Carrying the little lucky star, leading the villain on the road to exile

Chapter 550, Section 551: Discussion
“Not all families only value male offspring,” Granny Ding said with a double meaning. “Don’t underestimate a married woman. If she is favored, she can sometimes have more influence than a biological son.”

At this moment, Gu Qianyi also thought of his aunt. There were many things about the family that others might not know, but he did know some of them.

Many family decisions are still frequently discussed with my aunt.

Although my aunt is now the Empress, she is not favored by the Emperor.

But family members know their own family affairs. My aunt's actions had a deeper meaning and were also part of her calculations.

Given their status as a duke's family, the emperor would not allow them to rise any higher.

Moreover, ever since her aunt married into the royal family and the current emperor ascended the throne, she knew that she would never have any children of her own, not even a princess.

Therefore, my aunt has devoted all her energy to her brothers over the years, and she has turned a blind eye to the affairs of the inner palace, handling them according to the rules as long as they are acceptable.

Now that the princes are getting older, the palaces are becoming increasingly restless, and the empress, having no children, can remain uninvolved for the time being.

However, this situation will not last long. Once they decide who is right, the aunt's situation will become rather awkward.

Even if, in order to appease the world, the Empress Dowager was given honors, she would still have to live according to the whims of the new emperor's birth mother, and would probably no longer be able to protect the Duke's mansion.

Therefore, the Duke's Mansion urgently needs to find a way out. Either it needs to have enough leverage, or it needs to withdraw gracefully and stay away from the center of power for the next few years. But no matter which path it chooses, it is not so simple.

He had previously advised that, if all else failed, the family should choose a prince to serve under, but the elders had rejected the idea.

They are currently neutral, and things might turn out well for them in the future. However, if they choose sides early on, the emperor will probably be the first to punish them.

The Bai family's hasty withdrawal from public life led many to suspect that the princes might be eyeing these people.

As a shrewd businessman, one cannot reach their current heights without some ability.

Even so, the Bai family only temporarily disposed of some of their assets in the capital; they still held onto a large portion of them.

This lucrative opportunity has attracted the attention of many prominent families. Knowing that the Bai family has moved to Lingnan, they have all been eager to make a move.

Besides wanting those industries, another thing is to befriend the Bai family.

Gu Kaiyuan, who was previously a good-for-nothing, was able to seize opportunities in such a short period of time, accumulating so many farms and shops and making a fortune from them.

The Bai family is involved in all of this, not only providing a large amount of funds but also offering him this path to wealth. If Gu Kaiyuan were to make a few more moves, he might just become the next wealthy Bai family.

It's a pity that the Bai family doesn't have any eligible daughters right now, otherwise their doorstep would definitely be overcrowded.

As for the illegitimate daughters, they were never within their consideration.

Marrying a merchant's daughter was already their biggest concession; of course, they would look down on those illegitimate daughters who were not respectable.

"But the Bai family has already left. I heard they went to Quanzhou. If all else fails, we'll head there..."

Granny Ding said, "The Bai family has now split up. Bai Suihe is Madam Bai's only legitimate daughter. Most of the properties in the capital were Madam Bai's dowry. I think Bai Suihe is a good starting point." "I understand what you're saying, but they've already left and their return date is uncertain. I don't care if we wait here, but the people in the capital don't know any of this."

Gu Qianyi knew he had no talent for studying, and that the family's mundane affairs would definitely fall to him in the future, so he had been paying extra attention to them over the years.

He couldn't agree with Granny Ding's idea, and waiting in place wasn't his style; he preferred to take the initiative.

"Second Young Master, Master and Madam also instructed us to handle things properly in Zhang County first, since branches will be coming here in the future, and we can't leave any hidden dangers."

Gu Qianyi then fell silent. Yes, if the situation in Zhang County wasn't handled well, they wouldn't be able to extricate themselves for the time being.

"Yesterday's banquet was quite good, and I managed to get to know everyone. I've been running around outside these past few days, so I'll leave the affairs of the manor to you, Granny."

Seeing that he had softened, Granny Ding smiled kindly and said, "Don't worry, I will clean up all this mess. When the second young mistress comes to take over, everything will be well taken care of."

After all, she raised the child herself, and he will definitely be staying here for many years to come, so of course she has to lend a hand.

After the master and servant finished speaking and discussed it briefly, they went about their respective tasks.

Confined in the backyard, Madam Gu Jiu was complaining to Gu Yeshi, "Yesterday was the day we moved into our new house, and she wouldn't let me go out. I admit it was my fault before, and I'm willing to be trapped in this backyard."

But a whole day has already passed, so why is she still not letting me go out today?

"No matter what, I am the mistress of this house. What right does she, a mere servant, have...?"

Gu Yeshi was no longer as nonchalant as before; his face was unusually gloomy. "Who can you blame? In the end, it's all your own fault."

"If you hadn't messed things up, you and I would certainly be in charge here, but that might not be the case in the future."

"What do you mean?"

Gu Yeshi said, "Can't you see that the main branch has already abandoned us? Now that Gu Qianyi has come over, do you think we still have the ability to resist?"

From the moment Gu Qianyi arrived, he could clearly feel that he was losing his voice in the mansion.

The servants brought from the mansion bowed and scraped to Gu Qianyi, and as soon as he opened his mouth, many people rushed to fawn over him.

It was only at that moment that he realized that even if he was entrusted with important responsibilities, he could not change his origins. He was just a illegitimate child from a collateral branch, and his status was only slightly higher than that of the servants. Compared with the direct descendants, no, he couldn't even think about it.

"What should we do? We worked so hard to get this..."

“What can I do? How can you and I fight him with just yourselves?” Gu Yeshi wiped his face. “So I’m here today to warn you that you’d better behave yourself in the days to come, don’t provoke Granny Ding, and do whatever she says.”

"but I……"

"Don't say that Ding Mama is a servant anymore. She is a female official with a rank. Even the direct descendants in the mansion have to show her some respect. If you don't know what to do, just do what we used to do to survive in the mansion."

Madam Gu slumped into her seat. "I've been a concubine for so many years, do I have to continue living that kind of life?"