Chapter 1609 - 587: The Fake True Heiress (Part 8)_2

At nineteen he passed the provincial exam as a scholar, which really made all the noble power-holders in the capital full of praise for him.

Of course, compared with those sons from families steeped in scholarly tradition, Gu Jingcheng still couldn’t be called some stunning, peerless talent.

But among that crowd of idle noble children, he was the typical one who actually liked to read and strove to better himself.

Add to that the good looks unique to members of the Gu Family, and the next year when the court held an extra-grace examination, Gu Jingcheng went to sit for the metropolitan exam and unexpectedly took the honor of Third place scholar in one go.

Born noble, fond of playing with words and ink, handsome features, refined speech... he was, without a doubt, the ideal target of all the noble ladies in the capital.

Even the parents of those noble ladies felt that Gu Jingcheng was a stock with potential, worth investing in.

So, despite Gu Jingcheng being only a second son, he still drew the favor of many households.

From Princesses of the Imperial Relatives down to daughters of officials, during that period, wherever Gu Jingcheng went, he could "accidentally run into" one or two of them.

However, in the end Gu Jingcheng married the daughter of Prince Dongchang’s Mansion, Lady Wei.

It wasn’t that Lady Wei wasn’t noble enough; she couldn’t compare to a Princess or Commandery Princess, but she still was one of the Imperial Relatives.

It’s just that she was the Prince Mansion’s third daughter, neither the eldest nor the most favored, stuck in the middle, neither here nor there, and the Prince Mansion only had one quota for conferring a title on a daughter.

So Lady Wei was merely the daughter of a Commandery Prince, unlike her eldest sister who had been granted the title of County Lord.

Even so, she was still a legitimate-born young lady of Prince Dongchang’s Mansion.

She was qualified enough to be the principal wife and eldest daughter-in-law in a Duke’s household; marrying a second son like Gu Jingcheng who couldn’t inherit the title was more than good enough.

Prince Dongchang gave his daughter in marriage, first because he was optimistic about Gu Jingcheng’s future, and second because Lady Wei herself was willing.

Yes, back when Gu Jingcheng was parading through the streets with the top and second-place scholars, Lady Wei was hiding on the second floor of a tavern and at a single glance lost her heart to the handsome, young Third place scholar.

Gu Jingcheng held the mindset of a traditional scholar-official; perhaps he didn’t have much romantic love for his wife, but he sincerely respected her.

Lady Wei had already fallen deeply for him, so the feelings between husband and wife were quite harmonious.

It was just—

The old woman by Lady Wei’s side was truly a problem.

He Tiantian originally hadn’t wanted to wade into this muddy water, but with that old woman around, even if there was no "He Dian", there would still be some other person.

This person, burdened with a hidden illness and greedy for wealth and status, had long since gone mad!

Of course, He Tiantian didn’t leave the Marquis Mansion cleanly and decisively, still for the sake of maintaining the original character setting—vain and power-hungry, wildly ambitious!

If there wasn’t a reasonable pretext, and He Tiantian suddenly brought up leaving, not only would the character design collapse, that not-so-stupid Wild Writer would also grow suspicious.

He Tiantian actually wasn’t afraid of directly clashing with the Ma Family.

But trouble is the kind of thing that, if you can avoid it, you’d better avoid it.

"Right, the Ma Family!"

Thinking of the Ma Family, a notion suddenly flashed through He Tiantian’s mind.

This person is also familiar with the plot; she should know what’s going to happen next.

In response, how will she cope, what arrangements will she make?

"Student Xiao D, you go—" keep an eye on the Ma Family!

She got halfway through the sentence and then cut herself off abruptly.

Sigh, habits really are quite terrifying!

He Tiantian gave a wry smile; she hadn’t noticed it before, but with this mission she finally realized that she really had been a bit too reliant on Student Xiao D in the past.

Although she was always disdaining Student Xiao D as an idiot, she had to admit that sometimes Student Xiao D’s "God’s Eye View" was extremely useful.

It let He Tiantian take many shortcuts and saved her a lot of effort.

This time, without Student Xiao D, He Tiantian couldn’t cheat; she could only resort to ordinary methods of snooping.

He Tiantian tidied up the clothes and jewelry the Ma Family had given her and picked out a few hairpins shaped like flowers that looked fairly decent.

She weighed them; they weren’t hollow, and had a respectable heft.

Using them to buy off servants was quite suitable.

The first person He Tiantian bribed was the coarse old woman who swept the courtyard.

Through her, He Tiantian found her way to Gu Jingyuan’s study and saw Gu Jingyuan, who had already rifled through the study once.

Speaking of Gu Jingyuan, staying in the study he knew best, he didn’t even need to think deliberately; he instinctively went and found the little private stash hidden in the Treasure Pavilion, along with some trinkets.

Unlike his eldest brother, who was brave and steady, and his second brother, who was gentle and refined, Gu Jingyuan, this Third Young Master of the Marquis Mansion, had quite a bit of a playboy air about him.

He’d dabbled a little in both books and martial arts, but wasn’t truly proficient in either.

Nicely put, he was versed in both civil and martial arts; not so nicely, he was neither accomplished in letters nor in arms.

When he was younger, he often joined the capital’s crowd of noble children in cockfighting, dog racing, horse riding, and hunting.