Chapter 115 Aren't you from Pingcheng?
Gu Fang returned from outside, his face full of reluctance and impatience. When he saw the Empress, he was stunned for a moment, then quickly composed himself, bowed his head, and respectfully called her "Sister".
He never called her "Your Majesty," he only called her "Sister." Wanwan's sister.
For twelve years, he did not remarry, but searched everywhere for his daughter. He was no longer the annoying scoundrel on the street, so the empress was willing to treat him well.
"Where did you come from? Why do you look like this? Did someone offend you?"
Gu Fang has never been polite to this older sister.
"The Salt Transport Commissioner, that man surnamed Qiu, his daughter hired someone to murder He Xian. The methods were despicable, and she almost succeeded. I was going to confront him, but I was afraid that making a scene would damage He Xian's reputation, so I turned back halfway. Sister, I don't believe you can swallow this insult. I will make sure his whole family never has a moment's peace!"
The Empress, of course, could not swallow this. Her eyes flashed with cold light as she asked in a hoarse voice, "How did his family harm He Xian?"
Gu Fang had only heard it once and couldn't remember the details, so he called on Gu Songnian, "You tell me!"
Gu Songnian had no choice but to bite the bullet and walk to the middle, stammering as he recounted the story again.
The Empress's eyes widened in fury, and she let out a series of cold laughs.
Seeing this, Shanlai quickly said, "Aunt, I have already resolved this matter myself, there is really no need to cause any more trouble." He then recounted in detail what he had done earlier, without omitting anything.
"First I disfigured her face, then Lian Si caused a scene at her house... In a way, the two of us together drove her to her death... Now that she's dead, why should I go after her while she's down? If I do, wouldn't I become the same kind of person as her? I really don't want to..."
The Empress disagreed, her brows furrowed. "What is she? Is she even worth a single hair on your head? Does her death aton for her sins? There's no such thing as a free lunch! You can't stand it, so just ignore it. I'm determined to avenge you, and I have plenty of ways to do it."
Shanlai remembered what Madam Rong had said earlier, so he tentatively asked, "It's just a small matter, why bother Uncle with such a big fuss?"
As expected, the Empress replied, "It's just a small matter, why bother him? Just give the order, it's only a matter of a word or two."
Shanlai now understood why his grandmother had given him those instructions.
The Salt Transport Commissioner was a third-rank official.
The harem was not allowed to interfere in politics, not even the empress, unless the emperor was truly willing to give up half of the empire.
But Shanlai has never heard of such a rumor.
So when her aunt said she could handle it herself, she was probably doing it in a way that was neither legitimate nor proper.
Then there's really no need for that.
Just as Shan Lai was about to offer another word of advice, Gu Fang interrupted her, saying, "And the Le family, sister, your nephew-in-law is still suffering in Wuyunwei! It's all the Le family's fault! They're so audacious, the world hasn't even changed hands yet, and they dare to do anything! My good son-in-law, they've ruined him like that! They've even dragged my daughter down to suffer in that freezing cold! Sister, you have no idea how cold it is there! The snow falls in clumps, and if you're outside, you can be buried up in no time. The wind is like a knife, cutting into your skin, making you shiver with pain... I can't even bear it, but He Xian has been there for months..." As she spoke, she began to sob.
Because she was unsure of the situation, Shanlai was reserved in her speech and did not mention the Le family, nor the Liu family. She only mentioned that her husband, Liansi, had been framed and sentenced to exile.
Now that everything was in order, the Empress understood everything.
It turns out to be the incident that happened to the Le family last year.
Who wouldn't see it? The daughter became someone's second wife. There was a son left over from the previous husband. She couldn't have children of her own, so she needed the man's help and fawned over him. But once she could have children, she found him an eyesore, stabbed him in the back, and made a big scene, bringing it to the public eye. She used this as a pretext to retreat, leaving him no room to maneuver. Finally, she forced the thorn in her side out of the house. Her behavior was exceptionally ugly.
Back then it had nothing to do with me, so I just scoffed at it. But now that it's my business, how can I tolerate it?
One of Gu Fang's statements was absolutely right: the world hasn't changed hands yet!
The people of this world are surnamed Li, Wei, not Yue.
How dare that guy surnamed Le act so recklessly? Arrogant!
The Empress suddenly stood up, letting out another chilling laugh, "It's time they learned their place!"
How can the majesty of the emperor be violated? Since ancient times, if the emperor wants his subject to die, the subject has no choice but to die. This is the case for the emperor. He has the power of life and death, which is only a thought away. He can do it as long as he wants.
But Wei Mu was only the empress.
The empress is also a type of subject. When a wife becomes empress, the great contributions she made as a wife may become a major fault once she becomes empress. This is also a matter of a single thought for the emperor.
Empress Wei's great achievements were stained with the blood of her closest relatives, making them all the more tragic.
That was her younger sister, whom she raised as her daughter.
Her younger sister died for her future, and she treated her sister so well... So the more prominent she became, the more she felt guilty towards her sister, easily trapping herself in her own self-imposed limitations...
Shanlai had a rough guess in his mind.
So for a moment, I didn't know how to persuade them.
To expect a power-hungry and seemingly domineering empress to back down and tolerate?
I'm afraid it might backfire.
Just as I was getting anxious, I suddenly heard a series of exclamations coming from outside, growing louder as they approached, accompanied by a cacophony of footsteps.
Not only she heard it, but everyone else did too, so they all looked towards the door.
The person arrived in the blink of an eye.
A young man, clad in armor and carrying a knife, barged in, causing the young women in the hall to gasp in surprise and hurriedly scatter.
Shanlai didn't move. She looked at the person who came in, paused for a moment, and then her whole face came to life, full of joy. "Brother!"
Miss Gu has many brothers: her eldest brother, second brother, third brother, cousin, and other brothers.
The three cousins were addressed in order of seniority: the eldest cousin was called the son of the aunt, and the eldest brother was the cousin from the maternal uncle's side. However, the cousin from the maternal uncle's side was closer to the other cousins because they grew up together.
The elder brother is Wei Ying, Qi Guang, the young master.
When the news reached the Duke of Qi's residence, the Duke of Qi's residence hurriedly sent it to the palace. Because the young master was on duty in the palace, the journey to the Duke of Qi's residence was skipped. Naturally, the Empress received the good news earlier than her nephew. She was so overjoyed that she forgot about her nephew.
So Wei Ying arrived just now, still wearing her duty uniform.
"elder brother!"
Shanlai called out again, ran towards his brother, grabbed one of his brother's hands with both of his, looked up at him with boundless joy, and shook his hand, just like when they were little.
Wei Ying's face was flushed, and she was panting heavily. Her face had been filled with ecstasy, but after seeing the person she had been longing for, her joy slowly faded, and her expression gradually turned to confusion and even anger.
Such a change is truly baffling.
Especially Gu Fang.
"What do you mean? Why are you giving me that look? Did your sister offend you by coming back?"
Didn't that offend them?
"It's you!"
It was a questioning tone, very aggressive.
How could Gu Fang tolerate this?
"Are you possessed by a ghost? How dare you talk to your sister like that! Are you here to cause trouble? Believe me or I'll throw you out!"
That's an incredibly high compliment, and it's such a miscarriage of justice.
Wei Ying quickly explained, "No, I, I am...I..." She was so anxious that she stammered and her face turned even redder.
How could Gu Fang let someone who dared to give his daughter a hard time get away with it? He immediately said impatiently, "What are you babbling about? If you can't say it, get out!"
Shanlai pleaded for his brother: "Father, please don't tease my brother! He's just tired and hasn't recovered yet."
What do you mean, "tired"? He's clearly angry!
"Aren't you from Pingcheng? You've always stayed in Pingcheng and never left!"
He even dared to shout, which enraged Gu Fang: "What are you yelling about?" How dare you yell at his daughter in front of him? Are you crazy?
They're still harping on him, and Wei Ying finally snapped, "Uncle, stop causing trouble! I'm asking you a question! Why aren't you answering?"
The next sentence is a shout directed at Shan.
Why not answer? Of course, it's because I feel guilty.
"...I was sick, and after I recovered, I didn't remember anything. Before my adoptive father passed away, he told me not to come to Xingdu. I didn't know what it meant... Later, when I came to Xingdu, I asked around, and everyone told me that something big had happened that year and many people had died... I didn't remember who I was, and I was afraid of causing trouble, so I could only say that I was from Pingcheng, had never been to Xingdu, and wasn't some kind of remnant..."
So that's how it is.
Wei Ying was no longer angry and became happy again. She cupped her sister's face in her hands, looked at her, and kept rubbing her sister's face with her two thumbs. As she rubbed, tears fell down her face.
He also said that sentence.
“Brother shouldn’t have acted out of spite back then, brother is so sorry… If I had gone, you wouldn’t have gotten lost, and Aunt wouldn’t have… I’m so sorry, so sorry…”
Tears streamed down her face as she sobbed uncontrollably.
Of course, Shanlai also had to cry.
"Brother, don't say that. In that situation... there was no need to change. You couldn't bear to see me suffer. How could I want you to suffer?"
Gu Fang realized what was happening, waited patiently for a while, and when he saw that the brother and sister were crying less, he began to make his move.
"You saw your sister before? Didn't you recognize her? Are your eyes just for show? Are you blind?!"
It's a good thing he didn't remember, otherwise he would have scolded both of his nieces, calling them both useless! If even one of them were competent, his daughter would have suffered so much less! I really hate him!
Shan Lai also said, "It's really not my brother's fault..."
The Empress and Madam Rong had been listening intently, but because they wanted to know the whole story, they hadn't made a sound to disturb them. Now that things were clear, the Empress stood up, walked over to the two children, and gently stroked the back of each child's neck with one hand.
Both children are her responsibility.
"No one is to blame. You're all fine, you're all good kids..."
The sigh in her voice brought tears to Wei Ying's eyes again.
He's bad. He harmed his sister, causing her so much suffering. She can't remember what happened before and lives in constant fear, like a frightened bird...
……wrong.
Wei Ying raised her tear-stained face; the tears had stopped flowing, leaving only tear stains and suspicion on her face.
"You clearly know I'm the young master. Even if I didn't say I was looking for my sister, I am the young master. How could the person I painstakingly searched for be a remnant? Even if she were a remnant, I asked her in public. What could possibly happen? Since you knew your background was questionable, and I asked you, why didn't you ask me? If you had asked, would I have refused to bring you back? You were an orphan back then, without any relatives. How could you restrain yourself from asking? Didn't you ever think that you still had relatives alive? Didn't you want to know who you were? You lied so decisively, without the slightest hesitation. If you had even a little bit of that, I wouldn't have given up on you on the spot."
There are no relatives, but there is compassion...
It's not something I want to say openly, so I won't say it.
Even if she didn't say anything, others aren't stupid.
"Is it because of Liu Liansi?"
Wei Ying recalled the scene at that time; weren't she and Liu Liansi deeply in love?
"I feel that having him is enough, I only want to stay with him, and I don't want to get involved in anything else. I'm afraid that I'm just a hindrance and will ruin your marriage! Isn't that right!"
"No! That's not true! I'm just scared!"
It was also a firm and unequivocal denial.
Wei Ying no longer dared to believe her.
Gu Fang had already believed it.
He believed his nephew.
"I knew he was a menace! He ruined my daughter!"
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