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

Gu Qingye looked up at Mu Nanzhao, and before she could speak, her eyes reddened.

"Brother Chen, are you resentful towards me? Are you not going to talk to me anymore?"

Mu Nanzhao stepped back to create some distance, and said expressionlessly, "What makes you say that, young lady? I have no idea."

Gu Qingye blinked, and glistening tears immediately slid down her long, thick black eyelashes.

She raised her eyelids, her beautiful, tearful eyes gazing at Mu Nanzhao with sorrow and grief.

"Brother Chen..."

"I'm so glad you're alright! I felt really bad that I couldn't bring anyone back to rescue you that day."

"Lately, I've been thinking, if I had been braver that night, if I hadn't listened to my family sooner, or if I had jumped down with you, would we be..."

Mu Nanzhao couldn't stand it anymore and had to interrupt her, "First of all, I am me and you are you, don't mix us up."

"Secondly, shouldn't you be saying these words of repentance to Gu Xixi? She's your cousin."

Gu Qingye froze, and for a moment, her eyes seemed somewhat flustered.

But soon, she seemed to have made up her mind and suddenly opened her arms and rushed over to hug Mu Nanzhao.

“Brother Chen, I don’t want you to be my brother-in-law! Actually, ever since I first saw you at the village entrance, I’ve always had feelings for you…”

"Let go." A murderous glint flashed in Mu Nanzhao's eyes. He raised his right hand, and with just one twist, he could easily break Gu Qingye's shoulder.

but……

He himself doesn't care about hurting people at Gu Xixi's house, but won't Gu Xixi find it troublesome?

In that brief moment of hesitation, the curtain to the main room was lifted.

Sister-in-law Qin gasped in shock at the sight before her.

She quickly realized what was happening and hurriedly lowered the curtain to prevent others outside from seeing.

What are you two doing?!

Sister-in-law Qin lowered her voice intentionally, but her anger did not diminish.

She went home, left the child with her husband, cooked a meal, and rushed back to continue working.

Who would have thought that they would accidentally stumble upon this illicit affair!

"Let go," Mu Nanzhao said again.

This time, his gaze was somewhat frightening, causing Gu Qingye to flinch and involuntarily let go and step back.

Sister-in-law Qin and Gu Xixi were close friends. She pointed at the two of them, her fingers trembling with anger.

"You two, one is Xixi's fiancé, and the other is Xixi's cousin, how dare you do such a thing in Xixi's house! It's outrageous! Shameless!!"

Gu Qingye didn't explain, but covered her face with her hands and ran away crying.

Knowing that he couldn't explain himself, Mu Nanzhao simply remained silent, sat down calmly, and listened to Sister-in-law Qin's rapid-fire "defense of Gu Xixi."

Until Gu Xixi herself appeared, "Hey? Sister-in-law, why are you back again? Didn't I tell you to go home and be with the kids?"

Sister-in-law Qin had been cursing until her throat was dry, so she took a break to catch her breath.

"If I hadn't come back, who knows how long those two scoundrels would have kept it from you!"

"A pair of adulterers?" Gu Xixi was confused.

Mu Nanzhao then spoke slowly, "Just now when you went out, your cousin suddenly hugged me, and Sister-in-law Qin happened to see it."

Gu Xixi felt as if she had been struck by lightning; this inexplicable scene of catching someone in the act of adultery was completely unexpected.

How could she explain to outsiders that she and Mu Nanzhao were not in that kind of relationship, and that they had made a prior agreement?

Regardless of how many women Mu Nanzhao has been with today, he is not the one who cuckolded Gu Xixi.

Sister-in-law Qin scrutinized Gu Xixi's face. "Aren't you angry?"

Gu Xixi shook her head, "I'm not angry."

She felt she had been too magnanimous and aroused suspicion, so she forced a smile and said, "I think there must be some misunderstanding, don't you think, Chen Fang?"

Mu Nanzhao seemed oblivious to Gu Xixi's desperate attempts to wink at him, and calmly replied, "No."

"Your cousin said she doesn't want me to be her brother-in-law. Maybe she wants to kill you so she can take your place."

He paused, then looked up and said, "Let me make this clear: I have never had any complaints about Gu Xixi."

"I don't know why that woman suddenly did this."

Gu Xixi: "..."

The more you say it, the more outrageous it becomes.

Sister-in-law Qin, however, sensed the truth and the conspiracy in it. "Since Xixi believes in Mr. Chen, I also think that Mr. Chen is not that kind of person."

"Besides, even if a man were to cheat, he wouldn't dare to do it in broad daylight, right under his wife's nose, at home."

Sister-in-law Qin suddenly realized and looked at Mu Nanzhao and Gu Xixi, "I understand!"

According to Qin's sister-in-law's gossip, Liu went to find a matchmaker as soon as her condition improved.

It was too late for their son to get married, so they could only pin their hopes on their daughter.

But now, the Gu family in Huachidu Village has been blacklisted by the matchmakers in the neighborhood.

Two matchmakers initially refused, but when they heard that Liu was arranging a marriage for her daughter Gu Qingye, they agreed to let her into the family.

Gu Xixi said, "Finally, someone has agreed to arrange a marriage. Isn't that a good thing?"

Sister-in-law Qin pouted, "What's so good about it?"

"The men that the matchmakers arranged for Gu Qingye were either middle-aged widowers or cripples."

"Among them was one from a wealthy family who had never married, but was a leper."

"Not only can they afford the bride price, they're also willing to arrange a marriage between his sister and Gu Tiezhu!"

Gu Xixi couldn't help but frown when she heard about this feudal custom.

"Could my third uncle and aunt have agreed?"

When Sister-in-law Qin saw that no one was outside the window, she whispered, "Gu Qingye has been beautiful since she was a child. How many young men followed her around trying to curry favor?"

"Liu and Gu Laosan have been determined to use their daughter to make a big profit."

"But now his family's net worth has dropped, so it's basically impossible for him to find a rich and good young man."

"Marry Gu Qingye over there and collect a large dowry. Gu Tiezhu's marriage will also be settled. Given the character of those two, what's so strange about them abandoning their daughter?"

Gu Xixi felt a chill in her heart and murmured, "So that's how it is. No wonder she took such a risk."

Sister-in-law Qin sighed, "No matter how hard she's suffered, she shouldn't have taken her cousin's man."

"Sigh, look how much trouble this has caused. Luckily, no one else saw it."

“But since you two aren’t officially married yet, I’m afraid she’ll cling to you and force Chen Fang to take responsibility.”

After Gu Qingye saved Mu Nanzhao that night in the book, she was married off to a leper by her parents because Gu Xixi made a fuss about it everywhere, ruining her reputation.

When Mu Nanzhao returned from outside, Gu Qingye had already married and moved to another village.

He hated Gu Xixi because of this.

Gu Qingye suffered a lot after getting married, and endured until her husband died.

At that time, Mu Nanzhao had returned to the court. He ignored Gu Xixi's objections and brought Gu Qingye to the capital.

At this moment, Gu Xixi recalled this plot and became even more certain that the most important reason why Mu Nanzhao insisted on making his wife suffer a terrible death was because Gu Qingye had married a leper.

Sister-in-law Qin said she was going out to make honey bait and asked Gu Xixi and Mu Nanzhao to discuss what to do.

Gu Xixi looked at Mu Nanzhao and said, "She must have been desperate. It's quite pitiful."

As a woman herself, even if she disliked Gu Qingye, she could not condone this barbaric practice of exchanging brides.