Chapter 604: Calculating people's hearts will also lose their hearts
The door of the study was closed, isolating all the noise and chaos outside.
As the night deepened, when Gu Junze returned to the dormitory, Chu Ruohan had not fallen asleep yet. She just sat quietly on the couch by the window, looking at the waning moon outside the window, wondering what she was thinking.
Hearing the sound of the door being pushed open, she turned around.
"Brother Lu..." Chu Ruohan asked softly.
Gu Junze took off his outer robe and casually draped it on the screen.
"Let him kneel for a whole night and wake up."
He walked over to Chu Ruohan and sat down, holding her slightly cold hand, his voice lowered a bit: "I warned him."
Chu Ruohan raised her eyes, with a hint of confusion in her eyes.
Gu Junze's eyes were as calm as water: "I once told him that if he dared to plot against you again, he would never be allowed to set foot in the Zhenguo Mansion again."
Chu Ruohan sighed softly and leaned on Gu Junze's shoulder.
"This kid is too scheming. His move today is nothing but a risky one, taken out of desperation. He's not plotting against me, he's gambling. He's betting that you and I will completely cut off Third Aunt's hand from reaching out to them, and put them to rest once and for all."
He plotted against himself and them, causing unrest in the house, just for a chance to escape from the sea of suffering.
Gu Junze didn't say anything, but just tightened his arms and held her tighter in his arms.
He picked her up sideways and walked steadily towards the bed.
The curtain fell, blocking out the candlelight outside.
In the darkness, Chu Ruohan's voice carried a hint of fatigue and melancholy.
"I saw Yueshu today, and she's pregnant again."
She paused and continued, "Doctor Qian and Ruyan now have three children. Do you think Qingchen is our only daughter?"
"Did you really hurt yourself when you gave birth to her, so that you can never get pregnant again?"
Gu Junze's heart felt like it was pricked by a needle. He gently stroked Chu Ruohan's smooth back and soothed her with a gentle voice.
"Don't we still have Xuan Ge'er? Even though he's adopted, in my heart, he's my child, just like Qingchen."
Chu Ruohan found a comfortable position in his arms, hummed softly, and slowly closed her eyes.
Gu Junze lowered his head and looked at his wife's peaceful sleeping face.
He didn't tell her that he had been secretly taking contraceptive medicine ever since she had given birth to their daughter after a near-death experience.
He would never let her take even the slightest risk just to have another child.
He will take this secret to his grave.
As long as she can be safe and sound for the rest of her life, that is enough.
The next day, the sky was just getting light.
The candle in the study finally burned out the last drop of wax, and the blue smoke curled up and dissipated in the cool air of the early morning.
Lu Ge'er was still kneeling there with his back straight.
The voice of the Duke of Zhenguo last night is still fresh in my mind.
"If you try to scheme against people, you will eventually lose their hearts."
Of course he understood. He had calculated his sister's marriage, his grandmother's greed, his uncle's tyranny, and even Chu Ruohan's kindness.
He knew that by doing so, he would leave an indelible thorn in the heart of this aunt who treated him best.
But he doesn't regret it.
Compared to the abyss he and his sister were about to fall into, what was this price?
He will double it back in the future...
When the first ray of morning light shone through the window pane onto his pale face, Lu Ge'er moved.
He supported himself on the cold ground and tried to stand up.
His legs, which had been kneeling all night, were already numb and no longer belonged to him. An intense soreness and numbness made his eyes go black, and he staggered and almost fell again.
He held onto the desk, gritted his teeth, and waited until the dizziness passed before he moved to the window step by step with difficulty.
With a creak, the heavy carved wooden window was pushed open by him.
The cool breeze of the early morning blew in, clearing his confused mind a little.
At this moment, a gray pigeon landed silently and landed on the window frame as if it was familiar with the place, with a thin bamboo tube tied to its feet.
A gleam of light flashed in Lu Ge'er's eyes.
He quickly removed the bamboo tube and poured out a very thinly rolled piece of paper.
When I unfolded the note, there were only four words on it.
Everything is ready.
Lu Ge'er clenched the note tightly, his knuckles turning blue and white from the force.
His gaze passed over the layers of eaves of the Duke's Mansion and looked towards the direction of the imperial city.
These past few years, I have been humble and endured humiliation...
Everything has been arranged, and now all he and his sister need to be free is an east wind.
A breeze that will allow him to pass the imperial examination and have a bright future.
Since that day, Lu Ge'er and Lan Jie'er settled down in the main courtyard.
Chu Ruohan specially cleaned up two elegant adjacent rooms for them.
Lu Ge'er spent a night kneeling and the thorn in his aunt's heart that could never be removed, in exchange for a peaceful place for his sister.
The autumn examination is approaching, so he doesn't need to be distracted anymore.
Time flies and half a month has passed.
Gu Qingchen, on the other hand, unexpectedly found pleasure in his struggle with the account book.
At first, she only gritted her teeth and looked at those densely packed numbers in order to escape from the sea of suffering as soon as possible.
But as she watched, she actually tasted some flavor.
"Mother, look here!"
That afternoon, Gu Qingchen pointed at a purchasing account book, his eyes brightening surprisingly.
"Last month, when the government was purchasing medicinal herbs, the price of this century-old ginseng was 20% higher than the market price. The reason given by the purchasing manager was that it was of excellent quality."
"But I looked through the warehouse receipts, and they only showed it as an ordinary item. Where did the price difference go?"
Chu Ruohan took the account book, looked at the place her daughter pointed out, and then looked at her smug expression of "come and praise me", and she felt surprised and happy.
She had originally intended to use this boring method to temper her daughter's temper, but she hadn't expected that the child actually had some talent for settling accounts.
She actually uncovered some subtle tricks that even the old stewards might not have been able to notice.
"Well, it looks good." Chu Ruohan remained expressionless and simply nodded. "Call Manager Liu from the procurement department tomorrow and ask him in person."
After receiving his mother's affirmation, Gu Qingchen's tail almost reached the sky.
Her eyes rolled, and she immediately moved closer to Chu Ruohan, pulling her sleeve and acting coquettishly.
"Mom, I'm already so capable now, so I don't have to stay at home every day, right?"
She blinked her eyes and said in a sweet and soft voice, "Please let me go back to the academy. Master Li must miss me."
"I promise I'll study hard this time and never cause trouble again!"
Chu Ruohan looked at her acting funny and knew what she was thinking.
It would be strange if Master Li thought she was such a nuisance!
"You can go back to the academy." Chu Ruohan said with relief.
"Really?" Gu Qingchen was overjoyed.
"But," Chu Ruohan changed the subject, "on your monthly day off, you must come back and learn housekeeping from me. I will conduct random checks on the mansion's accounts. If there are any errors, your house arrest will remain in effect."
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