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

Gu Qingye stopped outside the main room and said with a sweet smile, "Sister Xixi, please come in and sit down. I'll go boil some water for you."

Knowing full well that a trap was set ahead, Gu Xixi was not about to let Gu Qingye escape.

She reached out and grabbed him, saying, "I'm not thirsty, we're family, no need to be polite," and forcefully pulled Gu Qingye to lift the curtain and go inside.

The room was full of people, all of whom were men except for Liu.

Although Gu Xixi didn't recognize her, the original book also mentioned that Gu's relatives coveted the orphan girl's property.

These people must have been allies recruited by Gu Laosan.

She smiled and pulled up a stool for herself to sit down, saying, "It's just the rent for a few acres of land, yet I'm troubled by having all of you elders come to witness this. It makes me feel uneasy."

Liu glared at Gu Xixi and scolded her daughter, "The adults are talking about serious matters, what are you doing meddling in, you little brat? You insist on learning from that lowly little harlot, forgetting your own place!"

A cold smile flashed across Gu Xixi's eyes. This veiled insult was all too obvious.

Gu Qingye naturally knew what was going on, but she was truly ashamed to be insulted by her own mother in front of everyone.

She dared not speak in rebuttal, and could only stand there with her head down, her hatred for Gu Xixi growing even stronger.

Gu Xixi said with a half-smile, "Our Gu family has always been an honest farming family for generations. My third aunt said that my cousin is secretly associating with prostitutes. If this gets out..."

"I may be fine with it, but what about the other unmarried daughters of the Gu family?"

Upon hearing this, everyone's expression turned sour.

The white-haired old man sitting by the kang table said in a deep voice, "Third son, your wife has no sense of propriety when it comes to her mouth. You should keep her in check."

Old Gu's ears turned red with embarrassment, and he gritted his teeth and agreed, "Uncle is right."

He turned and scolded Liu, "Qingye is unruly, it's all your fault as her mother! Get out of here!"

Reluctantly, Liu got up, glared at Xixi, and then pulled her daughter out.

Gu Xixi looked at the people sitting on the kang. Apart from Gu Laosan, the one who had just spoken was Gu Daye, and the one sitting opposite him with gray hair must be Gu Erye.

The rest of the people sitting around the side were, judging by their ages, their sons and grandsons.

There was also a young man who had been standing behind Liu Shi the whole time; he must be Gu Qingye's older brother, Gu Tiezhu.

As his gaze swept over, Gu Tiezhu suddenly grinned and gave a lewd wink.

Xi Xi felt nauseous and lowered her eyes with a cold expression.

After a moment of silence, Grandpa Gu finally spoke, "Girl, it's not that I'm criticizing you."

"The third brother is your own uncle. Why let him use the land instead of letting it sit idle and go to waste? Why has it come to the point where you have to charge him?"

The tone was kind, but the content was condescending criticism.

Gu Xixi suppressed a cold smile and asked with some admiration, "I heard that Grandpa has two acres of vegetable gardens with more varieties than other families, and he can even sell them in the city for money."

The vegetable garden is a treasure for Grandpa Gu's family.

He brought vegetable seeds from other places back then, some of which were varieties that were not available locally.

Besides eating the vegetables themselves, they can also pick a couple of loads every now and then to sell at a market in the city.

Selling vegetables alone has made Grandpa Gu's family more well-off than other members of his clan.

Grandpa Gu indeed showed a proud expression, "Of course."

"People in the county town are scrambling to buy our zucchini and green beans!"

Gu Xixi smiled innocently, "Then I won't stand on ceremony. Since Grandpa said that relatives shouldn't talk about money, I'll come to your house to pick them whenever I want."

"Oh, I'm thinking of growing vegetables recently. It would be best if Grandpa could give me some more seeds."

Apart from Grandpa Gu's family, everyone else in the house turned their heads, wanting to laugh but not daring to be too obvious.

Who doesn't know that no outsider is allowed to touch Grandpa Gu's dishes?

In particular, the vegetable seeds were considered a secret recipe by Grandpa Gu, and he would refuse to buy them even if relatives offered to pay for them.

Grandpa Gu's face was as black as the bottom of a pot. His lips trembled, and after a moment of hesitation, he finally managed to squeeze out a sentence:

"Nonsense! Nonsense!"

Gu Xixi asked obediently and with a hint of confusion, "Hmm?"

Second Master Gu had a short temper, and seeing his elder brother get the short end of the stick, he immediately retorted in a gruff voice:

"Why waste words with her? A married daughter is like water spilled from a cup. According to ancestral rules, an orphaned girl who is about to be married cannot continue to take care of the Gu family's land!"

"The elders feel sorry for her and have already put together a dowry for her, which is more than enough."

Those present were all somewhat unable to contain their excitement; thirty-two acres of land divided among each family was quite a considerable sum.

Gu Laosan was the first to chime in, "I agree with what Second Uncle said."

Although he could not possess all the land as he wished, having some was better than having none.

not to mention……

It's a relief that everyone has finally taught this arrogant girl a lesson!

Gu Xixi's eyes darkened as she looked at the group of hungry, greedy people in front of her.

Is this a case of "if we can't reason with them, we have to resort to outright robbery"?

Just as she was about to get up, she suddenly heard a deep male voice behind her mockingly say, "According to the laws of this dynasty, the person whose name is on the land deed is the owner of the land."

"Article Thirty-Four of the Criminal Law stipulates that forcibly seizing another person's property is punishable by one year of imprisonment and forty strokes of the cane."

Gu Xixi turned her head and saw Mu Nanzhao standing at the door, his whole body bathed in a layer of light.

He strolled over, stopped beside Gu Xixi, and glanced around at everyone with a nonchalant expression.

"Are you all so aggressive, trying to break the law?"

The men of the Gu family were stunned by his effortless and powerful demeanor, and stood there dumbfounded for a long time without saying a word.

Gu Xixi chuckled inwardly, her pent-up anger subsiding considerably.

She sat up straight and said, "My father had already transferred all the land deeds to my name before he passed away."

"So the land belongs to me, not the Gu family. The rules you all cite without any basis can't override the laws set by the imperial court, can they?"

Even though Second Master Gu's momentum had weakened, he still tried to argue, "But you've married someone else, and the family property has become someone else's. How can you face your father and the ancestors of the Gu family!"

Mu Nanzhao scoffed, "Ancestors? This small family doesn't even have an ancestral hall or genealogy. They probably don't even know what their ancestors were called three generations ago."

Except for Xixi, everyone with the surname Gu blushed.

Gu Xixi looked at Mu Nanzhao with admiration. He had gone to such lengths to destroy her spirit, and she couldn't admit defeat.

"The elders have reminded me; I'll go to the yamen tomorrow to register my household as a woman."

Master Gu was shocked. "A woman establishing herself as the head of the household, what does she take your man for!"

Gu Xixi and Mu Nanzhao looked at each other sweetly. "I've discussed it with Chen Fang, and he has no objections."

Mu Nanzhao naturally realized that the woman was acting.

He reached out and brushed a strand of hair that had fallen beside her temple, his eyes filled with tenderness and affection. "It's all up to you."

Xi Xi felt a chill, but she still managed to smile and gaze deeply into her eyes.

She turned gracefully to Gu Laosan and said, "Tomorrow I will help Uncle San harvest wheat as usual. Out of consideration for our kinship, I will not take a penny."

That's all for this.

Mu Nanzhao calmly took Xixi's hand and said, "We have other things to do, so we'll take our leave."