Three Wives and Four Concubines in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Page 98

"This is infuriating! How dare he refuse to continue reading! Yu-ge'er, why don't you read it aloud!"

Gu Yu stiffened, and stammered as she read:

"This is the utmost respect; the wedding is a grand occasion... a grand occasion..."

After listening to him ramble on for a while without getting to the point, the Duke of Yansheng glanced at him suspiciously and waved his hand impatiently, signaling him to stop.

"A bunch of little bastards! They can't even remember the words of the sages! I don't know who this little beast learned it from. He dares to do such shameless things, but he doesn't dare to recite the words of the sages? Engaging in illicit affairs before marriage and seducing his cousin, has he ever thought about the concept of propriety?!"

Gu Yu's breath caught in her throat, and cold sweat broke out on her forehead. She felt that the old man was implying something, and she couldn't help but scratch her toes, wishing she could dig a hole in the ground and hide in it.

Li Wensong, who was innocently caught in the crossfire, wanted to say that he dared to read it, but he was afraid of exposing Gu Yu's affair, so he could only bitterly endure the scolding. After the Duke of Yansheng had been ranting for almost half an hour, he finally smacked his lips, still not satisfied, and unreasonably threw the problem back at them.

“Now that this little beast has done this, if there’s no way to deal with it, we should send him to the ancestral hall tomorrow to be disciplined according to family rules. As his close friends, do you have any ideas?”

Gu Yu's face also became more serious, knowing that this was no joke. Although she didn't know what the old man was up to, she still dutifully helped Kong Chengli.

"Now that the matter has been exposed, fortunately it hasn't become common knowledge. If we had discussed it with Chengli's cousin's parents beforehand, and the two of them had gotten married, this matter could have been wiped out without a trace."

The Duke Yansheng gave a faint "hmm," his face expressionless, and then spoke:

"That would naturally be the best course of action, but Chengli's mother only found out when she went to discuss it that Wenjuan had already been betrothed to someone while her father was on his way to the capital. Now, before the person has even arrived, her daughter has been defiled by the young master of a close relative. If you were in her shoes, would you agree to this?"

"..."

Seeing that Gu Yu was speechless for a moment, Li Wensong quickly stepped in and said:

"That Uncle Kong has only agreed to the marriage in a letter. I suppose the six rites have not even begun yet. Brother Chengli is a dragon among men and would be a fine son-in-law."

"All we need to do is have Brother Chengli go and apologize. The deed is done... The two are very close, so I don't think Uncle will blame them too much!"

The Duke Yansheng revealed a subtle smile and gave a nonchalant "hmm." Li Wensong waited anxiously for what he would say next, as his words were rather offensive and utterly shameless. He wondered how the Duke Yansheng would react.

"...You brat, you think you're so deeply in love and loyal? Now that Wenjuan's mother thinks this little beast tricked her, how can she believe just one side of the story?"

"Well... when Uncle Kong arrives in the capital, Brother Chengli will personally go to apologize and explain the situation, which should be enough—"

"When that time comes? The third branch of the family is already clamoring to use family discipline to punish this immoral and immoral child. How can we wait until then?"

Li Wensong awkwardly shut his mouth, and he and Gu Yu huddled together like quails with their heads tucked in, staring at each other without being able to say a word, and the scene fell silent for a moment.

Gu Yu frowned and frantically racked his brains for a solution. Now that the Duke of Yansheng was on Chengli's side, as long as the problem could be solved, the third branch of the family probably wouldn't cause any trouble. That left only his cousin's side.

Since Uncle Kong hasn't arrived in Beijing yet, more precisely, the attitude of my cousin's mother is of paramount importance...

Thinking of this, Gu Yu's heart stirred, and she quickly said:

"If we could get my cousin Wenjuan and my brother Chengli to plead with my aunt to put this matter aside for now, and then use that as an excuse to cancel the original agreement, it would surely strengthen the ties between our two families."

Although that Uncle Kong shared the same surname as the Kong family, their relationship dates back five hundred years. If he hadn't married a daughter of the Kong family, he would never have been able to benefit from the family line.

Seeing that Gu Yu had finally gotten the hang of it, the Duke Yansheng nodded in satisfaction, stood up from his seat, and smiled meaningfully:

“Look at you, you looked like a little girl a few years ago, but now you've finally grown up. But Wenjuan has been taken away to live in another house. You two need to think more about how to get Chengli to meet with her and plead for her. In a few days it will be her coming-of-age ceremony, and her father will come back to propose marriage afterward. Don't delay too long.”

After saying that, he waved his hand dismissively and said:

"What are you still doing here? Waiting for me to serve you tea?"

Gu Yu and Li Wensong left looking dejected. After silently returning the way they came with the maid beside them, they stared at the tightly closed back door, feeling that something was amiss.

"...Isn't Brother Chengli the eldest grandson of the Kong family? Why is it now up to the two of us to come up with a solution?"

Li Wensong scratched his head in confusion, unable to explain why.

"Perhaps... that aunt no longer wants to see the Kong family, so she's sending the two of us to give it a try?"

Although this reason was unreliable, it seemed more convincing than other guesses. The two stood there for a while, and when they came to their senses, they sat in the carriage and continued to discuss countermeasures.

"How can we possibly meet Chengli's cousin and her mother in just a few days?"

Although he was close friends with Kong Chengli, his cousin wasn't. Li Wensong stroked his chin, seriously considering feasible methods, when suddenly his eyes lit up, and he looked up and said:

"Didn't the Duke of Yansheng just say that Cousin Wenjuan's coming-of-age ceremony is in a few days? No matter how angry her mother is, she will definitely hold the ceremony. Maybe we can sneak in during the chaos."

Gu Yu covered her forehead speechlessly and said weakly:

"So how are you going to sneak into a young lady's coming-of-age ceremony? Or did your father give you a younger sister?... Why don't you go and ask that Miss Zhou for help—"

"Absolutely not!"

Li Wensong waved his hands repeatedly, slightly agitated. Seeing Gu Yu's disdainful look, he quickly and awkwardly explained:

"It would be of no use to tell that Miss Zhou about this matter rashly. Besides, she is just a young woman, and she may not even know her cousin Wenjuan. How can we place our hopes on her? We should be more cautious."

You should have just said you didn't have that much face or guts!

Gu Yu rolled her eyes, feeling a little worried, and hesitated before saying:

"How about I send someone to sneak into her house and tell my cousin Yu Wenjuan about this? Then I can relay her message to her if she agrees."

However, not all servants in every household are as useless as those in the Jia family, and he doesn't have a second Jia Rui like that. Although he said this, he knew in his heart that the success rate of doing so was close to zero. After all, he really didn't have many subordinates who could fly around and treat the capital city as nothing.

Sure enough, Li Wensong rejected the plan without hesitation the next second, and the two could only sit down at Yingkexuan, order food, and continue to discuss it until they could resolve the issue.

Chapter Nineteen: The Magic of Language

The two argued in the private room for almost half an hour, but still couldn't come up with a perfect solution. Finally, Li Wensong slumped into his chair in frustration, took a sip of tea, and said:

"It's hard to come up with a plan in just a few days... In my opinion, we should just kidnap that cousin Wenjuan in the dark!"

Gu Yuchun dismissed his angry words as nonsense and filtered them out. However, she couldn't think of any good solutions and could only slump back and give up completely.

"This won't work, that won't work either. How about you become a eunuch in the palace? That way you can go in and deliver messages."

"...Then I'll just visit Brother Chengli more often every year from now on."

Li Wensong rolled his eyes. He was in the prime of his life, and he had a beautiful woman he was engaged to carry on the Li family line. It was his duty to do so! How could he bear to give up his "love" because of a momentary impulse?

Besides, even if it were surgically removed, it would take a long time to recover, how could there be enough time? Finding a woman wouldn't work, male-to-female transformation wouldn't work either, what other way is there to—transform from male to female…?

Li Wensong suddenly froze, a flash of inspiration struck him, and he muttered it to himself several times before staring intently at Gu Yu.

"Male to female... male to female... male disguised as female! Yu Meiren is truly Yu Meiren, I have a great idea!"

Gu Yu subconsciously shivered and sat up slightly. She felt that something was off about this guy, but out of concern for her friend, she couldn't help but ask:

"What other ideas do you have?"

Li Wensong stood up with great interest, walked around Gu Yu's seat twice, and excitedly said:

"The Duke Yansheng truly lives up to his name; he is indeed far-sighted. No wonder that servant from the Confucius Mansion came to inform me..."

Gu Yu was completely baffled and quickly interrupted the spell:

"What exactly are you thinking? Stop hiding it. Now that Brother Chengli has been beaten so badly, it's best to end this matter as soon as possible."

Li Wensong stopped and stared at Gu Yu. After thinking for a moment, he decided to play the emotional card first:

"Beautiful Lady Yu, the situation is urgent now. Would you be willing to make some expedient changes to help Brother Chengli?"

"…Then what?"

Li Wensong cleared his throat and quickly whispered his plan:

"On the day of her coming-of-age ceremony, there will definitely be a banquet. Why don't you disguise yourself as a young female impersonator and sneak into her house? With your skills, it shouldn't be a problem. Now that you are a close friend of Brother Chengli, and will be good family friends in the future, there's no need to hide anything—"

"What a load of bullshit!"

Gu Yu's face turned pale. This guy actually wanted him to dress as a woman? How could a straight man like him be interested in this? He would rather jump off the fourth floor of Yingkexuan and die than dress as a woman!

"If that's the case, why not just send a young female impersonator to transmit the message? Or I could send one of my women to infiltrate. Why do you want me to dress up as an actress?"

"...That's different! The Kong family's affairs are now handled with utmost caution. Brother Chengli's life is at stake. How can we entrust it to others? Moreover, we don't even know if this will succeed. If they are arrested, wouldn't that cause a huge uproar?"

"Won't my going cause trouble?!"

The thought of being discovered dressed as a woman made Gu Yu want to punch this jerk a couple of times. Did he have no shame? How would he ever face anyone again!

Li Wensong explained with an embarrassed smile:

“That’s really different… You’re only thirteen now, young and naive. Even if people see through your act, no one can say a word against it. After that family in the city fell into ruin, I remember there was a concubine’s son who was quite famous for playing female roles, and people from the Marquis’s mansion still invited him.”

"Besides, with your figure and looks, Yu Meiren, who could tell you were dressed up? Now you have the ability to save Brother Chengli, are you willing to sacrifice yourself for some empty fame?!"

Seeing his nonchalant attitude, Gu Yu retorted speechlessly:

"If you could go, would you be willing to play the role of a young female character? If you were discovered, you would lose all your reputation in front of Miss Zhou."

"Of course I'm willing! Whether a little reputation or the life of a friend is more important, justice will prevail."

"..."

Because there were no oxen, Li Wensong was able to selflessly offer his services without batting an eye. Gu Yu was speechless at his retort and finally turned to leave without a word.

"Nonsense! I think you're insane!"

Li Wensong quickly came forward to stop him:

"You can't leave! Yu Meiren, now Brother Chengli is counting on you!"

"Let go right now! I think you should go see a doctor and see if you've damaged your head!"

"I'm not bad! I really can't live without you! ...Do you still remember what you promised me?!"

These resentful words sent chills down Gu Yu's spine, and she quickly turned away, turning away to stop them.

When did I promise you anything?

Seeing that Gu Yu refused to admit it, Li Wensong became anxious and quickly shouted:

"Back then, when Chengli and I helped you come up with ideas, you promised me you could make one request as a token of your gratitude. How can you go back on your word now? A gentleman's word is as good as his bond!"

"..."

Gu Yu was taken aback. Reminded by him, she suddenly remembered that she had casually agreed when she found these two guys, but she didn't expect that she would agree to it here now.

But then Gu Yu thought of something else, and felt her blood pressure soar, her lips twitching repeatedly:

"How dare you bring this up? You're clearly a virgin, you didn't even know how to give Miss Zhou a gift, and you were spouting nonsense back then!"

Just say it didn't work out!

Li Wensong didn't hesitate to lose face and openly slack off.

"you!……"

Gu Yu's eyes widened in disbelief as he pointed with his finger. He had never seen such a shameless person!

Seeing that Gu Yu was momentarily speechless, Li Wensong's eyes flashed with a sharp light, and he quickly turned and ran away.

"It's decided then! I'll visit Brother Chengli tomorrow and see if he has any instructions. I'm entrusting everything to you!"

"Wait, come back here! I haven't agreed yet!"

By the time Gu Yu came to her senses, Li Wensong had already run down two or three floors, and she could only hear faint noises coming from downstairs.

"Set off immediately! Return home!..."

"drive--"

"..."

Watching the carriage disappear into the distance, Gu Yu opened her mouth, but then everything went black. She stood by the window for a long time before finally uttering the words she had been holding back for half an hour.

"…Hold!"

……

When Gu Yu returned to the courtyard, she felt unusually tired. She went into her room and didn't bother to tease Xiang Ling anymore. She just collapsed onto the bed, feeling completely numb.

"What the heck... Even though it's called a costume, a female role is still a female character! Am I really supposed to dress as a woman?..."

"...I wonder what he looks like in women's clothing—Pah! Damn it! That damn Li Wensong!"

Gu Yu suddenly shuddered and got up again in fright. She was terrified by her dangerous thoughts. Xiang Ling heard the noise in the room and quickly went to serve her.

"What's wrong, sir?"

Seeing Xiangling's charming appearance after taking off her outer clothes, Gu Yu, who would have been unable to resist taking her to bed in the past, suddenly shuddered as he stared at her undergarments and quickly tore them off and threw them aside.

"You're not allowed to wear this anymore!"

"?"

……