Chapter 64 – Invitation+
Once the news of the Old Yang family’s division spread, the Gu family’s popularity in the village quickly waned, and they were gradually forgotten.
The last time the Old Yang family divided their assets, it resulted in Third Master Yang being driven to the point of suicide. Now that Eldest Master Yang was clamoring for a division, no one knew how things would unfold.
If another son died, Old Man Yang would likely not be able to sleep soundly anymore! Every night, he’d be tormented by nightmares of his two sons demanding his life, perhaps even dying of fright!
As the Gu family was no longer the subject of gossip, Gu Yu was extremely pleased. He had already severed ties with the Old Yang family, so their internal strife was none of his business. Furthermore, when Old Man Yang had visited previously, he had confirmed that Gu Yu was not of the Yang bloodline. This made Gu Yu even happier, as he finally felt he could truly separate himself from the Old Yang family.
Since transmigrating to ancient times, Gu Yu had experienced many things, but he had always managed to resolve even the most difficult problems with ease. However, matters concerning the Old Yang family were not so easily dealt with. In ancient times, filial piety was paramount. Even though Gu Yu had previously married into the Gu family, he couldn’t completely ignore the Old Yang family. Fortunately, the deceased Zhi Shuang Yang had the foresight to prepare a deed of severance, preventing the Old Yang family from controlling Gu Yu in the future. Otherwise, the situation might have been much different!
Now, with Old Man Yang revealing the explosive news that Gu Yu was not of the Yang bloodline… this meant that even if Gu Yu were to hit someone in the future, he wouldn’t have to worry about facing charges of disrespecting his elders. Of course, Gu Yu was no brute. He relied more on his sharp intellect to devise various methods for solving the problems that arose. As for his cheap dad being an abandoned infant, Gu Yu simply saw it as a reflection of how common child abandonment was in ancient times, without any further thoughts.
Old Man Yang had originally planned that after revealing this news to Gu Yu, he expected Gu Yu to be deeply affected upon learning he was the descendant of an abandoned infant. After all, an abandoned infant was a child who had been cast aside, unrecognized by the family. However, Gu Yu did not wallow in despair as Old Man Yang had anticipated. Instead, he ate with more gusto, spent his days doting on his little wife, and occasionally taught his younger brother-in-law, enjoying a carefree and happy life, with no time for melancholy. Besides, why should he be sad? As a transmigrator, Gu Yu was not originally from this era. In a sense, he had no kin in the Linfeng Kingdom. However, Mengyao Gu and her brother were now his family and his relatives. Therefore, Old Man Yang’s scheme was destined to fail.
Gu Yu paid no mind to the Old Yang family’s current dispute over dividing their assets, as if he were unaware of it, letting them do as they pleased. He felt it was better to spend time with his little wife. For some reason, Gu Yu had recently become extremely fond of spending time with Mengyao Gu, almost to the point of becoming her shadow, wishing they could be together every moment.
Gu Yu’s sudden clinginess did not go unnoticed by his younger brother-in-law, Qingheng Gu, who teased him about falling head over heels in love and being unable to escape, predicting he would become a henpecked husband in the future! While Qingheng Gu was laughing at Gu Yu, Mengyao Gu remained silent. However, while cooking, she served Qingheng Gu mung bean congee for three consecutive days. This immediately quieted Qingheng Gu, who stopped making fun of Gu Yu. It was no wonder people said that a married daughter was like spilled water. Even though their family had taken in a son-in-law through marriage, his sister’s heart had already completely shifted. Was this how one treated their own brother? Eating mung bean congee every day; he wasn’t a rabbit that ate grass, and even rabbits could have carrots to diversify their diet!
After Qingheng Gu was subtly disciplined by Mengyao Gu and finally became well-behaved, Gu Yu felt even more delighted, thinking how good his wife was to him! Even if he became henpecked, he was willing! Later, as Gu Yu was contemplating taking Mengyao Gu on a trip to deepen their feelings, an unexpected visitor arrived.
“Young Master Gu, this is an invitation from the magistrate.”
“Alright, thank you for your trouble.”
After giving the smiling servant two qian of silver as a tip and seeing him off, Gu Yu curiously unfolded the invitation to read its contents. It had been a long time since Gu Yu last saw Magistrate Bai after their previous encounter. Meanwhile, Min Yan and his wife had moved out of the magistrate’s residence and returned to their own home. The reason was that Magistrate Bai had also received an imperial decree. This informed the Wang Clan that the Emperor was paying attention to Lian Town, making it impossible for them to commit any malicious acts at this time. For no matter what happened, the Wang Clan would ultimately be held responsible. Therefore, after two consecutive imperial decrees, the Wang Clan had no choice but to abandon their pursuit.
Compared to the hundred taels of gold awarded to Gu Yu, Magistrate Bai’s reward was somewhat lesser, consisting only of a compliment in the imperial decree. However, even this compliment made Bai Wangzhi immensely happy, thinking that Eunuch Li had truly mentioned his name to the Emperor. Now that the Emperor knew of him, if he could achieve further accomplishments, it wouldn’t be impossible for him to be promoted to an official position in the capital! Bai Wangzhi was not content with merely being a magistrate in Lian Town; he harbored greater ambitions. Therefore, even though he had been ambushed and sent to Lian Town as a magistrate years ago, he had not become discouraged. Instead, he had quietly focused on developing and strengthening his influence in Lian Town, awaiting the day of his counterattack. In the past two years, with the covert support of the Bai family, his path forward had become smoother. Now, all he needed was an opportunity.
Bai Wangzhi had already identified several suitable candidates for this opportunity and now only needed to befriend them so that they could be of use later, allowing him to reap the rewards. His primary focus was on Chengfeng Shan and the outstanding students at Qingshan Academy. Although Chengfeng Shan was merely the second son of the Imperial Merchant Shan family and could not inherit the family’s assets, based on Bai Wangzhi’s observations, he found Chengfeng Shan to be a truly promising candidate for business. Even without family support, his business had been prospering recently, earning a substantial fortune solely through white sugar, showing potential to become a new generation of Imperial Merchant. He was not unaware that people from the Imperial Palace had begun to approach Chengfeng Shan. As for the outstanding students of Qingshan Academy, Bai Wangzhi had long been impressed by their talent. Under the tutelage of Director Qingshan and the academy’s stringent admission requirements, the students of Qingshan Academy had already gained a golden reputation and were destined to become extraordinary individuals in the future! However, Director Qingshan was unwilling to associate with Bai Wangzhi. This had caused Bai Wangzhi to worry incessantly, contemplating how to persuade Ruan Qingshan to abandon his stubbornness. When everyone is well, that is true well-being!
Having interacted with Ruan Qingshan in Lian Town for many years, especially after learning about the events of the past through special channels, Bai Wangzhi could infer some of Ruan Qingshan’s intentions. Establishing an academy and recruiting numerous students, especially gifted prodigies and geniuses, sparing none of them. All these were merely paving the way for the future. To put it bluntly, Ruan Qingshan was not much different from Bai Wangzhi, except that Bai Wangzhi lacked Ruan Qingshan’s intense desire for revenge! He only wished to advance in his career. However, after resolving the issue with the Wang Chang family recently, it seemed his luck had taken a turn. A while ago, Chengfeng Shan had taken the initiative to approach him and agreed to several transactions with the Bai family, even reducing the required amount by 20%, on the condition that Bai Lin Yue not return to the capital for now. Bai Wangzhi was very surprised to suddenly be involved with his niece, Bai Lin Yue. However, seeing the admiring expression on Chengfeng Shan’s face when he mentioned Bai Lin Yue, Bai Wangzhi immediately understood the reason. It turned out that his niece had come to Lian Town to relax, but unexpectedly, she had captured Chengfeng Shan’s heart. However, recalling his niece’s personality, Bai Wangzhi truly worried for Chengfeng Shan. The road ahead was long and arduous…
Since Chengfeng Shan was offering such significant profits, Bai Wangzhi naturally would not let it pass. After all, it was not difficult to simply ask his niece to stay for a few months. Moreover, not only had the transaction been completed, but he had also established a connection with Chengfeng Shan. In addition, Ruan Qingshan had even approached him directly, stating that he was hosting a poetry gathering and wished to invite Bai Wangzhi. Upon hearing this, Bai Wangzhi was naturally overjoyed, thinking that good things came in pairs and his luck was exceptionally good! However, Ruan Qingshan then proposed other conditions. As for what these conditions were…
“What! Yu, the magistrate is inviting you and Qingheng to a poetry gathering?”
“The invitation does state that our names are clearly written on it, so it should be genuine.”
After Gu Yu finished reading the invitation sent by the magistrate, he was incredibly surprised to see that it was inviting him and his younger brother-in-law to a poetry gathering. After all, he wasn’t that familiar with the magistrate, so why would he suddenly think to invite him? Even when Qingheng Gu attended school in town, he was merely learning the basics at the time. Although his younger brother-in-law was exceptionally talented and a good candidate for academic pursuits, few people likely noticed this, let alone himself, who had never even stepped foot inside a school. Therefore, being invited to a poetry gathering was truly perplexing!
“Qingheng, what do you think?”
“Huh? I’m looking with my eyes!”
“…”
Gu Yu helplessly rolled his eyes at Qingheng Gu, who was still joking around at a time like this. He then gave up on asking for the opinion of an eight-year-old child and began discussing with Mengyao Gu whether they should attend this poetry gathering or not. If they went, this poetry gathering might be a Hongmen Banquet. If they refused, Bai Wangzhi had personally invited them, and refusing would be an insult to the magistrate. Since neither option seemed ideal, Gu Yu and Mengyao Gu couldn’t reach a conclusion. After much deliberation, Gu Yu decided to leave the choice to his younger brother-in-law. Ultimately, as Qingheng Gu wanted to experience the poetry gathering, the decision to attend tomorrow was made.
