Chapter 917 Extra: Gu Family 5

As the eldest son of the Marquis's family, Gu Renjie knew from a young age to be kind and respectful to his brothers and sisters and to care for his younger siblings.

Even if he did his best, his younger brother and sister-in-law would always fight tooth and nail over him.

Gu Renjie often knew that his younger brother was not wrong, but unfortunately his parents favored his younger sister, so he couldn't say much.

Before the age of six, he was a happy child, but the change in his personality began on that day.

That day, he wandered into his father's study while playing and overheard his father arguing with a man.

"Our master is getting older and has so many responsibilities on his shoulders. Your favoritism towards him will only lead him astray."

The man's words even carried a hint of dissatisfaction.

"Renjie is just a child. What mission or anything like that? Why bring up those things again when they're in the past?"

The man became even more agitated by his father's indifference.

"Has the Marquis forgotten what happened back then? His parents were both murdered. How can you just stand by and watch him achieve nothing?"

"So what do you want?"

His father was clearly unhappy, but Gu Renjie didn't think too much about it. He just assumed that since his name had been mentioned, the matter must be related to him.

"I don't care about anything else, I just hope that you won't spoil your master. Otherwise, neither you nor I will be able to face our former master."

The man's words became increasingly offensive, and Gu Jin's expression darkened.

Seeing that the argument between the two was getting more and more heated, and since the matter was related to him, Gu Renjie, who was always sensible, immediately stepped forward.

"Father, what are you arguing about?"

The still-childish voice rang out, and Gu Renjie would never forget the surprise, confusion, helplessness, and relief in his eyes when he saw him appear.

As the saying goes, timing is everything. With things having turned out this way, the man no longer wanted to hide anything and addressed Gu Renjie, saying, "Your subordinate greets Your Majesty."

Gu Renjie turned to look at the man, who was kneeling on one knee in front of him, looking extremely loyal.

"Who are you?"

Gu Renjie witnessed him and his father ransacking their home, but he didn't recognize him.

Gu Jin was about to speak when the man interrupted him, saying, "I am the bodyguard of your master's biological mother."

Gu Renjie couldn't quite understand what the man was saying at the time, but he did understand the part about his biological parents.

Gu Jin turned back to look at the man with dissatisfaction, but the man looked back at him and said, "The master will find out sooner or later, so it's better to tell the master today."

Gu Jin was very displeased by what he said. These people had already scattered throughout the capital. Seeing them searching for information about what happened back then, Gu Jin softened and summoned them according to Princess Baiyun's instructions.

I thought that with them around, Renjie's safety would be more secure, but who would have thought that they would ruin things.

Gu Jin was unwilling to tell Gu Renjie the truth, so he hugged him tightly. However, he couldn't say anything about what the guard had said, since it was all true.

"Father, is what he said true?"

Gu Renjie looked at Gu Jin calmly, whether it was because he was too young to understand the meaning of these words, or because he had a strong ability to withstand pressure, that he remained so unmoved.

Gu Jin didn't know how to answer Gu Renjie, so he reached out and patted his back. After a while, he finally said, "Renjie, there are some things that your father should tell you."

Gu Jin then told him about Gu Renjie's background and instructed him not to tell anyone about it, including the Ji family.

Gu Renjie calmly agreed, and seeing that he didn't change, Gu Jin felt relieved.

However, Gu Renjie developed a fever that night. Gu Jin and Ji Shi stayed by his side all night until his fever subsided.

That night, Gu Renjie talked a lot of nonsense. When he woke up the next day, he was no longer as lively as before.

Gu Jin knew the reason, but there was nothing he could do about it.

Because he was forced to carry this burden, Gu Renjie not only had to study diligently every day from the age of six, but also had to learn martial arts from his master.

Sometimes, seeing how hard he worked, Gu Jin felt bad for him. But Gu Renjie said that he could endure any hardship in order to seek justice for his mother.

Since things had already been said this way, Gu Jin naturally couldn't say anything more. However, to make things easier for Gu Renjie, Gu Jin sent Gu Yingjie over.

With his younger brother by his side, Gu Renjie's life became much easier. However, Gu Yingjie's restless nature caused him a lot of trouble.

For example, if he had a fight with his sister, he would be asked to plead with their parents; or if he went out to fight with the Xu family's son, he would be asked to cover for him.

However, these things did add a lot of color to his life.

After living a peaceful and uneventful life for twenty years, when Gu Renjie stepped into the arena for the first time, he never imagined that the Gu family would undergo earth-shattering changes.

When they first left the examination hall, they only heard about the real and fake sisters. But when they returned, they actually saw the sister who had been raised outside for more than ten years.

Upon seeing her appearance, Gu Renjie knew that what she said was true. She just smiled at him and his brother as if they were not meeting for the first time.

Gu Renjie's gaze swept across her face, then looked at her thin body. This younger sister was really too thin and small, so thin that it was heartbreaking.

After presenting his gift, Gu Renjie first met with his elders, then changed his clothes to shake off the fatigue of the past few days.

Who would have thought that after only a short while, his impatient younger brother would go and cause trouble for his former sister.

Gu Renjie didn't like his fake sister from the bottom of his heart. Although he had treated her fairly well over the years, she was still less affectionate than his younger brother, Gu Yingjie.

Gu Renjie thought it might be because of their genders, but it wasn't until his real sister returned that Gu Renjie understood what closeness and distance truly meant.

Both are young ladies from the Gu family, but one is mean-spirited and vying for favor, while the other is so sensible that it breaks your heart. Especially when her small frame utters those sensible words, Gu Renjie feels a pang of pain in his heart every time.

As time went by, Gu Renjie found himself increasingly unable to take his eyes off her, and whenever he went out, he would think about what to bring her. When she came to give him something, he felt a warm feeling in his heart and was very happy.

But good days are never so peaceful. With the real and fake sisters under the same roof, old favorites and new loves, how to choose and how to give up, it's impossible to treat everyone equally.

The fake younger sister, unwilling to accept that her affection had been taken away, started using underhanded tricks, but fortunately, she always managed to escape safely.

Gu Renjie breathed a sigh of relief and also marveled at his younger sister's intelligence.

During these days, his hard work finally paid off, and he passed the imperial examination with top honors, and was selected to serve as an official in the imperial court.

For more than a decade, all he had dreamed of was to one day ascend to the imperial court and see what the man who had abandoned him and his mother and caused his mother's death looked like.