It’s the 20th day of the 12th lunar month, and there are only ten days left until the Chinese New Year.
Snowflakes were floating in the sky, and the entire capital was covered in white.
The "divine charlatan" Renqiu observed the celestial phenomena at night and concluded that this snow was the last snow in the first year of Jingming.
The next one will have to wait until the second year of Jingming.
Several carriages made a creaking sound as they rolled through the snow-covered streets.
The carriage passed through the streets and alleys and finally entered the Gu Mansion, now the Mansion of the Marquis of Chengping.
Gu Ting stood in the wind and snow. Seeing the carriage enter the side door, he hurriedly took a few steps forward.
"Empress!"
The car door opened, and a hand extended out. The fingers were long, white, and the nails were pink, without any polish or makeup.
Gu Jiu stepped on a small stool and got off the carriage.
She said to Gu Ting, "Don't alarm others! I came here just to see him and ask him a few questions."
"Father is in the study and has been waiting for you for a long time." Gu Ting lowered his head slightly.
The maid Ah Qing put the white fox cloak on Gu Jiu and said, "My lady, please take care of yourself."
Gu Jiu held a brass hand warmer and looked up at the sky. Snowflakes fell on his face, bringing a slight chill.
"Let Mrs. Xie prepare. I might meet her."
"Yes!" Gu Ting bowed in response.
The snow in the yard has been cleared, and the ground is wet and slightly slippery.
Gu Jiu followed Gu Ting to the study.
After passing through the corridor, the study came into view, but I heard noises coming from inside, bang bang bang, as if something was being smashed.
Gu Ting sighed, "It's like this every day, either cursing or smashing things, there's never a day of peace."
Gu Jiu asked, "Have you talked to him?"
Gu Ting shook his head. "I want to talk to him, but I'm afraid it won't lead to any results and ruin your plans."
Gu Jiu nodded, "Brother, why don't you come in with me."
"Is it suitable?" Gu Ting was surprised.
"There's nothing inappropriate about it. This is about the cause of my biological mother's death, and my brother is qualified to attend the trial."
The brother and sister walked into the study.
The noise in the study suddenly stopped, leaving only a mess on the floor.
Xu Yousi immediately arranged for the servants to clean the floor and asked the maid to serve tea again.
Such a good study was ruined beyond recognition by Mr. Gu.
The floor was cleaned, and brewed tea was brought into the study. The charcoal brazier was burning brightly, and the room was quite warm.
After making sure that everything was alright, Xu Yousi bowed and left, closing the door.
Old Master Gu Zhili was panting. He wanted to question and vent his anger, but as soon as he met Gu Jiu's eyes, he lost his temper.
He was afraid!
He was not afraid of Gu Ting, the unfilial son.
But he was afraid of Gu Jiu from the bottom of his heart.
Just one look is enough to make him calm down.
"Come, come!" Gu Zhili was so frightened that he stuttered.
Gu Jiu pursed his lips and poured tea himself, "Drink tea!"
She placed the teacup on the other end of the table and tapped the tabletop.
Upon hearing the voice, Gu Zhili immediately sat down at the other end of the table and behaved extremely well.
Gu Ting sighed secretly, there is always something stronger than the other, this is true.
No matter how ferocious he looked, it was no match for his sister's casual words of "drinking tea".
Seeing Gu Zhili sitting down, Gu Jiu said softly: "Tell me!"
Gu Zhili was so panicked that he almost jumped up. He asked tremblingly, "Tell me, tell me, what are you talking about?"
The stuttering problem became more serious.
Gu Jiu raised his eyebrows, "Tell me how my mother died."
"She, she, she died of a serious illness. Everyone knows this. You are the Queen, so you can't just listen to Xie's one-sided story. She has bad intentions. She is trying to sow discord. She just can't bear to see our family living in harmony."
Gu Zhili spoke more and more confidently, putting all the blame on Xie.
Gu Jiu smiled, "Just based on Xie's words, do you think I would come to talk to you in person?"
"What does this mean?"
Gu Zhili was sweating profusely. Why was the room so hot? Was the fire in the charcoal basin too big? Should he open a window to get some fresh air?
He wiped the sweat from his forehead and was so nervous that he was at a loss.
Gu Jiu casually said, "Those who served my father back then are not all dead. There is still one person alive who has said something valuable. For example, the little cousin from the Su family."
boom!
Gu Zhili's head exploded and he felt dizzy and dazed.
"You are the queen, you wouldn't believe what someone who was kicked out of the Gu Mansion said."
"Why don't you believe it? He has no reason to lie. If he hadn't seen the little cousin of the Su family with his own eyes, he wouldn't be able to make up such a story."
Gu Zhili broke out in a cold sweat, "I, I, I..."
Gu Jiu leaned back in his chair and said lightly, "My patience is limited. Once my patience is exhausted, I will no longer care about the relationship between father and daughter."
Gu Zhili was so frightened that he suddenly burst into tears.
"I'm your father! Why are you treating me like an enemy? I've done nothing wrong to you. I even prepared a 40,000 tael dowry for you. Is there some misunderstanding between us?"
He cried bitterly, crying like a 200-pound child.
Gu Jiu looked at him coldly, "Are you sure you want to waste your time? I came here today only to ask about my mother's passing. You have been avoiding talking about this matter. Are you feeling guilty?"
"No! I was wrongly accused. I didn't do anything."
"What's going on with the little cousin of the Su family?" Gu Ji ignored his explanation and only asked the core question.
Gu Zhili said angrily: "She is just a little slut who seduced me on purpose and wanted to come in and replace your mother."
"Bullshit! The Su family is a scholarly family, how could it be possible..." Gu Ting was so angry that he jumped up and down.
"The Su family is indeed a family of scholars, but that is the direct branch of the Su family. As for the side branches of the Su family, they are just a bunch of poor families who rely on the direct branch for a living and are greedy for money. Back then, when I was the son of a marquis, many young girls loved to stick to me."
Gu Zhili interrupted Gu Ting. In his eyes, Gu Ting was a brainless and reckless man.
Gu Jiu knocked on the table to remind the two not to quarrel.
She asked, "You mean, the Su family's little cousin took the initiative to approach you?"
"Yeah! Then your mother found out and got mad at me, saying I was a hottie, insulting her, and disrespecting her. I couldn't get along with her, and I was too lazy to listen to her nagging, so I ignored her for a long time."
"What happened later? Did you still have any private contact with Su's cousin?" Gu Jiu asked calmly.
"Well, we just, we met privately a few times. Later, my cousin's family was driven out of the capital by the Su family's direct branch, and we stopped communicating."
Gu Jiu raised an eyebrow and sneered, "As far as I know, the Su family's little cousin suddenly disappeared. No one found her alive, and no one found her body after she died. She was not driven out of the capital as you said."
"You don't believe me, but you believe a servant?" Gu Zhili had an angry expression on his face, as if he had been hurt and wronged.
Bang!
Gu Jiu slammed his hand on the table and said sternly, "The Su family is not completely dead, and you can't hide what happened back then."
Gu Zhili collapsed, as if all his energy and spirit had been drained from his body.
"Tell me, what happened back then?" Gu Jiu's voice was very soft, but it had the power of a mountain pressing down on one's head.
Gu Zhili's final resistance was ruthlessly suppressed by her.
He sighed and wiped his face, "It's a long story."
"I have time today, you can talk slowly."
"The old man of the Su family, your grandfather, was a tough guy and had offended many people in the court. Many people disliked him and wanted to get rid of him so that he wouldn't be an eyesore in the court. At that time, someone came to me and asked me to find a way to find Mr. Su's flaws."
"You promised?"
Gu Zhili nodded heavily.
Gu Jiu frowned, "Why agree? The Su family is your wife's family. What good will it do you if you harm the Su family?"
"Someone else has the leverage over me." Gu Zhili roared angrily, appearing to be in great pain.
Gu Jiu sneered, "I'm afraid there's more to it than just this. As far as I know, your marriage to mother was not your wish. After you got married, your relationship has always been strained. Let me ask you, before the Su family fell into trouble, did you ever have the thought of killing your wife?"
"You, you, you, is this what people say? I am your father!" Gu Zhili roared with a ferocious face.
Gu Jiu sneered, "It seems so."
"No! I didn't, don't accuse me."
Bang!
Gu Jiu slammed the table and said, "Let's go back to the Su family. Who threatened you? What did you do?"
"I don't know who threatened me. The person never showed up."
"What can I threaten you with?"
"I, I, I got drunk and cursed Emperor Wuzong Kaiyao, and someone overheard me. I also wrote poems mocking Emperor Kaiyao. Furthermore, I even secretly touched a noble lady from the imperial family."
Gu Zhili really died because of a woman in this life.
Emperor Wuzong of Kaiyao often punished officials for slander. Gu Zhili cursed, wrote sarcastic poems, and even attacked a noble lady from the imperial family. No wonder he was manipulated.
All I can say is that Gu Zhili was also an angry young man when he was young. He had no control over his mouth and would say everything he wanted to say, whether he wanted to or not.
Even more stupid is that there was written evidence left behind.
He is afraid of death!
If someone threatened him, given his fear of death, he would definitely choose to surrender without any hesitation.
"What did you do?" Gu Jiu continued to ask.
Gu Zhili hesitated, as if he found it difficult to speak.
Gu Jiu sneered and said, "At this point, what else can't be said?"
Gu Zhili's eyes wandered, feeling guilty. "The Su family's little cousin came up to me, wanting to be my concubine, so I took advantage of the situation and used her to provoke your mother. As expected, your mother was furious and ran back to her parents' home. I promised your mother to break off relations with the little cousin, but I kept in touch with her privately. Because I went to the Su family several times to apologize, Mr. Su changed his mind about me. So I took advantage of Mr. Su's trust and created an accident."
"What accident?"
Gu Zhili covered his face, unable to speak and feeling very embarrassed.
Even though many years have passed, he is reluctant to mention it.
"What kind of accident was it? What did you do?"
Gu Jiu was furious.
She had a premonition that what Gu Zhili did was directly related to the decline of the Su family and Su's death.
Gu Zhili choked several times, kept his head down and refused to speak.
Bang!
Gu Jiu picked up the teacup and smashed it directly to the ground.
"explain!"
It was just one word, but it was like a huge hammer that hit Gu Zhili's heart.
He is quite old, with gray hair, but at this moment he is like a wronged child, crying uncontrollably.
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