Chapter 429: The Xu Family
Chapter 429: Chapter 429: The Xu Family
"Honestly, taking so much dowry into the Three Emperors Mansion, yet she doesn’t even bother to visit us now that her uncle and aunt are back!" Xu Yulan spat as she stormed out of the courtyard, cursing under her breath. "Praise her a little, and she really thinks she’s some big shot. At the end of the day, she’s just a lowly concubine, yet she dares to put on airs with me."
The more she thought about it, the more unsettled she felt. When Gu Antong entered the Third Prince Mansion, they hadn’t been in the capital. Otherwise, they never would have let her empty out the family’s assets.
As soon as she returned to the estate today, she heard that Gu Antong’s senior maid had come back. She had just grabbed the maid to pry for information, never expecting Kaiping’s wife to return so quickly.
Having gleaned no information and gained no benefits, being chased out like that was a bitter pill she simply couldn’t swallow.
She turned and marched toward the backyard. Seeing Gu Kaichen lying on the bed sighing, she walked over and slapped him hard on the back. Gu Kaichen immediately sprang up from the bed.
"You crazy hag! Are you insane?" Gu Kaichen felt a piercing pain in his back, fearing that his wounds had split open again. "Hurry up and fetch me a doctor, my wounds are getting worse..."
"Fetch what doctor? Do you not know your own status right now?
"If word of this gets out, your father will probably come over with saltwater to ’clean’ your wounds again.
"Sometimes I really wonder. You’re both his sons, so why does he treat you so differently?
"When Gu Kaiping married off his daughter, your father gave everything he had to provide her with so much dowry. But we’ve been back for so long and haven’t touched a single copper coin. Is that reasonable?"
Of course it was outrageous. Gu Kaichen thought so to himself, but he lacked the courage to voice any objections. He knew his father; the man always kept his word. For a long time to come, his father would definitely not look favorably upon him, let alone give him any silver to spend.
"As soon as I got the news that she sent her maid back, I thought they had brought us some good stuff," Xu Yulan complained. "But when I went over, I found out the maid showed up empty-handed.
"She is a concubine now, for crying out loud. How can she be so ignorant of basic etiquette?"
"She’s merely a Prince’s minor concubine. It’s not her place to call the shots in the Prince Mansion." Gu Kaichen saw things more clearly as he sat up. "You said she sent her maid back. Did the maid go looking for my father, or for Kaiping’s wife?"
"When I went over, that maid was in Kaiping’s wife’s courtyard." Xu Yulan even suspected that they were secretly slipping her some valuables. If they quietly passed over a few silver notes, no one else would ever know.
"What do you think she sent back to Kaiping’s wife?" she asked.
Hearing that the maid hadn’t come for his father, Gu Kaichen lost interest. "Maybe the mother and daughter just had some things to talk about. Let me tell you, you cannot afford to offend the first branch of the family right now.
"You’re so idle every day, scurrying around everywhere. Why don’t you make a new outfit for our son? When he came back the day before yesterday, I noticed his clothes were getting a bit too small."
This lazy woman—although her needlework wasn’t exceptional, she was at least capable of making an outfit for their child.
"Don’t you think I know my son’s clothes are too small? But even the cleverest tailor needs fabric. Where’s the cloth?"
"Go ask Kaiping’s wife. If that doesn’t work, go to my father. He is his grandson, after all, and dressing inappropriately outside will only damage their reputation." Ever since making a fool of himself a few days ago, Gu Kaichen had given up entirely. His dignity was already in tatters anyway; now it was just a matter of who could be more shameless.
"You have a point. If we don’t open our mouths, they really will think we don’t need anything." Xu Yulan surveyed the courtyard. Apart from the most basic furnishings, there was absolutely nothing else.
"Do you think our family really can’t go on like this? Why are there no maids or servant boys serving the first branch? We don’t have any on our side either."
After staying here for so long, even Xu Yulan, foolish as she was, noticed something was amiss. The servants in the estate didn’t require any supervision; the butler managed everything in an orderly fashion. However, these servants seemed to avoid coming near them, only focusing on completing their own duties.
When she ordered them to do something, as long as it was reasonable, they would quickly get it done. But whenever she made an unreasonable demand, they would simply shoot her a glance and turn away.
She had tried to complain about it, but not only did she fail to gain her father-in-law’s support, she was met with a harsh scolding instead, being told to stay quietly in her courtyard...
"I don’t know the exact reason behind it, but as long as we’re not short on food and drink, it’s fine." Gu Kaichen was still nursing his injuries. Although he couldn’t go out and play, living a life of leisure where meals were brought to him and clothes slipped onto his arms wasn’t too bad.
Regardless, he never wanted to return to that wretched place called Lingnan. Once his wounds healed, he planned to butter up his father, just to prevent his older brother from hoarding all the benefits in the future.
"Easy for you to say. You don’t have to worry about eating or drinking, but why don’t you consider my difficulties?"
"What difficulties could you possibly have?" If it weren’t for the fact that he had no one else to talk to, he wouldn’t even bother with this stupid woman.
"How could I not have any? I went back to my maiden home today, only to be chased out right after stepping through the door." Xu Yulan felt deeply aggrieved. In the past, whenever she returned, she was always greeted with warm hospitality. This time, it was all because she hadn’t brought any gifts. It didn’t feel like visiting her family; instead, it looked like she had come to scrounge for money. No wonder her family disliked it.
"Why did you go back there?" Gu Kaichen retorted testily. They had been so good to the Xu family in the past. When his mother was still alive, they would send cartloads of gifts back for every holiday and festival. Yet, the moment they fell into misfortune, the Xu family couldn’t even be bothered to see them off.
Just a few days ago, they had even come to the estate to cause a scene, using his mother’s passing as an excuse to try and extort a large sum of silver from the Gu Family.
Having relatives like that was worse than having none at all. Only this foolish woman would still think of going back.
"That is still my maiden home, after all," Xu Yulan raised her voice. "I know they haven’t handled some things well, but isn’t that just because times are hard?
"Once my brothers pass their exams and become scholars and officials, they’ll be a powerful backing for us."
Seeing his wife still indulging in her pipe dreams, Gu Kaichen decided to lie back down on the bed. Maybe if he propped his pillow a little higher, he could have some sweet dreams of his own.
A beautiful dream involving the Xu family was something he could never conjure, even if he slept for a lifetime. It wasn’t that he looked down on them, but if he took the exams himself, he would probably score higher than those punks.
He was at least an apprentice scholar, whereas the Xu brothers probably couldn’t even read a full sentence.
"What’s with that look on your face?" she demanded.
"My whole body aches, and I want to sleep." Gu Kaichen didn’t want to talk to her anymore, afraid that saying another word would lower his own intelligence.
"We’re husband and wife! Who do you think I’m doing all this for? Isn’t it all for our little family..."
Gu Kaichen closed his eyes. Tuning out her endless nagging, his mind drifted to his own affairs.
The Xu family was utterly unreliable as in-laws. Moreover, after the recent commotion they caused, his father had grown disgusted with them. They would likely cut off all contact in the future.
He couldn’t even be bothered to go see that woman, Xu Shuanghong, who spent all day putting on the airs of an elder.
As for Fan Meibao, who hadn’t shown her face once since his return to the estate...