She got pregnant after the swap marriage, and the scumbag's family regretted it so much they cr

Peng Qihao took the silver note and stuffed it into his pocket. "If it weren't for the fact that your son is somewhat capable, and we might have been able to benefit from it in the future, do you think we would care about associating with a country bumpkin like you? We would be afraid of getting tainted by your earthy and unlucky aura!"

Now, your son probably doesn't even have the face to stay at Yanzhou Academy anymore!

Old Qu, don't you think so?

Qu Xiang laughed and replied, "That's right. It's just a pity that when the imperial court selects talent, they only care whether the facial features are regular or whether there are scars on the face, and they don't care whether someone is born a eunuch."

Otherwise, my dear brother Gao's precious son might not even be able to keep his academic achievements, hahaha!

"You...you all!" Zhou's chest heaved violently with anger.

She pointed to the courtyard gate and shouted, "Get out...get out!"

Wei Shuo then put away the silver notes, his gaze deep and devoid of any hint of jest.

"Even if you don't see us out, we won't stay any longer. Goodbye!"

"Get out of here!" Zhou didn't care about playing good cop or bad cop; all she knew was that her precious Zhongbao's reputation was doomed.

Qu Xiang, as if he hadn't finished speaking, added, "I just wonder if a scholar like this can keep the heart of the second young lady of the Lu family, hahaha!"

He didn't wait for the Gao family's reaction and walked out laughing.

The few people from Gaojia Village sitting in the courtyard looked at each other, their eyes full of surprise, trying to process this big news.

Good heavens! It turns out that Gao Shangzhi's illness was real and he even passed it on to his son. Zhongbao's wife might want to divorce him when she finds out.

Their eye contact was intense, but when they met Gao Dakai's face, they immediately fell silent.

He sighed. This matter probably couldn't be suppressed, but delaying it even by one day would be good.

Gao Dakai whispered a reminder: "We're all from Gaojia Village, so don't go around saying things like that!"

"Don't go around talking about it" means that it's okay for the villagers to talk.

They nodded vigorously, indicating that they understood.

Gao Dakai didn't care whether they really understood or not, and waved his hand, "You can all leave now! Ayan said he'll treat you to drinks in a few days."

Their eager expressions froze, and they simultaneously made up their minds—for Yan's sake, they would help that old bastard Gao Shangzhi cover it up for a few days.

After seeing off the two groups of people, Gao Dakai returned to the main hall.

Zhou was so crying that she could barely sit up, while Gao Shangzhi had a gloomy face, even more so than when his father died.

Gao Yan remained seated at the very end. If he hadn't glanced at the door every now and then, Gao Dakai would have suspected that the kid was daydreaming.

He frowned and asked, "Why don't I see Zhongbao?"

Gao Yan looked up. "He's entered Yanjing City."

"With such a big thing happening at home, he's still running around?" Gao Dakai almost laughed out of anger at Gao Zhongbao.

It would be fine if he studied at the academy normally; but now he's still rarely home.

Who exactly is in Yanjing City, and why is he just like his good-for-nothing father, never home?

Gao Yan glanced at Zhou Shi, and seeing that she had no intention of answering, he could only say, "He had been investigating who spread the news of his visit to the clinic so that everyone in the academy knew about it."

I heard there's some progress, so I went into town early this morning.

"You went to the clinic?"

Gao Yan nodded, "That's good. I brought back five doses of medicine, and I'm taking them every day!"

"Can it be cured?"

"It should work."

Hearing Gao Yan's affirmative reply, Gao Dakai's expression improved considerably.

He walked up to Gao Shangzhi and his wife and shouted, "Enough! Zhongbao is just sick, not dead! Who are you trying to impress with this display!"

His shout finally stopped Zhou's crying. She sobbed, "Clan leader! Are you just going to stand by and watch them slander my Zhongbao like this in Gaojia Village?"

"Otherwise what? Would I let people beat them up?"

Zhou didn't dare look Gao Dakai in the eye, and muttered under her breath, "At the very least, we should use a big stick to drive him out..."

Gao Dakai took a deep breath.

He felt a pang of regret. He shouldn't have come back; otherwise, he wouldn't have heard such outrageous and utterly absurd things.

His gaze fell on Gao Shangzhi. "Alright, if you're sick, get treatment. You had the same problem back then, and after you got better, you had Zhongbao too."

You should be thankful that Zhongbao's condition was detected early!

Gao Shangzhi felt a sharp pain in his heart when he thought about the several hundred taels of silver he had spent on treating his illness.

"Ninth Brother, you don't understand!"

Gao Dakai had no idea what was going on, nor did he want to know.

He took two steps back, and seeing Gao Yan was like seeing a savior. "Eleventh Brother, there are still some things to do in the village. Young Yan, why don't you come along too? You can see me off!"

Gao Yan stood up and replied, "Okay."

He followed behind Gao Dakai, a strange feeling creeping into his mind—the clan chief couldn't stay any longer.

The two walked out of the Gao family's courtyard.

Gao Dakai turned around and looked into the courtyard. For some reason, he felt that the courtyard seemed to have become much more dilapidated in an instant.

He never expected that the people in this courtyard at the east end of the village would cause so much trouble without him even noticing!

Gao Dakai patted Gao Yan on the shoulder and said with emotion, "You've worked hard! If there's anything at home that you can't handle on your own, be sure to come to me!"

Gao Yan's expression was somewhat strange, as if he didn't understand why the clan leader would say such a thing, and it also seemed to carry a hint of mockery.

"I see."

Gao Dakai's mind was clearly not on Gao Yan. He nodded haphazardly and said, "I'm going back. No need to see me off."

*

The door opened, and He Niang saw that the person who came in was Gao Yan.

Holding the winnowing basket, she stood up and said, "Master, the son-in-law is back. I'm going back to the kitchen."

Lu Huan glanced at him quickly, recognized the robes on Gao Yan's body, and gave a soft "Mm," then said, "Go ahead."

She waited for a while, but didn't hear the man's voice.

I looked up and headed towards the doorway.

The man stood in the outer room, head down, his expression hidden in the shadows.

"Ayan?"

The man looked up at the sound, a fleeting hint of mockery on his face, which Lu Huan noticed.

"What's going on here?"

"It's nothing, just some feelings." Gao Yan shook his head and quickly began to talk about what had happened in the main hall earlier. "They disregarded their parents' feelings and spoke out directly. I'm afraid the village won't be able to keep it a secret any longer."

It couldn't be kept secret forever. Lu Huan just hadn't expected that Gao Shangzhi's cronies would be so unscrupulous.

It's no different from completely breaking off relations and never speaking to each other again.

Although a similar incident occurred in the previous life, the relationship between the two sides was not this bad back then.

Later, Gao Shangzhi sold the small estate through them...

Lu Huan sneered, wondering if he had helped Gao Shangzhi save a large sum of money!

However, with the efforts of his group of "friends," Gao Zhongbao's reputation in Yanjing will likely be known to everyone, and it will be even more unpleasant.

Doesn't that mean we're one step closer to getting to Jinling?