Chapter 432: Dowry
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“You’re right,” Chu Yi said calmly, smiling casually.
He picked up the wine pot again and filled his and Gu Yanfei’s wine glasses. He changed the topic. “The Yu family has a villa in Peng County, Yuzhou. In the back mountain of this manor, a woman is buried.”
“This woman was sent to this villa 16 years ago and later gave birth to a daughter.”
Chu Yi enunciated every word clearly, his tone carrying a gentle and silent elegance.
Xia Houqing narrowed his eyes slightly and the jade cup in his hand suddenly stopped spinning. The wine in the cup swayed and almost spilled the edge of the cup.
Chu Yi drank his wine slowly.
The pavilion became silent. Only the sounds of cats and peacocks outside the pavilion could be heard.
After a moment of silence, Chu Yi continued, “This villa is a retreat route left for our family by the Yu family. It’s recorded under the name of a loyal servant. Very few people know about it. The manor has hidden gold, silver, jewelry, land contracts, house deeds, ancient books, and a few of our bloodlines… It’s also the last of the Yu family’s assets.”
Xia Houqing still didn’t speak. He slowly turned the jade cup in his hand that was half filled with wine.
Wisps of sunlight pierced through the jade cup that was as thin as a cicada’s wing. From the side, one could see the rippling wine in the cup. It was as crystalline as amber and beautiful.
“Jing Shan.” Xia Houqing suddenly called out. His voice seemed a little hoarse as he raised his hand and made a gesture.
The youth in black named Jing Shan understood what he meant. He took out a palm-sized box and placed it in front of Xia Houqing.
Xia Houqing stretched out a finger and pushed the box towards Chu Yi. “This is a return gift.”
Chu Yi put down the empty wine glass and opened the box to take a look. There was a neatly folded piece of silk paper inside.
“I’ve never taken advantage of anyone.”
Xia Houqing said this very slowly. His voice was extremely pleasant to the ears. When he said these words, his voice rose at the end. It was indescribably seductive and demonic, like a fox in the forest walking into the mortal world.
As he spoke, a faint smile slowly appeared on his lips.
His smile was always charming and strange, making one’s heart turn cold, making one feel that he had ill intentions.
Chu Yi slowly unfolded the piece of silk paper and looked at it with half-closed eyes.
“My lord, you’re really considerate.” Chu Yi chuckled. Under the light of the wine in the cup, his black eyes seemed to be covered in a layer of bright moonlight.
The two of them sat opposite each other. One was like a demon, and the other was like an immortal. It was a strange scene.
“Meow, meow, meow!”
The cat’s excited voice became even more excited. It successfully sat on the peacock’s back again with a diversion.
Gu Yanfei looked at the arrogant and sly cat. She listened to the two of them and muttered, “How scheming.”
These two were really scheming!
The two scheming people went back and forth. By the time the two sides raised their glasses and drank, it was already a quarter of an hour.
Xia Houqing left an hour later. It wasn’t until dusk that Chu Yi sent Gu Yanfei and the cat back to the Gu Mansion in the capital.
The sun was halfway down, and the evening sky was getting darker and darker. The red glow occupied half the sky.
At the entrance of the Gu Mansion, Gu Yuan was already waiting in the courtyard behind the door. He looked gloomily through the open corner door and watched Gu Yanfei bid farewell to Chu Yi with a smile outside the manor before slowly riding his horse into the manor.
“Big Brother.” Gu Yanfei rode her horse to Gu Yuan and got off. As she touched Hongyu’s slender and beautiful neck, she smiled and said, “You came back so early today.”
It was only five in the evening.
Before Gu Yanfei came back, Gu Yuan had many things to say in his heart. Now that he was facing his sister, those thousands of words turned into a dry sentence. “I’m on a break today…”
This morning, the Eldest Prince unexpectedly gave him a day off. At first, he was very happy and was thinking about taking his sister out of the city for a spring outing on the way back home from the palace this morning. However, when he returned home, he found out that his sister had already been taken out to play.
The Eldest Prince was clearly not bringing him along on purpose!
The corners of Gu Yuan’s eyes twitched as he recalled how his sister and the Eldest Prince had chatted happily just now. His feelings became even more complicated, and he felt a little sad that his sister was about to be snatched away.
Gu Yuan couldn’t help but take two steps forward and gently touch the top of
Gu Yanfei’s soft head.
When he got closer, he saw that the cat was sleeping like a ball of fur in the hood of Gu Yanfei’s cloak. His heart softened, and he suddenly had a thought. This cat is so clingy to my sister. Its as if its going to be her dowry.
Dowry?
When this word appeared in his mind, Gu Yuan’s expression changed slightly again. He pursed his thin lips.
His stern expression was a little fierce and cold. The servant beside him, Wu Tong, felt his heart skip a beat. He was worried that the Eldest Young Master was angry.
Gu Yuan didn’t pay attention to Wu Tong at all. He was worried about his sister’s dowry.
He still remembered hearing a certain scoundrel friend mention it by chance. He said that his sister’s dowry had been prepared for a full ten years, but his mother still felt that it wasn’t good enough. Recently, she had ordered someone to travel thousands of miles to the State of Yue and the Western Region to buy it.
He was already 10 years behind others. Should he hurry up and save up for his sister’s dowry?
Although the capital was prosperous, there were still many good things to buy overseas. The tea leaves were good in Yangzhou, the silk was good in the State of Yue, and the porcelain was good in Yuzhou… It took time to go back and forth from these places!
The more Gu Yuan thought about it, the more anxious he became. He hurriedly said, “Sister, I’m going out for a while. I’ll be back soon.”
“Wait!” Gu Yanfei suddenly walked over and patted Gu Yuan’s shoulder gently. “There’s bad luck.”
Gu Yanfei looked at Gu Yuan again and smiled in satisfaction. “Done!”
“Then I’m leaving.” Gu Yuan didn’t ask further and hurriedly walked towards the east corner door. However, after taking a step, he thought of something and changed direction, heading towards the stable.
Gu Yanfei blinked her big eyes and gave Wu Tong a look. What was wrong with Big Brother?
Wu Tong was speechless.
He also couldn’t tell what his Young Master was thinking, and could only vaguely guess that his Young Master wasn’t angry. Instead, he seemed to have something urgent to attend to.
“Second Lady, I’ll go take a look.” Wu Tong chased after Gu Yuan to the stable.
Only Gu Yanfei and Hongyu were left looking at each other. The red horse let out a heartless cry.
Gu Yuan was a decisive person. He immediately went to the Fan Mansion a few streets away and said a few words to his scoundrel friends before leaving.
Two hours later, the other party arrived at Lanshan Pavilion, one of the four most famous restaurants in the capital, and met up with Gu Yuan.
“Gu Yuan, this is my Fifth Sister’s dowry list.” A young man in his twenties wearing an apricot-red shirt took out a few pieces of silk paper that were folded haphazardly and placed them on the table.
The crimson gold flower crown on Fan Beiran’s head shone brightly. He was as ostentatious as a lantern in the dark.
“Am I loyal enough?” As soon as he sat down, he asked Gu Yuan for a reward proudly. “I secretly copied this behind my mother’s back. For this, I even bribed my Seventh Brother to pester my mother.”
Gu Yuan picked up the dowry list. A smile appeared on his cold face as he faced his good friend. “I’ll treat you to this wine today.”
“That’s not enough!” Fan Beiran raised his head and finished the wine in his cup in one gulp. He placed the empty wine glass heavily on the table and said with a smile, “Recently, a few people from the Lanshan Pavilion have come to play the pipa and sing a song. Their voices are like orioles, and they’re not inferior to the singers at Tianyin Pavilion.”
Without waiting for Gu Yuan to agree, Fan Beiran called his servant in and instructed with a cheeky smile, “Go and call Mo Liu, Yue San, Duan Wu, and the others over. Tell them that Gu Yuan invited them to drink and listen to a song.”
His servant ran off happily.
“You’re such a busy person now, busy with your official duties all day long, not even having time to accompany us for a horse ride,” Fan Beiran pouted sourly and shrugged. “Today, you have to drink with us all night long!”
Gu Yuan’s response was to drink all the wine in his cup. Then, he called the waiter over and ordered 10 jars of good wine.
Fan Beiran was amused. He slammed the table and said, “Gu Dayuan, if you can’t finish this wine today, no one is allowed to leave!”
10 barrels of fine wine were carried into the private room, one after another, making the room feel a bit crowded. The waiter was grinning from ear to ear and finally set down the last barrel of wine.
“Young Masters, please wait a moment. The singing girls will be here soon.” The waiter walked over to pour wine for the two of them and smiled apologetically. Then, he heard a commotion on the street outside the window.
Gu Yuan and Fan Beiran casually looked down and saw that there were many people squeezed into the cloth shop opposite Lanshan Pavilion. The cloth shop assistants carried rolls of cloth out of the shop and loaded them into a green-roofed carriage.
There were also people on the street who were attracted by the commotion here. They stopped in their tracks curiously and asked other passersby. The entrance of the cloth shop became more and more lively.
The waiter craned his neck and glanced at the street from the window. He smiled and started to gossip. “I heard that someone from Prince Kang’s Mansion came to buy cloth.”
“Speaking of which, Kang Wang is about to get married. When the time comes, I’ll definitely have to go and join in the fun to see how particular the weddings of these nobles are.”
“I heard that Prince Kang’s Mansion will give out silver rewards when the time comes. Last time, when the Prince of the First Rank got married, he sprinkled a few baskets of copper coins and silver berries. A few children in my uncle’s family managed to snatch the silver berries.”
The waiter became more and more excited as he spoke, his eyes shining.
Fan Beiran and Gu Yuan had grown up together. Even if Gu Yuan didn’t say it directly today, Fan Beiran could guess that Gu Yuan had asked him for this dowry list because of Gu Yanfei.
He patted Gu Yuan’s shoulder and said, “If there’s anything I can help with, just tell me.. Your sister is also my sister!”