Chapter 417: Entertaining Guests
Chapter 417: Chapter 417: Entertaining Guests
Bai Jingwen actually felt a twinge of guilt toward his legitimate daughter.
Back when that old scoundrel Gu Baijiang came to ask for his daughter’s hand in marriage for his son, he had actually hesitated.
The Gu Family’s reputation was decent at the time, but he had investigated. Although the son was born of the legitimate wife, this third son was somewhat neglected.
Marrying a husband like that meant no promising future for his daughter, and she would have to rely on her in-laws for the rest of her life. It would be stifling. However, they were a merchant family; even if they found a match of equal social standing, it might not be much better than the Gu Family.
At that time, Gu Baijiang had just been promoted to Assistant Minister of the Ministry of War. Thinking it would be good to have another backer in the capital, Bai Jingwen had agreed. Who knew it would end up harming his daughter?
Although he had many children, he actually valued the legitimate line the most. That was why he had let his wife do as she pleased recently. Even when she hauled cartloads of things over for this daughter, he didn’t say a word. Even today’s gift list was personally drafted by him. He had chosen valuable items suitable for his daughter’s daily use.
"Thank you, Father." Compared to Mrs. Bai, Bai Suihe wasn’t as close to Bai Jingwen. Having recovered her memories, she knew this father didn’t dislike them; he was just so busy every day that he was rarely seen. They spent much more time with their mother.
"Gu Kaiyuan is quite a decent man," Bai Jingwen said. He had investigated him as well, and his son-in-law’s conduct along the journey had been commendable. "Live your days well from now on. If anything goes wrong, just come home. Your brothers and I will naturally stand up for you."
Bai Suihe nodded heavily. After merging with her memories, there was no longer any barrier between her and the Bai Family. These were her true blood relatives.
"That’s right, Sister," her twin brothers chimed in. "If Kaiyuan bullies you, we’ll beat him up for you."
Gu Kaiyuan, who was just about to step through the door, looked momentarily awkward. The family was catching up and sharing a touching moment; should he go in or not?
However, catching a glimpse of Xu Zitian out of the corner of his eye, he could only clear his throat. "Jiannan and Jianbei are right. If I ever step out of line, feel free to teach me a lesson."
Bai Jiannan and Bai Jianbei weren’t the least bit embarrassed about being caught badmouthing him. They replied in all seriousness, "It’s good that you know, Kaiyuan. Remember what you promised the day you married our sister. We’ll both be keeping a close eye on you."
As siblings born of the same mother, they naturally cast their illegitimate half-brothers aside. As for the concubines and the illegitimate children, they had tactfully found places to stay out of the way, avoiding being an eyesore.
Gu Kaiyuan didn’t mind the presence of an outsider and happily replied, "I’ll leave it to you two to supervise me from now on. Oh, right. Father, Mother, this is the County Magistrate of our county, Lord Xu. He happens to be visiting as a guest."
Gu Kaiyuan made it sound casual, but Bai Jingwen knew the man had come specifically for him. After leaving the capital, they hadn’t concealed their itinerary. Along the way, many officials had wanted to befriend him, hoping to persuade him to expand his business in their regions, but he had politely declined them all.
Zhang County was different. His daughter would be living here permanently, and they might even settle down here in the future. So, he put on a smiling face and said, "I, commoner Bai Jingwen, greet Lord Xu."
Just as the family was about to bow, Xu Zitian stepped forward quickly to support him. "Mr. Bai, there is no need for such formalities. Speaking of which, we can actually be considered relatives."
Bai Jingwen was puzzled. He didn’t think there was anyone surnamed Xu among his many in-laws.
"Wang Li, my aunt’s husband."
Hearing this name, Bai Jingwen spaced out for a moment. To think it was him. He remembered his younger sister who had passed away early; her husband had that exact name. Unfortunately, his sister had been ill-fated, losing her life to a disease. Her husband had later remarried. He hadn’t expected the new wife to be Lord Xu’s aunt. He wondered what kind of relative that made them; they weren’t related at all.
"Lord Xu must be joking. I wouldn’t dare claim ties to Lord Wang."
After his sister passed away, the two families had severed ties. However, Wang Li was considered an honorable man. Since his sister hadn’t left behind any children, Wang Li had actually returned her dowry, and the two families had completely lost contact.
Now that it was brought up, the vivid image of his younger sister resurfaced in Bai Jingwen’s mind. What a lively person she had been. He used to dote on this little sister the most, but now they were separated by life and death. He wondered if Lord Xu was bringing up this connection just to deliberately disgust him.
Seeing Bai Jingwen’s expression, Xu Zitian guessed that he had accidentally stepped on a landmine.
Ever since his aunt married into the Wang Family, she still had to perform the bows of a concubine before the memorial tablet of the deceased Bai daughter during every festival. According to the rules, they truly did have a familial connection. But looking at it now, the Bai Family seemed to have some taboo regarding this matter. Bringing it up at this moment was ill-timed.
So, he changed the subject. "I heard that the Bai Family entered the city today. I wonder if you are just passing through or planning to reside here permanently." As he spoke, his gaze couldn’t help but sweep over the room full of young and old. Bringing the entire family along probably meant this wasn’t just a simple visit to relatives.
"We came to see our daughter first," Bai Jingwen said, using the excuse he had prepared beforehand to brush the man off for now. "She has never suffered since she was little, but she endured a lot of hardship along the way. She has finally settled down, so we wanted to come and check on her. If this place is suitable, it’s not impossible for us to settle down as well. That way, our family can be reunited."
"That is only natural. Mr. Bai, you can take your time to get to know our area. We have beautiful mountains and clear waters; it’s quite nice in all aspects." Xu Zitian now had a rough idea of the situation. The other party was implying that they would stay if the place was suitable and leave if it wasn’t. He would have to have people keep a close eye on things from now on. It would be best to give the Bai Family a good impression of the area. If they moved their businesses over, the citizens of this city would be truly blessed.
Bai Suihe hadn’t expected people in ancient times to place such importance on attracting investments. However, whether he had foresight was secondary; he was simply lacking in tact. He completely ignored the fact that their entire family was exhausted from the long journey. He could have visited another day, yet he insisted on showing up to corner them today.
But he was an official, and commoners like them truly had no way to refuse.
Bai Suihe looked at Gu Kaiyuan. He gave a slight nod and immediately stepped forward. "I’ve already instructed the servants to prepare tea. Why don’t we sit over there and talk?" There were still women and children here, and this large group of people needed to rest.
Wu Xingshun, who had followed them in, hurriedly reminded Xu Zitian and then turned to Gu Kaiyuan. "Mr. Gu, this small courtyard of yours is arranged quite elegantly. Would you mind if we took a look?" He had felt it was unnecessary to be in such a rush earlier, but his senior brother had been afraid of unexpected changes and wanted to come over and say hello first, completely forgetting that the family had just arrived and needed to catch their breath.
Gu Kaiyuan had already offered them a way out; if they didn’t take it now, when would they?
"Please." Gu Kaiyuan led the men to the pavilion in the courtyard, where Nanny Pang had already arranged for the tea and pastries to be ready.
Seeing her son-in-law lead the guests away, Mrs. Bai smiled and shook her head. She whispered to her daughter, "Our family has become a hot commodity now. We have to go through this wherever we go."