Others said, "This young lady is too stupid. Gu Xiucai is a man and cares about his reputation. If she makes such a fuss, Gu Xiucai will be even less willing to have her. If she passes the imperial examination again, she will become a master and have as many women as she wants."
Another person said, "Haha, if it were me, I would take both the big one and the small one."
Following the loud laughter, an old woman's scolding was heard, "Bah, only an old, dishonest peasant like you would think about wives every day. Scholar Gu is gentle and sensible, so he wouldn't have that kind of thought. It's just that his fiancée is shameless and shameless, which is also pitiful..."
Xu Lanyin secretly spitted, thinking that Gu Wangchen was pretending to be so good and really deceived many people.
She lowered her head and walked quickly across the ridge of the field, and arrived outside the backyard wall of Sujiazhuang.
The long, whitewashed walls, with their tiered, interspersed cornices and angled corners, seemed gilded in the sunlight. In a countryside dotted with low, thatched cottages, this large house stood out as a truly magnificent and unique place. A few apricot branches, their leaves already beginning to turn yellow, protruded from within the walls.
Xu Lanyin was walking very fast. When she was about to pass the courtyard wall, a small door on the wall suddenly opened and two girls came out, bumping into her.
One girl pulled another girl behind her, raised her eyebrows, and put her hands on her hips, and shouted at Xu Lanyin, "What's wrong with you? Why are you here to get angry with my girl again? Let me tell you, Master Gu didn't come."
Xu Lanyin recognized them immediately; they were Su Qing and her maid, Xiaohe. The original owner had met them three times before. She was truly incredibly lucky; she could have missed something in a matter of seconds, but she had just happened to run into them.
Su Qing was wearing a cloth dress and a wooden hairpin, probably in disguise to go out on business.
Xu Lanyin just remembered that Su Qing had bought a teahouse in Nanping County and gifted it to Gu Pozi before returning to Beijing. Oh, it seemed that she had bought the teahouse in mid-August, because she was going back to Beijing in mid-September.
The book also states that before Gu Wangchen took the imperial examination, Su Qing secretly sent a maid to give him fifty taels of silver. Gu Wangchen politely declined, stating with great resolve that he had chosen Miss Su because he truly admired her as a manly woman and did not look down on him as a poor scholar, not because of money. Later, Su Qing sent someone to the Gu Pozi Teahouse, and after much persuasion, Gu Wangchen finally let his mother take over.
Xu Lanyin's thoughts grew even more furious. Gu Wangchen, in an effort to impress Miss Su, had rejected the fifty taels of silver, a sum the wealthy man didn't care about. Instead, he tricked the original owner into selling the land, even risking the livelihood of the family who had supported him for eight years.
It seems that, beyond the pages of the novel, Gu Wangchen remains Su Qing's beloved lover, and Su Qing is constantly plotting for him. That teahouse is no ordinary teahouse; next door sits the Yiju Restaurant, owned by spies from the Xiyuan Kingdom and a stronghold of the Xiyuan Kingdom in central Daming. In the novel, Gu Wangchen, with his sharp intuition, uncovers the conspiracy and leads his men to raid the restaurant. Thanks to this achievement, and with the help of Prince Ping, this humble Jinshi (Jinshi) in his twenties rises to the rank of Fifth-Rank Deputy Director of the Ministry of Revenue, earning the admiration of both the Emperor and the Third Prince...
Although Xu Lanyin had yet to actually meet Gu Wangchen, she'd discovered that his true nature was completely different from what he'd described in the books. Aside from his good looks, he possessed none of the qualities expected of a leading male supporting character in a female-oriented novel; he was a complete hypocrite and jerk. His devotion and genuine love for Su Qing was likely an act, a motive for climbing the social ladder. Previously, Xu Lanyin had wanted to distance herself from the female lead's supporting male partner, but now, she was determined not to let that scumbag off so easily if she ever had the ability again.
Xu Lanyin looked at Su Qing a few more times. The book said that Su Qing had a beautiful face, flowing almond eyes, skin whiter than snow, and an extraordinary temperament.
Xu Lanyin felt that the description of Su Qing's appearance in the book did not completely match her actual appearance.
Su Qing was indeed beautiful, with a fair complexion, but her eyes were long, slanted peach blossoms, not almond-shaped ones. Nor was she aloof and refined. In past and present lives, she had been a concubine's daughter, trampled into the dust by her stepmother and step-sisters, and in a previous life, tortured by a perverted man for five years. She might be gentle, charming, even serene, but it was absolutely impossible for her to instantly become refined, confident, or open-minded after rebirth. Appearance is innate, but temperament isn't something that can be formed overnight.
Su Qing appeared gentle, but a closer look revealed a touch of evasiveness in her gaze, her lips drawn back. This was a desperate attempt to conceal her inner thoughts, and Xu Lanyin felt it was a stubborn compulsion to change her unfortunate fate. The misfortunes of her past life had left her with a profound psychological barrier. Even when she saw the peasant girl she had once trodden underfoot, she couldn't project her unwavering confidence, only a sense of superiority due to the disparity in status.
Su Qing glared at Xiao He and smiled sincerely at Xu Lanyin, "Sister Xu, Master Gu is not here, he is in the provincial capital."
She was a gentle little white flower with a soft and pleasant voice, which gave enough face to Gu Juren's fiancée.
Xu Lanyin smiled and said, "Miss Su, you misunderstood. I was just passing by here to buy some meat at the village entrance. I didn't come to your house to look for Gu Wangchen." Then she asked curiously, "I don't even know whether he is in the provincial capital. How would Miss Su know?"
Su Qing blushed, feeling that this little peasant girl was different than usual. With a sullen face, she said, "What does Sister Xu mean by that? Young Master Gu will only finish his third exam tomorrow, and after that he'll have to wait for the results to be announced. If he passes, he'll have to visit officials and great scholars in the provincial capital and reunite with his classmates. That's understandable."
Xu Lanyin said "Oh" and understood, "Miss Su is really insightful and thoughtful. No wonder Gu Wangchen praises you for your intelligence every day and thinks about you all the time."
Xiao He said angrily, "How dare you talk like that, you country bumpkin!"
Seeing the villagers coming to watch the fun, Xu Lanyin said, "I've figured it out. Gu Wangchen isn't as gentle and reasonable as he appears. I've also figured it out. A forced melon isn't sweet. I don't want it anymore. Whoever wants it can take it."
After saying that, he walked east.
If Xu Lanyin had been crying and making a scene, Su Qing could have feigned innocence and helplessness, but she had said a few awkward words and then left. If she had continued to talk to her back, it would have seemed ungracious. Su Qing dragged Xiaohe, who was still trying to talk, back to the manor and closed the back door. She didn't return to her own courtyard, but remained standing behind the door.
Su Qing still felt sympathy for this country girl. Although she was a bit rude and unreasonable, she was still dying at such a young age, which was pitiful. She had only crossed paths with Gu Wangchen once in her previous life, and that was after she married the disabled man. She had heard that not long after Gu Wangchen passed the imperial examination, his fiancée fell into the water and drowned. The exact time was unknown, but she probably didn't live much longer...
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