Chapter 201: Chapter 202: Exchanging the Manor

Xiuxiang saw that Gu Lejia was like a completely different person. His eyes no longer held only her; instead, they were sizing her up.

She grew a little flustered. "Just for another year or two. We only need to support him for another year or two, and that’s it. He’s my own brother, after all."

"Then what about me?" Gu Lejia suddenly pounded his chest. "Everything I have—am I supposed to just hand it all over? Did you ever stop to think? I collapsed from illness, yet you thought I wasn’t suffering enough and had to drag things out even longer. Weren’t you afraid you’d cost me my life?"

"But didn’t we agree on this?" Xiuxiang glanced around, noticing many people were eavesdropping. She reached out and tugged on Gu Lejia’s sleeve. "Look at you, with this illness... isn’t that how you got to live in this courtyard?"

At the thought of this huge courtyard, large enough for her brother’s family to live comfortably with them, Xiuxiang’s heart surged with excitement.

"Your uncle and the others are leaving tomorrow. Did they say how much of an allowance they’d leave for you?" Xiuxiang paused again. "And how many servants? Otherwise, we won’t be able to manage such a large courtyard on our own."

Gu Lejia’s face burned with embarrassment. He could almost feel the eavesdroppers in the courtyard mocking him.

"Did you not understand what I just said? I said I’m planning to go back with them. My Seventh Uncle is right. My parents raised me, and it’s time I fulfilled my filial duties.

You have two choices: either leave with me, or I’ll have someone write up a letter of divorce, and we can go our separate ways."

Xiuxiang forced a smile. "Husband, you’re joking with me, right?"

"You know whether I’m serious or not," Gu Lejia said, his expression grim. "My Seventh Uncle and the others are still here, and you two siblings already dare to scheme like this. If I were left here alone, I’m afraid I wouldn’t survive."

"How could that be? You’re my husband, don’t you think I want what’s best for you?" Forgetting they were in the middle of the courtyard, Xiuxiang grabbed Gu Lejia’s arms with both hands. "Please don’t go back. Even if you have to, at least wait a few years."

Gu Lejia shook her hands off. "Make your choice! The truth is, even though I was lying in bed, I heard everything you said to your brother.

Your brother just wanted to use me to extort my Seventh Uncle, thinking he could get more Silver Taels by putting on this pathetic act.

Let me guess. Once you got your hands on the Silver for my treatment, there’d be no reason for me to stay alive, would there? After all, my uncle and his people would be long gone. Whether I lived or died would be completely up to you."

"How could you say that? I would never let him do such a thing! Besides, you’re my husband. Do you think I want to be a widow again?"

"Isn’t that exactly what you two want? Marrying you off once brings a betrothal gift of several taels of Silver. Sell you off a few more times, and your brother could build a fortune without ever having to work." Recalling the misery of the past two days, the cruel words tumbled from Gu Lejia’s lips.

"You..." Xiuxiang’s face went deathly pale, as if she was recalling the days of her recent widowhood. She had not only endured the scorn of outsiders but had also been plagued by nightly nightmares.

A flicker of reluctance passed through Gu Lejia’s heart, but he quickly suppressed it. "If you want to come with me, be here waiting early tomorrow morning. If you’re not willing, I will leave behind a letter of divorce."

Without another glance at Xiuxiang, he turned and walked into the side room where he was staying. Before going inside, he called out to a servant standing in the courtyard, "Please see our guest out."

"How could he...?" Seeing his final, cold indifference, Xiuxiang’s heart turned to ash.

"This way, Lady Song." Xiuxiang was escorted out the main gate, and only came back to her senses as she stared at the heavy, closed doors.

She wanted to rush forward and knock, and even raised her hand high, but she couldn’t summon the courage to bring it down.

＆

Once all the arrangements were settled, Ancient Wen Heng returned to his residence by the light of the moon.

He had barely stepped through the door before he was fully briefed on everything that had happened at the residence that day.

"And the Le Family?"

Housekeeper Fu replied, "Young Master Le has been staying in his room. He’s taken the medicine and eaten the meals that were sent in."

Ancient Wen Heng said, "He’s aware we’re leaving tomorrow, I presume."

"I’ve told him. From the looks of it, Young Master Le does not object." Recalling the conversation in the courtyard with Lady Song earlier, Housekeeper Fu thought, ’If he still doesn’t know what choice to make now, then he’s truly a lost cause.’

Ancient Wen Heng breathed a quiet sigh of relief. ’It’s good that he’s figured things out.’ "Alright, you all should get some rest."

When Jin Qianqian saw him come in, she dismissed Sanqing to rest for the night. "What kept you so late? Weren’t all the arrangements made beforehand?"

Ancient Wen Heng took the water she offered and took a sip. "We’ve traded for a different manor. This is the red contract; you should keep it."

"Why the sudden change of manors? Everything was fine." Jin Qianqian unfolded the contract to look. "Why is this one so much larger?"

Ancient Wen Heng said, "It’s a shame we don’t have time for me to take you to see it. This new manor is more than twice the size of our old one.

Prince Bai feels that our workshop is already well-established and doesn’t require training new staff or building new facilities. So, he used this manor to trade not only for our small manor but also took over the indentures of all the people working at the workshop."

Jin Qianqian furrowed her brow. "That’s not what we agreed on. Weren’t we planning to take those people with us to Dao City?"

It’s always better to work with experienced hands than to start with new ones. After all this time, some of those workers had developed a good rapport with Ancient Wen Heng.

Ancient Wen Heng gave a wry smile. "Let it go. It’s not like we suffered a major loss on this deal. We can just train new staff slowly once we get back.

I was busy so late today because I had to get the children we were raising at the old manor properly settled and moved to the new estate.

The only problem was that their tutor wasn’t willing to move so far away, so I had to find a new one."

Luckily, Master Wu is on his own and could move with the children. Otherwise, I might not have even made it back tonight."

Jin Qianqian looked at him, her heart aching for him. "You should have sent someone to let me know. I could have gone over to help."

Ancient Wen Heng stroked her hair. "You’ve been busy enough today. Is everything settled at the soap workshop?"

Jin Qianqian nodded. "I’ve had them pack everything. It’s all in the warehouse. Prince Bai’s people can just go and pick it all up themselves."

Ever since the New Year, demand for soap had exploded. They weren’t just supplying Prince Bai; some foreigners had also begun placing large orders.

If Ancient Wen Heng didn’t have to return for his examinations, Jin Qianqian would have been truly reluctant to leave this place.

Jin Qianqian was taking every single one of the skilled workers she had trained with her. As for shipping goods back here in the future, they would just have to rely on an escort agency.

For this return journey alone, when Deng Yuanhang saw the long list of people and vehicles they had prepared, he was left speechless for a good while.