On the way to Ningyuan Marquis' Mansion, Minglan was worried. It was like not wanting to lend someone money for an emergency, but still going to watch a play at their home. Three people had been arrested there, and if the couple went there so brazenly, they might get beaten up. Minglan looked at her own small body, then slightly lifted the curtain to see Gu Tingye riding in front of the sedan chair. He was tall and looked like a crane.
Minglan lowered the curtain with peace of mind. This guy made her feel very safe.
There was a gloomy atmosphere in Xuanning Hall, and everyone in the Gu family was sitting together.
Gu Tingyu, with a pale face, sat at the top, with the worried Mrs. Shao standing beside him holding a bowl of food, and the sad-looking Madam sat next to him. Men and women sat on both sides, and everyone waited in a solemn manner, which seemed a bit like a gang opening a gang.
The fourth old lady was holding a bowl of tea in a low-key manner, with her head down, not knowing what she was thinking. Mrs. Bing II looked very scary, with red and swollen eyes, biting her cheeks and glaring, her expression full of resentment, and she was glaring fiercely at the three mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law from the fifth room on the side.
Madam Yang was used to being humble and submissive, so she didn't mind. She only needed to lower her head and endure whatever others said. However, Madam Wu and Madam Di were uncomfortable with the sharp gazes. Madam Xuan and Zhu were sitting together, half supporting her and whispering soothing words. Zhu looked sad, sobbing softly and leaning against her side.
Sitting opposite were the men of the Gu family. Only Gu Tingxuan was present from the fourth room, while the fifth room, including father and son, were all present. They all had gloomy and solemn expressions.
In the huge hall, with so many people gathered, there was surprisingly no sound. Only a faint smell of medicine filled the air, which contrasted with the deserted courtyard outside. The Ningyuan Marquis Mansion, which used to be bustling with people and elegant ladies, seemed even more deserted. An indescribable loneliness seeped gently into their muscles and bones. Even after Gu Tingye and Minglan sat down, no one in the hall spoke.
Everyone looked at Gu Tingyu who was sitting at the top of the table, as if waiting for him to speak. However, Gu Tingyu seemed to be out of breath at this moment and kept coughing softly. Mrs. Shao felt distressed and helped him drink the medicine slowly. No one else spoke, and Gu Tingye would not speak first. He just looked at the March Taoliu enamel tea bowl in his hand, with the lid of the bowl turned over on the edge of the bowl, making a crisp sound.
After Minglan sat down, she looked at Zhu beside her. She looked haggard, her skin sallow, her cheekbones slightly raised, and her cheeks slightly swollen. Minglan still remembered her youthful beauty and could not help but be shocked. She was not calm enough to pretend not to see it, so she couldn't help but say, "You...you should not be so worried. If you don't take care of yourself like this, what will happen when the Third Master comes back?"
Zhu's tears welled up in her eyes and she choked up, "I don't know if he can come back!"
As she spoke, she threw herself on Madam Xuan and began to cry softly. Madam Xuan patted her and whispered to Minglan, "You don't know, just the day before yesterday, the doctor diagnosed that she was two months pregnant."
Minglan felt awkward. She didn't know whether she should say "congratulations" in this situation. She mumbled something like "I'll send you some nourishing herbs later."
Before she could finish, Zhu suddenly lifted herself up from Madam Xuan's arms, struggled to get up, and was about to kneel down with tears in her eyes: "I beg you, second brother, no matter what happened in the past, he, he... is your biological brother after all! How can you just watch and do nothing? I don't know what happened to him in the underworld these two days..." As she spoke, she cried even harder.
Gu Tingye seemed to have anticipated this question. He leaned forward slightly and said, "Don't worry, sister-in-law. As soon as I learned about this the day before yesterday, I immediately went to the Dali Temple to inquire about the news."
"What do you mean?" The lady raised her head at some point and asked anxiously.
Gu Tingye nodded respectfully and said, "It's not a big deal. I just found a few letters somewhere with the seal of the Ningyuan Marquis, which is an imperial edict."
These words startled Mrs. Shao, who was concentrating on giving her husband medicine. She trembled and said, "Seal? No, no, your elder brother has been bedridden in the past few years. It is difficult for him to even take a walk in the garden. How could it be..." She stopped talking, her eyes turned to the lady, and her lips trembled.
Gu Tingyu held his breath and raised his head, just in time to meet Gu Tingye's eyes, which were so calm, strong and full of vitality. He felt annoyed and coughed even more violently.
Gu Tingye retracted his gaze and continued, "After a thorough interrogation by several officials from the Dali Temple, they learned that my eldest brother had been recuperating from illness for the past few years, and that my third brother had been in charge of all the chores. That's why they summoned him for questioning."
Zhu was stunned when she heard this and said hurriedly, "Then...your third brother..."
"Several prisoners have inconsistent confessions, and a few are trying to get away with less punishment by dragging others into the matter. But I've already gone to deal with them. The gentlemen have been veterans in criminal justice for a lifetime, and their eyes are sharp. Once they get to the bottom of it, everything will be fine."
Gu Tingye said slowly, "Don't worry, sister-in-law. As long as Third Brother has not been deeply involved in this matter, it is just 'carelessness' or 'clinging', and it cannot be considered as forming a clique for personal gain. Such a crime will not cause any serious consequences."
Zhu held back her tears, her expression bewildered. However, the Madam Tai understood the meaning behind her words and nervously pressed on, "What about the punishment? Will he be exiled? Or sent to the army?"
Gu Tingye frowned slightly: "This... depends on how the investigation goes."
The lady stared at Gu Tingye intently, but saw that he was as firm and unshakable as a father-in-law; she slumped down in her seat, her old age exposed, and was in a state of confusion.
Mrs. Bing Er had been gritting her teeth and enduring, but upon hearing this, she suddenly stood up, took a few steps forward, pointed at the five-house father and son, and screamed, "You! You! Brother Wei is taking care of some of his eldest brother's affairs, and only we know about it. How could the Dali Temple know? You must be so cowardly that you've revealed Brother Wei as well!"
She was so angry that her hair was disheveled and her eyes were fierce, as if she wanted to pounce on the father and son of the fifth room and bite them a few times.
Minglan disagreed. Since Gu Tingwei was working for his eldest brother, he naturally had to deal with people outside the family. Social interactions were inevitable, and it was likely that many outsiders knew about this, not necessarily from the Fifth House father and son.
The Fifth Old Master had lost his former spirit and remained listless. Upon hearing this, he simply blew his sparse beard and remained silent for a long time. Instead, the Fifth Old Lady sternly rebuked him, "Niece-in-law, stop talking nonsense! How can you speak to your uncles and elders like that?"
"What uncles and elders?! Humph, at this crucial moment, everyone only cares about protecting themselves!" Mrs. Bing's eyes were red with anxiety, and she spoke more fiercely, crying and cursing, "My family's brother only secretly carried out two minor errands for the rebellious prince. I don't know how many generations ago it happened. How can outsiders know which one of the Gu family members it was? It's all because you are afraid of getting into trouble. You all shrink your necks and spit out everything! Although it was my family's brother who did the work, did you miss the wine and meat at the prince's palace back then?!"
"You shrew! You are confusing right and wrong!" Gu Tingyang slammed the table and finally retorted loudly.
He had been keeping his profile at a perfect 45-degree angle since he came in. When Minglan turned her head, she saw three obvious bloodstains on his cheek.
"Back then, the Four Kings... the Rebellious King didn't think highly of him. He was the one who rushed to curry favor with them and get the job! Now that they've found evidence, what does it have to do with us?"
Mrs. Bing's face turned purple with rage. "Didn't you have a hand in those jobs? Weren't those two little devils in your room brought in together? Humph! If anything happens to my man, I'll personally go to the Dali Temple and expose your secrets. We'll fight to the death and no one will get away with it!"
Minglan lowered her head and rubbed the hem of her skirt. She understood: Although the Gu brothers were all products of the same brand, there were differences in their grades. Gu Tingyang and Gu Tingdi were legitimate children and could enter and leave the palace for banquets and socializing. Gu Tingbing was a concubine's son, so the Four Princes' Palaces inevitably looked down on him. However, that couldn't stop Gu Tingbing's enthusiasm, and he rushed to curry favor with them by doing secret errands.
One was in the open and the other was in secret, so the fifth branch and his son were arrested first, but the fourth branch and his son were detained later.
Mrs. Bing Er thought that her family was just an ordinary wealthy family. If her husband died, she and her son would have no one to rely on and would have a hard time. She cried even harder, stomping her feet on the ground and beating her chest, crying and shouting, "Oh, God, I will not live anymore..."
Seeing her throwing a tantrum on the spot, the hall was in chaos. Everyone was trying to persuade her, scold her, and help her up. The scene was noisy for a while.
"alright!"
The Madam finally lost her temper and raised her voice, scolding, "Did I ask you to come here and cause trouble today? We are all family, and there must be an explanation for everything. Sit down!"
Gu Tingxuan's father and brother were all taken away, leaving him as the only one left in the four rooms. He was the most anxious: "What my aunt said is right, we should all talk nicely! Sister-in-law, please sit down first!"
After a while, the hall finally quieted down. The Fifth Old Master's face flushed with anger as he said in a deep voice, "Nephew, you called us here today. What exactly is the matter? Tell us quickly so we can go back! Are we just standing here, getting bullied?!"
The calligraphy and painting were very rude. Mrs. Shao looked at her frail and skinny husband, feeling indignant. She turned around and glared at the Fifth Old Master. Gu Tingyu took a hard breath and finally spoke: "Yes, I do have something to say."
A pair of bloodshot eyes looked straight at Gu Tingye.
"Please speak, big brother." Gu Tingye turned sideways, his attitude very respectful and polite.
Gu Tingyu's lips were trembling and purple. He supported his skinny body and stared at Gu Tingye: "I just want to ask you one thing. With your current ability and power, if you want to pull the Gu family out, can you do it?"
Minglan sighed inwardly: "Great! That's the point!" After all, they were born from the same father, so they couldn't be that different.
Gu Tingye stared at his elder brother without answering. The brothers looked at each other for a moment, and then Gu Tingyu chuckled, a bit sadly, still looking directly at him: "You can do it. It may be very difficult, requiring help from many people, seeking favors everywhere, and perhaps even asking to appear before the emperor... But you can do it, right?"
Gu Tingye raised his eyebrows but remained silent.
When the Madam and the Fifth Elder saw this, they wanted to speak immediately, but Gu Tingyu raised his hand to stop them. He stared at Gu Tingye and continued, "But why do you have to ask the Emperor to ask his colleagues for help? Just for us uncles and brothers who treated you badly, bullied you, and even kicked you out of the house?"
After saying this, the Fifth Old Master smiled awkwardly: "Nephew, what are you talking about? We are all family..."
Gu Tingyu interrupted him impatiently, his laughter filled with sarcasm. "Fifth Uncle, you should think things through! Do you think that just because you and I don't mention what happened back then, it can be treated as if it never happened? Why did the Yu family's sister-in-law start a quarrel with my second brother just three days after she came into the family? Someone was just diligently passing on the news. And why did the quarrel get worse and worse? Someone was just backing her up and leveraging her power."
The eyes of several women in the hall flickered and they lowered their heads.
Gu Tingyu smiled at his uncles and brothers. "Later, why did my second brother not even stay in the capital, and ended up traveling far away from home for several years? And when my father passed away, who stopped my second brother from entering the mourning hall to pay his respects?"
Gu Tingye's expression remained unchanged, but his hand on the armrest gradually clenched into a fist.
The Fifth Old Master turned away in embarrassment, and remained silent. Gu Tingxuan looked ashamed, and Gu Tingdi glanced at Gu Tingye uneasily. Gu Tingyang gritted his teeth and said loudly, "Don't talk like it has nothing to do with you. Don't you have a share? You..."
"That's right!" Gu Tingyu sneered. His skinny face, with its high cheekbones, looked a bit scary. "I have a share! A big share! I don't mean to deny it!"
Seeing the tense atmosphere, the lady said quickly, "Hey...Brother Yu, why are you saying all this? Even the tongue and teeth can quarrel. After all, we are family..."
"That's right, sister-in-law." The fourth old lady also came to mediate, "What happened is over. From now on, we can still be a family behind closed doors!"
"Aunt Four, do you think that all these things can be solved by just joking around and vaguely discussing them?" Gu Tingyu said this, but his eyes were full of ridicule as he looked at the Fifth Old Master.
The fourth old lady was already lacking in confidence, so she immediately stopped talking.
The fifth old master was about to open his mouth, but closed it helplessly. Gu Tingyu took a deep breath: "Fifth uncle, two aunts, do you think that Erlang today is still the Erlang of the past? Do you think that if you scare him a few times or say a few nice words to coax him, he will obey obediently?" His eyes swept over everyone in the hall and finally fell on Gu Tingye.
Gu Tingye smiled slightly, loosened his palms, slowly and gracefully picked up the teacup on the table, took a sip slowly, still without saying a word, and sat quietly with his hands on his knees, waiting.
Gu Tingyu smiled bitterly in his heart - he had great composure, he was indeed no longer a weakling.
He turned his gaze back to the people in the hall, and said word by word, "If you want those you've wronged to come back and help you, be tough! Don't think you can just get away with it. Explain what needs to be explained, and everyone will understand!"
Minglan looked at Gu Tingyu in confusion. Given the rule that the ultimate boss always appears last, Gu Tingyu wouldn't just confess or whine. He probably had a trump card up his sleeve. What was it?
Gu Tingyu's fingers were as thin as sticks, and he seemed to want to take something out of his sleeve, but his wrists were shaking violently. Mrs. Shao held back her tears and helped her husband take out several burnt envelopes from his sleeve. There were three envelopes in total, with the sealing wax on the seals having been removed, and white letter paper could be vaguely seen inside.
Perhaps because he had expended too much energy in speaking just now, Gu Tingyu sat back breathlessly and motioned his wife to hand the letter to Gu Tingye. Mrs. Shao took a few steps forward and handed the letter to Gu Tingye.
When several old people in the hall saw it, they were immediately shocked. The fifth old lady cried out: "This letter? Why haven't you..." She then realized that she had said something wrong and quickly stopped talking.
Gu Tingye looked at her slowly, bowed slightly to Mrs. Shao, then simply took out the letter, unfolded it and read hurriedly; from Minglan's angle, she naturally could not see the content of the letter, but suddenly, Gu Tingye's expression changed drastically, and his fingers trembled slightly. After he finished reading one letter, he hurriedly took the other two to look at, and it seemed that the more he read, the more shocked he became.
Minglan was surprised and turned to look at Mrs. Xuan, only to see that she also had a puzzled look on her face.
Seeing this, Gu Tingyu's voice was slightly hoarse as he slowly said, "These letters were written by my father before he died. There were three identical letters in total, sent to three cousins in Jinling and our hometown respectively. He kept this a secret from everyone."
He took a deep breath and finished speaking in one breath, "It says that my second brother's biological mother, the late Mrs. Bai, came with a dowry when she married into the Gu family. It included 930 acres of prime paddy fields in the south, five shops and land in Yuhang, and 53,000 taels of silver in the Tonghui shop. After my father passed away, regardless of whether the family was divided or not, these silver, land and shops were given to my second son, Gu Tingye. My father also said in the letter that he wanted my three cousins to read it out together in the mourning hall in front of the clan members and relatives and friends."
Zhu, Madam Xuan and other female relatives had never heard of this and were stunned for a moment. Madam Bing seemed to know what was going on and tiptoed away. Minglan was so surprised that she was speechless. She quickly turned to look at Gu Tingye, but saw that he was like a petrified person, sitting there in silence, with only his fingers holding the letter trembling slightly.
The hall was so silent that you could hear a pin drop.
The fourth old lady and the lady-in-waiting were filled with shame, while the fifth old master and his wife avoided everyone's gaze and turned their heads away.
"So, what happened next?" After a long time, Gu Tingye asked, his voice as deep as the echo of a mountain stream.
Gu Tingyu sneered, "Before my father passed away, the Ninth Chamber's headmaster, Bo Qia, broke his leg while out and about. He wasn't able to recover quickly, so he couldn't come to the funeral. So, he sent his two sons. They were young, and one time, while drinking, they let something slip, and we tried to get some information out of them. That's when we learned about the three letters. That night, we used both persuasion and coercion to get them, and that was the end of it."
There was no hint of bullying in his voice. It was unclear whether he was mocking others or himself.
The lady sobbed softly, "I told you at the time that this couldn't be done. After all, it was the old marquis's dying wish, how could I disobey him? You insisted on doing it... Alas..."
The fifth old lady glared at her angrily, and the fourth old lady sighed softly.
Gu Tingye lowered his head, his mind lost in thought, his eyes fixed on the carved poles of the treasure chest. The overlapping carvings were of rich emerald green, with a row of majestic milky white marble beasts underneath as footings. It was almost dusk, and rays of light shone into the room through the thin bamboo curtains, covering all the tables, chairs, and frames with a layer of dazzling gold.
There were many stone beasts like this in the mansion; there were ones in every room and hall. He remembered that when he was four or five years old, he wanted to go outside every day. His father scolded him several times in anger but to no avail. So he had to coax him by saying, "When you count all the stone beasts in the house, you can go out and play." Then he would really squat down and count them one by one.
He counted day after day but could never finish counting. However, he refused to believe in evil and insisted on finishing counting. His uncles, aunts and brothers all laughed at him for being "silly and foolish", but his father looked at him and sighed slightly. He said nothing and just touched his head gently. His calloused knuckles rubbed his skin, and he twisted his body to avoid it.
His memory was fuzzy, but he vaguely remembered his father's eyes at that time, which seemed happy but also very sad.
"This..." Madam Shao had never known about this. She was only worried about her husband's health. Seeing that Gu Tingyu's smile was uglier than crying, and he kept coughing and wheezing, she couldn't help but come out to help. "Second brother, don't misunderstand me. I think the elders are probably looking after this property for you, afraid that you will spend it recklessly..."
Gu Tingye suddenly woke up from his memories, his eyes as clear as a cold spring, and Mrs. Shao could not continue.
"That's a lot of uncles, aunts, and everyone."
He smiled proudly, his tone unable to conceal his arrogance. Even Mrs. Shao could hear the anger and sarcasm in Gu Tingye's voice.
Everyone in the hall was uneasy and frightened. The women looked at each other. The Fifth Old Master had a sullen face and said nothing. Gu Tingyang glared at Gu Tingyu angrily, secretly cursing why this consumptive guy said all this. Isn't this just adding fuel to the fire?
Now, forget about helping, it’s good enough if you don’t step on me.
Minglan was filled with anger, and she refused to maintain her friendly smile. She just sat there with a stern face - what a bunch of bastards! Oh, no, if they were bastards, then her husband was too.
"Brother, have you finished what you wanted to say?" Gu Tingye was furious. He didn't want to see the faces of these people anymore. He didn't care about Mrs. Bing Er and Mrs. Tai. He stood up proudly with a blank expression, "If you are finished, I will take my leave now."
"Wait."
Gu Tingyu panted and shouted loudly, his pale face turned blue. He struggled to stand up, and Mrs. Shao hurried to help him.
"I haven't finished yet. Now, come with me to a place. After we get there, you can do whatever you want."
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