This story begins with Wang Xing and his group encountering a landslide. After setting off from Qinglin Academy, the group continued their journey, and their next destination for study and lodging was a temple.
Halfway there, they came to a mountainside. Suddenly, rocks and other objects fell down, startling the donkey, which stubbornly refused to move forward.
Even if the donkey dared to move forward, the old driver wouldn't dare to lead this group of people to charge uphill.
Turning around, I gave everyone two suggestions: one was to go back first, and the other was to take a detour.
Everyone chose to take a detour, but at that moment, a local uncle came over and advised them against it.
"If you ask me, you should leave. Don't keep going around in circles here. If the road ahead collapses again, no one will dare to leave the village to rescue you in that situation."
Two years ago, a young man from our village fell into a pit. Because rocks fell from the mountain and the road collapsed, no one dared to come out to rescue him.
The young man broke his leg and spent six months recovering at home.
None of us are stubborn people, so upon hearing this, we turned around and left.
We're going to Qingsong Academy. Originally, we planned to visit Qingsong Academy on our way back, but now we're moving the time forward and changing it.
We happened to arrive at Yanxia Village and decided to rest there for the night.
Wang Xing and Lu Song were assigned a thatched hut that was now deserted.
To be honest, the conditions were terrible, but the two of them felt very comfortable. Last time they stayed at a fellow villager's house, the villager kept talking to them, and the two of them weren't particularly talkative, being a bit socially awkward.
Who would have thought that in such a remote house, they would encounter Granny Lin.
When Wang Xing saw Granny Lin, he was quite puzzled. What was she doing here?
But they explained that they were on their way to dig bamboo shoots in the mountains and were just stopping by for a rest. They even asked them why they would stay in such a remote house.
After exchanging words for a while, the two sides parted ways. Granny Lin returned to the estate, her heart filled with worry.
As soon as I got back, I heard Xu Shaoqing arguing with Aunt Yang.
"Who do you think you are? Just a servant, yet you dare to act like an elder here!"
My mother is the legitimate daughter of the Zheng family, not a servant like you who is half-servant and half-master!
Aunt Yang was a woman who cared about her reputation, and even after being driven down to the estate, this fundamental nature remained unchanged.
Hearing Xu Shaoqing scold her like that, she was furious. Caught off guard, Xu Shaoqing almost got slapped by Aunt Yang.
Fortunately, Yingchun intervened and flung her aunt's hand back, saying, "Why did you hit me, Aunt!"
Aunt Yang was so angry that she was panting heavily, and she looked at Xu Shaoqing with a cold expression.
Xu Shaoqing didn't care at all, smoothing her hair. "You? Who do you think you are? You think you can just come and take things from my storeroom? Ha!"
He then turned to Yingchun and said, "Let's go back!"
Aunt Yang felt extremely wronged. Gu Xiao and Gu Ting had finally come over, and her first reaction upon seeing them was that they had come to take her back.
As it turned out, Granny Lu, who was following behind, said that the two of them had also been dealt with, and Aunt Yang felt completely disoriented.
To exaggerate, when she learned that the two of them had also been punished, Aunt Yang really wanted to find a rope and hang herself.
What is all this about? I feel like there's no hope left in living.
Unexpectedly, the news that followed was more explosive than the last; Gu Ting was even dismissed from his post!
The second wife has also separated from Gu Ting! From now on, Gu Ting will no longer be able to benefit from the Zheng family's influence!
"My God! What terrible things have I done?" Aunt Yang couldn't help but sit on the ground and cry. She had learned this trick from the old ladies in the neighborhood.
Unfortunately, Gu Ting and Gu Xiao weren't buying it. Especially Gu Ting, whose mental state was currently extremely unstable.
Even after being placed on the estate, he still dreamed of going back.
As for what he could do if he went back, he didn't know; he just didn't want to leave the capital.
Every ten days, she had to write a letter to the old Marquis and give it to Granny Lu, who would then send someone to deliver it back.
To be honest, Gu Ting wants to kill Xu Shaoqing right now!
He wanted to kill her to vent his anger! Otherwise, he just couldn't get over it.
But after thinking about it, he held back. He still held onto a sliver of hope: would the Anbo Mansion take care of Xu Shaoqing?
If we can't win back the old Marquis, we might be able to go back through Xu Shaoqing.
After all, how long could solitary confinement last? It should be quite a long time, but Gu Ting didn't realize it.
He didn't know that the old marquis intended to imprison him here for three to five years. He thought he would be able to leave in no more than six months.
But when he asked Xu Shaoqing to write a letter to the Earl's Mansion, Xu Shaoqing refused.
In fact, from the way her parents responded to her marriage to Gu Ting, Xu Shaoqing no longer felt that her parents disowned her.
She has no self-awareness whatsoever. She never thought that her parents would abandon her. Moreover, she has unilaterally decided to give Jiang Shiyi (the aunt) and the others a cold shoulder.
How dare they try to harm Gu Ting? That's outrageous!
She felt that she should leave her parents for a while, until they realized their mistake, and then they could reconcile.
Seeing that communication between Xu Shaoqing and the Marquis's mansion was also ineffective, Gu Ting became increasingly frustrated.
If Gu Xiao hadn't stopped them, Granny Lu would have stayed with them at the estate, keeping Gu Ting under control.
Gu Ting really wanted to beat Xu Shaoqing to a pulp right now—literally beat her to death! Just to vent his anger.
Anyone could tell that his emotions were so abnormal.
Perhaps she was also a little scared, and since arriving at the estate, even though she had money, her quality of life had plummeted.
Day after day, they were confined to the courtyard, unable to step out. The courtyard remained small, without a garden where they could admire flowers or take a stroll.
She was also in a bad mood herself, so she didn't have time to comfort Gu Ting.
Now that we can't even leave the house, what good is all the money in the world?
However, this girl is too spoiled and doesn't have the personality to swallow her anger.
So even though she was afraid and avoided Gu Ting, she didn't try to control her temper.
Even after Gu Ting offended her, he would still yell back! Aunt Yang was very unhappy about this. The two of them would argue every three days and have a big fight every five days.
In short, their situation in the countryside was getting worse and worse, and more and more oppressive.
Once in the countryside, Gu Xiao calmed down considerably. He had some good news that no one else knew about.
Before the Lunar New Year, it wasn't because Gu Xiaomo's two grandfathers had been pestering him so much that someone promised to introduce him to the matter of shipping ceramics.
Of course, there are ways to make Gu Xiao give up and never be able to get close to them again.
But before it could be implemented, the whole family was also driven to the estate by the old Marquis.
Seeing this, the second old master quickly dumped Gu Xiao as well. However, the second old master was shrewd and said he had brought Gu Xiao a batch of spices imported from overseas.
Making tens of thousands of taels of silver from reselling this batch of spices wouldn't be a problem. With the money as a lure, Gu Xiao was in a pretty good mood and could even mediate some conflicts.
The problem is, isn't Granny Lu living here? We don't want her to go back and complain to our father!
What if my father gets even angrier and intercepts the spices that my second uncle brought him?
Gu Xiao glanced at Xu Shaoqing and decided to put up with her for now, since Granny Lu would be going back in three days anyway.
We'll try to borrow Xu Shaoqing's shop when the time comes, since a two-story shop like the one on Ma Xing Street is hard to find in the capital.
Gu Xiao wanted to return to the capital to sell spices, but the old Marquis stopped him. He couldn't go back openly now, and besides, even if he did go back, it wouldn't make any difference.
To sell things, you need to set up a good shop and decorate it nicely, so the selling price will naturally be higher. Besides, there are quite a few merchants coming and going in the Ma Xing Street area.
Gu Xiao didn't own any shops, not even a small one, let alone any shops on Ma Xing Street.
The shop that I had painstakingly saved up to buy was also taken away by the second wife.
It's not worthwhile to buy a shop just to sell spices for less than 30,000 taels of silver. How much does a shop cost?
So, we'll just use Xu Shaoqing's products for now. As for her skincare and perfume business, let's put it on hold for a while! Once the perfumes are sold out, we'll give the shop back to her.
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