Chapter Two: Selecting Gu Jingxi
As soon as she finished speaking, everyone was stunned.
The Yongchang Marquis's Mansion of today is not the same as it was more than a decade ago. After the old Yongchang Marquis passed away, the current Yongchang Marquis is mediocre, his heir is only twelve years old and has not yet entered officialdom, so he is not yet established. His eldest son is only thirteen years old. The Yongchang Marquis's Mansion has declined. Even though Gu Xiuming ran away from the marriage, the Gu family will still hold the wedding as scheduled and marry Meng Jinyao into the family.
Meng Jinyao, taking advantage of the situation, married Gu Xiuming and became his lawfully wedded wife. No matter how much Gu Xiuming loved the other women, they were ultimately just concubines who couldn't be brought into the open, and he could deal with them later.
But now Meng Jinyao is saying she wants to change the groom?
The Changxing Marquis's Mansion has three branches. The first and second branches are both born out of wedlock, while the third branch is born out of wedlock. The third branch is born to the old lady Gu and inherited the title after the old marquis passed away, becoming the new Changxing Marquis. Changxing Marquis Gu Jingxi only has one son. If Meng Jinyao were to choose another young master to marry, how could it be more prestigious than marrying Gu Xiuming as the wife of the heir?
Madam Gu glanced at her in surprise. The young girl looked delicate, but she was so calm in the face of this situation and made her demands without room for argument. She couldn't help but admire her. She didn't expect the daughter of the Marquis of Yongchang to have such spirit. She admired such a child and said, "It is our Gu family that has wronged Miss Meng first. So let's do as Miss Meng says. All the eligible young men in the Gu family who are not married or engaged shall stand up and let Miss Meng choose."
Upon hearing this, the guests were in an uproar. They never expected that Madam Gu would agree to such an outrageous request. Could the groom be changed so easily?
The eldest son's family couldn't sit still. Given the current power of the Marquis of Changxing's mansion, why would their son marry a daughter from a fallen noble family?
Zhang was the first to object: "Mother, this..."
Madam Gu glanced indifferently at Madam Zhang, interrupting her: "Although Xiuwen is only fifteen, he is old enough to get married."
Upon hearing this, even though Zhang was dissatisfied, she dared not disobey her mother-in-law in front of the guests, and could only awkwardly reply, "Mother is right."
Anyway, Xiuwen is only fifteen, and Meng Jinyao might not be interested in someone younger than her. Xiuhong from the second branch is seventeen this year, a year older than Meng Jinyao, so she should choose Xiuhong. Even if Meng Jinyao takes a liking to Xiuwen, it doesn't matter, since Xiuwen is not the eldest son of the legitimate wife.
Although Madam Chen, the second wife, thought the young girl was a woman of principle and spirit, and calm in the face of adversity, she was not too happy if her son were to marry her. Wouldn't she be ridiculed for marrying her cousin's fiancée? But at this critical juncture, she dared not object, otherwise her mother-in-law would not forgive her afterward.
The Changxing Marquis's family has only four grandsons. The eldest son, Gu Xiuyuan, is already married and can be excluded. The second son, Gu Xiuhong, and the fourth son, Gu Xiuwen, are not yet engaged. These two unreliable sons are about to be forced to marry because of their unreliable cousins, and they will stand in front of Meng Jinyao for her to choose from.
Madam Gu asked gently, "Miss Meng, neither of my grandsons is married yet. Which one do you fancy?"
Meng Jinyao sized up the two young masters in front of her. The second young master, Gu Xiuhong, was refined and handsome, while the fourth young master, Gu Xiuwen, still had a bit of childishness on his face and was staring at her expectantly.
Choose one of the two.
She felt this was a difficult choice. The second young master, Gu Xiuhong, had a good relationship with Gu Xiuming. If she married Gu Xiuhong, he might not protect her if she had a conflict with Gu Xiuming in the future. Gu Xiuwen was also a bit young. She was not happy to marry someone who was like a younger brother.
Hearing Madam Gu's question, she raised her head and was about to reply when, inadvertently, a handsome man came into view. The man was wearing a crimson brocade robe, with a face like jade, eyebrows like ink paintings, and narrow phoenix eyes that were looking directly at her.
She recognized this person; he was originally her future father-in-law, the father of her future husband, Marquis Changxing, Gu Jingxi.
She looked at Gu Jingxi, a sudden idea flashed in her mind, and she pointed at Gu Jingxi and said, "I choose him."
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