Legend of Concubine's Daughter Minglan 知否知否 应是绿肥红瘦

C172. The Affairs, the Love, the People and the Silver of the Past (3)

Minglan almost choked. Eight hundred and eighty thousand ounces of silvers?! Those big spenders! They really had spent money like water!

Having taken a deep breath, Gu Tingye looked up at the roof of the carved beams and painted rafters, saying with a cloudy face, "Gu family has cleared an account of the family property that very night. However, they only found it impossible to pay off their debts. As it was closer and closer to the due date, at that time, the property of Duke Rong was already confiscated and his families who were descent to plebs lived a tough life. All the people of the Gu family were extremely fretful. Then, someone mentioned about... Bai family."

Minglan, being completely shocked, could only listen to Gu Tingye's following words, "My grandfather is quite an impressive man. He used to be a boatman on the sea. After he had saved up enough money to go ashore, he has managed to make connections with the officials with the help of someone I didn't know. Then he began to do the salt business! After twenty years of struggling and accumulating, he made his family in possession of great fortune. When he was at a young age, he wasn't so close to his brothers. And the old child he had was my mother."

Minglan only sighed deeply while having no intention to say a word. Old Madam Bai, a woman who didn't have brothers to rely on was from a low-class family but possessed a huge amount of money. It was almost like the word 'Fortune' was written on her forehead.

"So, that was why Old Master Gu has married Old Madam Bai?" When Minglan spoke those words, she didn't even realize how ironic she sounded.

Gu Tingye gave out a wry smile, however, the coldness in his voice couldn't be hidden, "The story next has different versions. I have heard of so many of them and couldn't even tell which one is true. However... one version which has been told the most frequently was that my father has proposed that my mother should marry to him as a concubine. Huh, perhaps he thought that a daughter from a merchant family should already be grateful to be able to marry into a marquis's family. However, Bai family disagreed with my father and insisted that my mother had to be the madam. Then, under the threats of the Bai family, the first Old Madam Qin was forced to die."

Minglan gasped in astonishment while standing up instantly. She stood straightly and said in a decisive voice, "That's nonsense! A pack of lies! Which nut dared to reverse right and wrong!"

Gu Tingye raised his head to look at Minglan with a cold expression in his eyes. Then he put on a sarcastic smile on the corner of his mouth, saying, "How did you know? Maybe it is the truth."

Minglan took a deep breath and said in a loud voice, "That's right. There has been lots of ladies from rich families marrying into the noble families as concubines. But for what? Because they want to offer their property in exchange for the power through the marriage! After the lady got married, it will be more convenient for the rich family to do business. Also, the noble family could also share in the money profits. That's a win-win situation. However, Bai family's condition is totally different. Grand Old Master Bai only had one daughter and there was no one who could continue his salt business. So there was no need for him to seek help from the noble families. What's more, since Old Madam Bai didn't have any brothers, her father would want to find her a reliable husband. Why would Grand Old Master Bai force Old Master Gu to marry Old Madam Bai through threatening? And forcing Old Madam Qin to die? That's called starting a feud! What a bunch of lies! Why would anyone believe that!"

Minglan still felt angry and thought secretly, 'With that huge amount of the dowry, Old Madam Bai could marry to anyone! It's not like all the other men in this world have died and Old Master Gu was the only one left. To be honest, Bai family has no reason to stick to Gu family. On the contrary, Gu family which was in a desperate situation should have begged Bai family about this marriage.'