Chapter 313: Old Huang’s Past

"The very next day, I had someone ask around about her."

"I found out her family was planning to marry her to her cousin, but nothing was official yet. I decided to strike first."

Gu Fei glanced at Old Huang. ’This man really is cunning.’

"I hired an official matchmaker to propose on my behalf and promised a huge amount of silver as a betrothal gift."

"Her family was just an ordinary one. They had never seen so much silver, not even heard of such a sum. Her parents were swayed."

"This was over twenty years ago. At the time, Housekeeper Wu wasn’t a housekeeper, just a servant in the Prince Qi Mansion. By status, he was merely a slave, and in wealth, he was far beneath me. My parents-in-law, ignoring the desperate pleas of my wife and Wu Dahai, married her off to me."

"Although my wife didn’t want to marry me, it was a marriage ordained by her parents and arranged by a matchmaker. She had no choice in the matter."

"After she married me, she soon gave birth to my son. But the birth damaged her health, and she could never get pregnant again."

"It didn’t matter much, though. We had a son to continue the family line, so I devoted myself to taking care of her and our son."

"Ever since she was with me, my wife was devoted to our family, managing the household and raising our son. My business prospered, and our family lived a flourishing life... until something happened to our son."

"My wife immediately fell ill. She was bedridden for half a year, and it was clear she wasn’t going to make it."

"Just then, my good-for-nothing brother, instigated by who knows who, brought a young woman over. He said she could be my concubine so I wouldn’t be left without descendants. But really, he was just trying to get silver out of me."

"Unfortunately, the maidservant attending to my wife was tactless and told her about it. My wife was already in poor health, and hearing this made her condition worsen dramatically. I quickly sent someone to fetch her parents."

"Wu Dahai came with them. The moment he arrived, he gave me a beating. He called me ungrateful, saying that while my wife lay on her deathbed, all I could think about was taking a concubine. He said if she recovered, he’d let it go, but if anything happened to her, he would make me pay with my life."

"By this time, Wu Dahai was already the Chief Steward of the Prince Qi Mansion. To common folk like us, his power was immense."

"But my wife, it seems, still had some affection for me. She heard Wu Dahai’s words from inside the room and called him in. She made him swear that if anything were to happen to her, he was not to harm me."

"If Wu Dahai dared to lay a hand on me, she said she would never see him again, not even in the next life."

"The two of them, right there in front of me, made a promise for the next life. I... I..."

It was clearly a tragic story, yet Gu Fei almost wanted to laugh.

’Oh, Old Huang... I don’t even know what to say.’

Old Huang gave a bitter smile. "If only I’d known then what I know now."

"That Wu Dahai is a ruthless man. He never married, single-mindedly devoting himself only to my wife."

Gu Fei raised an eyebrow. ’I never would have guessed Housekeeper Wu was so deeply devoted.’

’But he’s also far too cruel.’

"After my wife passed away, someone arranged a match for me with an unmarried woman in her twenties. I didn’t want to live the rest of my life alone, so I agreed. Who would have known that the very next day, Wu Dahai would show up."

"He told me I could forget about ever having a good life. He said that although he promised my wife he wouldn’t kill me, if I dared to marry or take a concubine, he would kill every single one I took."

"I knew he was a man of his word. I took fifty thousand taels of silver and went to beg him. I told him I was willing to give him my entire fortune if he would just let me go."