The birthday banquet at the old house lasted until the early morning. Gu Qingwu sat behind the screen and watched the guests stand up to say goodbye. Afterwards, the old patriarch was personally helped downstairs by He Sui Chen and left the brightly lit lobby with a group of elders.
That night, the He family seemed to be performing an old-fashioned play.
Regardless of your status, you must stand here respectfully and sing along until the end.
He Sui Chen sent the old clan leader out, and then had a lively conversation with several uncles who were in high positions of power. Those with lower seniority had no right to talk to him at all. This invisibly established the rules for the new clan leader in front of everyone.
Gu Qingwu stayed until the end, and when the hot tea slowly cooled down, she saw He Suichen coming back to look for her. He called her in a low and pleasant voice, "Qingwu, we should go back to the room."
This old house has their wedding room, which the housekeeper had decorated personally in advance. Incense was burning on the table, and everything from the bed curtains to the quilt was bright red, hanging down to the ground in layers, adding a touch of warmth to the room in the cold winter weather.
Gu Qingwu was wearing this cheongsam and no longer pretending to be dignified. She sat down on the edge of the bed.
Not long after, He Suichen closed the door and walked over with a delicate little lantern. The warm and dark light was slightly bright, outlining Gu Qingwu's face that was so delicate that there was not a single flaw. He carefully studied the cold expression and looked at it for a long time: "This expression is rare."
Gu Qingwu was so angry that she ignored him the whole night. She was really mad.
He Suichen put the lantern aside, the room darkened, and leaned over to coax her:
"Are you still angry? Why don't you give your brother a way out?"
Gu Qingwu stared at him with her beautiful eyes for two seconds, then suddenly pulled a pillow over and threw it on the ground: "Give me a way out."
He Sui pondered her action, staring at the pillow on the ground with his eyes slightly raised for a while. This kneeling must have confirmed that she is henpecked.
Gu Qingwu pursed her lips: "I've given you the steps, it's up to you to choose whether to go down or not."
He Sui Chen suddenly smiled, the curve of his thin corners looked particularly beautiful under the halo, and he actually knelt on one knee. From the side, his black silk robe hung to the ground, and his waist seemed to be a hard line outlined with an ink pen, and his slender hand held the hand on her knee.
Gu Qingwu didn't struggle. With a stern face, she accused him of his evil deeds: "I was fooled by you again... I sold myself and helped you count the money. He Suichen, you are really capable of donating all your worth to win my sympathy... Why don't you give up the position of clan leader together?"
"If I don't accept the position of clan leader, I'm afraid I won't have a peaceful life."
He Suichen was able to retire after achieving success, largely because he had stepped down from the position of head of the family and was about to take over the responsibility of clan leader. For some of the older generations of the He family, it was most appropriate for the brothers to work together to manage the He family.
From now on, he will be in charge of the rules of the entire clan, and as for prosperity, it will be left to He Yunjian to work hard for.
To put it bluntly, He Yunjian makes money outside and he spends it.
Gu Qingwu listened to his story and asked the most crucial question: "Why would your aunt let you gain power so easily?"
"After He Yunjian returned to the He family... she gave all the shares in my aunt's hands and the power hidden in the group for many years to He Yunjian because she was afraid of me." When He Suichen said this, his tone was so calm that there was no emotion at all. He even smiled and rubbed her knuckles: "She thinks that He Yunjian listens to her more than I do."
"It turns out that both of you brothers are wolves in sheep's clothing, eating people without leaving any bones."
Gu Qingwu didn't have the time to sympathize with He Yuliu for being deceived. After all, she was also the one being deceived. She pursed her lips for a few seconds and continued, "You and He Yunjian set up a trap to deceive everyone... You reshuffled the He family and quietly replaced them with your confidants, each of whom took on their own responsibilities and took charge of a party. I'm afraid this was planned a long time ago, right?"
He Suichen had nothing to hide from her at this point: "Before He Yunjian had the car accident, he had the idea of sidelining my aunt, but he didn't expect that he would become a vegetable for seven years. During the year he was recuperating in New York, he teamed up with me."
No matter whether they are the older brother or the younger brother, the blood of the He family men flows in their bones, and they are naturally undisciplined.
As a person in power, he does not even have the right to freely choose his spouse, which is a huge joke.
So He Sui Chen and He Yunjian reached a consensus on this issue. He abdicated and his brother took power, deceiving everyone in the family.
"No wonder He Yuliu seemed to have a serious illness... The wolf cub he raised with his own hands turned against him. It's no different from killing someone and destroying his heart." Gu Qingwu whispered after a while.
The water in this family compound is so deep that one could drown if one is not careful.
He Sui was silent for a moment, then raised his long fingers to touch her cheek. Under the halo, his eyes were extremely affectionate: "Qing Wu, no matter how many conspiracies and calculations there are, my love for you is absolutely true."
Gu Qingwu's thick, curled eyelashes trembled as she raised her eyes, unconsciously looking at the incense on the table and the strange yet festive surroundings in the room. Through the tightly closed carved wooden windows, outside was a quaint and exquisite courtyard, with lanterns illuminating the dark night.
From now on, this is her home.
He Suichen kissed her fingers one by one, from the white and tender fingertips upwards. The gold-rimmed glasses pressed against her palm, and the touch was cold. This also made Gu Qingwu come back to her senses. She looked at him with tears in her eyes: "I'm still a little angry... I want to forgive you, but I feel unwilling."
He Suichen knelt without getting up. He clasped her neck with his long fingers and moved them down. When he got closer, he kissed her: "Give brother a chance to atone for his sins, huh?"
Gu Qingwu slightly moved away, and a warm kiss fell on her cheek, and she said, "I don't want to care about you tonight."
Marriage requires cheating, and I wonder who is the insecure one.
Half an hour later.
Gu Qingwu went to the bathroom next door to take a shower, changed out of her cheongsam, and lay down in the quilt wearing a velvet white lace nightgown. She said that she didn't want to pay attention to He Sui Chen tonight, and she really ignored him.
The two of them were covered with the same quilt, but they were kept at a distance and were not allowed to hug each other.
He Sui Chen saw that she was frowning with tiredness, and gradually, he stopped making a fuss and just held her fingertips in his palm.
It's late at night.
Gu Qingwu rested her cheek on the pillow, which was also filled with incense, which helped her sleep. She lowered her eyes quietly, listening to the sounds outside the courtyard. It was not as lively as when she lived in an apartment in the city center.
It was exceptionally quiet here; even the sound of the housekeeper's footsteps as he extinguished the lantern outside was silent.
The next day, Gu Qingwu woke up early in the morning. The room was dark, and because the curtains and door were closed, it felt like night.
She raised her head and looked at herself under the bright red quilt. She felt around and found that the place where He Suichen had lain was no longer warm. She estimated that he had gotten up an hour ago.
Gu Qingwu was not yet accustomed to treating the old house as his own home. He felt it was inappropriate to sleep there for too long, so he threw off the quilt and got out of bed.
A set of clothes and shoes were neatly placed beside her, in her usual style.
When she was about to reach out to take it, her eye caught sight of the marriage certificate on the table.
Through the faint light, the four words "A Happy Marriage Forever" first caught her sight. Looking down, she saw her and He Sui Chen's birth dates, and the person who held the pen to witness it was the old patriarch.
Gu Qingwu picked up the marriage certificate that had been carefully treasured for a long time, and his heart suddenly beat. He remembered belatedly that when he first came to visit the old patriarch, he was asked about his birth date.
At that time, she mistakenly thought that the older generation had conservative ideas and wanted to use her birth date and horoscope to calculate her marriage with He Sui Chen.
It was not until she saw the marriage certificate that Gu Qingwu realized that He Sui Chen had already prepared the bait and was waiting for the fish to take the bait.
This man was extremely scheming in order to marry her.
Gu Qingwu's emotions were affected unconsciously, and when she realized it, it was already too late. She had completely fallen into He Sui Chen's trap. While she was angry with him, she could not resist her love for him in her heart.
She carefully put the marriage certificate into the brocade box and waited until she was dressed neatly before leaving the room.
There was actually light snow falling outside the courtyard, and a layer of white frost was everywhere. When servants passed by carrying things, they would stop and nod to her and say hello.
Gu Qingwu was strolling along the long corridor and was about to go in when he saw the inner hall. Unexpectedly, he saw He Sui Chen sitting leisurely in the main seat playing with jade, and next to him was He Yunjian, who was patiently listening to He Yuliu's lecture.
Seeing this scene so early in the morning was really terrifying.
Gu Qingwu pulled her feet under her skirt and hid her slender figure behind the screen beside her. She heard He Yuliu's soft voice, but with obvious anger:
"You have grown too independent and don't even take my words seriously."
He Yunjian always looked gentle and indifferent when he was outside, and was extremely filial to his elders: "Aunt, why do you say that? In my heart, you are the closest elder."
"If you really respect and love me, marry Wu Chuixi."
He Yuliu wanted to help Wu Chuixi become the mistress of the He family, and she almost made her thoughts known to the world. Since she couldn't control He Yunjian's brothers, she tried every means to control his bloodline.
"Yun Jian... Wu Chuixi has taken care of your sick body without any regrets for the past two years. Don't you even deserve a name?"
He Yunjian curled his lips, his smile was gentle: "Aunt, you are too serious, but I can't do anything about marrying Wu Chuixi."
"What's the meaning?"
Seeing that there was room for negotiation, He Yuliu followed his gaze and looked at He Suichen beside him, blurting out: "Will your brother still not let you get married?"
He Suichen blew the evil wind towards him, put down the jade, took a sip of hot tea, and said slowly: "Brother, don't even think about marrying a young and beautiful nurse, even if you marry a woman in her seventies or eighties, as long as it's not against the law, I, as the clan leader, have no objection."
The brothers both responded with an ambiguous attitude. He Yuliu was so emotionally irritated that he coughed heavily and almost coughed up blood.
He Yunjian was not ready to watch his aunt die of anger, so he softened his naturally gentle tone and said, "I made a three-point agreement with Sui Chen before. If he abdicates, I swear that I will not let anyone surpass Gu Qingwu's position in the He family. It is not appropriate for someone to be the mistress of the family... For the He family, it is enough to have the wife of the clan leader."
"He Yunjian! Are you crazy—"
He Yuliu was so angry that he coughed even more violently, and his hands were shaking.
He Yunjian said calmly: "My aunt taught me since I was young that I should be trustworthy."
"So you don't like Wu Chuixi?"
"Of course I like it very much."
"Is this what you call love? Let her follow you without any status... I didn't expect you are not as good as your brother."
He Yuliu bit the words, almost in a bloody state, accusing him of being ungrateful and heartless: "Look at your brother... For the woman he likes, he even ignores the ancestral teachings."
"Didn't my aunt say... this is an act of treason?"
"You, cough cough cough!"
Behind the screen, Gu Qingwu, who was eavesdropping in the corner, felt that if He Yunjian said one more word, He Yuliu would be so angry that he would vomit blood on the spot.
The hem of her skirt swayed. She didn't know if it was an illusion or if He Suichen, who was sitting in the main seat, raised his eyelids and glanced at her for a second, causing her to subconsciously step back, holding her breath and slowly leaving the inner hall.
As soon as I turned around, I was frightened and almost screamed, and the words were choked in my throat.
Two steps away.
There were traces of tears on Wu Chuixi's slightly pale face. She didn't know when she had been standing here listening. When she heard He Yunjian calmly mentioning his brief relationship with her in the inner hall, a few more tears fell.
"I like Wu Chuixi, but it's impossible for me to marry her."
"This He family... the mistress is only Gu Qingwu. I already have a son named Yu Jiafan, so it doesn't matter whether he gets married or not. Auntie should still be concerned about when Sui Chen and Gu Qingwu can add a legitimate descendant to the family."
"If Wu Chuixi wants to leave, I will compensate her for her contributions over the past two years."
The author has something to say: This kind of man is so vicious and cruel, which instantly makes Mr. He in my family stand out as being particularly kind and beautiful qaq
There are two more in the evening.