Transmigration: Space-Aided Rise to Power and Prosperity-Chapter 228 - 64: She Is a Good Girl

Gu Chengyu pushed open the courtyard gate and found the yard empty. He guessed that Yang might have been taken back to the house by Aunt and the others. After all, causing a scene in the yard would only make the villagers laugh at them.

He lifted the curtain of the main house and went inside, realizing that everyone was present: Mr. Gu and the others were there, even Gu Wanhua and Yan Bi were sitting in a corner of the room.

"Uncle! Aunt! Father!" Gu Chengyu greeted all the elders in the room before standing behind Mr. Gu. The once quiet atmosphere in the room was broken by his greetings.

"Ah! Is Xiao Bao back? Is everything outside settled?" Uncle Gu asked upon seeing Gu Chengyu return.

"Yes! I was delayed by some matters in the Prefecture!" Gu Chengyu replied while observing his uncle. He was surprised to see that Uncle Gu’s hair, which was once only silvered at the temples, was now half-white. He clearly remembered it wasn’t this much when he left last time.

Yang was holding her son and weeping. Upon seeing Gu Chengyu come in, she only looked up at him briefly. Gu Chengyu caught her gaze and noticed a hint of resentment in her eyes. His heart sank, knowing Yang had completely laid the blame on him.

When he called everyone just now, even Aunt at the head of the room had an unpleasant expression. She barely responded when he called, with an unwillingness in her demeanor.

Sigh! It’s because of Wanhua’s mistakes, yet he’s been blamed for them. Although he promised Uncle Gu he would look after Wanhua when he first left, matters of men and women were beyond his control. He didn’t expect Wanhua to do something like this!

Turning his gaze around, Gu Chengyu noticed Gu Chengzhong and Mrs. Zeng were absent. Chengzhong might not have received the news in town yet, but what about Mrs. Zeng? As a mother, why wasn’t she here?

"Hua, come here!" Uncle Gu looked at his grandson sitting in the corner and was deeply disappointed, never imagining such a mistake could occur in his absence. That woman came from a brothel, and Hua needed to study for the Scholar exam, even aiming for the advanced scholar. How could he have such an unsavory past?

Hearing Uncle Gu’s call, Gu Wanhua instinctively wanted to stand up, but as he did, Yan Bi held onto his sleeve.

Uncle Gu, seeing this, was so furious his beard stood on end. Such a shameless woman, still entangling with Hua in front of everyone – what decorum is this?

Uncle Gu shouted angrily, "Why aren’t you kneeling yet?"

"Grandpa!" Hearing Uncle Gu’s anger, Gu Wanhua didn’t care about Yan Bi anymore. He pulled away from her grip, touched the two nail marks on his face, and immediately knelt before Uncle Gu.

"Hua, you disappoint me so much! How could you bring such a woman home?" In Uncle Gu’s mind, while it was despicable for a man to visit a brothel, it was somewhat forgivable. But to bring such a girl home was unacceptable, it would disgrace the ancestors.

"Grandpa! Yan Bi is a good girl, she was coerced! Please grant us this, I promise not to err again!" Gu Wanhua bowed his head, not daring to meet Uncle Gu’s eyes.

"And your wife? What do you intend to do with her? Our farming family does not entertain the idea of concubines, nor do we have the resources for it!" Uncle Gu was pleased that Gu Wanhua had passed the prefectural exam, indicating he was likely to pass the Scholar exam. He was reluctant to hit him, but the matter had to be resolved, especially with the granddaughter-in-law still holding a Gu family child and wanting to return to her parents’ home.

"Grandpa! Isn’t it normal for a man to have multiple wives and concubines? Why can’t I? Yang remains as the main wife, Yan Bi is understanding, she won’t mind this!" Gu Wanhua was reluctant to part from the affection he had with Yang over the past two years, as well as unwilling to give up on Yan Bi.

Gu Chengyu, upon hearing this, snorted coldly! What a dream to enjoy the best of both worlds! Not even considering if those two would agree.

"Gu Wanhua! Listen to me, you can forget it. It’s either her or me today. If you dare take her as a concubine, I’ll take my son and return to my parents, never to come back!" Yang was so furious upon hearing this that her lungs nearly burst.

Yang recalled how Wanhua treated her considerately when they first got married; their newlywed period seemed full of affection to outsiders. She still couldn’t believe Wanhua actually brought a woman home, let alone wished to take her as a concubine.

"Hua! Our Gu Family has never had the precedent of taking concubines. Not even in our village except for Mr. Zhao’s family. Besides, even if you want a concubine, it should never be of such character!"

Gu Chengyu watched coldly for a while and found it tedious. He realized Uncle Gu might not oppose Wanhua taking a concubine, but rather disagreed with him taking Yan Bi.

He tugged on Mr. Gu’s sleeve, whispering, "Father! Let’s go home."

Mr. Gu had wanted to leave for a while, seeing that Wanhua was determined to take the woman, and his brother would eventually have to compromise. Hua did have some aptitude for studying, even if his brother opposed, he would have no choice but to agree.

"Brother! The food is ready at home, I’m leaving first!"

"Ah! Then you head back! His mother, aren’t you going to cook? We have guests, after all! We can’t let our guests think we’re neglecting them!" Uncle Gu remembered the classmate Wanhua brought back. That classmate was also good at studying, and if both he and Hua passed the Scholar exam in the future, they could support each other. Such connections were important!

Aunt Gu had been sitting on the bed, afraid that Uncle Gu would get so angry as to hit Wanhua. But now that Uncle Gu spoke up, and since there were guests in the house, it was indeed time to start cooking!

Gu Chengyu was slightly puzzled that Uncle Gu’s house had a guest. Why hadn’t he seen anyone when he came in? Who could it be?

As Gu Chengyu and Mr. Gu left Uncle Gu’s courtyard, "Father! Uncle’s house has a guest? Who could it be?"

At this point, Gu Wan couldn’t help but interject, "It’s Hua’s classmate, I saw him yesterday."

"Classmate? What’s his name?" Gu Wanhua and Gu Chengyu attended the same private school, and Gu Chengyu knew Wanhua’s classmates. Who could it be?

"Dunno, just heard he’s surnamed Huang, Hua calls him Senior Brother Huang!" Gu Wan saw him yesterday. That Senior Brother Huang had followed Hua back, but when Uncle Gu’s family handled these matters, Senior Brother Huang stayed in another room and didn’t come out.

With Gu Wan’s words, Gu Chengyu immediately realized that the classmate had to be Huang Ming. He didn’t expect Huang Ming to come back with Wanhua; what was he planning?

"Second Sister! Stay away from that Huang Ming." Huang Ming initially had intentions towards the women in his family. If he were to target someone in the Gu family, Second Sister would be the first choice. However, he also needed to remind the nieces at home.

"Why?" Gu Wan was puzzled. She had only seen him in a crowd and hadn’t exchanged greetings, from afar he seemed like a cultured gentleman.

"Don’t question it, just trust me; I’m your little brother, won’t harm you." Gu Chengyu was extremely averse to Huang Ming, just hoping he wouldn’t bring trouble upon himself.

"Daughter, your brother has his reasons for saying that, just do as he says!" Mr. Gu knew Gu Chengyu wouldn’t speak without reason; there had to be something they weren’t aware of.

In fact, Gu Wan couldn’t possibly have frequent contact with Huang Ming; she was about to be betrothed to Sun Xian very soon and couldn’t interact much with men outside.

Gu Chengyu, seeing Gu Wan agree, told Mr. Gu and the others that he would take a look around the workshop and they should head back first. He’d return later for dinner.