Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside

Chapter 667: Fated Marriage

Gu Jinxiu chuckled, "It’s just making a few pairs of boots, it won’t tire me out."

Seeing her refusal to listen, Gu Jin’an did not advise her further, only thinking to himself that next time he went to the county, he would directly buy several pairs of boots to bring back. With enough boots, his big sister would no longer need to make them.

Worried that Gu Jinxiu would be afraid of Zhan Er, he said to her, "Big sister doesn’t need to be afraid; that Zhan Er is seriously ill now; he won’t come to the village to bother you anymore."

Hearing this, Gu Jinxiu’s expression relaxed, and she smiled, "That’s good. That man is very peculiar; he’s not like others. I was worried he would come again."

It’s good that he’s ill; being ill, he won’t be able to come.

Brother Cheng, upon hearing Zhan Er’s name and recalling Master Xia, put down the chestnut cake in his hands and looked up at Gu Jin’an, asking, "Big brother, am I truly not going to study at the Xia family anymore?"

Gu Jin’an nodded: "Yes, you won’t be going there to study anymore. Tomorrow, big brother will go and speak with Uncle Shang, so that you can study with big brother at the Shang Family."

After listening, Brother Cheng’s eyes reddened, and he looked like he wanted to cry. He wanted to speak up for Master Xia, but then he thought of Zhan Er and his big sister, so he swallowed his words.

Seeing this, Gu Jin’an felt very heartbroken, walked over to take Brother Cheng by the hand, and said gently, "Brother Cheng, don’t be sad. This isn’t your fault. It’s Master Xia and his wife who are in the wrong... They are not your parents, nor are they big sister’s parents; they have no right to arrange a marriage for big sister. Moreover, they not only found a match for big sister but did so without informing our family; and, on top of that, they chose someone vile like Zhan Er. If big sister were to marry Zhan Er, her whole life would be ruined. After how Master and Lady Xia treated our big sister, you, as part of our family, should rightfully sever ties with such people."

Furthermore, he explained Master and Lady Xia’s faults to Brother Cheng: "Master and Lady Xia made three mistakes. The first mistake is not understanding propriety, overstepping their bounds, and doing things they have no right to do; the second mistake is disrespecting our family by arranging a marriage for our big sister without going through our parents, treating our parents as if they were non-existent; the third mistake is not recognizing people for who they really are, choosing a filthy person for our big sister, wanting to doom our big sister’s entire life. After so many mistakes by Master and Lady Xia, do you think, Brother Cheng, our family should act as if nothing happened and forgive them?"

Brother Cheng shook his head: "No, it’s not acceptable... This time, Master and his wife are truly to be blamed; they not only did something wrong but also failed to admit their fault."

He was there on the day as well, listening by the side, he felt Zhan Er was too much, yet Lady Xia said that it’s normal for men in Great Chu to take concubines and keep maids; there’s nothing wrong with that.

He was shocked, thinking if in the future his brother-in-law, aside from his sister, would have other little wives, he felt so angry he wanted to hit someone.

Hearing this, Gu Jin’an was very pleased, patted Brother Cheng’s head, and praised, "Our Brother Cheng has grown up and knows how to distinguish right from wrong now."

Brother Cheng replied, "I’m not a fool."

Moreover...

"The best sister is our big sister, and I don’t want her to marry Zhan Er; he’s sick." Brother Cheng turned and threw himself at Gu Jinxiu, saying, "Big sister can’t marry a madman."

Gu Jinxiu laughed, nodded, and said, "Yes, big sister will not marry a madman."

After saying this, she had a moment of distraction, remembering that since this March, Brother Luo Wu had stopped buying things for her... After three years of sending gifts every month without fail, it suddenly stopped, and she didn’t know why?

Gu Jin’an watched Gu Jinxiu and comforted her, "Big sister don’t be sad; your brother will help you get to the bottom of this."

Gu Jinxiu was startled, then smiled again, shaking her head, "Forget it, making too much of a fuss isn’t good."

After all, the two families had not made it explicit, but both of their parents felt that Brother Luo Wu treated her well. Thus, they did not arrange a marriage for her for many years, thinking that once she completed the three-year mourning period for the villagers of her hometown, they would settle the marriage between her and Brother Luo Wu.

But her mourning period had already ended long ago, and yet there was no sign from the Luo Family, with even Brother Luo Wu not coming to bring her gifts anymore.

Gu Jin’an looked at his eldest sister, whose eyes were red from crying, and really wanted to give Luo Wu a good beating. Xiao Yu was right—if he didn’t have the guts to propose marriage, why had he treated the eldest sister so well for so many years?

Wasn’t this just toying with their sister?

Gu Jinxiu didn’t want her younger brothers and sisters to worry about her, so she brought out a palm-sized embroidered purse and showed it to them: "This is a silver note from the Huaiyu Embroidery Shop. This month, your sister made a lot of silver. In a few days, I’ll use it to buy some furs for you guys to make fur coats. Fur coats are the warmest to wear in winter."

Gu Jin’an took the purse, opened it to look, and laughed: "Eldest sister is really amazing, there are a full eight hundred taels here."

Mr. Fu’an’s reputation has already spread throughout Jianghuai and Jiangnan. When he went to Jiangnan Jinling Prefecture, he saw in the Big Embroidery Workshop his eldest sister’s embroidery hanging high on the third floor, ranked alongside other master embroiderers from Great Chu.

Many old madams from noble families would go to purchase, with the most expensive piece of embroidery valued at a thousand taels.

However, Huaiyu Embroidery Shop took a commission, taking around thirty percent from each piece of embroidery.

Gu Jinli felt envious: "Eldest sister, you can sell a piece of embroidery for so much money, while I work myself to death making medicine to earn just a little silver."

Gu Jinxiu laughed: "You’re the one who’s lying. Who knows who it was behind closed doors counting silver notes, with their laughter reaching all the way into my room. If you didn’t have several thousand taels, could you laugh that loud?"

Gu Jinli laughed heartily: "Just a little money, nothing worth mentioning."

Though she earned a lot of silver, she spent even more.

After the siblings joked for a bit, Gu Jinxiu and Gu Jinli left, and Brother Cheng was dragged by Gu Jin’an to do his homework.

As for what the Xia couple did, they had already written to Master Hu the day they returned and were now awaiting his news.

...

The next day before dawn, Gu Jinli got up. Today was the fourth of Dongyue, and also the last day to collect Mingya Grass.

What they had collected before was from their own village, nearby villages, women who married out, and the Du Family. But this time, they would collect from the Military Office and the county government officials.

Qin San Lang was a Company Commander at the Military Office, and not all soldiers’ families were well off, so Gu Jinli encouraged them to start growing Mingya Grass. Thinking she could help them out, it would also help Qin San Lang win over his soldiers at the Military Office and stop them from causing trouble for him, making sure they followed him properly.

Look, she was also pretty good to Brother Qin, helping him tame his soldiers.

After having breakfast, Gu Jinli went to the workshop and mansion, set up the tables, brought out the large scales, and prepared the silver, waiting for the families of the soldiers and government officials to deliver the Mingya Grass.

As soon as the hour of Si arrived, people began to come with the Mingya Grass. There were men, and many women, whose husbands were serving in the Military Office and could not come home, so the wives had to bring along their daughters to deliver the Mingya Grass.

As soon as Lin Leniang arrived at the gates of the workshop and mansion, her eyes fell upon Gu Jinli, and her brows furrowed... So this was Miss Gu, that Xiao Yu who was always mentioned by Company Commander Qin?

Lin Leniang had seen Qin San Lang before, and upon seeing him, she was truly overwhelmed as if she had met a world-conquering hero. She had fallen for Qin San Lang and couldn’t get him out of her mind.

When she found out that Qin San Lang was not yet married, nor engaged, she was so overjoyed that she cried. That was her destined love.