Even Princess Ruining, as a member of the royal family, still felt somewhat indignant.
Gu Jia not only lost money but also reputation. Even if he retires successfully in the future, it will only be to atone for a crime he committed unjustly.
She said, "If you hadn't been so close to me, you wouldn't be like this! They've long said that I'm a hen crowing at dawn, that I've been coaxing the Emperor into favoring all women in the land, and now they're even more eager to pin all the blame on the new policies for women!"
How ridiculous! Feiyin was supervised by Prince Qing. The first imperial examination for women has just ended, and all the officials in charge are men. Now that something has gone wrong, they say that the emperor has been too lenient with women and ruined the country's fortune.
Gu Yaoniang wanted to laugh, but her heart was filled with sorrow, and she couldn't quite manage a smile. Nevertheless, she forced a smile and said, "Don't mention it."
She looked at Princess Ruining earnestly: "You have done nothing wrong, so why blame yourself? It's not just you they don't want to call, but me too... I am also a woman, do you think they can stand me?"
Princess, you know me. I'm not very brave, but I'm stubborn. The more they try to stop me, the more I'll do it. You're not wrong, none of us are wrong. Princess, the Gu family hasn't been implicated by you.
But deep down, I felt a lingering resentment that I couldn't express.
Lu Zhaoan stood silently to the side, observing Gu Yaoniang quietly as she and Princess Ruining reminisced. She had lost weight and changed.
If she was once a gentle and charming lotus, now she has a resolute gaze and a touch of heroic courage.
Generally speaking, those who survive imprisonment or other calamities are bound to grow up a bit.
“But we have come today to take stock of all your family’s wealth.”
Princess Ruining was quite worried.
Gu Yaoniang gently shook her hand: "It's alright. Didn't His Majesty say that it's just a matter of inventorying and registering, not sealing it up? If there's any surplus after this is over, it will still belong to the Gu family. The registration is just to prevent the Gu family from hiding anything."
I never intended to keep anything secret, so it makes no difference to me.
Lu Zhaoan then spoke up: "If there's anything you want to leave behind, tell me now. I'll cover for you when you're registering later."
Gu Yaoniang looked at Princess Ruining in surprise. The princess was still here; openly defying the emperor's orders—wasn't that inappropriate?
But Princess Ruining looked at her with a smile, clearly already aware of the situation, or perhaps even at Princess Ruining's behest.
Seeing her look at her, Princess Ruining nodded. Seeing that Gu Yaoniang was still hesitant, she said, "I won't listen then."
After saying that, he turned his back to Gu Yaoniang and Lu Zhaoan, pretending that he knew nothing.
Gu Yaoniang was moved. She pondered for a moment before saying, "There's nothing I want to hide. It's just that I've always used what I need for reading and writing. Could I continue using it?"
But she knew in her heart that Gu Pingsheng would most likely miss this year's imperial examination. She sighed inwardly.
"And what about you? Is there anything you'd like to stay?"
Lu Zhaoan asked her. He disguised himself as a guard and came to the Gu family with his men to conduct a thorough search, not only to see Gu Yaoniang and see how she was doing, but also to facilitate his actions if Princess Ruining wanted to turn a blind eye to the Gu family.
Gu Yaoniang thought for a moment, then shook her head. But then she suddenly remembered something: "Do I need to register my clothes and food?"
Princess Ruining chuckled, "How could that be? If I came and they even rummaged through all these things, what would be the point of my coming?"
Gu Yaoniang felt a little relieved: "That's good. I just can't bear to part with the osmanthus flowers and clothes my mother gave me. If these don't count, then I have no worries."
-
The entire Gu family stood below the steps, watching the soldiers carry out the contents of the Gu family's storeroom box by box. The clerks from the Ministry of Revenue were busy counting and checking the contents, then sealing and putting the boxes back one by one.
Gu Yaoniang specially prepared chairs and stools for Princess Ruining to rest on, but Princess Ruining did not sit down. Instead, she stood with Gu Yaoniang at the foot of the steps, her intention to support Gu Yaoniang was self-evident.
As Gu Pingsheng watched the soldiers searching his house, he felt as if his home had been ransacked. He felt a sense of resentment and embarrassment, and his face turned very pale.
Gu Yaoniang noticed his appearance but didn't say anything.
She was saying to Princess Ruining, "These are just family assets now. Should I send you the shop's account books, or will you send someone to the shop later?"
Princess Ruining pondered for a moment and asked, "A lot?"
Gu Yaoniang nodded: "There are many. If we moved out, we would probably have a whole courtyard like this."
With a smile, she turned to look at the crowd busy taking inventory in the courtyard, and then turned her gaze to Princess Ruining.
Princess Ruining thought for a moment and then said, "I will have Lord Zhang go to your shop to settle the accounts."
Before Gu Yaoniang could ask which Lord Zhang it was, a commotion broke out in the courtyard.
They looked into the courtyard and saw that Gu Pingsheng had somehow walked among the pile of boxes and was standing in front of a large camphor wood chest, preventing the soldiers from opening it.
Gu Yaoniang recognized it at a glance as a box containing her clothes. Although it wasn't her underwear, it was still somewhat inappropriate to take it out in front of so many men.
Gu Yaoniang looked at Princess Ruining—didn't they say that clothing wouldn't be inspected?
Princess Ruining stared at Lu Zhaoan, who was in disguise—why did he even bring out a trunk for a young lady to store her clothes?
Lu Zhaoan glared at the soldier who opened the box and wanted to inspect it—when was this box, which was placed in Tinglan Residence, carried out?
The soldier glared at Gu Pingsheng—he finally had a chance to impress the princess, how could the Gu family be so ungrateful? They're already registered and documented, what's with all the fuss?
The soldier's hand was about to reach for the box again when Gu Pingsheng was about to step forward, but Princess Ruining stopped him: "Stop!"
She walked into the courtyard, glanced around, and said, "These are all old belongings of the Gu family, no problem, no need to register them."
Before the soldier could speak, Princess Ruining gestured with her eyes for Lu Zhaoan, who was standing to the side, to close the box.
Another person pulled the soldier aside, put his arm around his shoulder, and walked him to the side, saying, "You silly boy..."
-
After seeing Princess Ruining and her entourage off from the Gu family, Gu Pingsheng was still indignant: "Sister! Are we, the Gu family, being taken advantage of? What did we do wrong?!"
Gu Yaoniang hurriedly slapped his hand, looked around, and scolded, "Are you trying to kill me?!"
Is it something you can just say so casually? Although she also felt she'd been taken advantage of.
-
At night, after leaving Gu Xingzhi's room, Gu Yaoniang and several maids tidied up the trunks and chests in the room.
All the decorations and utensils were moved out. Tinglan Residence was built to be tall and spacious, and was originally decorated to be extremely comfortable and exquisite. Now that the decorations have been moved out, the room looks very empty.
The room was somewhat messy, and Gu Yaoniang's jewelry box had been moved. The Gu family's valuables were now stored in the storeroom, guarded by officials from the imperial court. These officials were specially chosen by Princess Ruining and were trusted individuals. Currently, the cash was kept in one place, while other jewelry, jade, antiques, and paintings were kept in another, all guarded to prevent the Gu family from using or selling them at will.
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