Eight years ago, my father Gu Ce’s head was taken as a trophy by the State of Yue and placed in a box. It was sent thousands of miles to the capital to demonstrate to the late emperor.
The tragic death of his father was a heavy blow to the young Gu Yuan, who was filled with grief. What made him even more indignant was that his father was subjected to such humiliation after his death, with his body mutilated.
After that, a bigger blow came.
Upon hearing the news, Madam Gu immediately wrote a memorial to the emperor to apologize, righteously accusing her eldest son Gu Ce of being disloyal to the country and unfilial to his parents. She said that such an unfaithful and unfilial person was against the teachings of his ancestors, and requested the late emperor to expel the eldest son's family from the Gu family.
Even afterwards, Madam Gu had privately explained to the young Gu Yuan that the reason she submitted such a memorial was to sacrifice the car to save the king, and to protect the Marquis's mansion from being ransacked.
Gu Yuan was only nine years old at that time. To him, Madam Gu's behavior was like abandoning the eldest son's family, and it also left a scar in his heart that would never disappear.
Maybe eight years ago, Mrs. Gu was a good grandmother to Gu Yuan, but with the death of Gu Ce, everything changed.
Now that Gu Ce is gone, this mansion is no longer Gu Yuan’s home, and all his former relatives have become unrecognizable.
Gu Yuan lowered his eyes and looked at his sister's fingers pinching his sleeves. Ripples appeared in his heart as the sleeves swayed.
He calmed down a lot and smiled at his sister.
His father is gone, but he now has a younger sister and a relative who can support him.
A gust of cold wind suddenly blew open the west window, which was not closed tightly, making a creaking sound. The little maid was startled and hurried to close the window, then secretly looked at Madam Gu's expression.
Madam Gu's face was as black as the bottom of a pot, and she seemed to be unaware of anything.
She felt as if her throat was strangled. She wanted to say that Gu Yanfei was outrageous, but she couldn't utter a word. She was so angry that her whole body was shaking like a sieve.
In the left side room, no one spoke for a long time. There was silence. Gradually, even the screams from the green gauze cupboard became fainter, and finally it was completely quiet.
There was dead silence inside and outside the house, so quiet that Madam Gu could almost hear her own heartbeat.
The door curtain of the green gauze cabinet was lifted, and Nanny Li came out with the old and frail Doctor Li. Doctor Li wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve, and a strong smell of medicine lingered on his body.
Not wanting to be laughed at by outsiders, Madam Gu quickly calmed down and when she faced Doctor Li, she acted superior like an old nobleman from a marquisate.
"Doctor, how is the Marquis' injured arm?" When the voice came out, Mrs. Gu realized that her voice was so hoarse, rough, and old.
Doctor Li bowed respectfully to Madam Gu, and then said, "Madam, the Marquis's right shoulder is fine, it's just dislocated, and I have already reattached it."
Mrs. Gu had just breathed a sigh of relief when she heard Doctor Li take a long breath and then say "but".
Madam Gu's heart suddenly began to tighten again.
"But," Doctor Li sighed, "the bone in the Marquis's right forearm is completely broken, and I just reconnected it for him. As the saying goes, it takes a hundred days to heal a broken bone. It will probably take three or four months for this bone to heal. Even if it heals, I'm afraid you won't be able to use a knife anymore."
In fact, what Doctor Li said was a bit euphemistic. He only said that Gu Jian's right hand would not be able to wield a sword in the future. In fact, based on his decades of medical experience, Gu Jian's right hand would probably not be able to exert any strength at all in the future, and even writing would be difficult for him.
"What did you say?!" Madam Gu subconsciously raised her voice, as if struck by lightning.
They make their living in Dingyuan Marquis Mansion by using military force.
Gu Jian is now the deputy commander of the Zuoye Army. Now that his hand is broken and he can't hold a knife, he is a useless person. How can he stay in the army? Once Gu Jian leaves the army, their Dingyuan Marquis Mansion will be just an empty title, a flower stand, just for show.
Mrs. Gu's heart sank with anxiety. She felt sorry for her second son's suffering, but also felt cold as ice.
Before Doctor Li could say anything else, Wang's sharp voice rang out first: "Mother, that quack doctor just now actually said that the Marquis's hand... is useless."
Wang walked out of the green gauze cabinet with red eyes. She couldn't see anyone else at all. She cried sadly to Madam Gu, no longer as graceful and dignified as usual.
Doctor Li's face darkened, and he was very angry at the word "quack".
He said unhappily, "If Madam Hou doesn't believe me, please ask another famous doctor to see me. I'll take my leave now."
Old Doctor Li was secretly annoyed, and he casually bowed to Madam Gu again, then left. His pharmacist hurriedly followed with the medicine box.
Madam Gu wanted to call him, but she felt embarrassed and didn't say anything. She rubbed her forehead with a headache.
The Li’s Medical Clinic is a century-old medical clinic that has existed since the previous dynasty. The ancestors were once praised by Emperor Taizu.
Not only that, Emperor Taizu also taught Li's ancestors a method of using plaster to fix bone injuries, which brought the medical skills and reputation of Li's Medical Clinic to a higher level.
It can be said that Dr. Li is the best doctor in the capital city at treating bone injuries.
Everyone said that if the Li family couldn't treat the external injuries, there was really no hope.
Madam Gu was flustered and her head hurt even more. Both temples were throbbing with pain. But Wang was still crying and saying, "Mother, there are countless famous doctors in the capital. I don't believe that they can't cure the Marquis's hand..."
Wang's wet nurse comforted her gently and told the maids to quickly invite back all the famous doctors from the capital.
There was a commotion in the house.
She was always a little skeptical about Gu Yanfei's medical skills, thinking that if this girl really saved Duke Weiguo, then she should be able to cure her second uncle as well.
Wang didn't know about this yet. She looked at the grandparents and grandchildren in confusion. She wiped her tears with a handkerchief, but a few drops of tears still hung on her eyelashes.
"Does Madam believe me?" Gu Yanfei smiled happily, tilted his little face, moved closer to Madam Gu, and glanced in the direction of the green gauze cabinet.
What I mean is, that's your precious son, are you really willing to leave him to me?
"..." Madam Gu's expression froze slightly. She didn't know what this girl was up to.
"What Master Ling Xiao taught me is the art of incantation." Gu Yanfei's smile grew even wider, and he spoke in a leisurely and unique voice, "Does Madam know what the art of incantation is?"
"As the saying goes, 'If you believe it, it will work; if you don't believe it, it won't work.'"
"Believe, and it will work."
"Otherwise, this Zhuyou technique will not only be ineffective, but will also backfire."
"Madam, do you and the Marquis believe me?"
As she spoke, she casually rolled up a red hairband on her shoulder with her index finger, as if a drop of blood was stained on her fingertips.
The art of incantation has been around for a long time, and Madam Gu knew about it. She had also heard the saying, "If you believe in it, it works; if you don't believe in it, it doesn't work."
Madam Gu stared straight at Gu Yanfei. Gu Yanfei was smiling the whole time. The young girl in her prime always had a kind of frivolous attitude when she talked and laughed, which made people feel unpredictable.
Madam Gu hesitated, her expression changing constantly, and her hands hidden in her wide cuffs tightly grasped the Buddhist beads.
The second son Gu Jian was suddenly seriously injured. Maybe it was the brother and sister who did it. If that was the case, how could Gu Yanfei really save him? Maybe he would deliberately do something bad and then say that it was the backlash of the Zhuyou magic...
"If you don't want me to save you, then I'll leave first and won't hinder you from crying for your son." How could Gu Yanfei not see the other party's dilemma? He curled his lips and smiled with a hint of sarcasm.
As he spoke, Gu Yanfei stroked the pendant on his waist and stood up, not forgetting to call Gu Yuan.
"Brother, maybe the Madam is not in the mood to welcome you today, let's go out to eat."
Gu Yanfei walked out affectionately with Gu Yuan on her arm, not caring at all about the reactions of Madam Gu and Wang behind them.
"Wait..." Madam Gu wanted to call the brother and sister, but before she could utter a word, Gu Jian's painful screams came from the green gauze cabinet again, and his voice became hoarse from shouting.
Madam Gu subconsciously looked towards the green gauze cabinet again, but after a brief moment of distraction, the brother and sister had already opened the curtain and left.
Only a swaying brocade curtain was left, with the bright red peonies embroidered on it extremely dazzling.
After leaving Mingyi Courtyard, an icy cold wind blew towards them, and the brother and sister could no longer hear the screams behind them.
Gu Yanfei then whispered, "The bowstring has been tampered with. It must be the juice of the purple grass."
When Gu Yanfei weighed the rhino horn bow, he smelled the scent of purple grass from the bowstring. The juice of this purple grass is transparent and colorless. When applied to the bowstring, it will destroy the toughness of the bowstring. When someone pulls the bowstring hard, the bowstring will break at the moment it is pulled to the extreme.
At this time, the sun had already set halfway, and the clouds in the western sky were dyed into dazzling fiery clouds by the setting sun.
Gu Yuan remained silent. The last half hour was very short and very long. He had already thought about a lot.
Not only did he think about the martial arts arena, he also thought about the past eight years.
He raised his thin chin slightly, facing the stinging cold wind, and slowly uttered four words: "For the title."
Gu Yuan is not stupid, he knows all the interests involved clearly.
When his grandmother decided to give the title to his second uncle, he did not object.
At that time, he was only nine years old. He knew that if he lost the protection of his family, neither he nor Gu Yunyan, whose parents had both died, would survive.
It is not a blessing for him to have a title.
He couldn't keep the title, so he gave it up.
Now that he has given it up, he will no longer be obsessed with the title.
The cold wind blew up his robe, making it flutter in the wind, making the tall and graceful young man look proud and confident.
However, he didn't care, but his second uncle did and was always on guard against him.
(End of this chapter)
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