Chapter 346 Shallow Eyelids
The heir of the Marquis of Wu'an didn't even know how he left the Marquis of Changxing's residence. He was completely numb and followed his parents dejectedly.
After leaving the Marquis of Changxing's residence and boarding the carriage, the heir of the Earl of Wu'an asked, "Father, what you said at the Gu family just now, was it true?"
Because of his recent loss of face, the Earl of Wu'an's face was terribly gloomy. He found his son displeasing no matter what he did, and even the sound of his son's voice made him angry.
He said angrily, "Your father-in-law is easy to fool, but Marquis Changxing is not. I was originally planning to wait for Xuanyi to remarry and then compensate her with a dowry. Today, I will take you back and give you a beating to settle the matter. Your father-in-law originally wanted to accept the compensation, but Marquis Changxing stopped him with a look. I had no choice but to resort to this tactic, otherwise, things would not have ended well today."
The more Wu Anbo spoke, the angrier he became: "Today you should be grateful that the Marquis of Changxing has no daughter. Xuanyi is not the Marquis of Changxing's daughter. Otherwise, even if you lose your position as heir and are punished by the family law when you get home, it will not be enough to appease the Marquis of Changxing's hatred. Even your father, me, will suffer retribution."
Upon hearing this, the Marquis of Wu'an's son's expression changed.
Lady Wu'an comforted him, saying, "Xiao'er, even if you are not the heir apparent, you are still my and your father's eldest son. The position of heir apparent will fall to Qi'er, who is your own brother. It's the same no matter who becomes the heir apparent."
Upon hearing this, the heir of the Marquis of Wu'an clenched his fists tightly, feeling unwilling but powerless, and could only watch helplessly as the position of heir fell to his younger brother who only knew how to eat, drink and have fun.
Seeing the resentment on his son's face, the Earl of Wu'an said, "Don't blame your father for this. You can only blame yourself. You need to reflect on yourself. Why would a man like you have such a hobby? I really thought you liked listening to opera, which is why you kept actors. I didn't care because you studied hard. I never expected you to do something like this. If I had known you had this hobby, I would have crippled you rather than let you do this, so that you wouldn't be exposed and humiliated."
He turned his gaze to his wife and scolded her, "A doting mother spoils her son. If you hadn't covered for him back then, none of this would have happened. Because of you and your son, I have lost all face today, and I will be ridiculed by people whenever I go out in the future!"
Lady Wu An lowered her head, not daring to refute.
The heir of the Marquis of Wu'an was pale, but still worried about his reputation. He asked anxiously, "Father, will the Gu family tell others about this?"
Marquis Wu'an rebuked, "You can do such a thing, making your parents lose face, and you still care about your reputation? I wanted to ask the Gu family to keep it a secret for you, but before I could say anything, Marquis Changxing gave us the order to leave. With his intelligence, he must have been able to guess what I was going to say next, which is why he didn't let the three of us stay any longer."
The heir of the Marquis of Wu'an retorted, "Look at me now, and they still want to ruin my reputation? Father, are you just going to let the Gu family bully us like this?"
Upon hearing this, Marquis Wu'an glared at him: "If you hadn't done such a thing, would they have done it? Given Marquis Changxing's character, he wouldn't deliberately publicize your actions, but others might. Moreover, don't forget that even if the Gu family doesn't say anything, some people in our family will say that Xuanyi was able to escape smoothly because either your grandmother or your fourth uncle helped her. They will make good use of this as leverage to completely ruin you."
The heir of the Marquis of Wu'an was ashen-faced, his heart pounding with panic, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead. He thought he had been very careful, but he had no idea when the news had leaked out. He really couldn't imagine what kind of situation he would face after today.
Lady Wu'an felt sorry for her son, and her voice was choked with emotion: "Xiao'er, after today, if you can't stay in the capital, go back to your ancestral home, or find somewhere where no one knows you."
Marquis Wu glanced at the mother and son, but had no time for sentimentality. He was very clear-headed. It didn't matter if one son was ruined, since he had more than one son. Even if his second legitimate son was no good, he still had two more outstanding illegitimate sons. What he needed to think about now was how to minimize the pressure from public opinion.
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The Changxing Marquis's Residence.
After the Wu Anbo family of three left, the matter was considered to be over. Gu Xuanyi carefully folded the divorce agreement, put it in an envelope, and treasured it. With this divorce agreement, she would go to the yamen again another day. Once the yamen stamped it, she would be completely free from the Wu Anbo family.
Gu Jingsheng couldn't contain himself and asked, "Third brother, Marquis Wu'an said he would compensate Xuanyi with a dowry when she remarries. Why didn't you let me agree to it? According to the dowry standards for the eldest daughter of Marquis Wu'an's family, it would be a very valuable dowry."
Zhang glanced at her husband, her eyes filled with disapproval. Although she liked profit, she didn't want this much; it was like selling her daughter.
Gu Jingxi frowned and asked in an unhappy tone, "Does elder brother intend to accept this small benefit and give up making the Marquis of Wu'an's heir pay the price for harming Xuanyi?"
Upon hearing this, Gu Jingsheng choked instantly.
Gu Jingxi looked at him and said calmly, "He who eats another's food is bound to him, and he who takes another's money is bound to him. If we accept the compensation offered by Marquis Wu'an, our family's backbone will be bent and our backs will not be straight. Marquis Wu'an's heir can continue to be the heir. If they go home and make a lot of noise but then do little, and use so-called family law, this matter will be considered settled. Our Gu family will not get a satisfactory explanation."
Madam Gu, also displeased with her illegitimate son's short-sightedness, chimed in, "Eldest son, your third brother is right. Our Gu family's daughter has suffered so much injustice, and it even involves a fraudulent marriage. Even if they divorce, their reputation will still be damaged. If we accept this meager compensation, not only will we not get a satisfactory explanation, but we will also be ridiculed for being spineless, bought off by such a paltry sum. It's just a dowry; our Gu family is large and powerful, why would we care about such a small amount of money?"
Gu Jingsheng was stunned. He hadn't thought of this issue. He was just thinking that if Xuanyi remarried, the Marquis of Wu'an's mansion would provide another dowry as compensation. They could save some money and treat it as assets of the eldest son's family, taking advantage of the situation. After all, it's better to take advantage than not.
Madam Gu glanced at him and continued, "Xuanyi has suffered such a great injustice. Those who hurt her must pay the price they deserve. If we let them off lightly, then anyone will dare to bully our Gu family's daughters in the future. After all, people will think that our Gu family values interests and that if they bully our Gu family's daughters, they can just give them some benefits and that will be the end of it."
Gu Jingsong, who had been silent all along, also felt that his elder brother was short-sighted and muddle-headed, so he spoke up and echoed, "Elder brother, Mother and Third Brother are right. This kind of thing cannot be taken lightly. Since we have the ability to seek justice for the children, we must make them pay the price. We must let everyone know that the girls of our Gu family are not easy to bully, and our Gu family is not easy to bully either."
With everyone pointing fingers at him, Gu Jingsheng felt a little embarrassed and quickly said, "You're right, I was inconsiderate. I was just thinking that Xuanyi would have a bigger dowry when she got married in the future."
Upon hearing this, Gu Xuanyi's gaze fell on her father. To be honest, she didn't believe that her father was trying to gain more benefits for her. After seeing her father's attitude this morning, she no longer believed that her father would do anything for her good. In this respect, her father was not as good as her second and third uncles.
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