gu Wen left, Gu Wenqing hurriedly followed to receive the guests.
Gu Youan said, "Mom, you should go too."
"What am I going to do?"
After asking this question, Mrs. Du suddenly realized: "Could it be..."
Gu Youan nodded, she felt that it must be true.
Who was Su Guang? When had he ever visited the Gu family in all these years? He definitely wouldn't have come unless something serious happened.
He can't even be asked to intervene in the marriage of his youngest daughter A Xiang. To Su Guang, what is a big deal?
Mrs. Du slapped her thigh with joy: "Oh, His Royal Highness Prince Qi is such a responsible person."
After Mrs. Du figured it out, she felt that Prince Qi was a good son-in-law. She put the gift list in her hand on the table and happily chased to the front yard.
Ah Xuan wanted to go too, but Gu Youan pulled her back and said, "You stay with your sister today."
A Xuan didn't want to go with her sister: "I want to go with Mom to watch the fun."
Gently flicking her small upturned nose, Gu Youan said with a smile: "You will have fun later, there is no need to rush."
Xiaoju, who was serving in the room, was delighted: "Miss, if you get married, you must take me with you."
Sister Wei glared at Xiaoju: "You girl, you really can't control your mouth."
Gu Youan's eyebrows curved: "Sister-in-law Wei, please stop scolding her. I will definitely take Xiaoju with me. I want to take you with me too, but I'm afraid you and your wife won't agree."
"Hehe, thank you, miss." Xiaoju quickly thanked the lady.
As for Sister Wei, she was very hesitant: "Our family of three was bought by the master and his wife. Although the young lady treats us well, she still has to..."
Gu Youan had already thought about it in his mind. Xiaoju was her personal maid and she must be taken to Prince Qi's Mansion. Sister Wei had always been the housekeeper in her house. If Sister Wei's husband was not the housekeeper Wang Quan, who was needed for everything in the family, Gu Youan would have wanted to take the couple away together.
Gu Youan held Ah Xuan in his arms, preventing her from running around. He smiled and said to Wei's wife, "If you say your own people are the most trustworthy, if you and your wife are willing to leave your peaceful life at home and follow me to Prince Qi's mansion, I will take you there even if I risk being scolded by my parents."
Sister Wei made up her mind and said with a smile, "We will all follow the arrangements of our masters."
Ah Xuan pulled her sister's hair with her little hands. Gu Youan turned his head to look at her. Ah Xuan smiled foolishly: "Sister, please take me too."
"Okay, I want you. I'm just short of people to do the work."
"Hahaha."
The two sisters hugged each other and tickled each other. Axuan was weak and couldn't resist. She giggled when her sister tickled her and begged for mercy.
While the two sisters were playing, Su Guang had already started talking about the marriage proposal in the front yard.
Acting as Mr. Qi, Su Guang smiled gently and said, "I have watched Prince Qi grow up. He has been a gentleman since he was young. There is nothing wrong with his conduct. Who would want a son-in-law like him? His daughter would enjoy endless blessings for the rest of her life."
Su Guang's tone was a bit sour, but Gu Wen didn't care. Gu Wen half-truthfully evaded the question, saying, "A good marriage is one between people of equal social status. How can my small family be worthy of you?"
Su Guang simply said, "I think your daughter is good in every way. How can you, as a father, find fault with her?"
Mrs. Du continued, "Alas, my An'an is impatient and not willing to give in. I dare not say that everything is good."
Su Guang had no other choice but to persuade her again: "It's a good thing for the young lady to be strong-willed. How can it be considered a problem? I dare not say that."
Gu Wenqing had no right to speak here, he could only sit aside and watch his parents and Lord Su play tricks of refusing and making excuses.
After drinking two cups of tea and saying his mouth was dry, Gu Wen finally revealed some intention to get married.
Su Guang breathed a sigh of relief and forced a smile, saying, "Prince Qi is already quite old, and he's really asking for marriage. You, his parents-in-law, shouldn't make things difficult for him. I've brought my birth chart today, and we'll have someone compare them first. I asked someone to check the almanac when I got here, and it says three days from now is a good day. How about having Prince Qi come to deliver the betrothal gifts three days later?"
"This... is too fast. It's not in accordance with etiquette."
"Good days are hard to come by. Treating the child well is the most important thing. What difference does it make if it's two or three days faster? Madam Du, just agree to it."
Su Guang came here today with a mission. Prince Qi said that he would come to deliver the betrothal gifts and make the engagement in three days, and the wedding would be next month. He had to get things done no matter what.
Su Guang was anxious and tried to persuade him, but Gu Wen was not anxious. After waiting for a while, he smiled and said, "Master Su's words make sense. Please go back and tell Prince Qi that my husband and I will be waiting for him to come home in three days."
Su Guang laughed: "That's right, there's no point in pushing good things away."
Su Guang's words were even more bitter than before. Madam Du's ears were pierced by them and she snorted softly, "A daughter is sought after by hundreds of families. The Su family also has a daughter. We certainly can't agree to every marriage proposal that comes our way. As parents, we must carefully screen them. This is our duty as parents."
This is heartbreaking!
Su Guang thought of his little daughter, alas, it’s better not to mention it.
Su Guang sighed secretly. He really had too many good days. Why did he say those sour words? In the future, it would not be him who promoted the Gu family. Maybe he would have to borrow the Gu family's connections.
Su Guang stood up and, rarely putting aside his pride, bowed to Gu Wen. "Brother Gu, now that we've settled this matter, I'll go back to Prince Qi's mansion to report the news."
"Don't worry, Master Su, please stay and have lunch before leaving."
"Next time, next time we brothers will get together again."
Lord Su was anxious to go back, and after trying to get him to stay for the first time, he refused to stay. Gu Wen did not force him to stay and personally sent Su Guang out.
After watching Su Guang leave, the housekeeper Wang Quan walked up behind Gu Wen and said, "Not long after Lord Su came in, word spread all over the street that our young lady is going to become the Princess of Qi. I don't know who spread the news."
Gu Wen smiled slightly: "If it's not our family, who else could it be?"
Gu Wen walked back to the house, and Wang Quan immediately laughed. It seemed that Prince Qi was the one who was more anxious about the marriage between Prince Qi and their young lady.
Hey, doesn't this just show that Prince Qi values their young lady?
As soon as the people from the Meng and Yuan families left in the morning, the news that Prince Qi was going to get married spread throughout Songjiang City. It was unclear who was being humiliated.
Zhou Chen, who had just learned the news, had no time to worry about the face of the Meng and Yuan families. What he was worried about now was that the prince would not want to use him.
Yes, he accepted benefits from Madam Yuan regarding the princess, but Zhou Chen asked himself, he really had not done anything to let the prince down.
Besides, after the prince showed his dislike for the young ladies of the Meng and Yuan families, he also prepared documents from the young ladies of various families in Songjiang City and sent them to the prince. Even if he has no credit, he has at least worked hard, right?
Zhou Chen went to the study to see the prince, but he didn't see him. Xu Zhi came out to pass on a message, saying, "The master said that all the accounts inside and outside the mansion should be cleared up as soon as possible. When the princess arrives next month, all of these will be handed over to her."
Zhou Chen: "The account books in our mansion are settled every year. There is no need to prepare them specially. They are already kept in the accounting office."
Xu Zhi didn't have time to beat around the bush with Zhou Chen. He smiled and said, "Listen carefully, Lord Zhou. The prince is talking about the internal and external account books. The princess herself is a businesswoman, so I advise you not to fool her with the account books."
Xu Zhi turned to leave, but Zhou Chen hurriedly grabbed him and said earnestly, "Brother Xu, Lord Xu, please help me. What exactly do these internal and external account books mean? Do we have to show the princess the account books of the Songjiang government office? The government office's account books include the accounts of the prince's army, the tax accounts, and the historical accounts of grain, medicine, etc. Regardless of how complicated these account books are, let's just say that these account books are worthy of being shown to the female relatives."
Zhou Chen insisted that Xu Zhi explain it clearly so that he could know how to handle things properly.
Xu Zhi sneered, "Zhou Changshi, the prince is the master, the princess is also the master, and we are the ministers, the slaves of the master. Princess, forget about asking for the account books, even if she wants your life, you have to offer it with both hands. Don't you agree?"
Zhou Chen's throat choked. Since he followed the prince to Songjiang City, he became the most powerful chief historian under the prince of Songjiang City. How many years had it been since he heard such humiliating words towards him?
Xu Zhi didn't think that what he said was insulting. He just felt that the prince was right: when there is no tiger in the mountain, the monkey will become king.
Zhou Chen, a small man who depends on his master for his survival, started to get angry after just a few days of good life. His son and nephew got married, and his daughter and niece got married. The families of the arranged marriages were either the children of the five main officials in Songjiang City, or the young military officers who held military power in the guard army.
If he doesn't get punished soon, this old guy Zhou Chen will probably go to heaven.
If Zhou Chen knew what Xu Zhi was thinking, he would definitely cry out in injustice. Oh my God, it’s just that his relatives are living better, how dare he play tricks in front of the prince?
Regardless of whether Zhou Chen was willing but not brave enough, now that there would be a mistress in the palace, Prince Qi couldn't wait to spread the word. Every official family in Songjiang City, as long as they had a brain, knew how much the future Princess Qi would be valued.
Zhou Chen was frightened by Xu Zhi's words and broke out in a cold sweat. After carefully thinking about his actions over the years, he didn't dare to say anything else and hurriedly sent someone to the government office to retrieve the account books.
Eunuch Liu Zhong acted even faster than Zhou Chen. When Su Guangcai went to Gu's house, Liu Zhong reported to the prince and went to the accounting office in the mansion to get the general ledger of the past few years. He personally led people to carry the ledger to Gu's house.
Liu Zhong then paid his respects to the masters of the Gu family and brought up the matter of the account books. The doorman outside came to deliver a message saying that Gao Jin had sent two guards from the family back to deliver a message concerning the important matter of food and wages for the Northeast Army.
Gu Youan glanced at Liu Zhong and said, "Just listen over there."
"The servant obeys the master's orders."
The Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue submitted a letter, citing floods in the southwest and drought and poor harvest in the northwest as an excuse to reduce military pay expenditures.
After the messenger finished his report, Liu Zhong said, "My Lord, the prince has already made arrangements for this matter. The Northeast Army will not be short of food and wages."
"What does your prince want?"
Liu Zhong glanced at the servants in the room. Mrs. Wei had a look and when she saw the young lady nodded, she hurriedly took the other servants out of the room.
After all the servants had left the room, Liu Zhong approached the future mistress and whispered a few words.
Gu Youan's lips curled up slightly: "Your Highness and I have the same idea. These bandits must be suppressed, but we can't wipe them all out either. This is the long-term strategy to control both sides."
Liu Zhong suppressed his shock. These words were so accurate!
Gu Youan looked at him with a smile and said, "I'm short of manpower. Since he proposed you, I believe you can get things done. You can stay with me from now on."
"Thank you, Master. I will devote myself to serving you from now on."
Liu Zhong knelt down and kowtowed, feeling more than willing.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
