Gu Nian smiled as she watched Zhao Qian shake with rage.
“Zhao Qian, you say you still have some feelings for me. What a pity—I don’t have the slightest feeling for you anymore. Since you want to marry someone else, let’s settle our accounts and bring this to an end.”
Gu Nian spread out the thick stack of ledgers in her hands.
“Let’s start from ten years ago, when my father saved the lives of the three of you. The medical expenses, daily living costs, clothing for all three of you, the new house, your tuition, your travel expenses for the examinations, the hundred taels of betrothal gift we sent to Assistant Prefect Zhou, and everything else come to a total of three hundred and thirty-six taels.”
Madam Zhao and her two children stared at Gu Nian as she read out the entries in the ledger one by one, their faces filled with disbelief.
Zhao Qian most of all.
Gu Nian, who had always obeyed his every command, actually dared to break off their engagement—and was even demanding that he pay back the money?
Had she gone mad?
As expected of a merchant’s daughter. She reeked of copper and had nothing but money in her eyes!
Madam Zhao’s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets.
Three hundred and thirty-six taels?
That shameless little slut actually had the nerve to ask for it!
She still had to raise money to marry a noble young lady for her son. Where would she get the money to pay Gu Nian back?
They had given it willingly in the first place. What right did Gu Nian have to demand its return?
Madam Zhao’s voice suddenly rose sharply with fury. “Gu Nian, although you’re only a concubine, as long as you behave and obey, once the legitimate son is born, Qian’er will naturally give you a child as well. But if you foolishly break off the engagement, do you think you’ll still be able to live? Think carefully!”
Every word sounded as though she were considering Gu Nian’s welfare, yet every word trampled her into the mud.
Gu Nian could not be bothered to answer her. She shook the ledger in her hand.
“If you want to marry someone else, then settle the accounts. Once the marriage contract is voided, I’ll wish you both a long and happy marriage…”
“A-Nian!”
Zhao Qian stamped his foot in anger. “Don’t act out of spite, or you’ll regret it too late.”
Gu Nian had always listened to him. If he pointed east, she would never go west.
She must have grown jealous.
He had to make her understand that if she continued making a scene, he would make her regret it.
Madam Zhao’s expression turned cold. “Gu Nian, do you know that spilled water cannot be gathered up again? Dare to say one more word about breaking off the engagement, and we’ll leave immediately! The moment we walk out this door, those people from the Gu family will tear you apart!”
That shameless girl was merely trying to manipulate them by pretending to withdraw, thinking her son would soften toward her.
Did she really think Madam Zhao would not immediately make her son abandon her and leave her to fend for herself?
Gu Nian ignored her completely and folded the ledger in her hands.
“I’ll invite people from the authorities to serve as witnesses. The moment you repay the money, I’ll return the marriage contract. Otherwise, if you dare to abandon this engagement and become betrothed to someone else, you can look forward to first receiving a hundred strokes at the prefectural office!”
The three members of the Zhao family were stunned.
Did she dare?
Gu Nian tilted her head and smiled. “I wonder, if the provincial graduate receives a hundred strokes in public, will his official career remain smooth? Will Miss Zhou still want you?”
Zhao Qian’s face went pale.
Staring at that beautiful face, clear and pure as a lotus rising from the water, he inexplicably felt a trace of panic.
Without thinking, he reached out and grabbed Gu Nian’s hand. “A-Nian, don’t worry. Once Miss Zhou and I have a legitimate son, I’ll naturally show you a little more affection.”
Gu Nian wrenched herself free in disgust and took a step back. “I know I’m too lacking in blessings to enjoy the affection of the provincial graduate.”
Madam Zhao panicked.
Her eyes shifted, and she let out a cold laugh before raising her voice. “That night, you drugged my son and climbed into his bed just to keep him. It’s already lucky that he doesn’t despise you for being cheap and shameless, yet you still have the nerve to put on airs.”
Zhao Qian froze and looked at his mother in confusion.
Zhao Meili reacted swiftly. “That’s right! Two months ago, on the night something happened to your parents, you ran to my house looking for my brother. I heard your shameful cries even through the doors and windows. My brother is simply too kind-hearted. He was afraid of hurting your pride, so he allowed you to behave outrageously.”
Gu Nian’s eyes widened, her face full of disbelief.
On the day something had happened to her parents, Zhao Qian had summoned her because he had something to discuss. She had just entered the Zhao family’s courtyard carrying a basket of fresh eggs when someone ran over to tell her that her parents had fallen off a cliff. She had put down the eggs and left immediately.
Old Woman Wang was practically beside herself with excitement. “My heavens! A girl so young, and she’s already done something so shameful. No man in Fuyang County will dare marry her now!”
All sorts of ugly words from people who did not know the truth poured into Gu Nian’s ears.
She had never imagined that they could be so shameless as to have no bottom line at all.
Madam Zhao gave Zhao Qian a meaningful look.
Zhao Qian immediately understood his mother’s intention and followed his mother and sister’s lead. “A-Nian, you’ve already given yourself to me. I won’t let you suffer any—”
Before he could finish—
Outside the low wall, a crowd surrounded a luxurious carriage as it slowly came to a stop in front of the gate.
A handsome young nobleman riding a chestnut steed dismounted and helped a girl decked out in gold and silver down from the carriage.
Zhao Meili spotted them at once, and her face changed in fright.
She hurriedly grabbed Madam Zhao and whispered, “Mother, this is bad. Miss Zhou is here.”
Madam Zhao’s face paled. “Why would she come here?”
The girl looked arrogantly toward the courtyard.
Then she lowered her voice to the handsome young nobleman beside her. “Brother Yu, this country girl keeps pestering my fiancé and has brought shame upon the Zhou family. You must stand up for me!”
The nobleman snorted coldly. “Anyone who dares bully my sister, Gongsun Yu, is courting death!”
He raised his arm, and the girl happily placed her hand on the back of his. With her chin held high, she entered the Gu family’s small courtyard in grand fashion, surrounded by servants.
Afraid that Zhou Baozhu would become angry, Zhao Meili hurried forward to greet her. “Sister Zhou, what brings you here?”
When she got a clear look at the handsome young nobleman beside Zhou Baozhu, her eyes lit up. She immediately bowed to him with an expression of reverence and obsequiousness.
Her eyes kept darting toward the nobleman. She wanted to ask who he was but was too embarrassed, and her face gradually flushed.
Madam Zhao hurried forward and blocked their view of the courtyard.
“Miss Zhou, how could a place this filthy possibly be worthy of your precious person? We came to retrieve the marriage contract, and everything has already been settled. Let’s leave.”
Zhou Baozhu brushed Madam Zhao’s hand aside and said angrily, “If this place isn’t worthy of me, then what about you? Zhao Qian is my fiancé. How dare you come here looking for this woman? Where does that leave the dignity of the Zhou family?”
Zhao Qian’s face turned white. He hurried over to Zhou Baozhu and said gently, “A-Zhu, you’ve misunderstood. I was afraid she might grow jealous and disturb you, so I came especially to make things clear to her.”
Zhou Baozhu’s expression eased somewhat. “Really?”
Zhao Qian smiled warmly. “Of course.”
Gongsun Yu was tall, and looking over the heads of the crowd, he saw the delicate girl dressed all in mourning white. She wore a cold expression and was glaring furiously at Madam Zhao and her children.
The girl wore a coarse cloth jacket and skirt, with a hemp scarf wrapped around her neck. Yet, despite being dressed much like the surrounding villagers, she possessed an air that set her completely apart from them.
Why did he feel as though he had seen her somewhere before?
Especially those eyes—they looked very much like those of little Sister A-Jia, who had disappeared ten years ago.
But his Sister A-Jia had been as adorable as a carved doll, delicate, spoiled, and lovable. There was no way she could be this fierce woman glaring at her fiancé’s family.
Gongsun Yu’s expression darkened. Anyone who dared bully his sister naturally could not be spared.
He gripped the sword at his waist and looked coldly at Zhao Qian. “You’re Zhao Qian? If you want to have two boats under your feet, then leave behind a pair of legs first. After that, I’ll throw you into prison to reflect properly on your actions.”
Zhao Qian shuddered in fright.
Although he did not know who this man was, the noble air surrounding him and the intimidating force of his presence surpassed every prominent person Zhao Qian had ever met. He guessed that the man’s identity must be extraordinary.
He hurriedly bowed deeply to Gongsun Yu.
“I would never dare. My mother and Second Madam Gu had an old connection, so I agreed to the engagement to repay her kindness. There has never been any affection between us. I fell in love with A-Zhu at first sight, and today I came specifically to break off the engagement with Madam Gu.”
Gu Nian laughed inwardly.
A moment ago, he had still been saying he had feelings for her.
For the past ten years, who had been declaring every day that he adored her?
He had truly perfected the art of changing faces.
Zhou Baozhu believed Zhao Qian and became even more certain that Gu Nian had been pestering him.
She looked coldly at Gu Nian, her chin held high. “A kindness worth a hundred taels would be more than enough to repay. Surely you don’t intend to use that kindness to bind him for a lifetime?”
Gongsun Yu looked at the girl, his tone icy. “Little Madam, a melon forced from the vine will never be sweet. Besides, with your status, even if you force yourself into marriage with Zhao Qian, you’re destined to be abandoned in the future.”
Gu Nian secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
With someone more powerful standing up for Zhou Baozhu, Zhao Qian and his mother definitely would not dare bring up making her a concubine again.
She would break off the engagement—but how could she possibly let them off so easily?
Gu Nian looked at Zhao Qian with a deeply aggrieved expression. “Zhao Qian, just now you said you would raise me to the position of concubine and let me bear you a son or daughter. Now that you and I have already shared intimacy…”
Zhao Qian’s face went white with tension.
“You shameless slut! How can you be so disgraceful?”
Madam Zhao, furious and flustered, interrupted her in a sharp voice.
She had never expected that shameless girl to seize upon the lie she herself had made up and throw that dirty accusation at her son.
Zhou Baozhu was still there. If she believed it, her son’s marriage would be in trouble.