Gu Jian stood up from his chair in frustration.
He stood up too suddenly and hit the chair behind him, making a "bang" sound.
Gu Jian wanted to say something else, but the clan leader said coldly, "Gu Jian, if you are not satisfied with us old bones, then just 'kill the clan'."
Madam Gu pursed her lips tightly, almost crushing the Buddhist beads in her hand, and glared at the clan leader with resentment.
Either split up the family or eliminate the clan.
The patriarch is really amazing!
The conversation in the main hall also reached the outside. Wang stood under the eaves and eavesdropped. It was like a huge thunderclap in her ears.
Seventy percent!
Wang felt as if a large piece of flesh had been cut out from her heart, and she was extremely heartbroken.
She has been in charge of household chores for so many years and knows very well how large the Gu family's business is.
Emperor Taizu was a magnanimous man, and was extremely generous to those ministers who had followed him to conquer the world. In the third year of Tianli, when distributing fiefs according to merit, Emperor Taizu gave the first generation Dingyuan Marquis Gu Yao a full 20,000 hectares of noble farmland, 800 tenants, and other gold, silver, and other valuables. At that time, Gu Yao invested heavily in many industries.
Later, the old marquis Gu Xuanzi inherited his father's business. He was good at business and over the past few decades he added a lot of land, shops, houses, etc. to the marquisate, and the business was booming.
Even though in the past eight years, although Dingyuan Marquis Mansion had a mediocre status in the court and was gradually marginalized, the family business of the Marquis was still not uncommon among the noble families. Even if it was not one of the best, it was still among the best.
If 70% of the money was given to the eldest son for nothing, Wang could not help but hold her heart in one hand, her heart was bleeding, and her vision was bright and dark.
Seeing that Wang was having difficulty breathing, her maid hurriedly patted her back and comforted her softly.
But Wang wouldn't listen at all. Her breathing became rapid and her face turned even paler.
At this time, a little maidservant shouted from the back: "Third Miss!"
When Wang heard this, her eyes lit up and she turned around eagerly. Not far behind her, Gu Yunyan, wearing a purple jacket embroidered with hibiscus flowers, walked towards her gracefully with a faint smile, but the smile did not reach her eyes.
"Mother." Gu Yun'er bowed politely to Wang, neither cold nor hot.
Gu Yun'er and Wang had previously had a rather unhappy argument over the wedding date, and at this moment her beautiful and flawless face revealed an undisguised alienation, but her words and actions were still very considerate and impeccable.
"Sister Meng."
Seeing Gu Yunyan coming, Wang Shi seemed to have found a backbone. She walked towards her quickly and excitedly took her right hand. The first thing she said was: "Did you know that the family is going to be divided?"
At this time, Wang was so preoccupied with the issue of dividing the family property that she forgot for a moment the previous disagreement between the two of them.
"Really?" Gu Yun'er's eyes flickered slightly as he glanced towards the bustling and noisy main hall in front of him.
She knew that the Marquis' Mansion was going to split up, and Gu Jian had invited the clan leaders and elders to the mansion with great fanfare. Such a big move could not be hidden from so many eyes in the mansion.
Not only did she know it, but the third, fourth and fifth rooms also knew it.
When she first heard the news, Gu Yunmeng was a little surprised, but after thinking about it carefully, she felt that perhaps dividing the family would be better for both her and Gu Yanfei.
In this marquis's mansion, she and Gu Yanfei saw each other every day; after the separation, they no longer lived under the same roof, and Gu Yanfei would not always use her as a control group, compare with her in everything, and even treat marriage as a joke, just to suppress her.
Okay.
From now on, the two of them will no longer see each other every day. As time goes by, Gu Yanfei should be able to get over the obstacles of the past and no longer want to compare himself with her all the time.
Gu Yunyan gently stroked the forbidden step on her skirt and said lightly: "It's good to separate the family."
There are few people in the eldest house, just a pair of brothers and sisters. They divided the property and went out to live, and they were able to live a rich life.
What’s more…
Gu Yun'er looked up at Gu Yanfei who was drinking tea in the hall, and a cold light flashed in his eyes.
Since Gu Yanfei can't bear to see her doing well, in the future, when she marries King Kang, she will also not want to benefit Gu Yanfei.
Gu Yunyan acted calm and composed, but Wang almost jumped up and said hurriedly, "You don't know that the eldest branch of the family has made a huge demand and wants to take 70% of the family property."
That’s a full 70%!
Wang's eyes were bloodshot, her pale face had turned blue, and she was breathing heavily.
“Seventy percent?!” Gu Yunyan raised her eyebrows in surprise. It was only at this moment that she began to realize that something was wrong. “What’s going on?”
Wang was extremely anxious and exaggerated the whole story of how Gu Jian was stripped of his title by the emperor and how the family was divided. She complained angrily, "Gu Yuan and Gu Yanfei are such greedy siblings, so disrespectful and unfilial. They were born by their mother but not raised by her!"
"..." Gu Yun'er opened his eyes slightly in surprise. Under the shade of the dense tree canopy above, his ink-colored pupils looked particularly deep.
In order to seize the Gu family's property, Gu Yanfei actually did not hesitate to let the Gu family lose the title of Marquis Dingyuan?
If she can't get it, she would rather destroy it! This move is too cruel and too decisive! How could she do this!? Wang held Gu Yunyan's hand even tighter and said anxiously: "Sister Yunyan, go find Prince Kang quickly. You must not let the eldest son's family take away all the family property."
Previously, because the eldest branch of the family only received 15% of the property, Wang did not hide it and openly took out all the account books in the family, hoping to divide it up fairly and to avoid the eldest branch of the family from making a fuss because they received too little property.
But the situation now was completely different! Wang was filled with regret and anxiety, and the fangs of regret seemed to be gnawing at her heart.
When her uncle passed away, Gu Yuan was less than ten years old and certainly had no idea about the family business of the Marquis' Mansion. Even if she hid some of the account books, Gu Yuan would not be able to find them.
But now, it’s too late to regret.
Gu Yunyan already had a grudge against Wang, and couldn't go against her will to appease her, so she just said calmly, "I'll go in and take a look."
Wang was already distracted at the moment and didn't notice Gu Yunyan's coldness at all. She quickly let go of her hand and wanted to urge her to go in quickly.
Before he could finish his words, he heard the clan leader's old and steady voice from the hall:
"There is one more thing. Gu Xuan's lineage must have legitimate and illegitimate children!"
"The first wife is the first wife, and the second wife is the second wife. They are not mixed together like they are now, it's a mess."
"Hey, how shameful!"
Finally, a faint sigh was heard.
"First wife? Second wife?" Gu Yun'er frowned slightly in confusion, totally bewildered.
What's the meaning?!
After this hesitation, Gu Yun'er stopped and stopped in the corridor, looking in the direction of the clan leader in the hall.
The clan leader was completely unaware that there was another person outside the hall, and he was still saying confidently: "The family tree must also be changed!"
"There is no reason in this world to register the only son of the first wife under the name of the second wife."
The clan leader secretly felt that what Gu Xuan did was a little inexplicable, and other clan elders had the same idea in their minds. But now Gu Xuan was no longer around, and it was useless to worry about it.
All they can do now is to make up for the loss.
The five-Di crown on Madam Gu's head trembled violently again, and she retorted excitedly: "I am not the second wife!"
"Qi Chaoning is..."
The word "substitute" came to her lips, but after turning it around three times, she didn't say it. In the end, she forcibly replaced it with two other words: "concubine!"
"She is my concubine sister, just a concubine."
Madam Gu said these words with gritted teeth, and thin blue veins popped out on her neck.
She hadn't mentioned her eldest sister's name for a long time. When she said it out loud at this moment, it felt so awkward, as if the last time she called this name was in her previous life.
Qi Chaoning. Gu Yanfei silently repeated the name in his mind and exchanged a silent look with Gu Yuan.
It turns out that their grandmother's name was Qi Chaoning.
Madam Gu held her neck high and proudly, her voice as cold as ice and full of contempt, looking at the clan leader and the elders and said, "Qi Chaoning was born to a lowly concubine, do you really want to recognize a concubine as your first wife?"
Madam Gu stood straight, her old and turbid eyes emitting an unusually bright light, and her expression clearly showed a sense of superiority.
This is her pride as the legitimate daughter of a noble family!
In the Qi family, she is the master, and the eldest sister is just a servant! The clan leader stroked his beard calmly, only raised his eyebrows slightly, and asked back: "Why not?"
His matter-of-fact look made Mrs. Gu choke.
“……” Madam Gu’s face froze again, the corners of her lips were as tight as iron, and she was once again speechless after being silenced by the clan leader.
Madam Gu was born into the Yingchuan Qi family, which was very particular about the hierarchy between legitimate and illegitimate children. In her mind, a concubine's daughter was not qualified to become a lady of a noble family.
But the patriarch doesn't care about these at all.
The Gu family rose from humble beginnings. The clan leader grew up in the countryside when he was young. When his family was poor, they even gnawed on tree bark. Later, during wars, people even exchanged their own children for food.
What's the big deal about marrying a concubine's daughter as the principal wife? The clan leader was too lazy to talk to Madam Gu about these trivial matters, and said to the clan elders: "It's better to do it today than to wait for a day. Let's open the ancestral hall today and settle this matter."
The elders of the clan all had no objection. They nodded one after another and stood up. No one cared whether Madam Gu agreed or disagreed.
Madam Gu had been married into the Marquis's Mansion for more than thirty years, and these clansmen had always respected and honored her. Suddenly, it was as if the sky was falling and the earth was splitting, and she fell from the clouds to the abyss in an instant.
There was no place for her in the eyes of these Gu clan members anymore.
It was like she was alive, but she had no sense of existence...
For Madam Gu, this was more painful than killing her! "No..."
Madam Gu stood up suddenly from her chair, and emotions such as indignation, unwillingness, humiliation, etc. intertwined into a burning fire in her heart that rushed straight to her forehead again.
She got up too quickly, and her vision went dark again. She felt dizzy all over her body, her legs went weak, her body swayed, and she staggered forward...
(End of this chapter)
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