Chapter 384: Gift List
Chapter 384: Chapter 384: Gift List
Upon hearing the news, Bai Suihe hurried back to the estate with her people, only to find several carriages parked outside, still waiting to be unloaded.
Seeing her return, Lin Hua had already rushed inside to report.
Bai Suihe had barely stepped through the gates when Gu Kaiyuan came walking out with his men.
"Your servant, Liu An, greets the Eldest Miss. Wishing the Eldest Miss well," Liu An said, leading several servants from the Bai Family to kowtow respectfully.
Bai Suihe quickly ordered someone to help them up. "You must have had a hard journey. Is everyone at home doing well? How are my father and mother?"
"The Master and Mrs. Bai are both well, and the two Young Masters are doing well too." Liu An, of course, knew that Bai Suihe would not ask about the children born of concubines, so he skipped over them directly.
"Why did you bring so many things this time?" Bai Suihe asked.
Seeing the unending stream of chests being carried inside, Bai Suihe felt a slight headache coming on. She wondered if the courtyard she had bought was too small.
"These were all specially prepared by the Master and Mrs. Bai. Here is the gift list," Liu An said, hastily pulling two lists from his chest pocket and handing them respectfully to Bai Suihe.
Looking at the two lists, Bai Suihe casually flipped through them and immediately understood what was going on. One was from the Bai Family, and the other was prepared privately by her mother. The list from the Bai Family was, naturally, meant for the rest of the Bai Family to see, and a copy would be kept on record in the estate.
Seeing the exhaustion on their faces, Bai Suihe told them to rest first and talk to her later in the evening. Liu An and the others did not decline. Having ridden non-stop to get here, they were indeed exhausted and feared they might make fools of themselves in front of their master. It was best to rest and organize their thoughts before coming back to report properly.
Gu Kaiyuan led his men to place all the chests into the storehouse for now, planning to organize them later. When he saw the thick gift lists, he laughed and said, "My mother-in-law has really thought of everything. I, too, am benefiting from my wife’s good fortune."
Bai Suihe picked up her newly awakened daughter and planted a loving kiss on her. "These are all from her maternal grandmother for our baby. Our little Gu Xingyang is quite the wealthy little lady now."
Gu Xingyang happily waved her little hands. "Mother, I will provide for you..."
Gu Kaiyuan tapped her small forehead. "You little ingrate, are you only going to provide for your mother?"
"I’ll provide for Father, too." Gu Xingyang turned to look at Gu Kaiyuan, offering a fawning, toothless smile. She figured that since her mother was so busy right now, she would have to count on her father to take her out to play more often.
As Bai Suihe read through the lists, her eyes curved into crescents of laughter when she discovered that there were actually gifts from the concubines and children of concubines in the Bai Family’s inner courtyard. She thought about how wonderful her mother was, certainly not the type of person to suffer grievances in silence.
In the past, the social exchanges and favors involving these concubines had cost no small amount of money, and who knew if they were just conjuring up pretexts to line their pockets? If they were going to fleece the family wealth, then everyone should be fleeced together. Regardless, the items were taken from the main storehouse. Even if her father’s heart ached over the expense, he could not say much.
Furthermore, these gifts were quite substantial. Looking at the records, each of the concubines had prepared assorted gemstones as well as gold and silver jewelry sets for Gu Xingyang. Bai Suihe imagined that when her father saw this gift list, he would be feeling the sting for a very long time, and he probably would not send any more good things to the inner courtyard.
Gu Kaiyuan also glanced at the list. "It seems I really will have to rely on our baby to provide for me in the future. Daddy is much poorer than you are right now."
The Silver he had brought out previously had either been exchanged for land deeds or converted entirely into supplies piled up in Bai Suihe’s spatial dimension. Thinking about it, he really was the poorest person in the family.
Bai Suihe felt she would be busy for the next couple of days. There were food and daily necessities in the shipment that all needed to be sorted and organized. However, she knew she would still need to send a letter back to the capital, telling her mother to stop sending things over since they really lacked nothing.
Once Liu An and the others were well-rested, they finally began discussing the situation in the capital. There were certain matters that were indeed inconvenient to write down in letters; passing them on by word of mouth was the safest approach.
Upon hearing that Mrs. Bai intended to purchase more land in this area, Bai Suihe guessed that Mrs. Bai had already seen through some things. Her own subtle hints in her previous letters had not been in vain. She reasoned that anyone capable of building such a massive business empire would naturally possess this level of acute intuition.
Gu Kaiyuan immediately took charge of the matter. The army was still in the area continuing their bandit extermination campaign. As long as he sent people to follow behind the troops and snap up bargains, he could accumulate a vast amount of farmland in advance. The only issue was that with so many noble families relocating here recently, the prices probably would not drop too low. However, even so, there was still plenty of room for appreciation.
This time, Liu An and the others would not be returning. All the people he had brought along would stay to assist Bai Suihe in managing the Bai Family’s properties in the region.
The news of the Bai Family sending yet another shipment of goods caused the hearts of everyone in Zhang County to waver again. It seemed the position of the wealthiest family in the area was about to change hands. As expected of the Bai Family; sending over a dozen carriages of goods showed just how deeply they doted on this daughter.
This news naturally spread to Tian Village as well. The members of the Gu Family at most let out a few sighs, ultimately lacking the face to shamelessly latch onto them again.
Gu Kaichen had once again gambled until his eyes were bloodshot. When he heard the news, he felt he could not swallow this resentment. They were both sons of the Gu Family. Their father had married the eldest brother to a daughter from a Marquis Mansion, which could still be considered a prestigious background. Although the third brother had married a merchant’s daughter, it was the incredibly wealthy Bai Family. Just looking at the wealth slipping through their fingers, the third brother didn’t have to do a single thing and could still live as an idle rich man.
And what about him? He had been matched with Mrs. Xu, a woman from a bankrupt household. It was bad enough that she was of no help whatsoever, but she also hounded him for Silver Coins every single day. It was exactly this wretched woman, constantly squawking about having no Silver, no Silver, who had entirely cursed away his financial luck!
Xu Shuanghong and her daughter had fled overnight, their whereabouts now unknown. Everything in the house that could be sold had already been pawned off. How was he supposed to pay off this gambling debt? Since the third brother had such a wealthy Yue Family, he couldn’t just stand by and watch his second brother get his hands and feet chopped off. Gu Kaichen refused to believe that if he blocked his doorway, the third brother could truly ignore him!
With this thought in mind, he bought another jug of wine on credit, drank himself half-drunk, and staggered his way to the entrance of the Gu Family residence he had previously inquired about.
Staring at the imposing main gates, Gu Kaichen plopped straight down on the stone mounting block and began to howl at the top of his lungs. "Third Brother! Gu Kaiyuan! You have to save your second brother’s life!
"Your second brother is barely surviving! You can’t just live the good life yourself and leave us to die..."
Hearing his dramatic theatrical performance, a curious crowd actually began to gather. Gu Kaiyuan was the county town’s newly minted aristocrat, and many households wanted to be on good terms with him. However, the family’s population was small and simple. At most, some people had managed to dabble in wives’ diplomacy, while the rest could only stare longingly from the sidelines.
The servant guarding the gate naturally heard the commotion. After standing in the gatehouse listening for a moment, he hurriedly went to find Nanny Pang.
A ruthless glint flashed through Nanny Pang’s eyes. She had thought the Gu Family knew what was good for them, but who would have expected them to be this shameless?
"You go back to the front and keep watch. I will go see if the Madam and the others are awake yet," she instructed.
Bai Suihe liked to take an afternoon nap with Gu Xingyang, and Gu Kaiyuan had returned to Tian Village today.
Hearing no movement from inside, Nanny Pang quietly stepped out and instructed Zisu, who was keeping watch there, not to disturb their master. She then slowly made her way to the gatehouse. A few male servants were already standing guard there. Seeing Nanny Pang arrive, they all breathed a sigh of relief. If they let that man outside spout nonsense any longer, the master’s reputation would be completely ruined.