Chapter 315: Seeking Help

Gu Qingyu cried out in pain and said, "Grandma, I am innocent. What are you talking about?"

Madam Gu used a lot of force in this move, twisting his ears until they turned red.

Seeing that he was still pretending to be stupid, as soon as he let go of the ear, he felt so angry that he wanted to find something to hit him with.

Zhuxiu saw that Gu Qingyu's face was full of confusion and didn't seem to be pretending, so she hurriedly stopped Madam Gu.

While gently stroking her back to calm her down, he advised: "Old Madam, why don't we listen to the young marquis' explanation? Maybe there is some misunderstanding."

Old Madam Gu was also furious for a moment. Who wouldn't be angry if they encountered such a bad thing so early in the morning!

Fortunately, there weren’t many people around early in the morning, otherwise what would have happened if this matter had gotten out?

The housekeeper replied, "Young Marquis, this is what happened. The girl's parents, the couple who were just tied up and taken away, were making a scene at the gate of the mansion early in the morning, saying that you had seduced her and then abandoned her. They also held up a jade pendant and said that it was a token of love that you gave to the girl."

"What!" Gu Qingyu couldn't believe it, and the look he gave Su Ruirui was immediately tinged with disgust.

"This jade pendant was clearly lost by me when I was controlling floods in the south, and I have been sending people to look for it. When did it become a token of our love?"

"Still making trouble at the gate? It's over. If the princess finds out, she will definitely think that I am not a good husband!"

Thinking of this, the disgust on his brow turned into anger again.

"I saved you because it was my duty, but I didn't expect you to repay my kindness with hatred and steal the jade pendant and spread rumors like this! If you don't tell the truth today, I will punish you severely!"

Su Ruirui couldn't help but shudder at the sharp tone. She bit her lips and pinched her palms, trying hard to stop herself from shaking.

"Please forgive me, young marquis, and old lady, but I really did not steal the jade pendant! I found it and was going to return it, but the young marquis left suddenly and I was not careful enough to keep it."

"My parents saw it and became greedy. They wanted to pawn the jade pendant to make money. I was in a hurry and lied to them to let them keep the jade pendant. That's why I was forced to come to Kyoto from thousands of miles away."

After hearing these words, Gu Qingyu breathed a sigh of relief.

He said carelessly: "Look, grandma, my grandson really hasn't fallen in love with someone else!"

Old Madam Gu frowned and looked at Su Ruirui deeply.

That look was as if he wanted to strip the person naked.

Su Ruirui was so nervous that sweat broke out on her forehead, but she still held it back.

Seeing that she still didn't tell the truth, the pity in Madam Gu's eyes was completely exhausted.

"In that case, let's forget about it. Old Sun, go and explain the matter to the couple and let them go."

"Although you have done a great deed by returning the jade pendant, you also damaged the reputation of the Yong'an Marquisate by not telling the truth in time. So let's consider the merits and demerits as offsets, and leave with your parents earlier."

Butler Sun: "Yes, old lady."

After these words were spoken, Su Ruirui's face turned pale.

"Madam, I am willing to serve as a maid in the Yong'an Marquis's mansion. I beg you to have mercy and save my life!"

After that, she kowtowed to Gu Qingyu and said loudly: "I beg you, young marquis, to put aside the past grudges and save my life."

"If my parents knew that I had tricked them into doing this, they would definitely beat me to death..."

"They are your parents, how could they really beat you to death? You are so unfilial that you can even slander your own parents!" Gu Qingyu also frowned, "Housekeeper Sun, give her twenty taels of silver and kick her out."

They thought she was lying because she was afraid of being beaten and suffering physical pain, so they sent someone to give her some silver, and considered it a good deed.

"They are not my biological parents. I beg you to be kind. I don't want money, I just want to be a maid in the mansion!"

Su Ruirui was not happy about this, but became even more panicked. She crawled on her knees and tried to grab his trouser legs.

Gu Qingyu was frightened by her actions and stepped back repeatedly, "What are you doing! If you have something to say, just say it, don't do it, stay away from me!"

Madam Gu: "You are such a liar, girl. You just admitted that they are your parents, but now you deny it. The Yong'an Marquis's Mansion is neither a charity nor a government office. You'd better leave as soon as possible!"

Housekeeper: "Come here, ask him to leave the house."

Seeing two servants coming in, Su Ruirui was desperate and hurriedly rolled up her sleeves.

Gu Qingyu turned his eyes away when he saw this.

Su Ruirui could only plead with Madam Gu: "Madam, everything I said is true, there is absolutely no deception! They are my stepfather and stepmother. My stepmother's name is Yang Fuliu. She married my biological father four years ago, but my father was conscripted less than a month after marrying her."

Madam Gu and the others gasped when they saw that the arm beneath the sleeve had less and less good flesh as it went up.

The arms were covered with bruises, whip marks, knife scars and burns.

Even the servants looked reluctant, but since the master had not given any orders, they could only obey orders and just avoid the arm.

He grabbed her wrist and advised, "Girl, let's go."

Su Ruirui shook her head frantically, tears streaming down her face uncontrollably.

"After my father died in battle, Yang Fuliu remarried with my current stepfather Su Dayou. The two tricked me into changing my surname to Su and entering the Su family tree. I accidentally learned that she had been having an affair with Su Dayou less than two months after my father left for conscription. All of our family land deeds were pawned and sold at a low price by the two, and the pensions issued by the court were also embezzled by the two."

"I have been tortured by them until now. I am now nineteen years old and still unmarried. This is all because of Su Dayou's beastly behavior. He and Yang embezzled my father's property and tortured and violated me in every way."

Hearing her struggling and crying under the servant, Old Madam Gu showed that she couldn't bear it and quickly raised her hand to ask the servant to let her go first.

Su Ruirui choked up and poured out all the pain that she had been unable to swallow in the past.

"If I can't get enough money for you this time, I will beat you half to death and sell you to a brothel. I beg you, old lady and young marquis, to save my life..."

Gu Qingyu suddenly thought of something, turned back to look at her and asked, "You said your father went to the army four years ago and died in battle a year later. Do you remember your father's name?"

Su Ruirui cried until her voice was hoarse, and hurriedly replied: "My original surname is Zhang, and my father's name is Zhang Degui."

Gu Qingyu asked again: "But is it the chapter about Li Zaozhang?"

Zhang Ruirui nodded, "Young... Young Marquis, do you recognize my father?"

Gu Qingyu's expression turned serious, and he said to Madam Gu, "Grandmother, if I remember correctly, the head of the household station that my eldest brother served was named Zhang Degui, a centurion, and he was also on the list of those killed in the battle."

Hearing this, Zhang Ruirui's eyes sparkled with hope, "Yes! The man who came to deliver the pension did say that my father was a centurion!"