After being married off, she was favored by the powerful official

Gu Rou stared at Gu Baozhu for a long time before she dared to believe what she heard.

"Aunt, are you crazy?"

Gu Baozhu glared at Gu Rou and raised her hand to lift her hair, "Why am I crazy?

It’s not like the State of Chen didn’t allow widows to remarry. Even Emperor Mingze took a widow as his concubine.”

Su, a mere merchant girl, could become the wife of Marquis Yongchang, let alone her, a girl from the Earl of Anding's mansion!

"But my father will never divorce his wife and remarry. Would my aunt be willing to come into the mansion as a concubine?" Gu Rou still found it hard to believe. The difference between wife and concubine is a world of difference.

"A man can have three wives and four concubines. The so-called three wives are one principal wife and two secondary wives. With my status, am I not also a secondary wife?"

Although men can marry a concubine, wealthy families rarely do so because they fear power struggles within the family and unrest in the household.

But Gu Baozhu felt that she had a high status and as long as she entered the Marquis's Mansion, she would definitely be the co-wife.

Seeing that Gu Rou was still hesitating, Gu Baozhu advised: "If I can really marry the Marquis, the backyard of the Marquis's mansion will no longer be dominated by the Su family and Gu Jin's family. At that time, can I still favor Gu Jin?

Men are always tired of the old and love the new, not to mention that Su was careless and cold to the Marquis. If someone showed tenderness to him at this time, which normal man could resist it? "

"But will Xie Ran and Gu Jin agree?" Gu Rou was a little worried.

Gu Baozhu said with disdain: "As long as the Marquis is willing, can they still control me getting married?"

"Rou'er, if I can get what I want, then by then, will my aunt and nephew working together still be unable to defeat the Su family?

At my age, I just want to find a stable place. In the future, I can only rely on you and Yiyi. Su and Gu Jin are of the same mind. I am the only one who truly wishes the best for you.

If you help me, you are helping yourself!"

Gu Rou frowned and thought for a long time, and finally nodded.

Having her aunt as her mother-in-law is always better than that outsider, Su. It would be great to have someone to talk to her and Xie Qing.

Seeing Gu Rou let go, Gu Baozhu's lips curled up.

As long as she can marry the Marquis of Yongchang, Yiyi's status will rise. Are you still afraid that Yiyi will not have a good home?

Gu Jin never figured out Gu Baozhu's intentions, so he could only remind Su to be careful and not to completely believe Gu Baozhu's sweet words.

"To be honest, I don't get along very well with your aunt." Although Su was not smart, she could still sense whether the other party was sincere to her.

"I'll just think of it as spending a little money to find a playmate, otherwise I'd have nothing to do all day." The most important thing was that this way she could avoid being alone with him, and she was happy and at ease.

In the past, Marquis Yongchang was away fighting wars most of the time, and she felt more comfortable when they were apart from each other. But now, they were facing each other every day, and she really didn't know what to say or do.

After hearing these words, Xie Ran suddenly felt a sense of sympathy for Marquis Yongchang. His mother was trying to find work to do when she had nothing to do, while the man in his family was so busy that he could hardly be found every day.

Seeing Xie Ran coming, Su reminded him indirectly that he should be careful to keep himself clean. There were two gorgeous women in the backyard all of a sudden, and she was worried that her son would not be able to control himself.

Xie Ran glanced at Gu Jin and smiled meaningfully, "Now that they are trained by Madam, they have been fully utilized."

Gu Jin smiled slightly guiltily.

Since Liuli Amber was free anyway, she asked them to help Yuyan Pavilion grind spices.

Grinding spices requires meticulousness and patience, and often takes half a day. The two of them are worthy of being maids in the palace, and they do their job very well. Seeing this, she even wants to ask Concubine Wan for a few more.

Not only is she pretty and capable, but the key is that she doesn't have to pay him monthly salary. A boss would wake up smiling in his dreams if he had such a good employee.

While the three of them were drinking tea and chatting, Lianzhi brought a piece of news.

"A big incident happened in the capital just now. The second daughter of Minister Liu fell into the water while attending a boat party of the poetry club."

The young men and women from powerful families all liked to join poetry clubs to show off their talents. Xie Qing was a frequent visitor to such clubs.

Gu Jin was deeply impressed by Liu Nalan, who played the pipa beautifully, and Concubine Wan intended for Prince Heng to marry her as his princess.

After all, Liu Nalan's father was the Minister of Revenue, and he would be of great help to Prince Heng in the future.

"Has the person been rescued?" Gu Jin asked hurriedly.

"We did rescue him, but..."

"Anyone injured?"

Lian Zhi shook his head and sighed, "Miss Liu was saved by a foreign man, who I heard was the illegitimate son of a fifth-rank official.

Miss Liu was held in the man's arms with her clothes soaked, and her reputation was completely ruined. Now she either had to marry this young man or live a life of seclusion."

"What's the point!"

After Gu Jinyu finished speaking, she realized that this was not the modern era, but the feudal era with layers of restrictions on women.

A man can have three wives and four concubines, but if a woman has any physical contact with a man other than her husband, she will be labeled as promiscuous.

Such a beautiful and talented woman, just because she fell into the water accidentally, her life was going to be miserable. Gu Jin felt indignant but more of a sense of helplessness and sadness.

"Is there no other solution?"

Xie Ran explained, "Aristocratic families value their reputation. If the reputation of the women in the mansion is damaged, the careers of the men in the Liu family will also be affected."

So often in such situations women will be abandoned, even their own daughters.

Gu Jin felt it was both ridiculous and pathetic. She took a sip of tea indignantly. When she looked up, she saw that Su's face looked extremely ugly, and her hand holding the teacup was shaking.

"Mother……"

Xie Ran shook his head at her, stood up and said, "It's getting late. Ah Jin and I will take our leave first."

"Well... okay, you guys go down and have a rest too." Su seemed a little absent-minded.

"What's wrong with mother?" Gu Jincai asked puzzledly after leaving the yard.

Xie Ran glanced at Gu Jin and said quietly, "Because that's how my mother married into the Marquis' Mansion."

It turned out that Su went boating on the lake with her sisters and friends to enjoy the lanterns on the Chinese Valentine's Day one year. At that time, Su was already engaged. Although the other party was a boy from a poor family, he had passed the imperial examination with excellent results. He was just waiting for the end of the spring examination to pass and become a Jinshi so that they could have double happiness.

Unexpectedly, Su accidentally fell from the flower boat into the lake. She could not swim and almost drowned. Fortunately, she was rescued by Marquis Yongchang.

"That man broke off the engagement because he thought my mother had an affair with a man outside her family. My father happened to come and propose marriage, so my mother accepted it for the sake of the Su family's reputation."

Although this incident was an accident, people in the capital were accustomed to confusing right and wrong. They all thought that Su had deliberately framed Marquis Yongchang, and that was why she became the wife of Marquis Yongchang as a merchant girl. This was also the reason why Su had not been accepted by the officials' wives in the capital for so many years.

"No wonder." Gu Jin muttered to himself.

No wonder Su and Marquis Yongchang always felt awkward and uncomfortable when getting along with each other. It turned out that the two were together because of an accident.

Because Su's status was low, people preconceived that she was the instigator, completely ignoring the fact that she was the victim.

"What about that scholar? What happened to him later?" This kind of man is so irresponsible, and it is unlikely that he will amount to anything.

"He later passed the imperial examination and entered the Hanlin Academy. He has been serving as an official outside for the past few years. He has a good reputation and good performance. This year he will return to Beijing to report on his work." Xie Ran paused and added, "After he broke off the engagement with my mother, he married my mother's cousin."

Gu Jin raised an eyebrow. Xie Ran was not a person who liked gossip. He must have a reason for mentioning this matter. "Was this cousin also there on the day when my mother fell into the water?"

Seeing Xie Ran nod, Gu Jin had a vague guess in his heart. It seemed that Xie Ran suspected that what happened that year was related to his mother's cousin.

Women in this era not only have to bear the shackles imposed by the times and men, but also have to face competition and calculations among the same sex. Life is so difficult.

Gu Jin was feeling a little down because of recent events, and Xie Ran saw it but remained silent.

The process of facing reality is always cruel, and whether to accept it or not is up to her.

Gu Jin has been busy with the expansion of the school recently. Shen Wuji found it strange and couldn't help asking, "Why are you so anxious all of a sudden? It's as if you are fulfilling some last wish...Ah!"

Shen Wuji was hit on the head by the book thrown by Gu Jin. Huo Sichen looked at him and showed no sympathy at all.

Every time Mr. Shen beat and scolded me, I did so based on my strength.

Gu Jin was indeed a little impatient. The more she understood this era, the more eager she became to do something.

Daughters of ordinary families have to start taking on the burden of housework at the age of eight or nine, and even help take care of their younger siblings. When they get older, their parents will find someone to marry them off for some betrothal money.

These are still considered good. If their fathers and brothers were not motivated and were addicted to drugs and alcohol, they would have been sold by their families for money early on.

These girls may be talented, but they are destined to be humble just because they are born female.

Gu Jin is not an idealist, and she knows that she can't help everyone.

But even if she could only change the fate of one person, she felt it was worth it.

Because she had been caught in the rain herself, she knew how much they longed for that kind of umbrella.

"Madam, Miss Jiang and Mr. Jiang are here."

Jiang Fengqi once told Gu Jin in the palace that he wanted to come to the academy to take a look. What Gu Jin did not expect was that Jiang Yu also came.

"Third Young Madam, long time no see." Jiang Yu sat in a wheelchair with a warm smile on his face. His smile was gentle without a trace of aggression, like the spring breeze and misty rain in the south of the Yangtze River in March.

"It's you!" Gu Jin was a little surprised and stared at Jiang Yu intently, "Are you here to return my money?"

Jiang Yu laughed. She had indeed not forgotten the consultation fee. "Of course."

Jiang Yu prepared a heavy purse for Gu Jin.

He had kept this purse ready since the birthday banquet at Jiang's residence that day. Whenever he saved some money, he would stuff it into it. As a result, the purse became much heavier than before.

But he never found an opportunity to repay the money, and when he happened to hear that Jiang Fengqi was coming to the school, he followed him.

Gu Jin weighed the purse, and the corners of his lips raised in a satisfied smile, like a lotus flower blooming on a branch, "Thank you!"

Jiang Yu also curled up the corners of his lips. Although this was only the second time he had met Gu Jin, he felt very relaxed and comfortable with her.

Because he had never seen disgust or pity in her eyes, she did not stand idly by after he fell ill. After saving him, she openly asked for the medical fee from him.

He would feel that he was no different from an ordinary person in her eyes, and this feeling of not being cared for was exactly what people like him longed for.

Jiang Fengqi was more interested in Gu Jin's school. "Ah Jin, how many teachers are there in the school now?"

"For now, there is only one, that person..." Gu Jin looked around but did not see Shen Wuji's shadow, "Where is he? He was here just now!"

"One gentleman is still a little short."

Gu Jin nodded, "It's a little less, but it's better to have less than less.

Although the school enrolls children from ordinary families, I also hope that they can get the best education. "

As the saying goes, a good teacher produces good students. Many teachers in private schools are old scholars and juren who failed in the imperial examinations many times. It's okay to ask them to teach reading, but isn't it obviously embarrassing to expect them to train people for the imperial examinations?

Jiang Fengqi frowned slightly and said truthfully: "Ajin, I don't mean to undermine your self-confidence, but almost all the masters have been hired by the rich and powerful to work in their own houses. Those famous scholars are probably even more unwilling to commit themselves to an ordinary school."

Gu Jinyun smiled calmly, "Everything depends on fate. Just do your best and let fate take its course. There is no need to force anything.

I only care about what I do, and whether I can achieve it or not is not entirely up to me to decide."

Jiang Yu stared at Gu Jin. The light golden sunlight falling on her made her whole body seem to be glowing. That warm light seemed enough to make a dead tree sprout branches in spring.

"And I have a trump card here."

"Trumpet?" The brother and sister looked at each other, both puzzled.

Gu Jin actually didn't know whether Shen Wuji was reliable or not, but he decided to help him brag first, "Although I only have one teacher here, he is confident that he will be the top scorer in the next spring exam, and then he will make my place well-known.

Maybe by then, there will be a new hope.”

Jiang Yu frowned slightly, thinking that this person was a little too confident. The imperial examination also depends on luck. If the essay in the spring examination does not suit the examiner's taste, then one will be directly eliminated.

Jiang Yu was worried that Gu Jin was being deceived, so he asked, "Which classmate is it?"

Just as Gu Jin was about to reply, Shen Wuji appeared from nowhere, holding a huge snow-white steamed bun in one hand.

Gu Jin's face darkened. This guy ran out to steal food again!

Shen Wuji looked at Jiang Yu, his tone still as casual and lazy as ever, "I've heard before that the second son of the Jiang family is very talented. I wonder if the second son of the Jiang family has the confidence to compete with me in the next spring exam?"

Jiang Yu's eyes darkened. If those accidents hadn't happened, he would have already taken part in the imperial examination.

Seeing that Jiang Yu didn't say anything, Shen Wuji took a bite of the big steamed bun that had just come out of the pot, and said nonchalantly: "You can write with your hands instead of your feet. Although you are lame, your arms are still fine!"

Jiang Fengqi frowned, feeling that this man was very rude.

Everyone in the capital felt sorry for what happened to the second brother. How could this person always hurt people's hearts?

Seeing Gu Jin staring at him fiercely, Shen Wuji took a step back and said aggrievedly: "What I said is not wrong. Studying and governing the world rely on the brain, not the legs. Let alone being lame, even turning into a human pig will not hinder..."

"You're not done yet, are you?" Seeing that his words were becoming more and more nonsense, Gu Jin warned him with gritted teeth.

Jiang Yu is her guest after all. Although Shen Wuzhi was not very decent in the past, he was not so blind. What happened to him today?

"Third Young Madam, I think what this brother said is right." Jiang Yu smiled calmly, looked into Shen Wuji's slightly dark eyes and said, "I will participate in this imperial examination, and I hope you will not be modest..."