This reminded Gu Lili of the scenes on television where the top courtesan of a brothel would make her entrance.
An unnamed fire suddenly erupted from Gu Lili's chest.
These parents are worse than pigs and dogs!
Such behavior makes one unfit to be a parent!
The expressions on the faces of Gu Lili and the other two were really unpleasant, but they were powerless to do anything about it.
A gentle breeze lifted a corner of the woman's veil, allowing Gu Lili and the others to see her clearly from their direction.
The girl under the veil was already in tears, her eyes swollen and red.
He looked at the diverse group of men gathering on the street with eyes full of despair.
The two maids standing behind her looked at her with disdain. Gu Lili could vaguely see that the two maids were holding the girl's hands in a tether.
This person was clearly forced to come up here!
Li Ershu angrily slammed the bowl down on the table.
"These parents are worse than pigs and dogs! How could they treat their own daughter like this!" Li Ershu cursed angrily.
These words are exactly what Gu Lili and Chang'an feel.
Gu Lili turned her head and looked down, and saw several government officials standing downstairs.
Gu Lili thought for a moment, then took out the county princess's jade token and handed it to Li Ershu.
"Second Uncle, why don't you and Chang'an take this jade token to the officials below and ask them to inquire whether Miss Liu was coerced. If she was coerced, the government will surely not sit idly by."
Li Ershu quickly took the jade token and went downstairs with Chang'an.
The jade token proved effective; several officials nodded and headed towards the teahouse.
To prevent the officials from protecting Liu's parents, Chang'an and Li Ershu went along as well.
However, before they could even finish a cup of tea, Chang'an and Li Ershu returned.
“Lili, we went with the officials to ask Miss Liu, and she said she did it voluntarily,” Li Ershu said in a low voice.
Gu Lili wondered if Miss Liu had some kind of leverage that her parents had over her.
That won't work!
Gu Lili was a little confused, but since Miss Liu had personally denied it, Gu Lili decided not to worry about it anymore.
Gu Lili nodded and said, "Then let's continue eating!"
The three were eating when a middle-aged man's voice came from across the table.
"Fellow villagers, today my eldest daughter of the Liu family throws an embroidered ball to find a husband! Whoever catches the ball, regardless of age, can marry my eldest daughter of the Liu family!"
Gu Lili looked up and saw the man by the window.
Gu Lili originally thought that the richest man in Jiangdu must be a greasy, nouveau riche with a big belly and a thick waist.
Unexpectedly, this Master Liu was not greasy at all; on the contrary, he was quite handsome.
He stood upright, exuding the air of a scholar.
As soon as Master Liu finished speaking, people downstairs started to jeer.
"Master Liu, what if someone who is already married catches the embroidered ball?"
Master Liu glanced in the direction of the person who asked the question, then laughed and said, "Now that the marriage is complete, whoever catches the embroidered ball can take my son as a concubine!"
As soon as Master Liu said this, the people standing on the street were in an uproar.
Some were delighted, some were disdainful, some were excited, and some rolled their eyes.
"What a hypocrite!" Gu Lili complained.
Right now, none of the three of them were in the mood to eat. They put down their bowls and chopsticks and looked at the situation outside.
All three of them wanted to see who would receive Miss Liu's embroidered ball.
Master Liu ignored what these people were saying and continued talking to himself.
"Alright, the game of catching the embroidered ball has officially begun. I wonder which lucky person will be destined to share this blessed union with my son!"
Upon hearing what Master Liu said, the people on the street stopped making noise.
Master Liu turned around and glanced at Miss Liu, then gestured to the maid to hand her the embroidered ball.
Ms. Liu did not catch the ball immediately, but stood there in a daze.
It's unclear what Master Liu said to Miss Liu, but Miss Liu accepted the embroidered ball.
With a flick of his sleeve, Master Liu retreated to the tea table not far behind Miss Liu and began to drink tea.
As soon as Master Liu sat down, Gu Lili saw a pair of fair and delicate hands cling to his neck.
Master Liu glanced displeasedly at the open window across the street where Gu Lili and the others were, and only then did the owner of those hands retract them.
Gu Lili snorted coldly. How could someone with such a dissolute lifestyle be fit to be the mistress of the house? It's laughable.
Miss Liu took the embroidered ball, glanced despairingly at the person behind her, and without even looking where she was going, threw the ball down.
The moment the embroidered ball fell, the men on the street started making a fuss.
Everyone moved toward the embroidered ball, wanting to snatch it into their hands.
Li Ershu quickly stood up, wanting to take a look at the situation on the street.
The embroidered ball landed in the hands of a handsome young man, and Li Ershu's tension eased considerably.
He had gone with Chang'an earlier, and although he hadn't entered the inner room, he could still hear that Miss Liu's voice was hoarse.
She must have been crying for quite some time now.
If it falls into the hands of that handsome young man, it wouldn't be too unfair.
Just as Li Ershu was slightly relieved, he saw the embroidered ball snatched away by an eight or nine-year-old boy who then ran off.
The boy was small, but he moved through the crowd like an eel, carefully clutching the embroidered ball to his chest. For a moment, the crowd couldn't do anything about him.
The boy, carrying the embroidered ball, slipped through the crowd and headed towards the teahouse.
"You little brat, you haven't even grown all your hair yet, what are you doing here joining in the fun!" someone in the crowd cursed.
The child wasn't annoyed. As he crawled around, he said in his childish voice, "I'll raise him for a few more years, then I can take him home and play with him for a few years!"
As soon as the boy finished speaking, everyone around him burst into laughter.
Gu Lili almost spat out a mouthful of tea onto Chang'an's face, but luckily Chang'an reacted quickly and dodged to the side.
Gu Lili looked at the child catching the embroidered ball. He was only about the same age as Gu Yanyu, yet he was already thinking about marriage. He was really precocious for his age.
Li Ershu was both amused and exasperated, while at the same time trying to help Miss Liu think things through.
If it were a boy, it wouldn't be a bad choice; he'd be much better than that old Zhang.
Who knew that it was because the boy replied with that sentence that he was distracted, and the embroidered ball in his hand was snatched away.
The boy looked at his empty hands and burst into tears.
"You wait! I'm going back to tell my mother!"
The boy ran westward along the street as he spoke.
Another burst of laughter erupted from the crowd.
After the embroidered ball was snatched away, it was passed back and forth among the crowd.
Li Ershu's heart rose and fell with the embroidered ball; however, people are truly prone to what they fear, and what they fear will happen.
After a brief scramble, the embroidered ball flew straight towards Old Zhang.
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