Chapter 131: Make a contribution or want to have the credit taken away?
Gu Mian turned his head and cried out, "Jing Yao, you are trying to kill yourself! Emperor Liang is trying to catch you!"
Liang Jingyao frowned and said, "Over the years, there hasn't been a single day where he hasn't tried to catch me. He was just hiding in the dark before, but now he's out in the open! I heard that you were being controlled by Emperor Liang, so I came to check it out, but it's such a mess outside, it seems I'm a little late!"
Gu Mian had no choice but to tell Liang Jingyao the whole truth. "That's right, Emperor Liang forced us to hand you over. Otherwise, we will execute your entire family! But don't worry, my father, grandfather, and I are discussing countermeasures."
Liang Jingyao shook his head and said, "No matter what you do, it's useless. Just hand me over. The Gu family can't be lost!"
Gu Hao stood up with tears in his eyes and knelt down in front of Liang Jingyao, "Absolutely not! If something happens to you, what use will the Gu family be? The late emperor will die with regrets!"
The more Gu Mian listened, the more confused he became. What did this have to do with the late emperor who had been dead for so many years?
"Grandfather, what are you talking about? Why can't I understand?"
Gu Hao did not answer Gu Mian's words, but just knelt on the ground and kowtowed.
Liang Jingyao couldn't bear to watch this, so he forcefully pulled Gu Hao up and said, "Grandpa Gu, I'm very grateful that you've remembered the late emperor's words for so many years, but I'm not really going to die. This is just a delaying tactic. Saving the Gu family is more important first. I promise I'll be fine!"
"Alas!" Gu Hao sighed. If the century-old Gu family were to perish in his hands, he would not have the face to see his ancestors when he died. But he could not let the late emperor down!
After much deliberation, Gu Hao decided to take a gamble and asked, "Okay then! But how should we tell the people outside?"
Liang Jingyao thought for a moment and said, "That's Xiao Dezi outside, right? Just tell him I'm hiding in the Duke of Chengguo's Mansion in Jingcheng, and ask them to look for me there!"
Gu Mian asked anxiously, "What about me? I'll go with you! I don't want you to take risks alone!"
Liang Jingyao nodded and said, "After I follow Xiao Dezi into the palace, Amian, you drive the carriage and wait for me at Shilipo outside the city gate."
Gu Mian was worried. There was such a long distance from the palace gate to the city gate, and anything could happen!
He insisted, "No, I'm waiting outside the palace gate!"
Liang Jingyao shook his head and said, "It's too conspicuous outside the palace gate. I can't let your Gu family get into trouble anymore. Zhan Hu will come over with the Zhenguogong Mansion's carriage soon. You go to the side door and wait. He will take you to Shilipo!"
Gu Mian felt very strange. Why did Liang Jingyao insist on holding on to the Zhenguogong Mansion? Wasn't the Zhenguogong's property confiscated? Now he was living in the eldest prince's villa!
He asked in confusion, "The Duke of Zhenguo's property has been confiscated. Is it really useful to let him take the blame?"
Liang Jingyao nodded and said, "It was useless before, but it's very useful now! Because the Second Prince is dead, Emperor Liang only has the First Prince as his son. Who knows, the Zhennan Palace might start to gain power again! So I have to stir up trouble. This way, if Emperor Liang wants to re-employ the Zhennan Prince in the future, he will give up the idea as soon as he thinks about what happened tonight!"
Gu Mian finally understood the reason. On these issues, he had to admit that Liang Jingyao thought further than he did!
"Okay, then be careful, I'll wait at the side door!"
Liang Jingyao nodded and jumped out of the window. As the window was slammed shut by the wind outside, it seemed as if Liang Jingyao had never been in the study.
Gu Hao put the small box back in its place, walked to the door, and said, "Come out with me!"
Gu Mian clenched his fists and said, "Okay!"
In the front hall of the Gu family, Xiao Dezi leaned back on the armchair, his face full of contempt and arrogance. Looking at the servants and other masters of the Gu family fleeing everywhere, Xiao Dezi raised the corner of his mouth and uttered a thin voice: "Want to run? No way! Catch them all and beat them up!"
At this time, Gu Hao came hurriedly. He heard everything Xiao Dezi said just now!
Before today, whenever there was a new product, he would never forget to give Xiao Dezi a copy. Every Chinese New Year and other festivals, and every time he celebrated Xiao Dezi's birthday, he would try to prepare as many gifts as possible, big or small!
Unexpectedly, when disaster was imminent, Xiao Dezi not only did not say a few good words in front of Emperor Liang, but is now showing off his power in his mansion!
This is simply too much!
Gu Hao walked up to Xiao Dezi with a dark face. In fact, as the royal merchant of a century-old family, he didn't need to salute a eunuch at all. But Xiao Dezi was a close friend of Emperor Liang. For the benefit of his family, he always saluted Xiao Dezi politely every time he met him. But this time he was not willing to give Xiao Dezi any face!
"I only know that Liang Jingyao often goes to see the Duke of Zhenguo, but he won't tell me the details. You've searched my mansion ten times, right? Eunuch De should know if there's anyone there. The emperor is still waiting in the palace! I suggest you go to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion and look for him!"
Xiao Dezi clearly sensed Gu Hao's harsh words. He snorted coldly and scolded, "How dare you! Come on, pin these three men to the ground and beat them hard until they tell the truth!"
Gu Mian was young and hot-tempered, and he couldn't stand such humiliation. He pushed the approaching imperial guards away and roared, "Why? Didn't you say that if we tell you everything we know, you'll let the Gu family go? You eunuch, how dare you go so untrustworthy!"
Xiao Dezi's eyes turned red with anger. He hated it most when people called him a eunuch!
He snatched the stick from the guard beside him and shouted angrily, "Haven't you eaten yet? Hold him down! I'm going to smash his mouth today!"
The imperial guards obeyed the order and surrounded Gu Mian, trying to grab his hands and feet. Gu Mian was unable to resist alone and was finally pinned to the ground.
Xiao Dezi laughed loudly, "You're just like a dog! So what if you can bite people? I'll smash your mouth first, then break your legs, and then I'll see how you can still be so arrogant!"
As he spoke, Xiao Dezi raised his stick high and brought it down hard on Gu Mian's face, one, two, three times...
Gu Mian had no way to avoid it. He felt that his nose was about to be broken, his eyes were unable to open, the corners of his mouth were cracked, and his teeth began to loosen. Even though Xiao Dezi was not as strong as the imperial guards who practiced martial arts, he could not bear the beating!
If we continue fighting like this, I'm going to die here!
Gu Mian gritted his teeth and hit the stick with his forehead. The stick broke into two pieces with a "crack".
"Eunuch De, if you waste time beating me here, even if you kill me, you won't gain anything. But if you catch Jing Yao, you'll have made a great contribution in front of the Emperor! Do you believe it? If you kill me, my father will immediately go to the palace and tell the Emperor where Jing Yao is. Then our Gu family will still be spared the death penalty, but you will have completely offended the entire Gu family, and we will have taken all the credit!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
