The husband who forced her to marry her couldn't keep her warm, and she didn't want him to

Liu led her little daughter to walk a few steps quickly, and stood two steps away from Gu Jinchu. She said with an apologetic look on her face, "Fifth brother's wife has something to do in Yuanyuantang, so you don't have to pay attention to this girl."

Gu Jinchu smiled and replied, "It's not that much time. If Zhu Jie hadn't called me, I would have asked the maid to go to Chenxiang Pavilion later."

Chenxiangxie is the courtyard of the second house. Although Jiang Nansheng is more than ten years older than Mr. Jiang Erye, he has a good relationship with this half-brother.

Jiang Nanli was the Minister of Personnel at the time. Before Jiang Nansheng went to the Dali Temple, he was the highest-ranking son of the Jiang family in the court.

It was Madam Jiang who arranged for him to marry the concubine's daughter of the Shaanxi Provincial Government.

Jiang Miaozhu looked up at her mother, then at the smiling and pretty Fifth Aunt, pulled her mother's sleeve, squinted her eyes and said, "Look, mother, I told you that Fifth Aunt would not blame me."

The voice is clear, pleasant and pleasing to the ear, with an innocent and romantic feel that makes people love it.

Liu not only looked apologetic, but also a little embarrassed. Her youngest daughter was really lively and enthusiastic.

Gu Jinchu bent down and touched the little girl's cheek, "Sister Zhu is so beautiful and cute, how could Fifth Aunt blame you? She likes you so much that she can't wait to see you."

The little girl wanted to say something, but was stopped by her mother.

"When your sister-in-law is free some other day, I will bring Zhu Jie'er to visit you, and then you will know how much of a headache she is." Liu was about to say goodbye.

Gu Jinchu straightened up and said with a smile: "Then I will wait for my second sister-in-law to come to Yuanyuan Hall as a guest. Otherwise, I will have nothing to do all day."

When Wang and Li came back from Minghui Hall, they saw Liu and Gu Jinchu separating in the waterside pavilion.

Naturally, the food box in Baizhi's hand was not missed and was taken over by the maid from the second room.

Wang chuckled and said, "In our Duke Dingguo's Mansion, the most calm one is the old lady, the most versatile one is the second lady, and now here comes the Princess of Anping who knows how to behave..."

After Gu Jinchu got married, the Crown Prince's wife began to feel a sense of crisis.

Li put his hand on the maid's arm, with the hood of his cloak covering his head. His thin figure looked frail.

"The second wife is always good at judging the situation, while the fourth wife and her husband are both sullen and ineffective. It's our Third Master who suffers, being neither up nor down..."

She looked so tearful that she looked even more pitiful than the concubine behind her.

If Wang didn't understand her sister-in-law, she might have reflected on herself and wondered if she had said something too harsh that had wronged her.

Wang turned her head and glanced at her. She and Li were never on the same wavelength when talking.

He became even more determined to find a daughter-in-law who had a helpful family background. If he continued to fight alone like this, their eldest wife would really be surpassed by others.

……

The steward that Gu Jinchu wanted to meet included not only her dowry, but also the stewards of the village that controlled the Fifth Master’s private property.

As soon as you enter the main hall of Yuanyuan Hall, you will see several people who look like managers sitting on chairs on both sides.

Jiang An and Gao De nodded to each other. This was the first time they met since their last fight.

Jiang An could clearly feel the changes in Gao De. In just a few months, he had improved a lot in his skills.

Not only him, but all the guards around the lady have made progress.

Hearing the communication outside, they put down their teacups and stood up from their chairs.

Gu Jinchu came in from outside with her maids and servants, walked in front of the crowd and sat in the armchair at the top.

Jiang An stepped forward, bowed his head and said, "Madam, my name is Jiang An, and these are the village heads and shopkeepers under Master Wu."

Gu Jinchu said: "I met you and Jiang Fei at the Bai family that night. Let them tell us what industry of Master Wu they are in charge of now."

There were three people standing on Jiang An's side, and only the young man in Hangzhou silk straight-collared gown looked familiar to her.

It was this person who stepped forward first, knelt down, greeted her, and said, "My name is Sun Haiyang, the owner of Qianweilou." He spoke slowly and softly, and looked gentle and elegant.

Seeing Gu Jinchu nod without asking any more questions, the dark-faced man in brown short clothes knelt down and greeted: "My name is Xiang Shengli, and I am the head of the master's farm."

Gu Jinchu simply asked him what he had planted in the fields and how the harvest was.

Xiang Shengli's voice was loud and clear, and the harvest he mentioned was exactly the same as that written in the account book.

The other grain store owner was named Zhao Ziqiang. He was wearing a brand new silk shirt, looked to be in his forties, and his words and actions tried hard to hide his sharpness as a martial artist.

Although Jiang Nansheng only had three private properties, the farm owned ten thousand acres of mountain fields in Xuanwu, and the two shops were doing good business. The book profit last year was 45,000 taels.

Compared with big families, this is not much. Even the income from her several shops is about this amount.

It also let Mother Cheng, Jiang An, Sun Haiyang and others know that the Fifth Madam's dowry was much more than what they saw.

Even though Mother Cheng was extremely surprised that she had been able to stay with the old lady for so many years, she did not show it on her face.

After several managers and shopkeepers left, Gu Jinchu kept Mother Cheng, wanting to know more about the Jiang family from her.

Mother Cheng then told Gu Jinchu everything she knew about the Jiang family.

The five legitimate and illegitimate sons of the Jiang family, except the legitimate Third Master Jiang, the other three are the Crown Prince, Second Master Jiang, Fourth Master Jiang and Fifth Master Jiang, all of whom hold posts in the court. They not only have salary income, but also have their own businesses.

Mr. Jiang failed the imperial examinations several times in a row, and after marrying Li, he started a business relying on his wife's family. The third wife has been borrowing money secretly recently, so her business must not be going well.

The household affairs in the mansion are managed by the Crown Prince's wife, and the farms, shops and other businesses are also managed by Wang.

This does not include the private property held by the Duke and his wife.

In the past, the Duke accompanied the late emperor in his military campaigns, and there were all kinds of speculations behind the scenes about the private treasures in his hands.

The only thing that is certain is that the day the Crown Prince inherits the title, the Jiang family will inevitably split up.

Gu Jinchu thought that it must be the old lady's instruction that Cheng Madam dared to tell her such rumors. After all, people's hearts are different from their stomachs. The Fifth Master and the Crown Prince are from different mothers.

Whether the Jiang family is wealthy or not, except for the eldest son of the first house, it seems that it has little to do with the other houses.

Gu Jinchu knew something about the Duke’s private property in his previous life.

When he handed over the military power, he distributed what he had to the soldiers who had accompanied him through life and death.

Moreover, it is a considerable expense every year just to maintain the secret guards and to support the disabled family members who do not receive any pension.

This is also the reason why Duke Dingguo has always been respected in the hearts of military generals.