The Gu Family was a large clan, and ever since they settled down by Blue Moon Lake, to prevent too many descendants from competing for resources, Shiyi's Nascent Soul ancestor established a rule: except for the legitimate lineage inheriting the family business, all adult males must leave Blue Moon Lake, taking with them their share of the family's silver, and find their own way in life. Even the legitimate offspring must leave and establish their own households after three generations away from Blue Moon Lake.
This is the equivalent of trees branching out and children leaving home once they grow up!
For example, Old Lady Gu's family was a distant relative of Shiyi, probably having branched off during the great-great-grandfathers' generation, but over the years, they had long stopped interacting with the legitimate lineage!
When Shiyi was young, the head of the family was her grandfather Gu Baiye. Gu Baiye had two brothers, Gu Qiancheng and Gu Wanshan; and Gu Baiye himself had three sons, Gu Huaimu, Gu Huilin, and Gu Yusen. Shiyi was the eldest legitimate daughter of Gu Huaimu, the eldest, so she was of the senior line of descent. But with the family being so large, with generations of births before and after, some marry late, some marry early, though Gu Huaimu was the second among his brothers, Shiyi ended up being the eleventh in the birth order. With so many people in the family that even recalling names became a challenge, it was more practical to number them one, two, three, four, five.
After Shiyi left the Gu Family, she had no desire to use her real name, and thus the name Gu Shiyi stuck with her until now.
"When I left at the age of five, my uncle's concubine had just given birth to a son for him, and my second uncle had just taken an eighth concubine..."
People in this realm live long lives, and large clans can afford to raise many children, so they prolifically produced offspring—prosperity was not just an empty phrase!
Gu Shiyi whispered to Li Yanyan,
"My father's generation didn't possess Spirit Roots, so they couldn't engage in Great Cultivation. They just kept having sons. Considering his age, if my father hasn't suffered from renal deficiency, he might still be fathering children now!"
So in twenty-five years, with several uncles and great-uncles working hard together, it wouldn't be surprising if there were now a Gu Forty-Five or Gu Sixty-Seven!
Li Yanyan's tongue clicked in astonishment,
"Can you actually recognize all these people?"
"Of course not, but there's no need to recognize many... Only children born to legal wives are entered into the family registry and stay at home. Those born to concubines are given a sum of money and sent away when they come of age, otherwise... this small town wouldn't need any outsiders, just the Gu family members themselves could build a city!"
"So... is your brother Shiqi born to a legal wife?"
Gu Shiyi nodded,
"If he weren't born to the legal wife, how could he dare to bully me?"
Those not born to the legal wife couldn't even enter the main residence within the inner quarter, living only in the side houses outside, having to kneel and speak when they saw her, how would they dare to bully her?
Gu Shiyi looked at Gu Lao Shi, who had lost money again and was annoyed, and laughed,
"It seems my brother Shiqi also lacks a Spirit Root..."
In the Gu Family, those without Spirit Roots, even if they were of the legitimate lineage, were essentially just machines for producing offspring. Women could still marry out to form alliances, but men, aside from tirelessly siring sons, had little other use. After all, there were only so many positions available for managing mundane affairs, mostly filled by the family head's trusted aides, not just anyone could take these roles!
"When I was young, my grandfather was already focused on training my father to be the family head, and when my grandfather passed away, it would be my father's turn. By then, if my father had grandsons, he would have to divide and send the second and third households away..."
Like Gu Yongping, he could only move out of the small town with his father and find his own way to make a living!
Gu Shiyi stood there in the corner, watching as Gu Yongping lost all his silver and left with a droopy head, before she squeezed through the crowd to take his vacated spot and shouted,
"I bet one hundred taels of silver... on big!"
Gu Yongping's gambling was about guessing big or small—a thrill in the flip of a hand, immediately seeing wins and losses. Gu Shiyi loudly called out as she fished out a stack of silver notes from Sixth Master Huang from her bosom, counted them, and slapped one down on the right side,
"Big! Big! Big!"
With her actions, not only the dealer but also Gu Yongping turned to look at her. Gamblers are like that—betting when they have the silver, and even when they don't, they still itch to see others bet. He turned around, peered over her shoulder, and saw the dealer lift the cover to reveal two sixes and a five,
"Seventeen points, big!"
The dealer called out loudly, and Gu Shiyi laughed heartily as he pushed the silver she won towards her. She picked it up and threw down another one hundred taels on the left side,