After Gu Jiangyue put the veil back on her face, Lin Yeran, as if afraid she would back out, grabbed her hand and rushed straight towards the front hall. Gu Jiangyue followed behind him. Now she didn't need to pretend anymore. She should figure out how to act next to make Lin Yeran give up on her.
When they reached the front hall, the others had already started chatting. They seemed to be having a good time, with smiles on their faces.
After Gu Jiangyue finished paying her respects and stood still, everyone finally noticed her.
Gu Jiangyue could feel that everyone's eyes turned to her simultaneously, especially the old matriarch and Lady Ye.
Although both of them were looking at her, their expressions were quite different. Lady Ye looked at the veil on Gu Jiangyue's face, her eyes full of confusion. As for the old matriarch, her smile froze completely the moment she saw Gu Jiangyue.
Lin Yeran obviously noticed his mother's confusion. He quickly walked to Lady Ye's side, leaned over and whispered into her ear all about how he had discovered Gu Jiangyue's disfigurement just now.
After hearing this, Lady Ye was in a difficult situation. She didn't know what to do. They had gone to so much trouble, but in the end, something had gone wrong with Gu Jiangyue.
But seeing Gu Jiangyue looking so weak and haggard, she had to choose her words carefully. If she said something too harsh by accident, considering Gu Jiangyue had just been disfigured, it might touch on her sore spot.
For a young lady waiting to be married, her appearance was of utmost importance. If Gu Jiangyue did something stupid, the Lin family would never be able to clear their name.
Gu Jiangyue found it funny looking at Lady Ye's expression, which was as if she had eaten a fly. It seemed they hadn't thought that she had deliberately disfigured herself to avoid this engagement. After all, who would ruin their own face for such a thing? Naturally, Gu Jiangyue wouldn't either. Her face would recover.
Seeing the atmosphere turn cold, the others didn't dare to speak. They were just here to watch the fun. This matter had nothing to do with them. If they said one more word, they might get involved. So no one was willing to take the risk to defend a girl who was out of favor and now disfigured.
Seeing no one was speaking, Gu Jiangyue was the first to break the silence. To make herself look more innocent and weak, she deliberately added a sob to her voice.
"I'm not an unreasonable person. Now that I'm in this state, I'm afraid I'm no longer worthy of Young Master Lin. Please take back the betrothal gifts, Young Master Lin."
As she said this, a hint of reluctance flashed across her eyes just right, as if she was really reluctant to give up this engagement.
All her expressions fell into Lady Ye's eyes, scaring her into a panic. She couldn't let Gu Jiangyue back out. She had been thinking about how to cancel this engagement. Now that Gu Jiangyue had brought it up herself, she had to seize this opportunity.
Lady Ye forced out a couple of dry laughs and tried to make her expression look natural.
"Jiangyue, you can't say that. There's no such thing as worthy or unworthy. I can see that you've been in poor health recently and can't stand any more trouble. We can discuss this betrothal another day. You should take good care of yourself first. We'll take back the betrothal gifts."
It was better for her to take back the betrothal gifts and be laughed at in the capital for a few days than to let her son marry a hideous woman as his main wife. What if Gu Jiangyue had some illness and passed it on to them? They had to take this small loss.
After hearing Lady Ye's words, the old matriarch on the main seat felt a bit regretful. She even thought it would be great if Lin Yeran really liked Gu Jiangyue and didn't mind her ugliness. Then the Gu family could still form an alliance with the Lin family, and they could get rid of this ugly duckling. Wouldn't that be perfect?
After Lady Ye had said what she needed to say, she pulled Lin Yeran and wanted to leave this troublesome place quickly. But Lin Yeran shouted at her unhappily.
"Mother, do you really want to return the betrothal gifts?"
Lin Yeran then leaned over carefully and whispered into Lady Ye's ear. Although Gu Jiangyue couldn't hear what they were saying, from the corner of her eye, she clearly saw Lin Yeran pointing in the direction of Gu Zhuying.
"Mother, don't take back the betrothal gifts. I want her. She's a concubine-born daughter. We can just take her as a concubine. She's beautiful. It's a great deal."
The idea of not having to take back the betrothal gifts intrigued Lady Ye. She thought for a while and felt that this was indeed a good solution.
As long as they arranged a marriage with Gu Zhuying, they wouldn't have to take back the betrothal gifts. The things they had prepared this time were all in the grand style for a main wife. Although this amount of money didn't really matter to the Lin family.
But for Gu Zhuying, a concubine-born daughter, it could greatly prove their respect for her. Maybe they could even gain a good reputation because of it. Moreover, since Lin Yeran had taken a fancy to Gu Zhuying, as long as they managed to arrange this marriage, it would be a profitable deal.
After all, no one in the capital knew whether the girl Lin Yeran had come to the Gu mansion to marry was Gu Jiangyue or Gu Zhuying. Taking Gu Zhuying away might even earn them some praise.
Lady Ye thought of many benefits and took the lead to speak.
"Since we've come today, and I can see that the old matriarch really wants to form an alliance with our Lin family. How about this? Jiangyue is not convenient recently. Our Lin family is not picky. We'll just take a concubine-born daughter back as a concubine. What do you think, old matriarch?"
Hearing that they could still maintain a relationship with the Lin family and they only wanted a concubine-born daughter, the old matriarch was immediately overjoyed.
"Of course it's okay. Young Master Lin can choose whichever young lady he likes. I can set the wedding date right away."
Since the old matriarch's background was not good and she had suffered a lot of discrimination because of it, she didn't like concubine-born daughters very much. She only cared about whether the legitimate daughters were well-fed and well-dressed.
So among all these concubine-born daughters, there was none that the old matriarch particularly valued or liked. Even if they really married Lin Yeran, she would only think that they were making sacrifices for the better future of the Gu family.
Forming an alliance with the Lin family was something the old matriarch had always wanted to do.
Seeing that the old matriarch had agreed, Lin Yeran no longer acted carefully. Instead, he walked forward openly and began to examine the faces of those young ladies.
When he stopped in front of Gu Zhuying, Gu Zhuying maintained a smile on her face, but she was still a bit scared by Lin Yeran's infatuated look.
Finally, Lin Yeran made up his mind, pointed at Gu Zhuying and made his choice.
"Mother, I like her."