In the end, the two brothers went to the ancestral hall together, just like they had when they were young.

Lord Gu strode ahead.

The cowardly yet trouble-loving Sixth Master Gu followed closely behind, carrying a lantern.

With a creak, the heavy door was pushed open. In the dim light, one could see that the ancestral tablets and statues in the dark and cold ancestral hall were arranged in several layers according to the order of ancestral tablets and statues.

"It's so dark, what can you see?"

Unaware of what was going on, Master Gu found it amusing and muttered to himself.

Lord Gu said, "I can see clearly."

Sixth Master Gu was a little angry, but he didn't dare to show it, so he just stared blankly as he shone the light on him.

After a long pause, Lord Gu said, "Let's go."

"Is that all?" Sixth Master Gu asked, "What did you notice?"

Lord Gu said, “Alright, I already told you I just came to greet our ancestors and get acquainted with them. You don’t believe me. It’s because the clan is planning to worship our ancestors together during the Mid-Autumn Festival. I was thinking that there are so many ancestral tablets and statues in the clan hall that we probably can’t display them all, so I came to our own ancestral hall first. We should also worship our ancestors during the Mid-Autumn Festival.”

"real?"

Sixth Master Gu looked suspicious.

He knew perfectly well that the other party was lying to him, but he had no evidence and could only rely on the other party's conscience.

The conscienceless Lord Gu nodded: "Of course it's true. Do you know why?"

"Why?" Master Gu listened attentively.

Lord Gu said, “Your third sister-in-law dragged that bald monk Zhiguang out of the ancestral temple and captured Yelü Xianyong on the way back. For such a young woman to be so powerful must be the blessing of our ancestors through your third sister-in-law. We, the descendants who have received this blessing, naturally cannot forget our ancestors. The clan is planning to worship our ancestors together during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Don’t you think we should also hold a worship ceremony in our own household?”

Master Gu was persuaded.

Come to think of it, it must be a blessing from our ancestors that my third brother was able to marry a wife like his third sister-in-law.

Why didn't he think of that?

Unconsciously, his gaze toward Lord Gu was filled with admiration, appreciation, and a hint of sudden realization and eagerness to try.

Lord Gu was completely unaware that he had led his sixth brother astray in an unpredictable direction. Seeing that his brother was no longer speaking, he said, "Let's go."

Sixth Master Gu then followed Lord Gu back, carrying a lantern.

Along the way, the shadows of the trees swayed, and every now and then there were a few strange bird calls, which made the hairs on Sixth Master Gu's body stand on end, and he became even more talkative.

"Third Brother, Shuhai Pavilion is trying to steal our poetry collection business. They even set up a poetry contest, but unfortunately, not many people went, haha," Sixth Master Gu laughed. "So they came up with another plan. They spent a lot of money to invite a master from Cangzhou to make a nine-turn lotus lantern, and they also recruited many famous scholars, planning to amaze the world on the Empress Dowager's birthday. You would never guess that they not only sent an invitation to Mr. Songshan, but also asked him to make sure to invite Young Master Nantang, saying that as long as Mr. Songshan was willing, they could give him a hundred taels of gold."

Hearing this, Lord Gu became interested and replied, "They actually wanted to invite Young Master Nantang, haha, what wishful thinking. However, the owner of Shuhai Pavilion is really audacious, actually coming to my Dingbei Marquis's residence to ask Mr. Songshan to write poems for them, do they think we are clay figures without temper? It's clear that we've been too lenient in the past. When the sixteenth returns, let him get revenge for you. Right now, there are too many things to attend to, so let's put it aside for now."

Sixth Master Gu laughed and said, "Alright, can Sixteen manage? Isn't he supposed to be going to Baihe Academy with Baozhu to study?"

Lord Gu mumbled a couple of vague words.

Sixth Master Gu didn't delve into the details; his third brother was a man of his word, and he was certain it would succeed.

He continued enthusiastically, "To be honest, I've already vented my anger by the huge success of my poetry collection. Shuhai Pavilion was envious and even discussed with Shen Changle about getting a share of the profits, but Shen Changle naturally wouldn't agree. Shuhai Pavilion setting up a competition to steal our business is just the profit-seeking nature of businessmen, so I don't need to be angry. It's just that what they said to Mr. Songshan this time really angered me."

"Oh?" Lord Gu raised an eyebrow, knowing that his younger brother had come to complain, and asked, "What did he say?"

"They're not just here to commission poems, they're also trying to poach our talent," said Sixth Master Gu. "Mr. Songshan showed me a letter saying that while our Dingbei Marquis's mansion may seem prestigious, it's actually like a duck nesting on reeds, constantly at risk of its nest being overturned. Mr. Songshan and Young Master Nantang, as renowned scholars, will not only be used by the Dingbei Marquis's mansion to appear cultured, but will also be implicated. Rather than being attacked and forming an alliance with the Dingbei Marquis's mansion later, it's better to remain impartial and be true scholars. Shuhai Pavilion is willing to give them this opportunity. If they don't comply this time, they'll probably regret it later."

After saying that, Sixth Master Gu raised the lamp higher and shone it on Third Brother's face.

He had some doubts after reading the letter.

Today, after hearing from my third brother that he had formed an alliance with the Prince of Qi to oppose Empress Lin and the Crown Prince, I felt even more uneasy.

Lord Gu said coldly, "You should properly light your way with a lantern. If you twist your ankle and start crying, no one will comfort you."

“Oh,” Master Gu finally admitted.

Lord Gu snorted coldly again.

"I didn't expect the owner of Shuhaige to have such insight. However, his behavior is despicable and unpleasant. Since he said so, let's wait and see."

First they intimidated him, then they threatened him; they even dared to disturb his young wife's property.

If we don't teach him a lesson, he won't know how powerful the Marquis of Dingbei's mansion is.

Lord Gu's mind was racing, but he showed no sign of it on his face.

Sixth Master Gu pressed on, asking, "Young Master Nantang has become quite famous. The Crown Prince and Prince Qi are both trying to find out more about him and have come to ask him. Now that we're getting close to Prince Qi, should we tell him?"

Lord Gu said, "There's no need to talk about this. The two sides have formed an alliance, but we don't have to tell everyone all the details. My father-in-law kept this a secret from us, and even my mother-in-law didn't know."

Sixth Master Gu quickly assured him, "I will absolutely not reveal a single word."

"That's good," Lord Gu stopped, turned around, and looked at his younger brother seriously. "Mr. Songshan said that it would be a good thing if Young Master Nantang were famous among scholars. Although I don't think much of it, I think your sister-in-law is full of talent but married me, which is as good as nothing. It would be good for her to have a reputation to show off to the world. But recently, I've been dealing with people from the Six Ministries a lot, and I think that we military officers only know how to lead troops into battle and play with weapons. The people we associate with are all rough men. They don't understand the rules of these scholars, nor do they understand what they think or what they admire. We can't win arguments with them, and we're even less adept at playing mind games. No wonder we're trampled underfoot. Look at me, even though I've made unparalleled achievements and am publicly admired, I'm still secretly controlled and ridiculed as a rough man. If your sister-in-law can use this reputation to turn things around for us, it would be a blessing for our Dingbei Marquis's mansion and for all the military officers."

Hearing his third brother's heartfelt words, Sixth Master Gu was filled with excitement. He thought to himself that his third brother's words and actions were completely different from before, which must be due to the blessings of the ancestors. He also wanted to ask the ancestors for help.