Chapter 1763: Beauty Before Him

"Did she approach you, or did you approach her?" Chen Guanlou was suspicious, suspecting someone was targeting him. Knowing his preferences, they were catering to his tastes by sending him a widow.

Commonly known as a custom-made pig-slaughtering scam!

Losing some money didn't matter.

He was just afraid of other schemes.

Chen Xiaolan told him, "A matchmaker was talking about a marriage for Lady Gu, and I heard a few words, so I got the idea. I let the matchmaker pass the word, met Lady Gu once, and told her about your situation. She is willing. If she wasn't willing, I certainly wouldn't come to you and talk nonsense."

Chen Guanlou gave an "oh," his suspicion slightly reduced.

"Is she truly a stunning beauty?"

Chen Xiaolan immediately rolled her eyes at her younger brother; a dog can't change its habit of eating excrement, and a man can't change his habit of loving beauty.

While annoyed, she patiently said, "She can't be called a stunning beauty, but she has a unique charm. Don't ask anymore; if you are truly interested, set a time to meet, and you will know that what I said is true and not exaggerated. Lady Gu is truly good; I have seen her with her previous husband, and she is a virtuous person. It's just that her fate is bad; she lost her husband at a young age."

"How old is she?"

"Just over twenty, exactly when her color is fresh and bright. You won't lose out by matching with her."

Chen Guanlou was a little tempted, but he didn't want to have a son; having a daughter would be fine.

"Then I'll listen to you and arrange a time to meet."

Chen Xiaolan was overjoyed.

For ten or twenty years, this was the first time her younger brother agreed to a blind date. Although he was dating a widow!

Immediately after, she asked another question, "If it's suitable, will you settle her outside? Should you inform the Prince's daughter?"

"No need to inform the Prince's daughter there. She has eyes and ears in the capital; my affairs are not hidden from her. She can know whatever she wants to know."

Perhaps the Prince's daughter even knew a thing or two about his affair with Consort Jing.

He didn't dare to guarantee now that no one knew about his affair with Consort Jing.

Always walking by the river, how could one not get their shoes wet!

As long as the palace didn't know, it would be fine.

The meeting was arranged in a garden in the city.

The proprietor was very clever, knowing that their garden had beautiful scenery and many people came for it. So, during the flower-blooming season, they opened the garden to the public, charging ten wen per person for admission. The garden had tea seats, providing tea, snacks, and various foods. They also provided the four treasures of the study for scholars and singers to help with the elegant interest.

During the flowering period, the garden's business was quite good, and it was crowded. Hundreds of tea seats could be filled.

However, now that the flowering period was over, there were few tourists in the garden, which was just right for a man and woman to meet.

Chen Guanlou followed his eldest sister, Chen Xiaolan, to the garden.

Lady Gu, on the other hand, followed her brother and sister-in-law.

As soon as the two sides met, Lady Gu's brother and sister-in-law began to criticize and make various unreasonable demands.

The other party wanted a high dowry, but that "high" amount was just a bit of silver to Chen Guanlou.

But he was very dissatisfied with the faces of Lady Gu's brother and sister-in-law, who were calculating and always thinking about how to get benefits. They opened their mouths with difficulties and closed them with demands for money.

Just this face alone had already ruined Chen Guanlou's appetite.

As for Lady Gu, her eyes were mournful as if weeping. Six parts of beauty, matched with ten parts of eyes, made for nine parts of color.

The whole face was best defined by a pair of eyes.

If those eyes were replaced, the face would appear beautiful but boring, without any characteristics.

With eyes that were mournful and affectionate, she could be called a stunning woman.

Chen Xiaolan, also a woman, might not be able to appreciate this beauty.

But Chen Guanlou took it to heart.

Too lazy to listen to Lady Gu's brother and sister-in-law nagging, he just stared at Lady Gu.

Lady Gu was very embarrassed by his staring, lowered her head, and blushed.

"You are too thin now; you need to eat more, and you will look better when you gain some weight." Chen Guanlou spoke with a fatherly tone, but Lady Gu felt joy in her heart, hummed, and nodded.

Seeing that the other party responded, Chen Guanlou continued, "You live with your brother and sister-in-law now; where are your parents? Are they no longer here?"

"To let Company Commander Chen know, my mother died in childbirth when I was young, trying to give birth to my younger brother. My father also passed away a few years ago."

"You have a younger brother? I haven't heard of that before."

"I have a younger brother. My brother is not yet married and lives with my eldest brother. My brother is very good at studying, but it's a pity that the family is in difficulty..."

The rest of the words didn't need to be continued; those who understood, understood.

Chen Guanlou gave an "oh" and didn't respond.

Whether there was a younger brother didn't matter.

He was just simply appreciating Lady Gu's beauty.

"I am not a long-term person, nor am I willing to bear a woman's lifetime. Do you understand this?"

"I understand." Lady Gu raised her eyes slightly, her eyes revealing grievance, biting her thin lips, and continued, "I only ask for a place to stay and to be cherished by the master!"

"Why not go to a wealthy family to be a concubine?"

"No way." Lady Gu found it hard to speak, ashamed and embarrassed.

"Why not properly find a man to be a wife? With your beauty, it's not difficult to find a first-marriage man."

"My brother and sister-in-law don't agree!" Lady Gu was again aggrieved and sad. "The family is in difficulty, and my brother and sister-in-law are counting on me to lighten the burden on the family."

The implication was that the first-marriage men who were willing to marry her as a wife were all from ordinary families and couldn't afford a high dowry.

Lady Gu's brother and sister-in-law really dared to speak; for a small family, they asked for a hundred taels of dowry.

It was a typical case of price gouging.

In this day and age, in the capital, an ordinary family that could take out twenty or thirty taels of savings at once could be called well-off, and life was still considered good. After a year of hard work, excluding expenses, being able to save two or three taels of silver was called good housekeeping.

A hundred taels of dowry, why not go rob someone!

For an ordinary family, giving a dowry of ten taels, adding some cloth, and making two sets of new clothes could be considered exceptionally valued.

A hundred taels was purely a transaction, not a marriage.

"If I introduce you to a wealthy family, would you be willing?" Chen Guanlou asked directly.

Lady Gu was dumbfounded, unable to believe it, her eyes filled with tears, looking at him with mournful eyes, as if he were a heartless man.

Chen Guanlou felt a bit guilty and subconsciously pinched his nose.

"If you are not willing, then forget it."

Lady Gu lowered her head and said in a low voice, "How could a small woman have the qualification to say whether she is willing or not? Everything is controlled by my brother and sister-in-law; everything is beyond my control."

Poor beauty.

If a young master were present today, he would have thrown out a handful of silver notes on the spot, taken the beauty home, and made a promise to protect her for life.

Unfortunately, he met Chen Guanlou, this man who didn't understand romance.

He looked indifferent, neither making promises nor throwing silver. He just stared at her.

Lady Gu took out a handkerchief and sobbed in a low voice. Feeling embarrassed, she decisively turned her back to him, not letting him see. Hmph, just stingy.

Chen Guanlou laughed instead; having a bit of temper was quite good.

He really didn't like a simple, soft personality.

He loved beauty, but he was also very picky. He didn't care for a vase beauty without any temper. Life was like a pool of stagnant water, without any passion to speak of.

Consort Jing was still better!

Being with Consort Jing, life was both refreshing and full of passion, always having a sense of freshness. ===== CHAPTER 1764 =====