Chapter 61 Miss Gu’s Past (Additional Chapter)
More than half an hour later, Wenshang Hou Gu Huai came to Xuanjingsi in person.
Gu Huai rushed back to the capital early this morning, but as soon as he got back, he discovered that a strange murder had occurred in the mansion.
So he immediately sent someone to ask the Xuanjingsi to come and deal with it, but of course they failed to get them. After further inquiries, he found out what happened yesterday.
Since the matter was of great importance, Gu Huai came in person.
Gu Huai is very handsome, with handsome features and an upright figure. Even though he is already in his fifties and the traces of time are on his eyes and eyebrows, one can still tell that he was a rare handsome man when he was young.
However, there was a hint of sadness in his eyes at this moment, and he looked a bit old.
"Hey, Lord Gu, why are you here? Please take a seat. Someone, bring some tea!" Xie Shouzheng hurried forward and greeted Lord Wen Shang.
Gu Huai said, "Thank you, sir. I've come to apologize for what happened yesterday. I've been away on business recently, and my wife is in charge of my daughter's funeral. Last night, after I came back, I heard that foolish woman had the people from the Xuanjing Division driven away and hired an exorcist from outside to handle my daughter's affairs."
"Women have long hair but short knowledge. If I have offended you in any way, please don't bear a grudge. Moreover, my wife was murdered last night..."
When he said this, Gu Huai's eyes were slightly red, and his face was full of sadness: "Alas, what a misfortune for our family! Next, I will have to trouble Master Xie for help."
Xie Shouzheng said: "Our Xuanjing Division is a government agency. We are obliged to help anyone involved in anything strange, no matter if they are from a wealthy or humble family. But..."
He glanced at the files on the desk with embarrassment. "We're really busy! Look, there are dozens of cases on the books. They have to be queued up and dealt with one by one, right? Besides, all the brothers in the yamen have been sent out to work, so we really can't spare any manpower today!"
In fact, this is not meant to be deliberate. The Xuan Jing Division is indeed very busy. Every morning, the subordinates come to report for work, and then they get their tasks and go about their business.
Even Xie Shouzheng has to deal with a "flying head" unsolved case today, which involves human life and he cannot be negligent.
Only Lin Qingyue had not received any mission today. She was sitting aside, drinking tea leisurely without interrupting.
After Xie Shouzheng exchanged a few words with Wen Shang Hou Gu Huai, he hurried away, holding his official hat.
Before leaving, he whispered in Lin Qingyue's ear, "The Gu family case involves human life, so we have to take care of it. Deputy Envoy Lin, I leave it to you."
"Thank you, sir, thank you, sir!"
Gu Huai chased after him and called out a few times, but to no avail. Turning around and seeing Lin Qingyue, he politely asked, "You are..."
Lin Qingyue placed the teacup on the table and said calmly, "The new deputy envoy of the Xuanjing Division is Lin Qingyue."
Since the Xuanjingsi was not involved in court affairs and was not a government office with real power, the upper class always looked down on it and would only come to it for help when they needed it.
Therefore, they didn't know much about the personnel situation within the Xuanjing Division. In addition, Dongfang Yan didn't like Lin Qingyue to show up in public, so few people knew that Lin Qingyue was the Princess of Jin.
At this moment, Wenshang Hou Gu Huai only thought that she was just a minor official here like Xie Shouzheng.
In the past, Gu Huai would have looked down on them. But at this moment, there was no one else available in the entire Xuanjing Division.
He had no choice but to turn to Lin Qingyue for help: "Deputy Envoy Lin, the situation in our family is truly urgent and we cannot afford to delay! I beg you to go and help us, otherwise the entire Gu family will be slaughtered tonight!"
The first imperial merchant of Da Qi had tears in his eyes and looked very pitiful.
"Is that so? This is indeed urgent and can't be delayed any longer." Lin Qingyue brushed off the non-existent dust on her skirt and said, "Let's go, let's go check on your house."
Gu Huai originally thought that he would have to spend some more time talking, but he didn't expect Lin Qingyue to be so easy to talk to and agreed immediately.
Given Gu Huai's current status, he doesn't need to do this kind of errands personally.
But after the commotion last night, the entire Gu family was in a terrible state. If the Xuan Jing Division did not take action, there would probably be even more trouble.
When Lin Qingyue arrived at the Gu family, she saw that the door of the mansion was open and servants were busy packing their bags.
There are many family members in the Marquis's Mansion. Seeing that their home has become a haunted house, those who can avoid it have temporarily left, fearing that the scene of last night will happen again.
Those who couldn't leave were mainly servants, and heads of households like Gu Huai who had to step in to resolve the issue.
When we arrived at the hall, we saw three bodies lying on the ground. The white cloth covering the bodies was soaked with blood. It was a horrible sight.
Lin Qingyue looked around inside and out, especially the courtyard where Miss Gu lived before her death.
Finally, he returned to the hall and began to examine the bodies on the ground. "Is that the person lying on the ground who died last night?"
Gu Huai nodded, his eyes filled with sorrow. "One is the housekeeper, the other is an exorcist. The other is my wife, Guo... She was originally in charge of my daughter's funeral, but now..."
His voice was slightly choked, and he was unable to continue.
Lin Qingyue had already finished examining the bodies of the housekeeper and the exorcist, and finally lifted the cloth covering Guo's body to check.
As the subordinates had reported, Guo had died a horrible death, her abdomen disemboweled. A bloody heart, painted black, lay beside it.
Guo's eyes suddenly opened wide and her mouth was blocked with a handkerchief, as if to prevent her from shouting.
Even Lin Qingyue couldn't help but shake her head and sigh as she watched: "He must have been gouged alive to death. How tragic."
She stood up and asked Gu Huai: "Do you think the murderer is a human or a ghost?"
Gu Huai said, "I hadn't returned home last night. But the maidservant next to Guo said she saw a ghostly figure passing by, wearing the clothes my eldest daughter wore when she was alive. She also heard a creepy cry. So, I think it must be my deceased eldest daughter who has returned to seek revenge."
"Come back for revenge? And use such brutal means. It seems that she has a deep hatred for your Gu family."
Lin Qingyue found a comfortable chair and sat down, saying, "How about, my Lord, please tell me the story of Miss Gu's life first?"
Gu Huai sighed and began to tell the story of his eldest daughter's life.
"Gu Nianxue, this is the name of my eldest daughter. She is my first child, and the only one I have personally raised..."
Gu Huai and his first wife grew up together as childhood sweethearts and were deeply in love after their marriage. Naturally, their first child was doted on by both of them.
Worried that the servants might not be able to take good care of the children, Gu Huai took care of the children himself when he was young.
At night, he sang songs gently to the child and patted his daughter's little butt to coax her to sleep.
During the day, he held his daughter in his arms and was reluctant to let go, saying that girls should be pampered more.
Even his wife said: "Nianxue can have a father like you, she will definitely live a happy life!"
Gu Huai smiled and said, "Of course! I, Gu Huai's daughter, will be the happiest girl in the world!"
Madam Gu said, "We love her so much now, but we don't know if her husband and in-laws will treat her the same way we do when she gets married."
Gu Huai jokingly said, "Then I must find her a very good man in the future!"
Mrs. Gu looked at her husband tenderly, her eyes full of love: "I hope my daughter can marry a man like her father in the future."
Later, Mrs. Gu gave birth to her second child, a boy.
The brother and sister grew up gradually under the love of their parents.
Gu Nianxue inherited the best looks from her parents and grew into a graceful beauty. The people lining up to propose marriage to her almost broke down the threshold of the Gu family's house.
"A daughter should marry into a wealthy family, but she chose to marry the son of Gu Huai's enemy. Gu Huai even suspected that the man was trying every possible way to seduce his daughter and must have other motives."
"Of course, I cannot possibly marry my precious daughter to someone with such ulterior motives. To sever their bond, I have locked her up at home and will not allow her to leave the house without permission."
"Because of that man, a rift began to develop between me, Nianxue, and my daughter. Later, out of spite, she married the then Minister of the Chancellery. Minister Fang was a few years older than me, and his wife had died young. I don't know why, but he suddenly fell in love with my daughter. He held a high position in the court, and Nianxue was so determined to marry him that I had no choice but to agree."
"Later, Minister Fang was convicted of corruption, dismissed from office and exiled. To protect my daughter from being implicated, I used my connections and made arrangements to allow Nianxue to divorce him before he was convicted, thus avoiding exile."
"By then, Nianxue's mother had already passed away, and I had already married Guo as my second wife. Nianxue and Guo's relationship had always been bad before she got married, and they would quarrel from time to time."
"Nian Xue suffered a great blow after Minister Fang's accident. After she was brought back home, she started to act crazy and speak rudely, causing unrest in the family. Guo always blamed me for taking her back. But no matter what she becomes, she is still my daughter, and I cannot ignore her!"
"This Marquis has always believed that with time, Nianxue's heartache will ease a little, and peace will gradually return to our family. In the future, it doesn't matter if she doesn't marry. Our Marquis' Mansion can still support her."
"But she's been getting more and more restless. Just three months ago, she inexplicably started having an affair with a servant on the farm."
"I am the dignified Marquis Wenshang. I have seen all sorts of storms and waves. But this rebellious girl is truly disappointing!"
"So when she insisted on marrying that servant, I was really tired of controlling her and didn't want to control her anymore, so I let her leave the house and marry on her own."
"I just didn't expect that she...she would actually hang herself!"
"Ah!" he sighed.
At this moment, this man, the richest man in Da Qi and a marquis, seemed to have lost all his glory and was just an old father grieving for his daughter.
"What's even more unexpected is that she's still restless after her death and actually came back to take revenge on her family, even using such cruel means!!"
When talking about the sad things, this man who had been strong all his life choked up and burst into tears.
"I'm sorry to have embarrassed you, Deputy Envoy Lin." He took out his handkerchief and wiped his tears.
"After hearing about Nian Xue's accident, I rode my horse as fast as I could to the capital. This morning, I arrived at my doorstep and heard that a murder had occurred! If I had known this, I shouldn't have helped her escape the blame when Minister Fang got into trouble! I should have let her go into exile with me and pretended I had never given birth to this evil girl!"
Lin Qingyue said, "Looking at Lord Gu's expression, he still remembers the father-daughter relationship with Miss Gu. Then why did your wife, Guo, replace the Xuanjingsi personnel yesterday? If not, Miss Gu would have been liberated yesterday."
"My wife is handling the funeral arrangements. As for why she wanted to change someone..."
Gu Huai said apologetically, "She must have been deceived by someone with only a few skills. She's so confused! Deputy Envoy Lin, although my wife is dead, I still want to apologize to your company on her behalf!"
Lin Qingyue stood up and said, "Alright, I have a general understanding of your family situation. Now it's time to visit Miss Gu's grave. Lord Gu, will you join us?"
Gu Huai called the second steward of the mansion and asked, "Where was the eldest lady buried yesterday?"
The second steward said, "Madam has entrusted Steward Gu with full authority over the eldest young lady's funeral. It seems...it seems she was buried on Changqing Mountain!"
Changqing Mountain is the first choice for ordinary residents in the capital city when there is a funeral in their family.
For wealthy families like the Gu family, the location of their ancestral tomb is very particular. When a family member dies, his descendants will be buried in the ancestral tomb, believing in reunion after death and blessing future generations.
As for Miss Gu, as the eldest daughter of the Gu family, her grave was squeezed together with the common people in Changqing Mountain. However, Gu Huai, as her biological father, did not even know where his daughter was buried.
"Lord Gu is indeed a good father!" Lin Qingyue sneered.
Gu Huai was embarrassed, but he still explained: "Nianxue is a married daughter, she can't enter the ancestral tomb..."
Changqing Mountain is not very high. If you walk up a winding path, you can see scattered tombstones of various sizes.
Most of the families of these tomb owners were engaged in business or work, and did not have their own land, so they could only bury their family members on Changqing Mountain.
The advantage is that they are close and convenient for sacrifices, so each grave is kept clean and most of them still have remaining offerings.
Gu Huai walked breathlessly for a long time, looking at almost every tombstone on the mountain, but still couldn't find Miss Gu's tomb.
He was a little puzzled: "Changqing Mountain is not very big, and there are only a few new graves. How come I can't find Nianxue?"
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