Chapter 239: The First Grand Secretary (1)
#The Vicious Fiancée of a Generation's Prime Minister
*
Linxian County, Shenjia.
"Good heavens, in the dead of winter, they made Gu Sui kneel at the door dressed so thinly. He'll freeze to death. Even though the Gu family has declined, they were still a prominent family in the past, and the two families had a marriage agreement. This is too cruel."
“That was before. Now the entire Gu family is dead, leaving only Gu Sui as their sole heir, and he’s in poor health. How could the Shen family possibly marry their daughter to him?”
"But even if you don't want to get married, why not just talk to them nicely, give them some money and send them off to a good place? Why be so heartless?"
"I heard that the Shen family wanted to break off the engagement. They offered Gu Sui a sum of money if he handed over the tokens of the childhood betrothal. Gu Sui disagreed, saying it was his parents' decision and the matchmaker's words. He was very stubborn."
"why is that?"
"..."
A thin figure knelt in front of the door, while onlookers came and went. Soon it got dark and the crowd dispersed.
...
Meanwhile, in the inner courtyard of the Shen family.
Wen Wan opened her eyes to the sound of laughter and chatter. Before her were antique rooms and decorations; this was an ancient world.
"Miss is awake!" A maid ran over and helped Wen Wan up. "Miss, that Gu Sui is still kneeling shamelessly at the door. If you ask me, we should have him driven away. He's a penniless wretch who wants to marry our young lady. He can only dream about it."
Wen Wan frowned. "I want to eat something. Go get it."
"Yes, miss, I'll be right there."
After the maid left, Wen Wan got off the bed and walked to the bronze mirror standing to the side. She saw the body clearly. Her face was unadorned, with porcelain-white and smooth skin, delicate and beautiful features, and long hair reaching her waist. She was an exquisite beauty.
The system quickly came online and transmitted the storyline of this world.
This poorly written novel, "The First Grand Secretary," is a story about a male protagonist's rise to power in the officialdom. The protagonist, Gu Sui, is exceptionally talented and comes from a distinguished family. His father is the richest man in the neighboring county, and his mother comes from a scholarly family. For the first twenty years of his life, he lived in an excellent environment. The original owner of this body, Shen Jiao, is the only daughter of the wealthy Shen family in the neighboring county. The two families have an excellent relationship and have even been betrothed since childhood.
But all of this suddenly changed when the parents were robbed and killed by bandits, and the Gu family fell into decline.
It must be said that this author understands the concept of a beautiful, strong, and tragic character. The male lead is weak and was raised by his parents in his early years. After his parents died, Shen Jiao was unwilling to accept a bankrupt and sickly young master, so she broke off the engagement.
The process was exceptionally... inhumane. Gu Sui suffered a lot of physical and mental humiliation and blows. Afterwards, in order to save face in public, but unwilling to let their precious daughter marry, the Shen family came up with a dirty trick: to find someone to marry in her place.
The person they were looking for was the female lead, Shen Yuege, the daughter of Shen Jiao's wet nurse. She was later adopted by Shen's mother and changed her surname to Shen. She then married Gu Sui. Although life was difficult after Gu Sui married Shen Yuege, he was unwilling to accept his fate. With the support of the female lead, he took the imperial examination and quickly achieved the highest honors in all three levels, eventually becoming the third-highest-ranking scholar in the imperial examination.
The Shen family is now filled with regret. They want to marry Shen Jiao to Gu Sui in order to climb up to him. They even threaten Shen Yuege, wanting to demote their wife to a concubine, and they also hold the female lead's mother hostage as a shield.
However, the plan ultimately failed. Gu Sui took Shen Yuege to the capital and rose through the ranks step by step, following the typical formula of a thrilling official career upgrade novel. He eventually became the Grand Secretary, and Shen Yuege was his only wife throughout his life. The two became a legendary couple.
As for the Shen family, Shen Jiao's brother, Shen Yuechu, a typical playboy, squandered the family fortune. To save the family, Shen Jiao married a local gentry man who was about thirty years older than her. However, the Shen family still fell into ruin. The gentry man was fickle and eventually Shen Jiao died of depression in the inner quarters. Before she died, she deeply regretted refusing to marry Gu Sui. She listened to Gu Sui and Shen Yuege's current life and daydreamed that it should have been hers.
The original ending should have been like this. However, the author's performance was stable in the early stages, and the readers were very satisfied. But in the finale, the story suddenly went crazy and ended up going downhill. The male lead died due to health reasons just before he became the prime minister. The female lead later remarried, but she always carried the love for the male lead in her heart. She had no children with the male lead, but had a daughter with her later husband, whom she named Yi Sui. Every year, she would take her to visit the male lead's grave.
Wen Yan: "???"
It's a complete mystery. If the ending were normal, it would be a great story.
Reader satisfaction: 60%.
It's neither high nor low. After all, there's a reason for this assessment. The author laid a lot of groundwork for the protagonist's illness in the early stages, when he was in a miserable state. Doctors predicted he wouldn't live past thirty, and he was weak in this and that area. Later on, he was always taking medicine.
It's typical that all the cheat codes are given to the brain.
"So all I need to do is wait for everything to go smoothly, and then, in the final step, shift the plot to where it should be, ensuring the male lead survives and preventing the female lead from remarrying?"
System: [That's right, you hardly need to do anything in the early stages. The only thing you need to do is protect the male lead's health.]
Wen Wan felt that the task was not too difficult.
Now is the time for the original owner of this body, Shen Jiao, to refuse the marriage. There are still about ten years until the finale. However, the original owner's ending is not very good either. So Wen Wan asked, "Do I have to follow the plot? I don't want to marry an old man."
System: [This is not mandatory.]
"That's good. Your transmigration novel company is quite humane. Otherwise, if you wanted me to marry an old man as the ending, I would have gone on strike."
System: [...] Is it really that vicious?
At this moment, the maid returned with pastries. Wen Wan looked at the maid, who was named Cai Lü. In the story, she was not a good person. Taking advantage of Shen Jiao's affection, she was a typical villainous female supporting character's indispensable treacherous servant. She was involved in tormenting the male lead and the female lead. Later, when the Shen family went bankrupt, she even poured oil on Shen Jiao. She was utterly ruthless.
Wen Wan dared not get close to her; she had to find a way to send her away, otherwise she would probably have nightmares tonight.
"Miss, this is your favorite almond cake."
Wen Wanye was indeed a little hungry, and looking at Cailu, she said, "Help me wash up."
Following the character setting in the original plot, Wen Wan was extremely picky and tormented Cai Lu for a long time before she was dressed properly. After she finished, she pretended to be very dissatisfied and said, "As my personal maid, how come your skills are so clumsy? You should learn from Gui Zhi in the future. Before you learn well, let Gui Zhi serve me first."
Cai Lu's face stiffened.
Guizhi was another of Shen Jiao's personal maids. However, because she was too honest, she was not as popular with the original owner as the glib-tongued Cailu. Therefore, she was always ostracized by Cailu and was often bullied. However, Guizhi was a loyal servant who did not abandon the original owner after she fell on hard times, served her, and saw her off in the end. Wen Wan decided that she should get closer to this kind-hearted maid in the future.
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