Eavesdropping

Is it for Jiaoniang?

Jiaoniang was the apple of her First Concubine's eye.

He does know how to achieve his goals indirectly by catering to their preferences.

Xu Weibei invited him to stay for dinner and asked him during the meal what his plans were and when he would take his First Concubine away.

"I'm not in a hurry," Qin Lie said. "We have to take it slow. Besides, my Marquis, if you release everyone, what excuse will you have to approach Madam again? Women are always easier to talk to each other about."

"Who's going to get close to her?" Xu Weibei angrily, embarrassed by being exposed.

"My Marquis, we're all men, what's there to deny?" Qin Lie said. "Your wife has only divorced you, she hasn't remarried. We men get what we want, so if you don't hurry now, are you waiting to steal her away when she remarries?"

A frequent headline reader in the Capital, fond of trending topics?

When did I say I couldn't let her go? Where did you get that idea?

"Is that even a question? The Marquis only has eyes for his wife. I'm not blind, how could I not see that?"

Although Qin Lie didn't quite understand why Xu Weibei would look down on a beauty like his First Concubine, but instead fall for the plain-looking Gu Wanning.

However, having already benefited, he didn't complain; he thought it was fine this way.

Xu Weibei fell silent, thinking viciously to himself, "As expected, everyone saw it; only Gu Wanning is blind."

Or they might pretend to be blind.

"I came today because I heard that Madam is making arrangements to buy land, so I came specifically to tell you. Do you think we should make some arrangements?"

How did you know?

He knew more than Xu Weibei himself, which displeased him.

"What's the big deal? I've become quite familiar with the younger brother of the Second Concubine in the manor..."

The women in the household basically used this channel to get things done outside.

What else doesn't he know?

Xu Weibei felt that Qin Lie seemed to have a knack for pursuing women.

He looks careless, but he's actually more calculating than anyone else. What a clever lad!

"If I were you, I would arrange for your wife to live near your Estate, so you'd see each other all the time," Qin Lie analyzed. "Besides, even if your wife doesn't understand and doesn't want to come back right away, you must let everyone in the Capital know that she's your woman, and no one else should touch her."

Declaring sovereignty is essential.

"Furthermore, you shouldn't make things difficult for the Gu family anymore. I've observed that Chief Grand Secretary Gu isn't actually a bad person; he's just stubborn. And he's wholeheartedly devoted to the country and its people, isn't that what you are?"

You want me to compromise with him?

"Isn't this what you should do? You're a son-in-law who hasn't found a wife yet. In the village, you're supposed to go and harvest wheat for your future father-in-law's family. You don't need to harvest wheat, can't you just say a few nice words? We want to sleep with that girl, what kind of behavior is that?"

Xu Weibei: "Vulgar!"

"Men, it's all about that stuff in their pants. If your brother's got it right, everything's easy to talk about."

Xu Weibei remained silent.

After a while, he said bitterly, "She doesn't want to. She doesn't want to marry me!"

"Then you need to know exactly why she's unwilling. Change what she's unwilling to do; what's so difficult about that?"

"You talk a good game, like you've already succeeded," Xu Weibei said, trying to save face.

"Then do you dare to make a bet with me, to see if you can persuade your wife to come back first, or if I can marry her first?"

Xu Weibei gritted his teeth. "What are you betting?"

"One thousand taels of silver," Qin Lie said. "I don't have much silver on hand, so this is a good opportunity to earn some so I can get married in style."

"Aren't you afraid of losing your wife's savings too?"

"No, that won't happen," Qin Lie said confidently.

Xu Weibei was so angry his teeth itched. "Then it's settled."

He couldn't bring himself to try and please Gu Yuanshi.

But if he first figured out why Gu Wanning insisted on a divorce, perhaps he could...

On the 26th day of the twelfth lunar month, Gu Wanning received a message from a middleman saying that someone was in a hurry to sell a piece of land, 120 mu, for only 20 taels of silver per mu.

Large tracts of land in the outskirts of Beijing are priced at 30 taels per mu, which is equivalent to a 60-70% discount, a significant reduction indeed.

Gu Wanning went to see it herself; the terrain was flat, the land was contiguous, and irrigation was very convenient.

She was quite satisfied, but fearing there might be a trap, she didn't agree immediately.

Moreover, she was also very interested in the land next door.

"Is this plot also from the same family?" Gu Wanning asked, looking at the sorghum stalks on both plots of land.

"They're from the same company, but they only sell one piece."

"Oh, never mind then." Gu Wanning said with some regret.

Chapter 147 Eavesdropping

In fact, she could buy two plots of land of this size for about five thousand taels of silver, which would become her greatest asset in the future.

She went back and asked Gu Anqi to help investigate the details of the land.

The next day, Gu Anqi told her, "There's no problem. It's quite a coincidence, though; it's land Baoji."

"Oh? What a coincidence! I've never known the owner of Baoji."

"Bao Tonghe."

"Oh, I've never heard of it."

"I've never heard of it either, but to build such a large business, they must have powerful backers."

"He sold the land to raise funds?"

"Um."

"He's such a good person."

Gu Wanning felt that Baoji's business was fluctuating, going up and down, making her feel that Baoji was going to collapse one moment and then seemed to be able to hold on the other.

Using the money from Baoji's settlement to buy Baoji's land, tsk tsk.

On the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, Gu Wanning went to buy the land early in the morning and completed the formalities.

After the divorce, her older brother immediately and swiftly helped her register the land as a female household registration, so the land is now completely registered under her name.

However, she did not meet the legendary Bao Tonghe; only the familiar Baoji's shop came forward to handle the handover procedures.