"Xuexue," Mr. Xu set aside his brush after finishing the last character and said cheerfully, "Xuexue, you must have heard the rumors outside."
"I’ve heard everything, Grandfather, and I can feel your hardship," Xu Xuezi nodded, unable to help thinking to herself how cunning the elderly can be. Her grandfather had managed to put the Gu Family at the center of controversy without lifting a finger.
"Good that you understand," Mr. Xu was in a good mood, "The Gu Family is at fault this time, both morally and logically, there’s no way they can’t marry you. Now that things have come this far, it’s not about whether you want to marry or whether he wants to marry; the wedding needs to be scheduled soon."
Yecheng truly hadn’t wronged Xuexue, but how could the Gu Family admit to arbitrarily throwing her out? Could they admit before the entire Imperial Capital that Gu Yecheng suffered from a fear of cold that made him unrecognizable even to his relatives when it strikes, unable to control himself?
If the Gu Family dared to admit that, what would the public think?
Once this became public, Gu Yecheng would be immediately removed from the list of successors of the Prime Minister, and the position of the Gu Family in the Imperial Capital would be in jeopardy.
Thus, at this stage, it was not the Xu Family begging the Gu Family for a marriage, but rather the Gu Family pleading with the granddaughter of the Xu Family to marry them.
"I’ll leave everything up to Grandfather," Xu Xuezi said quietly, without any superfluous words.
"Good, as long as you understand," Mr. Xu dared to spread such rumors, effectively blocking Xu Xuezi’s path.
A woman’s chastity being rumored leaves her with no other choice than to marry the male protagonist of the incident.
"Sister Xiaofeng," in the evening, Xiaonian looked around to make sure all her family members were asleep before tiptoeing to Xiaofeng’s door, "It’s me, are you asleep?"
Xiaofeng had just put the twins to sleep.
Ever since the end of their confinement period, the twins’ sleep schedule matched that of Dabao, sleeping through the night until dawn, rarely waking up.
Xiaofeng felt quite relieved by this, as it greatly reduced the number of times she had to get up at night.
Xiaofeng opened the door and saw Xiaonian at the doorway, teasingly asked, "What, are you offering to help me take care of the babies?"
"That’s right," Xiaonian slipped in, "I have a lot of things to tell you."
"Sister Xiaofeng, did Brother Cheng personally come to pick you up?" Xiaonian climbed onto the bed with ease, "But since he brought you here, why didn’t he take you back to the Gu Family? Aren’t you married?"
Xiaonian wasn’t trying to stir things up; she just couldn’t keep things to herself and cared a lot about Xiaofeng, fearing Xiaofeng might be mistreated and wanting to clear any doubts she had.
"What, you don’t welcome me at your place?" Xiaofeng chuckled.
"Of course, that’s not what I mean," Xiaonian remembered something, "Oh, I need to tell you something, but you can’t laugh at me."
"Sis, let me tell you, three years ago, Xu Xuezi wrote a letter to Brother Cheng, guess what happened next." Xiaonian brought up the matter, feeling very assured of her actions.
Xiaofeng heard the gist of it; it was about Ms. Xu who had written to Yecheng, waiting three years for his return.
Just the night before last, Yecheng and Ms. Xu went out alone, Yecheng got involved with her, and the matter spread widely across the upper circle of the Imperial Capital; if the Gu Family did not marry Ms. Xu, it would be hard to calm the public.
This Yecheng, even when he came, he didn’t make it clear. She thought something significant had happened, but it turned out to be just a trivial matter.
Such a trivial matter, what’s there to fuss about?
The man’s family was prominent, and so was the woman’s. Marriage was a given.
"Sister Xiaofeng, why are you not reacting? Aren’t you mad?" Xiaonian thought Xiaofeng would definitely not be able to bear it, and she might even burst into tears.
"I indeed should be mad," Xiaofeng nodded. "So, I’ve decided, since he did something to wrong me, I don’t plan on wanting him anymore."
Xiaonian blinked, somewhat unsure, and her voice became stuttered, "But the Ye Cheng I know shouldn’t be that bad. Why don’t you ask him yourself, see how he plans to resolve this."
"Alright, I’ll make sure to ask him. Go to sleep," Xiaofeng pinched Xiaonian’s nose.
Just when everyone thought Ye Cheng would visit the Xu Family to propose, another piece of information circulated in the circle: "Did you hear, the Quan Family’s eldest daughter is back."
"That can’t be, wasn’t she said to be gone? How did she come back?"
"That, I’m not sure."
"Heard she’s an adopted daughter from the countryside. No idea what the Quan Family is up to, bringing home an adopted daughter."
"From the countryside, you say? That can’t be right."
Xu Xuezi entered Lange Yuntian, heading to her designated private room, where her close girlfriends had already arrived.
"Xuexue," Cheng Xiangyun stood up and waved at Xu Xuezi: "You’re a bit late today. Are you about to become a bride, busy embroidering your dowry at home?"
"Stop making fun of me," Xu Xuezi sat down. Though she retorted her friend’s remark, she was pleased inside.
"Xuexue and Mr. Gu are a perfect match; it’s not in vain that Xuexue waited for him for three years, finally achieving her deserved fate." Wan Baobao came over with a glass of red wine: "Here, let’s first toast to our Xuexue’s wishes coming true."
"Don’t say that so soon. The Gu Family hasn’t come to propose yet. If they abandon me, my face will be utterly lost," Xu Xuezi protested cautiously.
"They must come. If the Gu Family doesn’t, it won’t look good externally. Now in our circle, Mr. Gu has been rumored to be nothing but a philanderer."
"Exactly," Wan Baobao sat down, swirling her wine glass: "But something big happened at the Quan Family too. Have you heard?"
"What happened? Surely, it can’t be that their Erbao is missing again."
"Tell me if the Quan Family isn’t strange. They already have boy and girl twins, yet I heard they took in an adopted daughter from the countryside," said Wan Baobao, finding the family’s actions increasingly odd.
"Really? Someone from the countryside? What play is the Quan Family trying to stage?" Cheng Xiangyun raised an eyebrow.
"I just heard about it too, who knows what the Quan Family is up to." Wan Baobao had little interest in this adopted daughter of the Quan Family: "From the countryside, and she already had boy and girl twins. Tell me, is it possible this countrywoman is Mr. Quan’s mistress, and to deceive others, he claims she’s his adopted daughter?"
"How could that be possible," Cheng Xiangyun chuckled lightly. "Erbao from the Quan Family is not easy to mess with; she would let a countrywoman move into her house."
Quan Xiaonian was infamously known as the female demon of the Imperial Capital City.
Xu Xuezi furrowed her brows, the words ’countrywoman’ and ’children’ ringing in her ears. A sudden, uneasy premonition rose in her heart, almost like a woman’s natural instinct, sounding an alarm loudly.