Chapter 4: Tearing Off the Face
"That's right. This person keeps saying that he's someone close to General Wude. General Gu, if you have nothing to hide, you should let him finish his story so that you can prove your innocence."
If he didn't explain the reason today, it would be spread out in the future, and Gu Chuan would be branded as a man who killed his brother and took his sister-in-law. How could the Gu family survive in the imperial city after such a scandal? Gu Xiu, the head of the family, stood up. The old man was sending the young man off. Gu Xiu's face was full of sadness, and he looked at Lin Fan with sharp eyes.
"Since you are a soldier, you should understand that slandering the commander and disrupting the morale of the army is a capital crime."
Lin Fan didn't show any fear when he heard this. "Since I'm here today to seek justice for General Wu De, I'm not afraid of death."
The atmosphere became more tense, and Gu Xiu looked at Lin Fan sternly.
"Okay, tell me. If you don't have any concrete evidence today, you are slandering the commander-in-chief. I will punish you by military law."
At this moment, Gu Chuan thought of the fight and killing that Xiao Fuguang had done in the Gu family before. Gu Chuan narrowed his eyes slightly and lowered his voice.
"Xiao Fuguang, what do you want to do? I'm warning you, this is the Gu family. If you dare to do anything weird, I'll kill you and the Xiao family at the same time."
Then he looked at Lin Fan and spoke with a warning.
"Lin Fan, since you are close to Big Brother, you should protect his reputation. This is the Gu family, and everyone in the Gu family is Big Brother's blood relative. You disturbed his peace on the day of his funeral. If you can't produce evidence today, I will clean up the mess for Big Brother."
Xiao Fuguang reached out and held Gu Chuan's arm, indicating that he was on his side, and then looked at Lin Fan.
"Yes, soldier, have you misunderstood something?"
"My husband has always respected his elder brother and eldest sister-in-law. The Gu family is harmonious. How could there be such a thing as killing his brother and stealing his sister-in-law?"
Lin Fan spoke in a cold voice.
"It seems Madam Gu is still in the dark. When we were at the border, General Wude would often complain to us over drinks, saying that Zhuang Linan complained every day that he wasn't as capable as Gu Chuan. He also often mentioned how brave and skilled Gu Chuan was in battle, and his words were full of admiration."
"At first, we thought Zhuang Linan was trying to spur the general on to further his career and achieve merit. After all, she's Gu Chuan's sister-in-law. Who could have imagined they would actually do something so unethical!"
Upon hearing this, Zhuang Linan's face turned pale and she quickly picked up her handkerchief and started crying.
"A woman's innocence is above all else. I was merely praising my brother. How could you smear my reputation like this?"
"Looking at the families of everyone present, if someone in your family has made great contributions in the army, wouldn't you be proud of it and praise them?"
Everyone was stunned when they heard this, and then nodded slightly. Large families have always been about sharing weal and woe. It is not strange to praise a promising person in the family.
"Just a few words of praise really don't mean much. Could it be that this soldier really wronged General Gu and the eldest young lady?"
"Let's take a closer look. This person can't possibly come to the Gu family and cause trouble just by giving us a few compliments. Isn't that courting death?"
Zhuang Linan glanced at the expressions of the people present, listened to other people's whispered discussions, and watched Lin Fan speak as if he had suffered a great injustice.
"Soldier, even if my husband and you did drink and exchange a few words, I have no grudge against you. You came here to smear my name based on a few drunken words, and you chose the day of my husband's funeral. Are you being instructed by someone to harm the family of a meritorious official?"
Seeing this, Gu Chuan immediately spoke up, "Come here, arrest this villain who slandered the commander and insulted the widow of a meritorious official."
Hearing this, Lin Fan pulled out a letter from his pocket and asked, "Who said I don't have any substantial evidence?"
"I found this letter in the general's room. Gu Chuan wrote it to Zhuang Linan, giving her the opportunity to complain and irritate the general. He then deliberately forced the general to be greedy for merit and act rashly, and designed to have General Wude die on the battlefield."
As soon as the letter came out, there was an uproar at the scene, and everyone's eyes were focused on the yellowed letter paper, as if the thin paper was carrying a thousand-pound weight of truth.
Gu Chuan's face turned ashen in an instant, and the veins on his forehead bulged.
"That's just gossip. I've never written a letter to my sister-in-law. Could it be that you forged this letter?"
As he spoke, he reached out to grab the letter. Xiao Fuguang's eyes turned cold. He took the letter from Lin Fan's hand first, turned around and kept some distance from Gu Chuan.
"My husband said he never wrote a letter to my sister-in-law. I want to see who forged this..."
Suddenly, Xiao Fuguang's voice stopped abruptly. He looked at the words above with disbelief in his eyes and tears instantly flowed down.
"How could this be? How could this be? How could this be my husband's handwriting?"
Seeing this, Gu Chuan felt an ominous premonition and tried to take the letter back.
"Xiao Fuguang, why are you also talking nonsense? Give me the letter. I want to see what is written on it to slander me."
Xiao Fuguang took a few steps back and looked at Gu Chuan's eyes full of disappointment, tears rolling down his face one after another.
"Gu Chuan, even if I'm stupid, I still recognize my husband's handwriting. Ever since our two families got engaged, I've been waiting to marry you. After waiting so long for our wedding, you rushed off to the border, saying that the border needed you. It turns out it wasn't the border that needed you, it was my sister-in-law who needed you."
The discussion in the crowd heated up again.
"This, it seems that the content above is very important."
"Seeing the Second Young Master's wife crying so sadly, I'm afraid that Gu Chuan is really with his eldest sister-in-law..."
"Alas, the Gu family is truly unfortunate, with brothers killing each other."
Everyone was shocked by this sudden change, and their eyes shifted between Gu Chuan, Zhuang Linan, Xiao Fuguang and Lin Fan.
Zhuang Linan's heart skipped a beat, and she was filled with panic. She quickly recalled whether she and Gu Chuan had really written such a letter, but the current situation did not allow her to think about it, so she spoke hurriedly.
"Sister-in-law, have you been fooled by someone? Chuan'er has never written me any letters. Now that the Gu family has just made military achievements, it is time for the emperor to take notice. Could it be that someone is jealous? Someone has tricked you, sister-in-law, into framing your own husband. Don't be a fool."
No wonder Zhuang Linan was able to coax Gu Chuan's family around in her previous life. She is indeed good at talking and her brain is quick enough. But Zhuang Linan, I am no longer the Xiao Fuguang of my previous life. Xiao Fuguang was crying so hard that he could hardly stand.
"Sister-in-law, at this point, you still refuse to admit it?"
“It’s written here.”
"Li Nan, I miss you terribly after not seeing you for so long. With the ongoing war in the southern border, we'll have a chance to meet soon. However, we're both deeply in love. If Big Brother ever finds out, I'm afraid we'll both be dead. Why don't we take advantage of the war in the southern border to provoke Big Brother into greedy and reckless advances on the battlefield? I'll have someone cooperate and cause Big Brother to lose his composure. As long as Big Brother dies on the battlefield, you and I can be together forever."
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