A husband found in the village? I bought a regent for a penny!

During the Daye Dynasty, Huachi Ferry Village.

Aunt Zhang forcibly pulled Gu Xixi out of bed, trying to persuade her gently:

“These men were assigned by the government based on the number of people. There are eight people in our village, including unmarried girls aged sixteen and above, plus widows. Each one is assigned a specific position.”

Even if you don't go, the last one left will still be yours.

Gu Xixi covered her face with the blanket and said in a muffled voice, "Don't try to persuade me, this is absolutely not going to happen!"

Two days ago, after getting off work at the Institute of Botany, she went home and cooked a taro she had collected in the wild.

She was listening to the farming-themed audiobook she'd been following recently, and casually dipped a piece of soup in it to taste.

Then he lost consciousness.

When she woke up, she found herself in the book as Gu Xixi, a supporting female character with the same name.

Gu Xixi knew very well that the husband she was going to buy today would be the root of her unfortunate death.

The female supporting character in the book lost her mother at a young age, and her father, Master Gu, also passed away last year, leaving behind a small courtyard with blue bricks and thirty-two acres of farmland.

Unfortunately, the year was bad and war broke out, and the local grain harvest had been poor for years.

The female supporting character doesn't know anything about farming or management, and the family's surplus grain is about to run out, and she can't pay wages.

All the farmhands had run away, leaving only the widowed Aunt Zhang to continue managing the kitchen.

Instead of focusing on rebuilding her family business, the female supporting character became infatuated with the male lead, Mu Nanzhao, as if she had gone mad.

They removed his status as a slave, sought medical treatment for him, and even sold off their land at a low price.

Ten years later, Mu Nanzhao became the youngest regent in the Daye era, wielding immense power.

The female supporting character, as his first wife, was thrown into a villa in the suburbs by him, where she suffered all kinds of humiliation and abuse from the servants, living a life worse than that of pigs and dogs.

Mu Nanzhao never visited her until she died of illness.

Aunt Zhang sighed when she saw that she couldn't pull Gu Xixi away.

“You are almost seventeen years old. You are over the age limit for marriage by one year. You will be fined thirty taels of silver or one mu of paddy field.”

"One more year..."

"Thirty taels?!" Gu Xixi exclaimed in shock, pulling back the covers.

Aunt Zhang nodded sympathetically.

No one would believe it if I told them, but Xixi's father, known as the skinflint Gu, only left behind thirty copper coins after his death.

He lived frugally his whole life, saving every penny he could to buy land.

Unexpectedly, he died suddenly in middle age, before he could even recoup the money he spent on the land.

Two days had passed since Gu Xixi transmigrated into the book, and she had been thinking about how to survive.

Basic survival issues are already being addressed.

The only major crisis she could try to avoid was Mu Nanzhao, but in the end, she couldn't escape it!

Gu Xixi sighed, crawled under the bed for a while, and pulled out a black wooden box from under two floor tiles.

This is Gu Bapi's money box; only the Gu family father and daughter knew its location before.

Now Xixi doesn't even try to hide it from Aunt Zhang, and dumps all the copper coins on the table.

I counted them twice; there were exactly thirty, no more, no less.

Aunt Zhang said worriedly, "I've inquired, and other families give at least forty coins, some even more. What if this isn't enough..."

When the topic of not having enough money came up, Gu Xixi's eyes lit up.

She quickly put on her clothes, shaking off her previous reluctance.

"Auntie is right. Every family has its own circumstances, and business should be conducted within one's means."

She picked up a copper coin, "Anyway, this is all I can afford."

Aunt Zhang stared blankly for a moment, then hurriedly reminded her, "The rest is fine, but I'm afraid we'll offend the officials..."

Gu Xixi said seriously, "We're already strapped for cash. If we spend all our money, then we'll be in real trouble if we encounter an emergency."

Under the big locust tree at the village entrance, the yamen runners had already delivered the eight men assigned to Huachidu Village.

The young women and married women watching looked ahead, some playfully pushing and giggling, others with rosy cheeks.

Gu Xixi couldn't help but shake her head and sigh.

She didn't even need to look to know that it must be that sickly Mu Nanzhao who was attracting attention.

Amidst the crowd, a clear female voice rang out, tinged with a touch of childlike charm:

"My sister Xixi likes Jun, so none of you should try to take him from her!"

Everyone laughed, "Don't worry, we don't have Gu Xixi's good fortune. We can't afford to raise this good-looking but useless girl!"

Gu Xixi broke out in a cold sweat.

This girl is too honest and straightforward.

He was clearly speaking up for his cousin, but he ended up being ridiculed.

She herself seemed completely unaware.

The female protagonist of the book, Gu Qingye, is the most beautiful girl in Huachidu Village. She is fourteen years old and has a kind and innocent personality.

She is the daughter of Gu Xixi's uncle and also Mu Nanzhao's true white moonlight.

Mu Nanzhao always remembered her life-saving grace and, disregarding her status as a remarried woman, offered her the position of mistress of the Prime Minister's residence.

While the female supporting character was suffering in the villa, Mu Nanzhao married the female lead...

"Qingye," Gu Xixi raised her voice.

The girl in the pink cloth dress turned around, blinking her almond-shaped eyes; she was charming and lovely.

Her fair and delicate face was especially rare among country girls.

"Sister Xixi, come quick, I've saved you a seat!"

Gu Xixi smiled at her, squeezed to the front, and recognized Mu Nanzhao at a glance.

After years of war, most of the men on the border of Daye were killed or wounded.

The imperial court could only select exiled criminals from nearby areas to marry women of marriageable age in order to ensure the continuation of the family line.

Most of these prisoners were coarse and had dark complexions.

Only Mu Nanzhao.

Despite enduring the harsh winds and scorching sun of the northwest, this face remains exceptionally handsome.

He stood there in tattered clothes, his expression indifferent, like a banished immortal descending to earth.

Just as Gu Xixi was sizing up Mu Nanzhao, Mu Nanzhao's gaze shifted, and the two happened to meet.

As if jumping into an icy pool in the height of summer, Gu Xixi suddenly shuddered.

Fear of the female supporting character's fate stirred within her.

Fortunately, at that moment a yamen runner started calling out prices, diverting everyone's attention.

"This one, thirty-five coins; this one, fifty coins..."

This was originally intended as a measure by the imperial court to benefit the people.

The local government only collected a token amount of money to cover the prisoners' food expenses during their journey.

Apart from Gu Xixi, most people in Huachidu Village were quite happy about this.

After all, farmers need heavy labor the most.

You can't buy livestock with this little money, but you can buy a young and strong man.

As long as one is tall and strong, capable of both sexual prowess and physical prowess, they are truly making a fortune.

When the item was placed in front of Mu Nanzhao, he suddenly coughed, covered his mouth with his hand, and turned pale.

The women scattered in fright, exclaiming, "So he's a sickly man! No wonder he was the cheapest!"

"Look at that small frame, he can't even pull a plow, he'd probably need someone to take care of him!"

However, even the cheapest Mu Nanzhao was priced at thirty-five coins.

Gu Xixi didn't plan to buy anything. She waited until everyone had finished choosing before spreading her hands to reveal a single coin.

"Brother Cha, this is all the cash I have. Otherwise, we could wait..."

She originally intended to stall, saying she would buy it next time.

Unexpectedly, the bailiff grabbed the copper coin and shoved Mu Nanzhao in front of Gu Xixi.

"Anyway, he's just a pretty face that nobody wants, so I'll give him a penny for free."

He gave a knowing smile. "The young girl has waited all this time, isn't it all for his face?"

The yamen runner left.

Gu Xixi stood frozen in place, not daring to look at Mu Nanzhao's expression.

How could she have imagined that a single penny would elicit such nasty remarks!

Mu Nanzhao said coolly, "Pretending to be poor and pitiful, using others to humiliate me, young lady, you have a good mind."