Jackie Chan's Son-in-Law

Chapter 1 The Young Master Emerges from His Cage
"Uncle, please."

“I have come as my father instructed.”

In the home of the richest man in Deqing County, Huzhou Prefecture, a young man dressed as a scholar, who looked to be in his early twenties, bowed to the richest man in Deqing County, who was sitting in the main hall.

Master Gu looked the young man up and down, then looked down at the letter in his hand, stroked his beard, and seemed to be deep in thought.

"You are the eldest son of the Chen family, aren't you?"

"Yes."

The young man looked up and glanced at Master Gu's face. Although Master Gu was the richest man in the county, he was rather thin and had a very dignified appearance.

He quickly lowered his head and continued, "My nephew Chen Qing is the eldest son of the Chen family."

"You are still the eldest son."

Master Gu looked at Chen Qing and shook his head slightly, saying, "Brother Zhaoming is an official appointed by the imperial court, and his official position is not small. The Chen family is an official family. You are the eldest son of the Chen family. How can Brother Zhaoming send you to marry into my Gu family?"

Chen Qing's father, Chen Huan, courtesy name Zhaoming, was indeed a court official. The Chen family was a local gentry family in Huzhou Prefecture.

Originally, there was no way that he could have been related to a merchant family by marriage. However, a few years ago, Chen Zhaoming suffered a major setback in his official career and needed a lot of money to save his life, so he sought help from Master Gu.

Mr. Gu only has one daughter, and he also wants to establish a connection with the Chen family. Therefore, he made a request, agreeing that once his daughter comes of age, one of the Chen family's sons will marry into the Gu family.

Chen Huan was in a desperate situation at the time, so he agreed.

In the blink of an eye, three years had passed, and Miss Gu was now sixteen or seventeen years old. Master Gu then sent a letter to the Chen family in the prefectural city.

Unexpectedly, this young man appeared before me.

He never imagined that he could be related to the eldest son of the Chen family by marriage, let alone that the eldest son of the Chen family would marry into his family.

Because Master Chen had more than one son; he also had a concubine who gave birth to two sons.

Of the two illegitimate sons, the older one was about the same age as Miss Gu.

Back then, Master Gu was hoping that one of the Chen family's illegitimate sons would marry into his family, and he would be content with that.

But to everyone's surprise, the Chen family had a legitimate eldest son.

Upon hearing this, Chen Qing looked up at Master Gu, took a deep breath, and said, "My mother passed away three years ago."

Master Gu still frowned: "Then you are also a legitimate heir..."

He seemed to realize that it was inappropriate to say it like that, so he got up and pulled Chen Qing to sit down, then said, "Nephew, is there something... about this?"

"there is nothing."

Chen Qing paused for a moment before saying, "I failed my studies, and after my mother passed away, I've been somewhat confused for the past three years. My family probably thinks I'm mentally challenged."

At this point, he looked at Master Gu and said with a smile, "That's why the family sent their nephew over here to be your son-in-law."

"But don't worry, Uncle, I'm not stupid, and I'm cured."

Upon hearing this, Master Gu frowned deeply.

Chen Qing was also looking at him, and continued, "If Uncle doesn't believe it, he can ask the Chen family for verification."

Looking at Chen Qing, Master Gu felt that something was rather strange.

The young man in front of me did not seem like a fool at all; on the contrary, his manners and speech were quite remarkable.

There must be some inside story behind this.

However, if he weren't stupid, the eldest son of the family would have been seething with hatred long ago after suffering such a fate, but this young man in front of him seemed calm and collected.

He even had a smile on his face the whole time.

Could it be?

Mr. Gu had some doubts.

Could it be that this eldest son of the Chen family is truly a foolish and stupid person?
Thinking of this, he looked Chen Qing up and down, left and right, but still felt it was not right. After hesitating for a moment, he asked, "This matter is really a bit outrageous. If my nephew is unwilling, or if he feels wronged."

"Might as well say it."

Master Gu said solemnly, "Although my Gu family is not an official family, we still value reason. In the beginning, we did not expect the eldest son of the Chen family to come to our family to marry into our family."

Chen Qing was silent for a moment, then smiled at Master Gu and said, "Uncle, you don't need to worry about the Chen family. I've been unhappy staying at home these past few years, but it was my own fault for leaving."

"If Uncle thinks highly of me, I will shamelessly stay. If he doesn't, I won't linger here. I'll take my leave now."

Upon hearing this, Master Gu looked at Chen Qing again.

The eldest son of the Chen family in front of him, while not exactly handsome, was certainly good-looking. What was even more remarkable was that he possessed a strange, carefree air about him, which Mr. Gu greatly admired.

After thinking for a moment, Master Gu smiled and said, "My nephew is handsome, so naturally I would be interested in him. How about this?"

"Nephew, please stay at my humble abode for now."

Master Gu stroked his beard and chuckled, "In a few days, I will arrange for my nephew to meet my daughter, and then we can begin preparations for the wedding." He hesitated for a moment, then looked at Chen Qing and said, "My nephew should know that my Gu family is in business. We are seeking a son-in-law to inherit the family business. After the wedding, you will need to learn how to manage the household affairs from me."

"When the time comes, my dear nephew, please don't look down on me."

In this era, merchants had a relatively low social status, so Master Gu was naturally worried that his son-in-law might look down on his family's business.

Chen Qing smiled and said, "If it can help you, Uncle, I will do my best."

"That's good."

Master Gu breathed a sigh of relief, then tugged at Chen Qing's sleeve and asked, "Nephew, if there are no problems in a few days, I will begin preparing for the wedding. What will your father do then?"

"He won't come."

Chen Qing took a deep breath, and a hint of displeasure finally appeared on his face. However, he quickly concealed it and said calmly, "My father is very busy with official business. He probably won't have time to come back to Huzhou Prefecture. All that's left in my family are my aunt and two brothers."

“If they come, they will only be there to make fun of my nephew.”

Chen Qing spoke very frankly. He smiled and said, "After a few days, when I meet Miss Gu, if things go well, my uncle will make all the decisions about the marriage. There's no need to inform my family."

"it is good."

Master Gu seemed to be deep in thought, then looked at Chen Qing and said, "I will have someone prepare accommodations for my nephew."

Chen Qing nodded, stood up, cupped his hands in greeting to Master Gu, and said with a smile, "If Uncle writes to my father, please tell him that I have obediently come to Deqing, so that he can rest assured."

In this situation, Master Gu would definitely write to Chen Huan to confirm Chen Qing's identity and the authenticity of the matter.

After hearing Chen Qing's words, Master Gu stroked his chin, then called over the steward who was not far away and said, "Go, arrange accommodations for Young Master Chen. Clean out the best room for him to stay in."

The steward of the Gu family immediately bowed his head and replied, "Yes." Then he bowed to Chen Qing and said, "Young master, please follow me."

Chen Qing smiled and nodded, then followed the steward with his hands behind his back.

Master Gu watched Chen Qing's departing figure, then fell into deep thought with his hands behind his back.

This eldest son of the Chen family doesn't seem stupid at all; on the contrary, he's quite intelligent.

If he really is the eldest son of the Chen family, then putting aside everything else...

It's not easy to have such magnanimity when faced with difficulties.

With that thought in mind, Master Gu walked to his study with his hands behind his back, picked up his pen and began to write a letter to Master Chen.

"To my esteemed brother Zhaoming..."

…………

On the other side, Chen Qing was taken to the guest room of the Gu family. After everything was tidied up, the servants of the Gu family left.

He pushed open the window of the room and took a deep breath of the fresh air outside.

"It's finally out."

"It's been more than half a year..."

He murmured, "Finally out of that mansion. If I hadn't come out, I would have died there sooner or later."

After inexplicably arriving in this world, Chen Qing lived in the Chen Mansion in Huzhou City. He lived in the east wing, a room reserved for the eldest son of the main wife, but was attended to by maids and servants.

They were all that concubine's people.

The head of the family, Chen Zhaoming, was not in Huzhou Prefecture, but was serving as an official in another place.

Chen Qing once suspected that the previous Chen Qing... had been inexplicably harmed by someone.

Therefore, he lived cautiously for the past six months, and the days were very difficult.

Moreover, during the past six months, it was as if two souls had collided, and his mind was often in a daze until recently when he finally came to his full senses.

The first thing to do upon regaining consciousness is naturally to break free from the Chen family environment. As for how to do that…

It's alright.

In any case, he was finally freed from his cage.

"Now that you're out here, you can be free from now on."

Thinking of the Chen family in the prefectural city, Chen Qing sneered inwardly.

You'll pay for this sooner or later!

He narrowed his eyes slightly, then turned and walked to the made-up bed, lay sprawled out on it, stared at the bed frame, and muttered to himself.

"I wonder what Miss Gu looks like?"

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(End of this chapter)