I have suffered enough in my previous life, my cousin will never marry me

Chapter 47 Harmony
As soon as Ye Wanshu left, Gu Tingchen returned home. Seeing his brother sighing in Langfang, he smiled again and walked over as if nothing had happened.

"Brother, are you going to pay your respects to our father and mother?" Gu Tingchen asked in a calm tone.

Gu Tingzhou lowered his eyes and sighed: "I originally wanted to go see my mother and the siblings."

Looking at the direction his cousin went in, he slowly shook his head: "My interest has been disturbed. I am too lazy to go again."

Without thinking too much, he guessed that Wanwan must have had another quarrel with him. Gu Tingchen now hoped that he and Wanwan would be more distant. The more he hated Wanwan, the happier he would be.

"Brother, you are talking about my cousin, right?"

Gu Tingchen pursed his lips, still pretending to be disgusted: "She is just like that, big brother, there is no need to bother with her."

"Of course I don't want to bother with her. It's all for you." Gu Tingzhou said unhappily.

Gu Tingchen smiled faintly: "One of us brothers will eventually marry her. Since this is my destiny, don't worry about me anymore, brother. At most, I will restrict her more in the future."

Unexpectedly, he saw Jiang Yueling coming towards him. Gu Tingchen immediately lost interest in chatting with him and said quickly, "My mother's birthday is in two days. I just went to inform my parents about my marriage with Wanwan, so I won't be accompanying my eldest brother."

After that, he left in a hurry.

Jiang Yueling rushed over, but before she could talk to him, Gu Tingchen disappeared completely.

She sighed bitterly, looked at Gu Tingzhou and complained, "What's wrong with the young master lately? Why is he always avoiding me?"

"You're worrying too much," Gu Tingzhou explained. "He's pissed off at his cousin. Wanwan has been getting more and more troublesome lately. I'm really worried that becoming the Crown Prince's wife will bring shame to the Duke's Mansion."

"My cousin is of noble status, so it's understandable that she's a bit unruly."

Jiang Yueling said comforting words, but Gu Tingzhou became more and more annoyed the more he listened.

"She's just the daughter of a merchant family. How noble is that? Could it be that she relies on her profit-seeking father for support? I'm doing my second brother the greatest kindness by allowing him to marry her."

"But why do I think the young master really wants to marry my cousin?"

Jiang Yueling just vaguely heard that the Second Young Master was going to the Duke's wife's courtyard to discuss the marriage, and she absolutely couldn't let that little bitch get away with it.

Gu Tingzhou's brows furrowed when he heard this: "Yueling, what do you mean by that?"

Jiang Yueling smiled and said, "Didn't the eldest master notice that the young master seems to have changed a lot recently?"

After her reminder, Gu Tingzhou also realized that something was wrong, but then he changed his mind and thought that if his second brother was really willing to marry his cousin, that would be a good thing, so that he would no longer feel guilty.

"Let them be."

Gu Tingzhou said with a look of relief, "Yue Ling, you've come at the perfect time. I'll take you to see my father and explain the marriage to him. This will completely put Wan Wan's mind at rest and prevent her from having any other thoughts about me."

Jiang Yueling was worried that she had no chance to stop the second young master, so she agreed and walked into the main courtyard with Gu Tingzhou.

Ye Wanshu came to her aunt's bedroom. Mother Fang was reporting to her all the preparations for the birthday. Seeing his niece come in, Ye Huaisu's face suddenly showed a smile.

"Wanwan, you prepared the birthday party very well this time. Mother Fang and everyone else are praising you."

Ye Huaisu pulled her to sit in front of him, holding her hand with satisfaction: "If you help me manage the Duke's Mansion in the future, your aunt will have less worries." Gu Qingmian and Gu Tingji listened silently and couldn't help coughing lightly.

Ye Huaisu glanced at the brother and sister with an unpleasant look, curling his lips and saying, "Why are you moaning for no reason? You two stay on Yunqing Mountain all day long. I can't rely on you in such a huge Duke's Mansion. I can only hope that your cousin can share my worries."

Hearing that her aunt was trying to match her with Gu Tingchen again, Ye Wanshu felt a little headache.

Not wanting to beat around the bush any further, Ye Wanshu said bluntly, "Mother Fang and the other stewards in the courtyard are all experts in managing the household. I relied on you all this time and don't dare take all the credit for myself."

Ye Huaisu looked at the invitation on the coffee table in surprise, as well as the entire banquet layout and the menu of dishes, etc. They were all different from previous years and full of new ideas. They did not seem like something that Mother Fang and the maids in the courtyard could come up with.

"Did you really prepare all this?" She looked at Mother Fang in disbelief.

Mother Fang looked at Ye Wanshu gratefully, her heart aching. She could only say tactfully, "All of this is inseparable from the guidance of Miss Cousin. It's only because of Miss Cousin's appreciation that I, this old servant, and I dare to come up with such an innovative plan."

This statement couldn't be clearer; it was just a roundabout way of complaining that he didn't trust them.

Ye Wanshu understood her aunt's thoughts. It was such an honor for a girl from a merchant family to marry into the Duke's Mansion. So she had always lived cautiously, doing everything by herself, for fear of being disliked by the Gu family. Gradually, she developed a distrust of everyone, even those closest to her.

"Aunt, I told you before that you just don't know how to appreciate your blessings."

Ye Wanshu glanced at the several maids in charge of the room and said solemnly, "When Madam Fang and the others were in the Ye family, they were all trusted by my grandmother. She asked them to marry into the Duke's Mansion with you because she wanted to share your worries. If you can't even trust them, who else can you rely on?"

He stood up and walked to the table, picked up an invitation, flipped it open and took a look, then said to his aunt, "Look how exquisitely made this invitation is. My aunt has been ill these days and I've been away from home, but the house is still in perfect order. Has it ever caused my aunt any worries?"

Ye Huaisu also gradually realized that he had indeed been disrespectful to Fang Mama and other elderly people before.

Looking at Mother Fang and the other matrons with deep eyes, she sighed in a deep voice, "Wanwan is right. If I can't even trust you, who else can I count on?"

After hearing this, the jealousy in Fang's mother's and others' hearts immediately dissipated a lot.

Having already seen that the eldest daughter was unwilling to stay in the Duke's Mansion, Madam Fang took the opportunity to interject, "This old servant and I are Madam's people. Even if Madam doesn't trust us, we old servants should abide by our duties and help Madam with her worries."

At this point, he couldn't help but look at Ye Wanshu. "This old servant should say something that shouldn't be said. Although our Ye family may not be as prominent as the Duke's Mansion, it is still a well-known and respected family in Tongyang City. Madam, you really shouldn't treat our daughters of the Ye family with such humiliation. It's as if my cousin can't get married."

Hearing this, Ye Huaisu gradually frowned.

She had been very angry with Gu Tingzhou these days. The words that Wanwan said to her by her bedside when she was ill a few days ago also made her realize the truth. She reflected for a long time and some of her previous resolutions had already begun to waver.

Wanwan is the only daughter of the Ye family. No matter how bad Ji Yuan is, he is still her biological father. There is no limit to what kind of marriage he can find for her. Why should he make such a thankless effort by forcing Wanwan to please his two stepsons, causing even his own children to feel disgusted with him.

Thinking of this, Ye Huaisu was not angry at all about what the other mother said. Instead, he became much more cheerful and gradually strengthened his determination.

"Mother Fang is right." Ye Huaisu finally smiled with relief. "Wanwan, perhaps you are right. Auntie was indeed a little paranoid before."

Upon hearing this, Ye Wanshu, Gu Qingmian and Gu Tingji smiled at each other.

Gu Tingji immediately clings to his mother playfully, calling out affectionately, "Mother, shouldn't you return Sister Ayin's letter to my cousin now?"

(End of this chapter)