conscience
Gu Hanying recalled what Gu Jin had just told him about Gu Yu's recent serious illness, and felt a pang of heartache again. "If you want to go out and have fun, go out. Don't stay cooped up at home. If you need anything or are missing anything, tell A-Jin. Don't keep it all bottled up inside."
"No matter what, you are still a young lady of the Duke's mansion. Everything will remain the same. If anyone goesssips, they'll be sold out. Don't pay any attention to those gossipy people."
Gu Hanying could be more long-winded than an old woman when he started nagging, which made Gu Yu feel a little heavy-hearted.
"Okay, I understand." She lowered her head, her expression calm. "I'm a little tired today, so I'll go back to my room first. I might have to leave the manor tomorrow."
"Alright, go ahead. I'll have someone bring your dinner to your courtyard later." Gu Hanying smiled so much that all the wrinkles on his face disappeared.
After Gu Yu left, he began to scold Gu Jin with a stern face for not taking good care of his sister. After scolding him, he got down to business.
"...The matter of the deposed crown prince is somewhat complicated. It's possible that the emperor himself was involved in pushing things along. That's why he wasn't killed directly this time, but instead demoted to a commoner and sent to guard the imperial mausoleum in Bianjing."
"Is it because of what happened in Jiangnan?"
"Yes, the Land Administration Commissioner, it seems that this emperor will not let go until this matter is accomplished."
"Has Xu Qiu's case been thoroughly investigated? Now that the Marquis of Shouning has become a traitor, even if Zhang Xuyan really died because of Xu Qiu's torture, this case will be handled leniently," Gu Jin said.
“Speaking of Xu Qiu,” Gu Hanying narrowed his eyes, “what did he do to make someone as gentle and kind as A Yu divorce him?”
“I don’t know…” A hint of confusion appeared in Gu Jin’s usually calm eyes. “Ayu is unwilling to talk to me about it.”
"Sigh, Xu Qiu takes good care of A Yu. I can't find any fault with her. He is sincere towards A Yu."
Gu Hanying recalled the scene at the beginning of the year when the two of them came to pick him up hand in hand, in a friendly manner.
At the time, he was still marveling at how the two of them had become a couple, a relationship that seemed to have a certain charm, like neither mandarin ducks nor immortals. He never imagined they would separate like this.
“Ayu seems to have changed. She’s hiding something on her mind. She said she’ll tell us the truth when the time is right.”
Gu Jin couldn't bring himself to say that his sister had changed because he knew nothing about the Gu Yu of the past. However, his intuition and the vague impression Gu Yu left on him when he was young gave him a sense of warning.
"You little rascal, you'll definitely change when you grow up. What are you talking about? You used to wet your pants when you were little, do you still do that now?" Gu Hanying laughed and scolded.
Gu Jin's face darkened, and he stopped talking. Luckily, there was no one else around, otherwise he would have been extremely embarrassed.
Yingtian Prefecture Prison.
Xu Qiu actually received the divorce papers that Gu Yu had Liu Yun deliver to him.
Other normal letters might not have been delivered, but this divorce letter just happened to be delivered to him.
He glanced at the divorce papers, sneered, amused by Gu Yu's ruthlessness, and reached out to tear them up.
But Liu Yun reached out to stop her, "Don't tear it, don't tear it, young master. I think this might be a temporary measure by the young lady."
"What expedient measure? Tell me about it?"
Xu Qiu stopped what she was doing and glanced at him sideways. "And you, now that I've divorced your young lady, why are you still here? Couldn't you have just had someone deliver this?"
Liu Yun scratched his head. "I don't know anything about scheming, but listen to this. Miss asked me to follow you because she's worried that the young master's martial arts skills aren't good enough and he might be harmed by villains. Miss doesn't seem like she's going to sever ties with the young master at all."
"Um."
Xu Qiu nodded, seemingly in a better mood. He folded the divorce papers, put them in his sleeve, and planned to burn them in a brazier once he got outside.
He pretended to be serious and continued, "And then?"
"And then?" Liu Yun shook his head. "That's all? Oh, right, I can't call you son-in-law anymore. You're my new master now. You'll give me one portion of my monthly allowance, and Miss will give me another portion as well."
Xu Qiu frowned, somewhat confused about Gu Yu's meaning, but he roughly knew that this person wasn't entirely indifferent to him.
They've finally developed a little conscience, though it's probably only as big as a little finger.
"My lord, I won't be able to come in from now on. Please be careful. I heard that the imperial inspector from Shengjing is named Dongfang Hongyao. He is a fellow Jinshi from the same year as you. The eunuch supervising the trial is a confidant of Master Xu. I think your case may not be a big problem."
"Mm." Xu Qiu nodded in agreement.
Zhang Xuyan's death was an undeserved disaster. He hadn't used any torture on him; he was just locked up for one night and the man died.
But since someone wanted to harm him, he had no choice but to play the fool and lure out his enemies.
Then the following days were deathly silent. He had just heard that the officials in charge of the trial had arrived in Bianjing and would soon interrogate him, but nothing happened for a long time.
Nearly three months later, Xu Qiu had become a wild man with a scraggly beard and unkempt hair, but there was still no sign of him.
He had been counting the days, so he had a general idea of how much time had passed.
Liu Yun was imprisoned for the second time. "My lord," he said, "the Crown Prince has raised an army and marched north. Although he claims to be eliminating treacherous officials and cleaning up the court, it looks like a rebellion."
Xu Qiu frowned slightly upon hearing this. "It seems the person who harmed me is probably connected to the Crown Prince. Who sent you in to deliver the message?"
"It was Lord Dongfang. He said the outcome of this case depends on the Crown Prince's decision."
The result? Xu Qiu sneered. There was only one result: Emperor Shengyuan wanted to use the matter of the crown prince as an opportunity to get rid of those gentry and nobles who harbored ill intentions.
The outcome of the Crown Prince's uprising was certainly within Emperor Shengyuan's expectations.
Emperor Shengyuan had just made a small slip-up, and everyone who saw through it was pushing the Crown Prince forward, whether for fame and fortune, for wealth and glory, or for some other selfish motive...
"Liu Yun, why don't you spend some money to improve my conditions? If I had any money on me, I would have bribed the jailer long ago. Why am I living like a savage here?"
Liu Yun then remembered this matter, "Sir, with your meager salary, will I still be able to afford my monthly allowance without Miss?"
Xu Qiu's face darkened. "Don't worry, I do have some savings."
Liu Yun muttered to the jailer for a while and gave him a large bag of silver, which made Xu Qiu's prison life a little easier.
A month later, when everything had settled down outside, Xu Qiu's case finally went to trial.
It wasn't his first time in prison, but his first time in court. Xu Qiu's confession was simple; there was no torture or forced confession, he was simply locked up for one night.
The jailers and guards of Yangzhou Prefecture all went to the high hall. Perhaps because the person in charge behind the scenes had run into trouble, these people were feeling guilty, and their legs were still trembling.
Before long, the two jailers let slip their secrets, revealing a flaw in their story. One of them admitted that he had drugged Zhang Xuyan's food and that Zhang Xuyan had clearly hanged himself.
One person said that he only handed Zhang Xuyan a rope and did nothing else, implying that Zhang Xuyan really did hang himself.
Dongfang Hongyao sat to the left of the presiding judge. Although his official rank was relatively low, he was, after all, the son-in-law of the emperor, and his status was not low.
He rolled his eyes and ordered the two men to be taken down from the courtroom for separate interrogation. “Both of you are definitely involved in this matter. If one of you tells the truth and identifies the mastermind, I will pardon him. The other is definitely an accomplice.”
Only one of you two can survive.
The two jailers exchanged a glance and said in unison, "Sir, we really don't know anything about the mastermind behind this."
As soon as the two left the hall, one of them turned a corner and told the other everything he knew. He took a rope, originally intending to strangle Zhang Xuyan and then hang him up, but when he went to check his breathing, the man was already dead.
The other one revealed the truth once he entered the room. He said he had drugged Zhang Xuyan and originally intended to suffocate him with a sack so that even the best doctors and coroners wouldn't be able to find the cause of death.
Unexpectedly, just as Zhang Xuyan fainted, someone arrived, forcing him to leave. Later, he discovered that Zhang Xuyan had been hung from the beam of the prison cell.
The coroner determined the cause of death to be suffocation. It is highly likely that Zhang Xuyan was drugged and passed out, at which point food got stuck in his throat, causing him to appear dead. He was then hung from the roof beam by the jailer.
They're completely dead.
However, none of this concerned Xu Qiu anymore. He was not only released without charge, but also reinstated to his original position.
The crowd in the hall dispersed, leaving only Dongfang Hongyao.
"Who's behind this?" Xu Qiu asked.
"They said they were doing things for the Crown Prince, and that they knew who came up with the idea?" Dongfang Hongyao smiled indifferently. "Now that the Crown Prince has been deposed, he can be implicated in any crime."
Where is the deposed crown prince?
"We're going back here." Dongfang Hongyao said thoughtfully. "The deposed crown prince was demoted to a commoner and is now here to guard the imperial mausoleum. You know, he did so much hard work, even losing his conscience, and in the end, he's still returning here. What's the point?"
Ordinary people might not know about the deposed crown prince's connection with the Northern Di, but as the prince consort, it was impossible for him to have been completely unaware of it.
"If you don't try some things, you'll never be satisfied," Xu Qiu said.
Upon hearing this, Dongfang Hongyao could only smile wryly, "That's true."
If the deposed crown prince were in Bianjing, Xu Qiu felt that Gu Yu would still come here, because he understood her; this feud was irreconcilable and would last until death.
With this in mind, he returned to his official residence in a good mood, took a good bath and washed his hair, shaved off his stubble, and trimmed the ends of his hair that didn't look very good.
She reached out and selected a quilt made of excellent material. When she returned to the bed, she belatedly realized that although Gu Yu might come back, she had not actually come.
Xu Qiu looked at the empty space on the inside of the bed and felt that his heart was empty too.
He rolled up a thick quilt into a cylinder and placed it where Gu Yu should be. Holding it, he cursed angrily, "You heartless little thing," before finally falling asleep from exhaustion.
When the next day dawned, Xu Qiu woke up and looked at the quilt in his arms, still feeling lost and dejected.
He immediately got up, went to his desk, and wrote a letter—
"The situation in Yangzhou has been resolved; Madam, come quickly."
Xu Qiu handed the letter he had written to Liu Yun, saying, "Liu Yun, you should deliver the letter yourself. She has a lot of things to do, so it would be good for you to lend a hand."
Liu Yun was a little confused. Hadn't Miss and her new master divorced? Why did Xu Qiu still seem to think Miss would come?
"For a divorce to be valid, both husband and wife must agree. If I do not agree, this divorce agreement is invalid."
He carefully looked at the divorce letter written by Gu Yu again, and after reading it, he burned it with a cold smile.
What do you mean by "parting ways amicably and each going their own way"? How could that be? He certainly wouldn't be happy.
Seeing him like this, Liu Yun sighed, took the letter, and left.
On the very first day that Xu Qiugang was reinstated, Li Shiqin rushed over. He knew that after the deposed crown prince incident, things would not be peaceful in Jiangnan.
"Confiscating their property?" Xu Qiu looked up at the lean, dark-skinned Li Shiqin.
Li Shiqin had been traveling around Shaanxi for a long time and had become several shades darker; he still hadn't recovered his original appearance.
He stroked the rusty spring knife hanging at his side. "His Majesty's intention is to confiscate what needs to be confiscated and deal with it severely. Since they are all rebels, there is no need to show mercy."
"Alright, you can confiscate their property. I'll handle the land administration. Start setting it up in Yangzhou Prefecture, and also keep in touch with the governor of Yingtian."
Li Shiqin also carefully examined his brother Xu, and said with some emotion, "Brother Xu, you've lost weight. The prison in Yingtian Prefecture is so terrifying, how could it still make someone as bold as you unable to eat or sleep properly?"
"I heard your wife even wrote a divorce agreement. Is this a real divorce?"
"I don't think your sister-in-law is a heartless person. Did you do something to wrong her?"
Every question Li Shiqin asked was like a knife to Xu Qiu's heart.
"I'm doing very well in prison."
"Without a divorce, I could never do anything to betray my wife."
Seeing his face growing increasingly dark, Li Shiqin finally remembered his important duties and left the government office in Yangzhou.
However, ten days later, Liu Yun, who rushed back, brought not good news.
"Sir, Miss is not coming. She said that since they are already divorced, they should have nothing to do with each other. She hopes that you will respect yourself."
Why? Xu Qiu had been thinking about this question ever since he received Gu Yu's divorce papers. He hadn't done anything wrong and had been walking step by step on the path that everyone hoped for.
Why would Gu Yu want to break up their alliance? Sun Gu, their common enemy, is still standing strong.
Unless she finds a better knife, who could it be?
He nodded expressionlessly.
Xu Qiu's attitude left Liu Yun somewhat puzzled.
It wasn't until he saw Xu Qiu rushing through his official duties and then sending him to buy a fine horse and provisions that he realized what was going on—
Xu Qiu intends to ask the young lady in person.
Oh my, this is going to be interesting. They say gossiping is in the nature of ordinary people, and he is a prime example of that.
Liu Yun secretly wondered whether the two could reconcile. Although he didn't know the reason for their divorce, it was obvious that Xu Qiu was still infatuated with Miss.
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