Chapter 1: The Woman Who Blocked the Marriage

  Gu Zhaobei was taken aback, then burst out laughing: "If you really killed me, wouldn't you be just about to get married and yet have to observe widowhood?"

  The horse had already run far away, and the people behind were shaken off and couldn't be seen. Shen Guiyan sighed helplessly, relaxed, anyway going back would also be punished, so there was no need to fear anything anymore.

  "I've always been curious, why did Fourth Master Gu suddenly come to the Shen family and want to marry me? We hadn't even met before, and looking at myself, I don't think my appearance is enough to capture Fourth Master's attention."

  Shen Guiyan had been thinking about this question for several days and finally had the opportunity to ask it.

  Gu Zhaobei slowed down, the horse trotting on the quiet street, he lowered his head and whispered in her ear: "Although we have never met before, I've been hearing about Miss San's great name since I was young. The legendary Miss San who has been different from ordinary people since she was five years old, rumored to be precocious and clever."

  There is also a saying in the city that Miss Shen, the third daughter of the Shen family, was born with an extraordinary gift. With her elegant speech and refined demeanor, she may be destined to become the mother of the nation.

  Shen Guiyan pursed her lips, these absurd things don't know why someone believes them. She was betrothed to the Prime Minister's son at the age of eight, otherwise, who knows, she might have been fought over by several princes in the palace. The Empress's orders, those people really think that marrying her can make them Emperor?

  Absurd.

  "I just wanted to know why the radiant Third Miss, after turning eight, became inconspicuous among the crowd. So I went to the Shen Manor to take a look." Gu Zhaobei said leisurely: "After taking a look, I became very interested in you, like a beautiful jade wrapped in mud, wanting to bring it back home and slowly chip away at the mud to see."

  Shen Guiyan was taken aback.

  "Mud?"

  "Right." Gu Zhaobei rested his chin on her shoulder, saying with a teasing tone: "Complicated rules, always thinking about not making mistakes, being cautious and careful to the point of being no different from ordinary people, isn't that just being buried in mud?"

  She hummed softly and Shen Guiyan started again.

  If it were not for being helpless, who would be willing to be a nobody among the crowd?

  Guo Zhaobei swung his whip, and the horse picked up speed, heading west. By the time Shen Guiyan came to her senses, she found herself in front of a half-closed door with a sign that read "Drunken Flower Shade".

  Drunken Flower Pavilion, a famous brothel in the capital city, was also where Gu Zhaobei rose to fame.

  "Shen Guiyan opened her mouth wide: 'What did you bring me here for?' Weren't we supposed to go to Luoxia Mountain?"

  Gu Zhaobei lifted her off the horse and put one hand on her shoulder, saying: "Let me show you around, take a look inside? They're all familiar faces."

  Shen Guiyan: "......"

  They're all his acquaintances; she doesn't even have half an acquaintance anywhere!

  "Oh dear, Master Gu has arrived at this hour?" The welcoming mother walked out in surprise and glanced back, saying: "The girls have just fallen asleep. And who is..."

  Shen Guiyan subconsciously wanted to retreat backwards, but was caught by Gu Zhaobei's shoulder and couldn't move.

  "This is Miss Shen San."

  The mother suddenly realized and didn't show any flustered expression, just smiled and said: "It's not lively here in the daytime, you two can come in and have a cup of tea."

  Shen Guiyan was slightly surprised, the girls here were said to all know Gu Zhaobei, and she was going to be his legitimate wife, yet this mother didn't avoid her?

  Following inside, I saw that the intoxicating flowers and shadows were different from elsewhere. There was no extra silk or curtains, it looked more like an ordinary tavern. Two early-rising girls with disheveled hair and dirty faces sat at a low table eating snacks, when they saw someone coming in, they hastily tidied up their appearance.

  "Is it Lord Guo?"

  Gu Zhongbei led Shen Guiyan to sit down somewhere, and his mother brought over tea and breakfast.

  "Sisters, it's just a coincidence that I'm with her." Gu Zhaobei waved his hand at the two girls, who smiled shyly and nodded at Shen Guiyan before turning back to eat their snacks.

  Shen Guiyan looked around, feeling that something was off. How could a brothel be like this?

  "What do you think a brothel is like?" Gu Zhaobei asked her in a low voice.

  "On that side there should be a pink silk canopy, a brocade tablecloth, and colorful satin on the stairs, with girls wearing..."

  Gu Zhaobei nodded: "From books?"

  Shen Guiyan coughed lightly and nodded. She read all kinds of books, except for the Four Books and Five Classics, some strange and bizarre stories, including some brothel records... but this couldn't be said out loud.

  "Singers and dancers are not easy to be." Gu Zhaobei said lightly: "What's scary is that the color will fade away, and there's only a few years of food to eat. If you can't save money for old age, once you leave this place, who knows, you might starve to death."

  Shen Guiyan was slightly stunned, and glanced at the two girls in front of her. They looked like they were only sixteen or seventeen years old, without any makeup, looking a bit pale. When not looking at people, there was no smile on their faces.

  She had always thought that the brothel was a den of gold, where the women were licentious and only loved money. It turned out there was such an inside story.

  She patted her body, the new clothes she had just changed into, and there were only two taels of silver in her purse, which was what she had saved from last month's salary. Shen Guiyan looked at this little bit of silver with some worry, thought for a moment, and then put it on the table.

  "What's going on?" Gu Zhaobei raised an eyebrow.

  "Breakfast money." Shen Guiyan buried her head and finished drinking the porridge, then stood up and said: "You can't just eat at someone else's expense for nothing."

  "It's not necessary to be so generous." Gu Zhaobei cried and laughed: "I come here to eat, and I don't need to pay silver."

  Welcoming her mother who was just walking over with a tray of dim sum, Shen Guiyan took one glance and hastily grabbed Gu Zhaobei's hand, desperately pulling him to run outside.

  "Hey." Gu Zhaobei was pulled by her into a stumble and followed her out in a rush.

  Shen Guiyan was afraid that her mother would take back the two taels of silver, although it wasn't a small amount, but in this place it really wasn't considered much. She didn't know why she had suddenly wanted to give away the silver, but for now, she just ran.

  Out of the door, but unable to get on the horse, Shen Guiyan looked at Gu Zhaobei urgently: "Quickly carry me up."

  Embracing? Not avoiding suspicion anymore? Gu Zhaobei's eyes sparkled, and he reached out to pull her onto the horse. Shen Guiyan took over the reins and waited for Gu Zhaobei to sit securely before imitating his tone: "Drive!"

  The horse neighed and rushed out. Shen Guiyan swallowed a scream, adapted to the speed and bumps of the horse, and found that riding was still quite interesting.

  It was Gu Zhaobei who was frightened to death by her, and he hastily grabbed the reins: "Isn't it just two taels of silver? Give it to you if I give it to you, do you need to run so fast?"

  Shen Guiyan's ears turned red, and she pursed her lips without saying a word.

  Gu Zhaobei couldn't help but chuckle, reaching out to take the reins and saying: "Originally I was going to wait for a few more sisters to wake up so you could watch them dance, since they've all run out now, let's just head straight to Luoxia Mountain."

  Logically, it's best to go to Luoxia Mountain in the late afternoon, as the sunset is extremely beautiful. However, the two of them obviously didn't have that much time and could only rush to Luoxia Mountain before being caught by the Shen family.

  As for why he wanted to go to Luoxia Mountain, Gu Zhaobei didn't say and Shen Guiyan didn't ask.

  The mountain was covered with many graves, old and new tombs filled the top of the mountain. Gu Chao Bei took Shen Gui Yan to a new grave in front.

  Qin Yiniang was a member of the Shen family, and if her birth had been slightly better, she would have been able to enter the Shen ancestral tomb. However, she was just a maid, and not even worthy of being seen by Madame Shen, so her body was directly sent to the charity house, where it was carelessly buried.

  Shen Guiyan stared at the words engraved on the tombstone, her body stiff and unmoving for a long time.

  The tomb of Shen Qin's clan, the unfilial daughter returned to Yan and stood.

  It is the tomb of Qin Niangniang.

  This piece of land is considered to have good feng shui, Shen Guiyan looked around and saw that there was no grave pressing against Qin Niang, the mountains and rivers were also just right.

  Slowly knelt down in front of the grave, kowtowed several times. Gu Zhaobei took out incense and fruit from his saddle bag, seemingly well-prepared.

  Shen Guiyan looked at him deeply, Gu Zhaobei smiled as usual, but when facing the tombstone, he put away his smile and knelt down with her, bowing his head respectfully.

  "I think you probably won't have the chance to leave the house, let alone help your birth mother build a tomb." Gu Zhaobei said softly: "Since I'm going to marry you anyway, I should do some good deeds too. So I helped you with what's probably the thing you wanted to do most."

  "After finishing speaking, he turned his head to look at her: "How is it? Are you very moved, and don't you think that marrying me will be regretless?"

  When seeing the tombstone, Shen Guiyan was really moved, but when hearing this person say these words, the corner of her mouth twitched and she really wanted to punch him.

  Can't you be like those rich young men and say something romantic? Must you be so direct and say what's on your mind? Shen Guiyan looked at the tombstone with a mixture of laughter and tears.

  Mom, look, I'm going to marry such a lazy guy. He's called a lazy guy, but he seems more reliable than the elegant gentleman?

  The wind blew over the tomb, and it was actually a bit warm. Shen Guiyan placed the fruit in front of the tombstone, lit incense, and knelt with Gu Chao Bei until the incense burned out.

  When going down the mountain, Shen Guiyan felt a lot lighter in her heart, and looking at Zhao Bei seemed to be more pleasing to the eye.

  "Are you falling in love with me?" Gu Zhaobei stroked his chin, throwing her a charming smile: "I also think that such a man is really worthy of being loved!"

  Shen Guiyan: "......"

  Taking back what I just said, it's still not easy for this person to be likable!

  The two of them rode their horses back to the mansion, and as they got closer to the Shen residence, Shen Guiyan's expression became increasingly stiff.

  "Don't be too nervous." Gu Zhaobei smiled and said: "Everyone knows it was me who took you out, if anyone is to be punished, it's me, not you."

  Besides, in Shen's mansion, how could they possibly punish Gu Zhaobei? This was all planned out long ago.

  Shen Guiyan covered her face, thinking that it was no wonder this person was so unorthodox and could still grow up safely in the prime minister's mansion until now. What a calamity for future generations!

  Madam Shen was already waiting in the main hall with two aunts, Bao Shan knelt down, her face had been slapped several times, but she didn't cry, just clenched her teeth and lowered her head.

  When Gu Zhaobei took Shen Guiyan in, he heard the sharp voice of Mrs. Shen: "I've never heard of it before, they're almost married, and the groom is running away with the bride!"