A man opened the door and stared wide-eyed at the elegantly dressed woman outside.
The two women in front of them were clearly not village women, but rather noble ladies from a wealthy family.
The man was receiving such a guest at home for the first time, and he stammered as he spoke:
"Who are these two distinguished guests looking for?"
Gu Jiangli turned her head to look behind the man and smiled gently: "I'm looking for your wife."
"My wife?"
He turned around and saw a sallow-faced woman standing behind him, who was also looking at them with a puzzled expression.
The woman stepped forward: "Looking for me? What's the matter? Why don't you come in and we can talk?"
The couple decided to invite Jiang Li into their house because they thought she looked kind and they didn't think she was a bad person.
Gu Jiangli did not refuse, as standing by the door was indeed not a good place to discuss important matters.
She walked into the room, her every move exuding an air of elegance and sophistication.
The man brought over two stools, and Gu Jiangli sat down without hesitation, while Hehua waved her hand in refusal and stood directly behind Gu Jiangli.
The couple then realized that the women were the mistress and maid of a wealthy family.
"Who are you two? What do you want with us?"
Gu Jiangli smiled approachably and said, "I have indeed come here with a request. I know that you are pregnant, and I hope that you can give up the child in your womb. If you are willing, I can compensate you."
The man stared in disbelief, then immediately stood up: "How did you know my wife was pregnant? What do you mean, give up? You...you want my wife to abort this child?"
Gu Jiangli calmly replied, "That's right."
"Why? By what right?!"
Gu Jiangli remained calm, and after extending her hand, Hehua placed the silver note in her palm.
"I cannot go into the reasons and causes, but as long as you are willing to give up this child, these three hundred taels of silver are yours. Although this money is not much, it is enough for you two to have another child and not suffer from hunger for the rest of your lives."
"This...this doesn't make sense! Who are you? What right do you have to interfere in my child's affairs?" the woman hurriedly said.
"Brother, you don't really need to know all this. You're both so young, you'll have many more opportunities to conceive in the future, it doesn't have to be this one. Besides, aren't we giving you some money? Exchanging an unborn child for three hundred taels of silver, is that a bad deal?"
The woman wanted to say more, but the man's eyes were fixed on the silver note, and he swallowed hard.
He was clearly wavering.
Three hundred taels of silver notes—he had never seen so much money in his entire life.
Even if he grew vegetables in the fields for another hundred years, he still wouldn't earn this much money.
He pressed down on his wife's hand and asked, "If we're willing to abort this child, will you give us these three hundred taels?"
"right."
"You're not going to back out?"
"No regrets."
"We don't know you at all, how can we prove what you're saying is true? What if my wife takes abortion pills and you refuse to pay?"
"How about this, I'll give you one hundred taels first, and after I confirm that the child in the lady's womb is gone, I'll give you the remaining two hundred taels. Is that alright?"
The man thought for a moment, then said, "Okay, it's a deal!"
Gu Jiangli took out a one-hundred-tael silver note and placed it on the table, saying, "It's a deal."
"If we abort the child, where will we get the remaining money from you?"
"No need to come looking for me. If nothing unexpected happens, I will come again in seven days. If you have acted according to plan by then, you will definitely receive two hundred taels of silver."
The man held the hundred-tael silver note, his hand trembling slightly.
Even if it's only one hundred taels, that's still a considerable sum.
"Okay, see you in seven days."
Gu Jiangli slowly stood up, and the woman suddenly noticed her slightly protruding belly. She cried out in surprise:
"You're pregnant too! You're going to be a mother too, how can you be so heartless as to ask someone who's also about to become a mother to give up their child!?"
Gu Jiangli paused, turned his head slightly, and slowly said:
"For some children, not being born is a blessing for the world."
The woman was dumbfounded, unable to comprehend the meaning behind her words.
The man put his arm around his wife, as if to tell her to stop talking.
Gu Jiangli, carrying the lotus flowers, returned to the carriage step by step.
The lotus flower looked worried, glancing back at the situation every now and then.
"Miss, may I ask why? I really don't understand why you're doing this."
Gu Jiangli exhaled a breath of stale air.
He gently stroked his heart with his right hand.
It felt as if a faint stinging sensation could still be felt there.
She didn't know how to explain it to the lotus flower.
In her previous life, in order to win Jiang Huaisong's favor, she pretended to be pregnant and found a child in a village outside the city to pretend that it was her own child.
That child was born to the woman we see today.
When he grew up, in order to keep the secret of his origins forever, he killed everyone who knew about it, including his biological parents and his past self.
He once plunged an arm-length dagger into her chest; she would never forget the pain.
That child was destined to be a scourge.
Since we know all this, we might as well not have brought him into this world in the first place.
"Lotus, just as I just said, it is actually a blessing for everyone that that child is not born."
"How did you come to this conclusion? You've never been here before, so you shouldn't know them."
"Just consider it a dream where a deity appeared to me. In any case, it's a good thing that the child wasn't born."
Seeing that she had closed her eyes to rest, Lotus knew that she did not want to talk about it anymore, so she shut her mouth and did not ask any more questions.
It was already night when the carriage returned to the city lord's mansion.
The servants outside the door are removing the red lanterns from the entrance.
It seems the matter of taking a concubine has been settled.
Gu Jiangli went straight back to the small building.
Completely unaware that Sun Chan was throwing a tantrum in the house.
"Get out! All of you get out!"
Four or five maids trembled and left the room with their heads down.
Sun Chan was in a bad mood today, but they could all understand.
After all, no wife would be happy if her newlywed husband took a concubine.
A maid in red stepped forward to comfort her: "Second Madam, don't be angry. It's not worth ruining your health. You are, after all, the legal wife. If your health collapses, Xia Wei will take advantage of the situation and climb all over you!"
Sun Chan gasped for breath, "She's already gotten above me! Just now she offered me tea, but she gave me a glass of ice-cold tea! What does she mean? Isn't she just trying to intimidate me? She's telling me that I'm no longer important, just like that bowl of ice-cold tea! Now, she's the woman the Second Young Master cherishes!"
She should have known that from the moment Jiang Huaisong took a concubine, her life in the city lord's mansion would not necessarily be peaceful.
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