My Wife Built a Golden House For Me - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The rain was falling with immense force.

Crack-patter, crack-patter.

It was as if a hole had been torn in the heavens. Raindrops as large as beans pelted the glazed tiles, and within the courtyard, trees swayed and branches shook. Torrential water overflowed everywhere, looking like a sudden flood.

However, the back gate of the Gu residence was currently brightly lit. More than a dozen first-class servants, led by the Head Steward Zhou Chengen, were laughing and joking under the veranda.

“The Clan Head is truly heartless, driving the Madam out on such a stormy night. She’s a beauty like a fairy!”

“Tsk, tsk. That figure, that slender waist—I really wanted to get a few strokes in!”

“You didn’t just want to touch her; you wanted to sleep with her, didn’t you? Haha!”

“You bastard, as if you didn’t! That’s the number one beauty of our Dongzhao Kingdom. Just smell this fragrance; she’s been gone for fifteen minutes, but the air still smells heavenly!”

“Word is, there’s only a wall between our back gate and Yongxing Ward. That place isn’t peaceful. If she runs into some thugs, first they’ll ravish her, then kill her…”

“Bah! Who would have the heart to kill a beauty like Song Cixue? They’d keep her for half a year to enjoy themselves. When they get bored, they’ll sell her to a brothel. She’d fetch at least a few thousand taels!”

“And the little Miss. Even though she’s only three, she’s a carbon copy of Song Cixue. If she’s sold to the South, she’ll definitely become a world-renowned courtesan!”

“Why sell her to the South? Sell her directly to the capital’s biggest brothel—Hundred Flower Pavilion. That place is famous for top-tier courtesans!”

“Heh, just think—if the world’s number one beauty becomes the world’s number one prostitute, wouldn’t our Clan Head’s head be glowing green with infidelity? Hahahahahaha!”

The servants were laughing so loudly that Zhou Chengen kicked one of them. Looking up at the sky, a few large raindrops splashed into his eye socket. He cursed angrily, “Damn heavens—”

He turned around to wipe his face, but suddenly he looked like a dog being strangled by the neck. His eyes nearly bulged out of his head.

“Clan… Clan Head?!!”

The foul laughter of the other servants stopped abruptly at those words. Someone poked their head out to look, only to see a figure standing within the shadows of the veranda.

Her face was perfectly masked by the darkness, yet in the faint glimmer of the storm, half of a refined and cold silhouette was revealed.

Who else could it be but the head of the Gu family, Gu Qinghe?

“G-greetings, Clan Head!” The servants panicked and lowered their heads in unison.

Gu Qinghe stood quietly in the darkness, saying nothing.

She had transmigrated into a book.

The original Gu Qinghe was the head of the Gu family, one of the four great Imperial Merchants and a century-old noble house in the Dongzhao Kingdom.

The original host and the daughter of the equally prestigious Song family, Song Cixue, had been betrothed since infancy. Song Cixue possessed a celestial grace and incomparable beauty; she was also a rare, top-tier Kunze (Omega), known as the number one delicate beauty of the kingdom. Their engagement was envied by the world, but it also invited endless covetous gazes.

From the age of thirteen, matchmakers had worn down the doorstep of the Song house. Suitors came from across the land, including many princes and nobles. However, Song Cixue was deeply devoted to Gu Qinghe, refusing to marry anyone else. She ignored all outsiders, her only wish being to marry Gu Qinghe!

Unfortunately—

The original host was a despicable, ungrateful wolf. Before the wedding, she used flowery words to trick Song Cixue out of her innocence, causing her to become pregnant before marriage. She used this to leverage the Song family’s influence to ascend to the position of Clan Head. After the marriage, driven by vanity and a desire to cling to the Grand Princess’s influence, she quickly revealed her true nature. Not only did she ignore her biological daughter, but she also stood by as the Song family—who had helped her with everything—was ruined. She even secretly kicked them while they were down, leading to the destruction of the Song family, leaving Song Cixue as a lonely orphan.

Far from showing pity, the original host intensified her trampling and humiliation of Song Cixue.

She led the abuse herself and watched coldly as clansmen and servants insulted her. She even tried to force Song Cixue to become a plaything for powerful officials for profit. After Song Cixue resisted with the threat of death, the host threw a letter of divorce at her on a stormy night and kicked the mother and daughter out.

She had specifically chosen such a torrential midnight to drive them away, intending for Song Cixue to die out of sheer humiliation.

That way, Song Cixue’s death would be framed as a suicide out of guilt, and she could continue acting like a gentleman of integrity to seek a marriage with a higher noble house.

What was even more absurd was that the original host, driven by some twisted psychology, had actually followed them in secret to peep at the scene of the servants throwing Song Cixue and her daughter out.

Then, a bolt of lightning flashed across the sky, and the modern Gu Qinghe transmigrated in that very instant.

Within her mind, a System was issuing various warnings.

“Host, fifteen minutes have passed since you arrived in this world. Your target has already left the Gu residence. If you do not take action immediately, you will lose the optimal window for your mission. What awaits you is frantic revenge, and you will die a miserable death—”

Gu Qinghe’s expression didn’t flicker. She said calmly, “If I kill her now, wouldn’t that solve the problem forever?”

The System paused. “Song Cixue is the original protagonist. If she dies, this world will collapse, and you, Host, will die even faster.”

Gu Qinghe went silent.

“Host, moments before you arrived, you personally wrote the divorce letter, driving your wife, Song Cixue, and your three-year-old daughter, Gu Yao, out of the house on charges of the ‘Seven Outs.’ When they were kicked out, they had no money and didn’t even take an umbrella.”

Still silence.

“Host, on a stormy night like this, a young child can easily catch a cold and die. Your ex-wife has suffered every humiliation; it is highly likely she will seek death. If that happens, your mission difficulty will reach ‘Hell Level.'”

“Furthermore—”

“Your ex-wife is a peerless beauty. If she encounters thugs who satisfy their bestial desires and then sell her and your daughter into a brothel…”

The System was starting to sound frantic.

Gu Qinghe had been waiting for this moment.

“Miss System,” she said politely, sounding quite easy to talk to.

But the System could not be happy at all.

Of all the hosts it had inhabited, this was the first time it had encountered such a difficult piece of work.

The moment she transmigrated, she didn’t show a hint of panic. Within ten seconds, she had grasped all the System’s rules and found its weakness, pinning it down with a few words. Within thirty seconds, she had gained a perfect understanding of the Gu family’s current state.

Even the grand name “System” had been stripped from it.

“Does the Host have any instructions?”

“Send me the content of the original novel.”

The System was shocked. Good heavens, she’s a host who hasn’t even read the original book. Thinking it had finally found leverage, the System cleared its throat arrogantly.

“Ahem. Host, the original content requires you to complete missions for the heroine and obtain ‘Favorability Points’ from her first…”

“Miss System…” Gu Qinghe interrupted. “As this is our first meeting, you still owe me a greeting gift.”

The System went silent.  “Host, I have already given you a Newcomer Bundle to help you understand the Gu family. Unless you exchange points…”

Gu Qinghe interrupted again. “Miss System, you don’t want the mission to fail and be wiped out, do you?”

Her tone was light, but it carried an absolute coldness that suggested: You have no choice but to help me.

The System fell into a deafening silence.

A moment later, an information alert popped up in Gu Qinghe’s mind.

“The content of three chapters has been sent. View immediately?”

She didn’t open it right away. Instead, she asked, “Are these three chapters regarding the situation after Song Cixue was kicked out of the Gu house?”

“Of course not. These are the first three chapters of the original book.”

“Miss System, such useless content only makes me doubt your intelligence as a System.”

After a few seconds of deadlock, the System dejectedly sent new content.

“Three chapters regarding the situation after Song Cixue was kicked out have been sent. View immediately?”

“View.”

The System breathed a long sigh of relief. However, in the next instant, it screamed.

“Host! Why are you peeking at the first three chapters? Didn’t you say they were useless?!”

“Miss System, you’ve lost your composure.”

System: “…”

Was the loss of composure the key issue here? The key was that this despicable host had tricked it out of two greeting gifts!

Thirty seconds later, Gu Qinghe finally spoke.

“Donglai. Shuangquan.”

Two fair-faced young pages immediately ran to her. “Master?”

“Using foul language and slandering the Clan Head—what is the punishment?”

Her voice was soft, but because there was only the sound of rain around them, it was exceptionally clear. Donglai immediately rushed to answer, “In reply to Master, according to house rules, slandering the Clan Head results in one broken leg and the entire family being demoted to the manor. If there are further mistakes, the whole family is sold to the black coal mines!”

Hearing this, the servants who had been laughing earlier turned pale and fell to their knees with a thud.

“Master, have mercy! We won’t do it again!”

Some, seeing the situation turn sour, even began slapping their own faces.

Zhou Chengen was also startled. He thought to himself: Doesn’t this master loathe Song Cixue? Usually, when the servants treat that unfavored Madam like dirt, the master doesn’t react.

Why the sudden fury today?

He quickly gave himself a slap and said with a bow, “Master, the servants have loose tongues; it is because I didn’t teach them well. Please appease your anger. I will take them down to be punished immediately. We cannot allow them to foul your ears and eyes.”

With that, he signaled the servants to slip away.

Gu Qinghe remained in the darkness, her gaze terrifyingly indifferent. She spoke softly: “If there is a fault but no punishment, what is the use of house rules?”

Four tall guards standing in the distance had been watching the scene, their faces wearing habitual contempt. They had followed this Gu Clan Head for three years and knew her “nest-tyrant” nature too well—she was only good at bullying her wife and daughter, and couldn’t even manage the slaves under her hand.

They assumed this “punishment” would be another joke.

However, in the next moment, Gu Qinghe said, “Guo Wei, Kong Wu. Execute the house rules.”

Guo Wei and Kong Wu were stunned.

The servants were startled and quickly went back to pretending to be terrified, begging for mercy: “Master, have mercy! We know we were wrong! We only said those things because we thought you disliked the Madam! We were only showing our loyalty!”

Gu Qinghe’s lips curled slightly. Within those ink-black eyes, a flash of extreme, mocking disdain passed through.

What “loyalty.”

Since when did servants humiliating their masters count as loyalty?

She looked at Guo Wei and Kong Wu with displeasure. “Did you two guards not hear my words?”

Guo Wei and Kong Wu grinned. They were hired bodyguards; naturally, they listened to whoever paid the silver. Hearing this, they strode toward the servants, grabbing them like hawks catching chicks. They ordered the other servants to bind their limbs and pin them to door planks.

Plea after plea rose up.

“Master, have mercy! We were wrong! We’ll never do it again!”

Guo Wei looked at Gu Qinghe. “Does the Master really want to break their legs? Left or right?”

Gu Qinghe stared at him coldly, saying nothing.

Guo Wei suddenly felt a chill down his spine. He felt he was being looked down upon by this “nest-tyrant” and felt his pride was at stake. He suddenly grabbed a wooden club himself and swung it violently at the servant screaming the loudest.

“Aaaagh!” A blood-curdling scream echoed through the Gu residence.

Gu Qinghe’s expression turned colder. “Too noisy. Gag them.”

Donglai and Shuangquan were seeing their master this angry for the first time and dared not delay, hurrying others to gag them one by one.

The execution time was short. Since Guo Wei and his men were martial artists, breaking a leg only required one well-aimed strike to the knee. Crack. The bones snapped instantly.

Zhou Chengen lay on the ground, his face ashen with terror. After a while, when the sounds died down, he peeked up, only to find Gu Qinghe staring at him coldly.

He shivered violently.

Gu Qinghe narrowed her eyes. “Leading the slander against the Clan Head—what is the punishment?”

This time, Shuangquan rushed to answer: “Reporting to Master, according to house rules, one should be subjected to the punishment of tongue-ripping, and the whole family sold!”

Zhou Chengen nearly fainted. He crawled on his knees toward Gu Qinghe. “Master, I didn’t slander you! I didn’t say a word! I swear to the heavens—”

But Gu Qinghe only looked at him coldly. Zhou Chengen suddenly grit his teeth and said as if risking it all, “If the Master doesn’t care for my merits, at least care for my hard work! I have served you for years. Even the Great Elder and the First Madam often praise my loyalty…”

How could Gu Qinghe not hear him using the Great Elder and the First Madam to pressure her? A slight smile suddenly appeared on her expressionless face.

“Steward Zhou is right. For a servant as loyal as you, I naturally cannot bear to rip out your tongue—”

Zhou Chengen felt as if he had been granted a divine pardon and hurriedly kowtowed.

To his surprise, Gu Qinghe continued: “Steward Zhou’s punishment will be put on the tab for now. Currently, there is an important matter I must entrust to you. Go through the night and invite the several Elders, the First Madam, the Second Master, Third Master, Fifth Master, and the Seventh Young Miss back. Tell them I wish to audit the accounts.”

“As for the rest of you, go to the shops, the manors, and the various houses and bring back all the account books. If any are missing or destroyed, you won’t be needing your other leg either.”

Zhou Chengen froze for a moment and asked cautiously, “But Master, they just had one leg broken…”

Gu Qinghe’s voice was exceptionally indifferent. “What? Are you questioning my decision?”

“I wouldn’t dare! I wouldn’t dare!”

Gu Qinghe’s eyes were filled with nothing but coldness.

From the content sent by the System, she learned that of the hundreds of people in the Gu family—from masters down to third-class slaves—nearly everyone could humiliate the host’s wife, Song Cixue, at will. Even the daughter Song Cixue bore, Gu Yao, was often mistreated by these servants.

Among them, this Head Steward Zhou was the one who bullied them the most.

And the foul language from earlier was likely just one instance of the countless times they had humiliated the mother and daughter.

Since they could drive a weak woman and child out to die on a stormy night, what was wrong with these “loyal servants” dragging their broken legs to move account books?

She continued her orders: “Guo Wei, Kong Wu, Cheng Yong, Liu Meng. Follow Steward Zhou closely. Ensure they carry out my business with loyalty.” Her indifferent tone sounded rippleless, yet it carried a chill that made one’s skin crawl.

Forty-five minutes later, a luxurious carriage drove into a derelict residence in Yongxing Ward.

The rain was pouring, and the night was as thick as ink.

Gu Qinghe stepped down from the carriage and instructed her personal servants.

“Guard the entrance. Allow no one to approach.”

She walked into the darkness alone.

Ahead was an old house, long out of repair. It was filled with ruined walls and debris, appearing as if it might collapse at any moment under the storm. Nothing could be seen clearly.

Gu Qinghe walked slowly, step by step, firmly—as if every step of this road was vital to her.

She got closer and closer.

The raindrops pelted down, sounding like countless beads hitting broken tiles and rotten bricks. It was chaotic, yet she still heard a whimpering sound coming from a corner.

It was the suppressed sobbing of a young child—very thin, shivering, and trembling with an extraordinary terror.

Gu Qinghe’s footsteps stopped. She looked toward the only corner that still had a roof.

It was too dark to see anything at all.

However, she saw a pair of eyes.

A pair of eyes shimmering with bone-deep hatred in the darkness. If one looked closely, one could see blood-red streaks within them.

Those eyes were staring deathly at her.

Gu Qinghe spoke softly: “Cixue, it’s me.”