The mistress has no feelings, why do you provoke her?

Zhou was the old Marquis's second wife. After giving birth to Gu Huaizhou, she damaged her health and could no longer have children.

In order to ensure the continuation of the family line, the old marquis took several more concubines.

The concubines were quite capable, getting pregnant one after another.

One of them was already seven months along, but for some reason, she was born prematurely.

The baby was born looking like a kitten, but it only lived for one day before it died.

He thought it was an accident, and the old marquis was sad for a while but then forgot about it.

Because another concubine was also pregnant.

Despite the utmost caution from the old Marquis, an accident still occurred after three months.

My aunt slipped and fell, and the child died.

Further investigation revealed a large amount of oil stains in the corridor where the aunt frequented.

On the surface, it seems to have been spilled unintentionally, but upon closer inspection, it's clear that someone deliberately sabotaged it.

The old Marquis was furious and had all the servants in the mansion arrested and severely tortured. Only then did he realize that it was Zhou who had done the dirty work.

Even the seven-month-old baby from before was her doing.

She had ingested a slow-acting poison in her aunt's food, which is why the child was born prematurely.

Such a wicked woman, the old Marquis could not tolerate her and wanted to divorce her and send her back to her parents' home.

But at that time, Gu Huaizhou was only ten years old, and he was already the most outstanding of all his children.

If Zhou is divorced, Gu Huaizhou's future will also be affected.

With the old lady pleading on her behalf, the old marquis finally gave up his idea of ​​divorcing her.

Zhou was only beaten fifty times, and the matter was dropped.

After this incident, the old Marquis completely lost faith in Zhou Shi. There were a total of three large storerooms in the mansion, and three keys to them.

This is also the economic lifeline of the government.

The old Marquis did not hand over the keys to Zhou for management, but instead built a separate storeroom to cover the household expenses.

He personally oversaw those three large warehouses, preventing the Zhou family from getting their hands on them.

Zhou dared not complain. She wanted to win back the old Marquis's heart, but the old Marquis had already seen through her true colors and would no longer pay attention to her.

In order to produce offspring for the Gu family, the old Marquis had one concubine after another by his side.

He personally kept these concubines by his side, free from Zhou's control, effectively rendering her position as the mistress of the house meaningless.

The concubines, living a life of luxury by the old Marquis's side and spared from the mistress's temper, were naturally overjoyed.

When Lady Liu was favored, the old Marquis kept her by his side. After she gave birth to Gu Huai'an, he was only allowed to return to the mansion when he turned fifteen. Even so, he was protected by people, so Lady Zhou had no chance to make a move.

Although his concubines later became pregnant and some gave birth to daughters, the old Marquis didn't care at all and married them off early.

One of them was particularly outstanding in appearance, and the old marquis used his connections to send her to the palace.

However, he has not received any favors over the years and has always been a minor nobleman, rarely seeing the emperor more than a few times a year.

She had long been squeezed out by the other concubines and had no place to stand.

The old marquis initially had hope for this daughter, but later, seeing how disappointing she was, he gave up on her.

Let her fend for herself in the palace.

The old lord wanted a son, because only a son could carry on the Gu family's century-old legacy.

So when he saw that Song Wenjun had given birth to Gu Jinyan, he happily returned to his residence.

"Daddy, what are you thinking about?" The child's sweet, childish voice pulled the old marquis back to reality.

Looking at Gu Mingyan's youthful face, the old Marquis felt extremely distressed.

No matter what, he had to preserve the Gu family bloodline.

The old Marquis affectionately patted Gu Mingyan's head and smiled lovingly at him: "Father is thinking that when Mingyan grows up and becomes successful, he can go out with Father. Father will take you all over the country, take you to ride horses and see the yellow sand beyond the Great Wall, and take you to the grasslands to see cattle and sheep, okay?"

It was just a comforting remark to a child, but to Gu Huaizhou it was like a boulder being thrown into a calm lake.

He was never loved by his father since childhood. Let alone riding a horse, the old marquis never even gave him a kind look.

Despite his cold demeanor, this father said he would take his youngest son horseback riding and to the grasslands to see cattle and sheep.

Gu Huaizhou felt a mix of emotions, unsure whether to be jealous or disappointed.

He slowly shoveled the rice into his mouth, but couldn't taste it.

After the dinner, the old Marquis took the twins and Consort Shen back to his courtyard.

Gu Huaizhou walked slowly on the bluestone brick floor, slowly raised his head, and looked at the Marquis's mansion where he had lived for more than 20 years.

It felt very unfamiliar at first.

A sudden gust of wind arose, its chill penetrating to the bone.

A strong sense of crisis washed over him.

He couldn't delay any longer.

Another person who shared the same feelings as Gu Huaizhou was Zhou Shi, who was being held in solitary confinement.

The humiliation the old Marquis had inflicted on her today made her hate him to the core.

……

In the following days, things became much calmer in the mansion.

Song Wenjun has been in a great mood these past few days; the more chaotic things are in the mansion, the happier she is.

Because the old Marquis wanted to arrange a blind date for Jiang Miaoyin, she contacted Madam Xue and asked her to bring her cousin from her maternal family to the capital.

This wasn't someone Song Wenjun randomly chose; she genuinely cared about them.

Xue's cousin's surname was Xu, and he was from Qingzhou.

He is indeed a businessman, and everything he said is true.

However, Song Wenjun concealed the fact that her cousin Xu Guangyuan was a wife-beater, and that he had beaten his previous wife to death.

The Xu family kept this a secret, so not many people knew about it.

Xue was unaware of this matter and was overjoyed, thinking that Song Wenjun was really going to find a match for her cousin.

At that time, she wrote to Xu Guangyuan asking him to come to the capital. When the other party heard that she was a daughter of an official from a wealthy family, and that she was a newlywed widow, she was willing to marry down.

I immediately felt like I'd gotten a great deal.

If he marries Jiang Miaoyin, he will have connections in official circles, and his business will be easier to run.

Two days later, Xu Guangyuan arrived in Beijing.

He was already good-looking, with a dignified appearance.

She's a businesswoman, and she looks fair-skinned and delicate.

Xue Shi also valued this cousin highly, and in order to make the matter happen, she even spent a lot of money to buy him a set of clothes.

He seems to be no different from a young master from a prominent family.

After all preparations were complete, Xue sent a letter to Song Wenjun, asking when she would be free so that they could arrange a meeting.

Song Wenjun then went to see the old Marquis: "Father, that grain merchant from Qingzhou, Xu Guangyuan, has arrived in the capital. When would you like to arrange for him to meet with my sister-in-law?"

"So fast?" The old Marquis was surprised, not expecting Song Wenjun to be so efficient.

She looks gentle and delicate, but she acts with great efficiency.

With her in charge of the Marquis's residence, the old Marquis was very pleased.

"Let's meet again in three days. It's not too late to see each other after the New Year."

It was the end of the year, and relatives came to visit the mansion every day. The old Marquis had to entertain them and simply couldn't spare the time.

Seeing you later is perfectly reasonable.

Song Wenjun pursed her lips and asked again, "Shouldn't we tell my sister-in-law about this?"