Do you know that my grandfather was entitled to be enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple?

Chapter 60 The Incomplete Betrothal Gifts

He knew very well that the most difficult thing for him to do was to prove his identity in order to see his maternal grandfather one last time and inherit the Bai family business according to his grandfather's will.

Although Gu Tingye always knew that his maternal grandfather was alive, he had never met him since he could remember, nor had he ever been to Yangzhou.

Gu Yankai told him that his mother died in childbirth, and Old Master Bai was so grief-stricken by the loss of his daughter that he hated the Gu family.

He even hated his grandson, Gu Tingye.

Gu Tingye didn't understand why his maternal grandfather held a grudge against him when his mother hadn't died in childbirth.

But his maternal grandfather had never visited him, nor had he written him any letters.

Since he had never met this maternal grandfather since he could remember, and had no feelings for him, he didn't care.

But when he received his grandfather's will, he realized that things were not so simple.

If his maternal grandfather hated him, he would never have handed over the family business to him.

Although his maternal grandfather had no children, the Bai family was not limited to his maternal grandfather's branch, so they could adopt one.

According to current beliefs and traditions, most people, even if they have no children, will adopt a member of their own clan to inherit the family business, rather than giving it to their grandchildren.

After all, a grandson can only inherit the family property, not the ancestral hall.

During festivals and holidays, members of the clan would come to offer sacrifices.

However, Old Master Bai chose to let an outsider inherit the business, which shows that Old Master Bai did not hate his grandson.

Moreover, the old master Bai reminded him to be wary of the Gu family forbidding him from going to Yangzhou, which left him completely puzzled.

From a selfish perspective, who wouldn't be envious of the Bai family's vast fortune?

If there's a legitimate reason to inherit, we should be happy about it; why would we stop it?

But whether he wants to inherit the family business or uncover these long-buried secrets, he needs to prove his identity.

Identity is something that is sometimes easy to prove, and sometimes very difficult to prove.

Even if he went to the Bai family with the will written by Old Master Bai himself, the other members of the Bai family would still question his identity and the authenticity of the will.

Even if he wants to verify his identity, it will take some time.

The Bai family had already completed the distribution of the inheritance before he could confirm his identity, so it was too late.

The simplest way for him to prove his identity was through Yuan Wenchun.

Therefore, Gu Tingye remained silent for a while before saying, "I haven't seen the betrothal ceremony yet, and I'd like to go and join in the fun."

Yangzhou is a long way from Bianjing (Kaifeng), and since I've come all this way, I plan to enjoy myself here for a while and don't intend to go back so soon.

"In that case, Zhonghuai, come with me to the Sheng family tomorrow. I'll introduce you to Uncle Sheng. Yangzhou is not like Bianjing, so if you encounter any trouble in Yangzhou, you can ask Uncle Sheng for help."

Yuan Wenchun didn't care whether Gu Tingye went back or not; it was fine as long as Gu Tingye wanted to join in the fun.

The news that his father had promised to personally come to propose marriage had already spread, but his father did not come. No matter how he explained it, there would inevitably be criticism.

Bring Gu Tingye along. Introducing Gu Tingye's identity later will give the Yuan family face and dispel the negative impact of those rumors.

The Gu family is far superior to the Yuan family. The second son of the Gu family traveled a long distance to come and propose marriage. What does this mean?

This shows that the Yuan and Gu families had a very good relationship.

"Then thank you very much, Brother Da." Gu Tingye said gratefully.

"It's just a small matter, why are you being so polite with me, Zhonghuai?"

Yuan Wenchun chatted with Gu Tingye for a while, then made an excuse to leave.

…………

The next morning, the Sheng family's gate was bustling with activity.

Yangzhou was not only an important town in Jiangnan, but also the seat of government of Huainan East Circuit.

The road was roughly equivalent to a province in later times, and Yangzhou was the provincial capital.

Therefore, Yangzhou had two sets of administrative bodies: one was the administrative office at the circuit level, and the other was the administrative office at the prefecture level.

Although Sheng Hong was the Vice Prefect of Yangzhou, it was often said in official circles that "three unfortunate lives lead to being a county magistrate in the capital; three evil deeds lead to being a provincial governor in the capital; and the most heinous crimes lead to being a magistrate in the capital city."

In other prefectures, the Tongpan was the second-in-command, second only to the Zhizhou.

In Yangzhou, there were many officials with higher ranks than Sheng Hong, who was a sub-prefect.

With the marriage alliance between the Sheng family and the Bianjing noble family, and Sheng Hong's imminent promotion, even high-ranking officials who usually had little contact with the Sheng family sent congratulatory gifts.

Even more people personally visited the betrothal banquet to attend.

Sheng Hong was busy entertaining the male guests, while Madam Wang was busy entertaining the female guests.

Madam Feng went to help Madam Wang.

Even Sheng Changbai and Ru Lan Molan were busy entertaining some of the younger generation who came with their elders.

Wang You's task was to take care of the children.

Mu Jie'er is a restless person, but today there are too many guests at the Sheng family, and there are people everywhere, so there is no place for her to play.

"Second brother, take me to play with Sister Minglan," Mu Jie'er said coquettishly.

"If you want to go, let Xiangcao take you. That's the backyard, it's not convenient for me to go there," Wang You said.

"No, you come with me."

Mu Jie'er shook Wang You's hand coquettishly.

"I already told you that's the backyard, I can't go there."

But Mu'er was only four years old and didn't understand these principles. She just looked up at him with a look that said, "I'll cry if you don't agree."

Wang You's heart softened instantly when he saw that Mu Jie'er looked like she was about to cry if he didn't agree.

However, he certainly couldn't go to the backyard. Just as he was thinking about how to comfort his sister, a cheer suddenly came from not far away.

Wang You looked in the direction of the sound and saw people playing pitch-pot, with many people gathered around watching and clapping.

Seeing this, Wang You was taken aback. After regaining his senses, he squatted down and said, "I can't go to the backyard, but you can go and call your sister Minglan out to play."

Seeing the pitch-pot game reminded him that, because of him, the scene of Gu Tingye and Minglan competing in pitch-pot would probably never happen again.

Wang You's deepest impression of Minglan is her competition with Gu Tingye in pitch-pot and the scene of them playing polo on the polo field.

Only at this moment is Minglan at her most radiant.

Perhaps it's because she's hiding her true abilities, or perhaps it's because of her age and experiences, but she's not always her most authentic self.

Wang You even felt that without Gu Tingye and Minglan playing the pitch-pot game, the betrothal ceremony seemed incomplete.

Upon hearing this, Mu Jie blinked and said, "Then I'll go now."

"Vanilla, watch carefully," Wang You instructed.

"Don't worry, Second Young Master, this servant will keep a close eye on things." Xiangcao nodded quickly.

Although nothing serious happened when Mu Jie'er was lost, it was a big mistake for the servants not to keep a close eye on the young mistress.

If it weren't for the fact that it was difficult to punish her within the Sheng family, she would have been punished long ago.

We're in a rush to perform now, so we can't afford to be careless.

"Go."

Watching Xiangcao leave with Mu Jie'er, Wang You stroked his chin and began to ponder.

Getting Minglan out isn't difficult, but how do we get her to compete with Gu Tingye?

In the original drama, Minglan's reason for playing the pitch-pot game with Gu Tingye was only partly to help Hualan keep the betrothal gifts.

Actually, her main purpose was to show off and get her and her stepmother more attention from her father, Sheng Hong.