But Gu Yuan will never forget that his father once told him to learn riding and archery well so that they could fight together in the future.
When my father was thirteen years old, he abandoned his identity as the son of Marquis Dingyuan and joined the army under an assumed name, rising step by step from a small soldier to the youngest commander of a garrison.
He joined the army early, wanting to follow in his father's footsteps and to show his family that he could make a name for himself.
Gu Yanfei looked at his profile with clear lines and his eyes were dark and deep.
In fact, she knew more about her second uncle's thoughts than Gu Yuan did at this moment.
In his previous life, Gu Jian had always looked down upon the eldest branch of the family, with the exception of Gu Yunmeng, who was under the name of the eldest branch at that time.
Gu Jian has always been wary of and cautious about Gu Yuan.
In his previous life, Gu Yuan was not transferred to the Shenjiying. He would have made a great contribution at the end of the next year and could have been promoted smoothly, but Gu Jian broke one of his legs... completely blocking Gu Yuan's future! In this life, because she saved the Duke of Wei, Gu Yuan's future also changed by mistake.
But even if Gu Yuan was transferred to the Shenji Camp, he was only a fifth-rank captain. He should not be a hindrance to Gu Jian. Why did Gu Jian act so hastily?
Just thinking about it, Gu Yanfei felt sorry for his elder brother. He raised his hand to brush away a fallen leaf on his shoulder, and then gently stroked his shoulder.
Gu Yuan turned his head to look at her, and the moment his eyes met hers, they were as gentle as spring water.
"Sister, don't worry, I will protect you!" Gu Yuan raised his hand and gently rubbed the top of Gu Yanfei's head, and his heart softened.
He is the eldest brother, he should protect his sister from the wind and rain and keep her safe!
"Yes." Gu Yanfei smiled at him brightly, "I will protect you, big brother."
The surrounding red plum trees trembled in the tipsy evening breeze, but were overshadowed by the bright girl.
Gu Yuan was pleased by his sister's words, his smile deepened, and he ruffled her hair lovingly again.
As the brother and sister talked, they walked forward, leaving Mingyi Courtyard behind.
Gu Yuan smiled and said, "Sister, I have been transferred to the capital. When we find an opportunity, we can separate, okay?"
Separating the family is not as simple as it sounds. In fact, ever since Gu Yuan found out about the real and fake daughter, he had been completely disappointed with Madam Gu and had begun to think about separating from the family and living on his own.
But he also knew that Madam Gu and Gu Jian would not agree easily, and the clan would not agree either.
Since the family is to be divided, the eldest branch must take the lead and the division must be done beautifully.
Moreover, he also has to consider his sister.
Now, he has been transferred back to the capital. He doesn't have to stay in the army all year round and has enough energy to take care of his sister.
"Okay." Gu Yanfei nodded with a smile.
Separation is necessary, but not now.
A large part of her inner demons in her previous life came from the Gu family and Gu Yunmeng. Of course, she couldn't just walk away like that.
Master once said that a cultivator’s greatest enemy is not the heaven and earth, nor other people, but himself. On the path of cultivation, a cultivator is fighting against himself throughout his life. If his concentration weakens or his faith declines, his inner demons will gain the upper hand.
Escaping, suppressing, forgetting, or resorting to radical killing will not help the inner demons.
What she needs to do is to sail against the current in the storm, ride the wind and waves, and keep her heart steady at the helm.
As they were talking, the brother and sister arrived at the outer ceremonial gate.
Juanbi and Gu Yuan's servant Wutong had already prepared the horses. The red horse Hongyu and Gu Yuan's black horse seemed to know that they could go out and were all eager to try.
The brother and sister went out happily, went to Fengyun Restaurant happily for dinner, and then happily strolled around for a while before returning home.
However, as soon as he arrived outside the marquis's mansion, he saw the servant Wutong huddled in the cold wind, waiting anxiously outside the corner gate.
“Young Master!” Wu Tong saw that the brother and sister had finally returned, and hurried over and said to Gu Yuan anxiously, “The Marquis has submitted a memorial to impeach you, Young Master…”
Gu Yuan said nothing, but just gripped the reins tightly. His deep black eyes became darker and darker. The black horse under his crotch was emitting white air from its mouth and nose, and was neighing as it paced its hooves.
The setting sun cast its last ray of light, and the sky became as dark as the deep sea.
Gu Jian did submit a memorial to the palace, and it was delivered to the emperor that same day and also reached Chu Yi's hands.
Lanterns were lit in the east warm room, and the candlelight sprinkled softly, making it bright as day.
"Chuyi, what do you think?"
The emperor, who was wearing a bright yellow robe embroidered with golden dragon patterns, looked up at the young man in white sitting on the other side of the coffee table. He then turned to look at the small red clay stove next to it. On the stove was a purple clay teapot, which emitted a slight sound of boiling water.
When the water boiled, the emperor skillfully began to scald the cups, wash the tea, brew the tea, seal the pot, and divide the tea into cups... The entire set of tea-making movements was smooth and elegant.
Chu Yi sat upright on a rosewood armchair, holding a memorial paper in his right hand and reading through it quickly.
The main body of the letter is written in neat and elegant handwriting, but the handwriting becomes distorted at the signature part, which shows that the main body and the signature were written by two people.
Next to the signature, there is a big red seal representing Dingyuan Hou, as red as blood.
This memorial was written by Madam Gu, and was narrated in the voice of Gu Jian. It began with an impassioned expression of loyalty to the Da Jing Dynasty and the Emperor, and then got to the point, stating that Gu Yuan was the descendant of the traitor Gu Ce, who surrendered to the enemy and put the country in trouble. The late emperor had spared Gu Ce's crime, but the Gu family dared not forget it. Although Gu Ce's son was somewhat strong, he was brave but not wise, and was extremely stubborn, so he was not up to the important task of being a thousand households in the Shenji Camp.
The memorial contained a long and eloquent speech, most of which was hypocritical nonsense. To sum it up in one sentence, it said that the mother and son felt that Gu Yuande was not worthy of the position and was being promoted too quickly, and they wanted to decline the offer on his behalf.
"Gu Yuan?" Chu Yi's gaze fell on the two words "Gu Yuan" on the letter, as if he was thinking about something.
Chu Yi didn't recognize Gu Yuan.
But from this memorial, it can be seen that Gu Yuan is the son of Gu Ce, the former Marquis of Dingyuan.
And Gu Yanfei is Gu Ce's daughter, which means they are siblings.
"Gu Yuan!" The parrot imitated the voice in a clear tone, and the sound was so loud that the air seemed to shake.
Chu Yi looked at the fat parrot flapping its wings on the bird stand and smiled. His narrow eyes sparkled in the candlelight, and his smile was pleasant, gentle, yet meaningful.
At this time, the emperor had also made tea and happened to see this scene.
It was rare to see his son showing such an expression. The emperor raised his frosted eyebrows, picked up one of the cups of tea, blew away the foam floating on the tea, took a sip, and raised his eyebrows with satisfaction.
Because his son likes tea with a stronger flavor, he put five more tea leaves in it, and now it's just right.
"Father, where did Gu Yuan originally work and what was his position?" Gu Yuan casually placed the memorial on the coffee table and gently hooked the parrot's fluffy chin twice with his slender jade-like index finger. The parrot was very good at acting coquettishly and rubbed Gu Yuan's fingers obediently.
Gu Yuan was just a small sixth-rank military officer and was not at all in the emperor's eyes, and the emperor was also not very clear about it.
The eunuch who was serving beside him was always good at reading the emperor's mind. He immediately said with a smile on his face, "Your Highness, Gu Yuan was originally a sixth-rank captain in the Jiuxiao Camp in the West Mountain."
After a pause, the eunuch went on to explain: "Gu Yuan's promotion to the Shenji Camp was the intention of the Duke of Weiguo. The year before last, when Gu Yuan followed the Jiuxiao Camp to the coast to suppress the Japanese, the bandit leader led the remaining 30% of the bandits to escape by escaping, but was discovered by Gu Yuan's sharp eyes. Gu Yuan led his men to wait on the boat and captured them in one fell swoop, making him the first merit..."
Before sending this memorial to the East Warm Pavilion, the chief eunuch had already investigated the whole story in order to respond to possible inquiries from the emperor.
At this point, the eunuch's eyes wandered for a moment, and he was not in a position to continue explaining why Gu Yuan had not been rewarded for his merits the year before. After all, this matter involved the late emperor, and even the emperor would not be in a position to criticize the late emperor.
After the chief eunuch finished speaking, the East Warm Pavilion became quiet.
Only a slight crackling sound came from the gauze lantern next to it, and a faint smell of candle wax wafted out, which was quickly overwhelmed by the elegant incense scent in the air.
The emperor handed Chu Yi another cup of freshly brewed tea. Chu Yi took the tea and the fragrant and mellow tea aroma penetrated his nose. It was his favorite Biluochun.
Chu Yi smelled the rich aroma of tea and said bluntly, "Title."
"If one's virtue does not match the position, there will be trouble in the future."
Chu Yi's tone was light and he didn't mention anyone by name, but with just one sentence he reduced Gu Jian to the dust.
Gu Jian kept saying that Gu Yuan was "unworthy of his position", but in fact, he was the one who was truly "unworthy of his position".
The eunuch at the side listened, lowered his head silently, and understood.
If the inheritor of the title is not worthy of the position, he will feel guilty and afraid, always worrying that someone will come to snatch his title away. This will cause suspicion and even unnecessary attacks, causing unrest both internally and externally.
The emperor stroked his beard and nodded at Chu Yizhi in deep approval with a loving smile.
He was a smart boy in the first grade, and he could see through Gu Jian even though he had never met him before. He could see through him just by looking at this memorial.
Gu Jian is indeed not as good as Gu Ce.
It should be said that the two brothers of the Gu family cannot be compared at all, one is in heaven and the other is in hell.
In the past, he only thought that Gu Jian was mediocre and incompetent, but now it seems that he should also be considered as "lacking tolerance".
"What a pity it was for Gu Ce back then." Thinking of the events of eight years ago, the emperor felt a little emotional, with complex emotions revealed in his gentle eyes.
When his eyes fell on Chu Yi, his sadness was swept away and he became radiant again. Fortunately, his Chu Yi returned safely! After Chu Yi drank a few sips of tea, he put down the teacup, looked at the emperor steadily, and asked, "What do you think of Gu Ce's surrender to the enemy back then?"
"..." The emperor was slightly startled, his lips pursed, and his originally leisurely and lazy figure suddenly tensed up.
(End of this chapter)
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