Forced to be a concubine? I turned around and married the scumbag's father.

Zhao Yuwen and Sun Chongyang were startled by Mu Junyan's sudden dark expression and looked in the direction he was looking.

"Oh ho, why doesn't this girl avoid suspicion?"

"They might be engaged..."

Zhao Yuwen blurted out, but then glanced at Mu Junyan's expression.

This guy... does he know the girl on the other side?

It's like the sun has risen in the west!

This gossip needs to be investigated thoroughly.

"Someone come here!" Zhao Yuwen said, inexplicably excited.

A palace attendant appeared.

"Go ask them what their relationship is."

"Yes."

Mu Junyan realized he had lost his composure and quickly looked away, but he did not object to Zhao Yuwen sending someone to ask, pretending it was none of his business.

……

Just as Pei Yi was about to speak, footsteps sounded outside the door.

Gu Hua slowly raised her cup and drank her tea.

Pei Yi, who was good at reading people, felt that Gu Hua didn't seem to like Aunt Pei and didn't want Aunt Pei to know anything.

At that moment, he couldn't say anything, so he picked up his teacup and drank some tea.

When Aunt Pei entered the room, she saw the two of them sitting opposite each other, drinking tea in a respectful manner, and the atmosphere was not as ambiguous as she had imagined.

She sat down and casually instructed Gu Hua, "Go back to the carriage first. Your older cousin and I have something to discuss."

"Yes."

Looking at Gu Hua's slender back, Pei Yi felt a sense of loneliness and felt a pang of sadness.

I always felt that my little cousin was unhappy.

"Yi'er," Aunt Pei said with a smile.

"Aunt." Pei Yi snapped out of his reverie and warmly poured her tea.

"Do you still like Hua'er?" Aunt Pei asked bluntly.

She must finalize this matter today so that she can publicly inform the Duke's mansion that Gu Hua is engaged.

Pei Yi was startled: "What do you mean by that, Aunt?"

“Your parents and aunt separated you before for your future. Now that you are married and Hua’er is seventeen, I am Hua’er’s mother and I always want to find her a good match. But after looking left and right, you are the most suitable.”

Pei Yi stared wide-eyed, unsure how to respond for a long while.

“Your aunt knows that you swore you would not take a concubine when you asked for your wife’s hand in marriage. Hua’er can be your mistress. Once you have children, you can then tell your wife. She will not abandon your child.”

Pei Yi stood up abruptly, looking at her in disbelief.

"Aunt, how can you treat my cousin Hua like this? She's your own daughter! Do you want her to be unable to hold her head high for the rest of her life?"

He could hardly believe it—one moment a concubine, the next a mistress.

At this moment, he believed what Gu Hua said: his aunt treated the eldest daughter of the Marquis's family better than her, and didn't treat Gu Hua like her own daughter at all.

Aunt Pei secretly rolled her eyes; he was actually an idiot.

"It was Hua'er who begged me to come and tell you this. Otherwise, how could I bear to let my own daughter become a mistress?"

Pei Yi stared at her blankly, his face full of disbelief.

Aunt Pei smiled and comforted her.

"Women don't ask for much. Even if she's a mistress, if you pamper her and ensure she has enough to eat and wear, she'll be happy. Otherwise, as a concubine's daughter, her marriage will be decided by the main wife. That Wang Shi hates me and the Pei family to the core, what good marriage will she find for Hua'er? What if she marries a scoundrel? With her gentle nature, wouldn't she be bullied to death? Can you bear to do that?"

Seeing that he was moved, Aunt Pei said no more and stood up to leave.

man.

Wait a minute, and you'll realize how anxious you are.

"Think it over. If you're willing, find a small courtyard to settle her in, and you can live together in harmony. How happy you would be to have a beautiful woman by your side to keep you company!"

Pei Yi's mind was in complete turmoil. Did the girl he liked want to be with him?

It was like an incredible stroke of luck.

Or, the outer room?

My cousin Hua is so wronged.

After seeing his aunt downstairs, Pei Yi deliberately escorted her to the carriage, hoping to catch a glimpse of Gu Hua.

Gu Hua did not get into the car, but stood under a big tree to the side.

A gentle breeze blows, and golden leaves fall one after another.

A young girl stood gracefully beneath the tree, her smile as radiant as a bright pearl.

Pei Yi blinked, momentarily stunned.

A beauty as beautiful as a painting, who wouldn't want to possess her?

The second floor across the street.

Mu Junyan stood by the window, coldly looking down at the door below.

Another loving gaze exchanged.

Unexplained heart attack.

Zhao Yuwen leaned closer and followed his gaze: "Huh, isn't that the woman from the second floor earlier?"

He turned around: "What about the people who were asking questions?"

Sun Chongyang also came over to look, but Mu Junyan had already turned and left the window.

"Coming, coming!" The servant rushed in.

"You slow turtle!" Zhao Yuwen kicked him in the butt.

The servant, ignoring his own discomfort, quickly replied, "The man is Pei Yi, the eldest son of the Pei family, relatives of the Marquis of Wenchang. The girl is his cousin, the second daughter of the Gu family."

Zhao Yuwen was surprised, turned to look at Mu Junyan with a profound and inscrutable expression: "So it's the young lady of your children's in-laws..."

With this identity, it's not good for anything to happen, is it?

"Therefore, there is no gossip."

Mu Junyan said coldly, then sat down and poured tea.

The daughter-in-law's half-sister...

There's really no gossip?

But I always feel a lingering smell of vinegar in the air.

Zhao Yuwen and Sun Chonglai exchanged a sly glance.

Something is wrong, something is so wrong!

……

In front of Pei Yi, Gu Hua said to Aunt Pei, "Aunt, I need to buy some suitable calligraphy brushes so that I can copy the manuscripts for the late wife of the Duke. After I sell them, I will return to the Duke's mansion."

Aunt Pei frowned, looking incredulous: "The Duke's mansion doesn't have good writing materials? You have to find them yourself?"

“My daughter writes in the small regular script style, which requires an extremely fine brush. The Duke prefers running script, and the brushes he uses are not suitable. Besides, no one in the Duke’s mansion would choose a suitable brush for me.”

Pei Yi's expression gradually turned to astonishment.

It turns out that what Gu Hua said earlier was true.

She really did copy manuscripts in the Duke of Yong's study, and she really was valued by the Duke of Yong because of her small, elegant calligraphy.

Aunt Pei didn't understand these things. When she saw Pei Yi staring intently at the little slut, she felt both happy and uncomfortable.

I'm glad I'm confident my plans will succeed.

What's uncomfortable is that for now, this little bitch is temporarily harming the good sons of the Pei family.

"Go ahead," Aunt Pei said slowly.

Gu Hua curtsied to Aunt Pei and Pei Yi: "Aunt, Cousin, I'll go ahead first."

Gu Hua left with Dong Hua.

Pei Yi was still staring blankly at her departing figure.

"Yi'er?"

"My eldest aunt."

Pei Yi was brought back to his senses, and his face immediately turned red when he met his aunt's smile.

Aunt Pei's smile deepened: "It's better to place the house in the West Market, in a more remote area, so as to avoid accidentally bumping into your noble lady. It's good to keep a mistress at a distance, you know.

"Yi'er will listen to his aunt." Pei Yi's ears turned red.

When Aunt Pei saw that he had agreed, she was overjoyed: "When you are ready, have someone tell me, and I will go back to the manor to report to the Marquis and send a letter to the Duke's manor to say that Gu Hua has a husband and that she will be waiting for you at the manor."

Aunt Pei boarded the carriage, and the carriage slowly drove away.

Pei Yi's mind was still buzzing, and he couldn't tell whether he was hallucinating or in reality.

His beloved second cousin is about to become his woman?

He suddenly turned to his most trusted attendant and said, "There was a two-courtyard house in the West Market that was up for sale last time. Go and buy it immediately, renovate and decorate it properly, as soon as possible."

The servant was a servant born into the Pei family. Although he was shocked by this practice, he obeyed the eldest son's orders without question.

Pei Yi felt his heart suddenly fill up.

I suddenly remembered that my second cousin said she could help. Should I try to see her again in the next couple of days and have a proper talk about this?

Gu Hua was unaware that the two of them had reached an agreement behind her back; she was in a hurry to go to Shuhaizhai.

She needs to earn money.

Many things are impossible to accomplish without money.

Gu Hua took two steps, then suddenly stopped and looked back at the doorplate of the small building across the street.

Yunxiang Courtyard.

She immediately realized where she was.

Such exquisite little buildings, located in the most bustling streets, must be the private residences of some popular courtesan who, after redeeming herself, continued to entertain guests.

As for how she knew, it was because her son-in-law Mu An's daughter, Yao Yao, had such a place to stay.

The brothels that entertain high-ranking officials and dignitaries are hardly clean.

The men who come here are much the same as Mu An; they are all lecherous.

Gu Hua withdrew her gaze and quickened her pace toward an alley fifty steps ahead.

After walking a few steps, I happened to pass by the Linlang Building.

She was just passing by when a luxurious carriage suddenly stopped at the door, blocking her way.

Gu Hua didn't care and prepared to walk around it.

She paused and turned around when she heard someone mention Mu Junyan.