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

Mu Junyan stood up, bent down and tugged at his robe, then approached Gu Hua, his powerful aura enveloping her.

Gu Hua struggled to control her legs, which were trying to escape, and then heard five meaningful, light words.

"You decide."

Seeing him leave, Gu Hua and Pei Yi both breathed a sigh of relief.

“Cousin, I’m fine. The Duke will be in Bianjing for about ten days. I’ll just copy two volumes of the late Madam’s poetry collection during these ten days. I’m living next door to the old lady now, so you don’t need to worry.”

She certainly wouldn't be foolish enough to become Pei Yi's mistress, but she needed to keep Pei Yi in check.

Pei Yi felt slightly relieved upon hearing this and lowered his voice: "Is it convenient to talk here?"

Gu Hua dared not take him around the mansion again.

Moreover, the Moon-Viewing Pavilion is open on all sides, and the white gauze curtains are rolled up, so it can be seen from all sides, offering a complete view.

It's good that there are ears on the other side of the wall; someone will tell Mu Junyan everything they see, so he won't think I'm flirting with people.

She was very afraid of Mu Junyan getting angry.

Men all care about their pride.

Even though he didn't have any real feelings for her.

Gu Hua said softly, "It's alright. Did you come here today for something else, cousin?"

Pei Yi had no idea whether Aunt Pei knew about her plans.

But faced with such a fairy-like and pure cousin, he felt that his aunt's actions were a desecration of her.

He thought about it all night and made up his mind: he only wanted to protect her and didn't want her to be his mistress.

He no longer deserves it.

“Cousin, my aunt suggested that I buy a courtyard house so that you can move out of the Gu residence and live there.”

Gu Hua stared at him intently, her resentful gaze making Pei Yi so ashamed he wanted to dig a hole and crawl into it.

He said urgently, "It's not what you think..."

"What do you mean? Does my cousin also want to bully me?" Gu Hua's eyes welled up with tears.

"No, no, you've misunderstood."

Seeing that she was about to cry, Pei Yi's heart ached.

"What I wanted to ask you was that staying in the Duke's mansion isn't a long-term solution. I've also heard that your brother-in-law treats you..."

Seeing that she was so humiliated that tears were about to fall, he quickly cut off the conversation.

"If you're unhappy in the Gu family, and your uncle and aunt treat you badly, I can help you leave the Gu family. To outsiders, you'll have to suffer for a while, but in reality, we're just cousins. After that, we'll find a suitable opportunity to send you to the Pei family in Jiangling, and find someone you like to send you off in a grand wedding."

Gu Hua never expected him to say that, and she never expected him to be such a decent person.

She couldn't help but take a serious look at him.

"Cousin...you don't intend to take me as your mistress?"

Pei Yi's face immediately turned red, and he quickly shook his head: "How could that be? My cousin is as pure as a lotus, I am truly unworthy of her."

Gu Hua was surprised.

"Cousin, thank you. Right now, because the Duke has hired me to copy manuscripts, my son-in-law doesn't dare to touch me, and my elder sister can't control me either."

Pei Yi breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this: "Then why don't we wait until the Duke goes to war before making any further plans?"

"it is good."

After the awkward conversation was over, the two felt much more at ease.

Pei Yi suddenly remembered something important and let out a low, mournful sigh: "I was going to ask my cousin to speak with the Duke of Yong to see if the Pei family could participate in the winter procurement of military supplies and submit samples. But just now... it seems I angered the Duke of Yong."

"I'll figure it out."

Upon hearing her say this, Pei Yi quickly replied, "Don't make things too difficult for me."

"It's alright. Duke Yong admires my calligraphy. He and his wife are a loving couple. For the sake of my late wife, he will always help me out."

Gu Hua was unsure of herself, but she needed Pei Yi to know that she could help him.

Pei Yi secretly breathed a sigh of relief. If this matter succeeded, the Pei family would leap to become a first-class imperial merchant and would no longer have to look at those who had squeezed them dry.

"Cousin, would you like to meet your elder sister?" Gu Hua asked.

Pei Yi nodded.

He also wanted to see what kind of temperament the eldest daughter of the Gu family, who was being pampered by his aunt with the Pei family's money, had.

“I’ll take you to Jinxiu Pavilion. She… is under house arrest by the Duke.”

Pei Yi was surprised: "Confined to your home?"

"Hmm." Gu Hua looked unwilling to say more.

Pei Yi was even more convinced of what Gu Hua had said: this eldest daughter of the royal family did not have a high status in the Duke's mansion and could not possibly help the Pei family.

Jinxiu Pavilion.

Gu Wanru applied a thick layer of rouge, but it couldn't hide her unpleasant complexion and tired expression.

Gu Hua bowed. Gu Wanru was surprised that Gu Hua would come, and even more surprised that her cousin Pei would come.

She maintained the airs of a young mistress of the Duke's mansion, seemingly ignoring Gu Hua's curtsy, and arrogantly gestured to the chair towards Pei Yi.

"sit."

Pei Yi quickly glanced at Gu Wanru.

Seeing her adorned with jewels and dressed in a luxurious ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress), she was a world apart from Gu Hua, who was dressed in simple and elegant attire.

During this period, because of that little slut, the young master treated her very badly.

Gu Wanru gritted her teeth in anger whenever she saw Gu Hua, but she couldn't vent her anger in front of Pei Yi.

She stared at the single jade hairpin in Gu Hua's hair and immediately recognized that the jade was of the highest quality.

Although her dress was simple, the material was better than all the other clothes she wore.

Extremely jealous, she asked sarcastically, "This hairpin of yours was given to you by the Duke, wasn't it? And your clothes are new too. Now you're dressed more expensively than me, your elder sister."

She didn't see Pei Yi's slight frown.

Gu Hua touched the jade hairpin with an unnatural expression and stammered, "This hairpin comes from Linglong Pavilion, and the dress was given to me by Steward Zhou. I don't know if it is valuable or not."

"Humph."

Gu Wanru sneered: "Your little sister's hairpin is worth more than all the jewelry Aunt Pei gave me. You're quite something, aren't you? You don't need me, your older sister, to worry about your food, clothing, or daily necessities. The Duke has taken care of everything for you. You're really something, little sister."

Gu Wanru originally wanted Pei Yi to know that her younger sister was shamelessly seducing men, but to her surprise, Pei Yi believed what Gu Hua had said yesterday.

Gu Hua was belittled by her own sister, and her eyes welled up with tears of grievance.

“Sister, you misunderstand me. As the younger sister of the young mistress, I can’t always wear servant’s clothes. What if I encounter distinguished guests while copying books in the study, which would embarrass the Duke’s mansion and the Gu family?”

Gu Wanru's face darkened, and she said angrily, "The Gu family has me, the young mistress, to uphold its reputation. When did it become your place to do so? You're just an illegitimate daughter born to a lowly merchant family. How much of a face do you think you have?"

"Elder sister, you can scold me or hit me all you want, but Cousin Pei is here. Please give me some face."

Gu Hua almost cried.

Pei Yi was so angry that his face turned black.

So this is how the eldest daughter of the Gu family bullies his cousin, yet his aunt always gives her the best and uses the Pei family's money to support her. She's simply blind.

A surge of anger welled up inside him, and not wanting to say anything more to her, he got up and took his leave.

Gu Wanru didn't want these merchants and their families to get involved at all.

Deep down, she had always considered herself a legitimate legitimate daughter.

With red eyes, Gu Hua silently accompanied Pei Yi out of the mansion.

But she was very happy and could tell that Pei Yi was unaware that Gu Wanru and she had switched identities.

That would be easy.

Pei Yi, with a gloomy face, remained silent the entire way.

When the two arrived at the gate, Gu Hua curtsied to him and said, choking back tears, "Cousin, I'm so sorry you had to go through all this."

Pei Yi hurriedly returned the greeting, then thought for a moment and said, "Cousin, the Pei family and my aunt and cousin share the same fate. If the Pei family prospers, my aunt and cousin will have someone to rely on."

Gu Hua nodded: "I know, so I want to do my best to help my cousin. Family members should help each other."

She sighed again, "My situation in the Gu family is difficult. My own mother doesn't love me, and my father only treats me as a tool. I have to think about my own future."

Pei Yi looked at her for a long while and said, "Don't worry, I'm here."

Gu Hua's eyes were slightly red: "Cousin, you are a good person."

Pei Yi's heart clenched.

Suddenly, he stuffed something into her arms, and before Gu Hua could react, he turned and got into the carriage.

Gu Hua stared blankly at the carriage. Suddenly, the window was opened, and Pei Yi quickly said, "If it's not enough, send someone to Xuanhua Tower to let them know."

As the carriage drove away, Gu Hua's expression returned to normal, and she looked down at a silver note in her hand.

One thousand taels.

For the Pei family, this was a drop in the ocean; for Gu Hua, she had never seen so much money in either of her two lifetimes.

well.

Initial results are visible.

Gu Hua realized that she wasn't stupid after all.

Actually, she knew some things about the winter military supplies list, and perhaps she could help Pei Yi without Mu Junyan's help.

Moreover, it could completely undermine the power of his elder sister and her husband.

Let them fight it out among themselves, the more exciting the better.

only……

Another matter she needed to ask Mu Junyan for help with was that she really couldn't think of a solution.

Does that mean... I have to seduce him again?

Gu Hua's face flushed, and she quickly slapped her forehead to stop herself from overthinking.

Looking around to make sure no one was around, he quickly stuffed the silver note into his sleeve, turned and went into the mansion with an air of nonchalance.

A head peeked out from behind the wall, staring in disbelief.

So this young mistress's half-sister... is quite cunning.

He made a thousand taels just by talking?