Chapter 73 The Troublemaker
Lord Guan fell ill after vomiting blood in front of everyone.
The eldest son, Guan Zhen, handled the family's tax payment matters readily and subtly conveyed that although the child did not wish to acknowledge him as their father, the mother and siblings were still hoping to reunite with him.
Guan Zhen was old, already twenty-three, and he had a son. His eldest son naturally took over the household affairs, so even though Lord Guan was ill, it didn't affect anything.
The First Madam personally took care of him, not letting anyone else do it. She held a bowl of medicine and cooled it with a spoon. "When I was young, I truly liked you, but you always said that our marriage was an alliance between our two families and that I had to be a dutiful wife. So I realized that being your wife was just a job."
Lord Guan lay on the bed, too weak to move, only his eyes could move, and there was a hint of fear in them.
He did vomit blood, but he wasn't so weak that he couldn't move. He had taken medicine twice, and the more he took, the weaker he became. He wasn't stupid, and he immediately realized there was a problem.
“Madam, we’ve been married for so many years, how could we not have feelings for each other? Why be so harsh?” He softened his tone.
The First Madam smiled gently and turned to look at him: "You complain to me because of A-Wu, but A-Wu was a bought geisha, meant to entertain guests. Every one of your beautiful concubines comes from a noble family. Who are you insulting?"
"It's all in the past now."
"It's all in the past."
The First Lady said sadly, "Actually, none of these things matter. What matters is that you have failed in your duty."
Their eyes met.
She scooped up the medicine with a spoon and fed it to Lord Guan.
Lord Guan pursed his lips, turned his head to the side and twisted the spoon, spilling the medicine all over him.
He quickly said, "Madam, you work so hard for the family, let the servants do this little thing."
“We can’t let the servants do it.” The First Madam scooped up another spoonful. “We are husband and wife. You are my responsibility. I can’t let you cause trouble for the children.”
"You want to kill me!" Lord Guan's eyes widened.
The First Madam sighed: "What are you talking about? How could I kill you? The children are all grown up and will be getting married soon. If you die, they will have to observe mourning."
Everyone deserves their just deserts.
Couples are like accurately and precisely finding their own retribution among the crowd.
From then on, Lord Guan remained ill.
Because he vomited blood in full view of everyone, no one suspected anything.
Guan Zhen took over the entire family. While she couldn't say she did a better job, she wasn't exactly a disaster either. Besides, they maintained a fairly good relationship with Guan Zhiwei.
Prefect Liang surrendered early on, Lord Guan was forced to surrender, leaving only the Jiang family.
Just as the Jiang family was feeling anxious, good news suddenly arrived.
Jiang Shuzheng is back.
He said, "Zhi Fang and his son wanted to kill me, but Grand Tutor Guan saved me and even overruled everyone's objections to send me back."
Such a huge favor, how can we not pay taxes?
Once the Jiang family paid the grain tax, they entered a honeymoon period with Guan Zhiwei.
Seeing that the situation was perfect, Jiang Shuzheng quickly proposed to Guan Liuliu that they get married.
The head of the Jiang family objected. He cherished this son and said to him with displeasure, "I've already said it's no good. Why are you bringing it up again? Can't you be a little more ambitious? Last time you went on a hunger strike to marry her. This time you escaped death and now you want to marry her. Why don't you put your mind on important matters? Why don't you think about the current situation and how much your parents have worried about you?"
Jiang Shuzheng was feeling down. "I miss Liu Liu."
The head of the Jiang family was also very frustrated. This child seemed to be single-minded, always following Guan Liuliu around since he was a child. Couldn't he be a little more ambitious?
Although Jiang Shuzheng returned home, his mind was elsewhere. He skillfully scaled the wall, evaded the patrolling servants, ran out of the house, and headed straight for the Guan residence.
People were used to seeing people scaling walls, jumping over fences, prying open gates, and peering through windows, so they turned a blind eye.
"Liu Liu".
Hearing the noise, Guan Liuliu opened the window and laughed, "I thought it was a cat."
"Meow meow meow, I miss you," Jiang Shuzheng said sullenly.
Guan Liuliu asked softly, "You seem unhappy. What happened?"
Jiang Shuzheng was leaning against the windowsill, looking pained, and said, "My father still doesn't agree to our marriage."
"I guessed it. Would you be willing to ask Grand Tutor Guan for help? If she's willing to intervene, perhaps it can be done."
"Then come with me, I'm a little afraid of her."
Guan Liuliu leaned forward and helped him straighten his clothes, then smiled softly with her eyes lowered: "Okay, wait for me to do my hair and makeup."
The window was closed, and Jiang Shu was leaning against the windowsill, humming a little tune, which vaguely read: "Since you left, I have been too lazy to put on makeup and my eyebrows are thick. My sorrow is like a leaky roof, every drop of which is immovable."
When Guan Liuliu finished dressing and came out, his eyes lit up, and he grabbed her hand and wouldn't let go.
The two went to find Guan Zhiwei.
Guan Zhiwei adopted a bullying demeanor, "You should know that there's no such thing as a free lunch. If you want me to help you, you have to do things for me."
"OK."
"It could harm your family's interests."
"OK."
“You may have to betray your father if necessary.”
"OK."
After three consecutive lines, Guan Zhiwei remained silent.
She stroked her chin. "You agreed so readily? Didn't you even hesitate or struggle?"
Jiang Shuzheng shook his head and pressed on, "When are you going to propose marriage?"
Guan Zhiwei hissed. A man whose mind is full of women and who doesn't consider his family or morality at all has a very clear logic.
"Jiang Lang, I'm afraid I'm not worthy of your deep affection." Guan Liuliu turned her face to the side, looking at him softly, with a hint of pitiful insecurity.
"What nonsense are you talking about? That winter, I accidentally fell into the water. If you hadn't saved me, I would have been dead long ago." Jiang Shuzheng said earnestly, word by word, "From that moment on, I swore that I would be good to you for the rest of my life."
Guan Liuliu was taken aback. "When did this happen?"
Jiang Shuzheng carefully took out a strand of hair from his bosom and tied it with a red string.
"It was that time we went to Beijing with our parents. I was playing and fell into the water. You came to save me. In my panic, I grabbed your hair. Even when I was unconscious, I couldn't let go. To make it easier for you to get away, you cut off your hair."
"..." Is it possible that that's not my hair?
She did know about this; Jiang Shuzheng had fallen into the water, and she searched everywhere before finally finding him on the shore.
Guan Liuliu hesitated. Should she admit to it or not?
Guan Zhiwei's eyes lit up. Oh my, there's even a dramatic scene of someone mistaking their benefactor for someone else.
[That's right, the person he's so grateful to is actually you. Real or fake heiress, real or fake benefactor—you did all the good work, and she got all the spoils!]
"You're such a troublemaker," Guan Zhiwei couldn't help but exclaim.
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