As she got closer, Lady Weiguo felt something was wrong. She paused, looked down, and said in a lost voice, "Your belly..."
After she reminded him of this, Duke Weiguo suddenly understood why he had felt something was wrong when he was in Tianyin Pavilion.
It turned out that his pot belly was gone... No, it should be said that his abdomen became flat.
The couple looked at each other face to face, eyes to eyes, nose to nose, and did not speak for a long time.
The wife of the Duke of Weiguo couldn't help but move her hand down and touch the Duke of Weiguo's belly. Only then was she sure that the old man's big belly was really gone.
Thinking of the black and red blood all over the floor of the private room, Lady Weiguogong suddenly realized: it turned out that what the old man vomited out was the filth that had accumulated in his stomach for the past twenty years!
"It's amazing!" Lady Weiguo exclaimed sincerely.
That Arabian horse can only be regarded as an apology, and it is far from enough as medical fee.
The wife of Duke Weiguo thought for a while, lifted the small curtain in front of the carriage, and called the name of the long-servant: "Afu."
"Madam?" The attendant sitting on the shaft of the carriage outside turned around hurriedly.
"Go and find out who the girl with the eldest prince is in Tianyin Pavilion." Lady Weiguo ordered, and warned, "Don't disturb her without any care."
The attendant responded repeatedly and respectfully.
It is not difficult for the Duke of Weiguo's Mansion to inquire about a person. Besides, Gu Yanfei did not hide her identity on purpose. She wore men's clothes when going out not to avoid being seen, but just for convenience.
In the evening, the long-servant Ah Fu came to the Duke of Wei and his wife and said, "Duke, Madam, the girl in Tianyin Pavilion is the second girl in the Dingyuan Marquis's Mansion."
Duke Wei was lazily leaning on the couch, holding a large bowl with a white background and blue flowers, frowning at the steaming brown medicine. This medicine looked very bitter!
"Gu family?" Upon hearing this, the wife of Duke Weiguo stopped the teacup in her hand in mid-air in surprise.
She had never seen such a girl in the Gu family, nor had she heard of her.
Among the girls of this generation in Dingyuan Marquis Mansion, she only knew one, Gu Yunyan.
Gu Yun'er was the daughter of Gu Ce, the late Marquis of Dingyuan. She was extremely lucky. When competing with others, she never fell behind; when drawing lots with others, she always got the best lot; countless people were blessed by her... There were many anecdotes and interesting stories about her good fortune circulating in the capital. Even her sister-in-law praised Gu Yun'er as a very lucky person in front of her.
Not only was Gu Yunyan lucky, she also had some talent. She was an expert in music, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry, and songs, etc. Such a girl was indeed capable of being proud. Therefore, when she was designated as the Princess of Kang by the Empress Dowager Yuan some time ago, everyone in the various palaces just expressed their feelings and no one said anything sour.
When the wife of Duke Weiguo was a guest in another mansion, she also glanced at Gu Yunyan from a distance a few times.
The long-servant nodded and continued, "It is said that she is the eldest daughter of the Gu family's eldest branch who was lost a long time ago. She was just found in October. Her maiden name is Yan Fei."
"Is this girl also the daughter of Gu Ce and Xie?" Lady Weiguo said with a little surprise.
Lady Weiguo vaguely remembered that Xie had been dead for more than ten years, and her appearance had become a little fuzzy in her memory. Now that she thought about it carefully, she did look a bit like that girl.
But if she remembered correctly, Xie had only one son and one daughter.
"She is the daughter of the former Marquis Dingyuan and his wife." The attendant explained, "It is said that Miss Gu Yunyan is not from the eldest branch of the Gu family. She has now been adopted by the second branch."
Lady Weiguo frowned. What a mess!? She didn't understand.
In short, Gu Yanfei is the daughter of Gu Ce and Xie, that’s all that’s correct.
While thinking, she glanced at Duke Weiguo indifferently.
Duke Weiguo shuddered, and dared not waste any more time. He swallowed the medicine in one gulp with a bitter face, and said vaguely: "Gu Ce is extremely talented, a rare general, but it's a pity that he surrendered to the enemy..."
The Yue State in the south has always been ambitious. Eight years ago, the Yue State once again sent an army of 100,000 to raid the southern border of Dajing. The war broke out again, resulting in countless casualties.
Gu Ce, Marquis of Dingyuan, was stationed in Yangzhou with 50,000 troops, but he felt that he was not strong enough, so he wrote a letter asking for help.
At that time, the late emperor and those high-ranking families advocated peace, while Duke Weiguo, Gu Ce and other nobles advocated war. Those powerful officials from humble backgrounds were wavering between advocating war and peace.
The late emperor wanted to negotiate peace with the Kingdom of Yue, and delayed issuing an order to reinforce Yangzhou. Gu Ce managed to hold on for three months, but was eventually forced to open the city gates to the Kingdom of Yue...
However, the Yue people were unfaithful and killed Gu Ce.
When the late emperor heard that Gu Ce had surrendered to the enemy, he was furious and almost took away his title of Marquis Dingyuan. However, Gu Ce's six-year-old daughter Gu Yun'er saved Prince Kang during the Yangzhou Rebellion and was able to make up for her mistake.
After much deliberation, the late emperor finally decided to bypass Gu Ce's eldest son Gu Yuan and pass the title of Marquis Dingyuan to Gu Jian from the second house.
Thinking of these past events, Duke Wei felt a little sad and sighed, "It shouldn't have been like this..."
If the late emperor had sent troops to support Yangzhou in time, Gu Ce would not have been forced into a desperate situation and even surrendered to the enemy! His wisdom was ruined.
Although the Duke of Wei did not say a word against the late emperor, his wife could also hear the hidden meaning of her husband's words. She curled the corners of her lips in sarcasm and sneered, "The late emperor was just a fool!"
Emperor Taizu was a romantic figure, but unfortunately his sons were all mediocre and none of them had the charm of their father. The late emperor ascended the throne only by relying on his status as the eldest son.
Duke Wei stroked his beard and sighed, "Gu Ce's son Gu Yuan...is also not an easy person."
He still remembered that in the autumn of the year before last, Gu Yuan followed the imperial army to the coast to wipe out Japanese pirates and made great contributions. He should have been promoted at least two levels, but in the end he did not receive any reward from the late emperor. The reason was obvious.
The Duke of Weiguo holds an honorable position, and it is a great honor for Gu Yuan to have his name remembered by him.
Duke Weiguo groaned and said, "Gu Yuan seems to be in the West Mountain Camp now, Ren..."
He couldn't remember clearly, and was about to ask his long-servant to find out when the door curtain was lifted. A housekeeper came in without looking away, bowed to the two masters, and said, "Duke, Madam, Prince Kang and Lord Yuan heard that the Duke was ill, so they came to visit him, and brought along Shangqing Zhenren from Wuliang Temple."
As she spoke, the housekeeper's eyes lit up with surprise.
Shangqing Zhenren is well-known in the capital for his immortality and his expertise in medicine. There is an endless stream of believers who come to Wuliang Temple to worship and seek medical treatment, but often they cannot even see him in person. If one wants to ask Shangqing Zhenren to come to the clinic for treatment, one must place an invitation half a month in advance.
Living gods like Shangqing Zhenren cannot be invited just by asking for them.
The Duke of Wei and his wife looked at each other. The Duke of Wei's wife pulled the corner of her mouth with a smile, and said meaningfully: "Prince Kang probably knows that the eldest prince is also in Tianyin Pavilion today."
Duke Weiguo was most impatient to deal with those pretentious noble families, and said unhappily: "Let them go back and tell them that I have gone to bed."
The housekeeper accepted the order without hesitation.
After a while, Chu You and Yuan Zhe, who were waiting outside the gate of the Duke's Mansion, received a message from the housekeeper.
"Humph." Prince Kang Chuyou snorted slightly in dissatisfaction in the carriage, "I said, these nobles haven't even wiped off their mud legs, but they put on the appearance of being from a wealthy family."
Three generations make a wealthy family, a hundred years make a prominent family.
The Duke of Weiguo's Mansion has only been passed down to the second generation, and it cannot even be called a wealthy family.
Yuan Zhe was sitting opposite Chu You, and he calmly said, "Be patient."
He glanced sideways at the plaque of the Duke of Weiguo's Mansion outside the window, and a hint of disapproval flashed across his deep eyes.
Yuan Zhe took a sip of tea and then added meaningfully, "The eldest prince is really good at hiding things."
There was silence in the carriage.
Chu You narrowed his narrow eagle eyes, flashing a cold light, and couldn't help thinking about the things that led to his demotion.
After that day, he received a letter from Meng'er and learned some of the things that happened in the Marquis' Mansion. When he thought about the game in the East Warm Pavilion, he finally became convinced that he was being plotted against.
Today, he brought the Taoist priest Qing here to see if the Duke of Wei was ill or not...
Chu You's eyes became even colder, and he asserted, "Chu Yi must be using some tricks again."
The Duke of Wei was watching a play in Tianyin Pavilion when he vomited blood for no apparent reason. He was seen by Chu Yi who happened to be there, and there happened to be a "miracle doctor" by his side.
This is too much of a coincidence! Chu You doesn't believe that Chu Yi didn't use some tricks secretly, such as: harming people first and then saving them!
Yuan Zhe did not comment.
He lifted a curtain on one side, smiled apologetically at the Taoist priest in the other carriage, who was keeping his eyes downcast. He said with a look of respect, "It's a waste of time to bother you today. Would you like to come to my humble abode and rest?"
Shangqing Zhenren raised his eyelids, his eyes were far-reaching and detached, he smiled at Yuan Zhe calmly, and said: "Don't worry, believers, everything is fate. I have to go back to the temple to preach, so I won't bother you today."
Yuan Zhe did not force it any more and ordered the driver to send Shangqing Zhenren back to Wuliang Temple, and then he left with Chu You.
The Duke of Wei was ranked among the four dukes, and every move of the Duke's Mansion was under the watchful eyes of many people in the court. Soon, everyone in the court knew that the Duke of Wei was seriously ill.
So, in the next few days, many noble ministers came to visit.
Even Madam Gu from the Dingyuan Marquis's Mansion specially looked for some precious medicinal herbs and planned to have Gu Jian and his wife go there in person.
However, the Duke of Weiguo's Mansion had been closed to visitors recently, and Madam Gu did not expect them to be able to come in, she just wanted to express her intention to make friends.
If the Marquis' Mansion wants to make friends with such a noble, it must show sincerity.
"Xinwen, the herbs you found are still a bit common. Why not take the 300-year-old ginseng in my warehouse?"
Madam Gu made up her mind and decided to give up the love she had.
The Marquis' wife Wang couldn't help but show her joy. She was about to thank the Madam when she was interrupted by the maid Bai Lu who had just entered the room: "Madam, Miss Wei Jiu from the Duke of Wei's Mansion is here to visit."
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law looked at each other in surprise.
The Duke of Weiguo held an extremely high status, and he even dared to scold the late emperor, which shows how arrogant he was.
And this Miss Wei Jiu was the youngest daughter of the prince of Duke Weiguo, and was deeply loved by the Duke Weiguo and his wife.
The Gu family had no dealings with the Duke of Weiguo's Mansion, and they hadn't even visited them yet, so why did the girl from the Duke of Weiguo's Mansion come in person? !
Bai Lu continued, "Miss Wei Jiu's servant said that they are here to see Miss Er today."
Bai Lu spoke clearly, but to Madam Gu's ears, "the second young lady" naturally referred to Gu Yunyan.
(End of this chapter)
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