BXBX NOVEL Chapter 6
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Prince Yan rushing back to the capital should be because of Gu Cheng Yao. It’s true that she used to be blinded by her family background, and really thought that because she was proficient in Four Arts◇, she would also be good at managing the household. Furthermore, she’d thought that others spoke highly of her because they really liked her. But once she broke out of her family’s influence, her true colours were exposed.
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Lin Wei Xi smiled bitterly. When she thought about it, if she were a man, she also wouldn’t like herself, an overbearing woman who relied on her family background and grandmother. That’s why, if she was really grateful to Zhou Mao Cheng, she couldn’t marry into his family and bring them harm.
Zhou Mao Cheng watched Lin Wei Xi enter the house in disappointment before returning to the front courtyard with a deep sigh. Gu Hui Yan was handling urgent matters in the temporary study. When he heard Zhou Mao Cheng sigh, he raised his head and glanced up without stopping the brush in his hand, and asked off-handedly, “What the problem?”
“That Lin girl is smart and articulate. In the future, she will bring prosperity to the family that she marries into. I brazenly acted as matchmaker for my sons, but she refused. Sigh, although I expected it, it’s still a pity… “
Gu Hui Yan laughed lightly. That girl wasn’t only intelligent, but also courageous and high-spirited. If the man wasn’t capable, he couldn’t possibly rein her in. Gu Hui Yan wasn’t surprised that Zhou Mao Cheng had been rejected, because just the day prior, he’d barely touched the topic before she butt heads with him.
But speaking of Lin Wei Xi bringing prosperity to the family, Gu Hui Yan was reminded of another matter. He’d personally written a letter to Princess Royal Shou Kang to bring in a daughter-in-law, but the girl had died of illness at the end of the previous year.
Gu Hui Yan remembered that this daughter-in-law was called Gao Xi. In all fairness, Gu Hui Yan was quite satisfied with this daughter-in-law. It’s just a pity that things were not meant to be, and it couldn’t be forced.
Shen Shi had been dead for ten years, and the old Princess Consort had also died a long time ago. The only two men who remained in the Prince Yan Residence were Gu Hui Yan and Gu Cheng Yao. There wasn’t a mistress to care for the home, and each of their marriages had been delayed year after year. Gu Hui Yan himself didn’t want to remarry, so of course he couldn’t be bothered with Gu Cheng Yao’s marriage matters. So when Gu Cheng Yao suddenly sent him one half of a fish-shaped jade pendant and asked him to find the owner of the jade pendant, he was surprised.
Gu Cheng Yao was only sixteen years old but he already knew how to find a wife for himself? Gu Hui Yan didn’t really care about family status, so no matter what status the woman had, it would all be the same in the face of his household. Since Gu Cheng Yao liked her, then as his father he didn’t need to dampen his enthusiasm. However, at that time, Gu Hui Yan was in the midst of quelling the Dughlat tribe’s rebellion. He didn’t have the time to investigate some woman’s jade pendant, so he wrote a letter and sent it back to the capital together with the jade pendant, entrusting Princess Royal Shou Kang with finding the woman.
Princess Royal Shou Kang was Gu Hui Yan’s paternal aunt. Back then, when the previous Prince Yan hadn’t yet moved to his vassal state, Princess Shou Kang took care of him, so the previous Prince Yan and Princess Consort greatly cared about their friendship with Princess Shou Kang. Later on, when Gu Hui Yan suddenly emerged with a force to be reckoned with, his power greatly surpassing that of the Princess Royal Shou Kang Residence, he didn’t sever contact with the Princess Royal Residence. The two families were quite close, and Gu Hui Yan was also very courteous to his aunt.
Gu Hui Yan was busy, so naturally he entrusted Princess Royal Shou Kang with finding the woman. The Princess Royal lived in the capital, and she made frequent contact with the women there, so it was better to have the Princess Royal find someone than Gu Hui Yan. But he didn’t expect that after he sent the letter, the Princess Royal sent back a reply almost immediately, and along with the letter came the other half of the fish-shaped jade pendant.
So such a coincidence could actually occur. The woman Gu Cheng Yao wanted to find just so happened to be the granddaughter of Princess Royal Shou Kang. After receiving the reply, Gu Hui Yan didn’t say a word, immediately took out his official seal, and sincerely asked for his son to marry the granddaughter of the Princess Royal, Gao Xi.
Everyone in the capital knew what happened after. The Duke Ying Residence and the Prince Yan Residence were joined together by their marriage, two joyful events occurring in succession. Gu Hui Yan had one less thing to worry about, so he went back to concentrating on dealing with the war in the Northwest, and stopped paying attention to what happened in the residence.
Gu Hui Yan was very clear about the Princess Royal Shou Kang Residence’s situation. Princess Shou Kang had been favoured before she went into decline and her husband placed third in the national civil exams during the Chengwu era. The emperor’s son-in-law couldn’t become an official once he married into the imperial family, and Princess Shou Kang’s Husband◇ was a scholar with no particular foundation for his career. It was an honour to marry a princess, but he had to choose between his career prospects or marrying the Princess. The Princess’ Husband had no official career, so he had no choice but to rely on the Princess’s dignity. As for Princess Shou Kang, she had a rather strong personality.
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Consequently, Princess Royal Shou Kang’s only daughter, Wei Shi, was influenced by the way her parents interacted. After marrying into the Duke Ying Residence, she refused to swallow her pride and suffered a lot under the concubine’s deceitful ways. Wei Shi’s daughter, Gao Xi, couldn’t accept her mother’s situation. She was competitive from a young age and had to be the best at whatever she did out of all her sisters, even brothers. In Gu Hui Yan’s opinion, a woman having a strong personality wasn’t a bad thing. On the contrary, if Gu Cheng Yao actually took a liking to those kinds of gentle and frail women, he would really worry about the Prince Yan Residence and it’s large family business. Furthermore, Gao Xi stayed at the Princess Shou Kang Residence most of the time. Since she had the Princess Royal’s guidance, Gu Hui Yan felt very relieved.
But he didn’t expect that in the short time he wasn’t paying attention to the affairs of the residence, the next time he received a letter, it informed him of the news of Gao Xi’s death.
Although it was very disrespectful to say this about the deceased but… wasn’t this too quick? But what caused Gu Hui Yan to frown in particular was the fact that Gu Cheng Yao had handed over the obituary along with the deceased. The Duke Ying Residence intended to let Gao Xi’s shu sister, Gao Ran, marry in as his second wife. And he’d already consented.
Gu Hui Yan hadn’t said anything at the time, but everyone who was present knew that Prince Yan was very upset about his son’s remarriage.
He didn’t know why Lin Wei Xi reminded him of his former daughter-in-law. When Zhou Mao Cheng saw that Gu Hui Yan’s face was a little sombre, he suddenly swallowed his unspoken grumble. He looked at Gu Hui Yan’s expression and carefully said, “My Prince, did Shizi send that letter?”
Gu Hui Yan sighed slightly: “A letter was just sent from the capital, his marriage to the third miss of Duke Ying Residence is scheduled for next month.”
Lin Wei Xi had come over to express her thanks to Prince Yan when she happened to hear this as she walked past the window.
Gu Cheng Yao and Gao Ran would be married next month.