From a distance, she saw the clan leader, dressed in a green robe, walking back and forth in the hall. Even though he said nothing, his every move could not conceal his uneasiness and awkwardness.
Seeing Gu Yanfei coming, the patriarch showed a flattering smile on his old face.
"Yan Fei, you sent someone to call me here, but what's the urgent matter?" The clan leader asked in a kind voice, without the airs of an elder, and kept a very humble attitude.
Ever since Gu Jian and others were imprisoned in the imperial prison, the clan has been in a state of panic, fearing that one day the Jinyiwei would rush to their house to arrest people and convict them together with Gu Jian.
Therefore, as soon as Gu Yanfei sent someone to deliver the message, the clan leader came impatiently.
Gu Yanfei stroked his sleeves and said calmly, "Gu Yun'er has changed his surname to Li. I specially invited my great-uncle to come here to revise the family tree."
“……” The clan leader didn’t know what happened in Tianhe Garden, and his eyes widened in surprise.
Gu Yanfei simply told the whole story, and the clan leader was amazed and filled with mixed emotions.
Upon learning that it was the emperor who issued the order, the clan leader naturally had no objection and agreed without further ado: "I will send someone to call the clan elders and immediately open the ancestral hall to revise the clan tree and remove Gu... Li Yun'er from the clan tree."
Things have come to this point, and the clan leader has no concern about whether the clan can produce a Princess Kang.
He was more concerned about——
"Yan Fei, what about your second uncle, Xiao Ge'er and others..." The clan leader looked at Gu Yanfei cautiously and tested him. His gray brows furrowed deeply. He had already cursed Gu Jian, his brainless cousin, countless times in his heart.
Gu Yanfei took a sip of tea to moisten his throat, sighed slightly, and answered the question irrelevantly: "After Prince Kang returned from Tianhe Garden, he went to the Northern Pacification Office to take Li Yunyan out of the imperial prison. The emperor allowed them to get married in three days."
"..." The clan leader continued to stare at Gu Yanfei without reacting. After all, Li Yun'er's surname was Li, and whether she married King Kang or not had nothing to do with the Gu clan.
Gu Yanfei raised his eyebrows and said earnestly, "Grandun, don't you understand?"
She used a questioning tone, but her expression was very confident.
The clan leader frowned and thought for a while, then he slowly understood the hidden meaning of her words, and his pupils shrank rapidly.
Gu Yun'er changed her surname to Li and married King Kang three days later.
This matter seemed to be a favor from the emperor, but in fact it was clearly to make things difficult for Prince Kang by forcing him to marry a woman with a child as his queen.
In other words, there was no way that Gu Jian could escape the crime, so Prince Kang had no choice but to go to this step just to let the Imperial Guard release Li Yunmeng.
The clan leader's whole body trembled, and the muscles on his face twitched uncontrollably. His right hand clenched the armrest of the rosewood armchair, and blue veins bulged on the back of his hand covered with age spots.
He was deeply aware of one thing: since even King Kang was helpless, Gu Jian was beyond saving.
The case is a done deal.
This realization frightened the clan leader. Although it was a warm spring day outside, his heart felt freezing cold as if he had fallen into an ice cave, and his eyes showed anxiety.
Gu Jian was implicated in treason, so what would happen to the clan members? Even if the crime was not serious enough to punish the entire clan or exile, if someone in the clan was suspected of treason, they would probably be fined a lot of the clan property, and even their children and grandchildren's studies, imperial examinations, official careers, and marriages would be affected to some extent.
According to the old rules, anyone involved in treason would be punished severely, such as the entire family of the Yu family having their property confiscated. For lighter cases, 30% of the family property would be confiscated, and the family might even be banned from taking the imperial examinations for three generations.
Gu Yanfei slowly skimmed off the foam with the tea lid, with a cool light in his eyes.
Nine years ago, my father Gu Ce was accused of surrendering to the enemy and he could not even be buried in the Gu family's ancestral tomb. This was certainly not something that could be decided by Grandma Gu alone. She must have obtained the consent of the clan leaders and elders.
At that time, the eldest brother Gu Yuan was only nine years old and his future was uncertain, but Gu Jian inherited the title. Why did the clan leaders make this choice at that time? To put it bluntly, it was to weigh the pros and cons.
It's not incomprehensible, but it makes people feel chilling! For their own interests, they stood on the side of Mrs. Gu and Gu Jian nine years ago and abandoned the eldest house.
For their own benefit, what choice will they make now, nine years later? !
The more the patriarch thought about it, the more uneasy he became. He hurriedly went to get the teacup, took a sip of tea absentmindedly, and the scalding hot tea numbed the tip of his tongue.
He put down the teacup impatiently again, and the teacup hit the coffee table lightly, and the collision sounded particularly loud in the silent hall.
After the initial panic and uneasiness, the clan leader tried to calm down and said in a friendly tone: "Yan Fei, my great uncle wants to ask you for advice."
"I also know that your grandmother and your second uncle have committed a serious crime, but if they are convicted, what will happen to your eldest brother's job... and your marriage?"
The patriarch frowned deeply and hinted to her in a subtle way.
Gu Yanfei chuckled and casually moved the tea lid back and forth, making a tinkling sound like porcelain knocking.
Every sound was like a needle piercing the clan leader's heart. The clan leader felt a little embarrassed, feeling that in front of Gu Yanfei, he had no place to hide his calculations.
"Ahem." The clan leader coughed dryly a few times, feeling uneasy. He said gently with an awkward expression, "Yan Fei, A Jian is your uncle. If he is charged with treason..."
"Great-uncle," Gu Yanfei interrupted him, put down the pastel enamel teacup in his hand, and reminded him with a smile, "The emperor knows that my eldest brother and I's grandmother is Qi Chaoning."
"Also, have you forgotten that the old lady and my second uncle filed a petition to falsely accuse my eldest brother of murder?"
“……” The clan leader naturally remembered it.
On the day when Old Lady Gu and Gu Jian submitted their memorials, it was the clan leader who went to the emperor in person to clarify things. The emperor was well aware of the discord between the first and second branches of the Gu family.
Gu Yanfei shook his head and sighed: "A grandmother like this?"
"Such a second uncle?"
She bluntly expressed her disdain for Old Lady Gu and Gu Jian and her son.
"..." The clan leader was speechless and frowned even more tightly: The emperor sympathizes with Gu Yuan and Gu Yanfei, and will not vent his anger on the eldest branch because of Gu Jian, but it is hard to say for the Gu clan.
Gu Yanfei sighed quietly: "If only my grandfather had never remarried..."
The clan leader's heart was shocked, his eyes slightly widened, he saw Gu Yanfei sitting at the top with a smile on his face, but the smile did not reach his eyes.
The two looked at each other quietly for a moment.
The patriarch suddenly understood everything as if he had been enlightened.
indeed.
Then, the old lady and the young Qi have no name or status, and Gu Jian is not even a member of the Gu family, so naturally the clan will not be implicated!
The patriarch's originally confused and uneasy eyes gradually calmed down, but there was still some hesitation in his heart.
Gu Yanfei's lips, which were already slightly upturned, rose even higher. He seemed to see the hesitation of the clan leader, and asked with a smile: "Granduncle, don't you think so?"
She looked at the patriarch calmly.
Should the clan choose to cut ties with Gu Jian, or just sit there and wait for Gu Jian to implicate them? ! The clan leader gripped the armrest of the armchair tighter and swallowed.
This choice was too easy.
The patriarch could hear his own heartbeat, which was getting faster and faster.
After a long silence, the patriarch released his right hand that was holding the armrest, and his whole body suddenly relaxed.
He straightened his expression, sorted out his thoughts, and said seriously: "Back then, your grandfather married a woman from the Qi family as his first wife. After your and your eldest brother's grandmother, the eldest Qi, passed away, your grandfather did not tell the clan that he was going to remarry."
"Really?" Gu Yanfei took another sip of tea and raised his eyelids. "I don't know about that."
Her expression was calm, neither surprised nor happy, but the patriarch seemed encouraged.
He stroked his graying beard and sighed seriously, "Perhaps when your grandmother, Da Qi, passed away, she thought of A Ce's young age and asked your widowed sister to take care of A Ce."
"I didn't expect that this little Qi would take advantage of your grandfather's death and take over your place with her son."
At first, the patriarch's words sounded a little dry, but as he spoke more and more naturally and fluently, his heartbeat gradually changed from rapid to calm, and his last sentence was very powerful.
He completely denied the marriage between Gu Xuan and Xiao Qi. These words were made up casually and naturally had many loopholes, but the clan leader knew that no one would pursue these loopholes and it was enough for them to sound logical.
"So that's how it is." Gu Yanfei echoed casually, his eyes as deep as a pool.
The clan leader seemed to have taken a reassurance pill, and he continued in a serious tone, "Fifteen years ago, your grandfather fell seriously ill and passed away so suddenly that he didn't even have time to leave any words."
"For so many years, you and your elder brother have regarded Xiao Qi as your real grandmother, and it is my fault as your great-uncle... Alas, I was also deceived by Xiao Qi. I always thought that she was very kind to Ah Ce and you and your siblings."
The clan leader looked at Gu Yanfei almost breathlessly, with a reserved expression.
Gu Yanfei smiled slightly, and looked at the clan leader with a very "simple" and "innocent" look, "Grandun, I am young and don't understand these things. What should I do about this matter? I still have to rely on you to come up with a plan."
She easily pushed the matter to the clan leader, achieving a great result with little effort.
“……” The patriarch’s expression froze again, and thin beads of cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
He felt as if his heart was being held in Gu Yanfei's palm, and he could hardly look directly into her clear eyes.
The girl had a pretty face and a smile as beautiful as a flower, brighter than the pink peaches blooming on the tree outside the window. Her eyes were extremely clear and bright, flashing with a sharp edge like a sword.
The clan leader's heart suddenly tightened, and through the girl's eyes, he couldn't help but think of Gu Ce.
The clan leader was stunned for a long time before he came back to his senses. After calming down, he quickly agreed: "Yan Fei, tell your eldest brother that I will handle this matter properly, so you can rest assured."
He comforted himself in his heart: At this point, the clan can only cut off its roots and survive, and Xiao Qi and Gu Jian, mother and son, have only brought this upon themselves.
Gu Jian is useless and beyond help, but Gu Yuan and Gu Yanfei have good futures. It is obvious what choice will benefit the clan.
"What are you talking about, great uncle? Why should I be 'reassured'?" Gu Yanfei tilted her little face and smiled, her smile was innocent.
The clan leader then realized that he had spoken out of turn, and quickly said, "I am not good at speaking, and I am trying to set things right. It has been many years, and it is time to set things right!"
Gu Yanfei smiled happily: "Then I'll trouble you, great uncle."
Now that the matter was settled, Gu Yanfei simply served tea and sent the guest away.
The clan leader tactfully said goodbye and was escorted out of the hall by Juanbi.
The sun outside had almost set, and only a faint red glow remained in the western sky. The sky was dim, and the crescent moon was a faint white, looking down at all living things.
After walking for dozens of feet, the clan leader couldn't help but wipe the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. His back was already wet with sweat.
He stopped under a locust tree and looked back in the direction of the hall with lingering fear.
The girl in the hall was drinking tea gracefully. Her slender figure looked particularly delicate against the backdrop of the high-backed chair, and she looked very relaxed.
Thinking back to his conversation with Gu Yanfei just now, the clan leader became more and more frightened. He was a man in his sixties, but he was completely led by the nose by a young girl who had just reached the age of marriage. All his thoughts, concerns and worries were under the control of the other party.
From the beginning to the end, she never threatened or said bad things. It was clearly she who wanted to expel Xiao Qi and Gu Jian, mother and son, from the clan, but in the end, with just a few words, she convinced him to take the initiative in doing so, and he even thanked her for coming up with this idea for the clan.
Alas! The clan leader sighed in his heart and told himself: It is time to make a decision. For the sake of the clan, he must get this matter done.
The patriarch turned his head, gritted his teeth secretly, and hurriedly left the Gu Mansion.
It was getting late today, so the clan leader returned home first. The next morning, he and his eldest son Gu Chou went to visit several respected elders in the clan one by one. Some of them lived in the capital, and some lived in the suburbs of Beijing. It took the father and son a whole day to visit all these families and they were exhausted.
At dawn the next day, he and his eldest son brought the clan elders to the Gu Mansion again. The clan leader took the initiative to propose to set things right, accusing the young Qi family of usurping the throne. Gu Jian was not a member of the Gu family at all, and the second branch should be removed from the Gu family tree to correct the family tradition.
However, within just half an hour, the clan leader presided over the modification of the family tree and removed the names of Xiao Qi, Gu Jian's family, including Gu Yunmeng, from the family tree.
When the revised genealogy was resealed in the ancestral hall, the clan leader felt relieved, as if a huge stone had fallen from his heart.
After the elders surrounded Gu Yanfei and said some friendly words, they left first. The clan leader and his son stayed until the end. When they got on the carriage at the outer ceremonial gate, the clan leader made a promise consciously: "Yanfei, I will go to the Northern Pacification Office later to see if I can meet Xiao Qi and Gu Jian's mother and son to inform them of this matter."
The clan leader originally didn't want to go to such an unlucky place as the Imperial Prison, and he didn't have the confidence that he could get in, but he had to finish the matter quickly to let Gu Yuan and his sister see the sincerity of the clan.
By the time Gu Yuan returned at noon that day, everything was already decided.
(End of this chapter)