The matchmaker smiled, and said, “How can you say this? If your daughter goes to the Marquis’ mansion, she will have enough gold and silver to spend. And there would still be servants serving her. Although she would be a concubine, you have to know that our third young master has to yet to marry an official wife. When she marries in, she would be the master of his backyard. That is how comfortable she will be in the future.”

When Father and Mother Gu heard this, they thought that if their daughter had such a good future, it would naturally be good, just—

Mother Gu looked at the silent Gu Sui’er and pulled the matchmaker aside. Carefully, she asked in a low voice, “This… My daughter, in her belly…”

The matchmaker looked at Gu Sui’er. She seemed to know her worries well as she patted her hand, and smiled, “Madam, don’t worry. We know all about it.”

Even though Mother Gu was a villager, she was doubtful about this. Father Gu lowered his head and said nothing.

Although Gu Bao’er was young, how could he not understand that a respectable family was asking for his sister’s hand in marriage?

When the villagers saw this scene, they started to talk about it.

After a while, Gu Sui’er touched her stomach, got up, and finally whispered: “Mother, let me go.”

Everyone was shocked when she said this, thinking that Gu Sui’er was really silly. How could a girl say this during the discussion of her engagement?!

Although she was not a pure maiden anymore (T/N: Coz she is not a virgin anymore), she was not married!

The matchmaker didn’t care about this. When Gu Sui’er had responded, she nodded and smiled immediately, “That’s fine. In a few days, our Lord Marquis will send someone to welcome you.”

After the group of people left, all the villagers present there rushed into their home. Everyone looked at the amazing betrothal gifts and discussed the luxurious carriage which the strangers were riding in when they came.

After a while, second Aunt Wang asked: “Who the hell is this Marquis RuiDing? How do you know him? Why does he want to marry Sui’er to his son?”

When she said this, her eyes were looking at her raised belly.

Father Gu also didn’t know the reason so he said truthfully, “We don’t know, but since the betrothal gifts have been delivered, I think it will not be a joke.”

Everyone was fully of envy the boxes packed with betrothal gifts, so they encouraged the Gu family to open them. Father and Mother Gu also had doubts in their hearts. They were afraid that someone was swindling them, but on another thought, who would take such pains to trick them?

At this moment, when the neighbors helped to open the betrothal gifts, they were all left speechless. All of the clothes were of high quality. The most expensive cloth shop in the town did not have fabric as good as those sent by those rich people. There were soft yarns of red and cyan color which were beautiful and thin. It’s just that they didn’t know what to do with all these.

In addition to the clothing, there were various types of pastries, beef, mutton, pork, completed with a plate of chicken. What was the most surprising was that one of the boxes was filled with white silver!1White silver (白花花的银子) – It is the currency of ancient China, a boat-shaped mass of silver.

Seeing so many extravagant things almost made them faint. A mere farmer’s family like them had never seen so many things before!

Gu Sui’er had already got up and entered the house. She sat on the kang while stroking her stomach in a daze.

The neighbors gossiped a lot about this incident. Some unmarried girls stared at the gifts with red eyes, thinking that there would be no such blessings in their life. There were also those who were not optimistic about the marriage and felt that this whole thing was weird. They felt it was not necessarily a good thing.

Of course, there was also the old man with a beard. He looked at all the things in the yard inquisitively and thought about the child in Gu Sui’er’s belly, fearing that it was the source of all this.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That day, after everyone had left, the Gu family had all fallen asleep except Gu Sui’er. She couldn’t sleep at all, so she looked at the black roof blankly with her moist eyes.

During the next few days, the neighboring girls frequently came to inquire. Ah Liu was even more of a frequent visitor. She would touch the soft blue yarn, and say enviously, “That’s a blue yarn. I heard that it’s excellent but I’m afraid it costs a few taels of silver.”

There was no trace of joy on Gu Sui’er’s face. She just lowered her eyes and said nothing.

A few days later, a sedan chair2Sedan Chair(轿)– It is a type of carriage used for wedding purposes to carry the bride. stopped in front of the house. It was decorated with red flowers and was carried by two people. The person leading them was riding a tall horse.

Father Gu looked over. At the front, was a tall man of about twenty years old, wearing soft satin. He seemed to be a very dignified person.

Presumably, this was the Third Young Master who was going to marry his daughter.

He hurried to greet him, but he was at a loss. He didn’t know what to say.

When the man got off the horse, he looked respectful. He stepped forward and said, “Old man Gu, this one is surnamed Jiang and his name is Zheng. He is instructed to accompany and welcome the Young Lady Gu to enter the mansion on behalf of his master.”

The people who were peeking and eavesdropping were surprised to hear that it was not the third son of the Marquis’ family who came to marry, but a mere servant.

This was unexpected ah. They were surprised that the third son of Marquis’s family sent to a servant in his stead to accompany the bride. The second surprise was that even his subordinate were so dignified. Then what about the third son of the Marquis family? The third surprise was that Marquis’s son was shameless. How could he send a servant for his marriage?

While everyone was talking about it, Jiang Zheng entered the house. Mother Gu helped her daughter to come out, with a red bridal veil3Veil(盖头) – This was worn by the brides in ancient China and even today in traditional weddings. over her head.

Jiang Zheng’s eyes fell on the already bulging belly of Gu Sui’er. He couldn’t help frowning when he remembered that day in the inn.

He noticed that the color of the veil was bright red, which was not according to the custom. After all, a country girl who entered the household as a concubine shouldn’t use the red color but Jiang Zheng saw that villagers did not know the cumbersome processes so he did not say anything right away.

After Gu Sui’er entered the sedan chair, Jiang Zheng bid goodbye to her parents and ordered his people to lift the sedan chair. The group of people rode on tall horses and left the village with grandeur.

Only when the sedan chair was far away and the buzzing sound was completely inaudible, everyone reluctantly looked back.

This incident had naturally become the talk of the village for a long time. As long as they were free, everyone talked about it. They gossiped about how Gu Sui’er married a son of the Marquis’ family, the blessings she was enjoying in the grand mansion of the Marquis, and how the Young Master looked like.

As for her parents, they were both relieved and a little worried. They didn’t know how the son of the Marquis family was, and whether their daughter would be bullied after she married in.

Gu Bao’er didn’t say a word.

But after many days, he finally burst out, “I will go to the city to find my sister.”

However, that would be after he grew up. Now, he was still an ignorant little kid who didn’t even know which direction this so-called city was in.

Thanks for reading٩(๑ᴗ๑)۶! If you like my translations, please consider supporting me on:

 

 

1White silver (白花花的银子) – It is the currency of ancient China, a boat-shaped mass of silver. 2Sedan Chair(轿)– It is a type of carriage used for wedding purposes to carry the bride. 3Veil(盖头) – This was worn by the brides in ancient China and even today in traditional weddings.

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