From Hoarding to Time-Travel: My Supplies Saved Him

Chapter 775: Chapter 777: Ranting

After downing a few cups of wine, Cen Gaosong was feeling a little tipsy. Hearing someone complain gave him the perfect outlet to vent his own frustrations.

"Tell me about it. It’s all the same. They both bear children for me, so why must there be a distinction between high and low status? Day in and day out, they bicker and fight in the manor, completely disregarding me..."

Wu Haicong and the others were well aware of the drama in Cen Gaosong’s inner courtyard.

Privately, they all agreed that Cen Gaosong was being foolish. A concubine was a concubine; how could he blur the lines?

When they had first arrived here, their families used to visit each other. Their wives had complained endlessly about this very issue. A lowly concubine actually dared to call herself Madam and sit as an equal among wives with imperial titles. Some women of lower ranks had even bowed to her, and she had the audacity to accept their respects. None of them knew where she got the nerve.

As his colleagues, they couldn’t be too critical to his face. Still, it left a thorn in their sides and made them exceptionally uncomfortable. If the legitimate Lady Cen hadn’t arrived, who knew how much longer they would have been deceived?

Emboldened by the alcohol, Wu Haicong also wanted to vent. "A wife is a wife, and a concubine is a concubine. Without rules, there can be no order or Fang Yuan.

"We men fight for our futures out in the world, so the inner courtyard should be left for the Family Head’s wife to manage. I may be fond of beautiful women too, but I know my priorities. All matters in the manor, big or small, are handled by the Madam. If you stay out of it, she keeps everything perfectly organized. If you interfere, doesn’t that just show you don’t trust her?"

Cen Gaosong chuckled. "Mr. Wu, that sounds wonderful. But didn’t I hear that you originally planned to offer your own concubine-born daughter for that marriage alliance with the Gu family? Yet, after letting your Madam manage it, the bride was swapped out for her niece instead."

"..." Wu Haicong knew he was being mocked. "...It’s all the same."

Seeing that the other man didn’t believe him, Wu Haicong took a deep breath and said, "My Madam wasn’t biased. At the time, she brought both my daughter and her niece to meet Mrs. Gu. Unfortunately, my two girls fell short and failed to catch Mrs. Gu’s eye. Thankfully, my Madam’s niece secured this good match. She’ll be set for life now."

He had actually given the Madam the cold shoulder for a few days over this matter. But the engagement was already settled, and he wasn’t stupid enough to ruin the marriage alliance now.

Cen Gaosong was speechless. He thought, "I suppose that is one way to console yourself."

Li Mingyun, however, looked at Wu Haicong with a hint of envy. "Mr. Wu, back then, no one thought much of the Gu family’s boy. Who knew he would turn around and immediately earn scholarly honors? Furthermore, Mrs. Gu is a skilled merchant. Look at how much the Hou Family has profited by following their lead in less than a year. Since your Madam helped her maiden family secure such a great opportunity, the Hou Family surely won’t mistreat her."

Li Mingyun’s Madam was merely the daughter of a Scholar, and her dowry back then had been nothing more than a few acres of fertile land. If he had a capable Yue Family, he wouldn’t have been stuck in the same position for so long.

"That’s between her and her maiden family. I don’t get involved," Wu Haicong said. As for how much profit they had made, there was no need to disclose that to outsiders.

Li Mingyun put down his chopsticks. "Mr. Gu’s nephews are all highly sought after now. Even my wife asked me to look into them. Mr. Wu, you’re practically relatives with Mr. Gu, so you must know more than we do. Could you tell me a bit about them?"

Cen Gaosong also perked up his ears. He couldn’t let anyone snatch away the candidates he had his eye on for his own son-in-law.

"I really don’t know much about that," Wu Haicong said, looking troubled. Recently, far too many people had approached him for information. The Gu family’s boys usually worked in the lower ranks, so he rarely bumped into them. Furthermore, he couldn’t exactly go out of his way to ask Mr. Gu about it, so he truly knew very little.

"I wonder if you could help me inquire, Mr. Wu? My Madam’s niece is at the right age. My Madam has already brought the girl to live in our manor, hoping to find her a good match. That niece of mine has studied alongside my father-in-law since she was young. She is quite educated and hasn’t neglected her needlework either."

Though his father-in-law was merely a Scholar, his lineage was still considered an aristocratic family of farmers and scholars, making them a suitable match for Mr. Gu’s nephews. There were a few nephews of marriageable age in the Gu family. It would be ideal if they could meet and choose among them. Li Mingyun didn’t have any nephews or nieces of the right age himself, otherwise, he wouldn’t have handed such an advantage to his father-in-law’s family.

"To be honest with you both, there have been far too many people asking me for information lately," Wu Haicong said. "But you know I spend most of my time out on official business. I truly don’t know much about Mr. Gu’s nephews.

"In fact, you’re going about this the wrong way. These matters are much better handled by the women of the inner courtyard than by us men. If the girl is genuinely good, just bring her to meet Mrs. Gu. I’m sure you won’t even need to bring it up—she will be moved on her own."

Having said that, Wu Haicong looked at them earnestly. "Sometimes, we really should trust the judgment of the women in the inner courtyard. They are a much better judge of character than we are. Besides, those boys are also working in the lower ranks. If you genuinely want to, it’s not impossible to arrange a meeting or learn more about them."

Wu Haicong knew why these people had come to him. First, they valued his relative status with Mr. Gu. Second, they wanted to boost their girls’ social standing. After all, having someone act as a matchmaker was much better than proposing a match themselves. But as a grown man, how could he possibly stoop to playing matchmaker? He knew that if he set a precedent now, there would be no end to it later.

"..." Li Mingyun fell silent.

Cen Gaosong was also speechless.

「Meanwhile.」

Zhang Guihong didn’t notice when her daughter had approached her. She only snapped out of her daze when a hot cup of tea was pressed into her hands.

"Mother, you fought with Father again."

"I didn’t fight with him. He’s just being unreasonable. It’s a bit chilly today; why did you come over?"

Cen Yueqin sat across from her and said, "Everyone in the manor is saying that you’ve officially registered Ping under your name, Mother. Is this true?"

Zhang Guihong dismissed the surrounding servants before speaking. "I only said that in the heat of the moment."

Cen Yueqin looked exasperated. "Mother, didn’t you agree with my sister and me that we would adopt a newborn when the time came? Ping is already so old. Didn’t you say it would be impossible to raise him to be truly loyal to you? Now that you’ve let the word out, the entire manor knows. How are we supposed to take it back?"

Cen Yueqin felt incredibly helpless when it came to her biological mother, who was sometimes shrewd and other times completely foolish.

She could spout nonsense about other things, but how could she speak carelessly about something as important as this?

Zhang Guihong still felt a bit guilty, as she was the one who had caused this mess. "I was just so angry at the time, and I wanted to use the opportunity to spite your father. Who knew things would escalate like this?"

"What else did you say?" Cen Yueqin asked, praying this was the only complication.

Zhang Guihong’s voice grew weak. "I also said that I had already sent a letter to your grandfather and uncles, that they had agreed, and that the Clan Leader might have already updated the genealogy book."

Cen Yueqin felt a wave of dizziness wash over her. Clutching her head, she asked, "Did Father believe you?"