Chapter 730: Chapter 566: Serving One Husband Together
But the familyâs son had always been in poor health. Otherwise, no matter how beautiful Mrs. Li was, given how poor the family was, they would never have agreed to this marriage.
Mrs. Liâs father was into drinking, carousing, and gambling, spending every bit of silver he got his hands on, leaving the family in dire poverty.
The other family paid a lot of silver, basically buying Mrs. Li, hoping to turn things around for the son, but who could have known that on the eve of the wedding, the son would die of illness.
Even though the other familyâs son died, they insisted on marrying the girl to give the son a ghost marriage.
Old Li disagreed, he still had a younger son who wasnât married! If he lost the silver, wouldnât he have to sell his daughter again?
Since the other familyâs son died naturally, it couldnât be considered breaching the engagement.
The two families fell into discord; the other family knew a ghost marriage was unsavoury, so they changed their story, saying they wanted her to come and take care of the old couple.
They also said that in their old age, the family business would go to the daughter-in-law because they only had the one son.
Hearing this, Old Li gladly agreed, dreaming of the other familyâs business becoming his own.
Unbeknownst to him, Mrs. Li felt something was off, so she went to gather information, and found out the family even prepared another coffin.
As soon as the bride arrived, they planned to nail her into the coffin to be buried alongside their son!
Naturally, Mrs. Li refused and reported back to Old Li. But Old Li, blinded by the promise of the general store, was intent on marrying off his daughter.
Later, amid all the squabbling, Mrs. Li somehow hooked up with Gu Chengyi, who paid both families a substantial amount to settle the matter.
Gu Chengyu didnât bother verifying the incident since it wasnât his own silver being spent.
One would think Mrs. Li wouldnât have a strong attachment to her parental home, so why was she so eager to return?
Gu Chengyu wondered if Old Liâs habits of drinking, carousing, and gambling had influenced Gu Chengyi too.
If so, he needed to be more vigilant, who knows when his own interests might be targeted?
"I asked around, turns out heâs gotten involved with Mrs. Liâs cousin," Wang Yue said with contempt.
Mrs. Li always had a coquettish look about her; if she were proper, she wouldnât have attracted Gu Chengyi.
The cousin wasnât much better, knowing her sister was a concubine and yet mimicking her actions.
Sisters serving the same husband, itâs truly disgraceful.
Gu Chengyu hadnât anticipated this reason, he really didnât see it coming! Could it be that Gu Chengyi was now lost in lust?
Previously, Gu Chengyi didnât show such lecherous tendencies, even though He wasnât particularly attractive, Gu Chengyi treated her rather well.
It appears the saying is true: one canât judge a book by its cover!
However, didnât Doctor Li advise that Gu Chengyi should go easy on such indulgences?
He seemed to recall a suggestion to abstain from conjugal activities for three to five years, yet only three years have passed. Could he have recovered?
Even if he has recovered, indulging like this would likely have severe health repercussions.
Gu Chengyu shook his head, echoing the adage: âTo die under a peony is to become a lascivious ghost!â
"If itâs Mrs. Liâs cousin, does she live with Mrs. Liâs family?"
Gu Chengyu didnât question how Wang Yue knew, so long as he got the results.
"Mrs. Liâs cousin is also at the Li family home; she went for a visit and has stayed several days. The Li family probably knows and might be waiting for an explanation," Wang Yue reminded.
Gu Chengyu nodded, thinking it would not matter if he took another concubine since he already had two.
"What has the second son been up to lately? Any outrageous behavior?"
Gu Chengyu remembered the second son who studied in the county, also a restless sort.
"Not much, just that someone saw him visiting a gambling den, and he had previously visited a brothel."
Wang Yue thought the second son showed some talent in studies but was conceited and drawn to dubious pursuits.
Her own son, Chang, wouldnât be relying on the second son, so she wasnât afraid of offending him.
"Gambling den? Who led him there?" Gu Chengyu frowned, not worried about the second son getting trapped into financial ruin.
But because the second son was devious, potentially more so than Gu Chengyi. Were he to lose all his silver, heâd surely scheme again.
He figured he better investigate the second sonâs activities properly; if it was bad news, heâd have to deal with him, he was a liability.
"I donât know, maybe a classmate?" Wang Yue had spent some silver, asking a distant cousin in town to keep an eye out.
This cousin was a town thug, caring only for silver, not people. If more information was needed, she hadnât given enough silver for that level of attention.
But Wang Yueâs silver was accumulated little by little, making her frugal. No surprise people wouldnât watch over things just for her.
"I donât have enough silver to spare, I havenât paid much where I asked. No wonder they donât care to keep watch; Iâve told you all I know," Wang Yue took the chance to mention this; it was why she came today.
"Oh! And a while back, the second son mentioned to the master that he wanted to marry his teacherâs youngest daughter, about two months ago."
Wang Yue suddenly remembered and hurriedly told Gu Chengyu.
Two months ago? Gu Chengyu was surprised, itâs been so long, why hadnât he heard of it? Had the families already agreed?
Mrs. Lv heard and got interested, chiming in, "Are the families going through with it?"
Wang Yue shook her head, "It probably hasnât worked out, I only heard them argue. The master said the betrothal gift was too high, the teacherâs family was obviously making things difficult. The master didnât agree."
"The betrothal gift was too high?" Both Mrs. Lv and Gu Chengyu found that unexpected.
Gu Chengyi received quite a sum annually from the soap profits; how could he claim the betrothal price was too steep? Could it be thousands or tens of thousands of taels?
"Thatâs what was said, I didnât catch the specifics," they discussed these matters behind her back, it wasnât easy overhearing this much.
"I hear your Yang Guo is considering a marriage proposal?" Gu Chengyu shifted topics, suddenly asking about Yang Guo.
Wang Yue was taken aback, then filled with joy, her face ever so slightly showing excitement.
"Several families were discussed before, but they asked for high betrothal gifts. I know I made mistakes, causing trouble for Guoguo. It became difficult finding a match for Guoguo. So I thought to add three more rooms to make matchmaking easier."
Gu Chengyu ignored Wang Yueâs hopeful gaze, pulling two silver notes from his pocket and placing them on the table.
Wang Yueâs eyes were glued, fixated on the two silver notes.
She recognized them as silver notes worth a hundred taels each.
Though she had seen much more where Gu Chengyi was concerned, those belonged to him, never within her grasp; monthly, she got three taels for her expenses.
Though the Jade Pendant he gave was valuable, it wasnât as immediate as silver notes.
Wang Yue involuntarily reached out, preparing to seize the two silver notes.
Just as she was about to reach them, Gu Chengyu whisked the notes away from the table.