Shen Qingqiu quickly stopped the anxious man.
"We have just experienced several wars, and now the treasury is empty. It is really not appropriate to use the money to hold a wedding now. It is better to use the money to do something practical for the people. It will not be too late to hold the wedding next spring when the flowers bloom."
Gu Yanwei now listens to Shen Qingqiu in everything: "You have the final say."
Shen Qingqiu smiled, and seeing the way he looked at her, she felt sweet inside.
——
A sedan chair was slowly carried into the capital city during the good time.
"Are we almost there?" A delicate and fair face emerged from the sedan chair. The girl looked to be about fourteen or fifteen years old, with a very pretty and elegant face, but her pair of black eyes occasionally revealed a calculating look, which made people dislike her at first sight.
"Reply to the girl, we'll be there soon."
Gu Yarong was holding a fan and looking around the capital while tidying up her hair.
An older woman in the sedan chair spoke with some trepidation, "We haven't been to the capital in these years. We don't know if the Gu family will recognize us."
Gu Yarong snorted coldly, "We have a handwritten letter from our father here, why would they not acknowledge us? Besides, we still have my younger brother! So many men in the Gu family died on the battlefield, I heard that this generation is almost extinct. Even for my younger brother, they will definitely take us back!"
When Chen heard her daughter mention her son, she felt a little more confident.
Then she looked at her son who was riding a tall horse outside, looking so heroic. She had raised her son so outstandingly, and he looked 50% similar to her husband, so how could the Marquis's Mansion not recognize him?
At this time, the sedan chair shook, and the bearer stopped it and announced, "Madam, Miss, we have arrived."
Gu Yarong came out of the sedan chair and supported Chen, while the young man Gu Kaihe, who was riding a horse, also got off the horse and arrived at the gate of the marquis' mansion with his mother and sister.
Gu Kaihe is a man, so naturally he should be the one to knock on the door.
When the housekeeper of the Gu Mansion came to open the door, he didn't say much, but handed them the letter written by his father and asked them to give it to Old Lady Xu. If an ordinary person handed such a letter to the old lady, the housekeeper would have sent them away without saying a word.
But Gu Kaihe looked very similar to the third master of the Gu family. The housekeeper felt that he looked familiar, but couldn't remember who he was for a moment. He was also afraid that he was some unknown relative of the Gu family, so he hurriedly took the envelope to give it to Old Lady Xu.
At that time, Liu was paying her respects to Old Madam Xu.
The two were chatting and laughing with Tuan Ge'er when they heard the housekeeper report that a young man outside had a letter to show to Old Madam Xu.
The old lady was a little suspicious, and said, "Yong'er's wife, can you show me the letter?"
She was old and her eyesight was not very good, so she was too lazy to take the trouble to read the words on the letter.
Liu stood up obediently and opened the envelope to read it. But her face changed as soon as she read a line. After reading the whole thing, she couldn't read it anymore and looked at Old Lady Xu in embarrassment.
Old Lady Xu waited for a long time but got nothing. She looked up and saw her daughter-in-law with this expression.
The old lady had experienced a lot in her life, so she knew something was going on. "What do you mean?"
Liu held the letter and said, "Now, I'm afraid that no matter what, I have to ask my third sister-in-law to come forward."
Most of the men of the Gu family died in the war. Those who gave birth to children and were willing to stay in the Gu family were well taken care of by Old Lady Xu. For those who did not have children and wanted to go back to their parents' home, Old Lady Xu also gave them generous dowries and sent them back.
At that time, most of her son's daughters-in-law were in their prime, few of them had children, and most of those without children chose to remarry.
Mrs. Gu San was an exception. She had no children, but because of her deep love for Gu Sanlang, she never remarried. She just lived in the side courtyard of the Marquis's mansion and seldom went out.
Liu asked the servants to leave, then sat down next to the old lady and began to talk, "It's not a bad thing. When my third uncle was outside the Great Wall, he took a concubine. They lived together for five years, and the concubine gave birth to a son and a daughter. Now she is waiting at the door with her two children."
At this age, all Old Lady Xu wants is to have many children and good fortune.
This news was naturally a happy one. She felt a lot more relaxed after hearing it. "Why don't you invite the person in quickly?"
Liu knew what she was thinking, and said, "Old Madam, we are of course happy that Third Uncle can leave behind a descendant. But what about Third Sister-in-law? She has been taking care of Third Uncle all these years, and she has always believed that... Third Uncle has no one outside. Now that such a big child has run away, if we rush over and recognize him, I am afraid Third Sister-in-law will be more or less unhappy."
Old Madam Xu was not an unkind old lady, otherwise, with her status as an elder, she could have easily forced all her daughters-in-law to die in the inner house.
After hearing what Liu said, he suddenly felt that if his granddaughter-in-law Meng knew about this matter in the end, it would be a bit embarrassing.
So he sighed, "Forget it, it's someone from the third house. It might not be a good idea for us to go and see him now. It's not good to leave him out in the open either. Let's invite him in first, and then tell Mrs. Meng. Let her decide everything."
Liu nodded and said, "I'll go find my third sister-in-law right away."
Gu's third son was nearly ten years older than Gu Yong, and Meng was not young either. She had been married to the Marquis's mansion since she was sixteen, and had lived in harmony with her husband for several years, and then remained a widow for nearly twenty years. She had been a vegetarian and a Buddhist for a long time, and she was very thin, but her personality was very gentle and amiable.
There weren't many sisters-in-law in this big mansion. Liu would come to see her on weekdays, and the two sisters-in-law got along well.
When Mrs. Meng saw Mrs. Liu coming over, she smiled and said, "Why are you here at this time?" She poured her a cup of cold tea and said, "I didn't expect this Tuan brother to come over. I haven't seen him for a few days. I miss him a little. I was planning to make some vegetarian snacks for him."
Meng had no children, so she was usually alone in the huge yard, and she inevitably felt lonely when she came and went. As people get older, they like the young and lively. Meng liked Tuan Ge'er very much, and she never lacked him for any good things.
When Liu heard that she cared about Tuan Ge'er, she couldn't help feeling sad for her.
To be honest, if her master suddenly brought back a teenage child from outside, she would never feel comfortable. It would be fine if the couple didn't have a deep relationship, but Meng and her third uncle were so deeply in love. Liu married late and didn't see how deeply they loved each other back then, but she knew clearly how deeply they loved each other over the years.
Seeing Liu's hesitant expression, Meng asked, "What's wrong with you? Why are you so hesitant when you come to me today?"
This kind of thing couldn't be concealed after all, and Liu finally spoke up, "Today a woman came with a letter from my third uncle, saying that she was my third uncle's concubine who was kept at the border."
Meng's hand trembled, and the vase on the table fell to the ground.
"This...how is this possible?" She didn't believe it at first, and Liu took out the letter that Gu Sanlang wrote that year.
Naturally, Meng knew her husband's handwriting. She had been idle in the backyard for so many years, and she used her spare time to sort out her husband's belongings.
She looked at the familiar handwriting, but the satisfaction and nostalgia she had felt when she sorted it out before were gone, and she felt more panic and uneasiness. She slapped the letter on the table, as if trying to convince herself, and as if trying to convince Liu, "If you are a concubine, why didn't you come to the Marquis' Mansion for so many years? Maybe you are just a liar who is swindling people?"
Seeing her expression, Liu knew that she believed it most of the time, but she just couldn't get over it in her heart.
She said, "He's already outside. The old lady meant that this is the Third House's business. Now it depends on how you plan to deal with it."
Meng's son was uneasy at the moment, but after hearing what Liu said, he raised a pale smile, "Thank you, old lady, for still looking after my face at this time."
Liu patted Meng's hand and said, "No matter what decision you make, I think the old lady means that we have to obey you."
Bloodline is important, but in the heart of the old lady, it is probably not as important as the granddaughter-in-law who has depended on her for so many years and guarded the Marquis' Mansion.
Meng's eyes turned red slightly, but she quickly calmed down.
"I'm going to meet them. No matter what, I have to meet them."
Liu said, "I'll go with you."
Meng looked at her gratefully, and they both changed their clothes and quickly went to the front hall.
Chen, along with her daughter Gu Yarong and son Gu Kaihe, had been waiting in the hall for a long time. Before she arrived in the capital, she had heard from outside that the Marquisate had few descendants, so she thought that if she brought a son here, even if the Gu family didn't take good care of her, they would definitely take care of her son like a golden Buddha.
Who would have thought that I would be treated so coldly after coming here?
Just when they were getting impatient, the servants of the Marquis' Mansion opened the curtain, and two women came out from behind the curtain. One was older, about forty years old, very thin, and not well maintained, with very obvious fine lines at the corners of her eyebrows and eyes.
But she has a very good temperament, and just by looking at her bone structure you can tell that she must have been a stunning beauty when she was young.
The young woman next to her looked to be in her twenties or thirties, with a gentleness in her dignity and a charming look in her eyes and eyebrows. Chen had only learned before entering the capital that the Marquis of the Marquisate had married a second wife a few years ago, a very beautiful woman who had struggled to become the Marquis's wife from a married concubine with her own abilities.
Before they met, Chen was still thinking how beautiful she must be to make the Marquis lose all his dignity and marry someone else's slut as his wife. But after seeing such a beautiful woman today, she finally understood.
Liu met a few people and just nodded slightly.
Logically speaking, she was the Marquis' wife, she should greet the guests, and she should treat the widow of her third uncle well. But since Meng was here, Liu became a wallflower, and everything was decided by Meng.
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