Minglan is reborn, this time with no regrets!

The Gu family was born into a military family, and all the rewards they received came from military merit. However, the current emperor advocates recuperation and the establishment of border alliances and trade. Where can they earn military merit in such a peaceful and prosperous era?

In addition, the previous generation of Ningyuan Hou had many descendants, and several branches relied on the eldest branch for support. The expenses were huge, but the income was little. How could they raise nearly one million silver coins all at once?

Just at this time, a matchmaker came and reported that the Bai family, a salt merchant in Yangzhou, had an only daughter, and her father was looking for a son-in-law and was willing to give a generous dowry.

It is said that "scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans" are the lowest class in all dynasties. How could the nobles be willing to marry merchants? However, the Gu family was facing a catastrophe at this time, so they had no time to save face. They took the fourth and fifth sons who had not yet married to the Bai family to propose marriage, but unfortunately, neither of them was in the eyes of Mr. Bai.

Mr. Bai started from scratch and was a shrewd man. He loved his only daughter very much. He spent a lot of money to find out the details of the fourth and fifth sons of the Gu family. Knowing that they were not decent people, he rejected the marriage.

Unexpectedly, half a year later, the Marquis and his wife from the Gu Mansion came in person, saying that their eldest son Gu Yankai had just lost his wife and wanted to marry the only daughter of the Bai family as his second wife.

When Mr. Bai made inquiries, he learned that the eldest son of the Marquisate, Gu Yankai, was an honest man and the heir to the Marquisate. If his daughter married him, she could become the head of the Marquisate in the future. In addition, Marquis Gu and his wife asked for marriage earnestly and repeatedly, so Mr. Bai agreed.

The two families agreed that the Bai family would send a huge sum of money as a dowry to the Marquis family to help them overcome the difficulties, and the Marquis promised to treat the Bai family's daughter well.

Not long after, the girls from the Bai family arrived in Tokyo with several boats full of dowry.

Originally, she was full of joy to marry into the Gu family, looking forward to a happy future with equal status and prosperity. But on the wedding day, Gu Yankai got drunk in the bridal chamber, and it took three months for him to consummate the marriage with her under the coercion of the old Marquis Gu, making her a laughing stock of the whole family. Later, she was ridiculed by the Gu family because of her identity as a merchant's daughter, and even the maids who swept the floor laughed at her family for selling salt. Gu Yankai seemed to be deaf to these gossips, and only cleaned the tablet of his deceased first wife in the ancestral hall every day.

The situation became worse after Bai gave birth to Gu Tingye. Gu Yankai stayed in the ancestral hall all day long and ignored them. Later, the old Marquis Gu and his wife passed away one after another. Gu Yankai inherited the title and became the head of the family. He became arrogant and independent, not caring about Bai's life or death.

Even so, Bai still had no regrets. Not only did she become pregnant with another child, she also took good care of Gu Yankai's son with his original wife, Gu Tingyu.

However, her kindness did not win Gu Yankai's courtesy. Gu Yankai missed his first wife and always visited his first wife's family, the Dongchang Marquis Mansion, and brought the Qin family to the Ningyuan Marquis Mansion every few days. One day, Bai was walking in the garden and heard someone telling the young Gu Tingyu that it was the Bai family who forced his biological mother, Da Qin, to death, and asked Gu Tingyu to blame the Bai family and her son for all the hatred.

Bai couldn't bear it any longer and went to confront Gu Yan. During their quarrel, Bai had a miscarriage, and in the end, two people died.

Not long after Bai's death, Gu Yankai married his first wife's younger sister, Xiao Qin, into the Marquis's mansion and made her his third wife.

……

"The dowry that the girl brought to the Gu Mansion was huge, and it made up for their deficit and had a lot left over. When a girl dies in her husband's family, the dowry she brought is either returned to her parents' family or left to her children. After my girl died, all the dowry was put into the Gu family's warehouse. If the family is divided in the future, it will all be returned to you, young master."

Nanny Chang looked at Gu Tingye and said with gritted teeth: "If their evil plan succeeds and forces the young master to death, the dowry left by the girl will completely go into the pockets of the Gu family. They are planning to eat up all the money and blood of the Bai family, young master!!!"

Hearing these words, Gu Tingye felt his whole body numb.

He didn't know whether it was because of anger or because of the wound.

"Isn't that Mammy? She's so angry and talking nonsense?" Gu Tingye tried to find an outlet for the frustration in his heart.

Madam Chang was so angry that she pinched her palm-leaf fan until it was deformed: "If I, an old woman, lie, I will be struck by lightning and die a miserable death!"

This sentence was like a bucket of cold water, completely extinguishing Gu Tingye's still burning hope.

He snorted and laughed, not knowing who he was laughing at.

Half a month ago, Minglan told him that Gu Tingyu wanted to ruin his future, Xiao Qin's goal was to become a marquis, and everyone in the Gu family was trying their best to kill him. Although he listened to her, he couldn't figure out why.

He couldn't understand why the whole family treated him like this, as he had clearly not done anything to harm others. Perhaps his eldest brother's resentment was understandable, and perhaps his stepmother's calculations were understandable, but why did the uncles and aunts in the family also treat him as their natural enemy and try their best to trample him into the underworld? Was it just because his biological mother was the descendant of a salt merchant?

It was not until he heard what Nanny Chang said that he finally understood.

Yes, if it was about money, that would explain it all.

Just like his cousin from the Bai family, who hired a killer to kill him in order to fight for his grandfather's property, even though the cousin and Gu Tingye had never met each other twice.

Money is like a magic mirror that can draw out the deepest desires in a person's heart, making them drop their disguises and reveal their beastly faces.

[But, where is father?]

Is he in it for the money too?

Has he ever had any true love for me and my mother?

Could it be that all the sacrifices my mother and maternal grandfather made were just a stepping stone for him to preserve the Gu family?

And I am just an accident in this conspiracy?

Maybe my father doesn't want to see me alive at all? 】

Thinking of this, Gu Tingye suddenly felt a fishy-sweet taste in his throat and vomited blood. Then he fell into a deep sleep and could not be woken up no matter what.

Shitou was so scared that he knocked on the door of the imperial physician's house and invited him to stay at his house for three or four days. Only then did he pull Gu Tingye back from the brink of death.

"He is more sad and silent than depressed. Although I don't know what has happened, I really can't let him stay so depressed. We must find a way to make him smile and give him some hope." The imperial physician has taken leave from the palace for many days in a row and must go back today. He left these words to Shi Tou and Nanny Chang and asked the medicine boy to bring a lot of medicinal herbs.

"Make him happy? How can I make him happy? Should I sing a few lines for him?" At this moment, Shi Tou really hated herself for not being a knowledgeable and interesting woman.

"Sir, do you have any friends? Or... someone you like? Even if they're singing on the street or selling sex in a brothel, male or female, I accept them all! Invite them over first and let them talk to you, sir." Nanny Chang said with her hands clasped and her eyes closed.

"Young master's best friend is the boy from the Sheng family! As for the person he likes...Oh! Oh!" Shi Tou suddenly jumped up, turned around and ran towards the door.

"Who are you going to see?" Nanny Chang shouted.

"I'm going to the Sheng family!" Shi Tou's shout resounded through the sky, and the man disappeared.