Do you know: I am Xu Jiazi

Chapter 597: There are plenty of ways [Thank you! Thank you again! I owe you 40k more]

"Second Brother Gu, from what you said, you know everything that happened in the Yu family's tent yesterday?"

Liang Han, who was sitting next to him, asked.

Gu Tingye took a few quick breaths and nodded, "Yeah! I knew it last night."

Xu Zaijing was surprised: "Ah? Erlang, how did you know that?"

Qi Heng, who was standing by, also had a puzzled look on his face.

Gu Tingye said with disdain:

"Tsk! As the saying goes, if the top beam is crooked, the bottom beam will be crooked! That Lord Xiao Yu and his wife are greedy and stingy, so naturally the people below will follow their example."

"I returned to the city yesterday afternoon. I asked Qiu Niang to wait near the Yu family for a while. I spent five taels of silver and learned the whole story from the housekeeper of the Yu family."

Seeing Xu Zaijing and Qi Heng looking thoughtful, Gu Tingye said with a guilty look on his face, "She has had a hard time in the Yu family these years."

"That Gu family only loves her two biological children, and treats her as a burden, scolding and insulting her at every turn. If it weren't for the care of Old Master Yu and his wife, who knows what would have happened!"

"As a younger sister, Yu Yanhong is jealous of the care that Mr. Yu and his wife give her, and she is not in a good mood towards them every day."

After Gu Tingye finished speaking, he pounded his thigh angrily: "If I had known this earlier, I would never have been so reckless yesterday!"

Xu Zaijing took a sip from the porcelain cup and said calmly, "It's not too late to know now."

Several people around smiled and nodded.

Gu Tingye said seriously: "Wulang is right!"

"Uncle, has the date been set?" Qi Heng asked.

Gu Tingye shook his head and said, "Not yet! Mother said that after the draft, she will personally ask an expert to choose a good day."

Xu Zaijing was about to speak thoughtfully when Gu Tingye said, "But mother also said that given the Yu family's situation, it's better to do it sooner rather than later! Otherwise, who knows what will happen."

Xu Zaijing put down the cup, glanced at Gu Tingye's personal maid Qiu Niang, and said, "Auntie, she is right."

"But, if we get married before the New Year, Erlang, you won't have the chance to take the jade carving in Jinming Pond!"

Gu Tingye was stunned: "Yes! If you hadn't told me, I would have forgotten about it!"

After a moment's silence, Gu Tingye shook his head and said, "Forget it! Getting married is more important!"

Liang Han smiled and said, "Second Brother Gu, I think next year the boy from the Huang family of Shoushanbo will have to worry about how to win the bid and get the peony jade carving."

Gu Tingye's expression changed, and he nodded and said, "Sixth Lang, you and Fifth Lang should not worry about my disdain for him when the time comes! If you can help, it's better to help!"

Xu Zaijing smiled and shook his head: "Do I need you to tell me?"

At this time, a female official came to the door of the tent.

Xu Zaijing and others hurriedly stood up.

The female official smiled and bowed, then said, "My fellow lords, the queen just took off a jade ring as a prize. Those who wish to go on stage can prepare immediately."

"Teng."

Gu Tingye stood up, looked around and said, "Wu Lang, Liu Lang, help me today."

Before she finished speaking, the female official smiled and said, "Second Master Gu, the Queen said that the four people who will go on stage must be two men and two women."

"Ah?" Gu Tingye was stunned.

Xu Zaijing smiled and said, "Then call Miss Yanran, and Tingyi will be enough."

Gu Tingye's eyes lit up.

Qi Heng and Liang Han nodded in agreement. Liang Han said, "Brother Jing, why don't you go ahead? You'll be more confident!"

Gu Tingye looked at Xu Zaijing with pleading eyes.

"it is good."

Xu Zaijing nodded.

Seeing this, Gu Tingye waved his hand and said, "Qiu Niang, go find Sister Yi quickly."

Not far from the Queen's tent,

In the Chai family's tent,
Mrs. Chai sat in the middle, with her daughter-in-law, Lu, sitting next to her.

Sitting in the seats below were several noble ladies from Beijing who were good friends with Chai Zhengzheng.

Qiu Niang stood near the door of the tent and said, "Miss, the second young master wants you to go to the Yu family tent and call Miss Yanran to go with the fifth young master of the Xu family to compete for the prize."

"Ah? Brother Xu Wu is going to go on stage?" Zhang Jiawu Niang said in surprise, holding Qingxing in her hand.

"Reply Wu Niang, yes."

Gu Tingyi stood up quickly, bowed to Madam Chai, and said, "Madam, Madam, sisters, I will go first."

"Go quickly! I just want to watch Brother Xu Wu play polo!" Zhang Jiawu Niang said with a smile.

Gu Tingyi smiled and asked his maid to take out the Chai family's tent.

Not long after Gu Tingyi left, another young maid came to the Chai family's tent.

She is the maid of the Lu family of Duke Lian.

Chai Jin's wife, Lu, smiled and said, "What's going on at the Duke's Mansion?"

The maid smiled and bowed, saying, "Replying to the second young lady, the eldest lady asked me to tell you that the marriage between the Gu and Yu families will most likely be held before the New Year."

"That's what Madam Gu said in person in front of the Queen."

Madam Lu and Madam Chai looked at each other and nodded, "Thank my aunt for me!"

Mrs. Chai smiled and said, "Reward!"

The maid bowed happily: "Thank you, Madam! Thank you, Second Miss!"

Wait for the little girl to come out of the tent and receive the reward money.

Madam Chai and the other girls in the tent laughed and said, "No wonder the queen chose to personally offer the prize today. So this is the reason."

Zhang Jia Wu Niang said with a smile: "If you hold your wedding before the New Year, Second Brother Gu won't have Jin Mingchi's lucky draw to win."

Chai Zhengzheng nodded slightly: "I wonder who else will be on stage besides Brother Gu and his group."

quickly,

The eight people who were ready to go on stage stopped at the sidelines.

Because Xu Zaijing was in the spotlight yesterday,
Therefore, today, Xu Zaijing just stood there riding on the little black horse, wearing an armband and a headband, and he attracted a lot of attention in the tents on the sidelines.

Because of Xu Zaijing's stature and the shoulder height of the little black colt, Xu Zaijing was half a head taller than Gu Tingye next to him when he was sitting.

Xu Zaijing stationed his horse on the inside and could see his opponent in the polo game through the referee and the table where incense sticks were placed.

But it was Qin Chihan from the Qin family of Dongchang Marquis Mansion, whom I hadn’t seen for a long time.

This guy had been keeping a low profile for a while because of the Qingfeng Tower crossbow incident. During this time, he ruined the reputation of Miss Hong. Lord Hong had no hope of promotion and went to Xingqing Mansion.

The last time Xu Zaijing knew about this person was when Qin Chihan and his friends helped the Qin family send gifts to urge the bride to marry.

The Dongchang Marquisate is also related to the Empress. After the incident had passed, this guy showed up again.

The one who appeared on stage with Qin Chihan was Wei Faqi from the Wei family of Fu'an Hou, but Xu Zaijing looked unfamiliar with the other two girls.

Xu Zaijing turned his head to look at Gu Tingyi beside him.

Gu Tingyi and Xu Zaijing had known each other since childhood. Seeing Xu Zaijing's inquiring eyes, she understood and said softly, "Brother Jing, one of the two girls is from Huixian Bo Tian's family, and the other is from Jinxiang Hou Ma's family."

Xu Zaijing nodded slightly.

"Today, please show more mercy to Wulang's men!" Qin Chihan said with a smile on his face.

Xu Zaijing nodded with a fake smile and said, "Okay! Okay!"

After greeting Xu Zaijing, Qin Chihan leaned over and looked at Gu Tingye on the other side, saying, "Brother Ye, how is your cousin doing recently? The wedding is coming soon, congratulations."

Hearing this, Yu Yanran shrank back and hid beside Gu Tingyi.

Gu Tingye pulled a smile from the corner of his mouth, held the polo club and bowed, saying: "Thank you for your concern, Brother Han! Are your legs and knees feeling better?"

Qin Chihan's smile froze on his face. Before in Qingfeng Tower, his legs and knees were hit by the jade pendant thrown by Xu Zaijing, and he was seriously injured.

"Kick-off!" the referee shouted.

"when!"

After a gong sounded,

Xu Zaijing rushed out first.

Looking at the situation on the polo field,
Prince Zhao Fang said with a smile: "Mother, this is a good start. Jing'er and his friends are playing polo much better than before."

The Queen shook her head helplessly and said, "Fang'er, your words have offended all the noble ladies who are playing on the court today."

The girls sitting in the big tent covered their mouths with their round fans and laughed. Gao's Taotao smiled with her eyes curved, pointed at the court with her round fan, and said, "Empress, seeing that Tian's girls are always surrounding Yu's girls, I think she knows that Yu's polo is not very good."

"But she didn't expect that Xu's Fifth Brother and Gu's Second Brother would not pass the ball to the Yu family girl at all."

The girl Taotao had just finished speaking.

"Snapped!"

After a crisp sound of hitting the ball, the polo ball directly crossed half of the polo field and hit the goal.

"it is good!"

Prince Zhao Fang stood up and clapped happily.

Wait for Zhao Fang to sit back in his chair.

The girl from the Yao family who was sitting next to them said, "I've seen the two brothers from the Xu family and the Gu family play basketball before! But today they seemed to be playing particularly fiercely and ruthlessly. The brothers from the Qin family didn't even score a single goal."

Xie Yun, who was in the Xie family tent yesterday and was sitting in the Queen's tent today, did not say a word, but just stared at Xu Zaijing and Gu Tingye who were riding horses and swinging clubs in the field.

"Sister Yun, what are you thinking about?"

The Queen's gentle voice came.

Xie Yun suddenly woke up, and hurriedly stood up and saluted, saying: "Your Majesty, I was thinking about how well the two brothers on the court cooperated. And if the second son of the Gu family swung and hit the ball, could the fifth son of the Xu family catch it with his bare hands."

Then, a burst of laughter came from the tent.

The result was undoubtedly that Xu Zaijing and others won.

Moreover, Yu Yanran, Xu Zaijing and the other two worked together to mercilessly prevent the opponent from scoring a single goal.

Back to the sidelines,

Everyone dismounted.
Gu Tingye looked at the queen's jade ring on the table and wanted to go over excitedly.

Xu Zaijing quickly pulled Gu Tingye and said, "Erlang, let Tingyi get it."

Gu Tingye: "Ah?" He changed his mind and nodded quickly: "Wu Lang is right."

Subsequently,

Madam Wu solemnly handed the Queen's jade ring to Gu Tingyi.

Tingyi took Yanran's hand and raised the lottery ticket together.

After thanking the Queen, Gu Tingyi put the jade ring into Yanran's hand with a smile.

When Xu Zaijing and others returned to their respective tents, the wives of officials with imperial decrees presented good things as prizes, which attracted the young men and ladies to organize themselves to compete for them.

The sun sets over the mountains,

The afterglow is about to fade,

The polo match was over long ago.

Inner city of Bianjing,

Bianyangfang,
Yufu,

Not far from the Yu family’s residence is a large courtyard belonging to the Tian family, a famous wealthy family in Bian Jing.

Normally, a merchant family like the Tian family should not be neighbors with an official family like the Yu family.

But the Tian family was too rich, and they spent a lot of money to let their sons marry several noble ladies of the royal family, and many of the Tian family's daughters also married Jinshi who passed the imperial examination.

The Tian family was no longer just a group of businessmen.

On the streets of the Fang,
Lord Xiao Yu, who had just left the yamen, sat in the carriage with his eyes closed, thinking about something.

"But is Lord Yu in person?"

A polite inquiry came from outside the carriage.

Lord Xiao Yu opened his eyes, lifted the carriage curtain, frowned and looked out.

"I am the steward of the Tian family. When my master saw the carriage, he sent me to greet Lord Yu."

Looking at the well-dressed steward outside the car, Master Xiao Yu smiled and said, "Thank you for your kindness, Master. Please also give my regards to your master."

"Yes, sir! I will definitely bring it to you! In the future, if there is a wedding in your house, my master will shamelessly ask for an invitation." The steward of the Tian family bowed respectfully.

"Hahaha! A distant relative is not as good as a close neighbor. No problem." Lord Xiao Yu said with a smile.

After a few more words, the carriage continued to move towards Yu's house.

Far away,

Master Xiao Yu said coldly: "After seeing me, they actually sent a steward to talk to me! This Tian family is so arrogant!"

The attendant outside the car looked around and said hurriedly: "Master, the Tian family is a long-standing wealthy family in Bianjing! Among the relatives are both royal family members and high-ranking officials, their power should not be underestimated."

"Not only you, but even the old man is courteous to the master of the main line of the Tian family."

"Hmm." Lord Xiao Yu, who had figured it out, hummed.

quickly,

Back to Yu's house,

Lord Xiao Yu first went to greet his father and mother, and then returned to his own courtyard.

Looking at the courtyard with few maids and servants, Lord Xiao Yu frowned in confusion.

Entering the main house,

Looking at Gu, who was sitting at the table with lifeless eyes and tears in her eyes, Master Xiao Yu took a few quick steps and asked in confusion, "Madam, what happened to you today?"

Gu wiped her tears and said nothing.

"What happened? Where is the maid?" Lord Xiao Yu asked anxiously.

Gu shook her head and said, "Sir, I have ordered the maids to go aside so that they won't see me like this."

"What's wrong? Did father scold you again?" Lord Xiao Yu sat next to Gu with a distressed look on his face and asked with concern.

Gu shook her head: "No, my father-in-law didn't scold me! I just thought about the future of our Erlang and Sanniang, and my heart ached a little!"

Master Xiao Yu nodded and said, "Erlang is a little lazy in his studies, but with his father and me here, we can guarantee him a future! Why do you have to do this?"

"By the way, my mother said yesterday that Yanran's marriage has been decided. Do you know which family it is?"

Gu burst into tears and said, "It's Erlang from the Gu family of Ningyuan Marquis's mansion."

"Gu family? The Gu family that founded the country and supported its development?" Lord Xiao Yu's eyes lit up and he asked with surprise.

"Yeah!" Gu nodded.

"Snapped!"

Master Xiao Yu couldn't help clapping his hands in joy: "Hiss! I didn't expect it! Mother could actually find such a good family for Yanran!"

"I thought it was some boy from the Sheng family! No wonder my colleagues in the government office kept smiling at me today! So that's it!"

Looking at Gu who continued to wipe her tears, Master Xiao Yu said, "My dear, my family has such a happy event, why are you crying?"

Gu looked up and said affectionately, "Sir, Yanran and Erlang are not siblings from the same mother after all. If she marries into the Gu family, she might forget about her brother Erlang!"

"Who knows, they might even be jealous of what we did all those years ago! When we are old, who will take care of Erlang and the others?"

A look of hesitation flashed across Lord Xiao Yu's face.

The dowry of Yu Yanran's biological mother, Madam Fan, was embezzled by Gu, and he pretended to be ignorant even though he knew the truth.

After all, if Gu didn't take the opportunity to embezzle the property, those properties would have gone to someone else's house along with Yanran!
Master Xiao Yu shook his head and said hesitantly: "Yanran has always been soft-hearted, and she can't do what you said! After all, our family is her mother's family! Without her mother's family to rely on, she will be bullied!"

Gu wiped her tears and said anxiously, "Sir, why don't we find a way to let Yanhong marry into the Gu family! In this way, Erlang is her biological brother, and she will naturally take good care of him!"

Master Xiao Yu glared at him and said, "What nonsense! How can you let the youngest girl get married before her brothers and sisters are married? If people know about this, won't they laugh at our family?"

Gu lowered her voice and said, "Sir, look at the Gu family, they came here just for our Yu family's reputation as a family of scholars and officials, and they want to get rid of the reputation of being soldiers. They are all girls from the Yu family, so it doesn't matter which one we marry. We can arrange a marriage for Erlang in a few days, and then find a reason to prevent Yanran from marrying."

Master Xiao Yu shook his head repeatedly and said, "Father and mother are here, they won't agree!"

Gu raised her chin and said, "Then we can find a way to get them to agree! For those who are weak and sick, injured, infertile, or have scars on their faces, there are many ways!"

Master Xiao Yu frowned and said, "You! You can't do this! She is my daughter too!"

Gu said urgently:
"My lord, think about it! The wife of Marquis Gu, Bai, her family is a first-class salt merchant in Yangzhou Prefecture, extremely wealthy! In recent years, under her management, the Ningyuan Marquis Mansion has made a fortune every day, which is not enough! Even if a little money flows out from the gaps between our fingers, it will be enough for our family's expenses!"

"If Yanhong marries him and knows about our hard work, she will definitely not treat us badly as parents! If Yanran marries him, then..."

Master Xiao Yu said, "Tsk! This won't work. No! You have to let me think about it. Let me think about it."

Gu looked at Lord Xiaoyu, who kept saying no but nodded repeatedly, and a slight sneer appeared at the corner of her mouth.

(End of this chapter)