Chapter 25: Dazzling the Gu Family’s Copper Coin Eyes

Madam Zhou of the Gu family was notorious for her jealousy. She only accepted Gu Yuanhuai’s mother into the household because the Marquisate of Ruyang was at the end of its rope. Swallowing her pride, she enlisted her own family to seek out a matchmaker who specialized in arranging marriages for high-ranking officials in the imperial city. She posted a notice in the affluent Jiangnan region, seeking a noble concubine.

The matchmaker, following the requirements of the Marquisate of Ruyang, selected the legitimate second daughter of a prosperous merchant family in Wu Prefecture, Jiangnan—a family with no connections at court. They sent an official matchmaker, who extolled the lineage of the Marquisate of Ruyang to the heavens, preying on the merchant family’s desire to marry into nobility. Persuasion and deception combined, they succeeded in marrying the daughter into the marquis’s household as a noble concubine.

The marriage proposal promised that, once the families were joined, the Marquisate would secure a fifth-rank official post for the merchant’s kin in the capital. But a year and a half after the marriage, even as the concubine became pregnant, the marquis’s household squandered her dowry and extracted tens of thousands of taels from her family under the pretense of securing an official appointment. In the end, not only did they fail to secure a post in the capital, they could not even arrange for a minor post in a county magistrate’s office.

Only then did her mother realize something was amiss. Yet, faced with the powerful Marquisate, and having married above her station, Madam Zhou used the adage “marry a chicken, follow the chicken; marry a dog, follow the dog” to subdue her, and cut off all communication with her family.

But her family was not foolish. When news from their daughter ceased, they tried to make inquiries in Chang’an, only then discovering that the Marquisate of Ruyang was an empty shell—an empty title with no substance.

But what could be done? The marriage was sealed.

Soon, the marquis’s household, emboldened, began to make outrageous demands for money. The merchant family, having spent their fortune to marry off their daughter, was stripped bare after years of exploitation. At last, in desperation, they severed all ties with the marquis’s household to preserve what little they had left.

At the beginning, the Marquis of Ruyang was fond of the chubby and adorable Gu Yuanhuai, and, by extension, showed some warmth to the gentle, considerate concubine from Jiangnan.

Madam Zhou, having gained what she wanted, grew jealous. She shamelessly seized the woman’s dowry, treated her as a servant, and devised endless ways to torment her.

In the end, she conspired with her natal family, the Zhous of Fanyang, and with the Lu family of Wu Prefecture—the very matchmakers who arranged the marriage—to fabricate a crime and bring down the merchant family, dividing the spoils among the three households.

It was said that Madam Zhou received twenty thousand taels of silver.

As soon as the silver arrived, Madam Zhou isolated Gu Yuanhuai’s mother, forbade her from seeing the marquis, and even began to plot her death.

When Gu Yuanhuai was seven, Madam Zhou found a pretext to have his mother beaten to death before his very eyes.

Bai Huan looked at the outwardly splendid marquis’s household, her smile cold as ice.

In her previous life, she had been the second victim of such schemes.

From now on, the Gu family...

Let us settle these accounts, one by one, in due time!

-

Four gleaming golden ingots strode into the room, dazzling the six pairs of copper coin eyes belonging to the three masters within, sparking a frenzy of jealousy.

Were they here to serve tea?

No, they were here to flaunt their wealth!

Just look at that brazen display!

It was enough to make one die of anger!

The Marquis of Ruyang stared fixedly at the ceremonial brocade robe, in the style of Lord Lingyang, that Gu Yuanhuai wore. Such a new, expensive robe—he himself had only a few. Yet this little brat dared to wear it so casually?

Madam Zhou clenched her outmoded brocade jacket in fury.

And those two maids—who allowed them to wear brocade in the marquis’s household? And pearl hairpins to boot! It was enough to make her choke with rage.

She wished she could tear apart Bai Huan’s clever, radiant face.

How could such a shallow, flighty merchant’s daughter be worthy of the heir she had so carefully cultivated?

If there had been another young master in the household to send after that little hussy, she never would have allowed her own son to go.

Gu Yunjiao’s sharp eyes seemed to want to strip Bai Huan of every ornament she wore. What right did she have to wear the latest and most expensive fabrics and jewelry?

Even the seven-colored mother-of-pearl on her forehead went for two taels per piece at the Golden Filigree Workshop on East Main Street—limited edition, snatched up the moment it appeared.

And that ivory-handled zhai fan in her hand was worth a fortune. The original was a tribute from the Western Regions, bestowed upon the Noble Consort by the Emperor, who in turn gifted it to her beloved Princess of Huai’an. Gu Yunjiao had once seen the princess hold it at the Spring Flowers Banquet; she had never even had a chance to touch it.

Later, Rui Bao Pavilion produced an exact replica. Noble ladies fought tooth and nail to obtain it, even brawling in public, until someone spirited it away for five hundred gold coins.

Who would have thought it would end up in the hands of this lowly merchant’s daughter?

Before Bai Huan could speak, Gu Yunjiao launched her attack.

"Bai Huan, what sort of manners did your family teach you? For a new bride to be so late in showing respect with tea—do you dare bear the guilt of disrespecting your elders?"

Madam Zhou, suppressing her displeasure, put on her usual amiable smile. "No matter. Yuanhuai is still young and lacks self-restraint. If the new bride is sleepy and shy and can’t get out of bed, that’s understandable—so long as she’s here."

They all knew perfectly well that Bai Huan had been summoned to the palace, but pretended not to know, hoping to use it as an excuse to humiliate Bai Huan and Gu Yuanhuai.

From a mother-in-law, such words would have shamed any ordinary daughter-in-law into hanging herself.

The Marquis of Ruyang sipped tea to cover his discomfort.

Gu Yunjiao, unmarried, flushed bright red, glaring at Bai Huan with undisguised disgust. "What a fine, vulgar couple you make—perfectly matched."

Gu Yuanhuai, accustomed to shrinking in the presence of his father and stepmother, drooped his head and eyes. But at those words, his head snapped up.

He didn’t dare confront his stepmother, but if Gu Yunjiao dared to insult his wife in public and he said nothing, he would not be a man!

"Elder Sister, you’re of marriageable age now. How can you not distinguish right from wrong? You speak so recklessly—who would dare marry you if word got out?"

Gu Yunjiao exploded, slamming the table. "Gu Yuanhuai! What are you? How dare you rebuke me!"

Bai Huan suddenly smiled, flicking open her zhai fan.

"He is not ‘what’—he is the Marquis of Ruyang’s own son, the fourth young master of the household, and my husband."

Gu Yuanhuai: …The first part sounded off, but he liked the latter part, and his heart swelled with joy, his smile radiant.

The Marquis of Ruyang never cared for the squabbles of his household.

As the women bickered, he sipped tea at his leisure.

Who would have thought Bai Huan would suddenly mention him, nearly causing him to choke on his tea. He coughed twice, glaring at Gu Yunjiao.

Women—long hair, short wit—all talk and no use.

"Enough. Stop your nonsense and let them serve tea."

Serve tea and be gone.

That lowly son’s Lord Lingyang-style brocade robe, flaunted before him, was a slap in the face.

Bai Huan bowed respectfully. "Forgive your daughter-in-law for not arriving sooner to serve tea. The Noble Consort required rare ingredients for her incense, so I had to return to the Bai residence first. I beg the Marquis and Madam’s understanding."

Madam Zhou, intent on making Bai Huan hand over her dowry, suppressed her anger and played along. "The Marquis is right. Bring the tea!"

"Wait!"

Gu Yuanzhou strode in, face dark.

Bai Huan clenched her fists.

He dared show his face before her!

Such shamelessness.

Bai Huan looked over at him calmly, her gaze clear and untroubled as their eyes met—his pupils quaked with rage, as if he wanted to devour her.

Bai Huan quickly looked away.

Gu Yuanzhou, who had always presented himself as gentle and refined, could not help but reveal his true nature after she had torn away his mask with a single slap.

Not enough.

She would strip away his false face layer by layer, until the world saw the predatory wolf beneath.

Instinctively, Bai Huan shrank behind Gu Yuanhuai.

Seeing his wife hiding behind him for protection, Gu Yuanhuai felt a surge of masculine pride.

Gu Yuanhuai straightened his back and spread his arms. "Elder Brother, why are you being so fierce? You’ve frightened my wife. We’re here to serve tea to our parents—what right do you have to stop us?"

A mere illegitimate son dared to bar his way, and dared call that woman ‘his wife’—Gu Yuanzhou nearly burst with rage.

He gritted his teeth. "Your wife?"

Behind Gu Yuanhuai, a small head peeked out, looking frightened. "Gu Dalan, I am properly wed to Fourth Young Master. Please don’t stop us from honoring our parents."

That mention of a proper marriage was the spark to the powder keg of Gu Yuanzhou’s long-suppressed fury, which exploded in a blaze.

He shoved Gu Yuanhuai aside and reached for Bai Huan, only to find he could not move his sturdier younger brother.

Bai Huan cried out in fear, voice trembling as she pleaded, "Please, Dalan, don’t make a scene. Our elders are present—you must let the Marquis’s household save face. I am already your sister-in-law!"

Gu Yuanhuai, enraged, his eyes bloodshot, glared fiercely at Bai Huan, who cowered like a startled rabbit.

The Marquis of Ruyang was once again roused by the sound of "father-in-law," slamming the table. "Dalan, has all your gentlemanly composure gone to the dogs? What are you doing, making a scene!"

Madam Zhou, seeing the marquis angry, quickly pulled at Gu Yuanzhou. "Dalan, you were up all night. Go and get some rest."

Her words snapped him back to his senses, reeling in the rage that had stripped away his reason.

Gu Yuanzhou struggled to regain his composure, restoring his gentle and upright demeanor, though the hatred in his eyes had not faded.

Bai Huan lowered her gaze, hiding the mockery and boundless hatred in her eyes.

He did not realize that the face he prided as the second most handsome in Chang’an was now twisted beyond recognition.

So much for his vaunted self-control.